GRK 522: The Concept of Experience in European Religion and Theory of Religion and Its Influence on the Self-Understanding of Non-Western Religions

当代宗教哲学之所以对宗教经验的概念如此感兴趣，主要有两个原因。首先是宗教多元化的问题。对宗教经验的哲学探究——首先是世界上不同宗教的神秘传统——能否表明，在所有宗教的核心都存在着一种本质上是统一的经验？第二个原因源于休谟、康德之后宗教哲学的处境。他们批判的理性主义传统围绕着上帝存在的证据；但现在，经验的概念被视为对宗教信仰的解释和证明具有核心重要性。拟议的研究项目的目的是进行这一讨论。旨在阐明经验对于宗教的意义，以及经验概念在不同形式的宗教反思中的作用。从跨学科的角度来看，该项目可以分为两个主要部分。首先，通过宗教见证、神学、宗教哲学和宗教心理学，探究从古代起就在欧洲（包括整个英美）传统中发展起来的各种经验术语。这项研究有一个系统的意图：澄清不同形式的宗教经验的功能，以及宗教经验的复杂术语的功能。第二：调查欧洲经验术语对非西方宗教看待自身方式的影响。要做到这一点，需要问(a)概念在这个接受过程中的功能是什么，以及(b)它是如何以及为什么变化的。由此得出的结论将涉及到不同的宗教看待自己的方式以及宗教之间的相互理解。印度教和佛教的例子对这项调查尤其重要，因为这些宗教通过其各种冥想技术对欧洲产生了相当大的影响。

There are two main reasons why contemporary philosophy of religion is so interested in the concept of religious experience. The first is theproblem of religious pluralism. Can a philosophical inquiry intoreligious experience - above all the mystical traditions of thedifferent world religions - show that at the heart of all religionsthere lies an experience that is fundamentally one? The second reasonresults from the the situation of the philosophy of religion after Hume and Kant. The rationalistic tradition critized by them was centred around the proofs for God's existence; but now the concept of experience is seen as having central importance for the interpretation and justification of religious belief.The purpose of the proposed research project is to take up thisdiscussion. It aims to clarify the significance of experience forreligion and the function of the concept of experience in the differentforms of reflection on religion. From an interdisciplinary viewpoint, the project can be divided into two main sections. First: An inquiry into the diverse terminology of experience which - through religious testimonies, theology, and the philososphy and psychology of religion - has been developed in the European (including the whole Anglo-American) tradition since antiquity. This inquiry has a systematic intention: to clarify the function both of the different forms of experience for religion as lived, and of the complex terminolgy of experience for religion as reflected upon. Second: An investigation of the influence of the European terminology of experience on the way non-western religions see themselves. To do this requires asking (a) what the function of the concepts in this process of reception has been and (b) how and why it is changing. From this conclusions will emerge concerning the different ways religions see themselves and concerning the mutual understanding of religions. The example of Hinduism and Buddhism is especially important for this investigation, since these religions, through their various techniques of meditation, have exerted a considerable influence on Europe.