Neuroscience, Psychology and Religion : Illusions, Delusions, and Realities About Human Nature Pdf, Epub, Ebook

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Neuroscience, Psychology and Religion : Illusions, Delusions, and Realities About Human Nature Pdf, Epub, Ebook NEUROSCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY AND RELIGION : ILLUSIONS, DELUSIONS, AND REALITIES ABOUT HUMAN NATURE PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Malcolm Jeeves | 204 pages | 01 Apr 2009 | Templeton Foundation Press,U.S. | 9781599471471 | English | Radnor, United States Neuroscience, Psychology and Religion : Illusions, Delusions, and Realities About Human Nature PDF Book In this volume, Malcolm Jeeves and Warren S. Psychology of Religion Newsletter , 31 , 1—8. To the extent that this relational-deictic stance represents a cognitive default, however, it may still serve as a strong foundation for religious cultural notions. History can be written at any magnification. A critical examination. However, the basic insight that psychological processes depend on neural activity has a clinical base dating back at least to the seventeenth century, to the work of Thomas Willis, whose multifaceted neurological work led him to tie human desires and instincts, memory and imagination, reason and volition to the brain and central nervous system. Religious motivation reduces perceived responsibility for and morality of good deeds. James K. Content Metrics. God is watching you: Priming God concepts increases prosocial behavior in an anonymous economic game. Nov 30, Timothy Wilson rated it really liked it. Of course, questions like this are not only the stuff of film and literature. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. A historical database of sociocultural evolution. Miles rated it liked it Jun 03, Privacy Statement. Sign in to annotate. Failures to observe the laws of the Kivung are said to delay the miracle of returning ancestors. A latent capacity for evolutionary innovation through exaptation in metabolic systems. Humans should therefore be equipped by natural selection with biased agency-detection mechanisms—what J. The Quarterly Journal of Economics , , — Modes theory: Some theoretical considerations In Whitehouse H. Despite the confident claims of many contemporary commentators, we believe the relationship between religion and morality is poorly understood. Similar processes have been found in people with epilepsy, which Hippocrates called "the sacred disease. Whereas hands are biologically evolved features of human anatomy, gloves are culturally evolved artifacts that must follow the contours of the hand at least to some extent in order to be wearable. Neuroscience, Psychology and Religion : Illusions, Delusions, and Realities About Human Nature Writer If there is no Humans then who's going to believe God? Best for. Warren Brown has been at Fuller since and serves as director of the Travis Research Institute and professor of psychology. Erin rated it really liked it May 20, This book presents a realistic and thoroughly spiritual outlook upon the entire created reality. The no-warfare approach was refreshing. Online User and Order Help. Average rating 3. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion , 23 , — Journal of Cognition and Culture , 8 , — According to this approach, religious and moral cultural representations are triggered and constrained by implicit, intuitive cognitive systems in much the same way that the morphologies of human hands and feet shape and constrain the morphologies of gloves and shoes see Figure 2. How do we do this in the face of the array of ecological problems we face today? For example, Wiltermuth and Heath found that participants who engaged in synchronic behaviors e. The Religion—Morality Relationship in Cultural Evolution Recall the analogy drawn earlier between the properties of a hands and gloves, and b evolved cognitive systems and explicit cultural representations. The effect of subtle religious representations on cooperation. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. A broader conception of HADDs includes attributions of nonrandom structure Bloom, —such as naturally occurring patterns and events with no clear physical cause—to the activity of agents. The result of these ruminations is the humbling of traditional views that tended to locate humanity in a place of incontestable honor at the center of the cosmos. Is God really watching you? In Minds, Brains, Souls and Gods, the highly esteemed professor of psychology, Malcolm Jeeves, insists on addressing the difficult questions head-on. How the developing brain grapples with these and other questions leads children, across cultures, to naturally develop a belief in a divine power of remarkably consistent traits——a god that is a powerful creator, knowing, immortal, and good—explains noted developmental psychologist and anthropologist Justin L. Bonding: Having self-transcendent, emotional experiences, typically through ritual whether private or public, frequent or rare , that connect one to others and to a deeper reality. God is watching you: Priming God concepts increases prosocial behavior in an anonymous economic game. Religion explained: The evolutionary origins of religious thought. If coffeehouse conversations do not turn regularly to the nature of the human person, the same cannot be said of literature and film. Thinking about God increases public self-awareness and socially desirable responding. At this critical juncture, however, it became also obvious that we are gene-copying machines capable of evolving in conscious self models, creating large societies, complex cultural environments, which in turn shape and constantly add new layers to our self-models. Much the same could be said about ritual , which is often understood to be a religious trait but is also prominent in nonreligious e. What could be more immoral than the rape of a child, a manifestly harmful act? In view of these various considerations, one could posit not one but two distinct dimensions of supernatural belief here: a supernatural agency, and b supernatural justice. Thanks for telling us about the problem. To the extent that rituals represent or promote moral behaviors see earlier , therefore, gods that care about rituals care about morality, directly or indirectly. The God delusion. This is what Dostoevsky meant. This process is being driven by molecular genetics and evolutionary theory, and also by the cognitive neuroscience and the modern philosophy of mind. