{"id":323,"date":"2013-04-16T21:12:39","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T01:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=323"},"modified":"2016-02-18T16:05:43","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T21:05:43","slug":"religious-and-spiritual-experiences","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/nonfiction\/books\/books-religious-philosophy-series\/religious-and-spiritual-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"Volume 5: Religious and Spiritual Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cover-relexp\"<\/a>Overview<\/h1>\n

This book offers an interpretation of a diverse variety of religious and spiritual experiences, from the mundane to the shocking, from the terrifying to the sublime, and from the common to the exceptionally unusual. It carefully describes these experiences and offers a novel classification based on their neurological features and their internal qualities. The book avoids the reductionistic oversimplifications so common in both religious and scientific literatures, and instead synthesizes perspectives from many disciplines into a compelling account of the meaning and value of religious and spiritual experiences in human life. The resulting interpretation does not assume a supernatural worldview, nor does it reject such experiences as totally delusory. Rather, the book frames religious and spiritual experiences as contributing to a spiritually positive affirmation of this-worldly existence. Along the way, the book directly addresses key intellectual and practical questions in a philosophically sound and scientifically informed way. For example, can we trust the apparent meaning of such experiences? What is the value of religious and spiritual experiences within human life? Are we evolutionarily programmed to have such experiences? How will emerging technologies change such experiences in the future?<\/p>\n

Distinctive Features<\/h1>\n

Religious and Spiritual Experiences<\/i> has a number of distinctive features.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • The novel typology of religious and spiritual experiences helps readers grasp the diversity and shared aspects of these experiences.<\/li>\n
  • The richly multidisciplinary approach, embracing the sciences and philosophy and theology, demonstrates how multiple insights can converge on a compelling and unified interpretation.<\/li>\n
  • The inclusion of neuroscience perspectives (accompanied by a critique of hasty interpretations) assists readers in reappraising the importance of the neurosciences and properly situating their findings in a wider scheme of interpretation.<\/li>\n
  • The rejection of extreme interpretations (such as supernaturalism that privileges one religion or complete rejection of the value of religious and spiritual experiences) points the way to an appreciation of religious and spiritual experiences as meaningful and useful this-worldly features of human life.<\/li>\n
  • Directly addressing vital practical but theoretically complex questions aids the readers\u2019 grasp of the subject matter and its relevance to their lives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Table of Contents<\/h1>\n

    Preface and Acknowledgements<\/p>\n

    Chapter 1. Exploring a Strange yet Familiar Landscape: A Strategy for Interpreting Religious and Spiritual Experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Introduction
    \nMotivating Concerns
    \nTheoretical Issues
    \nConclusion<\/p>\n

    Chapter 2. Spirituality and the Brain: A Revolutionary Scientific Approach to Religious and Spiritual Experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Introduction
    \nHistory of Thought about Spirituality and the Brain
    \nEvidence for the Neural Mediation Hypothesis
    \nProblems Facing the Neuroscience of Religious and Spiritual Experiences
    \nCreative Responses
    \nConclusion<\/p>\n

    Chapter 3. A Smorgasbord of Dangers and Delights: The Phenomenology of Religious and Spiritual Experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Introduction
    \nMapping the Terrain of Religious and Spiritual Experiences
    \nBasic Distinctions in the Map
    \nExploring Shared Territory in More Detail
    \nConclusion<\/p>\n

    Chapter 4. Gateway to Ultimacy: The Importance of Intense Experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Introduction
    \nImmediate Responses to Intense Experiences
    \nFive Core Features of Intense Experiences
    \nThe Faces, Functions, and Cognitive Value of Intense Experiences
    \nEvolution and the Neurology of Intense Experiences
    \nConclusion<\/p>\n

    Chapter 5. Can You Trust Your Instincts? The Cognitive Reliability of Religious and Spiritual Experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Introduction
    \nDeepening the Reliability Question
    \nThe Perception Analogy
    \nAn Ecological-Semiotic Theory of Dynamic Engagement
    \nThe Reliability of Religious Perceptual Engagement
    \nConclusion<\/p>\n

    Chapter 6. The Brain-Group Nexus: The Social Power of Religious and Spiritual Experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Introduction
    \nA Dynamical Systems Approach to the Brain-Group Nexus
    \nDescribing All Equilibrium Social Arrangements since the Neolithic
    \nEvolutionary Origins of the Pre-Neolithic Equilibrium
    \nBehind the Ideological Curtain
    \nConclusion<\/p>\n

    Chapter 7. Make it Start, Make it Stop! Religious and Spiritual Experiences in the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Introduction
    \nPast Technologies, Transformed in the Present, Hurtling into the Future
    \nUnprecedented Technologies
    \nConclusion<\/p>\n

    Chapter 8. Brains in Bodies, Persons in Groups, and Religion in Nature: An Integrative Interpretation of Religious and Spiritual Experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Introduction
    \nFive Key Controversies
    \nFive Key Affirmations
    \nConclusion<\/p>\n

    Glossary of Key Terms<\/p>\n

    Works Cited<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Overview This book offers an interpretation of a diverse variety of religious and spiritual experiences, from the mundane to the shocking, from the terrifying to the sublime, and from the common to the exceptionally unusual. It carefully describes these experiences and offers a novel classification based on their neurological features and their internal qualities. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":329,"menu_order":50,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-323","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1299,"href":"https:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/323\/revisions\/1299"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wesleywildman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}