True Epistemic Value of Religious Experiences For many years, the idea of ​​what it means to have a “religious experience” has been much debated. Both philosophers and great thinkers wrestled with many questions, such as what constituted a “religious experience” and the difference between it and a mystical experience. Part of this great debate involves two philosophers of a similar period, William James and C.D. Broad, who each saw these experiences, despite some similarities, as having different epistemic values. Broad offers that these religious experiences can provide strong validation of a higher existence, while James takes a more perennialist view, in which all of the world's religious traditions have a common belief about the world; therefore, his idea of ​​mystical experiences does not truly support the idea of ​​a supreme being. I believe that neither James nor Broad are completely right and rather the epistemic value of religious experiences lies somewhere between their views. C.D. Broad's approach to the idea of ​​religious experience is not far from the views of others, where he believes that when a person goes through such an event, they feel the presence of a higher power such as God, Jesus, Muhammad or whatever may to be that superior being. Broad says, however, that a certain degree of skepticism is necessary when talking to other people about religious experiences, especially those who have never had the experience before. Broad says that “when people without religious experience consider themselves superior to those who have it, their attitude is simply to be treated foolishly and offensively (Broad 121).” This in combination with his point about these experiences leading to...... half of the article ......0.Pojman, Louis P., and Michael C. Rea. "The Argument of Religious Experience." In Philosophy of religion: an anthology. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2012. 120-126. Stahlman, Sandy. “William James Defines Mysticism (synopsis).” William James defines mysticism (synopsis). http://sandra.stahlman.com/james.html (accessed March 1, 2014). Pojman, Louis P. and Michael C. Rea. "Religious experience". In Philosophy of religion: an anthology. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2012. 224-240.Pojman, Louis P., and Michael C. Rea. "The Argument of Religious Experience." In Philosophy of religion: an anthology. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2012. 120-126. Stahlman, Sandy. “William James Defines Mysticism (synopsis).” William James defines mysticism (synopsis). http://sandra.stahlman.com/james.html (accessed March 1, 2014).