Cognitive Theory Of Religion Research Articles

<i>Beyond Heaven and Earth: A Cognitive Theory of Religion</i>, by Gabriel Levy

Beyond Heaven and Earth: A Cognitive Theory of Religion, by Gabriel Levy. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2022. xiii + 249 pages, $45.00. ISBN: 9780262543248

Beyond Heaven and Earth: A Cognitive Theory of Religion. By Gabriel Levy

The title of Gabriel Levy’s recent book may mislead; this is not a traditional cognitive science of religion. It is all the better for it. Beyond Heaven and Earth: A Cognitive Theory of Religion is a bold attempt to expose the problematic metaphysics underwriting traditional cognitive science of religion that has impeded its effort to be, well, about religion. The reason for this impediment is that the (“philosophically naïve” [8]) materialist monism of cognitive science treats as epiphenomenal the sort of reality in which religion exists, namely, semantic content (ch. 1). There are materialist monists in the humanities, too. Levy calls them “deep-discourse theorists” (10). These are scholars such as Timothy Fitzgerald, Russell T. McCutcheon, and Tomoko Masuzawa who have, according to Levy, explained away the semantic content of religion by reducing it to “merely a name that people give to things to exert personal, political, or institutional power” (9). Following a line of scholars who have taken up Donald Davidson’s holistic theory of meaning, including Terry Godlove and Nancy Frankenberry, Levy maintains the irreducibility of meaning. To say meaning is irreducible here means that it is undetermined by the physical event corresponding to its being the content of a mental state (14). Levy’s titular “cognitive science of religion” is one that takes semantic content “seriously,” which also for him means taking it to be “part of nature” (e.g., 1, 78, 131).

Los Danzantes de Monte Albán y su relación con el jaguar

<p>Los Danzantes son un grupo de figuras humanas labradas en piedra durante la época I de Monte Albán. Por sus posiciones corporales y aparente desnudez se les ha interpretado como chamanes o cautivos de guerra, aunque el significado que tuvieron para los habitantes de la ciudad sigue siendo un misterio. Con el fin de entender la semejanza entre la posición de las figuras y diversas actitudes del jaguar se ana-lizará la relación que hubo entre los señores zapotecas y este animal, enfocándola desde el punto de vista de la antropomorfización de las fuerzas naturales.</p>

PENDEKATAN PSIKOLOGI DALAM STUDI ISLAM

The present religious presence is required to be active in solving the problems and challenges facing its adherents. The position and role of religion is not only a symbol of piety but can play a role in solving the existing problems. The psychological approach in Islamic studies has a significant role to explain the outward symptoms of religious people. Armed with psychological theories will be easy to know the level of religion that is understood, lived and practiced by someone. The cognitive theory of religion is able to provide answers related to the limitations beyond human capabilities. In addition, religious-based psychotherapy is one concept of psychotherapy in the perspective of Islam that can be used as a therapy to cure various diseases both physical and mental disorders.

Pendekatan Psikologi Dalam Studi Islam

The present religious presence is required to be active in solving the problems and challenges facing its adherents. The position and role of religion is not only a symbol of piety but can play a role in solving the existing problems. The psychological approach in Islamic studies has a significant role to explain the outward symptoms of religious people. Armed with psychological theories will be easy to know the level of religion that is understood, lived and practiced by someone. The cognitive theory of religion is able to provide answers related to the limitations beyond human capabilities. In addition, religious-based psychotherapy is one concept of psychotherapy in the perspective of Islam that can be used as a therapy to cure various diseases both physical and mental disorders.

PENDEKATAN PSIKOLOGI DALAM STUDI ISLAM

The present religious presence is required to be active in solving the problems and challenges facing its adherents. The position and role of religion is not only a symbol of piety but can play a role in solving the existing problems. The psychological approach in Islamic studies has a significant role to explain the outward symptoms of religious people. Armed with psychological theories will be easy to know the level of religion that is understood, lived and practiced by someone. The cognitive theory of religion is able to provide answers related to the limitations beyond human capabilities. In addition, religious-based psychotherapy is one concept of psychotherapy in the perspective of Islam that can be used as a therapy to cure various diseases both physical and mental disorders.

