The New Frontier of Religion and Science: Religious Experience, Neuroscience and the Transcendent PDF
Preview The New Frontier of Religion and Science: Religious Experience, Neuroscience and the Transcendent
The New Frontier of Religion and Science AlsobyJohnHickandpublishedbyPalgraveMacmillan BETWEENFAITHANDDOUBT EVILANDTHEGODOFLOVE DIALOGUESINTHEPHILOSOPHYOFRELIGION FAITHANDKNOWLEDGE ARGUMENTSFORTHEEXISTENCEOFGOD GODANDTHEUNIVERSEOFFAITHS DEATHANDETERNALLIFE GODHASMANYNAMES FAITHANDTHEPHILOSOPHERS(editor) THEMANY-FACEDARGUMENT(editorwithA.C.McGill) PROBLEMSOFRELIGIOUSPLURALISM ANINTERPRETATIONOFRELIGION THREEFAITHS–ONEGOD(editorwithEdmundMeltzer) GANDHI’SSIGNIFICANCEFORTODAY(editorwithLamontC.Hempel) The New Frontier of Religion and Science Religious Experience, Neuroscience and the Transcendent John Hick ©JohnHick2006,2010 Foreword©BeverleyClack2010 Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency, SaffronHouse,6-10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS. Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages. Theauthorshaveassertedtheirrightstobeidentified astheauthorsofthisworkinaccordancewiththeCopyright, DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Firstpublished2006 ReissuedwithnewPrefaceandForeword2010by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke, HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave(cid:2)andMacmillan(cid:2)areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates, theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN 978-0-230-25280-6 ISBN 978-0-230-27760-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230277601 Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe countryoforigin. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Hick,John. Thenewfrontierofreligionandscience:religiousexperience, neuroscience,andthetranscendent/JohnHick. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex. 1. Psychology,Religious. 2. Religionandscience. 3. Religion. 4. Religions. 5. Experience(Religion) 6. Neurosciences. 7. Transcendence(Philosophy) I. Title. BL53.H532007 201(cid:2).65“dc22 2006051363 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 For my grandchildren Jonathan, Emily, Rhiannon, Alexander, Ellie, and Phoebe This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface xi Prefacetothe2010Reissue xiii Foreword xvi Part I 1 ReligionasHumanInstitutions 3 Pre-axialreligion 3 Theaxialage 4 Thenewaxialinsights 6 Religionasinstitutionandreligionasspirituality/mysticism 7 Theinstitutionalbalancesheet 8 The‘scientific’studyofreligion 11 2 SpiritualityandMysticism 14 ‘Spirituality’andspirituality 14 Spirituality/mysticism 19 Unitivemysticism 21 3 WhatIsReligiousExperience? 27 Whatdowemeanbyreligiousexperience? 27 Thekindsofreligiousexperience 28 Atransformedworld 29 Thesenseofpresence 31 Visionsandauditions 33 Somerarerformsofreligiousexperience 35 Therelationbetweentheinnerandouteraspectsofreligion 36 4 ‘ByTheirFruitsYouWillKnowThem’ 39 Fromthesublimetotheridiculous 39 Withinthemonotheisms 41 WithinBuddhism 43 Individualandsocialfruits 45 vii viii Contents Part II 5 TheNeurosciences’ChallengetoReligious Experience 55 Thecontemporarynaturalisticworld-view 55 Religiousmaterialism? 57 Braintoconsciousnesscausality 58 Godandthelimbicsystem 62 Meditationandthebrain 63 6 CaveatsandQuestions 67 Religiousexperienceasmentalaberration 67 Religiousexperienceandepilepsy 70 Meditationandthebrain 75 Drugsandreligiousexperience 76 Pureconsciousness 78 7 Mind/BrainIdentity? 81 Identifyingthequestions 82 Thecorrelation=identityfallacy 82 Beggingthequestion 83 Theidentitytheory 85 Themysteryofconsciousness 89 8 CurrentNaturalisticTheories 92 Epiphenomenalism 92 TheLibetexperiments 92 Consciousnessasasocialproduct 94 Consciousnessandevolution 97 Consciousnessasanemergentproperty 99 Biologicalnaturalism 103 9 TheAlternativePossibility 106 Theplasticityofthebrain 106 BrainplasticityobservedinBuddhist meditation 108 10 FreeWill? 112 Compatibilistandnon-compatibilist freedom 112 Experimentalevidence 115 Quantumindeterminacy 118 Theproblemofself-reference 119 Contents ix Part III 11 TheEpistemologicalProblem 127 Ourepistemicsituation 127 Theprincipleofcriticaltrust 129 Criticaltrustandreligiousexperience 130 Differencesandcontradictions 133 12 TheEpistemologicalSolution 137 Experiencingasinterpreting 137 Levelsofmeaning 140 Cognitivefreedom 142 13 AnyParticularReligion? 146 Whichreligion? 146 Salvation 149 Responsestoreligiousdiversity 150 14 ResponsestoReligiousDiversity 154 Multipleaspectpluralism 154 Polycentricpluralism 156 15 APhilosophyofReligiousPluralism 162 TheTranscendent 162 Thepremises 162 Thebasicdistinction 163 TheTranscendentasbeyondhumandescription 164 Theproblem 166 Thesolution 167 16 PluralismandtheReligions 172 Theproblem 172 But is pluralism compatible with existing religious practice? 175 Theexistingreligions 176 17 SpiritualityforToday 181 Cosmicoptimism 181 Inspirationfromthesaints 182 Prayer 184 Meditation 186 18 AfterDeath? 191 Theoriginofafter-lifebeliefs 191 HeavenandhellintheChristiantradition 192
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