Private Religion

In his Philosophical Investigations (1953) Ludwig Wittgenstein expands on what is commonly called his private language argument. Although there are many ways of interpreting Wittgenstein's work it can be argued that he does not believe a private language could exist, the main purpose of language being communication. One of the questions raised by this argument is how we communicate our inner experiences, which we alone feel, such as pain, colours, feelings, etc.

For me this question also relates to religion and spirituality; to what extent can two or more people share the same spiritual experience? How do they know whether they do feel the same? Does this make the idea of a religious community based on a shared spiritual experience somehow false? People know the language to use in order to talk meaningfully about their experience so does it even matter if their experience is private or different to everyone else? Is this perhaps the future, the purpose of religion online or more private, commodified spirituality? "The sacrilisation of utilitarian individualism"? (Carrette and King).

Sources:

http://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2012/03/01/00/57/private-19858_640.jpg
Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1953/2001). Philosophical Investigations. Blackwell Publishing.

Carrette J and R King. 2102. Spirituality and the Re-branding of Religion. In Lynch G. and J. Mitchell with A. Strhan. Eds., Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader. 59-70. London and New York: Routledge.