| 摘要 | How do scientific and mystical claims about reality compare and contrast, both in their nature and in the claims themselves?Part I sets up the frameworks of both science and mysticism. For science, philosophical problems concerning understanding, concepts, laws and theories, explanations, models, observations, theory-change, theory-acceptance, and the accuracy of scientific claims are discussed. Only those aspects of these issues which come to the surface in a comparative study with mysticism are important here. For mysticism, religious ways of life, mysticism, and mystical experiences are all distinguished. Theravada Buddhism is discussed as an instance of nature-mysticism (a mystical system giving central importance to experiences in which ordinary conceptual structuring of sensations has been weakened): suffering, dependent origination, meditation, nibbana, and the status of Buddhist claims are discussed. Advaita Vedanta is chosen as the example of depth-mysticism (a mystical system giving central importance to allegedly cognitive experiences void of all conceptual and sensory content): Brahman/atman, the status of the world, and the nature of knowledge and freedom are the principal topics.Part II compares and contrasts the nature of scientific and mystical claims. Under the topic of the relation of knowledge-claims to ways of life, the basic aims of science and of mysticism and the general relation of knowledge-claims to cultural phenomena are discussed. On the issue of "reality," a preliminary discussion of metaphysics and various criteria of reality is given before specific comparisons are made on the subjects of time, space, orderliness, and connections. What is taken to be knowledge in science and mysticism is next compared. Under "experiences," states of consciousness, insights, objectivity, and scientific observation versus mystical contemplation are discussed. Finally language: ancient Indian and modern views of the nature of language, the mirror-theory of language, paradox and metaphoric utterances in science and mysticism, and mathematics are among the topics.Part III compares and contrasts the scientific and mystical claims themselves. First possible relationships between scientific and mystical claims are set out, with special attention to convergence on abstract points, complementary ways of knowing, and the general mystical judgment on the status of scientific claims. Next specific theories from cosmology and contemporary physics are compared with those of ancient mysticism. The views on this subject of four thinkers are also covered: F. S. C. Northrop, Lawrence LeShan, Fritjof Capra, and Gary Zukav. Finally, one reconciliation of mystical and scientific claims is proposed.The general conclusions are that in nature, mystical and scientific claims are the same in some respects but diverge significantly in others. And the claims themselves can be no more than abstract parallels at best since the aspects of reality each discuss are so different.
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