Runehov & Oviedo (Eds.) (2013) - Encyclopaedia PDF

Anne L.C.
Runehov
Lluis Oviedo
Editors-in-Chief
Nina P. Azari
Founding Editor
Encyclopedia of
Sciences and
Religions
1 3Reference
Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions
Anne L. C. Runehov, Lluis Oviedo
Editors
Nina P. Azari
Founding Editor
Encyclopedia of
Sciences and Religions
With 61 Figures and 14 Tables

Editors
Anne L. C. Runehov
Department of Systematic Theology
Faculty of Theology, Copenhagen University
Copenhagen, Denmark
Lluis Oviedo
Pontificia Universita Antonianum
Roma, Italia
ISBN 978-1-4020-8264-1 ISBN 978-1-4020-8265-8 (eBook)

ISBN Bundle 978-1-4020-8266-5 (print and electronic bundle)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013930304
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“To all who love the God with a 1000 names
and respect science”
Preface
Since the time of Ancient Greece science and religion have been closely
related, at least epistemologically. For instance, as Bertrand Russell notes in
Wisdom of the West (1959:13), perhaps the most important notion in Greek
philosophy was the concept logos, meaning both word and measure.
We believe there are few doubts that logos is one of the main concepts used
in both contemporary theology and the sciences, including social and human
sciences.
In Religion and Science in Context, Willem B. Drees argues, “there is not
only a need for serious study of ‘Religion and Science’, as an object to be
studied, but also for serious reflection in ‘Religion and Science’” (2010: 150).
Scientists and scholars taking the debate seriously face the following
questions. Firstly, the question of how to relate scientific theories and findings
to questions of faith, meaning and purpose as raised by religions and theology.
Secondly, the question of how to relate empirical questions and answers to
ethical and existential questions and answers. It was through questions and
reflections such as these together with the quest for an adequate understanding
of the world that does justice to what it means to be a human being embedded
in oneself, the world, and for many, in God, that led to the emergence of the
new discipline “Science and Theology”. As the name suggests, academics
working in this field are interested in both science and religion in one way or
another. They may belong to the academic field of the natural sciences, the
social sciences, the human sciences, theology or religious studies.
Science and Theology is ideally an intellectual venture that aims at
informing scientists about the theological relevance of scientific research on
religious phenomena as well as at informing theologians about the impact of
scientific progress on religious hermeneutics. Seen as such, a specialization of
the academic field of Science and Theology seems unavoidable. However,
some esteemed voices have lately become concerned about some of the recent
developments in this new discipline. There is some unease about the conse-
quences of an excess of specialization, which would render this new field too
“professional” and too far removed from the traditional interests and methods
of scientific as well as theological communities. Another reason disciplines
may distance themselves from the academic course of study of Science and
Theology is the confusion with the academic programme called Theology of
Science on the one hand and the programme of Scientific Studies of Religion
on the other.
vii
viii Preface
Nevertheless, in the last quarter century this new academic field has
attracted scholars from a wide variety of disciplines. However, such enter-
prises come with questions. For example, exactly which disciplines are
attracted and what do these disciplines have to contribute to the debate?
Hence, in order to describe accurately the shape and character of a possible
relation between science and religion, it is important to clarify the identities of
the suggested participants in that relationship.
Nina Azari founded the Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions. Her idea
was to produce an encyclopedia that is complete and covers all currently self-
identified distinctive academic disciplines and religious traditions, within and
across a wide range of cultures worldwide. Furthermore, the idea was to
provide a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of how the Science and Religion
discourse or dialogue has thus far been treated. The encyclopedia was meant
to provide a starting point for new lines of inquiry and an invitation for fresh
perspectives on the possibilities for engagement between and across sciences
and religions. In addition, the idea was to make the current (self-)identities of
the proposed participants within Science and Religion accessible to the
academic community, in order for scholarship to proceed fruitfully in that
field. She was successful in recruiting several of the editors listed in order to
cover as many disciplines and traditions as possible. However, it soon became
apparent that the project was too big to be handled by only one editor in chief.
Hence, in 2008 Anne L.C. Runehov became the second editor in chief, with
responsibility for the non-scientific sections while Azari would manage the
scientific sections. Unfortunately, Azari retired from the project in the fall of
2010. At that point, Lluis Oviedo, being the editor for the section on anthro-
pology, became the second editor in chief. While taking stock of the project
thus far a troublesome imbalance was discovered between the amount of
assigned and submitted entries in the different sections. We also realized that
the guidelines needed to be revisited. Then we realized that we needed to
change the direction of the scope of the encyclopedia in order to launch this
wonderful ship. In this regard, we are very grateful to Springer, especially to
Willemijn Arts, Anita Fei van der Linden and Harmen van Paradijs, for
organizing an editorial board meeting in January 2011 in Amsterdam. At
the time of the meeting, all sections represented different stages of develop-
ment and different academic levels as well as different degrees of relevance,
consistency and completeness. Needless to say we were forced to make some
drastic changes. The meeting had several advantages. Firstly, all the editors
from different disciplines got to know one another and became a devoted
team working on different aspects of one encyclopedia. Secondly, divided
into several groups, we could redirect and finalize the contexts of the different
sections in order for the encyclopedia to meet the necessary criteria. Thirdly,
we had a renewed working plan and could reinstall deadlines. Finally, when
we left Amsterdam, we knew we were back on track and we had regained
confidence that we would finish this important project.
The next challenge came when we, the EiCs, had to perform the final
proofreading of the entire encyclopedia. At such stage, we realized that we
could have prevented yet another delay of the publication of the work, if we
had been responsible for the whole process from the beginning and,
Preface ix
furthermore, had we known more about certain layout standards. The A–Z
format, together with its extended cross-references, is indeed user-friendly.
The problem was that the glossary terms, which originally provided addi-
tional information to the entry in question, also were alphabetically ordered
throughout the encyclopedia and were thereby taken out of their original
context. The result was, besides glossaries losing their original sense, we
ended up with double and triple explanations of one and the same term written
by different authors. Also, we discovered that some authors had explained the
term already within the main entry and provided the explanation separately as
a glossary term. Hence, we had to reorganize the glossaries by removing
some, gathering some into a short entry, and reentering some in the main text
where we found it to be relevant. What we also realized even more clearly was
that some of the questions concerning the disciplines’ or traditions’ self-iden-
tification were redundant. More precisely, the questions concerned with
identification as a science or a religion. Obviously, sciences are not religions
and religions are not sciences. Hence, and in order not to postpone publication
even more, we took the liberty to remove the clearly irrelevant answers to
these questions. We sincerely hope that the result of our carefully performed
final proofreading will be to the author’s satisfaction.
What the Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions provides
As mentioned above, in the last quarter century, the academic field of Science
and Theology (Religion) has attracted scholars from a wide variety of disci-
plines. The question above was which disciplines are attracted and what do
these disciplines have to contribute to the debate? In order to answer this
question, the encyclopedia maps the (self)-identified disciplines and religious
traditions that participate or might come to participate in the Science and
Religion debate. This is done by letting each representative of a discipline and
tradition answer specific chosen questions. They have to identify the disci-
pline as a discipline or sub-discipline, or tradition or sub-tradition and also
identify the disciplines in relation to the Science and Religion debate. Under-
standably representatives of several disciplines and traditions answered in the
negative to the latter question. Nevertheless, they can still be important for the
debate; indeed, scholars and scientists who work in the field of Science and
Theology (Religion) may need knowledge beyond their own specific disci-
pline. Therefore the encyclopedia also includes what are called general
entries. Such entries may explain specific theories, methods, and topics.
The general aim is to provide a starting point for new lines of inquiry. It is
an invitation for fresh perspectives on the possibilities for engagement
between and across sciences (again which includes the social and human
sciences) and religions and theology. This encyclopedia is a comprehensive
reference work for scholars interested in the topic of ‘Science and Religion.’
It covers the widest spectrum possible of academic disciplines and religious
traditions worldwide, with the intent of laying bare similarities and differ-
ences that naturally emerge within and across disciplines and religions today.
There are medium to long entries for all potentially relevant academic
x Preface
disciplines and religious traditions worldwide. The A–Z format throughout

affords easy and user-friendly access to relevant information. Additionally,
a systematic question-answer format across all Sciences and Religions entries
affords efficient identification of specific points of agreement, conflict, and
disinterest across and between sciences and religions. The extensive cross-
referencing between key words, phrases, and technical language used in the
entries facilitates easy searches. We trust that all of the entries have some-
thing of value for any interested reader.
It has been a long journey but a very interesting one allowing for fishing in
many seas. The journey is not completely over yet because as well as the hard-
cover version there is also an internet version which is to be updated on
a regular basis.
April 2013 Anne L. C. Runehov

