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Précis of Transformative Experience
Author(s) -
Paul L.A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
philosophy and phenomenological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1933-1592
pISSN - 0031-8205
DOI - 10.1111/phpr.12249
Subject(s) - transformative learning , chapel , citation , philosophy , carr , theology , sociology , library science , computer science , ecology , pedagogy , biology
AS THE CLOCK STRIKES MIDNIGHT, Dracula comes to you. “Choose!” he commands. You have only a few moments to decide. You’ll never have another chance. Do you join the legions of the Undead? The pressure’s on. It isn’t really a surprise. You knew it was coming. You’ve been deliberating about it for ages. You’ve been touring castles in Romania, talking with Dracula’s minions. They are charming, beautiful, beguiling. They also think the choice is easy; of course you should do it! They soothe your worries with elegant replies, and enthusiastically describe their dark, blood-filled lives. You text your friend Paul for advice and are amazed when he tells you that he is also a vampire. He explains that he was unsure at first, because drinking blood seemed incredibly gross. But after thinking it over, he decided to do it. When you press him for an explanation, he tells you that you actually have to become a vampire to understand its value, and reassures you: he knows you well, and he is sure you’ll be very happy too. Faced with this choice, what do you do? Do you decide to become a vampire? If you choose to become a vampire, you will become enfolded in a life of shadows, endowed with amazing new powers and pristine elegance of form. If you reject Dracula’s invitation, choosing the sun and mortality, you’ll embrace your humanity. The problem is, how are you supposed to make a rational, authentically informed choice? After all, you know as much as any human can beforehand. And yet, you still don’t know something that’s incredibly important for your choice: you don’t know what it will actually be like to be a vampire. As your friend explained, you can’t: you can only know what it’s like to become a vampire SYMPOSIUM