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A Natural History of Natural Theology the Enduring Tradition of Natural Theology Meets an Academic Newcomer, the Cognitive Science of Religion

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A Natural History of Natural Theology the Enduring Tradition of Natural Theology Meets an Academic Newcomer, the Cognitive Science of Religion Helen De Cruz and Johan De Smedt The MIT Press release date December 2014 (US) /January 2015 (world) Available for preorder on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.com/Natural-History-Theology-Cognitive- Philosophy/dp/0262028549 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-History-Theology-Cognitive- Philosophy/dp/0262028549 ! "#$%&'(%! Arguments for the existence of God, such as the moral, design, and cosmological argument, have an enduring popularity across times and cultures. This book examines the cognitive origins of the enduring fascination with natural theology, looking at the intuitions that underlie its practice. We argue that intuitions that underlie arguments in natural theology have a stable cognitive basis and emerge early in development. While natural theological arguments can be very sophisticated, they are rooted in everyday intuitions about purpose, causation, agency, and morality that emerge early in development and that are a stable part of human cognition. )(*+,!-!./%,/%! This book contains an in-depth examination of the cognitive basis of natural theological arguments, using historical and contemporary versions of these arguments as they are developed by theologians and philosophers of religion. It integrates this with theories and empirical findings from the cognitive sciences, in particular the multidisciplinary endeavor of the cognitive science of religion, which incorporates among others developmental psychology, cognitive anthropology, and cognitive neuroscience. We challenge two ideas that are widespread in cognitive science of religion, theology, and philosophy of religion: (1) that natural theology is a highly arcane endeavor, far removed from everyday cognitive dispositions, (2) that questions about the origin and justification of religious beliefs should be considered separately. We find that arguments in natural theology resonate deeply with intuitions that humans universally hold. Therefore, natural theology builds upon cognitive foundations that also underlie folk religious beliefs. We also challenge the strict division between justification and origins of religious belief, as the intuitions underlying natural theological arguments—by which religious beliefs are traditionally defended—are the result of evolved cognitive propensities. ! ! ! 0/1*&$,2,/%$! “A new and illuminating look at arguments for the existence of God. Brings to bear up-to-date knowledge of cognitive science to show that the staying power of the traditional proofs is no accident; they are deeply rooted in the ways we cognize the world.” — Howard Wettstein, Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside; author of The Significance of Religious Experience “In A Natural History of Natural Theology the enduring tradition of natural theology meets an academic newcomer, the cognitive science of religion. In this unique meeting, De Cruz and De Smedt offer a bold, fascinating, and remarkably clear account of the cognitive basis of theological arguments. A Natural History of Natural Theology will not only be appreciated by cognitive scientists and theologians, but will be of interest to anyone who has ever considered arguments for or against the existence of God.” — Richard Sosis, James Barnett Professor of Humanistic Anthropology, University of Connecticut; cofounder and coeditor of Religion, Brain & Behavior “Science has long forced theological thinkers to respond to new evidence about the nature of the world. De Cruz and De Smedt go a step further: what happens to theology when the science in question is the science of theological thought itself? This ambitious book represents an exciting new chapter in the science–theology dialogue.” —Justin L. Barrett, Thrive Professor of Developmental Science, Fuller Graduate School of Psychology; author of Born Believers: The Science of Children’s Religious Belief “ Why is religion culturally universal? Why do our senses of order, design, and beauty lead us to infer a Designer? De Cruz and De Smedt lucidly and seamlessly join philosophy with cognitive science to provide accessible, empirically based answers. Their huge achievement greatly advances religious studies.” —Stewart Elliott Guthrie, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Fordham University; author of Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion 3'#4,!*5!(*/%,/%$! 1. Natural Theology and Natural History Two Questions about Religion What Is Natural Theology? What Is Cognitive Science of Religion? Summary 2. The Naturalness of Religious Beliefs The Human Cognitive Toolbox Intuitive Ontologies as Natural Modes of Reasoning Naturalness Intuitiveness Summary 3. Intuitions about God’s Knowledge: Anthropomorphism or Preparedness? Is Natural Theology Cognitively Unnatural? Divine Attributes God Concepts as a Form of Anthropomorphism The Preparedness Hypothesis A Conflict between Anthropomorphism and Preparedness? Toward an Integrated Account Preparedness and Cognitive Load Anthropomorphism and Efficient Cognitive Processing The Tragedy of the Theologian Revisited Summary 4. Teleology, the Design Stance, and the Argument from Design The Argument from Design How We Infer Design Are Humans Intuitive Theists? Intuitive Probability: Can Chance Events Produce Order and Complexity? A Rational Basis for Disagreement Is There Still a Place for the Design Argument? Summary 5. The Cosmological Argument and Intuitions about Causality and Agency The Cosmological Argument and Human Cognition Causal Cognition and the Inference to a First Cause Intuitions about Agency in the Identification of God Evolutionary Debunking Arguments Internalist Justification Summary 6. The Moral Argument in the Light of Evolutionary Ethics The Argument from Moral Awareness The Evolution of Human Morality The Argument from Moral Objectivism Is Moral Realism Intuitive? CSR and the Link between Theism and Morality Evolutionary Debunking Arguments against Moral Realism Are Theism and Evolutionary Ethics Compatible? Summary 7. The Argument from Beauty and the Evolutionary Basis of Aesthetic Experience Aesthetic Arguments Aesthetic Appreciation as Universal Human Behavior Evolutionary Aesthetics Beauty and Sexual Selection Aesthetic Appreciation and Evolved Sensory Biases The Biophilia Hypothesis Cognitive and Evolutionary Explanations of the Sense of the Sublime Linking Aesthetic Properties with God’s Existence Aesthetic Experience and Religious Fictionalism Summary 8. The Argument from Miracles and the Cognitive Science of Religious Testimony The Argument from Miracles Defining Miracles from Historical and Cognitive Perspectives The Cultural Transmission of Minimally Counterintuitive ideas Reliance on Testimony to Miracles Implications for the Argument from Miracles Summary 9. The Natural History of Religion and the Rationality of Religious Beliefs Natural History of Religion and Justification Undercutting and Rebutting Defeaters Generalized Evolutionary Debunking Strategies and CSR Specific Evolutionary Debunking Arguments against Religion Does CSR Debunk or Vindicate Natural Theology? 194 Summary Notes References Index !.
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