Comparison the Nature of Mystical Experience Based on Theory of Intuitive Knowledge and Acquired Knowledge by Tabatabaei and Constructivism Theory by Katz

There are two theory in west about mystical experience: essentialism and constructivism. Essentialists say at least, in some experience, mystics are experience the one essence but the social and religious of mystic effect on their interpretation. Then despite the variety of the mysticism’s reports in various traditions, there is a common core that we can consider all of them as one type. But constructivists say the mystical experiences are predetermined by the ‘context’ of their specific social and religious training and education. Hence different religious contexts produce different types of mystical experiences. Allameh Tabatabaie divided knowledge into “by-presence” and “acquired” categories in a rational domain. According to this division, mystical experience is type of knowledge by presence or acquired knowledge. Since in experience that is of knowledge by presence kind where existence of the “known” is certainly present for the “knower” then no background of mystic is involved in this experience. Yet, “concept” is involved in some “mystical discoveries”. this kind of discoveries is categorized as “acquired knowledge”. In this type of experience the mystic’s background may be but not necessarily predetermine his experience and this is against constructivists’ approach.