Introducing an existential-phenomenological approach: Basic phenomenological theory and research–Part I

What is often referred to as the existential approach to counselling and psychotherapy may be defined as the application of existential-phenomenological philosophy towards psychotherapeutic ends, in which individual practitioners choose how to apply their readings of the leading authors. The first of this two-part exposition introduces a form of ‘experiential’ philosophy called phenomenology, a regular experiential method that is in many ways antithetical to the conventional scientific approach. This first paper concentrates on one of the many successive definitions of phenomenology given by Husserl, the philosopher of science, in 1927, with help from his ex-student Heidegger. In the second paper, phenomenology is brought to bear on human experience, and it is Heidegger in Being and Time who added it to the writings of the earlier existentialists Kierkegaard and Nietzsche; to produce existential psychology and philosophy. Also in the second part, three forms of existential therapy are briefly mentioned. This first paper introduces a handful of key ideas for counselling psychologists, and illustrates how philosophical work is an inherent part of life, as well as the production and use of psychological knowledge.     

The Body in the Psychology of Religion

Hutch's position that psychology of religion has neglected the mortal body is affirmed but reinterpreted. Although it may be true that psychology has adopted as postmodern bias toward defining the human being as primarily cognitive, it is less true that the psychology of religion has been unaware of how religion emerges from the experience of living. Noting that Hutch could be understood as a modern Romantic, I reinterpret, in an alternate frame- work, his contention that reexperiencing the sexuality and mortality of the body will reinstate eros into the psychology of religion. The I story model of Donald McKay and the existential paradigm of Reinhold Niebuhr are of- fered as reconceptions of what Hutch is proposing. These theorists state Hutch's position in ways that allow for a more substantive picture of what religion is and how it emerges from the life process.     

Introducing an existential-phenomenological approach Part 2—theory for practice

Part one of this paper concentrated on phenomenological theory and research. This second section seeks to describe how existential-phenomenological therapy developed, and how the concepts apply in sessions. This direction for therapy could be called making conscious the preconscious, in the production of new information by reinterpreting the same scenes and experiences. This approach is compared to the psychoanalytic style of working. The existential-phenomenological approaches of Binswanger, Boss and Sartre, three key existential writers, are briefly mentioned, each of which evolved from the work of Husserl, Heidegger and Freud. But much detail is omitted in the aim of providng a succinct overview. This paper shows part of the sources of counselling and humanistic psychotherapy in the existential critique of psychoanalysis.     

Indian Spirituality: How Relevant is Pargament’s Framework?

The psychology of religion and spirituality is a topic of increasing interest in India as well as in the West. An internationally influential framework for defining religion and spirituality has been developed by US psychologist Kenneth Pargament, who conceptualizes spirituality and religion as search processes related to sacred realities. Pargament’s framework has been found to resonate across multiple cultures and has guided and informed empirical research in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim populations. The present paper argues that Pargament’s framework can also coherently resonate with Hinduism and other indigenous Indian religious beliefs and practices. We conclude that future studies of religion and spirituality in Indian contexts may benefit by framing their investigations with reference to Pargament’s approach. Such framing need not be uncritical and would help bring Indian psychology of spirituality/religion in closer contact with psychology of spirituality/religion in other parts of the world, benefiting both India and the worldwide psychology of religion and spirituality.     

The rationality of faith and the benefits of religion

Religions don’t simply make claims about the world; they also offer existential resources, resources for dealing with basic human problems, such as the need for meaning, love, identity, and personal growth. For instance, a Buddhist’s resources for addressing these existential needs are different than a Christian’s. Now, imagine someone who is agnostic but who is deciding whether to put faith in religion A or religion B. Suppose she thinks A and B are evidentially on par, but she regards A as offering much more by way of existential resources. Is it epistemically rational for her to put her faith in A rather than B on this basis? It is natural to answer No. After all, what do the existential resources of a religion have to do with its truth? However, I argue that this attitude is mistaken. My thesis is that the extent to which it is good for a certain religion to be true is relevant to the epistemic (rather than merely pragmatic) rationality of faith in that religion. This is plausible, I’ll argue, on the correct account of the nature of faith, including the ways that emotion and desire can figure into faith and contribute to its epistemic rationality.     

