Religious Experience

Religious Experience

1. The Principle of Credulity

   • Swinburne's Argument
   • If it seems to a subject that 'x' is present, then 'x' is probably present
     • It is reasonable to believe that the world is probably as we percieve it to be
       • This is a realist position
   • Counter - Atheists experience the absence of God, so the world is probably Godless
     • Counter Counter - This assumes that if God existed Atheists would experience God, but this may not be the case

2. Artificial Religious Experiences

   • The brain can be stimulated to produce religious experiences
   • Temporal Lobes - stimulation here can provoke religious experiences
   • However...
     • Does this mean that experiences of God are false (just due to false signals in the brain)?
     • Or is provoking a response from the temporal lobe a way of connecting to God?

3. Conflicting Religous Experiences

   • Different Religions have different Religious Experiences
     • They cannot all be valid due to inconsistenties

4. The Subjectivity of Experience