| 1. |
- Norrman, Christer
(författare)
-
Mystical experiences and scientific method : a study of the possibility of identifying a "mystical" experience by a scientific method, with special reference to the theory of Walter T Stace
- 1987
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A necessary condition for being able to identify a mystical experience by a scientific method is to solve the following problems:(a) We must explicitly present and argue for a theory of meaning that allows us to draw conclusions from mystical sentences about the experience in question. No such theory exists today. Stace has not applied his referential theory to mystical language, still less argued that a referential theory is the one to be selected in preference to other alternatives.(b) We must show that mystical sentences are actually used for describing mystical experiences. The reasons Stace provides are untenable. None of the mystical sentences that Stace cites functions descriptively. But arguments put forward by Troy Organ and Stace in his intermediate period against the logical possibility of mystical sentences functioning descriptively are also untenable.(c) We must provide a satisfactory explanation of what the mystics mean by saying that the experience is ineffable. Nine different explanations have been suggested. None of them is unobjectionable. The reasons that Stace puts forward in support of his explanation that the mystical experience is not really ineffable are untenable. In none of the mystical utterances that Stace cites does the mystic use the word "ineffable" in the way Stace recommends. None of the nine explanations can, however, be dismissed definitively. Closer examination of the mystical utterances that Stace uses, from twenty-eight mystics, shows that different mystics, or even the same mystics, use the expression "ineffable", in different ways in different linguistic contexts. It is also possible to find utterances in which the sentences function descriptively with regard to the non-content-related properties of the experience, while the content of the experience is logically ineffable. I have found no support for the idea that the ineffability of the experience renders its identification logically impossible.The conclusion of my investigation is that there are no logical reasons why identification should be impossible. On the other hand, there is no theory in existence today that has shown that it is possible to identify a mystical experience by a scientific method.
|
|
| 2. |
- Grønlien Zetterqvist, Kirsten, 1949-
(författare)
-
Att vara kroppssubjekt : Ett fenomenologiskt bidrag till feministisk teori och religionsfilosofi
- 2002
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the complex of problems concerning women and fertility there is a focal point where central issues meet. The aim of this study is to draw up conceptions that can be of use to individual women who relate their fertile life situations to issues regarding the meaning of their lives. By means of these conceptions I wish to influence cultural, religious and political contexts that shape the sphere of ideas and the life conditions of women during their fertile years. The study discusses which premises that can be developed about the nature of reality if women’s experience of fertility is a fundamental prerequisite when forming theories concerning ontological categories. What significance can the formation of such theories have for the question of the meaning of life? The problem is illuminated by altering between the context of experience-based narratives, i.e. a fictional narrative and a midwife’s narrative, and a philosophical exploration of the narrative context. The study has resulted in: (1) A phenomenological contribution, which means that the reader is involved in the conceptions that concern the experience of life’s meaning and its context. (2) A contribution to feminist theory, which involves a critique of the patriarchal ideas about women’s fertility, and also the creation of ontological concepts inspired by what happens at the moment of birth. Central concepts here are active and passive, body and mind, state and force, work and life act. These concepts become a fundamental condition for the ontological category of body subject and the idea of life as context. (3) A contribution to the philosophy of religion, which leads to a focus on people’s bodily and mental experiences as a base from which the question of the nature of reality is posed. The method of the study has been to create the conditions for discussing issues about the meaning of life by means of altering inadequate ontological categories.
|
|
| 3. |
- Hedin, Dag
(författare)
-
Phenomenology and the making of the world
- 1997
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- trictions provided by language and knowledge. It is also shown how this creates difficulties as to the claim within religion to express what is beyond the known and not directlyavailable by means of ordinary language. The author focuses on ideas within the phenomenology of religion of how to cope withthis tension. He clarifies the connection between the phenomenology of religion and philosophical phenomenology in this regard. He analyses ideas concerning our relationship to thesurrounding world, the conditions for human existence, and in what respect we can interpretand communicate to others our understanding of ourselves and our different life worlds. Based on these analyses it is argued that insights from philosophical phenomenology canbe applied not only to the phenomenology of religion. Ideas of phenomenology on how togain self-understanding as well as an understanding of other people and of the world throughcommunication and dialogue, are shown to be relevant also concerning most analysesperformed within the wider field of Religious Studies.
|
|
| 4. |
- Zackariasson, Ulf, 1970-
(författare)
-
Forces by Which We Live : Religion and Religious Experience from the Perspective of a Pragmatic Philosophical Anthropology
- 2002
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study argues that a pragmatic conception of religion would enable philosophers to make important contributions to our ability to handle concrete problems involving religion. The term 'philosophical anthropology', referring to different interpretative frameworks, which philosophers draw on to develop conceptions of human phenomena, is introduced. It is argued that the classical pragmatists embraced a philosophical anthropology significantly different from that embraced by most philosophers of religion; accordingly, pragmatism offers an alternative conception of religion. It is suggested that a conception of religion is superior to another if it makes more promising contributions to our ability to handle extra-philosophical problems of religion.A pragmatic philosophical anthropology urges us to view human practices as responses to shared experienced needs. Religious practices develop to resolve tensions in our views of life. The pictures of human flourishing they persent reconstruct our views of life, thereby allowing more significant interaction with the environment, and a more significant life.A modified version of reflective equilibrium is developed to show how we, on a pragmatic conception of religion, are able to supply resources for criticism and reform of religious practices, so the extra-philosophical problems of religion can be handled. Mainstream philosophy of religion attempts to offer such resources by presenting analogy-arguments from religious experience. Those arguments are, however, unconvincing. A comparison of the two conceptions of religion thus results in a recommendation to reconstruct philosophy of religion.
|
|