Człowiek jako źródło religii. Scott Atran i kognitywna teoria religii

Człowiek jako źródło religii. Scott Atran i kognitywna teoria religii

Whose Theology? The Promise of Cognitive Theories and the Future of a Disputed Field

AbstractWithin a general attempt to reconceptualise theology and its position in the modern university, the paper argues that the cognitive science of religion offers a great opportunity to modern theology to engage into interdisciplinary research that could be proven especially profitable to its future. By drawing examples from contemporary Greece and a religious ritual that is disputed by the official Christian Orthodox Church as well as from historical theology and the Arian controversy in the fourth century CE, I argue that Justin Barrett’s cognitive theory of religion, known as ‘Theological Correctness’, can provide to theology a useful tool in understanding the religious beliefs of everyday believers. Without discounting other methodologies, theories, and interpretations, this paper argues that there is space for cognitive theories within theological research that could only benefit theology and its future in the twenty-first century.

Cognitive biases explain religious belief, paranormal belief, and belief in life’s purpose

Cognitive theories of religion have postulated several cognitive biases that predispose human minds towards religious belief. However, to date, these hypotheses have not been tested simultaneously and in relation to each other, using an individual difference approach. We used a path model to assess the extent to which several interacting cognitive tendencies, namely mentalizing, mind body dualism, teleological thinking, and anthropomorphism, as well as cultural exposure to religion, predict belief in God, paranormal beliefs and belief in life’s purpose. Our model, based on two independent samples (N=492 and N=920) found that the previously known relationship between mentalizing and belief is mediated by individual differences in dualism, and to a lesser extent by teleological thinking. Anthropomorphism was unrelated to religious belief, but was related to paranormal belief. Cultural exposure to religion (mostly Christianity) was negatively related to anthropomorphism, 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. Alternative theoretical models were tested but did not find empirical support.

How emotion shapes religious cultures: A synthesis of cognitive theories of religion and emotion theory

This paper proposes that the transmission of common religious concepts—such as witches, hostile spirits, benevolent gods, and ancestors—is facilitated by the trajectory of the human emotional response. Because these religious concepts become associated with existentially relevant components of emotional themes they are likely to be internalized, recalled, transmitted, and institutionalized. Emotion is here treated as an evolved, and universally inherited, social heuristic that modulates interpersonal perception and action. Benevolent and malevolent religious entities and associated practices are posited as supernatural extensions of an imagined social world that is partially predicated on, and made meaningful by, the interpretive and motivational functions of emotion. While cultural psychology tends to focus on how culture shapes psychology, this paper begins to construct a theoretical framework that views culture and psychology as mutually constitutive.

Re-cognizing the Mind in the Anthropology of Religion

AbstractCognitive approaches to religion in religious studies and anthropology are proving increasingly fashionable of late. The focus of this essay is on “cognitivism” in the anthropology of religion, and in particular the writings of E. B. Tylor, Claude Lévi-Strauss and Harvey Whitehouse. I define cognitivism in the anthropology of religion as an approach to religion that appeals to the mind and to processes of cognition as universals from which theories of — and explanations for — religion, can be generated. The essay engages in a detailed analysis of three cognitive theories of religion. Each theory takes the mind to be an enduring and stable foundation upon which an explanation for religion can be erected. Yet the mind — the foundation — is disclosed through each theory as unstable; it actually changes under different kinds of enquiry into religion. I then sketch two possible alternative theories of the mind before concluding by arguing that the cognizing mind might productively be treated not as a given and natural fact but rather as the product of discourse.

Explaining and Explaining Away Religious Belief: Van Till's Criticisms of Barrett

Justin Barrett's consideration of some challenges for religious belief raised by evolutionary and cognitive theories of religion was criticized by Howard Van Till for overstating tensions, mischaracterizing the most important epistemological issues, and proposing a solution that perpetuates war on evolution. We argue that each of these claims is untrue, and is not conducive to dialogue that constructively engages and attempts to resolve tensions between science and religion where they do exist.

