Atheistic Mysticism
Eric Charles Steinhart
Atheistic Platonism 2023 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-17752-1_11 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 11 |
| Population | Cases of atheistic mystical experience |
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Key points | Argues that five themes in atheistic mystical experience can be interpreted through atheistic Platonism, with structural insight and wholeness reflecting membership in nature's hierarchy, extremity due to nature's transcendental infinity, ego dissolution as encoding only the existential quantifier, and valuable connection as alignment with the Good. |
Abstract
Eleven detailed cases of atheistic mystical experience are examined. Five themes emerge from these cases: structural insight, wholeness, extremity, ego dissolution, and valuable connection. I will use atheistic Platonism to interpret these five themes. Structural insight and wholeness correspond to that singular relational power that binds all things together into the wholeness of nature. This power is membership, and nature is the entire iterative hierarchy of classes. Mystical extremity is explained by the fact that the wholeness of nature is transcendental—it has the absolute infinity of a proper class. During ego dissolution, the mystic brain drops all its ontic encodings. It encodes only the existential quantifier in its orientation toward the Good. Valuable connection reveals that the singular relational power points from the One to the Good. Aligning with this orientation, the body of the atheistic mystic bears perfect witness to the Good.
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 |
Citations in the library
Cites 6
- Self unbound: ego dissolution in psychedelic experience Neuroscience of Consciousness 2017
- The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death Harvard Theological Review 1969
- NATURALIZING PSYCHEDELIC SPIRITUALITY Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science August 18, 2017
- Psychedelic Drugs and Atheism: Debunking the Myths Religions August 8, 2021
- Philosophy of Psychedelics Oxford University Press eBooks August 1, 2021
and 1 more in the library