Examining Jerome Gellman's Proposed Definition for Mystical and Religious Experiences

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Student in Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The definition of mystical experience and religious experience, as well as the relationship between them, has always been one of the issues discussed by religious and mystical researchers. Due to the diversity of so-called mystical and religious experiences and also due to the ambiguity in the two terms "religion" and "mysticism", we are faced with various definitions of these experiences and it is difficult to propose a consensus definition.
One of the proponents in this field is Jerome Gellman, a contemporary philosopher of religion and researcher of mysticism. With an innovative design, Gellman divides mystical and religious experiences into four categories: general mystical experience, specific mystical experience, general religious experience, and specific religious experience. He defines each of these terms separately and mentions specific examples for each to make them clearer. In this article, we will first quote his point of view and then examine and evaluate it. In our opinion, although Gellman's innovative view has positive aspects, it is ultimately a proposed definition that is neither comprehensive nor able to solve the problems in the special field completely he is interested in i.e. philosophy.

Keywords


Aubrey, Edwin Yoert. 2007. "Baznegari Etebar Tajrobeh Dini (Revising the Validity of Religious Experience)", in: Criticism and Opinion, no. 47-48, pp. 182-200. [in Farsi]
Brunsveld, Niek. 2013. “The Varieties and the Cognitive value of religious experiences”, In: William James on Religion, edited by Henrik Rydenfelt and Sami Pilstrom, Palgrave McMillan.
Davis, Caroline. 2012. Arzesh Marefatshenakhti Tajrobeh Dini (The Evidential Force of Religious Experience), Translated by Ali Shirwani & Hoseyn Ali Sheydan Shid, Qom: Research Institute of Hawzeh and University. [in Farsi]
Gellman, Jerome. 2005. “Mysticism and Religious Experience”, in: Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Religion, Edited by William Wainwright, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 138-143.
Gellman, Jerome. 2019. “Mysticism”, in: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/mysticism
Gheysari, Dawud. 1996. Sharh Fosus al-Hekam (Gheysari), Prepared by Seyyed Jalal al-Din Ashtiyani, Tehran: Scientific & Cultural. [in Arabic]
Hasan, Ali; Fumerton, Richard. 2020. “Knowledge by Acquaintance vs. Description”, in: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/knowledge-acquaindescrip/>.
Inge, William Ralph. 1899. Christian Mysticism, The Brampton Lectures.
Inwagen, Peter Van. 2015. Metaphysics, Westview Press.
James, William. 2012. Tanawo Tajrobeh Dini (The Varieties of Religious Experience), Translated by Hoseyn Kiyani, Tehran: Wisdom. [in Farsi]
Keown, Damien. 2004. A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lamm, Julia A. 2012. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion of Christian Mysticism, New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
McGinn, Bernard. 2008. “Mystical Consciousness: A Modest Proposal”, in: Spiritus 8, Number 1, pp. 44-63.
Miles, Thomas Richard. 2005. Tajrobeh Dini (Religious Experience), Translated by Jaber Akbari, Tehran: Sohrewardi. [in Farsi]
Nasiri, Mansur. 2013. "Barresi Adeleh Motaghedan be Hojiyat Tajrobeh Dini (Examining the Arguments of Believers in the Validity of Religious Experience)", in: Religious Thought, no. 35, pp. 45-62. [in Farsi]
Pepler, Conrad. 1950. “The Unity of Mystical Experience”, in: New Blackfriars 31 (361-362), pp. 204-219.
Peterson, Michael; et al. 2010. Aghl wa Eteghad Dini (Reason and Religious Belief), Translated by Ahmad Naraghi & Ibrahim Soltani, Tehran: New Design. [in Farsi]
Row, William. 2000. "Tajrobeh Dini wa Erfani (Religious and Mystical Experience)", Translated by Ismail Soleymani Faraki, in: Criticism and Opinion, no. 23-24, pp. 286-319. [in Farsi]
Sharf, Robert H. 2000, “The Rhetoric of Experience and the Study of Religion”, in: Journal of Consciousness Studies 7, No. 11-12, pp. 267-87.
Sharpe, A. B. 1910. Mysticism: Its Nature and Value, London: Sands.
Stace, Walter Terence. 1979. Erfan wa Falsafeh (Mysticism and Philosophy), Translated by Baha al-Din Khorramshahi, Tehran: Sorush. [in Farsi]
Steinbock, Anthony. 2007. Phenomenology and Mysticism: Verticality of Religious Experience, Indiana University Press.
Steup, Matthias. 2018. "Epistemology", in: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/epistemology
Suzuki, D. T. 1983. The Zen Doctrine of No Mind: The Significance of the Sutra of Hui-neng, London: Rider.
Swinburne, Richard. 2004. Existence of God, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Taylor, Charles. 2008. Tanawo Din dar Ruzegar Ma: Didari Dobareh ba William James (Varieties of Religion Today: William James Revisited), Foreworded by Mostafa Malekiyan, Tehran: Shur Publication. [in Farsi]
Underhill, Evelyn. 1930. Mysticism: A Study of Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
Wainwright, William. 1973. “Mysticism and Sense Perception”, in: Religious Studies 9, pp. 257-278.
Webb, Mark. 2017. “Religious Experience”, in: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/religious-experience/>
Zaehner, Robert Charles. 1957. Mysticism: Sacred and Profane, Oxford: Oxford University Press.