Experience and Interpretation in Mysticism
R L Franklin
The Problem of Pure Consciousness March 29, 1990 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780195059809.003.0012 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Citations | 6 |
| Key points | Argues that recent scholarship, termed the 'diversity view,' emphasizes differences among mystical experiences to the point of denying any common experience and thus any perennial philosophy, a shift driven by the recognition that experience is mediated by belief systems. |
Abstract
Abstract Many among an earlier generation of scholars saw in mysticism a distinctive type of experience-a pure or contentless awareness of ultimate reality-which was often made the basis for a “perennial philosophy.’’1 More recently many have distinguished several different types of mystical experience, each tending to recur across different traditions. More recently still has arisen a tendency, which I will call the “diversity view,” so to emphasize the differences as to deny any common experience and hence any perennial philosophy. The diversity view stems from an awareness, growing in many fields of thought, of how deeply our experience is mediated (i.e., organized and influenced) by our whole belief system.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |