RELS XXX :

God(s) & the Gaps:

Cognitive Science and the Study of Religion

From How to Read Character (1891)

Course Description

One of the goals of religious studies is to reconstruct, as best as possible, the circumstances (e.g., social, political) that gave rise to a particular movement, event or perspective. Extant texts, ethnographic reports, archaeological and other material evidence are often the foundations of such investigations. Yet, the religious studies scholar and/or historian frequently finds her/himself compelled to hypothesize about the mental states (motives, desires, feelings, intentions) of the peopleor agentsthat are the objects of their analyses. At times these hypotheses amount to little more than an expression of the intuitions or assumptions of the investigator. In recent years, scholars have begun to realize that they would likely benefit from examining methods in the fields of psychology, cognitive and neuro science for clues as to how the mind works, and how to begin to draw the line between what we imagine to be fact and what science tells us is possible. This course investigates whether recent research in the field of cognitive science is useful for the study of religion. Can cogsci offer concrete evidence in the architecture of the mind for why human beings across times and cultures have often looked to god, gods or other non-obvious beings as the foundation for certain beliefs and practices? Looking at religion from a historical perspective, might cogsci help us be more cautious in the claims we make about what and how ancient persons thought about the world around them, and how they passed along the sayings, myths and stories that are central to many of the dominant religious traditions of today (e.g., Judaism and Christianity)? In terms of modernity, what can the sciences contribute to our understanding of how religion and religious ideas influence our thinking about allied issues such as politics, human rights and technological advances? We will survey some cutting edge perspectives on human evolution and evolutionary psychology, memory theory, cognitive historiography and research into artificial intelligence models as a means for reexamining traditional approaches to religious investigations and consider where these fields may be mutually beneficial to each other. Prerequisites: At least one previous course in Religious Studies.
Instructor Information

Robyn Faith Walsh xxxxx

Course Goals and Objectives

The goal of this course is to introduce you to current debates in the applicability of cogsci and allied fields to Religious Studies. Through our work together, you will have the opportunity in this course to learn to: critically analyze scholarly texts and material data introduce you to an emerging interdisciplinary conversation improve your research, academic writing and communication skills develop a creative individual research project that makes an original contribution to the field
Course Requirements

Attendance and Participation (20%): Our class will meet XXX. Please come to all class meetings prepared to discuss the assigned readings and to participate actively in discussion with your questions and original ideas. Participation in class discussion should not be a source of anxiety for you, but an opportunity to express your unique perspectives on the course material and to continue to improve your oral communication skills. Midterm: (25%) A combination of short answers and essays. More details to follow. Response Papers: (25%) [Depending on whether the course is offered as a lecture or seminar.] Final Project (30%): There are 2 options for your final project, due the last day of finals. 1) Case Study Research Paper: A 10-15 pp. (aprox. 3000-4500 words) research paper that reexamines a traditional subject or thinker in Religious Studies (e.g., early Christianity, Hebrew Bible, Buddhism, Durkheim, Geertz, Freud) in light of the potential contributions of cogsci. This project will be of your design, in consultation with me. This option will also require approval in advance via a research proposal. 2) Special Project: If you have a creative idea for a relevant project related to your major, come see me. Similar to the research paper, this will require a proposal in advance and close consultation with me along the way. Some examples of an appropriate final project might include an art study, creative writing, a movie, interviewing notable scholars and so on. More detailed information on each of these assignments will follow.
Grading Policies & Other matters

If you submit work after set deadlines, without prior written permission from me, you should expect points deducted that assignments final grade. Missed exams will only be allowed to be made up in exceptional circumstances. If you are unable to attend class for some reason, please contact me as soon as possible. Absences for which an official deans letter or health services note is provided will not count against your final grade. You are expected to adhere to the academic policies of the college and the Honor Code. Violations of this policy will be subject to disciplinary action. Students with any disabilities of which I should be aware, please contact me as soon as possible in order to make the appropriate arrangements. Cell phones are to remain off at all times while class is in session. The use of laptops for anything other than class business may result in the general banning of said laptops.

Required Books & Other Course Materials

Ilkka Pyysiinen, How Religion Works: Towards a New Cognitive Science of Religion (Brill, 2003). Todd Tremlin, Minds and Gods: The Cognitive Foundations of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2006). Scott Atran, In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2002). Information on [a course packet / handouts / course website] to follow.
Weekly Readings & Assignments

**[I have kept syllabus this draft flexible and the readings listed below can be divided and edited to fit a number of structures (lecture, discussion group, seminar), course levels (although some previous background in Religious Studies is likely required), and/or schedules (ideally, 2-3 x per week, although 1 per week is also possible).]
I. Setting the Stage: Cogsci Approaches to Religion

Week 1: What is Religion?

