Imagining The Cognitive Science Of Religion

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Imagining the Cognitive Science of Religion

E. Thomas Lawson
Imagining the Cognitive Science of Religion Book PDF

Author : E. Thomas Lawson
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 185 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2023-08-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781350355880

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Imagining the Cognitive Science of Religion by E. Thomas Lawson Pdf

Uniting Thomas Lawson's essays on the cognitive science of religion, this volume explores theoretical issues in the study of cultural phenomena such as religion, the role of imagination, and the experiments that emerge from these theories. The book begins with Lawson's influential essay “Towards a Cognitive Science of Religion,” which was the first to employ the phrase, and has since become widely adopted in many different disciplines. It signals to scholars in the humanities that the cognitive revolution has finally reached them and serves to introduce them to the world of science. The rest of the book focuses on theoretical issues in the study of cultural phenomena and describes experiments by scholars working on the connections between cognition and culture. Described as "the grandfather of the cognitive science of religion," Lawson offers a unique perspective on the development of the field and the principles that underlie it, which will be relevant to both newcomers and established scholars.

Religion as Make-Believe

Neil Van Leeuwen
Religion as Make Believe Book PDF

Author : Neil Van Leeuwen
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 311 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2023-11-21
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780674294929

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Religion as Make-Believe by Neil Van Leeuwen Pdf

To understand the nature of religious belief, we must look at how our minds process the world of imagination and make-believe. We often assume that religious beliefs are no different in kind from ordinary factual beliefs—that believing in the existence of God or of supernatural entities that hear our prayers is akin to believing that May comes before June. Neil Van Leeuwen shows that, in fact, these two forms of belief are strikingly different. Our brains do not process religious beliefs like they do beliefs concerning mundane reality; instead, empirical findings show that religious beliefs function like the imaginings that guide make-believe play. Van Leeuwen argues that religious belief—which he terms religious “credence”—is best understood as a form of imagination that people use to define the identity of their group and express the values they hold sacred. When a person pretends, they navigate the world by consulting two maps: the first represents mundane reality, and the second superimposes the features of the imagined world atop the first. Drawing on psychological, linguistic, and anthropological evidence, Van Leeuwen posits that religious communities operate in much the same way, consulting a factual-belief map that represents ordinary objects and events and a religious-credence map that accords these objects and events imagined sacred and supernatural significance. It is hardly controversial to suggest that religion has a social function, but Religion as Make-Believe breaks new ground by theorizing the underlying cognitive mechanisms. Once we recognize that our minds process factual and religious beliefs in fundamentally different ways, we can gain deeper understanding of the complex individual and group psychology of religious faith.

Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology

Justin L. Barrett
Cognitive Science Religion and Theology Book PDF

Author : Justin L. Barrett
Publisher : Templeton Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2011-11-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 159947381X

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Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology by Justin L. Barrett Pdf

Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology is the eighth title published in the Templeton Science and Religion Series, in which scientists from a wide range of fields distill their experience and knowledge into brief tours of their respective specialties. In this volume, well-known cognitive scientist Justin L. Barrett offers an accessible overview of this interdisciplinary field, reviews key findings in this area, and discusses the implications of these findings for religious thought and practice. Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of minds and mental activity, and as such, it addresses a fundamental feature of what it is to be human. Further, as religious traditions concern ideas and beliefs about the nature of humans, the nature of the world, and the nature of the divine, cognitive science can contribute directly and indirectly to these theological concerns. Barrett shows how direct contributions come from the growing area called cognitive science of religion (CSR), which investigates how human cognitive systems inform and constrain religious thought, experience, and expression. CSR attempts to answer questions such as: Why do humans tend to be religious? And why are specific ideas (e.g., the possibility of an afterlife) so cross-culturally recurrent? Barrett also covers the indirect implications that cognitive science has for theology, such as human similarities and differences with the animal world, freedom and determinism, and the relationship between minds and bodies. Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology critically reviews the research on these fascinating questions and discusses the many implications that arise from them. In addition, this short volume also offers suggestions for future research, making it ideal not only for those looking for an overview of the field thus far but also for those seeking a glimpse of where the field might be going in the future.

Imagining the Cognitive Science of Religion

E. Thomas Lawson
Imagining the Cognitive Science of Religion Book PDF

Author : E. Thomas Lawson
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 195 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2023-08-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781350355897

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Imagining the Cognitive Science of Religion by E. Thomas Lawson Pdf

Uniting Thomas Lawson's essays on the cognitive science of religion, this volume explores theoretical issues in the study of cultural phenomena such as religion, the role of imagination, and the experiments that emerge from these theories. The book begins with Lawson's influential essay “Towards a Cognitive Science of Religion,” which was the first to employ the phrase, and has since become widely adopted in many different disciplines. It signals to scholars in the humanities that the cognitive revolution has finally reached them and serves to introduce them to the world of science. The rest of the book focuses on theoretical issues in the study of cultural phenomena and describes experiments by scholars working on the connections between cognition and culture. Described as "the grandfather of the cognitive science of religion," Lawson offers a unique perspective on the development of the field and the principles that underlie it, which will be relevant to both newcomers and established scholars.

