DOCSLIB.ORG

Elucidating the Role of Theory of Mind in (Non)Religious Belief

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Elucidating the Role of Theory of Mind in (Non)Religious Belief THE SOCIAL BRAIN IN HUMAN AND RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION: ELUCIDATING THE ROLE OF THEORY OF MIND IN (NON)RELIGIOUS BELIEF By Thomas J. Coleman III Ralph W. Hood Jr. Catherine Caldwell-Harris Professor of Psychology Associate Professor of Psychology (Chair) (Committee Member) Jill T. Shelton Jenny M. Holcombe Assistant Professor of Psychology Assistant Professor of Nursing (Committee Member) (Committee Member) i THE SOCIAL BRAIN IN HUMAN AND RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION: ELUCIDATING THE ROLE OF THEORY OF MIND IN (NON)RELIGIOUS BELIEF By Thomas J. Coleman III A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Science: Psychology The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chattanooga, Tennessee August 2016 ii Copyright © 2016 By Thomas Joseph Coleman III All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Contemporary theorists of religion have argued that religious beliefs are “natural” because they arise from normally functioning social cognitive capacities, especially Theory of Mind (ToM). Hence, attempts to explain atheism have relied heavily on the assumption that nonbelievers may have a malfunctioning ToM and other traits associated with the autism spectrum continuum (ASC). However, few studies currently address this topic and the evidence either way remains ambiguous. The current research narrows this empirical gap, addressing these claims with a two-fold approach. First, a near comprehensive review of ToM is provided. Second, this study is exploratory, employing a unique methodology and previously untapped empirical measures to test for differences in ToM components and ASC traits between atheists (N = 2423) and theists (N = 103). Keywords: theory of mind; cognitive science of religion; evolutionary psychology; atheism; religion iv DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to three key individuals in my life. The order of their mention reflects only my initial acquaintance with their dear company—many things in life are priceless. To Mark Milam Schmissrauter Jr., I am forever in debt to your companionship and our many youthful adventures. In the ten years since your passing I’ve missed you a lot. To my daughter, Heather Destiny Marie Coleman, the budding zoologist, I look forward to reading your master’s thesis (and doctoral dissertation) in only a few too-short years from now—but I’ll always help you follow any dream you have. To my fiancé, Carmencita Eugenia Guevara Guardado, tú eres mi ángel! v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am forever in debt to my thesis committee, Drs. Ralph W. Hood Jr., Jill T. Shelton, Jenny M. Holcombe, and Catherine Caldwell-Harris, thank you all for countless hours of guidance and wisdom, and for your encouragement and enthusiasm for the ideas in this manuscript. To my advisors, friends, and mentors, Ralph W. Hood Jr. (again) and Christopher F. Silver, the years spent under your tutelage have been my utmost privilege, thanks for paying attention to the white crows in life. Standing on the shoulders of giants, I am grateful for correspondence with the following individuals and for their positive influence on my thinking (in alphabetical order): Leonardo Ambasciano, Robert B. Arrowood, Matthew Bashor, Lee Bridenstine, Tiffini Coleman, Christopher R. Cotter, Matthew Durham, Julie Exline and the “Expletives” lab, Luke Galen, Carmencita Eugenia Guevara Guardado, Stewart Guthrie, Sara Hall, Brandon Jones, Jonathan Jong, Barbara Keller, Justin E. Lane, Michael E. Nielsen, Bob McCauley, David G. Robertson, Kenan Sevinç, John R. Shook, Heinz Streib, Sally B. Swanson, Ann Taves, Ingela Visuri, and Ms. Zielke. To my parents and family, I owe you everything. Moreover, I am thankful for Jonathan Jong and Miguel Farias, my new advisors at Coventry University in the United Kingdom, where I will pursue my psychology PhD on the evolution of belief. And finally, a big thanks to all the people in the world who help keep dreams alive. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION .....................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... xii LIST OF SYMBOLS ....................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................1 II. ORIGINS OF THEORY OF MIND IN HUMAN EVOLUTION ...................3 Origins of Causal Cognition ............................................................................3 Oldowan and Acheulean Industries: Implications for Joint Intentionality ......7 III. THEORY OF MIND MECHANISMS ......................................................... 