Conceptual enquiry and the experience of “the transcendent”: John Hick’s contribution to the dialogue
March 22, 2017 J. Astley
John Hick (1922–2012), an influential philosopher of religion and liberal Christian theologian, developed a theory of religious knowledge centered on religious experience. This paper critically examines Hick's views on religious epistemology, his pluralistic account of world religions, and his criterion of religious truth. It explores the role of religious concepts in shaping experience and reviews Hick's engagement with neuroscience and philosophy of mind. The analysis also considers how Hick's ideas relate to empirical psychology of religion studies on experiences of transcendent reality.