‘Learned Perception’ as a Form of ‘Religious Experience’: Jīva Gosvāmin’s Vaiduṣa-pratyakṣa
Journal of Hindu Studies March 26, 2024 DOI: 10.1093/jhs/hiae002 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Jīva Gosvāmin's account of 'learned' perception treats it as supersensible cognitive experience shaped by learning and language, and proposes that contemporary scholarship on religious experience can learn from this that socially constructed categories shaping religious experience need not entail ontological agnosticism about the objects presented in it. |
Abstract
Abstract: This article interprets the religious epistemology of the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava theologian Jīva Gosvāmin, specifically his division of perception in ‘learned’ and ‘ignorant’, to argue that ‘learned’ perception is supersensible cognitive experience shaped by learning and language. The article goes on to show that the contemporary scholarship on religious experience can learn an important lesson from Jīva’s epistemology, namely that the social construction of categories that shape religious experience need not involve ontological agnosticism with respect to the existence of objects presented in it.