R.T. McCutcheon W. Braun W. Arnal B. Mack I. Pyysiinen More Than a Shapeless Beast: Lumbering through the Academy with the Study of Religion, Critics Not Caretakers (SUNY Press, 2001), pp. 3-20. Religion, pp. 3-34 Definition, pp. 21-34 Social Formation, pp. 283-296 in Braun & McCutcheon, eds., Guide to the Study of Religion (Continuum, 2000). Introduction: Cognitive Approaches to Religion, How Religion Works: Towards a New Cognitive Science of Religion (Brill, 2003), pp. 1-8.

Week 2: Are the Cognitive Sciences useful for the Study of Religion?
E. Slingerland I. Pyysiinen Introduction, What Science Offers the Humanities: Integrating Body and Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2008), pp. 1-28. Religion: Her Ideas of His Ideas of Their Ideas and Mind Your Heads, Supernatural Agents: Why We Believe in Souls, Gods, and Buddhas (Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 3-41, 43-53. Evolution, Cognition, and History, in L.H. Martin & J. Srensen, eds., Past Minds: Studies in Cognitive Historiography (Equinox Publishing, 2011), pp. 1-10. Literature and the Cognitive Revolution: An Introduction, Poetics Today 23/1 (2002), pp. 1-8.

L.H. Martin A. Richardson


S. Atran C. Heintz

Week 3: Hey Girl: Cultural Transmission & The Meme

The Trouble with Memes: Inference versus Imitation in Cultural Creation, Human Nature 12/4 (2001), pp. 351- 381. Cognitive History and Cultural Epidemiology, L.H. Martin & J. Srensen, eds., Past Minds: Studies in Cognitive Historiography (Equinox Publishing, 2011), pp. 11-28. Religion and the Social, How Religion Works: Towards a New Cognitive Science of Religion (Brill, 2003), pp. 55-75. Introduction: Inventing Traditions, The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 1-14.

I. Pyysiinen

E. Hobsbawm

Week 4: culture & counterfactuals: evolutionary accounts of religion

P. Boyer S. Atran H. Whitehouse

What is the Origin? Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought (Perseus, 2001), pp. xx-xx. Introduction: An Evolutionary Riddle, In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 3-18. First Principles for Explaining Religion and Ritual, Modes of Religiosity: A Cognitive Theory of Religious Transmission (AltaMira, 2004), pp. 15-27. Religion and Culture, How Religion Works: Towards a New Cognitive Science of Religion (Brill, 2003), pp. 25-53. Culture as a Notional, Not Natural, Kind, The Native Mind and the Cultural Construction of Nature (MIT Press, 2008), pp. 143-159.

I. Pyysiinen S. Atran & D. Medin

T. Tremlin II. Minds & Gods

Week 5: Counterintuitive Concepts

Introduction and Minds, Other Minds, and the Minds of Gods, Minds and Gods: The Cognitive Foundations of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 3-12, 73-106.

S. Atran

Counterintuitive Worlds: The Mostly Mundane Nature of Religious Beliefs, In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 83-113. Are Religious Beliefs Counter-Intuitive, Radical Interpretation in Religion, N.K. Frankenberry, ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 129-146. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (Arc Manor, 2008 [1907]), selections.

M. Bloch W. James

Week 6: The Natural World & Animal Cognition

R.N. McCauley H. Kornblith W.L. Proudfoot S. Atran Natural Religion, Why Religion is Natural and Science is Not (Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 145-221. Investigating Knowledge Itself and Knowledge as Natural Phenomenon, Knowledge and its Place in Nature (Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 1-27, 28-69. Religious Belief and Naturalism, Radical Interpretation in Religion, N.K. Frankenberry, ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 78-92. Gods Creation: Evolutionary Origins of the Supernatural, In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 51-79.

Week 7: How Religion Works

I. Pyysiinen God and Transcendence and Religion and Cognition: Towards a New Science of Religion, How Religion Works: Towards a New Cognitive Science of Religion (Brill, 2003), pp. 9-23, 197-236. Whos Afraid of Reductionism? The Study of Religion in the Age of Cognitive Science, Journal of the American Academy of Religion 76 (2005), pp. 375-411. Gods and Why They Matter and God and Religious Systems, Minds and Gods: The Cognitive Foundations of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 107142, 143-167.

E. Slingerland

T. Tremlin

Y. Avrahami III. Did People in the Past Think Differently From Us?

Week 8: Hebrew Bible: Primitive Peoples and the Senses

The Senses of Scripture: Sensory Perception in the Hebrew Bible (T&T Clark, 2011), selections.