12 Leslie’s Theory of Agency ............................................................................12 Theory of Body Mechanism ......................................................................14 Theory of Mind Mechanism ......................................................................15 Selection Processor ....................................................................................16 Meta-representations ..................................................................................17 Baron-Cohen’s Mindreading System.............................................................19 Intentionality Detector ...............................................................................20 Eye Detection Device ................................................................................21 Shared Attention Mechanism .....................................................................23 Theory of Mind Mechanism ......................................................................23 Leslie and Baron-Cohen Compared ...............................................................24 Variation in “Modules” and the Function of “Executive Functioning”........ 24 vii IV. MEASURING THEORY OF MIND AND ASSOCIATED CONSTRUCTS..............................................................................31 Measuring the Mental ....................................................................................31 Eye Gaze ....................................................................................................35 Broader Autism Phenotype ........................................................................... 39 V. THEORY OF MIND: CONVERGENCE AND VARIATION .....................42 Cross-Cultural Convergence and Variation in Theory of Mind ....................42 Environmental Influences on the Development of Theory of Mind ..............46 Day-to-Day Variations in Mindreading .........................................................50 Affiliation, Empathy, and Coordination ....................................................51 Clinical Variations in Theory of Mind ..........................................................51 The Social Brain Continuum and Social “Disorders” ...................................54 Psychotic-Spectrum .......................................................................................55 Autism-Spectrum ...........................................................................................56 Systemizing ....................................................................................................60 Empathizing ...................................................................................................61 Systemizing and Empathizing .......................................................................61 VI. FOLK PSYCHOLOGY, THEORY OF MIND, AND VARIATION ...........63 Cultural Variations in Folk Psychology ........................................................63 Folk Psychology and Language .....................................................................66 Folk Psychology and Mind ............................................................................67 VII. THEORY OF MIND AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION .........71 The Meta-Representational Mind and Supernatural Belief ...........................76 Meta-representational Research .................................................................77 Existential Theory of Mind ............................................................................78 Teleology .......................................................................................................80 Dualism ..........................................................................................................81 Mentalizing ....................................................................................................83 High Functioning Autism, Theory of Mind, and Religious Belief ............85 VIII. DIVERSITY OF NONBELIEF .....................................................................87 Atheism and Theory of Mind.........................................................................89 IX. METHODS ....................................................................................................91
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Rapid Detection of Bacteria and Viruses in Bioprocess Samples: Justification, Regulation, Requirements and Technologies — How Can Industry Achieve Broad Adoption?
    RAPID DETECTION OF BACTERIA AND VIRUSES IN BIOPROCESS SAMPLES: JUSTIFICATION, REGULATION, REQUIREMENTS AND TECHNOLOGIES — HOW CAN INDUSTRY ACHIEVE BROAD ADOPTION? CONNECT COLLABORATE ACCELERATE TM 1 Contents 1.0 Executive summary .......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 3.0 Current practices ............................................................................................................................................................................10 3.1 Sterility testing ............................................................................................................................................................................. 10 3.2 Mycoplasma testing .................................................................................................................................................................... 11 3.3 Virus testing .................................................................................................................................................................................. 13 4.0 Drivers for change ...........................................................................................................................................................................15
    [Show full text]
  • Adult Attachment and Life History Patterns in People with Borderline Personality Disorder
