Breaking the Spell: Reconsidering Cognitive and Evolutionary Approaches to Atheism

The scientific study of nonreligion has been described as being ‘under the spell’ of religion because the vast majority of research investigates nonbelief in respect to belief. This has resulted in a number of problematic theories, including the leading cognitive science of religion (CSR) theory tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Method & theory in the study of religion
Authors: Szocik, Konrad 1985- (Author) ; Messick, Kyle J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2020]
In: Method & theory in the study of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Kognitive Religionswissenschaft / Atheism / Irreligiosity / Agnosticism
RelBib Classification:AA Study of religion
AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
Further subjects:B Atheism
B Nonreligion
B Unbelief
B Theory
B Evolutionary
B Cognitive
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:The scientific study of nonreligion has been described as being ‘under the spell’ of religion because the vast majority of research investigates nonbelief in respect to belief. This has resulted in a number of problematic theories, including the leading cognitive science of religion (CSR) theory that claims that religious belief is innate, and so to be a nonbeliever is to violate cognitive predispositions. This article critically analyzes innateness theories and encourages the development of further theories that incorporate social, adaptive, cultural, evolutionary, and biological factors in addition to cognitive contributors. This article details the roles of adaptive and functional aspects of nonbelief, the influence of credibility enhancing displays (CREDs), and the influence of cultural context on nonbelief as they are not sufficiently explained by CSR theories. It is proposed that future theories study nonreligion in its own right, instead of respective to religion, so that a broader range of unique characteristics can be accounted for without inaccurately and inadequately phrasing theories in terms of naturalness.
ISSN:1570-0682
Contains:Enthalten in: Method & theory in the study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700682-12341501