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion , 13 , — Michael J. As rituals become more routinized, however, they also become less stimulating emotionally, and perhaps even more tedious Whitehouse, Evolution and Human Behavior , 24 , — In the Euthyphro , Socrates famously asked whether goodness is loved by the gods because it is good, or whether goodness is good because it is loved by the gods. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Costly signaling and the origin of religion. Details if other :. Stay updated. Moral foundations theory: The pragmatic validity of moral pluralism. Neuroscience, Psychology and Religion : Illusions, Delusions, and Realities About Human Nature Reviews Surveys indicate that people who score higher on indices of religiosity e. Author: Edmund J. John rated it really liked it Feb 22, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion , 51 , — They give an overview of various aspects of the field, including science and religion, how the soul became the mind, the mind-brain relationship, evolutionary psychology and the neuroscience of religious experience. Smith , Thinking in Tongues , p. Human Development , 54 , — Recall the analogy drawn earlier between the properties of a hands and gloves, and b evolved cognitive systems and explicit cultural representations. Berlin, Germany: Springer Physica-Verlag; This would render religious individuals more susceptible to social desirability concerns, to which self-report measures of socially desirable behaviors are notoriously vulnerable Paulhus, The extended religious phenotype and the adaptive coupling of ritual and belief. For example: Is there anything about humans that our mechanical creations and innovations in Artificial Intelligence will be unable to duplicate? European Journal of Social Psychology , 37 , — Religion and the morality of mentality. Rent on DeepDyve. Kung of the Kalahari Desert are contemporary hunter—gatherer societies with gods who take little interest in human wrongdoing Norenzayan, It shows that Christian faith can be a resource that helps overcome the ecological crisis. Theology and World Christianity. For him, and so for them, this meant that God first created the human soul Genesis —27 and then placed it in a human body Genesis He offers compelling evidence that religious experiences have a nonmaterial origin, making a convincing case for what many in scientific fields are loath to consider—that it is God who creates our spiritual experiences, not the brain. Stephen Fry out there. Along the way, he examines landmark historical episodes such as the trial of Galileo by the Inquisition in , and the famous debate between 'Darwin's bulldog' Thomas Huxley and Bishop Wilberforce in Oxford in See Gladwell, Blink , pp. Brown provide an overview of the relationship between neuroscience, psychology, and religion that is academically sophisticated, yet accessible to the general reader. What is the origin of religious beliefs? Religion, spirituality, and altruism In Pargament K. It also meant that, for Philo, the divine image was to be identified simply with the human soul. Sure to be of interest to both academics and curious intellectuals, Neuroscience, Psychology, and Religion addresses important age-old questions and demonstrates how
Recommended publications
  • What Cognitive Science of Religion Can Learn from John Dewey
    contemporary pragmatism 15 (2018) 387-406 brill.com/copr What Cognitive Science of Religion Can Learn from John Dewey Hans Van Eyghen vu Amsterdam [email protected] Abstract I use three ideas from philosopher John Dewey that are of service for Cognitive Science of Religion (csr). I discuss how Dewey’s ideas on embodied cognition, embedded cog- nition can be put to work to get a fuller understanding of religious cognition. I also use his ideas to criticize csr’s reliance on the modularity of mind thesis Keywords cognitive science of religion – modularity of mind – embodied cognition – embedded cognition, John Dewey – religious cognition Introduction Cognitive science of religion is a fairly young discipline with the aim of study- ing the cognitive basis of religious belief. Despite the great variation in theo- ries a number of common features can be distilled and most theories can be situated in the cognitivist and modular paradigm. In this paper, I investigate how cognitive science of religion (csr) can be improved by using insights from philosopher John Dewey. I focus on Dewey because he offered important in- sights in cognition long before there was cognitive science and because his ideas are widely influential in the recent enactivist movement. The relevance of Dewey’s thought for csr will be discussed under three headers: embodied- ness, embeddedness and anti-modularity. I will first give a brief overview of the most influential theories in csr. Then I will discuss how existing theories in csr can be improved on the first two points and criticized on the third. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/18758185-01503007Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 09:33:53AM via free access 204221 388 Van Eyghen The Cognitive Science of Religion Cognitive science of religion is a fairly young discipline (from the 1990’s on- wards) with the aim of studying the cognitive basis of religious belief.