Copenhagen, Denmark
Lluis Oviedo
Rome, Italy
Acknowledgments
First, we are deeply obliged to the section editors who are not only experts in
their field but who have done a tremendous job, far beyond the call of duty.
Hence, thank you Anders Kraal (Theology), Brain Les Lancaster (Judaism),
Carl Raschke (Humanities), Daniel Langton (Judaism), Dimitris Xygalatas
(New and Contemporary Religions), Gisela Full (Buddhism and Eastern
Religions), Hans Ferdinand Angel (Theology), Javier Leach (Mathematics),
Kelly Bulkeley (New and Contemporary Religions), Max Garzon (Computer
Sciences), Michael Agliardo (Sociology), Nader El-Bizri (Islam), Norbert
Samuelson (Judaism), Ray Palouzian (Psychology), Stoyan Tanev (Physics),
and Sungchul Ji (Biology and Chemistry).
Secondly, and naturally, we want to thank Nina Azari for initiating the idea
of this encyclopedia.
This project would of course not have been possible without the support of
a most competent team from Springer. Hence, our gratitude goes to Andrew
Spencer, Anita Fei van der Linden, Daniel Quinones, Harmen van Paradijs,
Mansi Seth, Marta Janicki, Michaela Bilic, Sasha Goldstein-Sabbah,
Stephanie Huegler, and Willemijn Arts. In particular we want to thank
Willemijn and Daniel. It has been a delight working with both of you.
Lastly, we want to thank our departments for supporting us and giving us
all the facilities we needed: The Copenhagen University Faculty of Theology
and the Pontificia Universita Antonianum.
To all the authors: we once again apologize for the delay and the worries
this caused you.
xi
Editors-in-Chief
Anne L. C. Runehov Department of Systematic Theology, Copenhagen

University, Copenhagen, Denmark
Lluis Oviedo Antonianum University, Rome, Italy
xiii
Section Editors
Michael Agliardo, SJ, Ph.D. Department of Sociology, Loyola University

Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Michael Agliardo, SJ, is assistant professor of sociology at Loyola University

Chicago. He has taught in the areas of qualitative research methods,
environmental sociology, and the sociology of religion. In 2011 he completed
a study of environmental activism among American Catholic women reli-
gious funded by the Association for the Sociology of Religion, and more
recently he has written on American Catholic mobilization in response to
climate change. In his research explores the intersections between environ-
mentalism and faith, theology and science, and scholarship and activism.
xv
xvi Section Editors
Hans-Ferdinand Angel Faculty of Catholic Theology, Karl-Franzens

University, Graz, Austria
Katholisch-Theologische Fakultaet, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Hans-Ferdinand Angel studied theology, Latin, and history in Regensburg

and Paris. He was professor at the Technical University Dresden, and since
1997, is professor of catechetic and religious education at the Karl-Franzens
University Graz. He is one of the responsible leaders of the so-called Graz
Process which is in charge of coordinating the ecumenical cooperation of
universities within Europe. He was the organizer and leader of an interna-
tional and interdisciplinary research project (2002 to 2006): “Understanding
Religiosity.” He is member of the advisory committee of the Initiative of
Brain Research in Styria and one of the coordinators of the Credition
Research Project. Publications of importance: Naturwissenschaft und
Technik im Religionsunterricht (1988), Computer im Pfarrb€uro (1990), Der
religiöse Mensch in Katastrophenzeiten (1996) and Religiosit€at (2006).
Section Editors xvii
Kelly Bulkeley The Graduate Theological Union, Area V (Religion and

Psychology), Kensington, California, USA
Kelly Bulkeley, Ph.D., is a visiting scholar at the Graduate Theological Union

in Berkeley, California. He earned a doctorate in religion and psychological
studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School, an M.T.S. from
Harvard Divinity School, and a B.A. from Stanford University. A former
president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and
a senior editor of the APA journal Dreaming, he has written and edited several
books on dream research. His recent works include Dreaming in the World’s
Religions: A Comparative History (New York University Press, 2008);
American Dreamers: What Dreams Tell Us about the Political Psychology
of Conservatives, Liberals, and Everyone Else (Beacon Press, 2008); and
Dreaming in the Classroom: Practices, Methods, and Resources in Dream
Education (SUNY Press, 2011). He is the director of the Sleep and Dream
Database (SDDb), a digital archive and search engine designed to facilitate
empirical dream research.
xviii Section Editors
Nader El-Bizri Civilization Sequence Program, American University of

Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Dr. Nader El-Bizri is an associate professor in the Civilization Sequence

Program at the American University of Beirut. Previously, he was
a principal lecturer (reader) at the University of Lincoln, and he taught at
the University of Cambridge, the University of Nottingham, the London
Consortium, and at Harvard University, in addition to holding a senior
research position at The Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, and
longstanding research affiliations with the Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique in Paris. He maintains active memberships in various interna-
tional societies and acts as an elected council member of the Société
Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences et des Philosophies Arabes et
Islamiques (CNRS, Paris). Dr. El-Bizri’s areas of research are Islamic
intellectual history, phenomenology, and architectural humanities. He has
published and lectured widely and internationally as well as contributed to
various BBC radio and TV programs. He also serves on the editorial boards of
publications by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press,
Springer, I. B. Tauris, and E. J. Brill, and has acted as a consultant to the
Science Museum in London, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Geneva, and
the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and Berlin. Besides his
academic profile, he practiced as a professional architect in offices in London,
Cambridge, New York, and Beirut.
Section Editors xix
Gisela Emma Full Institute of Transcultural Health Sciences, European-

University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
Dr. Gisela Emma Full is a research fellow at both the European-University

Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, and the Samueli-Institute of Brain,
Mind and Healing, Alexandria, VA, European Office. Her research focuses
on perception alterations through meditation practices, deconstruction of
self-models, Buddhist philosophy, and mindfulness-based coaching.
She was trained as an educational scientist at the University of W€urzburg
and M€ unster, Germany, and has gained her Ph.D. in the field of cultural
science on “The Emancipation of Mind.”
xx Section Editors
Max H. Garzon Department of Computer Science, The University of

Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
Max H. Garzon joined the University of Memphis in 1984 after finishing his
Ph.D. in the area of theoretical computer science at the University of Illinois,
Urbana. Early in his career, he did research on the complexity of symmetric
computational memory structures for sequential computers and on the sepa-
ration of sequential complexity classes. Later, his researched focused on
parallel and distributed computing, particularly on artificial neural networks.
His current research focuses on interactive computing, broadly including
parallel and distributed computing and human-computer interaction, both in
the traditional areas and the emerging areas of biomolecular programming
and bioinformatics. In addition to over 150 publications in these areas,
including five books and numerous special issues of major journal publica-
tions, he has developed software products for complex systems simulation
and control, such as Edna (a virtual test tube), early versions of Autotutor
(an intelligent computer-based tutoring system for instruction in computer
literacy and conceptual physics), online election systems, and a variety of
software solutions for local business and industries, some as part of student
internships and outreach projects. His research has been funded by NSF,
AFOSR, and other agencies. He has enjoyed sabbatical collaborations
during visits to various countries in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He is
a senior member of ACM, IEEE, and member of the editorial board of the
International Journal of Nanotechnology and Molecular Computing and
Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, among others.
Section Editors xxi
Sungchul Ji Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario

School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
Dr. Sungchul Ji received a Ph.D. degree in physical organic chemistry in 1970

from the State University of New York at Albany. After postdoctoral research
and teaching experiences in enzymology (University of Wisconsin,
Madison), biophysics (University of Pennsylvania), systems physiology
(Max Planck Institute, Dortmund, West Germany), and toxicology (Univer-
sity of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill), Dr. Ji joined the
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Ernest Mario School of
Pharmacy, Rutgers University in 1982, where he has been teaching theoret-
ical pharmacology and computational/theoretical cell biology in addition to
the interdisciplinary seminar courses focused on integrating physics, biology,
and philosophy. Dr. Ji is the author of Molecular Theory of the Living Cell:
Conceptual Foundations, Molecular Mechanisms and Applications published
by Springer, New York, in April, 2012 and is currently working on two more
books on the cell language theory and its applications to theragnostics and
personalized medicine, to be published by The Imperial College Press,
London, and Springer, New York, respectively.
xxii Section Editors
Anders Kraal Department of Philosophy, University of British Columbia,

Vancouver, Canada
Dr. Anders Kraal was born 1979 in Nanaimo, Canada, and currently resides in
nearby Vancouver. In 2007–2008, he was a Fulbright fellow at the University
of Notre Dame in the USA. He holds multiple degrees from Sweden’s
Uppsala University, including a Ph.D. in philosophy, an M.A. in logic and
metaphysics, another M.A. in religious studies, a B.A. in the history of
science and ideas, and a bachelor’s degree in theology. He currently holds
a postdoctoral research position in philosophy at the University of British
Columbia, Canada, where he is working on the problem of evil.
Section Editors xxiii
B. Les Lancaster School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John

Moores University, Liverpool, UK
B. Les Lancaster is emeritus professor of Transpersonal Psychology at

