Religious Experience as an Observational Epistemic Practice
Sophia April 1, 2012 DOI: 10.1007/s11841-011-0241-9 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Religious experience William alston Dudley shapere Observability of god |
| Key points | Argues that applying Shapere's epistemic concept of observation to religious experience allows it to justify belief in an unobservable God, overcoming the limitations of Alston's perceptual model. |
Abstract
William Alston proposed an understanding of religious experience modeled after the triadic structure of sense perception. However, a perceptual model falters because of the unobservability of God as the object of religious experience. To reshape Alston’s model of religious experience as an observational practice we utilize Dudley Shapere’s distinction between the philosophical use of ‘observe’ in terms of sensory perception and scientists’ epistemic use of ‘observe’ as being evidential by providing information or justification leading to knowledge. This distinction helps us to understand how religious experience of an unobservable God can be an epistemic practice that satisfies our epistemic obligations and justifies religious belief.