Challenges to Hard Constructivism
Non-constructivists do not necessarily argue against constructivism in every case but are prepared to accept the possibility of exceptional experiences . One kind of experience suggested is what Jones calls the depth mystical experience . 16 Another term for this kind of experience is the Pure Consciousness Event ( PCE ) which is said to be contentless . 17 This is a reported experience of being consistently conscious for a period of time without thoughts , sensations , or images . The PCE therefore has no content to be mediated and would not appear to arise out of any pre-existing concepts . The possibility of a PCE is not universally accepted but there are reported instances of it taking place . 18 This is therefore a possible exception to Katz ’ s rule .
A further argument against Katz ’ s assertion that all mystical experiences are constructed is that , if this were the case , we would not expect to see the subjects of such experiences departing very much from their particular tradition . However , this is not always the case ; to take just one example , Meister Eckhart was accused of heresy towards the end of his life because some of his teachings imply a degree of actual identity ( not only union ) between the individual soul and God which was at odds with accepted orthodoxy . Eckhart also took an extreme apophatic approach to the nature of God , defining the One only by what it is not – i . e . no attributes , not even goodness , can ultimately be attached to God because God is in every way transcendent ( even of the Trinity ). 19
There are also examples of reported mystical experience from individuals who either have no particular religious faith or come from a religious background which has little in common with their reported experience . The following example is from Alfred Lord Tennyson :
I have never had any revelations through anaesthetics but a kind of waking trance – this for lack of a better word – I have frequently had ,
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