Liverpool John Moores University, honorary research fellow at the Centre
for Jewish Studies of the University of Manchester, and adjunct research
faculty at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and the California Insti-
tute of Integral Studies. He is currently chair of the Transpersonal Psychology
Section of the British Psychological Society and President of the International
Transpersonal Association. Les’ research interests focus on the cognitive
neuroscience of consciousness and the psychology of mysticism, with
a specific focus on Kabbalistic psychology. In addition to various journal
articles, Les’ published works include Mind Brain and Human Potential,
winner of a Science and Medical Network Best Book Award; The Elements
of Judaism; Approaches to Consciousness: the Marriage of Science and
Mysticism; and The Essence of Kabbalah.
xxiv Section Editors
Daniel R. Langton Department of Religions and Theology, University of

Manchester, Manchester, UK
Daniel R. Langton is professor of the history of Jewish-Christian relations at

the University of Manchester and codirector of its Centre for Jewish Studies.
He is secretary of the European Association for Jewish Studies and coeditor of
the Jewish Studies journal Melilah. The focus of his research is the history of
Jewish-Christian relations and modern Jewish thought, and he is currently
writing on Jewish theological engagement with Darwinian Theory. His main
publications include Claude Montefiore: His Life and Thought (Vallentine
Mitchell, 2002), Children of Zion: Jewish & Christian Perspectives on
the Holy Land (Woolf Institute, 2008), The Apostle Paul in the Jewish
Imagination (Cambridge University Press, 2010), Writing the Holocaust
(coedited with Jean-Marc Dreyfus, Bloomsbury, 2011), and Normative Juda-
ism? Jews, Judaism and Jewish Identity (coedited with Philip S. Alexander,
Gorgias Press, 2012).
Section Editors xxv
Javier Leach Facultad de Informática, Departamento de Sistemas

Informáticos y Programación, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid,
Spain
Javier Leach has been director of the Chair of Science, Technology and
Religion at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas since its creation in 2003
till 2011. Currently he is also professor at the School of Computing of the
Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He has degrees in philosophy, mathe-
matics, and theology. In 1977, he obtained the title of Doctor in Mathematics
from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Since 1987, he has been
professor at the Universidad Complutense in the area of computer languages
and systems at the Computer Science Faculty.
xxvi Section Editors
Lluis Oviedo Antonianum University, Rome, Italy
Lluis Oviedo is currently full professor of Christian anthropology and issues

of science and theology at the Antonianum University in Rome and invited
professor in the Theological Institute of Murcia (Spain) for questions of faith
and reason. He has published the books Secularization as a Problem (1990);
Altruism and Charity (1998); The Christian Faith and the New Social
Challenges (2002), and about 140 scholarly articles in the interfaces between
theology, philosophy, sociology, and science. He has edited the academic
journal Antonianum and is now an editor of ESSSAT News, bulletin of the
European Society for the Study of Science and Theology. At the moment, his
research focuses on cognitive science of religion and its theological impact,
and issues about secularization process and religious social dynamics.
Section Editors xxvii
Raymond F. Paloutzian The International Journal for the Psychology of

Religion, Westmont College Psychology Department, Santa Barbara,
CA, USA
Raymond F. Paloutzian received his Ph.D. in 1972 from Claremont Graduate

School and is professor emeritus of experimental and social psychology at
Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California. He taught at Scripps College of
The Claremont Colleges and has been a visiting professor teaching psychol-
ogy of religion at Stanford University. He is a fellow of the American
Psychological Association (divisions of general, teaching, social issues,
psychology of religion, and international psychology), the Association for
Psychological Science, and the Western Psychological Association.
Dr. Paloutzian was honored to serve as president of the American Psycho-
logical Association Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality).
He wrote Invitation to the Psychology of Religion, 2nd ed., (Allyn & Bacon,
1996, 3rd ed. forthcoming), and coedited with Ani Kalayjian Forgiveness and
Reconciliation: Psychological Pathways to Conflict Transformation and
Peace Building (Springer, 2009/2010). Dr. Paloutzian and Crystal Park edited
the Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 2005, 2nd ed.
2013 (Guilford publishers). He has been guest professor and continuing
visiting scholar, Faculty of Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,
Belgium. Dr. Paloutzian is editor of The International Journal for the
Psychology of Religion.
xxviii Section Editors
Carl A. Raschke Department of Religious Studies, University of Denver,

Denver, CO, USA
Carl Raschke is professor of religious studies at the University of Denver,

specializing in continental philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and the theory
of religion. He is an internationally known writer and academic, who has
authored numerous books and hundreds of articles on topics ranging from
postmodernism to popular religion and culture to technology and society. His
latest book, entitled Postmodernism and the Revolution in Religious Theory:
Toward a Semiotics of the Event (University of Virginia Press, 2012), looks at
the ways in which major trends in Continental philosophy over the past two
decades have radically altered how we understand what we call “religion” in
general. His previous two books – GloboChrist (Baker Academic, 2008) and The
Next Reformation (Baker Academic, 2004) – examine the most recent trends and
paths of transformations at an international level in contemporary Christianity.
Other well-known works include Painted Black (HarperCollins, 1991),
which surveys the relationship between certain religious cults and violence in
contemporary society; The Interruption of Eternity (Nelson-Hall, 1980),
regarded as a standard reference work on the origins of the New Age movement;
The Digital Revolution and the Coming of the Postmodern University
(Routledge, 2002), an analysis of the online revolution in higher education;
Fire and Roses: Postmodernity and the Thought of the Body (State University of
New York, 1995), a study of what the term “postmodernism” means in a broad
theoretical and cultural perspective; and The Engendering God (Westminster,
1995), an investigation of “feminist” strains in early Bible and early Christianity.
Raschke is also past-president and former executive director of the
American Association for the Advancement of Core Curriculum and past
director of the University of Denver’s Institute for the Humanities. He has
also served on the board of directors as well as various national committees of
the American Academy of Religion. He is cofounder and senior editor of the
Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory. He has been a frequent news
commentator on religion and contemporary culture as well as higher
education. He is also a permanent adjunct faculty at The Seattle School of
Theology and Psychology. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Section Editors xxix

Anne L. C. Runehov has a reader (associate professor) degree from the

Uppsala University and currently works as a guest senior researcher at
the Department of Systematic Theology at the Copenhagen University. She
earned a doctor’s degree in philosophy of religion at Uppsala University, and
a master’s degree in theoretical philosophy, major philosophy of mind, at the
same university. Her degrees also include Psychology, History of science and
ideas, and Law.
She is editor-in-chief for the series Copenhagen University Discussions in
Science and Religion, Faculty of Theology publications, Copenhagen.
Coeditor for this series is Professor Charles Taliaferro. She is also field editor
for the European Journal of Science and Theology. She is the author of
Sacred or Neural? The Potential of Neuroscience to Explain Religious Expe-
riences (2007), which is based on her doctoral thesis for which she received
the 2006 ESSSAT research prize. Furthermore, she is the director of the
Copenhagen Network for Science and Religion, funded by the John
Templeton Foundation. She has published several peer-reviewed articles.
Runehov has mainly (but not merely) been working within the debate of
Science and Philosophy of Religion. Her main research interests have
been neuroscience, cognitive science, and quantum mechanics, which are
studied from the perspective of philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind,
epistemology, and philosophy of science. She has contributed to radio and TV
programs within Scandinavia and was interviewed various times for news-
papers and magazines.
xxx Section Editors
Norbert M. Samuelson School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious

Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
Norbert M. Samuelson is the Grossman Chair of Jewish Studies at Arizona

State University in the Department of Religious Studies. He is an internation-
ally renowned scholar of Jewish philosophy, who is the author of 12 books
and over 200 articles. His published books that deal directly with questions of
science and Judaism are The First Seven Days: A Philosophical Commentary
on the Creation of Genesis (1992), Judaism and the Doctrine of Creation
(1994), Revelation and the God of Israel (2002), and Jewish Faith and
Modern Science (2009).
Professor Samuelson has been active in the American Academy of
Religion, the Association of Jewish Studies, the American Philosophical
Association, Metanexus, the International Society for Science and Religion,
and the Franz Rosenzweig Gesellschaft.
Section Editors xxxi
udiger J. Seitz Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine-University,

R€
D€
usseldorf, D€
usseldorf, Germany
R€udiger J. Seitz is professor of neurology and vice chairman of the Depart-

ment of Neurology at Heinrich-Heine-University, D€usseldorf, Germany. He
was research fellow of the German Research Council on motor learning and
somatosensory processing at the Brain Imaging Center at the Karolinska
Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, 1987–1989. He is head of the Functional
Neuroimaging Research Laboratory with an interest in stroke recovery and
control of behavior. He was awarded the Hugo-Spatz Award of the German
Neurological Society in 1992 and served as chairman of the 5th International
Conference on Functional Mapping of the Human Brain, D€usseldorf, in 1999.
He was distinguished fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study, LaTrobe
University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia, in 2006–2007 and became honor-
ary professorial fellow, Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Melbourne, Australia,
in 2009.
xxxii Section Editors
Stoyan Tanev Integrative Innovation Management, Department of

Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M,
Denmark
Dr. Stoyan Tanev is an associate professor in the Department of Technology

and Innovation and member of the Integrative Innovation Management (I2M)
Research Unit at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Odense,
Denmark. Before joining the Department of Technology and Innovation at
SDU in August 2009, Dr. Tanev was a faculty member in the Technology
Innovation Management Program, Department of Systems and Computer
Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Tanev has
an M.Sc. in physics from Sofia University (1989); an M.Eng. in technology
management from Carleton University, Canada (2005); and an M.A. from
University of Sherbrooke, Canada (2009). He also has a Ph.D. in physics
(1995, jointly from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, and the University
Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France) and Ph.D. in theology from Sofia
University (2012). His research interests are in technology innovation man-
agement, value co-creation, and human creativity. Dr. Tanev’s research
interests include also the history of Eastern Christian thought with a focus
on the modern history of the Orthodox Church. Last but not least, Dr. Tanev is
interested in epistemological issues of relevance for both science and the
philosophy of religion.
Section Editors xxxiii
Dimitris Xygalatas LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of

Religion, Masaryk University
Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Dimitris Xygalatas is Director of the LEVYNA Laboratory for the

Experimental Research of Religion in Brno, and holds a joint position
between Aarhus University in Denmark and Masaryk University in the
Czech Republic. He received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Cognition and
Culture at Queen’s University Belfast and subsequently held postdoctoral
positions at the universities of Princeton and Aarhus.
Xygalatas is an experimental anthropologist. His research focuses on high-
intensity rituals and their effects on the individual and the social level. He has
conducted several years of fieldwork in Southern Europe and Mauritius, using
novel methodologies combining ethnographic and experimental techniques
to study some of the most extreme rituals in the world.
His books include The Burning Saints: Cognition and Culture in the
Fire-walking Rituals of the Anastenaria (London: Equinox 2012), and
(with William McCorkle) Mental Culture: Classical Social theory and the
Cognitive Science of Religion (London: Acumen 2013). He is a founding
member of the International Association for the Cognitive Science of
Religion and Managing Editor of the Journal for the Cognitive Science of
Religion.
Contributors
Rabie E. Abdel-Halim FRCS Ed, Kuwait Prize Laureate (2005–History of

Medicine), Medical Humanities, AlFaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Professorial Fellow, Foundation of Science Technology and Civilization,
Manchester, UK
Ibigbolade S. Aderibigbe Department of Religion and Institute of African
Studies, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
Ven. Agganyani German Vinaya Sangha Association (DBO) and Centre for
Buddhist Studies (CBS), Myanmar, Bruckmuehl, Germany
Mohammad al-Asad The Center for the Study of the Built Environment
(CSBE), Amman, Jordan
Vı́ctor Albis Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad Nacional de
Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
John R. Albright Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, IL, USA
Purdue University Calumet, IN, USA
Florida State University, FL, USA
Carolyn M. Aldwin Program in Human Development & Family Sciences,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
Paul L. Allen Department of Theological Studies, Concordia University,
Montreal, QC, Canada
Jan-Åke Alvarsson Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology,
Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Duane F. Alwin Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University,
University Park, PA, USA
Olavo B. Amaral Instituto de Bioquı́mica Médica, Universidade Federal do
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
William L. Ames Fisher Library, John F. Kennedy University,
Pleasant Hill, California, USA
Bhikkhu Anālayo Center for Buddhist Studies, University of Hamburg,
Hamburg, Germany
xxxv
xxxvi Contributors
Thomas Anderberg Department of Philosophy, Uppsala University,

Uppsala, Sweden
Adrian Andreescu Independent Researcher, Pucioasa, Dambovita,

Romania
Hans-Ferdinand Angel Faculty of Catholic Theology, Karl–Franzens

University, Graz, Austria
Katholisch–Theologische Fakultaet, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Erica Appelros Centre for Theology and Religious Study, Lund University,
Lund, Sweden
Edmund Arens Fundamental Theology, Faculty of Catholic Theology,

University of Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland
Friederike Assandri Department of Sinology, University of Heidelberg,

Heidelberg, Germany
Jennifer L. Baldwin Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Chicago, IL,

USA
Carmela Baffioni Dipartimento Asia Africa Mediterraneo (DAAM),

Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Palazzo Corigliano, Napoli,
Italy
Minko Balkanski Université Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris VI, Paris, France
Detlef Balschun Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of

Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Paul G. Barash Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of

Medicine, New Haven, USA
Simon Baron-Cohen Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry,

University of Cambridge, Douglas House, Cambridge, UK
Justin L. Barrett Thrive Center for Human Development, Graduate School

of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, USA
Peter Barrett School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, University of

KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Friedrich G. Barth Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences,

University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
Carolyn Baum Program in Occupational Therapy, Washington University,

School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
Angela Ales Bello Lateran University, Vatican City, Italy
Jacob A. Belzen University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Contributors xxxvii
Jan Olof Bengtsson Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund

University, Lund, Sweden
Sigurd Bergmann Department of Archaeology and Religious Studies,
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Dennis Bielfeldt South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA
F. Binkofski Division for Clinical and Cognitive Neurosciences, RWTH
Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Department of Neurology, University of L€ubeck, L€ubeck, Germany
Christian Bischoff Facharzt f€ur Neurologie, Munich, Germany
Morris Aaron Blajchman Departments of Medicine and Pathology,
McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Vishvapani Blomfield Independent writer and researcher, Cardiff, UK
Henrik Bohlin School of Culture and Communication, Södertörn Univer-
sity, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden
Nadia Bolognini Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca,
Milan, Italy
Roumen Borissov Department of Physics, Sofia University “St. Kliment
Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
Jørn Borup Department of Culture and Society, ARTS, Aarhus University,
Aarhus C, Denmark
Pierre-Yves Brandt Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, University
of Lausanne, Unil-Dorigny, Lausanne, Switzerland
Frank Bremmer Department of Neurophysics, University of Marburg,
Marburg, Germany
Sven-Erik Brodd Department of Theology, Faculty of Theology, Univer-
sity of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
Giovanni Buccino Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Viale
Europa, Loc Germaneto, Magna Graecia University, Catanzaro, Italy
Herbert Budka Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich,
Zurich, Switzerland
Institute of Neurology (Obersteiner Institute), Medical University of Vienna,
Vienna, Austria
Dustin Byrd Olivet College, Olivet, MI, USA
Xavier Caicedo Department of Mathematics, Universidad de los Andes,
Bogotá, Colombia
Godefroid de Callataÿ Institut Orientaliste, Université Catholique de
Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Nicholas Campion University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, Wales, UK
xxxviii Contributors
Leeanne Carey Neurorehabilitation and Recovery, Stroke Division, The Flo-

rey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, LaTrobe
University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Ricard Casadesús Institut de Teologia Fonamental, Facultat de Filosofia,
Universitat Ramon Llull & Seminari de Teologia i Ciències de Barcelona,
Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Michele Cascella Department of Mathematics and Physics “Ennio De
Giorgi”, Salento University, Lecce, Italy
F. Catena General, Emergency and Transplant Surgery DPT, St. Orsola-
Malpighi University Hospital, Bologna, Italy
Yongsheng Chen Institute of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University,
Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China
Dewdney Christopher School of Earth, Environmental and Physical
Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
Jakub Cigán Department for the Study of Religions, Faculty of Arts,
Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Roberto Cipriani Full Professor of Sociology, University of Rome 3,
Rome, Italy
Lynn Schofield Clark University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
Anne M. Cleary Department of Psychology, Colorado State University,
Fort Collins, CO, USA
Sharon L. Coggan Department of Philosophy, University of Colorado
Denver, Denver, CO, USA
Dan Cohn-Sherbok University of Wales, Cardiff, UK
Ivan Colagè Pontifical Gregorian University, Roma, Italy
Pontifical Antonianum University, Rome, Italy
Miriam Cooke Asian and Middle East Studies, 203 Franklin Center, Duke
University, Durham, NC, USA
Joachim Cordes LVR Klinikum D€
usseldorf, D€
usseldorf, Germany
Jozef Corveleyn Department of Psychology, Center for Psychoanalysis
and Psychodynamic Psychology, and Center for the Psychology of Religion,
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Free University, Leuven, Belgium
Center for the Psychology of Religion, Free University, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Steven Cramer Department of Neurology, University of California Irvine
Medical Center, Orange, CA, USA
Xiaohui Cui Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Contributors xxxix
Arthur Cunningham St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN, USA
Gómez González Daniel Universidad Complutense De Madrid, Madrid,

Spain
Christian Danz Institut f€ur Systematische Theologie und Religionswis-

senschaft, Evangelisch Theologische Fakult€at der Universit€at Wien, Wien,
Austria
Dipankar Dasgupta Computer Science Department, The University of

Gregory W. Dawes Department of Philosophy, University of Otago,

Dunedin, New Zealand
Jacek De˛biec Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute and

Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Copernicus Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Kraków, Poland
Quinton Deeley Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of

Psychiatry, Kings College London, London, UK
Eugenio Del Nobile CP3-Origins & Danish Institute for Advanced Study
DIAS, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
Francesco Del Pizzo Pontificia Facoltà Teologica dell’Italia Meridionale

sez. S. Tommaso, Naples, NA, Italy
Emanuela C. Del Re University “Niccolò Cusano” of Rome, Rome, Italy
Alberto Delgado Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department,