The Cognitive Science of Religion

James A. Van Slyke
The Cognitive Science of Religion Book PDF

Author : James A. Van Slyke
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2016-03-23
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781317037934

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The Cognitive Science of Religion by James A. Van Slyke Pdf

The cognitive science of religion is a relatively new academic field in the study of the origins and causes of religious belief and behaviour. The focal point of empirical research is the role of basic human cognitive functions in the formation and transmission of religious beliefs. However, many theologians and religious scholars are concerned that this perspective will reduce and replace explanations based in religious traditions, beliefs, and values. This book attempts to bridge the reductionist divide between science and religion through examination and critique of different aspects of the cognitive science of religion and offers a conciliatory approach that investigates the multiple causal factors involved in the emergence of religion.

The Roots of Religion

Roger Trigg,Justin L. Barrett
The Roots of Religion Book PDF

Author : Roger Trigg,Justin L. Barrett
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2016-02-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781317016939

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The Roots of Religion by Roger Trigg,Justin L. Barrett Pdf

The cognitive science of religion is a new discipline that looks at the roots of religious belief in the cognitive architecture of the human mind. The Roots of Religion deals with the philosophical and theological implications of the cognitive science of religion which grounds religious belief in human cognitive structures: religious belief is ’natural’, in a way that even scientific thought is not. Does this new discipline support religious belief, undermine it, or is it, despite many claims, perhaps eventually neutral? This subject is of immense importance, particularly given the rise of the ’new atheism’. Philosophers and theologians from North America, UK and Australia, explore the alleged conflict between truth claims and examine the roots of religion in human nature. Is it less ’natural’ to be an atheist than to believe in God, or gods? On the other hand, if we can explain theism psychologically, have we explained it away. Can it still claim any truth? This book debates these and related issues.

Philosophical Foundations of the Cognitive Science of Religion

Robert N. McCauley
Philosophical Foundations of the Cognitive Science of Religion Book PDF

Author : Robert N. McCauley
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2017-09-07
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781350030336

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Philosophical Foundations of the Cognitive Science of Religion by Robert N. McCauley Pdf

Robert N. McCauley and E. Thomas Lawson are considered the founders of the field of the cognitive science of religion. Since its inception over twenty years ago, the cognitive science of religion has raised questions about the philosophical foundations and implications of such a scientific approach. This volume from McCauley, including chapters co-authored by Lawson, is the first book-length project to focus on such questions, resulting in a compelling volume that addresses fundamental questions that any scholar of religion should ask. The essays collected in this volume are those that initially defined this scientific field for the study of religion. These essays deal with issues of methodology, reductionism, resistance to the scientific study of religion, and other criticisms that have been lodged against the cognitive science of religion. The new final chapter sees McCauley reflect on developments in this field since its founding. Tackling these debates head on and in one place for the first time, this volume belongs on the shelf of every researcher interested in this now established approach to the study of religion within a range of disciplines, including religious studies, philosophy, anthropology and the psychology of religion.

The Cognitive Science of Religion

D. Jason Slone,William W. McCorkle Jr.
The Cognitive Science of Religion Book PDF

Author : D. Jason Slone,William W. McCorkle Jr.
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 311 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2019-01-10
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781350033702

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The Cognitive Science of Religion by D. Jason Slone,William W. McCorkle Jr. Pdf

The Cognitive Science of Religion introduces students to key empirical studies conducted over the past 25 years in this new and rapidly expanding field. In these studies, cognitive scientists of religion have applied the theories, findings and research tools of the cognitive sciences to understanding religious thought, behaviour and social dynamics. Each chapter is written by a leading international scholar, and summarizes in non-technical language the original empirical study conducted by the scholar. No prior or statistical knowledge is presumed, and studies included range from the classic to the more recent and innovative cases. Students will learn about the theories that cognitive scientists have employed to explain recurrent features of religiosity across cultures and historical eras, how scholars have tested those theories, and what the results of those tests have revealed and suggest. Written to be accessible to undergraduates, this provides a much-needed survey of empirical studies in the cognitive science of religion.

Religion in Mind

Jensine Andresen
Religion in Mind Book PDF

Author : Jensine Andresen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 310 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2001-06-28
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780521801522

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Religion in Mind by Jensine Andresen Pdf

Religion in Mind is a 2001 text which summarizes and extends the advances in the cognitive study of religion throughout the 1990s. It uses empirical research from psychology and anthropology to illuminate various components of religious belief, ritual, and experience. The book examines cognitive dimensions of religion within a naturalistic view of culture, while respecting the phenomenology of religion and drawing together teachers of religion, psychologists of religion, and cognitive scientists. Expert contributors focus on phenomena such as belief-fixation and transmission; attributions of agency; anthropomorphizing; counterintuitive religious representations; the well-formedness of religious rituals; links between religious representations and emotions; and the development of god concepts. The work encourages greater interdisciplinary linkages between scholars from different fields and will be of interest to researchers in anthropology, psychology, sociology, history, philosophy, and cognitive science. It also will interest more general readers in religion and science.

