Religious and Spiritual Experiences

Description

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? Wesley Wildman addresses these key intellectual questions and more, offering a spiritually evocative naturalist interpretation of the diverse variety of religious and spiritual experiences. He describes these experiences, from the common to the exceptional, and offers innovative classifications for them based on their neurological features and internal qualities. His account avoids reductionistic oversimplifications and instead synthesizes perspectives from many disciplines, including philosophy and natural sciences, 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 but incorporates religious and spiritual experiences into a positive affirmation of this-worldly existence.

Wesley J. Wildman is Associate Professor of Philosophy, Theology and Ethics at Boston University, where he directs the doctoral program in Religion and Science. His previous recent publications include Religious Philosophy as Multidisciplinary Comparative Inquiry (2010) and Science and Religious Anthropology (2009).