T. Tremlin J.G. Herder J.C. Livingston K.R. Livingston M. Johnson

The Prehistoric Roots of the Modern Mind, Minds and Gods: The Cognitive Foundations of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 43-72. The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry (Vol. 1) (General Books, 2012 [1833]), selections. Johann Gottfried Herder, Modern Christian Thought: The Enlightenment and Nineteenth Century (Fortress Press, 2006), pp. 73-77. Religious Practice, Brain, and Belief, Journal of Cognition and Culture 5.1-2 (2005), pp. 75-117. Metaphor and Cognition, S. Gallagher and D. Schmicking, eds., Handbook of Phenomenology and Cognitive Science (Springer, 2010), pp. 401-414.

L.H. Martin

Week 9: Early Christianity, Memory & Oral Traditions

The Promise of Cognitive Science for the Study of Early Christianity, P. Luomanen, I. Pyysiinen, R. Uro, eds., Explaining Christian Origins and Early Judaism: Contributions from Cognitive Science (Brill, 2007), pp. 37-56. The Formation of Q: Trajectories in Ancient Wisdom Collections (Continuum, 1999), selections. Can Memory Fill in Gaps of Memory? Applications of the Cognitive Science of Religion to the History of Religion, Historical Reflections/ Rflexions Historique 31/2 (2005), pp. 283-295. Memory, History and the Claims of the Past, Memory Studies 1, pp. 149-166. Memory in Oral and Literate Traditions, The Collective Memory Reader (Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 321-324. How to Read an Oral Poem (University of Illinois Press, 2002), selections. Holy BookA Treasury of the Incomprehensible. The Invention of Writing and Religious Cognition, Numen 46 (1999), pp. 269-290.

J.S. Kloppenborg T. Vial

R. Poole J. Goody J.M. Foley I. Pyysiinen

Week 10: The Emotional mind

S. Atran P.R. Thagard Ritual and Revelation: The Emotional Mind, In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 149-173. The Emotion Coherence of Religion, Journal of Cognition and Culture 5.1-2 (2005), pp. 58-74.

M. J. Adair

Platos View of the Wandering Uterus, The Classical Journal 91:2 (1996), pp. 153-163. Religion and Personality: Freud, Eight Theories of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. xx-xx. Watch The Lobotomist (PBS, 2008), film.

D.L. Pals

American Experience Recommended Reading:

S.R. Wells, How to Read Character: A New Illustrated Hand-Book of Phrenology and Physiognomy, for Students and Examiners; with a Descriptive Chart. (New York, Fowler & Wells Co., Pubs., 1891). J. Acocella, Turning the Page: How Women Became Readers, The New Yorker (10/15/2012), pp. 88-93. Check out the American Experience website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/lobotomist/player/

IV. Politics & Religion

Week 11: The Hegemony of Ideas

The Neuroscience Delusion. Neuroaesthetics is wrong about our experience of literatureand it is wrong about humanity, Times Literary Supplement (9 Ap 2008) [link]. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (Random House, 2012), selections. The Ideology of Slavery: Proslavery Thought in the Antebellum South, 1830-1860 (Louisiana State University Press, 1981), selections. Introduction: Gramsci in his time and in ours, M. McNally, ed., Gramsci and Global Politics: Hegemony and Resistance (Taylor & Francis, 2009), pp. 1-15.

R. Tallis

J. Haidt D.G. Faust J. Schwarzmantel

J. Greene J. Mikhail

Week 12: Moral Psychology & Human Rights

From Neural is to Moral ought: What are the Moral Implications of Neuroscientific Moral Psychology? Nature Reviews Neuroscience 4, pp. 847-850. The Question Presented, Elements of Moral Cognition: Rawls Linguistic Analogy and the Cognitive Science of Moral and Legal Judgment (Cambridge University Press, 2011), pp. 3-12. Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry (Princeton University Press, 2003), selections.
7

M. Ignatieff


R. Rorty On Ethnocentrism: A Reply to Clifford Geertz, Objectivity, Relativism, and Truth: Philosophical Papers (Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 203-210.

S. Atran B.H. Smith

Week 13: God of the Gaps versus Natural Theology

Conclusion: Why Religion Seems Here to Stay, In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 263-280. Reflections: Science and Religion, Natural and Unnatural, Natural Reflections: Human Cognition and the Nexus of Science and Religion (Yale University Press, 2009), pp. 121-149. Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HooeZrC76s0 God from the Machine: Artificial Intelligence Models of Religious Cognition (AltaMira, 2006), selections.

Neil deGrasse Tyson W.S. Bainbridge

Natural Theology from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://www.iep.utm.edu/theo-nat/)

Week 14: Student Presentations