Abstract
In this chapter the experience of coming into the presence of persons is sharply distinguished from an inference, using an argument by analogy, that there are “other minds.” The putative necessity for such an argument stems from an acceptance of a certain philosophical “picture,” and this chapter makes clear that this “picture” need not be assumed and in no way informs the experience of coming into the presence of persons. In the same way in this chapter the experience of coming into the presence of God is distinguished from the teleological argument for God’s existence. Also in this chapter, two further points of analogy between coming into the presence of persons and coming into the presence of God are discussed. One relates to coming into the presence of God and coming into the presence of all persons. The other relates to what prevents the discovery of the inherent worth of persons and what prevents the discovery of the Being of God. Often, it is argued, it may be the same state of mind.
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Notes
- 1.
Rowan Williams, Being Human (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2018), p. 32.
- 2.
John Stuart Mill, An Examination of Sir William Hamilton’s Philosophy, 1865, in Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, vol. 9, ed. J. M. Robson (Toronto and Buffalo, NY: University of Toronto Press, 1979), pp. 191–192, 205n, and 369n.
- 3.
Alvin Plantinga, God and Other Minds: A Study of the Rational Justification of Belief in God (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1967), p. 271.
- 4.
Josiah Royce, The Religious Aspect of Philosophy (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1968), p. 155.
- 5.
Herbert Fingarette, Self-Deception, in Studies in Philosophical Psychology, ed. R. F. Holland (New York: Humanities Press, 1969), pp. 28 and 67 (emphasis deleted).
- 6.
Alan Drengson, “Critical Notice: Herbert Fingarette, Self-Deception,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy, vol. 3, 1974, p. 482.
- 7.
Amelie O. Rorty, “Belief and Self-Deception,” Inquiry, vol. 15, 1972, p. 395.
- 8.
John of Ruysbroeck, The Book of Supreme Truth, Chapters 5 and 6, in John of Ruysbroeck, The Adornment of Spiritual Marriage, The Sparkling Stone, The Book of Supreme Truth, trans. C. A. Wynschenk Dom, ed. Evelyn Underhill (London: J. M. Dent & Sons; New York: Dutton, 1916), pp. 233 and 234 [electronic resource]. Other variants of John of Ruysbroeck’s name are John Ruusbroec and Jan van Ruysbroeck.
- 9.
St. John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul, trans. and ed. E. Allison Peers (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Image Books, 1959), p. 59.
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Kellenberger, J. (2019). The Presence of Persons and the Presence of God. In: The Presence of God and the Presence of Persons. Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25045-4_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25045-4_12
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