Re: Reply on Religion and Marxism: 2

[Mervyn Hartwig <mh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim:

>I should point out that if we deny the
>cognitive value of mystical experiences
>as I do, there is no denying the importance
>of mystical experiences as empirical
>phenomena.

_You_ deny the cognitive value of such experiences, but of course the
_mystic_ doesn't. Your argument is based entirely on the categories of
analytical philosophy and of inductivist empiricism, which of course the
yogi would reject as one-sided (as would many marxists). (For a powerful
critique of the analytical problematic, see Bhaskar's *Dialectic: the
Pulse of Freedom*.)

You certainly did 'throw the book' at Gyan, but not the book of a
dialectician.

My own view is that there is epistemological stalemate re 'materialism'
vs 'idealism', atheism vs theism, etc ie re the existence of God or not.
And that, given stalemate, it is rational to trust your own experience,
i.e. if you have religious experiences, to believe in God; if not, not.


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Mervyn Hartwig
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