    [Show full text]
  • Cognitive Biases Explain Religious Belief, Paranormal Belief, and Belief in Life’S Purpose ⇑ Aiyana K
    Cognition 129 (2013) 379–391 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cognition journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/COGNIT Cognitive biases explain religious belief, paranormal belief, and belief in life’s purpose ⇑ Aiyana K. Willard , Ara Norenzayan 1 Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada article info abstract Article history: Cognitive theories of religion have postulated several cognitive biases that predispose Received 4 March 2013 human minds towards religious belief. However, to date, these hypotheses have not been Revised 25 July 2013 tested simultaneously and in relation to each other, using an individual difference Accepted 27 July 2013 approach. We used a path model to assess the extent to which several interacting cognitive tendencies, namely mentalizing, mind body dualism, teleological thinking, and anthropo- morphism, as well as cultural exposure to religion, predict belief in God, paranormal beliefs Keywords: and belief in life’s purpose. Our model, based on two independent samples (N = 492 and Religion N = 920) found that the previously known relationship between mentalizing and belief is Cognitive biases Paranormal belief mediated by individual differences in dualism, and to a lesser extent by teleological think- Purpose ing. Anthropomorphism was unrelated to religious belief, but was related to paranormal belief. Cultural exposure to religion (mostly Christianity) was negatively related to anthro- pomorphism, and was unrelated to any of the other cognitive tendencies. These patterns were robust for both men and women, and across at least two ethnic identifications. The data were most consistent with a path model suggesting that mentalizing comes first, which leads to dualism and teleology, which in turn lead to religious, paranormal, and life’s-purpose beliefs.
    [Show full text]
  • Cognitive Science of Religion and Christian Faith: How May They Be Brought Together? Justin L
    Cognitive Science of Religion and Christian Faith: How May They Be Brought Together? Justin L. Barrett Fuller Theological Seminary Editor’s Note Justin L. Barrett is the Thrive Professor of Developmental Science in the Graduate School of Psychology, and Chief Project Developer for the Office of Science, Theology, and Religion Initiatives at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA. A cognitive and developmental psychologist (Ph.D., Cornell University), his books include Why Would Anyone Believe in God? (2004), Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology: From Human Minds to Divine Minds (2011), and Born Believers: The Science of Childhood Religion (2012). Barrett describes for us here the latest developments and challenges in the cognitive sciences for Christian faith. The essay is intended as an invitation. Readers are encouraged to take up one of the insights or questions, or maybe a related one that was not mentioned, and draft an article (typically about 5,000-8,000 words) that contributes to the conversation. These can be sent to Dr. Barrett at [email protected]. He will send the best essays on to peer review and then we will select from those for publication in a cognitive science theme issue of Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. The lead editorial in the December 2013 issue of PSCF outlines what the journal looks for in article contributions. For best consideration for inclusion in the theme issue, manuscripts should be received electronically before 31 March 2016. Looking forward to hearing your perspectives, James C. Peterson Editor of Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith I once participated in an academic conference on a small island in the Baltic Sea that was uninhabited except for a biological research station.
