Mystical Experience and the Paraconsistent God
B. P. Göcke
International Journal of Hindu Studies August 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1007/s11407-021-09292-w (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 | Argues that a paraconsistent conception of God explains how mystics subscribing to different worldviews can have veridical mystical experiences of ultimate reality that prima facie seem to contradict each other. This extends the author's prior claims that ultimate reality is paraconsistent and that a paraconsistent God entails panentheism, developed in dialogue with Ramakrishna's theory of God's infinitude as presented in Maharaj's book. |
Abstract
Ayon Maharaj’s Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and CrossCultural Philosophy of Religion (2018; henceforth, IPIR) is an excellent book. It contributes to cross-cultural philosophy of religion by showing not only that a profound philosophical dialogue between prima facie different philosophical traditions is possible and needed, but also by making a clear case that Western philosophy in fact can benefit enormously from Rāmakr ̇ s ̇ n ̇ a’s philosophy of religion. In what follows, I focus on Rāmakr ̇ s ̇ n ̇ a’s theory of the infinitude of God and bring it into further dialogue with my own position on both the paraconsistent nature of God and the possibility of veridical mystical experiences. In several papers, I have argued that ultimate reality is paraconsistent because this best explains how God could be the ultimate ground of empirical reality. I also argued that the conception of a paraconsistent God entails the truth of panentheism. In this response, I argue that a paraconsistent conception of God also explains the possibility that mystics subscribing to different worldviews can have veridical mystical experiences of ultimate reality that prima facie seem to contradict each other.
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 |