Studies of Religious Experience: From Theory to Experiment

The article presents an analysis of experimental studies of religious experience conducted in the laboratory using medical technologies of electroencephalography (EEG) and tomography (including fMRI, PET, SPECT, etc.). The relevance of the article is due to modern trends in the revision of the role of Humanities in the structure of the scientific knowledge. The article considers early attempts of experimental study of religion from the first half of the 20th century; the author tries to make a relevant periodization of experimental research program in the science of religion. The conclusion summarizes the progress of the considered research program and points to modern trends in Humanities caused by implementation of the experimental methodology.