Courses

Dr. I. Czachesz

Faculty of Theology

University of Groningen

I.Czachesz@theol.rug.nl

Cognitive Foundations of Religion

Fall 2004

Monday 4.15-5.45 p.m.

Room 30, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies

Oude Boteringestraat 38

Description

This seminar analyzes religion from the perspective of Cognitive Science. Issues discussed during the semester include:

  • Why do people believe in gods and spirits?
  • What is conversion?
  • Why are we performing rituals?
  • Is religion useful - or is it a cultural parasite?

Key concepts: counter-intuitive ideas, modes of religiosity, ritual form, minimal religion theory

Contact information

To sign up for the course, please write an email to the instructor: I.Czachesz@theol.rug.nl.

If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact the instructor or the student advisor.

Literature

Selected chapters of the following books will be read and discussed in the course:

  • Boyer, Pascal, Religion Explained. The Human Instincts that Fashion Gods, Spirits and Ancestors (London, 2001). (Recommended for purchase. Please buy the UK edition if possible - watch the subtitle.)
  • McCauley, Robert N. and Lawson, E. Thomas, Bringing Ritual to Mind: Psychological Foundations of Cultural Forms (Cambridge, 2002).
  • Pyysiäinen, Ilkka, How Religion Works. Towards a New Cognitive Science of Religion (Leiden etc., 2001).
  • Whitehouse, Harvey, Inside the Cult. Religious Innovation and Transmission in Papua New Guinea (Oxford, 1995).

Recommended readings:

  • Andresen, Jensine, ed, Religion in Mind: Cognitive Perspectives on Religious Belief, Ritual, and Experience (Cambridge, 2001).
  • Clarke, Andy, Mindware. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science (New York - Oxford, 2001).
  • Lawson, E. Thomas and McCauley, Robert N., Rethinking Religion: Connecting Cognition and Culture (Cambridge, 1990).
  • Pyysiäinen, Ilkka and Anttonen, Veikko, eds, Current Approaches in the Cognitive Science of Religion (London, 2002).
  • Rubin, David C., Memory in Oral Traditions. The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, and Counting-out Rhymes (New York - Oxford, 1995).
  • Whitehouse, Harvey, Arguments and Icons. Divergent Modes of Religiosity (Oxford, 2000).
  • Söling, Caspar, Der Gottesinstinkt. Bausteine für eine Evoutionäre Religionstheorie. Dissertation (Giessen 2002).

Tentative Course Schedule

  • Week 37
    Course orientation
    Assignment of presentations
  • Week 38
    Explanations of religion
    Reading: Boyer, pp. 1-57.
  • Week 39
    Grounding religious concepts in cognition
    Reading: Boyer, pp. 58-105.
  • Week 40
    Counterintuitive agents
    Reading: Boyer, pp. 105-171.
  • Week 41
    Religion, cooperation, and morality
    Reading: Boyer, pp. 172-231.
  • Week 42
    Conversion and faith
    Reading: Pyysiäinen, pp. 77-142.
  • Week 43
    Religious transmission
    Reading: Whitehouse, pp. 41-88.
  • Week 45
    Religious innovation
    Reading: Whitehouse, pp. 89-154.
  • Week 46
    Doctrinal and imagistic modes of religiosity
    Reading: Whitehouse, pp. 174-221.
  • Week 47
    Ritual I
    Reading: McCauley and Lawson, pp. 1-64.
  • Week 48
    Ritual II
    Reading: McCauley and Lawson, pp. 64-123.
  • Week 49
    Ritual III
    Reading: McCauley and Lawson, pp. 124-178.
  • Week 50
    Minimal religion theory
    Reading to be assigned
  • Week 51
    The opposite perspective:
    Cognitive theory in religious discourse
    Reading to be assigned

Requirements

  • Each participant is expected to summarize two selected chapters during the semester.
  • A written exam will be given on the assigned readings and the issues discussed in class.
  • It is possible to write a final paper of 5000 words for extra credit points. The final paper must reflect individual research on a subject approved by the instructor.

Useful Links

© 2004 I. Czachesz