Philosophy Discussion 6

Your answers to each of these questions should be at least one paragraph (6-7 sentences) long, and it should show some thoughtful consideration regarding the matters raised in the questions.  Your total set of answers to these questions needs to be at least 200 words.  Also, when you reply to these questions, be sure to insert the letter for each question next to your answer corresponding to that question.

You will also need to reply to at least two students.  When you reply to another student, you do not need to reply to that student's answers to every single question for this week.  You can just pick their reply to one question and reply to their answer to that question.  Your replies to other students should be at least 100 words long each.

A. This week you read about a few mystical experiences that people have claimed to have had.  For instance, you read about one in the book of Isaiah in the Bible and one from St. Teresa of Avila.  Describe these experiences briefly.  Last, do you think that it is really plausible to believe that these people had these experiences?  Why or why not?

B. This week one of the things that you thought about was the argument from mystical experiences for believing in God.   This argument says that you can know that God exists simply by having an experience of Him in your heart.  What do you think of this?  Is it plausible or implausible?

C. One of the questions that Kierkegaard challenges a person to ask regarding believing in God is this.  He says a person should ask themselves, “Can my life have meaning and purpose apart from faith in God?”  What do you think of that question?  Do you think that a person’s life can have meaning and purpose apart from believing in God?  Why or why not?

D. Over the course of the previous weeks, we have looked at lots of different approaches to the topic of God’s existence.  In Week 3 we looked at arguments for God’s existence.  In Week 4, we look at some objections to God’s existence.  In Week 5 we looked at Pascal who offered up a pragmatic argument for believing in God even if you are not sure of the evidence.  And, in Week 6, we looked at how mystics approach God’s existence.  Which of these approaches do you think is the most plausible?  Explain your view.  Which of these approaches do you think is the least plausible?  Explain your view.