    [Show full text]
  • The Epistemic Parity of Religious-Apologetic and Religion-Debunking Responses to the Cognitive Science of Religion
    religions Article The Epistemic Parity of Religious-Apologetic and Religion-Debunking Responses to the Cognitive Science of Religion Walter Scott Stepanenko Department of Philosophy, John Carroll University, University Heights, OH 44118, USA; [email protected] Abstract: Recent work in the cognitive science of religion has challenged some of the explanatory assumptions of previous research in the field. Nonetheless, some of the practitioners of the new cognitive science of religion theorize in the same skeptical spirit as their predecessors and either imply or explicitly claim that their projects undermine the warrant of religious beliefs. In this article, I argue that these theories do no additional argumentative work when compared to previous attempts to debunk religious belief and that these recent debunking efforts are very much motivated by methodological commitments that are shared with canonical research. I contend that these argumentative strategies put debunkers very much on an epistemic par with religious apologists: both advocate responses to the cognitive science of religion that are primarily motivated by methodological commitments. Keywords: epistemology; religious experience; cognitive science of religion Citation: Stepanenko, Walter Scott. 2021. The Epistemic Parity of 1. Introduction Religious-Apologetic and The discourse around the cognitive science of religion (CSR) creates the impression Religion-Debunking Responses to the that religion debunkers are in an epistemically superior position relative to religious Cognitive Science of Religion. apologists. A great deal of philosophical and theological work in the literature is dedicated Religions 12: 466. https://doi.org/ to the construction of debunking arguments motivated by CSR evidence and apologetic 10.3390/rel12070466 responses to these arguments.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution, Religion and Cognitive Science: Critical and Constructive Essays, Edited by Fraser Watts and Léon Turner
    [JCSR 2.2 (2014) 159–163] Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion (print) ISSN 2049-7555 doi:10.1558/jcsr.v2i2.22826 Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion (online) ISSN 2049-7563 BOOK REVIEWS Evolution, Religion and Cognitive Science: Critical and Constructive Essays, Edited by Fraser Watts and Léon Turner. Oxford University Press, 2014. 272pp., Hb $99.00/£65.00. ISBN-13: 978-0-19-968808-1. Reviewed by Eva Kundtová Klocová, LEVYNA —Laboratory for the Experi- mental Research of Religion, Masaryk University, [email protected] Keywords evolutionary theory, religion, cognitive science of religion In 1909, at Darwin’s centenary (1809), Jane Harrison argued that it was Darwin- ism that allowed for the emergence of the scientific study of religion. A century later (2009) two conferences were held in Cambridge, to celebrate the same events, attesting the constant inspiration of Darwin’s legacy and focusing on the impact of evolutionary theorizing on the current study of religion. Papers from those conferences inspired publication of an anthology mapping an involvement of the evolutionary theory in the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR): Evolu- tion, Religion and Cognitive Science, published in 2014. Interestingly, the same year (2014) marks another anniversary and yet another conference—the IACSR conference: Religion Explained? The Cognitive Science of Religion after 25 Years. This conference and the publication of the book coincide not only in time, but also in the emphasis on the ever growing importance of evolutionary theorizing within CSR and its implications for the identity of CSR. The closing address of the conference by Richard Sosis tapped exactly into the same questions and topics surfacing in the anthology, stressing their significance for the CSR.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecopsychology Revisited
    Humboldt State University Digital Commons @ Humboldt State University Trade & Scholarly Monographs Humboldt State University Press 2019 Ecopsychology Revisited Jorge Conesa-Sevilla Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/monographs Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons, and the Other Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Conesa-Sevilla, Jorge. Ecopsychology Revisited. Humboldt State University Press, 2019. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/monographs/7. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Humboldt State University Press at Digital Commons @ Humboldt State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Trade & Scholarly Monographs by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Humboldt State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “Ecopsychology Revisited is a Eco critique of and deconstructive approach to several trends termed “ecopsychology.” This work attempts psychology to bring light to some of the psychology Eco misconceptions that have hardened as “ecopsychology,” as these ideas have Revisited been reinterpreted and sometimes For Whom Do The “Nature” Bells Toll? oversimplified by the general public and some professionals outside mainstream psychology. Part of the confusion arose when “ecopsychology” became inadequately amalgamated with other ideas. Nevertheless, within the social Revisited and behavioral sciences, at least, there is great value in devising and applying evidence-based strategies that track the normative ramifications