    Adult attachment and life history patterns in people with Borderline Personality Disorder Martin Brüne LWL University Hospital Bochum Division of Social Neuropsychiatry & Evolutionary Medicine Ruhr-University Bochum A tribute to John Bowlby for the first (and only) evolutionary theory in psychiatry and psychotherapy Behavioural ecology - life history theory r selection (fast track) K selection (slow track) Life history perspective - behavioural ecology perceived or real predictability (safe) perceived or real unpredictability (unsafe) Belsky, Steinberg & Draper, 1991 From life-history theory it is known that individuals should adjust their risk-taking behaviour to their residual reproductive value, that is, their expected future fitness. Individuals with relatively high expectations should be relatively risk averse, because they have to survive to realise those expectations. By the same reasoning, individuals with relatively low expectations should be relatively risk-prone because they have little to lose. Wolf et al., 2007 Life history perspective on personality traits Del Giudice, 2014 Life history perspective on personality traits Clinical features of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) ‣ Fear of abandonment. ‣ Unstable and intensive relationships with rapid changes between idealisation and derogation. ‣ Identity disorder. ‣ Impulsivity (spending money, sexuality, substance abuse, other risk-taking behaviours) ‣ Recurrent suicidal behaviour, threat of committing suicide or self-injurious behaviour. ‣ Emotional instability. ‣ Feelings
    [Show full text]
  • Evolutionary Psychiatry and Nosology: Prospects and Limitations
    Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication Volume 7 MORALITY AND THE COGNITIVE SCIENCES Article 5 2012 Evolutionary Psychiatry and Nosology: Prospects and Limitations Luc Faucher Université du Québec à Montréal Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/biyclc This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Faucher, Luc (2012) "Evolutionary Psychiatry and Nosology: Prospects and Limitations," Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication: Vol. 7. https://doi.org/10.4148/ biyclc.v7i0.1776 This Proceeding of the Symposium for Cognition, Logic and Communication is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Evolutionary Psychiatry and Nosology 2 The Baltic International Yearbook of about some disorders. Using the case of depression, I will then Cognition, Logic and Communication show what kind of problems evolutionary explanations of partic- ular psychopathologies encounter. In conclusion, I will evaluate October 2012 Volume 7: Morality and the Cognitive Sciences where evolutionary thinking leaves us in regard to what I identify pages 1-64 DOI: 10.4148/biyclc.v7i0.1776 as the main problems of our current nosologies. I’ll then argue that the prospects of evolutionary psychiatry are not good. LUC FAUCHER 1. INTRODUCTION Université du Québec à Montréal This paper was originally a chapter prepared for a volume which unfor- tunately never got to be published.
    [Show full text]
  • Blaming God for Our Pain: Human Suffering and the Divine Mind
    Personality and Social Psychology Review 14(1) 7 –16 Blaming God for Our Pain: Human © 2010 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc. Reprints and permission: http://www. Suffering and the Divine Mind sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1088868309350299 http://pspr.sagepub.com Kurt Gray1 and Daniel M. Wegner1 Abstract Believing in God requires not only a leap of faith but also an extension of people’s normal capacity to perceive the minds of others. Usually, people perceive minds of all kinds by trying to understand their conscious experience (what it is like to be them) and their agency (what they can do). Although humans are perceived to have both agency and experience, humans appear to see God as possessing agency, but not experience. God’s unique mind is due, the authors suggest, to the uniquely moral role He occupies. In this article, the authors propose that God is seen as the ultimate moral agent, the entity people blame and praise when they receive anomalous harm and help. Support for this proposition comes from research on mind perception, morality, and moral typecasting. Interestingly, although people perceive God as the author of salvation, suffering seems to evoke even more attributions to the divine. Keywords morality, attribution, justice, person perception Suffering, it has been said, poses a theological problem. If surmise that if a God exists He or She must have a mind the Almighty is fair and just, then how can He allow people somewhat like ours. Yet in an online study asking a large to be harmed? What may be an issue for theologians, how- sample of respondents to compare the mind of God to other ever, does not seem to pose a problem to believers—the minds, the Supreme Being surfaced as a surprisingly distant more people suffer, the more they appear to believe in God.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolutionary Explanations of Eating Disorders
