biology

Rational mysticism

Rational mysticism is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Rational mysticism rather than just read about it. In short: Rational mysticism, which encompasses both rationalism and mysticism, is a term used by scholars, researchers, and other intellectuals, some of whom engage in studies of how altered states of consciousness or transcendence such as trance, visions, and prayer occur. Lines of investigation include historical and philosophical inquiry as well as scientific inquiry within such fields as neurophysiology and psychology.

Key takeaways

Rational mysticism belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Rational mysticism to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Rational mysticism from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Rational mysticism, which encompasses both rationalism and mysticism, is a term used by scholars, researchers, and other intellectuals, some of whom engage in studies of how altered states of consciousness or transcendence such as trance, visions, and prayer occur. Lines of investigation include historical and philosophical inquiry as well as scientific inquiry within such fields as neurophysiology and psychology.

Overview The term "rational mysticism" was in use at least as early as 1911 when it was the subject of an article by Henry W. Clark in the Harvard Theological Review. In a 1924 book, Rational Mysticism, theosophist William Kingsland correlated rational mysticism with scientific idealism. South African philosopher J. N. Findlay frequently used the term, developing the theme in Ascent to the Absolute and other works in the 1960s and 1970s. Columbia University pragmatist John Herman Randall, Jr. characterized both Plotinus and Baruch Spinoza as “rationalists with overtones of rational mysticism” in his 1970 book Hellenistic Ways of Deliverance and the Making of Christian Synthesis. Rice University professor of religious studies Jeffrey J. Kripal, in his 2001 book Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom, defined rational mysticism as “not a contradiction in terms” but “a mysticism whose limits are set by reason.” In response to criticism of his book The End of Faith, author Sam Harris used the term rational mysticism for the title of his rebuttal. University of Pennsylvania neurotheologist Andrew Newberg has been using nuclear medicine brain imaging in similar research since the early 1990s. Executive editor of Discover magazine Corey S. Powell, in his 2002 book, God in the Equation, attributed the term to Albert Einstein: “In creating his radical cosmology, Einstein stitched together a rational mysticism, drawing on—but distinct from—the views that came before.” Science writer John Horgan interviewed and profiled James Austin, Terence McKenna, Michael Persinger, Christian Rätsch, Huston Smith, Ken Wilber, Alexander Shulgin and others for Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the Border Between Science and Spirituality, his 2003 study of “the scientific quest to explain the transcendent.”

See also Analytic philosophy Gnosis Henosis Philosophy of Baruch Spinoza Platonism Pythagoreanism Relationship between religion and science Sociology of scientific knowledge

References

External links John A. Buehrens (12 October 2003). "On Being a Rational Mystic" (PDF). Sermon on First Parish Needham Unitarian Universalist website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2011. To be a rational mystic is always to be something of a heretic…

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rational mysticism

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Rational mysticism claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Rational mysticism before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Rational mysticism ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Rational mysticism

In research: Rational mysticism appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Rational mysticism in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Rational mysticism is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Epistemology of religion, Mysticism, Neoplatonism, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rational mysticism outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Rational mysticism in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Rational mysticism means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Rational mysticism out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rational mysticism in simple terms?

Why does Rational mysticism matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Rational mysticism?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Rational mysticism.