Sources of “relational homes”: a qualitative study of cancer survivors’ perceptions of emotional support

The aim of this article is to shed light on the different ways in which a group of Danish cancer survivors fulfil their need of emotional support. The study comprised participant observation at a Danish cancer rehabilitation centre, individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews with course participants. The analytical process combined the inductive approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis with a deductive theoretical strategy. Key concepts from Robert D. Stolorow's existential-phenomenological trauma theory were used as interpretative framework. Findings suggest that cancer survivors’ perception of emotional support is captured by the theoretical concept a “relational home,” understood here as a supportive and caring environment. A relational home may include different dimensions in various situations and contexts, including an existential and metaphysical dimension in which God/a higher power may provide emotional support similar to that obtained in human relationships.     

American Psychology of Religion and the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

It is doubtful whether there ever has been a rise‐fall‐rebirth of the psychology of religion. While the claim has marginal merit for American academic psychology, it has little application in other cultures or even within American psychology of religion outside mainstream psychology. The psychology of religion has always been and remains tied to key individuals who sustain the field. This historical fact is important in understanding the role of the JSSR in the field. Early psychologists of religion such as Hall and James set the pattern for two distinctively different approaches to the psychology of religion. Hall's approach was methodologically restrictive, inherently reductive, and came to dominate the academic psychology of religion. James ‘approach was methodological plural, receptive to the evidential force of religious experience, and quickly marginalized within American psychology. These opposing orientation continue to influence the psychology of religion in societies such as the SSR and its journal. A review of the psychologist editors of JSSR illustrates that the psychology of religion remains a marginal interest of mainstream psychology. It survives because of the interdisciplinary nature of the SSSR and its journal.     

Postmodern ontology,anthropology, and religion

This article analyses some changes produced in the contemporary ‘postmodern’ self and its consequences for the anthropological study of religion. In this regard, these changes influence deeply the way we westerners represent our ontological structure, and approach other religious systems and ontologies, due to the current processes of globalisation and transnationalisation, the notion of Self often fluctuates between an old stable, autonomous, maximiser (condensed) self and a dispersed, multivocal one. It is argued here that traditional anthropological analyses of religion lack this critical and reflexive awareness. For that reason, cultural phenomena such as shamanism, sorcery, and many forms of religious and cosmological syncretisms, are frequently approached from a distant, naturalistic viewpoint In this paper a more existential view of religion is proposed; it approaches the observer to the observed, opening up his/her assumptions about the ‘order of things’. A collection of notions, such as critical hermeneutics, critical intersubjectivity, dialectics, and ontological language is discussed, to build a fresh inquiry into the realms of numinous life.     

The imp of the reverse: A phenomenology of the unconscious

The debate regarding the unitary versus multiple nature of the human person is examined with special attention to the division between conscious and unconscious. The roots of the unconscious are traced to the experience of alienation or feeling divided within. An existential analysis is provided in order to shed light on the nature of the unconscious. The experience of feeling divided within is explained as a metaphor that is taken literally. An existential-phenomenological explanation of the unconscious is provided which preserves the essential unity of the human person.     

Taking spiritual experiences seriously in the religious education classroom: a transrational approach

ABSTRACT

Spiritual experiences are common across religious and non-religious faiths, but schoolchildren are often afraid to share these because they fear ridicule from peers who are convinced religion is irrational. The need to speak about spirituality in religious education is increasingly recognised. Signposts suggests that intercultural understanding implies recognising religious students’ perception of reality and helping others understand it. Religious education in Norway now includes exploration of existential questions as a core element, and in England, making sense of religious, spiritual and mystical experiences has been suggested as a big idea. In this paper, we discuss how the dualistic paradigm of modern science makes it difficult to take spirituality seriously as lived experience and empirical phenomenon. Instead we suggest a transrational approach to explore our multidimensional reality in an intercultural dialogue where insiders and outsiders learn from each other. We also explore examples of transrational research on spiritual phenomena.     