    Psychological Topics 17 (2008), 2, 247-263 Original Scientific Article – UDC – 616.89-008.441.42 159.015.7 Evolutionary Explanations of Eating Disorders Igor Kardum, Asmir Gračanin, Jasna Hudek-Knežević University of Rijeka, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology Abstract This article reviews several most important evolutionary mechanisms that underlie eating disorders. The first part clarifies evolutionary foundations of mental disorders and various mechanisms leading to their development. In the second part selective pressures and evolved adaptations causing contemporary epidemic of obesity as well as differences in dietary regimes and life-style between modern humans and their ancestors are described. Concerning eating disorders, a number of current evolutionary explanations of anorexia nervosa are presented together with their main weaknesses. Evolutionary explanations of eating disorders based on the reproductive suppression hypothesis and its variants derived from kin selection theory and the model of parental manipulation were elaborated. The sexual competition hypothesis of eating disorder, adapted to flee famine hypothesis as well as explanation based on the concept of social attention holding power and the need to belonging were also explained. The importance of evolutionary theory in modern conceptualization and research of eating disorders is emphasized. Keywords: eating disorders, evolutionary theory, reproductive suppression, sexual competition INTRODUCTION There is a disagreement among scientists about the basic definition of mental disorder, and usually discussions concerning its definition encompass the role of social values as well as the centrality and the necessity of the presence of failures in evolved adaptive mechanisms (Lilienfield & Marino, 1995; Wakefield, 1999, 2005). Evolutionary reasoning can help to discriminate between conditions of an Igor Kardum, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology, Slavka Krautzeka bb, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia.
    [Show full text]
  • Astronomical Orientations of Bora
    ASTRONOMICAL ORIENTATIONS OF BORA CEREMONIAL GROUNDS in southeast Australia Robert S. Fuller1,2, Duane W. Hamacher1,2,3 and Ray P. Norris1,2,4 Abstract bora ceremonies is culturally sensitive, here we limit discussion Ethnographic evidence indicates that bora (initiation) of the ceremony per se. ceremonial sites in southeast Australia, which typically There is a variety of evidence from the anthropological comprise a pair of circles connected by a pathway, are literature (e.g. Berndt 1974; Love 1988; Winterbotham 1957) symbolically reflected in the Milky Way as the ‘Sky Bora’. that bora ceremonies are related to the Milky Way and that This evidence also indicates that the position of the Sky ceremonial grounds are oriented to the position of the Milky Bora signifies the time of year when initiation ceremonies Way in the night sky at particular times of the year. In this paper, are held. We use archaeological data to test the hypothesis we begin by exploring connections between bora ceremonies that southeast Australian bora grounds have a preferred and the Milky Way using ethnographic and ethnohistoric orientation to the position of the Milky Way in the night sky in literature. We then use the archaeological record to determine August, when the plane of the galaxy from Crux to Sagittarius if bora grounds are oriented to the position of the Milky Way at is roughly vertical in the evening sky to the south-southwest. particular times of the year. Finally, we use Monte Carlo statistics We accomplish this by measuring the orientations of 68 bora to see if these orientations are deliberate or the result of chance.
    [Show full text]
  • Persistence of African Languages and Religions in Latin America Since Slavery
    JULACE: Journal of University of Namibia Language Centre Volume 3, No. 1, 2018 (ISSN 2026-8297) Persistence of African languages and religions in Latin America since slavery Ndapewa Fenny Nakanyete University of Namibia Abstract This paper examines the presence of African languages and spiritual practices of Candomblé, Santería and Vodou religions in Brazil, Cuba and Haiti respectively. The three religions are known to have been originated by African slaves that were mostly captured in- and transferred from West and Central Africa to Latin America. Currently, the three religions are not only followed by African descendants, but also by people of various ethnic backgrounds worldwide. Thus, people flock to the three countries regularly to be initiated into this African-based religions and cultures. On the other hand, similar spiritual practices on the African continent seem to be generally stigmatized if not demonized. Findings presented in this paper are as a result of direct observations and open interviews over a four months of fieldwork, as well as desktop reviews of existing literature. The findings demonstrate etymologies of terms and expressions that are of various African languages origin and are used in the three religions. The paper calls for integral comparative studies of parts in Africa with parts of Latin America to auxiliary identify linguistic and spirituality similarities, and significance roles of African slaves in maintaining African traditions. Introduction Since childhood I have been very curious about African spirituality. I remember how I sneaked out of my Christian home as a seven-year-old girl late in the evening to go witness efundula lomeengoma, an initiation ceremonial process directly translated as a wedding through drums, where ovafuko (brides) collectively celebrate their initiation ceremony before finding husbands.
