Abigail Urena Social Science Honors Seminar III Book Review 1 Exploring the Personal Religious Experience Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences by Abraham H. Maslow, 123 pp. Penguin books, $3.95 The separation of science and religion is a fairly recent idea. It arose in the last third of the 19th century after the publication of Darwin’s book on Evolution (pbs.org, 2017). Since then two sides of conflicting beliefs have emerged, and the contentiousness between scientists and organized religion was cemented. Dr. Abraham Maslow warns about the dangers of treating religion and science as complete separate entities; how failing to apply and share the principles of both disciplines during their examination would be an effort made in error, …show more content…
Maslow’s main goal in Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences is to show how basic religious questions can be answered scientifically and how the human value systems can be utilized in science. Maslow firmly believes that “both science and religion have been too narrowly conceived,” separated and blinded by fundamental disagreements. However, Dr. Maslow acknowledges a different attitude emerging between science and religion, whereby scientists of various disciplines are open to answering, “humanistic and naturalistic” religious questions. By this Maslow means that religious questions and yearnings are innate to human nature, and the scientific analysis of these reoccurring questions is possible and necessary. Maslow relies on humanistic psychology to understand and categorize “core-religious experiences,” or powerful personal revelations that are often deemed supernatural. Maslow refers to these revelations as “peak-experiences,” and claims that these experiences are at the core of every major religion arising from prophets communicating a private message to the mass …show more content…
He believes that human beings are intrinsically motivated by positive forces, and a need to fulfill their own human potential. This is a noble perspective, and Maslow does a sound job of portraying humanity in a positive light in Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences. However, given the tumultuous state of our current society, would Maslow consider his work relevant and meaningful today? Are human beings still striving to reach personal enlightenment? Or is that an idea that has been lost to the age of technology? Are peak-experiences attainable in our age of instant gratification? If so, are they still full of the depth, complexity, and wholeness that Maslow ascertained? Or has our society been desensitized to the mystical and emotional? I would venture that peak experiences are still common, but their impact on people’s lives and outlook may be less extreme than Maslow predicted. Nevertheless, Maslow was right that we must learn to apply the principles of science to human nature so that we can ask the questions we innately yearn to have answered. These questions are part of the human experience, and whether they have scientific merit or not, they deserve some careful exploration as to where they originate and why. Abraham Maslow encourages all people to look within themselves and seek those answers through their own personal