Mysticism, Miracle, and Mystery

Mysticism, Miracles, and Mystery

How are these three categories related? Are they connected in any way? I shall say not. Mysticism is the idea centrally that there is a way of knowing about the world that transcends ordinary human knowing with the senses and intellect—a way that only some people possess and which may require special training to achieve. The guru is such a person, often holy and bearded (generally male). Reality exists behind ordinary appearance and can only be apprehended by the gifted mystic to whom this hidden reality appears. It is a kind of localized epistemic optimism. It is not supposed that any other animal species possesses such privileged knowledge (the especially insightful guru pig, say). Miracles are supposed to be occurrences that defy the laws of nature and generally require a divine source; they are part of many orthodox religions. It is not supposed that any human being can know and understand the source of miracles—a kind of miracle mystic. The mystic may not believe in miracles at all; apparent miracles are regarded as intimations from beyond badly grasped by less insightful mortals. Mystics don’t perform miracles and alleged miracles don’t baffle mystics (they may well be rejected outright).

Mystery is another thing entirely: the mysterian rejects both miracles and mysticism. He denies the existence of miracles and postulates that their appearance is merely a result of human ignorance (or invention or fraud). Nature brooks no miracles. Nor does he welcome the idea of a superior special epistemic faculty such as mystics claim to possess. The limits of human knowledge are not surpassed by the gifted few. It isn’t that what is a mystery for you and me is an open book for the superior mystical mind. We are like other animals in this regard. The mysterian rejects special epistemic faculties and miraculous happenings (either unique or repeated). He regards the world as a (partially) closed book not legible to anyone of our species. He is a mystic-skeptic and a miracle-skeptic. He is also a minimalist-skeptic: he is skeptical about claims to have resolved especially recalcitrant problems or declare pseudo-problems. He is not sympathetic to attempts to minimize the difficulty of certain problems or to replace these problems with other more easily handled ones. The mysterian believes that we don’t know what we don’t know. The mystic might claim that he has special insight into the mind-body problem that resolves the mystery; the believer in miracles might announce that the mind-brain connection is a type of miracle; the mysterian thinks no one has the answer and that no miracle is involved. Nothing religious is going on here.