Podcast Summary

Podcast: New Books Network
Episode: Hans Van Eyghen, "The Epistemology of Spirit Beliefs" (Routledge, 2023)
Date: January 3, 2026
Host: Kumar
Guest: Dr. Hans Van Eyghen

Episode Overview

In this episode, Kumar interviews Dr. Hans Van Eyghen about his book The Epistemology of Spirit Beliefs. The conversation explores how people form and justify beliefs in spirits across cultures, how these beliefs compare to belief in God, and the epistemological (philosophical theory of knowledge) frameworks underpinning these experiences. Dr. Van Eyghen discusses definitions, arguments for justification, types of spirit-related experiences—including mediumship, possession, and animism—and how scientific explanations compare to first-person accounts. The tone of the episode is reflective and scholarly, with both host and guest drawing on fieldwork and philosophical background.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Hans Van Eyghen and the Book (02:20–05:53)

• Dr. Van Eyghen’s background in philosophy of religion, focusing on cognitive and evolutionary explanations of religious belief.
• Shift from analyzing belief in God (traditional in philosophy of religion) to scrutinizing spirit beliefs, which are prominent beyond the Western world.
• Noted that cognitive scientists and anthropologists often focus on spirits, not just gods, prompting his investigation.

Quote:
"These other entities that people believe in, that people worship, that people make offerings to... it's clearly not God. They're often very adamant, this is not God, this is some other kind of being." — Dr. Van Eyghen (04:21)

2. Defining Spirits Across Cultures (06:29–07:58)

• Distinction between gods and spirits in various religious traditions (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism).
• Spirits are generally lesser in power and perfection than gods; examples include angels, demons, jinn, Yaksha, and others.
• Recognition of overlapping and sometimes vague classifications, but broad cross-cultural patterns.

Quote:
"So there's often a distinction in most traditions... there's god right at the top who created everything. And then there's the angels... and there's also a host of even lower spiritual beings, demons." — Dr. Van Eyghen (06:46)

3. Arguments for the Epistemological Justification of Spirit Beliefs (08:33–11:44)

• Traditional arguments for God (cosmological, ontological) don’t fit spirits, who are not creators or perfect beings.
• Epistemological arguments based on religious experiences (a la William James and others) can apply: if people worldwide report spirit experiences, and there's no reason to consider these experiences faulty, belief in spirits can be rationally justified.
• The same logic used to justify belief in God based on religious experience should extend to spirits.

Quote:
"You could conclude that these beliefs based on those experiences can be justified as well... because there doesn’t seem to be any clear differences with experiences of God." — Dr. Van Eyghen (10:25)

4. Distinguishing Experiences: God vs. Spirits (11:44–14:44)

• Differences are determined largely by the content of reports; some people strongly sense they’re encountering God, others a non-divine being (e.g., demon, angel, loa).
• Question raised: Might all such experiences actually be of God, misinterpreted? Dr. Van Eyghen notes that the experiences’ negative or radically “other” qualities make this implausible, especially if God is all-good.

Quote:
"How do people know what they're experiencing? Maybe they're like getting it wrong. Maybe it was God all along and they think it's a spirit. But it seems in clear cases this won't hold..." — Dr. Van Eyghen (13:43)

5. Philosophical Arguments for God's Existence and Their Relevance (14:44–17:17)

• Discussion of classic arguments for God's existence: ontological, cosmological, and design arguments.
• Van Eyghen’s personal leanings toward the cosmological and ontological arguments.
• Combining multiple arguments strengthens the philosophical case for God’s existence.

Quote:
"If you arrive towards the conclusion of God through various routes, you're in a stronger position." — Dr. Van Eyghen (16:49)

6. Spirit Experiences: Types and Cultural Universality

a. Ordinary Perception (17:49–19:20)

• Some spirit experiences are “ordinary” in that they resemble sense perceptions: seeing, hearing, or even smelling spirits.
• Examples include seeing voodoo spirits, hearing their voices, or smelling decay in haunted places.

b. Mediumship (19:39–20:55)

• Mediums communicate with spirits, sometimes experiencing this as an inner voice, sometimes as direct auditory hallucination.
• Such abilities are culturally respected and sought for guidance, divination, or advice.

Quote:
"People who have this mediumship abilities, they are high respected and they are often consulted." — Dr. Van Eyghen (20:52)

c. Possession (21:13–23:20)

• Distinct from experiences of God: possession involves a spirit taking control of a person’s body, voice, sometimes mind.
• Descriptions include memory loss, loss of control, altered voice and behavior—much more dramatic than visions or mediumship.
• Cross-cultural examples: demonic possession in Christianity, voodoo possession (sometimes positive or sought-after), possession in Hindu traditions.

