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Donovan Essay Liz Smith Examine the argument/interpretation in the extract (30) The extract given comes from Peter Donavon’s article ‘Can We Know God by Experience’ which explores the idea of intuition and questions how valuable religious experience is in claiming knowledge of God. This knowledge is referred to Donovan as an inner conviction or intuitive certainty. Donovan’s aim in his article is to establish whether this sense of knowing God can withstand criticism and challenges proposed by philosophers or whether knowing God by experience simply amounts to a ‘great illusion’. Throughout the extract, Donovan states that if you really experience God you don’t have to argue as you know he is real ‘and that’s all there is to it’. This question suggests that people who have had these experiences don’t need to argue to prove them and there isn’t a need to convince other people as it is a personal encounter. The phrase ‘that’s all there is to it’ is supported by GE Moore who stated that ‘if you ask me what is good, I say good is good and that is the end of the matter’. This explores the way in which philosophy and philosophers have embraced the use of intuition. Religious Experiences are encounters with the divine. They are non-empirical occurrences that bring with it an awareness of something beyond ourselves and so for believers, this experience is the most convincing proof of Gods existence. Donovan argues that there are ‘varieties of religious experience’ which include conversion experiences, public and private experiences, visitory and auditory experiences. Donovan describes the experience as an inner conviction which he later on identifies as faith and intuition. HP Owen argues that religious experience can also be a genuine source of knowledge that comes from intuition as opposed to reason or argument. God is known to us through an intuitive awareness by the individual. Owen said that intuition is an important aspect of human insight which enables us to make sense of the things that surround us, out human intuition helps us to grasp the reality of God as the divine creator far more than reason or inference could. Owen stated that ‘…the sense of god’s reality can …be produced by contemplation of beauty and order in nature’. This view can be criticised as one can often feel certain without actually being right, just because we have intuition that something is true, doesn’t always mean that it is. Being right is not about how we feel; it is about how our belief matches the known circumstances. Intuition is simply unreliable and is certainly not a guide to genuine truth and knowledge. Bertrand Russell supported this idea and put forward the example of being in love with someone. We often feel that out intuition tells us about the other person and their love for us but often, we can be sadly misled by our intuition. Donovan’s article is based on the premise that the sense of knowledge of God is sufficient enough to render the argument unnecessary. Nonetheless he observes that there is a ‘risky business’ as it involves the experient claiming they know something for which they cannot give good reasons. The experient is likely to be faced with challenges from others who haven’t had a similar experience and who may incline this experience to be little more than a blik, which was proposed by RM Hare The claim to know God by religious experience is ‘a risky business’ e.g. Nicky Cruz’s conversion from the gang lord of one of the most violent gangs in New York to s world renowned evangelist could not have come without it risks, as he faced his old gang members. These risks may be exposed by the principles of testimony and credulity which was put forward by Richard Swinburne. Although Swinburne is opposed to automatic scepticism because people are inclined to tell the truth except for the cases where mental health issues, alcohol and drugs may be present , therefore we shouldn’t question peoples accounts of an event or experience without good reason to do so. Later on in the passage Donovan states that we should be prepared to be critical about our intuition on the basis that experience reveals that it is not always reliable and we do sometimes have to be critical and cautious about using it alone, although it may contribute to knowledge that we already have. Furthermore Ayer suggested that we may be intuitively certain to one person may be doubtful or even false to another, leading them to reject intuition altogether. In the case of religious experience there can be no decisive proof to support and individuals claim and so the experient takes a risk when they base their life I such an unsupported claim. Donovan refers to how both ‘tyrants and dictators’ and ‘ordinary people’ have often claimed they know ‘the most irrational and misguided things…with apparent certainty’ and can see through historical events how this can be the case e.g. in modern times the former president of the USA George Bush claimed that God told him to go to war against the Taliban. Paul Hill, the martyr of the Army of God, was operating on an insane blik and was ‘confused by ignorance and prejudice’ and so thought that God called on him to murder and abortion doctor and maintained until his death that he was fulfilling the word of God that he had received through and religious experience. It has been noted that even spiritual leaders such as the Pope have cited direct experience and knowledge of God in order to address contemporary issues such as abortion. These apparent revelations of Gods will has a real impact in our world , are we content to accept that whatever intuitions lead the Pope to make these judgements are sound? Donovan seems to assume that we are able to recognise when people act in such ways out of ‘insanity or arrogant irresponsibility’ and if this is the case, we should be able to make genuinely evaluative judgements about peoples claim to