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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Mystical experiences cannot provide evidence in favor of their validity as experiences of God

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Different theistic faiths claim experience of the one and only God, ostensibly justifying beliefs that contradict one another
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If theistic mystical experiences lead to contradictory results, they cannot provide evidence in favor of their validity as experiences of God
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.William Alston's perceptual model of mystical experience requires that doxastic practices yield consistent, checkable outputs across practitioners to confer justification.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Cross-cultural mystical reports yield irreconcilably different characterizations of the ultimate—personal God, impersonal Brahman, Sunyata—with no neutral criterion to adjudicate among them.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Without such a criterion, the competing reports mutually undermine each other's evidential force, leaving no net positive evidence for any particular theistic object.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Mystical experiences are shaped by the conceptual frameworks mystics bring to them, as Steven Katz argues in his constructivist account.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If the content of mystical experience is constructed by prior religious belief, the experience cannot serve as independent evidence for those very beliefs.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

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