Emotion in mystical experience
This study is a critique of three assumptions that have significantly shaped the neuropsychological study of mystical experience: (a) intense positive emotion, especially ecstasy, is the defining feature of mystical experience; (b) abnormal temporolimbic activity, particularly epileptiform activity,...
| Published in: | Religion, brain & behavior |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2013
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| In: |
Religion, brain & behavior
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| Further subjects: | B
Deification
B temporal lobe B Mysticism B ecstatic seizure B Maximos B neuropathography B Symeon the New Theologian B Neurotheology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This study is a critique of three assumptions that have significantly shaped the neuropsychological study of mystical experience: (a) intense positive emotion, especially ecstasy, is the defining feature of mystical experience; (b) abnormal temporolimbic activity, particularly epileptiform activity, is the central mediating factor or cause of mystical experience; and (c) mystical experience resembles and is possibly the same as the emotional and perceptual phenomena associated with ecstatic seizures. The assumptions will be treated collectively as the "temporolimbic model" of mystical experience. The discrepancy in the prevalence of ecstatic seizures and of mystical experience is discussed. A theory exemplifying the temporolimbic model is critiqued. Emotion in mystical experience is compared with ictal affect and ictal pleasure. A phenomenological analysis of a mystical account written by Symeon the New Theologian (AD 949-1022) is presented as a counterexample to the temporolimbic model. The conclusion is that the temporolimbic model is inadequate for explaining the actual features of mystical experience, and particularly ill-suited for identifying and describing emotion in mystical experience. Future studies in the neuropsychology of mystical experience would benefit from adopting an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates the analysis of traditional mystical accounts. |
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| ISSN: | 2153-5981 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion, brain & behavior
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2012.703004 |