    [Show full text]
  • Experiencing Ritual: Shamanic Elements in Minoan Religion
    Experiencing ritual: Shamanic elements in Minoan religion Christine Morris and Alan Peatfield Introduction RITUAL HAS ALWAYS been a popular subject of study in archaeology and anthro­ pology. Early ethnographers relished the details of its drama, and early archaeolo­ gists found it a convenient explanation for those finds they could not explain. More sophisticated modern scholars ponder the symbolic complexity of its action, and debate its social function. And yet, in all of this, there has been relatively little focus on the experience of ritual. What was it like to do any given ritual? What sort of experience were the participants trying to elicit from themselves? How did they modify the infinite possibilities of human action to create that experience? Philosophy and the body Another fashionable subject in contemporary cultural studies, which has close affinities with ritual, is the body. Here we find many of the same problems. Though much scholarship on the body does proclaim the need to break free of Platonic and Cartesian mind/body oppositions, scholars still sustain implicitly the hierarchical dominance of the mind, in that the body is perceived of as being essentially a cultural category, constructed through language. The debate is focused on how descriptions of the body are socially and intellectually defined, and encoded. Even among those who do acknowledge the power of the body, such as Michel Foucault, a single sense, that of seeing, is typically attributed primary importance; hence the interest in the visual strategies of power, in display, in the image, in the gaze, and in the primacy given to 'viewing' the past (Porteous 1990, Tuan 1979).
    [Show full text]
  • Culture and Customs of Kenya
    Culture and Customs of Kenya NEAL SOBANIA GREENWOOD PRESS Culture and Customs of Kenya Cities and towns of Kenya. Culture and Customs of Kenya 4 NEAL SOBANIA Culture and Customs of Africa Toyin Falola, Series Editor GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sobania, N. W. Culture and customs of Kenya / Neal Sobania. p. cm.––(Culture and customs of Africa, ISSN 1530–8367) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–313–31486–1 (alk. paper) 1. Ethnology––Kenya. 2. Kenya––Social life and customs. I. Title. II. Series. GN659.K4 .S63 2003 305.8´0096762––dc21 2002035219 British Library Cataloging in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2003 by Neal Sobania All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002035219 ISBN: 0–313–31486–1 ISSN: 1530–8367 First published in 2003 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 For Liz Contents Series Foreword ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Chronology xvii 1 Introduction 1 2 Religion and Worldview 33 3 Literature, Film, and Media 61 4 Art, Architecture, and Housing 85 5 Cuisine and Traditional Dress 113 6 Gender Roles, Marriage, and Family 135 7 Social Customs and Lifestyle 159 8 Music and Dance 187 Glossary 211 Bibliographic Essay 217 Index 227 Series Foreword AFRICA is a vast continent, the second largest, after Asia.