National University of Colombia, Bogota, Colombia
Nadia Delicata Department of Moral Theology, Faculty of Theology,

University of Malta, Tal-Qroqq, Malta
Reinhard Dengler Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School,

Hannover, Germany
Frederiek Depoortere Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU

Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Kuala Lumpur Dhammajoti Glorious Sun Professor of Buddhist Studies,

Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam,
Hong Kong
Rudi D’Hooge Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of

Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Jill Dierberg Communication and Digital Media, Carthage College, WI, USA
Sandra Lee Dixon Department of Religious Studies, University of Denver,

Denver, CO, USA
xl Contributors
Sidney D’Mello Departments of Psychology and Computer Science,

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
Steffen Döll Japan Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit€at M€unchen,

Munich, Germany
Michael Domjan Department of Psychology, A8000, University of Texas,
Austin, TX, USA
Donnalee Dox Department of Performance Studies, Texas A&M Univer-
sity, College Station, TX, USA
James Drife Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of
Leeds Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK
Evan Drumwright Computer Science Department, The George Washing-
ton University, Washington, DC, USA
Herbert F. Durwen Klinik f€
ur Akut-Geriatrie, St. Martinus-Krankenhaus,
D€
usseldorf, Germany
Marie Claire Van Dyck Fondation H. et L. Morren, Unité d’anthropologie

prospective, Louvain la Neuve, Belgique
Martin Ebner Seminar f€ ur Exegese des Neuen Testaments Katholisch-
Theologische Fakult€at, Westf€alische Wilhelms-Universit€at M€unster,
M€unster, Germany
Thomas Eich Asien-Orient-Institut, T€ubingen University Abt. f€ur Orient-
und Islamwissenschaft, T€
ubingen, Germany
Wilhelm E. Eisner Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University Inns-
bruck, Universit€ats-Klinik f€
ur Neurochirurgie Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Thomas Ekstrand Department of Theology, Uppsala University, Uppsala,

Sweden
Nader El-Bizri Civilization Sequence Program, American University of
Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Robert A. Emmons Psychology Department, University of California,
Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Toshiichi Endo Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong,

Hong Kong
Patricia E. Erickson Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and
Criminal Justice, Canisius College OM-016 C, Buffalo, NY, USA
Kathinka Evers Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB), Uppsala
University, Uppsala, Sweden
Jörg-Peter Ewert Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Kassel,

Schauenburg, Germany
Contributors xli
Franz M. Eybl Philologisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakult€at, Institut f€ur

Germanistik, Universit€at Wien, Wien, Austria
Michele Farisco Department of Philosophy, S. Thomas Aquinas, Naples, Italy
Karim Fathi Viadrina Europe University Frankfurt (Oder), Berlin, Germany
Jay R. Feierman University of New Mexico, Corrales, NM, USA
Gary B. Ferngren Department of History, Oregon State University,

Corvallis, OR, USA
Katharina Fink Klinik f€ur Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Charité -

Universit€atsmedizin Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte (CC15), Berlin, Germany
Richard Foltz Department of Religion, Concordia University, Montreal/
Quebec, Canada
Saverio Forestiero University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy
Olof Franck Department of Pedagogical, Curricular and Professional Stud-

ies, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
William Franke Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Stan Franklin Computer Science Department & Institute for Intelligent

Systems, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
Victoria Ziva Frappollo Department of Religious Studies, McMaster

University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Harris Friedman University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
Michael Fuerstein Department of Philosophy, Saint Olaf College,

Northfield, MN, USA
Gisella Full Institute of Transcultural Health Sciences, European-University
Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
Philippe Gagnon University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN, USA
Angela Cora Garcia Department of Sociology, Department of Global
Studies, Bentley University, Waltham, MA, USA
Howard Gardner Harvard Graduate School of Education Longfellow Hall
224A, Cambridge, MA, USA
Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Manhattan College, Riverdale,
NY, USA
Hugo de Garis Department of Cognitive Science, School of Information
Science and Technology (SIST), Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Max H. Garzon Department of Computer Science, The University of

xlii Contributors
Armin W. Geertz Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus University,

Aarhus C, Denmark
Sawa D. George Independent Musician and Scholar, Toronto, Canada

Robert M. Geraci Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Manhattan
College, Riverdale, NY, USA
Kenneth J. Gergen Department of Psychology, Swarthmore College,
Swarthmore, PA, USA
Paul Gilbert Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy
Alex Gillespie Institute of Social Psychology, London School of Econom-

ics, London, UK
Lisa Goddard Science and Theology, Spurgeon’s College, South Norwood
Hill, London, UK
E. Bruce Goldstein Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
Inés Ma Gómez-Chacón Mathematics Faculty, Complutense University of
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Lenn E. Goodman Philosophy Department, Vanderbilt University,
Nashville, TN, USA
Jordan Grafman Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Injury Research Rehabil-
itation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Pehr Granqvist Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stock-
holm, Sweden
Frederick E. Greenspahn Gimelstob Eminent Scholar and Prof. of Judaica,
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA
Niels Henrik Gregersen Department of Systematic Theology, Faculty of
Theology, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen K, Denmark
Bjørn Grinde Department of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public
Health, Nydalen, Oslo, Norway
Joachim Gross Department of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Neuroim-
aging, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Oliver Gruber Department of Psychiatry, Georg-August-University

Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Alfredo Guarino Department of Pediatrics, University of Naples, Naples,

Italy
Andrea G. Gurney Department of Psychology, Westmont College, Santa
Barbara, CA, USA
Contributors xliii
Stewart Elliott Guthrie Fordham University, New York, NY, USA

Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem School of Oriental and African Studies
(SOAS), University of London, London, UK
Michelle M. Hamilton Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University
of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Sven Ove Hansson Division of Philosophy KTH, Royal Institute of

Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Amber Haque Department of Psychology and Counseling, UAE

University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Trevor A. Harley School of Psychology, University of Dundee, Dundee,

Scotland, UK
Glenn Hartelius Sofia University, Palo Alto, USA
Richard Harvey All Nations College, Herts, UK
Jens Hebor Department of Education, Philosophy and Religious Studies,

University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
Paul Hedges Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of
Winchester, Winchester, UK
Harry Heft Department of Psychology, Denison University, Granville,

OH, USA
udiger Heicappell Department

R€ of Urology, Asklepios Klinikum
Uckermark, Schwedt, Germany
Christopher Helland Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology,

Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Rainer Hellweg Klinik f€ur Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Charité -

Universit€atsmedizin Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte (CC15), Berlin, Germany
Ulrich Hemel Professor of Catholic RE Theory, University of Regensburg,

Regensburg, Germany
Anna Henley University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, TN, USA

M. G. Hennerici Department of Neurology, University of Heidelberg,
Universit€atsmedizin Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
Jan-Olav Henriksen (MF) Norwegian School of Theology, Majorstua,
Oslo, Norway
Stuart Henry School of Public Affairs, San Diego State University, San
Diego, CA, USA
Eve Herold Genetics Policy Institute, Washington, DC, USA

xliv Contributors
Eberhard Herrmann Department of Theology, Faculty of Theology,

Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Peter C. Hill Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University,
La Mirada, CA, USA
Michael C. Hilton Vocational Studies, Leo Baeck College, London, UK
Max J. Hilz Department of Neurology, University Erlangen–Nuremberg,
Erlangen, Germany
Department of Neurology, Medicine and Psychiatrie, New York University,
New York, NY, USA
Zulfikar Hirji Department of Anthropology, York University, Toronto, ON,
Canada
Mika Hirvensalo Department of Mathematics, University of Turku, Turku,
Finland
Britta Hölzel Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University,
Giessen, Germany
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown,
MA, USA
Andrea Hollingsworth Department of Religion and Philosophy, Berry
College, Mount Berry, GA, USA
Ralph W. Hood Jr. Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN, USA
Pervez Hoodbhoy Physics Department, Quaid-e-Azam University,
Islamabad, Pakistan
Eichenbaum Howard Center for Brain and Memory, Boston University,
Boston, MA, USA
Li Yang Hsu Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine,
National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Kenneth Hugdahl Department of Biological and Medical Psychology,
University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Edwin C. Hui Regent College, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Gaetano Iaia Seminario Permanente di Studi Storico-Filosofici “Pasquale
Orlando”, Pontificia Facoltà Teologica dell’Italia Meridionale, sez.
“S. Tommaso d’Aquino”, Napoli, Italy
Darren Iammarino Department of Religious Studies, San Diego State
University, San Diego, CA, USA
Giuseppina Ianniello Pontificia Facoltà Teologica dell’Italia Meridionale,
Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose San Roberto Bellarmino – Capua,
Capua, Italy
Contributors xlv
Anna Ijjas Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

Crevecoeur Isabelle UMR 5199 PACEA - Laboratoire d’Anthropologie des
Populations Passées et Présentes (A3P), Université Bordeaux 1, Talence,
France
Hans Raun Iversen Department of Systematic Theology, Copenhagen