Quote:
"It goes much further than like a visual perception or a mediumship experience. It's when a spirit or a demon... takes over your whole functioning." — Dr. Van Eyghen (21:22)

d. Animism (23:20–24:43)

• Animistic beliefs involve experiences of trees, stones, and nature as alive or ensouled.
• These are widely reported and can be induced or heightened by psychedelics.
• The same epistemological attitude—taking experiences at face value unless they’re undermined—can apply.

7. Spirit Belief Without Belief in God: Conceptual and Ethnographic Possibility (24:43–29:59)

• Although rare, some traditions (e.g., certain animist or neo-pagan communities) feature robust spirit belief without a central god figure.
• Host shares research among the Aunagas, whose worldview centers on spirits, not a creator god or creation event.
• The possibility of communities existing without need or concept of “God,” relating to spirits as foundational.

Quote:
"That might be an example of people affirming spirit beliefs without affirming belief in God... spirits are often more tangible or more like nearer to people's daily lives." — Dr. Van Eyghen (28:59)

8. Tacit, Unarticulated, and Proto-Beliefs (31:40–32:53)

• Discussion of the complexity in how people hold beliefs; non-Western communities may have tacit or inarticulate belief states rather than explicit, systematized doctrines.
• The epistemological landscape is more complex than simple binaries (agnostic/theist, etc.).

Quote:
"Maybe there's something unarticulated, maybe there's something tacit. Maybe there's like proto beliefs in there that are not quite what we epistemologists would call beliefs, but something close." — Dr. Van Eyghen (31:50)

9. Scientific Explanations vs. Phenomenology (33:16–34:36)

• Western scientific narratives often try to “explain away” spirit experiences (schizophrenia, delusion, etc.).
• Van Eyghen argues these scientific models do not fully account for what is actually reported or experienced, especially with possession.
• The book critiques these reductionist explanations, advocating for an epistemological respect for first-person reports.

Quote:
"You can't really conclude from these scientific explanations that the whole thing has been explained away or ... there's something wrong in people's mind when they report these experiences." — Dr. Van Eyghen (34:21)

10. Current & Future Research (34:49–35:28)

• Dr. Van Eyghen is investigating cognitive mechanisms behind religious behavior, ritual, prayer, and communal festivities, hoping to integrate these findings with epistemological analysis.

Notable Quotes

• "These other entities that people believe in ... it's clearly not God. They're often very adamant, this is not God, this is some other kind of being." — Dr. Van Eyghen (04:21)
• "You could conclude that these beliefs based on those experiences can be justified as well ... because there doesn’t seem to be any clear differences with experiences of God." — Dr. Van Eyghen (10:25)
• "If you arrive towards the conclusion of God through various routes, you're in a stronger position." — Dr. Van Eyghen (16:49)
• "It goes much further than like a visual perception or a mediumship experience. It's when a spirit or a demon ... takes over your whole functioning." — Dr. Van Eyghen (21:22)
• "You can't really conclude from these scientific explanations that the whole thing has been explained away..." — Dr. Van Eyghen (34:21)

Timeline and Timestamps

| Timestamp | Topic/Quote | |---------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:20–05:53 | Dr. Van Eyghen’s background & origin of interest in spirit beliefs | | 06:29–07:58 | Defining "spirit" vs. "god" in world religions | | 08:33–11:44 | Epistemological arguments for spirit beliefs | | 13:43 | On the possibility of mistaking spirits for God | | 14:44–17:17 | Discussing classic philosophical arguments for God | | 17:49–19:20 | Ordinary perception of spirits | | 19:39–20:55 | Mediumship explained | | 21:13–23:20 | Possession and how it differs from God-experiences | | 23:20–24:43 | Animism as a form of spirit experience | | 24:43–29:59 | Spirit belief without God: the Aunaga example and wider implications | | 31:40–32:53 | Tacit/proto-beliefs and epistemological complexity | | 33:16–34:36 | Scientific explanations for spirit experiences — and their limits | | 34:49–35:28 | Current research on ritual cognition and epistemology |

Conclusion

The episode offers a nuanced, cross-disciplinary look at how spirit beliefs are formed, justified, and experienced across cultures. Dr. Van Eyghen builds a robust, epistemologically sound argument that spirit experiences deserve to be taken seriously—not only as psychological or social phenomena but as potentially rational beliefs, subject to philosophical inquiry. He encourages a more careful, case-sensitive comparison between spirit experiences and experiences of God, and highlights the limitations of attempts to "explain away" these beliefs with scientific shorthand. The discussion invites further research, urging openness to the complexity and variability of human religiosity.