    [Show full text]
  • RELIGION EXPLAINED Understan~ Why
    .' Also by Pascal Boyer The Naturalness ofReligious Ideas RELIGION Tradition as Truth and Communication EXPLAINED THE EVOLUTIONARY ORIGINS OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT PASCAL BOYER A Member of the Perseus Books Group .. ' I WHAT IS THE ORIGIN? A neighbor in the village tells me that I should protect myself against.witches. Otherwise they could hit me with invisible darts that will get inside my veins and poison my blood. A shaman burns tobacco leaves in front of a row of statuettes and starts talking to them. He says he must send them on a journey to dis­ tant villages in the sky. The point ofall this is to cure someone whose mind is held hostage by invisible spirits. A group of believers goes around, warning everyone that the end is nigh. Judgement Day is scheduled for October 2. This day passes and nothing happens. The group carries on, telling everyone the end is nigh (the date has been changed). Villagers organize a ceremony to tell a goddess she is not wanted in their villag~ anymore. She failed to protect them from epidemics, so they decided to "drop" her and find a more efficient replacement. An assembly of priests finds offensive what some people say about what happened several centuries ago in a distant place, where a virgin is said to have given birth to a child. So these people must be massacred. Members of a cult on an island decide to slaughter all their live­ stock and burn their crops. All these will be useless now, they say, because a ship full of goods and money will reach their shores very shortly in recognition of their good deeds.
    [Show full text]
  • A Neuroscience Account of Religion As a Motivated Process Michael Inzlicht a , Alexa M
    This article was downloaded by: [Mr Richard Sosis] On: 25 February 2012, At: 22:50 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Religion, Brain & Behavior Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rrbb20 The need to believe: a neuroscience account of religion as a motivated process Michael Inzlicht a , Alexa M. Tullett a & Marie Good a a Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada Available online: 24 Feb 2012 To cite this article: Michael Inzlicht, Alexa M. Tullett & Marie Good (2011): The need to believe: a neuroscience account of religion as a motivated process, Religion, Brain & Behavior, 1:3, 192-212 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2011.647849 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and- conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
    [Show full text]
  • REVIEW ARTICLE the Evolution of Religious Belief in Humans: a Brief
    REVIEW ARTICLE The evolution of religious belief in humans: A brief reviewwith focus on cognition. DHAIRYYA SINGH, GARGA CHATTERJEE Running Title: The evolution of religious belief in humans Keywords: religion, evolution, costly signalling, belief Introduction Religion is defined as belief in god-like entities who are worshipped for possessing superhuman abilities and ultimate power over the fate of human beings. This definition, while popular, is limiting to scholarly study from an evolutionary perspective because it implies that there is something special about religion vis-a-vis which makes it fundamentally different from other kinds of cognition and behaviour. This in turn makes it difficult to explain the evolutionary underpinnings of religion since the first traces of primitive religious ritual in hominins are dated to approximately 225,000 years ago (Pettitt 2002), while organized religion is only estimated to be as little as 11,000 years old (Cauvin and Watkins 2000). Considering the relative ‘youth’ of religion (in its organized form) in evolutionary time scales, evolutionary scholars have tended to provide a much more generalised definition of religion which includes belief in various supernatural phenomena and ritualistic behaviour in service of those beliefs. This paper will also consider religion in this generalised sense. However, this broader ambit, too, does not cover many human behaviours that are associated with the supernatural. Religion, as a term, is insufficient to cover belief systems that deal with non-omnipotent deities which share a more interactive and less power asymmetrical relationship with humans, thus ambiguating the normative hierarchy that religion assumes between the human and the divine.