University Faculty of Theology, Copenhagen K, Denmark
Hoffmeyer Jesper Biological Institute, University of Copenhagen,

Copenhagen, Denmark
Sørensen Jesper Institute of Culture and Society, Århus C, Denmark
William H. Jeynes Witherspoon Institute, Princeton, NJ, USA

California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA
Sungchul Ji Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario

School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
Karin Johannesson Department of Theology, Uppsala University, Uppsala,

Sweden
Jonas Adelin Jørgensen Department of Systematic Theology, University of

Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark
Kevin Jung School of Divinity, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem,

NC, USA
Pia Karlsson Minganti Department of Ethnology, History of Religions and

Gender Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Roland Karo University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
James C. Kaufman Department of Psychology, Learning Research

Institute, California State University at San Bernardino, San Bernardino,
CA, USA
Malte Kelm Department of Cardiology, Pneumology and Angiology,
Universityhospital, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf,
Germany
T. M. Kinfe Department of Neurosurgery, Centre of Neuromodulation,
Heinrich-Heine University Hospital, D€usseldorf, Germany
Christopher C. Knight ISSR Office, Bene’t House, St.Edmund’s College,

Mount Pleasant, Cambridge, UK
Nathan Koenig Interaction Lab, Computer Science Department, University

of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Rope Kojonen Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki,

Finland
xlvi Contributors
Dilip Kondepudi Department of Chemistry, Wake Forest University,

Salem, NC, USA
Carsten Korth Department of Neuropathology, Heinrich Heine University

of D€
ussseldorf, D€
ussseldorf, Germany
Job Kozhamthadam SJ Jnana-DeepaVidyapeeth, De Nobili College, Pune,
India
Anders Kraal Department of Philosophy, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Dominikus Kraschl Katholisch-Theologische Fakult€at W€urzburg,

Universit€at W€
urzburg, W€
urzburg, Bayern, Germany
Frank Krueger Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason
University, Fairfax, VA, USA
Kolja K€ uhnlenz Institute of Automatic Control Engineering (LSR),
Technische Universit€at M€
unchen, Munich, Germany
Anne Kull University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

udiger von Kummer Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital
R€
Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universit€at Dresden, University of Dresden,
Dresden, Germany
Viji Kurup Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Med-
icine, New Haven, USA
Michal Kurzynski Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University,
Poznan, Poland
Gisela Labouvie-Vief Department of Psychology, University of Geneva,
Geneva, Switzerland
Brian Les Lancaster School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool
John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
Justin E. Lane School of Anthropology, St. Peter’s College, University of

Oxford, Oxford, UK
Kenneth R. Lang Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University,
Medford, MA, USA
Christian Lange-Asschenfeldt Department of Psychiatry and Psychother-

apy, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University, D€usseldorf, Germany
Daniel R. Langton Department of Religions and Theology, University of

Manchester, Manchester, UK
Javier Leach Facultad de Informática, Departamento de Sistemas

Informáticos y Programación, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid,
Spain
Contributors xlvii
Joseph E. LeDoux Center for Neural Science, Department of Psychology,

New York University, New York, NY, USA
Emotional Brain Institute Labs, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, USA
Iveta Leitane Department of Philosophy, University of Cologne Research

Associate, Cologne, Germany
Luis Leon Department of Religious Studies, University of Denver, Denver,
CO, USA
Jacqueline V. Lerner Department of Counseling, Developmental, and
Educational Psychology, Lynch School of Education, Boston College,
Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
Richard M. Lerner Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development,
Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University,
Medford, MA, USA
Michael R. Levenson Program in Human Development & Family Sciences,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
Leonard Levin Jewish Theological Seminary of America, South Orange,
New Jersey, USA
Ying Li Department of Neurology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital Capital
Medical University, Beijing, P.R. China
Walter J. Lonner Department of Psychology, Western Washington
University, Bellingham, WA, USA
Victoria López Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Deborah A. Lowe Department of Psychology, Texas A & M University,
College Station, TX, USA
José M. Lozano-Gotor Albacete, Spain
Heiko J. Luhmann Department of Physiology, Institute of Physiology and
Pathophysiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg
University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
Patrick Luyten Department of Psychology, Center for Research in
Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Psychology, University of Leuven,
Leuven, Belgium
Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology,
University College London, London, UK
Center for the Psychology of Religion, Free University, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Joseph Maguire School of Sport, Exercise & Health Sciences,
Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
Klaus Mainzer Department of Philosophy of Science, Technical University
of Munich, Munich, Germany
xlviii Contributors
Bertram F. Malle Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological

Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Pedro L. Mangabeira Albernaz Associação William House de Otologia

and Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP,
Brazil
Conrado Manuel Department of Statistics and Operational Research III,

Facultad de Estudios Estadı́sticos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid,
Madrid, Spain
Hans J. Markowitsch Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld,

Germany
Michael N. Marsh Wolfson College, and The Oxford Centre for

Christianity & Culture, Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford,
St. Giles, Oxford, UK
Dorothy F. Marsil Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA
Mattias Martinson Department of Theology, Faculty of Theology, Uppsala
University, Uppsala, Sweden
Steven Marx California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA,
USA
Kevin S. Masters Department of Psychology, University of Colorado

Carmine Matarazzo Pontificia Facoltà Telogica dell’Italia Meridionale,
Sezione San Tommaso d’Aquino, Naples, Italy
Klaus-Dieter Mathes Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist
Studies, University of Vienna
Eduardo Maura Facultad de Filosofı́a, Universidad Complutense de
Madrid (Spain), Madrid, Spain
G. T. Maurits Kwee Institute for Relational Buddhism and Transcultural
Society for Clinical Meditation, Taos Institute (Faculty Member of the Taos
Institute/USA – Tilburg University/Netherlands Ph.D.–program), Bentveld,
The Netherlands
Universidad de Flores, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Toby Mayer Department of Academic Research and Publications, The

Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK
Geert Mayer Hephata Klinik, Department of Neurology and Sleep

Medicine, Schwalmstadt–Treysa
Department of Neurology, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
Dan P. McAdams Department of Psychology, Northwestern University,
Evanston, IL, USA
Contributors xlix
E. Doyle McCarthy Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Fordham

University, Bronx, NY, USA
F. Dennis McCool Department of Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine,
Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Rhode Island, USA
Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Pawtucket, RI, USA
Susan H. McFadden Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin
Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI, USA
Reginald McGinnis Department of French and Italian, University of
Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
John J. McGraw Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
Richard J. McGregor Religious Studies Department, Vanderbilt
University, Nashville, TN, USA
Christina Mengert Bard College, Prison Initiative Program, Kerhonkson,
NY, USA
Marc W. Merx Department of Cardiology, Pneumology and Angiology,
Universityhospital, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf,
Germany
Norbert Mette Institut f€ur Katholische Theologie, Fakult€at Humanwis-
senschaften und Theologie, Technische Universit€at Dortmund, Dortmund,
Germany
Richard Metzger University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, TN, USA
Florian Mildenberger Europa University Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder,
Frankfurt/Oder, Germany
Gurdofarid Miskinzoda The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK
Olli-Pekka Moisio Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy,
University of Jyv€askyl€a, Jyv€askyl€a, Finland
James E. Montgomery Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies, University of
Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Robert G. Morrison Religion Department, Bowdoin College, Brunswick,
ME, USA
Viggo Mortensen Department of Systematic Theology, University of

Aarhus, Århus C, Denmark
Sébastien Moureau FNRS, Institut Orientaliste, Université Catholique de

Louvain (UCL), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Chris Murphy School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney,

Sydney, NSW, Australia
Nancey Murphy School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasa-
dena, CA, USA
l Contributors
Paolo De Nardis Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy

Andrew J. Neel Department of Computer Science, The University of
David W. Nelson Religion Department, Bard College, Annandale on
Hudson, NY, USA
Alexei Nesteruk University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK
Andrew Newberg Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Kees van Kooten Niekerk Department of Culture and Society, Faculty of

Arts, Aarhus University, Århus C, Denmark
Bent Flemming Nielsen Department of Systematic Theology, Faculty of

Theology, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen K, Denmark
Fernando Nino Computer Science Department, National University of

Colombia, Bogota, DC, Colombia
Anna C. Nobre Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, University of

Oxford, Oxford, UK
Jason S. Nomi Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort

Collins, CO, USA
Kenneth Nordgren Umeå City Parish (Church of Sweden), Umeå, Sweden
Victor Norris Department of Biology, University of Rouen, Mont Saint

Aignan, France
Randolph J. Nudo Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology,

Landon Center on Aging, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City,
KS, USA
Augustine Nwoye School of Applied Human Sciences, University of

KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Jeffrey A. Oaks Department of Mathematics and Computer Science,

University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Eric Ormsby The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK

Alexander Darius Ornella Department of Humanities/Religion, University
of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom
M. Teresa Ortuño Department of Statistics and Operational Research I,
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Jesper Østergaard Arts, Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus
University, Aarhus C, DK, Denmark
Ulrich Ott Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University,
Giessen, Germany
Contributors li
Lluis Oviedo Pontifical University Antonianum, Roma, Italy

