Diversity and Interpretation. Toward a Pluralist Realist Description of Religious Experience
Carlos Miguel Gómez Rincón
Religions October 9, 2021 DOI: 10.3390/rel12100848 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that an influential trend in contemporary philosophy of religious experience and religious pluralism, based on a mediational image of knowledge and a problematic notion of interpretation, generates irresoluble problems. Proposes a redescription extending Heidegger's theory of understanding as pre-theoretical engagement with the world, which the author contends reconciles the diversity of religious experience with its claimed epistemic force, and suggests moving from epistemology to spirituality. |
Abstract
This paper attempts to offer a pluralist realist account of the diversity of religious experience. In the first part, I show that an influential trend in contemporary philosophy of religious experience and religious pluralism is based on the mediational image of knowledge and a problematic notion of interpretation, which generates irresoluble problems. I then attempt a redescription based on an extension of Heidegger’s theory of understanding as pre-theorical engagement with the world, which allows for the conciliation of the diversity of religious experience with its claimed epistemic force. To develop this argument, finally, I present the experience of diversity proper of the contemporary world as a type of spiritual experience in which the traits of a pre-theoretical religious understanding can be found. As a result, the paper suggests a move from epistemology to spirituality for a better understanding of religious experience.