Psychology and Phenomenology of Religious Experiences - Investigations Into Religious Experiences and Arguments Against Epistemological Reductionism

Starting from a defense against New Atheist critiques of Religion, this thesis explores religious experiences from the perspectives of both psychological as well as phenomenological scholars. First, I criticize the epistemological reductionism which is implied by both the New Atheists as well as some of their opponents. I then move on to presenting subjective accounts of truth used in Pragmatism and Phenomenology, as an alternative to rationalist, third-person accounts of truth. Several writings of William James are discussed, including parts of his infamous book The Varieties of Religious Experience. I present an argument for framing Phenomenology as a method of psychological research. What follows is the presentation of three phenomenological analyses of religious experiences, which are supposed to highlight their polymorphic nature: Chrétien’s The Wounded Word, Marion’s The Saturated Phenomenon, as well as Rudolf Otto’s The Idea of the Holy. The ultimate aim of this investigation is to find a way to combine Science and Religion into a worldview in which they can coexist.