Abstract
In light of the advancements in cognitive science and the evolutionary psychology of religion in the past two decades, scientists and philosophers have begun to reflect on the theological and atheological implications of naturalistic—and in particular, evolutionary—explanations of religious belief and behaviour. However, philosophical naiveté is often evinced by scientists and scientific naiveté by philosophers. The aim of this article is to draw from these recent contributions, point out some common pitfalls and important insights, and suggest a way forward. This proposal avoids the genetic fallacy as well as misunderstandings of the cognitive mechanisms that give rise to religious belief. In the end, it may well be that the cognitive science of religion is atheologically and theologically ambiguous; traditional philosophers of religion on both sides of the debate still have work to do.
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Notes
As the extant literature focusses exclusively on the theism of the Abrahamic traditions (and indeed, more specifically Christian theism), this article will be similarly limited.
The historical veracity of this account is contested but is irrelevant for the illustrative purpose for which it is used here.
There are, it must be admitted, various ways to apply Ockham’s razor, and whether or not successful naturalistic explanations of phenomena are indeed more ontologically economical than their theological counterparts may well turn on one’s understanding of ontological economy. While defending this view of ontological economy goes beyond the scope of this article, I am assuming ‘ontological-type economy’, which suggests that we ought not posit more types or kinds of entities than are necessary. If, for example, an explanation that only requires physical entities will do, we ought not invoke non-physical entities, even if this would reduce the total number of entities, physical or otherwise.
Indeed, there is a trivial sense in which all scientific theories are explanatory (insofar as they are explanatory) in this ‘general’ way; application to any specific case requires the consideration of the multiple causal factors that are inevitably in play and this, in turn, may require the application of other theories.
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An early version of this paper was presented to the Dept. of Philosophy, University of Otago, New Zealand. I am grateful for their warm encouragement and critical comments.
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Jong, J. Explaining Religion (Away?). SOPHIA 52, 521–533 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-012-0338-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-012-0338-9