The Acquisition and Function of Religious Beliefs: A Review and Synthesis of Proximate and Ultimate Perspectives
Two main scientific approaches have renewed in the last decade the scientific study of religion: the cognitive and the adaptationist. The former is focused on proximate causes, the latter is looking for ultimate causes of religious beliefs and behaviours. Both approaches are useful and promising. Ho...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
[2018]
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| In: |
Theology and science
Year: 2018, Volume: 16, Issue: 4, Pages: 520-538 |
| RelBib Classification: | AA Study of religion AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AE Psychology of religion |
| Further subjects: | B
evolutionary study of religion
B proximate explanation B cognitive science of religion B Ultimate Explanation B social function |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Two main scientific approaches have renewed in the last decade the scientific study of religion: the cognitive and the adaptationist. The former is focused on proximate causes, the latter is looking for ultimate causes of religious beliefs and behaviours. Both approaches are useful and promising. However, in both cases, various important aspects and contexts associated with the origin, acquisition, and transmission of religious beliefs have been neglected. The present paper offers an approach that conjoins both models after reviewing several critical issues, to highlight a distinction between cognitive conditions and structures, on one side; and developments or applications, on the other. As a result greater attention needs to be paid to religious functions and their cultural framework to better understand religion and to explain some current processes, like massive secularization in several areas. |
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| ISSN: | 1474-6719 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Theology and science
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/14746700.2018.1525230 |