A neuroepistemology of mystical experience
Charles D. Laughlin, Adam J. Rock
Transpersonal Psychology Review 2020 DOI: 10.53841/bpstran.2020.22.2.37 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mystical experience |
| Key points | Proposes that a neuroepistemological account of mystical experience can contribute to the constructivist versus decontextualist debate, but faces methodological problems such as phenomenological naiveté. |
Abstract
This essay provides an anthropological account of a neuroepistemological account of mystical experience. We commence by outlining the various qualities of mystical experience (e.g. time-consciousness and space-consciousness distortion). Subsequently, we analyse the epistemology of mystical experience with special reference to the constructivist versus decontextualist debate. Next, we formulate a neuroepistemology of mystical experience and demonstrate how this account might contribute to the ongoing discourse between constructivists and decontextualists. Finally, from an anthropological point of view we discuss various methodological problems that may hinder a neuroepistemological account of mystical experience (e.g. phenomenological naiveté). We conclude by outlining the attributes of neuroepistemology of mystical experience researchers required to resolve the aforementioned methodological problems.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death | 1969 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Vectorial Cerebral Hemisphericity as Differential Sources for the Sensed Presence, Mystical Experiences and Religious Conversions | 1993 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The epistemic innocence of psychedelic states. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mystical Experience and Religious Doctrine | 1982 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Neurophenomenology and Neuroepistemology Approaches to Integrating Constructivist, Perennialist, and Universalist Perspectives on Mystical Experiences Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science July 31, 2024
- Exploring neural markers of dereification in meditation based on EEG and personalized models of electrophysiological brain states. Scientific Reports October 16, 2024
- Transpersonal phenomenology: The cosmological and spiritual dimensions of the Husserlian epoché Transpersonal Psychology Review 2021
Cites 31
- Psychobiology of Altered States of Consciousness. Psychological Bulletin 2005
- The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience Choice Reviews Online June 1, 2000
- Varieties of anomalous experience: Examining the scientific evidence. American Psychological Association eBooks 2000
- MYSTICAL STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 1972
- The Physiology of Meditation and Mystical States of Consciousness Perspectives in biology and medicine March 1, 1976
and 26 more in the library