    [Show full text]
  • Psychologising and Neurologising About Religion: Facts, Fallacies and the Future Transcript
    Psychologising and Neurologising about Religion: Facts, Fallacies and the Future Transcript Date: Wednesday, 23 January 2008 - 12:00AM PSYCHOLOGISING AND NEUROLOGISING ABOUT RELIGION Professor Malcolm Jeeves CBE FRSE Welcome George R. Bush The Revd George R. Bushhas been Rector of St Mary-le-Bowsince 2002. Before coming to St Mary’s he was Vicar of St Anne’s, Hoxton, having held earlier appointments as a curate in inner-city Leeds and a chaplain at Cambridge. He has studied history, history of art, canon law and theology and has published on certain developments in canon law involving a previous Bishop of London, Edmund Gibson (1669–1748). He is a past President of Sion College. In 2007 he co-edited (with Michael Byrne) a 380-page volume of essays - St Mary-le- Bow: A History. When I was a chaplain to students, it fell to me to interview all new entrants individually as part of their initiation. I had a carefully crafted and rehearsed conversation which involved explaining the life of the chapel and the role of the chaplain as an independent non-academic resource. One student replied to this explanation, boldly I thought, ‘Oh you’re a sort of social worker’. Although that may well have amply described what the authorities - for whom my likely pastoral competence was the touchstone - hoped for from me, I felt it as a trivialisation and an offence. I wrote at the time that ‘the display of being approachable and unshockable may be read as giving the nod to unbelief or the absence of personal moral seriousness’.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the X-Claim Argument Against Religious Belief Stephen Law
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Heythrop College Publications This is the accepted manuscript of an article soon to be published by Cambridge University Press in Religious Studies 2016 ISSN 0034-4125 http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=RES The X-claim argument against religious belief Stephen Law Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London W8 5HN, UK [email protected] Abstract: This paper outlines an argument against religious belief: the X-claim argument. The argument is novel at least in the sense that it has not yet been clearly articulated or addressed before in the philosophical literature. However, the argument is closely related to two more familiar varieties of argument currently receiving philosophical attention, namely: (i) arguments from religious diversity, and (ii) naturalistic debunking arguments (e.g. Freudian, Marxist, and evolutionary). I set out the X-claim argument, show that it has some prima facie plausibility, distinguish it from these other two arguments with which it might easily be confused, and, finally, explain why it has some significant advantages over these more familiar arguments against religious belief. Introduction This paper outlines an argument against religious belief: the X-claim argument. The argument is novel at least in the sense that it has not yet been clearly articulated or 1 addressed before in the philosophical literature. However, the argument is closely related to two more familiar varieties of argument currently receiving philosophical attention, namely: (i) arguments from religious diversity, and (ii) naturalistic debunking arguments (e.g. Freudian, Marxist, and evolutionary).
    [Show full text]
  • Religion Explained?
    Department of Systematic Theology University of Helsinki Finland Religion Explained? A Philosophical Appraisal of the Cognitive Science of Religion Aku Visala ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be presented, with the permission of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Helsinki, for public examination in the lecture theatre of Arppeanum (Helsinki University Museum), Snellmaninkatu 3, on 19th December 2009, at 11 am. Finland 2009 2 Abstract This study examines philosophically the main theories and methodological assumptions of the field known as the cognitive science of religion (CSR). The study makes a philosophically informed reconstruction of the methodological principles of the CSR, indicates problems with them, and examines possible solutions to these problems. The study focuses on several different CSR writers, namely, Scott Atran, Justin Barrett, Pascal Boyer and Dan Sperber. CSR theorising is done in the intersection between cognitive sciences, anthropology and evolutionary psychology. This multidisciplinary nature makes CSR a fertile ground for philosophical considerations coming from philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind and philosophy of science. I begin by spelling out the methodological assumptions and auxiliary theories of CSR writers by situating these theories and assumptions in the nexus of existing approaches to religion. The distinctive feature of CSR is its emphasis on information processing: CSR writers claim that contemporary cognitive sciences can inform anthropological theorising about the human mind and offer tools for producing causal explanations. Further, they claim to explain the prevalence and persistence of religion by cognitive systems that undergird religious thinking. I also examine the core theoretical contributions of the field focusing mainly on the (1) “minimally counter-intuitiveness hypothesis” and (2) the different ways in which supernatural agent representations activate our cognitive systems.
    [Show full text]