The Nature of the Anomalous Experience

Explanations of anomalous experience root in two opposing ontological models. One either assumes the existence of something like a paranormal reality (the ‘other world’ hypothesis) or one denies this and asserts that this reality is nothing more than a projection of the human mind (the ‘projection’ hypothesis). Anomalistic psychology is the branch of psychology that tries to explain (belief in) anomalous experience from the latter model. In this essay its central explanations are presented and criticized, the main critique being the reductionist ontological assumption underlying these explanations. The discussion then moves to some ontological and epistemological issues related to the ‘other world’ approach. It is concluded that this approach provides a far richer, even necessary, but also very challenging path to understanding the anomalous.