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    Panpsycast Questions - J Clarke

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    This document contains questions about William James' philosophy of religious experience from his book The Varieties of Religious Experience. It discusses James' view that religious experiences meeting the PINT criteria of being personal, ineffable, noetic, and transient could be motivation for believing in God. It also covers topics like mystical experiences, conversion experiences of figures like St. Paul and John Wesley, criticisms of religious experiences, and debates around what religious experiences may indicate.

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    Panpsycast Questions - J Clarke

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    This document contains questions about William James' philosophy of religious experience from his book The Varieties of Religious Experience. It discusses James' view that religious experiences meeting the PINT criteria of being personal, ineffable, noetic, and transient could be motivation for believing in God. It also covers topics like mystical experiences, conversion experiences of figures like St. Paul and John Wesley, criticisms of religious experiences, and debates around what religious experiences may indicate.

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    This document contains questions about William James' philosophy of religious experience from his book The Varieties of Religious Experience. It discusses James' view that religious experiences meeting the PINT criteria of being personal, ineffable, noetic, and transient could be motivation for believing in God. It also covers topics like mystical experiences, conversion experiences of figures like St. Paul and John Wesley, criticisms of religious experiences, and debates around what religious experiences may indicate.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    164 views4 pages

    Panpsycast Questions - J Clarke

    Uploaded by

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    This document contains questions about William James' philosophy of religious experience from his book The Varieties of Religious Experience. It discusses James' view that religious experiences meeting the PINT criteria of being personal, ineffable, noetic, and transient could be motivation for believing in God. It also covers topics like mystical experiences, conversion experiences of figures like St. Paul and John Wesley, criticisms of religious experiences, and debates around what religious experiences may indicate.

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    of 4

    Year 12 Homework Questions: The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

    Episode 13, Religious Experience

    Introduction

    Q1. What is the weaker argument from religious experience?

    Q2. What is the name of James’ book/Gifford lectures?

    Q3. What is a pragmatist?

    Q4. Who was William James?

    Part I – Mystical Experience

    Q1. What is a mystical experience?

    Q2. Explain William James’ Squirrel example and how it links to his philosophical position i.e.
    ‘pragmatism’:

    Q3. How does this link with free-will/God?

    Q4. What is James’ example of being ‘lost in the forest’ and how does it link to his ideas of
    pragmatism?

    Q5. What are the four things which define a religious experience for James?

    Q6. (Reflection Question) Have you had an experience that meets the PINT criteria?

    Q7. (Reflection Question) Do you think an experience that fulfils the PINT criteria is a good
    motivation for believing in God?

    1
    Resource Courtesy of James Clarke
    Year 12 Homework Questions: The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

    Part II – Conversion Experience

    Q1. How does William James define ‘conversion experience’?

    Q2. What is conversion?

    Q3. What is the story of St Paul?

    Q4. (Reflective Question) In what way was Saul’s experience a case for conversion
    experience? (recall James’ PINT and James’ definition for conversion experience)

    Q5. Who was John Wesley and what was his religious experience?

    Q6. (Reflective Question) Should we consider Saul’s experience a genuine religious


    experience and if so, how does James say that it is ‘true’?

    Q7. Who was Rudolph Otto?

    Q8. What is a numinous experience?

    Q9. For Otto, in what way can we understand God and religion?

    Q10. Who was Saint Teresa and what were her ‘4 stages of religious experience’?

    Q11. Explain Saint Teresa’s religious experiences.

    Q12. What was the criticism against Saint Teresa of Avila and how did she respond to it?

    Q13. What is a corporate religious experience?

    Q14. What is ‘the Pentecost’?

    Q15. What were the Toronto blessings?

    2
    Resource Courtesy of James Clarke
    Year 12 Homework Questions: The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

    Part III – Different Ways Individual Religious Experiences Can Be Understood

    Remember, that for James, if it goes against the science of the time, we cannot consider it a
    genuine religious experience.

    Q1. What is meant by ‘union with a greater power’?

    Q2. What is by ‘psychological effects such as illusion’?

    Q3. What is Richard Swinburne’s idea of ‘principle of credulity’?

    Q4. What is Richard Swinburne’s ‘principle of testimony’?

    Q5. In ‘The Existence of God’ (1979), Swinburne identifies 5 different types of religious
    experiences (2 public and 3 private). What are they?

    Q6. What is meant by explainable through ‘physiological effects’?

    Q7. What is Richard Dawkins’ view on religious experience?

    Q8. What is Ockham’s razor and how can it apply to religious experience?

    Q9. What was Thomas Hobbes’ criticism of religious experience?

    Q10. What was David Humes’ criticism of religious experience?

    Q11. What were the view of the German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872)?

    Q12. What would Freud argue?

    Q13. Give a famous quote from William Temple.

    Q14. (Reflection Question) Do you think religious experience can be explained by something
    other than ‘union with a greater power’?

    3
    Resource Courtesy of James Clarke
    Year 12 Homework Questions: The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

    Part IV – Further Analysis and Discussion

    Q1. What are the key strengths of the arguments for religious experience (aim for 4)?

    Q2. What are the key weaknesses of the arguments for religious experience (aim for 4)?

    Q3. How many Americans claim they have had experience of life beyond the grave?

    Q4. In Britain, out of 10, how many people believe that religious experience constitutes
    evidence of an afterlife?

    Q5. (Reflective Question) Is personal witness or testament enough to support the validity of
    religious experience?

    Q6. (Reflective Question) Can group religious experience be considered more reliable or
    valid than individual experience?

    Q7. (Reflection Question) Does religious experience provide a basis for a belief in God or a
    greater power?

    4
    Resource Courtesy of James Clarke

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