The Believing Primate

Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Reflections on the Origin of Religion
Erscheinungsjahr 2009
ISBN: 978-0-19-955702-8
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 384 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 734 g

Over the last two decades, scientific accounts of religion have received a great deal of scholarly and popular attention both because of their intrinsic interest and because they are widely seen as potentially as constituting a threat to the religion they analyse. The Believing Primate aims to describe and discuss these scientific accounts as well as to assess their implications. The volume begins with essays by leading scientists in the field, describing these accounts and discussing evidence in their favour. Philosophical and theological reflections on these accounts follow, offered by leading philosophers, theologians, and scientists. This diverse group of scholars address some fascinating underlying questions: Do scientific accounts of religion undermine the justification of religious belief? Do such accounts show religion to be an accidental by-product of our evolutionary development? And, whilst we seem naturally disposed toward religion, would we fare better or worse without it? Bringing together dissenting perspectives, this provocative collection will serve to freshly illuminate ongoing debate on these perennial questions.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Schloss, Jeffrey

Murray, Michael

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Kognitionspsychologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religion & Wissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Religion & Wissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Systematische Theologie Christliche Theologie und die Wissenschaften
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Kultur- und Sozialethnologie: Allgemeines

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction

- 1: Jesse Bering and Dominic Johnson: Hand of God, Mind of Man: Punishment and Cognition in the Evolution of Cooperation

- 2: Joseph Bulbulia: Religiosity as mental time travel: cognitive adaptations for religious behavior

- 3: Justin Barrett: Cognitive Science, Religion and Theology

- 4: Peter J. Richerson and Lesley Newson: Is Religion Adaptive? Yes, no, neutral, but mostly we don't know

- 5: Paul Bloom: Religious Belief as an Evolutionary Accident

- 6: Peter van Inwagen: Explaining Belief in the Supernatural: Some thoughts on Paul Bloom's 'Religious Belief as Evolutionary Accident'

- 7: Alvin Plantinga: Games Scientists Play

- 8: Michael J. Murray: Scientific Explanations of Religion and the Justification of Religious Belief

- 9: Michael J. Murray and Andrew Goldberg: Evolutionary Accounts of Religion: Explaining and Explaining Away

- 10: Charles Taliaferro: Explaining Religious Experience

- 11: Del Ratzsch: Humanness in their hearts: Where science and religion fuse

- 12: John Haught: Theology and Evolution: How Much Can Biology Explain

- 13: Nancey Murphy: Cognitive Science and the Evolutionof Religion: A Philosophical and Theological Appraisal

- 14: Christian Smith: Does Naturalism Warrant a Moral Belief in Universal Benevolence and Human Rights?

- 15: Jonathan Haidt: Moral Psychology and the Misunderstanding of Religion

- 16: David Sloan Wilson: Evolutionary Social Constructivism: Narrowing (but not yet bridging) the Gap

Über Autor(innen)

Michael Murray is the Arthur and Katherine Shadek Professor in the Humanities and Philosophy at Franklin and Marshall College (Lancaster, PA). He received his B.A. at Franklin & Marshall College, and his M.A, and Ph.D at the University of Notre Dame. He has held fellowships from the Institute for Research in the Humanities (Madison, Wisconsin), the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Society, and the Notre Dame Center for Philosophy of Religion.