Conceptual Criticisms of Regressive Explanations of Mysticism

Regressive explanations of ego loss in mysticism assume a similarity of the mystical state to infant states. This similarity is misleading because mystics experience a process of ego loss leading to an undifferentiated unity while infant experiences of union are not by this process. Regressive expla...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of religious research
Main Author: Hood, Ralph W. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Springer 1976
In: Review of religious research
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Regressive explanations of ego loss in mysticism assume a similarity of the mystical state to infant states. This similarity is misleading because mystics experience a process of ego loss leading to an undifferentiated unity while infant experiences of union are not by this process. Regressive explanations of hallucinatory phenomena often experienced by mystics are also misleading as such phenomena are universally recognized as not properly part of the mystical experience. The relevance of these conceptual criticisms to empirical research is briefly noted.
ISSN:2211-4866
Contains:Enthalten in: Review of religious research
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3510609