A History of Psychology of Religion in the West: Implications for Theory and Method

The study of religion in Western psychology has an interesting history that provides many lessons for future attempts to understand the spiritual aspects of human experience. In the past, psychologists have typically operated from one of three paradigms in their study of religion: (1) hermeneutic–phenomenological, (2) positivistic naturalism, and (3) religious integration. Each of these paradigms has a number of important theoretical assumptions and a preferred set of methodologies that offer significant advantages and disadvantages. The paradigm of positivistic naturalism, with its emphasis on quantitative questionnaire methodology, has been the most influential but also the least helpful in generating new ideas for the psychological understanding of religion, particularly as it is practiced in non-Western contexts. A historical survey of the other competing paradigms offers many insights and practical suggestions about how research in the psychology of religion might proceed in the twenty-first century.     

The Psychology of Religion and the Concept of Revelation

It is argued that the psychology of religion should be seen as interacting with theology in a broader way than is usual at present, especially in relation to the concept of revelation. Examination of revelatory experiences, especially Christ’s resurrection appearances, may be seen in terms of this broader interaction not only as solving certain historical puzzles, but as bringing to fruition Arthur Peacocke's hope for application to spiritual experience of understandings of divine action that have been developed within the science–theology dialogue. The pluralistic implications of this approach are examined, and the possibilities open to psychologists in relation to both interpretation and research strategies are outlined. It is stressed that what is required is not simply interdisciplinarity, as this is usually understood, but transdisciplinarity of the kind that questions the boundaries and methodologies accepted by specialists in one or other of the disciplines concerned.     

Human agency in the twenty-first century: the views of P. S. Davies,R. Niebuhr,and A. N. Whitehead

With neuroscience and psychology making significant advances in contemporary brain research, fundamental questions concerning the nature of human life and activity will become evermore critical as we proceed further into the twenty-first century. Put simply, are we creatures who exercise some genuine degree of freedom and agency in the world or are we creatures whose actions are largely if not wholly determined by biological, neurological, and psychological factors far below the radar of our conscious awareness? This article explores this important and timely question by examining the views of Paul Sheldon Davies, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Alfred North Whitehead. Drawing on contemporary science, Davies dismisses Niebuhr’s existential analysis of human existence and any meaningful conception of human agency. Succinctly stated, can one take both the results of contemporary neuroscience seriously, as Davies does, and the affirmation of human agency seriously, as Niebuhr does? The thesis of this essay is that Whitehead offers a constructive bridge between Davies’ affirmation of science and Niebuhr’s existential account of human existence. In sum, it is argued that Whitehead’s process philosophy enables us to affirm the genuine influence of nonconscious factors in experience as well as the authenticity of human agency and subjectivity in the world.     

Emotion and Religion Revisited: A Response to O'Connor and Averill

O'Connor is critical of Watts' suggestion that emotion can serve as a model for religion. The proposal arises from recent developments in the psychology of emotion that emphasize that it is socially embedded and dependent on processes of interpretation. Similar points have been made about religion: Neither religion nor emotion are purely private matters. More generally, it is urged that there be stronger links between general psychology and the psychology of religion, and also that the psychology of religion be broadened to include a two-way dialogue between theology and psychology. Averill's point is accepted that emotional experience is too much shaped by religion to be allowed to validate it. As a contribution to Averill's question about emotions in the afterlife, points are made about the bodily aspect of the afterlife, the emotions of God, and redeemed emotions.     

The experience of ‘healing stories’ in the life narrative: A grounded theory

‘healing stories' are part of an emergent narrative literature in psychology and counselling. This research explored the subjective experience of ‘healing stories’ within the context of individual's life narratives. A grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) method of analysis was used to generate and analyse six participant's life narratives. Analysis of these accounts revealed three categories. The first is the context of struggle that preceded the healing process. participants told of struggle in their relationships with others as well as turmoil in their experience of themselves. The second category, the healing process reflected the participants' growing awareness of life's existential givens (Yalom, 1980). This represented a personal exploration that opened lparticipants to a ‘healing story’ that offered them an insight into choices and possibilities for liberation. The third category illustrated that in the ongoing struggle the ‘healing story’ has continued to provide inspiration in the participants' lived experience as an ‘evoked companion’ (Stern, 1985). This research posited a core dynamic whereby participants' experience of their ‘healing story’ provided not only an initial inspiration that was healing but also, in their ongoing struggle, the ‘healing story’ continued to inspire their lived experience.     

