The Evidential Force of Religious Experience

This study examines the nature of religious experiences and whether they can be used as evidence for religious beliefs. Davis discusses the important philosophical issues raised by religious experience, such as the role of models and metaphors in descriptions of religious experience, and the way experiences in general are used as evidence for claims about the world. Using contemporary and classic sources from the world religions, she gives an account of different types of religious experience and, drawing extensively on psychological and sociological as well as philosophical literature, deals with skeptical challenges about religious experiences.