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joer1
joer1
The Cognitive Science of Religion
May 6 2008, 5:10 PM EDT | Post edited: May 6 2008, 5:10 PM EDT
Has anyone heard about this yet? I got Justin Barrett's book, "Why would anyone believe in God?" and it's good. It presents a scientific basis that shows we are born with a natural tendency to believe in God. This could be a good scientific argument that indicates we have a spark of God within us that guides us. :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science_of_religion

The Cognitive Science of Religion is the study of religious thought and behavior from the perspective of the cognitive sciences. The field employs methods and theories from cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, cognitive anthropology, artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience, neurobiology, zoology, ethology, psychiatry, among others. The scholars in this field are seeking to explain how human minds acquire, generate, and transmit religious representations by means of ordinary cognitive capacities. The first systematic treatment of religious representations can be found in Rethinking Religion: Connecting Cognition and Culture by E. Thomas Lawson and Robert N. McCauley. Lawson is considered by most historians of science to be the founder of the Cognitive Science of Religion. A festschrift in his honor, Religion as a Human Capacity was published in 2004. Pascal Boyer - in his Naturalness of Religious Ideas and Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought - made the contribution of evolutionary psychology to the cognitive psychology of religion explicit. The focus in the field has now shifted from theorizing to experimental and empirical studies.

Barrett, J.L. "Cognitive Science of Religion: What Is It and Why Is It?" Religion Compass. 2007, vol 1. Barrett, J.L. "Exploring the Natural Foundations of Religion." Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2000, vol. 4 pp 29-34 Barrett, J.L. "Why Would Anyone Believe in God?" AltaMira Press, 2004.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_L._Barrett
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Keyword tags: Religion Science

workman34
1. RE: The Cognitive Science of Religion
May 6 2008, 6:13 PM EDT | Post edited: May 6 2008, 6:13 PM EDT
Thanks joer1
That sound very interesting, I'm going to check that out. I would love to read it. Do you find this valuable?    

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