主觀的客觀研究或是客觀的主觀研究？

Abstract

「台灣宗教經驗調查」(REST)的結果，可為試圖進行科學宗教研究的西方學者提供有激勵性的挑戰。一般學者的通常認知是，宗教經驗不過是信仰者參與帶有崇拜神或超越者的社會儀式。除了少數特例之外，社會科學家直到最近為止總是忽視人的主觀經驗。本論文即是要反思社會科學的侷限，申論社會現象在本質上即是客觀與主觀的建構過程。本論文強調，縱然我們需要嚴肅看待個人的經驗陳述，我們也必須檢視激發或貶抑主觀經驗諸如社會變遷等因素的客觀脈絡。另一方面，本論文也根據某些心理學家與神經科學學者的研究指出，我們所認定的客觀實體，多少是由觀者或聽者本人的選擇性建構而來。本論文緊接著討論對所謂「宗教經驗」的反應和其結果。簡要言之，本論文旨在探討存在於「外在」的客觀現象與「內在」的主觀經驗，兩造之間可能產生的矛盾與張力。

The results of the Religious Experience Survey in Taiwan (REST) can provide a stimulating challenge for Western scholars attempting a scientific study of religion. Too often it has been assumed that religious experiences are little more than the objective phenomena of participants attending a social ritual that involve the worship of a God or some transcendental being(s). With a few notable exceptions, the subjective experiences of individuals have been all but ignored by social scientists until quite recently. This paper begins by considering the limitations of a social science with a discussion of social phenomena as processes of construction that are, intrinsically, both objective and subjective. It is argued that, while we need to take seriously a person’s account of his or her experiences, we can also examine the ways in which (relatively) objective phenomena, including social processes, might encourage or discourage subjective experiences. The paper then turns the argument on its head by examining some of the studies of psychologists and neuroscientists which suggest that much of what we consider to be an objective physical reality is more or less selectively constructed by the visual (and auditory) person who is ＂doing＂ the seeing (or hearing). There follows a brief glance at some of the reactions to and consequences of what have been perceived to be ＂religious experiences＂. Taken as a whole, the paper can be summed up as an exploration of some of the paradoxes and tensions to be found around boundaries that attempt to distinguish an objective ＂out there＂ phenomenon from a subjective ＂in here＂ experience.