Political Theology, Anthropomorphism, and Person-hood of the State: The Religion of IR

In this article I identify international relations as a form of religion. My identification takes two epistemological paths. The first one has been cleared by political theologians such as Carl Schmitt, who teach that “secular” political ideas not only have a divine origin, but also structural identity with Christian theology. I will clear the second path with help from a cognitive theory of religion that identifies anthropomorphism as a defining criterion of religion. International relations is a religion, because it is a system of thought that takes the metaphorical image of the personified, embodied state more seriously than other, more idiosyncratic forms of anthropomorphism. What we have in academic IR is, thus, a theology that works to generalize and systematize this religious image into a disciplinary form.

Gods and Corporations: Fifth-Century B. C. E. Athena and the Economic Utility of Extraordinary Agents

AbstractGregory D. Alles has suggested that economic theory can be a valuable supplement to cognitive theories of religion. The cult of Athena at Athens supplies evidence to support this suggestion. Athena may have origins in the cognitive structures of the human mind as an extraordinary agent. However, she developed economic functions in fifth-century B. C. E. Athens. The sanctuary of Athena served as a bank that funded Athenian civic endeavours. Athena's sanctuary was able to do this because she was a disembodied agent with functions similar to those of a modern United States corporation, which is also a disembodied agent.

To Perform, or Not to Perform? A Theory of Ritual Performance Versus Cognitive Theories of Religious Transmission

One of the more exciting recent developments in the study of religion has been the discovery of the relevance of cognitive science to religion. Anthropologists, psychologists, and even some historians of religion have applied the theories and findings of cognitive science to explain such important religious phenomena as the belief in supernatural beings and the regularity of certain forms of religious ritual. Although cognitive theories of religion have significant implications for our understanding of such widespread aspects of traditional religion, and have become increasingly sophisticated and powerful, the awareness of these theories within religious studies remains confined to a small (but growing) cir cle of scholars.2 The present essay attempts to widen that circle, out of a conviction that both cognitive approaches to religion and more tra ditional historical and humanistic approaches would be enriched by cross-fertilization.

The Naturalness of Religious Ideas: A Cognitive Theory of Religion

Why do people have religious ideas? And why thosereligious ideas? The main theme of Pascal Boyer's work is that important aspects of religious representations are constrained by universal properties of the human mind-brain. Experimental results from developmental psychology, he says, can explain why certain religious representations are more likely to be acquired, stored, and transmitted by human minds. Considering these universal constraints, Boyer proposes an exciting new answer to the question of why similar religious representations are found in so many different cultures. His work will be widely discussed by cultural anthropologists, psychologists, and students of religion, history, and philosophy.

Theories of Religion: The Naturalness of Religious Ideas: A Cognitive Theory of Religion . Pascal Boyer. ; 'The Heathen in His Blindness...' Asia, the West and the Dynamic of Religion . S. N. Balagangadhara.

American AnthropologistVolume 98, Issue 1 p. 162-163 Book Review Essays First published: March 1996 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1996.98.1.02a00180Citations: 1AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract Book reviewed in this article: Theories of Religion: The Naturalness of Religious Ideas: A Cognitive Theory of Religion. Pascal Boyer Theories of Religion: ‘The Heathen in His Blindness…’ Asia, the West and the Dynamic of Religion. S. N. Balagangadhara Citing Literature Volume98, Issue1March 1996Pages 162-163 RelatedInformation

Book Review: The Naturalness of Religious Ideas: A Cognitive Theory of Religion

Book Review: The Naturalness of Religious Ideas: A Cognitive Theory of Religion

The Naturalness of Religious Ideas: A Cognitive Theory of Religion.

The Naturalness of Religious Ideas: A Cognitive Theory of Religion.

More on a Cognitive Theory of Religion

Previous articleNext article No AccessDiscussion and CriticismMore on a Cognitive Theory of ReligionRichley H. Crapo and Stewart GuthrieRichley H. Crapo Search for more articles by this author and Stewart Guthrie Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 23, Number 3Jun., 1982 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/202853 Views: 3Total views on this site Copyright 1982 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.