Imagining the Impossible

Karl S. Rosengren,Carl N. Johnson,Paul L. Harris
Imagining the Impossible Book PDF

Author : Karl S. Rosengren,Carl N. Johnson,Paul L. Harris
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 444 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2000-05-29
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 0521665876

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Imagining the Impossible by Karl S. Rosengren,Carl N. Johnson,Paul L. Harris Pdf

This volume, first published in 2000, is about the development of human thinking that stretches beyond the ordinary boundaries of reality. Various research initiatives emerged in the decade prior to publication exploring such matters as children's thinking about imaginary beings, magic and the supernatural. The purpose of this book is to capture something of the larger spirit of these efforts. In many ways, this new work offers a counterpoint to research on the development of children's domain-specific knowledge about the ordinary nature of things that has suggested that children become increasingly scientific and rational over the course of development. In acquiring an intuitive understanding of the physical, biological or psychological domains, even young children recognize that there are constraints on what can happen. However, once such constraints are acknowledged, children are in a position to think about the violation of those very same constraints - to contemplate the impossible.

Thinking about Religion

A. Smith
Thinking about Religion Book PDF

Author : A. Smith
Publisher : Springer
Page : 447 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2014-04-08
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781137324757

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Thinking about Religion by A. Smith Pdf

Thinking about Religion examines cutting-edge breakthroughs from across the sciences concluding that religion persists because the mind is primed for faith, ready to grasp and fiercely defend beliefs that make sense but defy logic.

Cognitive Psychology of Religion

Kevin J. Eames
Cognitive Psychology of Religion Book PDF

Author : Kevin J. Eames
Publisher : Waveland Press
Page : 163 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2016-02-22
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781478633068

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Cognitive Psychology of Religion by Kevin J. Eames Pdf

Is religion all in our heads? Whether you believe that to be true or whether you believe that religion has a corresponding external reality (i.e., God), religion at least begins with our heads, namely the cognitive architecture that predisposes human beings to belief in the sacred supernatural. Cognitive Psychology of Religion explores how research in neuroscience, perception, cognition, child development, social cognition, and cognitive anthropology provides insight into the development of the cognitive faculties of belief that facilitate the transmission of religion. Eames has organized the text into seven chapters that follow a clear and straightforward progression from the different theories of the origin of religion into an exploration on how our minds perceive the environment, form truths, spread beliefs, and take part in various rituals and experiences. Cognitive Psychology of Religion is a concise introduction to the cognitive science of religion and serves as an excellent primary or supplemental text for traditional psychology of religion courses.

Religion Explained?

Luther H. Martin,Donald Wiebe
Religion Explained Book PDF

Author : Luther H. Martin,Donald Wiebe
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2017-09-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781350032484

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Religion Explained? by Luther H. Martin,Donald Wiebe Pdf

With contributions from founders of the field, including Justin Barrett, E. Thomas Lawson, Robert N. McCauley, Paschal Boyer, Armin Geertz and Harvey Whitehouse, as well as from younger scholars from successive stages in the field's development, this is an important survey of the first twenty-five years of the cognitive science of religion. Each chapter provides the author's views on the contributions the cognitive science of religion has made to the academic study of religion, as well as any shortcomings in the field and challenges for the future. Religion Explained? The Cognitive Science of Religion after Twenty-five Years calls attention to the field whilst providing an accessible and diverse survey of approaches from key voices, as well as offering suggestions for further research within the field. This book is essential reading for anyone in religious studies, anthropology, and the scientific study of religion.

Minds and Gods

Todd Tremlin
Minds and Gods Book PDF

Author : Todd Tremlin
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 243 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2010-05-07
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780199739011

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Minds and Gods by Todd Tremlin Pdf

This provocative book explains the origins and persistence of religious ideas on the basis of common structures and functions of human thought. The first general introduction to the new "cognitive science of religion," Minds and Gods presents the major themes, theories, and thinkers involved in this revolutionary new approach to human religiosity. Arguing that we cannot understand what we think until we first understand how we think, the book pursues the evolutionary forces that molded the modern human mind and continue to shape our ideas and actions today. Todd Tremlin details many of the adapted features of the brain - illustrating their operation with examples of everyday human behavior - and shows how mental endowments inherited from our ancestral past lead people to naturally entertain religious ideas. Tremlin provides a clear and comprehensive account of the developing field of the cognitive science of religion. This accessible and engaging volume is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the religious mind.

How Religion Works

Ilkka Pyysiäinen
How Religion Works Book PDF

Author : Ilkka Pyysiäinen
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2021-10-11
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9789004496217

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How Religion Works by Ilkka Pyysiäinen Pdf

Recent findings in cognitive science and evolutionary psychology provide important insights to the processes which make religious beliefs and behaviors such efficient attractors in and across various cultural settings. The specific salience of religious ideas is based on the fact that they are 'counter-intuitive': they contradict our intuitive expectations of how entities normally behave. Counter-intuitive ideas are only produced by a mind capable of crossing the boundaries that separate such ontological domains as persons, living things, and solid objects. The evolution of such a mind has only taken place in the human species. How certain kinds of counter-intuitive ideas are selected for a religious use is discussed from varying angles. Cognitive considerations are thus related to the traditions of comparative religion. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.