Miguel Palomino Dpto. Sistemas Informáticos y Computación (UCM),
Facultad de Informática, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Raymond F. Paloutzian The International Journal for the Psychology of
Religion, Westmont College Psychology Department, Santa Barbara, CA,
USA
Soch Patrick The Joint PhD Program in Religious and Theological Studies,
University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology, Denver, CO, USA
Jason Payne-James Cameron Forensic Medical Sciences, Barts & the
London School of Medicine & Dentistry, London, UK
Forensic Healthcare Services Ltd, Southend–on–Sea, Essex, UK
Ethel S. Person College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University,
New York, NY, USA
Gregory Peterson Department of Philosophy and Religion, South Dakota

State University, Brookings, SD, USA
Nikola Petrov Department of Mathematics, University of Oklahoma,

Norman, OK, USA
Willy Pf€andtner Study of Religions at School of Gender, Culture and

History, Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden
Vinhthuy Phan Department of Computer Science, The University of

Bryony Pierce Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Sami Pihlström University of Jyv€askyl€a, Jyv€askyl€a, Finland
Thomes Platz BDH-Klinik Greifswald, Neurological Rehabilitation Centre

and Spinal Cord Injury Unit, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universit€at, Greifswald,
Germany
Ismail K. Poonawala University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles,

CA, USA
Ulrike Popp-Baier Department of Art, Religion and Cultural Sciences –

Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Samaneh Pourjalali Department of Psychology, Learning Research Insti-
tute, California State University at San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA, USA
Christopher J. Preston Department of Philosophy and the Program on

Ethics and Public Affairs at the Mansfield Center, University of Montana,
Missoula, MT, USA
Silvana Procacci Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Letters and

Philosophy, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
lii Contributors
Lazar Puhalo c/o David Goa, Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of
Religion and Public Life, University of Alberta, Camrose, Alberta, Canada
Peter Qi Bi Department of Neurology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital Capital

Marianne C. Qvortrup Fibiger Study of Religion, Institute for Culture and

Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
Joshua Ramos University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
Melissa Raphael Department of Humanities, University of Gloucestershire,

Cheltenham, UK
Erik Raschke Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Carl Raschke Department of Religious Studies, University of Denver,

Denver, CO, USA
Ulrik Houlind Rasmussen University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen,
Denmark
Colbey Emmerson Reid Department of English and Humanities, York
College of Pennsylvania, York, PA, USA
David Reisman Economics, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Kurt Remele Department of Catholic Theology, Karl-Franzens-University

Graz, Graz, Austria
Svetoslav Ribolov Section “Patristic and Byzantine Sources”, Sofia

Univerisity “St. Clement of Ochrid”, Sofia, Bulgaria
Sharon Rider Department of Philosophy, Uppsala University, Uppsala,

Sweden
Harald Rieder Institute of Human Genetics and Anthropology, Heinrich-
Heine-University, D€
usseldorf, Germany
Joerg Rieger Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University,
Dallas, TX, USA
Jari Ristiniemi Department of Culture Studies, Religious Studies and Edu-

cational Sciences, University of G€avle, G€avle, Sweden
Giacomo Rizzolatti Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisiologia,

Università di Parma, Parma, Italy
Gregory Allen Robbins Department of Religious Studies, University of

Andrew Robinson Department of Theology, University of Exeter, Exeter,

Devon, UK
Contributors liii
Steven A. Rogers Department of Psychology, Westmont College, Santa

Barbara, CA, USA
Matt Rosano Psychology Department, Southeastern Louisiana University,
Hammond, LA, USA
René Rosfort Department for Systematic Theology, Faculty of Theology,
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
David F. Ross University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, TN, USA
Paolo M. Rossini Catholic University, Policlinic A. Gemelli, Rome, Italy

Vasile Rus Department of Computer Science, The University of Memphis,
Memphis, TN, USA
Anthony J. Ryals Department of Psychology, Colorado State University,
Fort Collins, CO, USA
Stanley N. Salthe Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton Univer-
sity, Binghamton, NY, USA
Norbert M. Samuelson School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious
Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
Clara H. Sánchez Departmento de Mathemáticas, Universidad Nacional de
Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
Lars Sandbeck University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Joakim Sandberg Department of Philosophy, Linguistics & Theory of
Science, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Matilde Santos Department of Computer Architecture and Automatic Con-

trol, Computer Science Faculty, Facultad de Informática, Universidad
Complutense De Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Gloria L. Schaab Department of Theology and Philosophy, Barry
University, Miami Shores, FL, USA
Walter Schaupp Department of Moral Theology, University of Graz, Graz,
Austria
Werner-Alfons Scherbaum Heinrich-Heine-University D€usseldorf,
D€
usseldorf, Germany
Sarah A. Schnitker School of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary,
Pasadena, CA, USA
Alfons Schnitzler Department of Neurology, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience
and Medical Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University, Duesseldorf, Germany
Hans Schwarz Institute of Protestant Theology, University of Regensburg,
Regensburg, Germany
liv Contributors
Dietrich von Schweinitz Pediatric Surgical Clinic, Dr. von Hauner

Children’s Hospital, University of Munich, Muenchen, Germany
udiger J. Seitz Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine-University,
R€
D€
usseldorf, D€
usseldorf, Germany
Gonzalo Serrano Department of Philosophy, Universidad Nacional de
Colombia, Bogota, Colombia
Linda Sherrell Department of Computer Science, The University of
Christa Shusko English and Humanities Department, York College of
Pennsylvania, York, PA, USA
Johannes Siegrist Heinrich Heine-Universit€at D€usseldorf, Senior Profes-
sorship Workstress Research Life Science Center, D€usseldorf, Germany
Jason Slone Tiffin University, Tiffin, OH, USA
Mark Sluys Department of Theology, Johannelund Theological University
College, Uppsala, Sweden
Taede A. Smedes Faculty of Theology, Radboud University Nijmegen,
Hillegom, VN, The Netherlands
Deborah Sokolove Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion, Wesley
Theological Seminary, Washington, DC, USA
Cristobal Solares Antonianum University, Rome, Italy
Norman Solomon The Oriental Institute, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Pia Søltoft Department of Systematic Theology, Faculty of Theology,
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark
Kierkegaard Library, Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre, Copenhagen K,
Denmark
Michele Sorice CMCS – Department of Political Sciences, LUISS
University, Rome, Italy
Christopher Southgate Department of Theology, University of Exeter,
Exeter, UK
Atle Ottesen Søvik MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, Norway
J. Michael Spector Department of Learning Technologies, University of
North Texas, Denton, TX, USA
Neil Spurway University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Henderikus J. Stam Department of Psychology, University of Calgary,
Calgary, AB, Canada
Russell Stannard Department of Physics and Astronomy, Open University,
Milton Keynes, UK
Contributors lv
Mikael Stenmark Department of Theology, Uppsala University, Uppsala,

Sweden
Catharina Stenqvist Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund
University, Lund, Sweden
Achim Stephan Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabr€uck,
Osnabr€
uck, Germany
Maria Liljas Stålhandske Department of Theology, Uppsala University,

Uppsala, Sweden
Petra Stoerig Institute of Experimental Psychology II, Heinrich-Heine-

University, Duesseldorf, Germany
Mark G. Stokes Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, University of

Oxford, Oxford, UK
Barbara Ann Strassberg Aurora University, Aurora, IL, USA
Maren Strenziok Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
Department of Cognitive Psychology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Johanne Stubbe Teglbjærg Center of Naturalism and Christian Semantics,

Faculty of Theology, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark
Karsten R. Stueber Department of Philosophy, College of the Holy Cross,

Worcester, MA, USA
Justin T. Sullivan University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, TN, USA
Per Sundman Department of Theology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Momme von Sydow Department of Psychology, Universit€at Heidelberg,

Heidelberg, Germany
Charles Taliaferro Department of Philosophy, St. Olaf College, Northfield,
MN, USA
Stoyan Tanev Integrative Innovation Management, Department of
Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M,
Denmark
Herman T. Tavani Department of Philosophy, Rivier University, Nashua,

NH, USA
Philip P. Taylor Department of Political Science and International Affairs,
Kennesaw State University, Atlanta Kennesaw, GA, USA
Victor E. Taylor Department of English and Humanities, York College of

John A. Teske Esbenshade 265C, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown,
PA, USA
lvi Contributors
Charles Thorpe Department of Sociology, University of California, San

