Natural Empiricism

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Empiricism has shaped the study of religion in many ways. In order to study the psychology of religion one must gain an understanding of the approaches taken to do so. Natural and radical empiricism plays an important role on these approaches. In this response paper natural and radical empiricism will be defined in terms of its approaches and consequently effect on the study of religion.

The basis of natural empiricism places sensory experience as its primary focus and all other factors as its secondary (Hood et al. 2010, 21). This reveals the first characteristic of natural empiricism, physical evidence. This characteristic reveals the scientific approach within natural empiricism which there shapes the study of religion (Hood et al. 2010, …show more content…
It is a form of empiricism that William James developed (Capps 2005, 21-22). The basis of this form of empiricism is the individual. Great emphasis is placed upon the experiences of the individual. The objectivity of natural empiricism is replaced with subjectivity (Capps 2005, 22). This is an important factor to note as it takes the study of religion on a different path in terms of what is deemed as evidence as well as the measurement of this evidence. Examples of what would therefore be considered evidence or data in radical empiricism include; emotions, beliefs and other aspects of the self that is not solely sensory (Capps 2005, …show more content…
This can be seen in his research done on mysticism (James 2002, 294-332). Within this study great emphasis was placed on personal experiences of mysticism and single case studies where outside influences such as community and religious institutions were left out (James 2002, 294-332). This can be seen in his four characteristics of mystic experiences, namely ineffable, noetic, transient and passive. Ineffable refers to the state in which the experience occurs; it is therefore described as a feeling rather than an understanding. Noetic refers what the experience has to give and James describes this as holding important insight. Transient refers to the length of times which is defined as short lived or cannot be experienced for long periods. Lastly, passive refers to the experience itself and that it does not occur out of the ordinary (James 2002, 295). These characteristics make the focus of the individual clear. This exposes a characteristic which can hinder the study of religion in terms of what is studied and its influences on individual’s beliefs (James 2002,
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