Joshua Duncan

California State University Long Beach, Religious Studies, Graduate Student

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I am an artist and a thinker, ever aspiring towards the "renaissance man". When I was in grad school (graduated 2022) I researched and advocated for the serious and academic study of paranormal phenomena as viable data for purposes of theory building and furthering of our knowledge base. Rather than dismiss the anomalous we ought to take it seriously for any metaphysical worldview is worth its weight in how it can accommodate the anomalous. I came to the conclusion that materialism (physicalism) as a metaphysical worldview was untenable and could not account for the mountains of experiential data. As paranormal phenomena continue to be reported and accepted as more mainstream (along with UFOs and non-human intelligences) we stand in need of a new worldview, one that starts with consciousness rather than see it as a byproduct of chemical reactions within the brain. I hope you will take a look at my thesis and that it will prove to be an inspiration to you in this wonderful and mysterious reality that we all participate in.
Supervisors: Kathryn Chew PhD

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Thesis Chapters by Joshua Duncan

Silhouette of an Experience: Confronting Epistemological Marginalization and the Incorporation of Paranormal Phenomena in Religious Studies.

Religious studies and concomitant fields within the humanities have long ignored paranormal pheno... more Religious studies and concomitant fields within the humanities have long ignored paranormal phenomena as viable data for theory building. This thesis is an attempt to correct such an error and provide a step towards taking seriously the experiential reports of persons who recount anomalous and paranormal happenings that defy a materialist metaphysics. Post- Enlightenment societies have largely presupposed a working metaphysical model of materialism through which all acquired knowledge must be filtered. This model is insufficient to explain all the material data including paranormal phenomena. The assumption that this model contains the only method(s) that can assess data leads to a form of epistemological marginalization by which all other societies’ beliefs and experiences are subjected. The methodological approach of phenomenology and the accompanying tool known as “bracketing” are challenged and argued to be a reinforcement of the metaphysical paradigm of materialism. Other epistemological approaches are considered that advocate for more open ontological possibilities. An examination of the alien abduction phenomenon and the related research findings of several academics is presented with an emphasis upon the objective nature of the phenomenon. Related research funded by the US government pertaining to anomalous findings such as UFOs, poltergeist activity, remote viewing, telekinesis, psychokinesis, prognostication, and other psi-related abilities are discussed as they relate to the alien abduction phenomenon. The primary intention of this thesis is to showcase the serious attention that paranormal phenomena merit within the academy and the implications for incorporating such data, especially within the discipline of religious studies. New approaches and theoretical frameworks could potentially arise as a result of engaging with the possibility that paranormal phenomena are real and accepting that our current scientific understanding of the world around us is in some ways incomplete.

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Silhouette of an Experience: Confronting Epistemological Marginalization and the Incorporation of Paranormal Phenomena in Religious Studies.

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Joshua Duncan

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Thesis Chapters by Joshua Duncan

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