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Religious Experience

The Marks of Mystical Experience

  • 4 things to know
  • Component 1

Overview

Recall questions on William James's four marks of ineffability, noetic quality, transiency and passivity, and on Stace's extrovertive and introvertive mysticism and the place of doctrinal interpretation.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Define 'noetic quality' as a characteristic of mystical experience.

Key term

If mystical experiences are transient, how might they still have lasting impact?

Key term

What does Stace mean by describing mystical experience as 'non-sensuous and non-intellectual'?

Process

Explain transiency, and distinguish extrovertive from introvertive mysticism.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Name the first of William James's four characteristics of mystical experience.

    Model answer

    Ineffability.

  2. 2

    What is the second characteristic of mystical experience according to William James?

    Model answer

    Noetic quality.

  3. 3

    Identify the third characteristic James attributed to mystical experiences.

    Model answer

    Transiency.

  4. 4

    What is the fourth characteristic of mystical experience in James's analysis?

    Model answer

    Passivity.

  5. 5

    What does 'ineffability' mean in the context of mystical experience?

    Model answer

    That mystical experiences defy adequate expression in language and cannot be fully communicated to others who have not had similar experiences.

  6. 6

    Why might someone who has had a mystical experience struggle to share it with others?

    Model answer

    Because of ineffability, the experience defies adequate expression in language and cannot be fully communicated to those who have not had similar experiences.

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