know God by religious experience. Donovan observes that despite the risks that are associated with the claim of having a religious experience, religious believers feel they have the right to say they have this certain intuitive knowledge of God. It could be asked by some, why do believers feel that they have this right? Donovan proposes that they obtain this right because it is ‘consistent with the teachings in the bible’ which is ‘particularly attractive to Christians’. Donovan establishes strong grounds for intuition as valuable tool for acquiring knowledge, including the means by which we make moral judgements. The examples that he puts forward throughout the article of everyday intuition show us that we do know what intuition is, we should take seriously the possibility of intuitive knowledge because we have intuitive knowledge of other things, such as that we have two hands and we know that 2+2=4. he uses further examples in his article that reinforce our conviction that we do, at least, recognise the feeling of intuition and cities Russell’s example of intuitive knowledge of other people as the closest analogy we have of intuitive knowledge of God. In conclusion, Donovan asks can we really have intuitive knowledge of God in the same way as we have everyday intuitions. If intuitive knowledge of God is foundational then sense of knowing God will need no further argument and if not then it will need to be justified by other evidence or arguments. B) Do you agree? Justify your view and discuss the implications for religion and human experience (20) The key question which Donovan explores is how far claims to know God by intuition through religious experience can be said to offer knowledge of God which requires no further evidence or additional arguments. Donovan explores how reliable in itself intuition can be as acting a form of knowledge and whether the feeling of certainty is valid for claiming that we actually do know what we intuit. I believe that religious experiences are a strong, convincing proof of Gods existence. it is logical that a personal, omni-benevolent God would want to interact with His children and make Himself known to those who seek him . Richard Swinburnes argument is that God reveals himself in order to intervene personally in the lives of individuals out of his love towards them. He said that ‘An omnipotent and perfectly good creator will seek to interact with his creatures’. I completely agree with Swinburne’ s response to religious experience and think that he is right to suggest, through his principles of credulity and testimony, that we should, unless we have a strong reason too, believe what people say to us as we are naturally inclined to tell the truth and often have little reason to lie. Swinburne claims that the sheer weight of testimony should be enough proof of the experience validity: ‘I suggest that the overwhelming testimony of so many millions if people to occasional experience of God… be taken as tipping the balance of evidence decisively in favour of the existence of God’ It is obvious that not every testimony of a religious experience is true and there are some implications associated with this article and the views expressed. The implications of Donavon’s argument depends on how prepared and open mined we are towards religious experience which leads to intuitive knowledge of God. Richard Dawkins would claim that testimonies of religious experience are the manifestation of mental or psychological needs and that religion is just merely an illusion created by the human brain which enables us to cope with the fear of death and unknown. Dawkins expressed his views though saying that ‘if you’ve had such an experience, you may well find yourself believing firmly that it was real. But don’t expect the rest of us to take your word for it, especially if we have the slightest familiarity with the brain and its powerful thinking’. Some philosopher’s take Dawkins stance even further and argue that we only take testimonies if religious experiences seriously because of the sheer numbers of them. Sam Harris observed: ‘we have names for people who have many beliefs for which there is no rational justification. When their beliefs are extremely common we call them ‘religious’, otherwise they are likely to be called ‘mad’, ‘psychotic’ or ‘delusional’’. Donovan often refers to the role of philosophy in investigating the value of religious experience, which has implications for the function of philosophy and its relationship with religion and belief. Donavon recognises that philospohy raises important challenge to religious experience as a source of knowledge of God, unlike Ayer, he doesn’t imply that philosophy should reject its claim altogether. Whilst Ayer speaks scathingly of philosophers who fallaciously still consider religious experience to be a valid argument for the existence of God, Donovan observes that many modern philosophers are religious believers and they will seek to ensure that their arguments support religious experience and offer knowledge of God. Therefore the implications for philosophy lie clear. The religious philosophers must recognise their loyalty and responsibility, but they are almost certain not to please everybody. In conclusion, religious experiences, in my opinion offer a strong stance on proving God. Yes they are not empirically verifiable, then again neither is love, but we still accept the existence of it and people who claim to be in love aren’t perceived to be mad. For those individuals who have experience God, there lives have been dramatically changed and therefore they have all the proof that they need. Even Dawkins has stated ‘the argument from personal experience is the on that is most convincing to those who claim to have had one’. There is still however an issue with other people who lack this divine experience believing testimonies and Dawkins further stated that ‘it is the least convincing to anyone else…’.