    [Show full text]
  • A Grammar of Bora with Special Attention to Tone
    A Grammar of Bora with Special Attention to Tone ©2012 SIL International SIL International® Publications in Linguistics Publication 148 Publications in Linguistics are published by SIL Inter- national®. The series is a venue for works covering a broad range of topics in linguistics, especially the analytical treatment of minority languages from all parts of the world. While most volumes are authored by members of SIL, suitable works by others will also form part of the series. Editor in Chief Michael C. Cahill Volume Editor Mary Ruth Wise Production Staff Bonnie Brown, Managing Editor Barbara Alber, Cover design Diana Weber, Cover photograph ©2012 SIL International A Grammar of Bora with Special Attention to Tone Wesley Thiesen and David Weber SIL International® Dallas, Texas ©2012 SIL International ©2012 by SIL International® Library of Congress Catalog No: 2012933805 eISBN: 978-1-55671-353-8 ISSN: 1040-0850 Printed in the United States of America All Rights Reserved Electronic edition published 2013 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, record- ing, or otherwise—without the express permission of the SIL International®. However, short passages, generally understood to be within the limits of fair use, may be quoted without written permission. Typeset by the second author with XƎTEX. The Bora texts were formatted with the interlinear text package of Kew & McConnel (1990). Copies of this and other publications of the SIL International® may be obtained from: SIL International Publications 7500 W. Camp Wisdom Road Dallas, TX 75236-5629 Voice: 972-708-7404 Fax: 972-708-7363 [email protected] www.ethnologue.com/bookstore.asp ©2012 SIL International In memory of Eva Thiesen (1925–2009) ©2012 SIL International ©2012 SIL International Contents List of Figures xviii List of Tables xxi Preface xxv Authorship .
    [Show full text]
  • Evolutionizing Grief: Viewing Photographs of the Deceased Predicts Misattribution of Ambiguous Stimuli by the Bereaved
    UCLA UCLA Previously Published Works Title Evolutionizing grief: Viewing photographs of the deceased predicts misattribution of ambiguous stimuli by the bereaved Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6sg0x7ht Journal Evolutionary Psychology, 11(5) Authors White, Claire Fessler, Daniel M.T. Publication Date 2013-12-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Evolutionary Psychology www.epjournal.net – 2013. 11(5): 1084-1100 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Original Article Evolutionizing Grief: Viewing Photographs of the Deceased Predicts the Misattribution of Ambiguous Stimuli by the Bereaved Claire White, Department of Religious Studies, California State University, Northridge. Email: [email protected] (Corresponding Author). Daniel M. T. Fessler, Center for Behavior, Evolution, & Culture and Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles. Abstract: We propose a cognitive-evolutionary model of grief where the function of grief is to reunite a person with an absent partner where this is possible, and where it is not, to disengage and reorientate the individual from the lost agent. The present study investigates the potential factors that affect reunion-promoting symptoms by focusing on the misattribution of external stimuli to the deceased by the bereaved - which we term ‘false recognitions’. We propose three factors that relate to false recognitions: First, we propose that strong attachment to the deceased predisposes one to false recognitions; second, we predict that viewing photographs of the deceased (that were taken when the individual was alive) perpetuates false recognitions; and third, we propose that time elapsing since the death diminishes the frequency of false recognitions. In a survey of 164 recently bereaved (<25 months) pet owners in the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Is Religion Undermined by Evolutionary Arguments?
    85 IS RELIGION UNDERMINED BY EVOLUTIONARY ARGUMENTS? LOUIS CARUANA Heythrop College, University of London Abstract. I examine three major anti-religious arguments that are oft en pro- posed in various forms by cognitive and evolutionary scientists, and indicate possible responses to them. A fundamental problem with the entire debate arises because the term “religion” is too vague. So I reformulate the debate in terms of a less vague central concept: faith. Referring mainly to Aquinas on faith, I proceed by evaluating how the previously mentioned cognitive and evo- lutionary arguments fare when dealing with faith. Th e results show that some aspects of the concept of faith are in principle beyond the range of evolutionary explanation and some other aspects are not. Nevertheless, an evolutionary ac- count merges smoothly with faith’s theological dimensions. Th is paper deals with the epistemological foundations of religion. Th e basic question is: “Does evolutionary explanation undermine religion?” To answer this question, I will start by illustrating how evolutionary ex- planation has been extended from biology, its natural habitat, to reli- gion, its fi nal frontier, according to some. Current studies in this area proceed in their overall approach on the paths already traced by vari- ous predecessors that go all the way back to Charles Darwin himself.1 I will focus mainly on the current situation. In the fi rst section, I will argue that underneath the arguments issuing from these evolutionary accounts, whether for or against religion, there lies a major problem that oft en goes unmentioned. Th is has to do with the very notion of religion.
    [Show full text]