The Missing Cultural Lens in the Cognitive Science of Religion
White’s recent book An Introduction to the Cognitive Science of Religion provides a state-of-the-art review of the field, geared toward students and readers interested in learning more about the cognitive underpinnings of religion. This commentary focuses on the missing cultural lens in the Cognitiv...
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| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Equinox Publ.
2022
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| In: |
Journal for the cognitive science of religion
Year: 2019, Volume: 7, Issue: 2, Pages: 178-189 |
| Review of: | An introduction to the cognitive science of religion (London : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021) (Fischer, Ronald)
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Kognitive Religionswissenschaft
/ Evolutionary psychology
/ Cultural evolution
/ Zitatenanalyse
/ Test bias
/ Interculturality
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| RelBib Classification: | AE Psychology of religion NCJ Ethics of science |
| Further subjects: | B
functional equivalence
B Book review B cultural bias B Cultural Evolution B Cognition B Personality |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | White’s recent book An Introduction to the Cognitive Science of Religion provides a state-of-the-art review of the field, geared toward students and readers interested in learning more about the cognitive underpinnings of religion. This commentary focuses on the missing cultural lens in the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) in general, as evidenced by White’s summary of relevant theories and methods. I reflect on the grounding of the field in a specific version of evolutionary psychology which tends to downplay the role of culture for human behavior. The concept of functional equivalence from the cultural psychology toolkit may help researchers think through the Tinbergian questions within each cultural context. I then provide a basic bibliometric study of the authors cited within the book. Similar to the larger field of psychology, there is a distinct cultural bias in the contributors to the field. This bias is probably even more detrimental to this subject area because researchers are located mainly within one religious (Christian) tradition. It is important to overcome imposed etic perspectives and more carefully question assumptions, theories, and methods to evaluate whether a Christian interpretation is cast onto religious phenomena more generally. Finally, I provide two scientific and one moral reason why the CSR has much to gain from embracing cultural dynamics in its theorizing and scientific practice. |
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| ISSN: | 2049-7563 |
| Reference: | Kritik in "Five Issues in the Debate: A Response to Critics (2022)"
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the cognitive science of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/jcsr.21235 |