RELIGION and COGNITION

An Introduction by István Czachesz

The cognitive study of religion - Current trends

Religious experience

As early as the 1950s, laboratory experiments have been conducted to induce religious experience using drugs and other methods, and measure changes in the body in states of trance, meditation, or prayer. Today, modern brain-scanning techniques can be used to examine which brain areas are activated when people have religious experience. How various experiences are actually related to religiosity remains to be explored.

E.g. M.A. Persinger, Neuropsychological bases of god beliefs (1987).

Supernatural concepts

Since the mid-1990s, the mental representation and propagation of supernatural concepts has been investigated. Particular attention has been paid to the concepts of gods and spirits. The conceptualisation of these so-called counter-intuitive agents relies on various features of the human mind shaped by evolution:

  1. The agent detection system originally served to quickly identify dangerous beasts and potential prey in our environment.
  2. Our theory of mind enables us to simulate other people's thoughts and feelings.
  3. Moral intuitions serve social interaction and successful cooperation.

Concepts of counter-intuitive agents are thought to make use of these mental capacities.

E.g. S.E. Guthrie, Faces in the clouds (1993); P. Boyer, Religion explained (2001); I. Pyysiäinen, How religion works (2003)

Rituals and memory

Rituals have been examined mainly in the context of remembering. Rituals are thought to serve the memorisation and propagation of religious concepts and traditions.

E.g. E.Th. Lawson & R.N. McCauley, Rethinking religion (1990); H. Whitehouse, Inside the cult (1995).

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