The Cognitive Foundations of Reincarnation

Anthropological records and psychological studies demonstrate the recurrence of ideas about how to determine the identity of reincarnated persons. These ideas are often incoherent with corresponding theological dogma about the process of reincarnation. Specifically, even though reincarnation is repr...

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Veröffentlicht in:Method & theory in the study of religion
1. VerfasserIn: White, Claire (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
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Veröffentlicht: Brill 2016
In: Method & theory in the study of religion
normierte Schlagwort(-folgen):B Seelenwanderung / Selbst / Identität / Kognitive Religionswissenschaft
RelBib Classification:AB Religionsphilosophie; Religionskritik; Atheismus
AE Religionspsychologie
weitere Schlagwörter:B Reincarnation personal identity cognitive science of religion theological incorrectness
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Anthropological records and psychological studies demonstrate the recurrence of ideas about how to determine the identity of reincarnated persons. These ideas are often incoherent with corresponding theological dogma about the process of reincarnation. Specifically, even though reincarnation is represented as a process of change, people often seek out and interpret particular similarities between the deceased and reincarnated agent as evidence that the two are one and the same person. This paper argues that panhuman cognitive tendencies explain, in part, the spread and recurrence of ideas about what provides evidence of reincarnation: specifically, representations of reincarnated agents are informed and constrained by everyday cognitive intuitions that govern representations of continued identity for intentional agents generally. The paper concludes that these constraints go some way towards explaining the recurrent features of reincarnation concepts and behaviors cross-culturally.
ISSN:1570-0682
Enthält:In: Method & theory in the study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700682-12341381