Philosophy of Mysticism: Raids on the Ineffable

409 Pages·2016·2.46 MB·English

by  Richard H Jones

PHILOSOPHY
of
MYSTICISM
PHILOSOPHY
of
MYSTICISM
Raids on the Ineffable
Richard H. Jones
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2016 State University of New York All rights
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Production, Ryan Morris
Marketing, Michael Campochiaro Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jones, Richard
H., 1951– Philosophy of mysticism : raids on the ineffable / Richard H. Jones.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-6119-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-6120-5 (e-book) 1. Mysticism.
I. Title.
B828.J73 2016
204’.2201—dc23 2015027728
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface
Postmodernist Concerns
Methodological Issues
The Analytical Philosophical Approach
1 Mysticism and Mystical Experiences
Mystical Experiences
Mystical Paths
Extrovertive Mystical Experiences
Mindfulness
Introvertive Mystical Experiences
Depth-Mystical Experiences
Mystical Enlightenment
A Typology of Mystical Experiences
Weighting Mystical Experiences
2 Mystical Knowledge and Religious Ways of Life
Experience and Knowledge
Are There Genuine Mystical Experiences?
Attribution Theory
The Depth-Mystical Experience and Its Conceptualizations
Mystical Experiences and Mystical Ways of Life
Constructivism
Nonconstructivism
Constructivism and the Depth-Mystical Experience
Can the Constructivism Dispute be Resolved?
The Possibility of Mystical Insight
3 Are Mystical Experiences Cognitive?
Can Nonmystics Judge the Veridicality of Mystical Experiences?
What Can Mystics Claim to Know?
Mysticism and Empiricism
The Principle of Credulity
The Analogy to Sense-Perception
Problems of Justifying Specific Doctrinal Claims
The Limitation of Any Mystical Claim to Knowledge
Can Mystical Knowledge-Claims Be Compared?
Do Mystical Knowledge-Claims Genuinely Conflict?
Can One Mystical System Be Established as Best?
Is It Rational to Accept Mystical Knowledge-Claims?
“Properly Basic Beliefs”
Ultimate Decisions
4 The Scientific Study of Mystics and Meditators
Scientific Study Versus Mystical Practices
Are New Theories of the Mind Needed?
Can Mystical Experiences Be Studied Scientifically?
Scientific Explanations of Mystical Experiences
Sociocultural Explanations of Mystical Experiences
Explaining Away Mystical Experiences
Problems with Sociocultural Explanations
Problems with Physiological Explanations
Do Natural Triggers Produce Mystical Experiences?
Natural Phenomena and Mystical Insights
The Compatibility Problem
Applying Occam’s Razor
Our Epistemic Situation
Is Naturalism or a Transcendent Alternative More Plausible?
The Neutrality of Science
5 Mysticism and Metaphysics
Mystical Metaphysics
The Status of the World
The Nature of Transcendent Realities
Consciousness
The Self
The Question of Mystical Union
Mysticism and the Closure of Mystery
6 Mysticism and Language
Ineffability
The Mirror Theory of Language
And Yet Mystics Continue to Talk
An Analogy
Silence
Positive Characterizations of Transcendent Realities
Mystical Utterances and Knowledge
Negation
Defending Mystical Discourse
7 Mysticism and Rationality
Rationality and Styles of Reasoning
Paradox
Resolving Paradoxes
Understanding the Paradoxical
Nagarjuna’s Reasoning
Mysticism and the Question of Universal Reason
8 Mysticism and Science
Scientific and Mystical Approaches to Reality
An Analogy
Beingness and Science
Mystical Experience Versus Scientific Measurement and Theorizing
Indirect Avenues of Aid
Science, Mysticism, and the Natural World
The Difference in Content
Science and Mystical Metaphysics
Complementarity
Reconciling Mysticism and Science
9 Mysticism and Morality
The Basic Question of Compatibility
Are Mystics Necessarily Moral?
Mystical Selflessness and the Presuppositions of Morality
Emotions, Values, and Beliefs
“You Are That”
A Metaphysics of Wholeness and Morality
Factual Beliefs, Values, and Mystical Experiences
“Beyond Good and Evil”
Will Any Actions Do?
Mystical Decision-Making
Mystical Selflessness and Morality
Epilogue: The Demise of Mysticism Today
The Antimystical Climate Today
Accepting Mysticism Today
A Mystical Revolution?
A Thirst for Transcendence
Notes
References and Further Reading
Index
Preface
The greatest blessings come to us through madness, when it is sent as a gift of the gods. Heaven-
sent madness is superior to man-made sanity.
—Plato
There are forces pulling and pushing against the study of mysticism today. On
the one hand, the rise of spirituality has drawn attention to mysticism, and
empirical research has suggested that mystical experiences may be much more
common than is generally accepted (Hardy 1983; Hood 2006). Mystical
experiences that occur either through cultivation or spontaneously are often
considered by the experiencers as the defining moments of their lives. There also
has been a recent surge of scientific interest in meditators and in the neural and
pharmacological bases and causes of mystical experiences. On the other hand,
there have been recent sex and money scandals involving “enlightened” Zen and
Hindu teachers, and there is the general academic suspicion that mysticism is
only a matter of subjectivity, deliberate obscurantism, and irrationality.
In Anglo-American philosophy, mysticism has remained a constant if minor
topic within philosophy of religion. Not all questions in philosophy of mysticism
are pertinent to more general philosophy, but many are important to philosophy
of religion and to philosophy more generally. What is unique about mysticism is
the purported contribution of exotic experiences to mystical claims. Are these
experiences “objective” in the sense of revealing something about reality outside
of the “subjective” individual mind? Do mystical experiences reveal truths about
the universe that are not obtainable through science or reasoning about what
other experiences reveal to us? Do they reinforce scientific truths? Or do they
conflict with scientific truths? Or are they noncognitive and only a matter of
emotion? How is it possible to claim that a fundamental reality is experienced
when there is allegedly no experiencing subject or object experienced? Why do
mystics have trouble expressing what is allegedly experienced in these
experiences and not in ordinary cognitive experiences? Are mystics blatantly
irrational, speaking what turns out to be only gibberish? Is morality ultimately