THE POLITICAL NATURE OF DOCTRINE: A CRITIQUE OF LINDBECK IN LIGHT OF RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

This article argues that the power of religion to shape experience presupposes the mobilization of religious identity through social opposition. This thesis is developed through a critique of George Lindbeck's The Nature of Doctrine. The article first examines Lindbeck's thesis that religion shapes experience in light of Talal Asad's critique of Geertz's concept of religion. It argues that in order to understand how ‘religion’ shapes experience we must look outside the immanent sphere of cultural‐religious meaning that Lindbeck, following Geertz, identifies with ‘religion’. Religious authority ultimately derives from the recognition of a social group. Next, looking at the nature of doctrine in light of Kathryn Tanner's thesis that Christian identity is essentially relational, it argues that church doctrines function to mobilize group identity through social opposition. In this respect they resemble the mobilizing slogans of political discourse more than, as Lindbeck's theory proposes, the grammatical rules governing Wittgensteinian language games.     

ʿAbdolkarim Soroush’s Approach to ‘Experience’ as a Basis for His Reform Project

During the past few decades, many Muslim scholars and reformers have established new principles of reform through various hermeneutical approaches towards primary sources of Islam. Thus, Islamic thought, like any other religious tradition, has undergone a process of development in the modern period and will surely continue to do so in the future. ?Abdolkarim Soroush (b. 1945) is undoubtedly one of the most influential religious reformers in contemporary Iran and he has gained an international reputation. One of the central ideas that consistently appear throughout Soroush’s writings is that religion can be linked to a type of human ‘experience’, a theme that has long been the concern of Western scholars of religion. This article argues that the theme of experience became the fundamental element in two aspects of Soroush’s reform project, namely his approach to qur’anic rulings and his philosophy of religious pluralism. Indeed, the article shows that Soroush’s conception of revelation as a religious experience of the Prophet Muhammad is not only confined to a theological depiction of God’s relation to humanity, but also has legal and social implications for approaching Islam in the context of the present time.     

In Search of a More Reliable Truth: Mourning and Donald Capps’s Psychological Portrait of Jesus

This article is an abridged version of a chapter in my dissertation. In my dissertation, I examine the relationship between personal experience and public theory within certain strands of contemporary psychology of religion and pastoral theology. My guiding theory is Peter Homans’s “mourning religion” thesis. In this chapter, I examine the life and work of Donald Capps, who is the most prolific contemporary writer in the fields of psychology of religion and pastoral theology. I argue that Capps addressed various personal losses in a deeply personal way during his fifties, and I believe that the key moment for Capps in overcoming his melancholia occurred after his application of his melancholia theory to Jesus, because there Capps was able to integrate and to sustain in a satisfying way his various selves and, therefore, open himself up to mourn in a non-defensive way—the way of humor.     

Why Durkheim really thought that Buddhism was a ‘religion’ (in memoriam Massimo Rosati)

ABSTRACT

In The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, and in ‘On the Definition of Religious Phenomena,' Durkheim famously asserted both that Buddhism was a ‘religion' and an ‘atheistic' one at that. Why he did so is a problem long-considered settled. Of two possible answers, one is commonplace, while the other is uncommon and consequential. I shall attempt to explicate Durkheim's uncommon and far- reaching, but overlooked, reasons for declaring atheistic Buddhism a ‘religion.' This essay concurs with Martin Southwold that Durkheim believed – wrongly – that religion was ‘monothetic' class, when, in fact, it was ‘polythetic.' In order to admit Buddhism as a ‘religion,' Durkheim discovered that he had to apply different criteria for defining Buddhism as ‘religion’ than to theistic religions. Buddhism did not radiate dynamogenic force or induce a sense of existential dependence. Buddhism was a religion because it was an agent in making a meaningful life.