Diego, CA, USA
Hava Tirosh-Samuelson Irving and Miriam Lowe Professor of Modern
Judaism, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, College
of Liberal Arts, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
Arthur W. Toga Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology,
UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Roger Trigg Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Warwick,
Oxford, UK
Senior Research Fellow, Kellogg College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Robert Turner Department of Neurophysics, Max-Planck-Institute for
Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Brian R. Uldall University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, HI, USA
Maria Alessandra Umiltà Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di
Fisiologia, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy
Olli-Pekka Vainio University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Giuseppe Vallar Department of Psychology, University of Milano-
Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Joseph A. Varacalli Department of Sociology/Anthropology/Social Work,
Nassau Community College-S.U.N.Y., Center for Catholic Studies, Garden
City, NY, USA
Deborah Vause Department of English and Humanities, York College of
Luis Vázquez Departamento de Matemática Aplicada, Facultad de
Informática, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Marie Vejrup Nielsen Department of the Study of Religion, University of
Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
Jan Vesper Department of Neurosurgery, Centre of Neuromodulation,
Heinrich-Heine University Hospital, D€
usseldorf, Germany
Aku Visala Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, Kellogg College,
Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Werner Vogd Department of Sociology, University Witten/Herdecke, Wit-
ten, Germany
Kai Vogeley Department of Psychiatry, University of Cologne, Cologne,
Germany
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Cognitive Neuroscience (INM3),
Research Center J€ulich, J€
ulich, Germany
Nikolaus von Stillfried Europa Universit€at Viadrina, Institut f€ur
transkulturelle Gesundheitswissenschaften, Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany
European University Viadrina, Institute for Transcultural Health Sciences,
Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany
Contributors lvii
Harald Walach Institute for Information Biology, School of Social

Sciences & Samueli, The University of Northampton, Northampton, UK
Europa-universit€at Viadrina, Institut f€ur transkulturelle Gesundheitswis-
senschaften, Franfurt (Oder), Germany
John Walker-Smith Wellcome Trust Centre for History of Medicine,
University College, London
Yiqing Wang Institute of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua,
Zhejiang Province, China
Ilana Wartenberg Department of Hebrew & Jewish Studies, University
College London, London, UK
Kevin Warwick Professor of Cybernetics, School of Systems Engineering,
University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, UK
Seth Wax Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, USA
Yaffa Weisman The Frances-Henry Library, Hebrew Union College,
Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Katarina Westerlund Department of Theology, Uppsala University,
Uppsala, Sweden
Carol S. Wimmer Independent Scholar, Tulsa, OK, USA
Timothy J. Winter Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University, Cam-

bridge, UK
Lars Wojtecki Department of Neurology, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience

and Medical Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University, Duesseldorf, Germany
Jakob Wolf Department of Systematic Theology, Faculty of Theology,
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark
Chance Brandon Woods Department of English, Vanderbilt University,
Nashville, TN, USA
Dimitris Xygalatas LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of

Religion, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
James O. Young Department of Philosophy, University of Victoria,
Victoria, BC, Canada
Ulf Zackariasson Department of Theology, Uppsala University, Uppsala,

Sweden
Linda Zagzebski Department of Philosophy, University of Oklahoma,

Norman, OK, USA
Alberto Zani Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology at Research
Area 3 Milan (ARM3), National Research Council (CNR), Milan, Italy
lviii Contributors
Hua Zhang Department of Neurology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital Capital

Min Zhuo Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of
Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Ulf Ziemann Department of Neurology and Stroke, Hertie Institute for
Clinical Brain Research, Eberhard-Karls-University, T€ubingen, Germany
A
A Priori Arguments Abhidhamma, Southern
▶ Ontological Arguments Ven. Agganyani

German Vinaya Sangha Association (DBO) and
Centre for Buddhist Studies (CBS), Myanmar,
Bruckmuehl, Germany
A Priori/A Posteriori
Related Terms
Neil Spurway
University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK Abhidhamma Pitaka; Abhidharma; Philosophy in
˙
Buddhism; Psychology in Buddhism
Terms used to distinguish concepts existing in

the mind independently of, and hence before Description
(a priori), any experience from those only formed
on the basis of, and so after (a posteriori), the Abhidhamma (Pāḷi) (http://www.abhidhamma.
experiences to which they relate. Immanuel Kant, com; http://www.abhidhamma.org) is the third
in particular, held that it is only in terms of a division or basket (pitaka) of the Tipitaka or Pāḷi
˙ ˙
priori ideas that we can make sense of experi- canon, the foundation of Theravāda Buddhism.
ence; by contrast empiricists, such as John Locke, While similar, slightly different kinds of
contended that all concept-formation was Abhidharma (Sanskrit) belong to the various
contingent upon, and so a posteriori to, Mahāyāna traditions or to the Hinayāna schools,
experience. the latter having perished already. “Abhidhamma”
literally means the higher or special teaching
(of the Buddha). It is a huge collection of system-
atically arranged, tabulated, and scientifically
classified teachings of the Buddha, representing
Abhidhamma Pitaka the quintessence of his teachings, timeless and
˙ independent of culture, race, and gender.
▶ Abhidhamma, Southern Abhidhamma is the Buddhist philosophy,
A. Runehov, L. Oviedo (eds.), Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions,

DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8, # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
A 2 Abhidhamma, Southern
describing the reality and truth completely. 6. Yamaka – “The Book on Pairs”
Abhidhamma is also the Buddhist psychology, Twisted and vice versa Abhidhamma
dealing mainly with mental phenomena and questions and answers for deep understanding.
explaining in detail how the mind works and how 7. Patthāna – The Book of Conditions or
˙˙
it can be liberated. “Conditional Relations”
In the discourses (sutta), the Buddha takes into Explanation of the 24 forces working
consideration the intellectual level of his between cause or condition and effect.
audience, their development of the perfections Describing the laws of interaction of the
(pāramı̄), their attainments, and the specific dhammas analyzed in Dhammasanganı̄, this
˙
situation. He therefore teaches the dhamma in is the great synthesis.
conventional terms and relative concepts
(paññatti), referring to persons and objects as I,
he, she, man, woman, cow, tree, etc. In the Self-Identification
Abhidhamma, however, the Buddha does not
make such concessions, but is treating the Science
dhamma entirely in terms of the ultimate reality Abhidhamma, which presents itself as very
(paramattha). All phenomena are analyzed into abstract, profound, logical, and scientific, should
their ultimate constituents (dhamma) which are not be looked upon as all theory and pure scho-
precisely defined, classified, and systematically lasticism. Abhidhamma stems from empirical
arranged. Then, the laws of interaction between knowledge of the Buddha which he acquired by
the dhammas are taught, their synthesis – a net of his full enlightenment. It describes the full range
conditionality. of knowledge, insight, and human experience
The Abhidhamma Pitaka (Nyanatiloka) with all and everything. Studying Abhidhamma
˙
consists of seven books: can be compared with studying a map, but the
1. Dhammasaṅganı̄ – Enumeration of the map has to be used; one has to travel in order to
˙
dhammas, “Buddhist Psychological Ethics” reach the destination or, rather, to achieve one’s
Description of the fundamental, ultimate goal. Abhidhamma alone is just abstract science.
mental, and physical phenomena constituting It has to be applied in daily life and meditation.
human experience.
2. Vibhaṅga – “The Book of Analysis” Religion
Exposition of the analysis in the Abhidhamma is to some extent religion in which
Dhammasanganı̄ in form of a catechism with one is supposed to believe or have confidence in,
˙
many references in Suttanta. as long as one has not yet experienced it oneself.
3. Dhātukathā – “Discourse on Elements” But the more one can prove by own experience
Description of the 18 elements in sets of with clear, sharpened mind, especially in
questions and answers. Similar substance like Vipassanā meditation, the more confidence
Dhammasanganı̄ and Vibhanga. (saddhā) will arise in one’s mind. The Buddha
˙ ˙
4. Puggalapaññatti – “A Designation of Human himself did not talk of his teachings as religion,
Types” and encouraged and urged to accept and believe
Description of the qualities of individuals only what practically turns out as wholesome and
and personality types. By differentiation, beneficial for liberation. People turned the
suitable teachings and meditation subjects dhamma into a religion called “Buddhism.”
can be given individually. Buddhism, and especially Abhidhamma, has
5. Kathāvatthu – “Points of Controversy” nothing to do with a creator god or a god respon-
Collection of questions and orthodox answers sible for our life and fate. To the contrary,
in order to show superiority and distinguish Abhidhamma clearly explains about life, death,
Theravāda from other schools (compiled by rebirth, kamma and its result, and all causality-
Moggaliputta Tissa in the third century B.C.). conditionality. Therefore, it can be seen as
Abhidhamma, Southern 3 A
a doctrine transcending death and giving its Relevance to Science and Religion
followers meaning in life, sense, guidelines, and
understanding. Abhidhamma, explaining things and phenomena A
Albert Einstein is ascribed to have said: according to the experience of the fully enlight-
“The religion of the future will be a cosmic ened Buddha, does not need a proof by science
religion. It should transcend a personal God and and also does not fear science or any new
avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the results from research. There can never be
natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a contradiction. Abhidhamma encourages scien-
a religious sense arising from the experience of tific research, and some modern Abhidhamma
all things, natural and spiritual as a meaningful scholars and practitioners are interested in related
unity. If there is any religion that would cope with sciences, like physics (especially quantum
modern scientific needs, it would be Buddhism” physics), neurology, psychology, modern ways
(Quotation ascribed to Einstein according to: of psychotherapy, and research in the field of
http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Albert-Einstein- meditation, psychosomatic diseases, and working
Quotes.htm, referring to Albert Einstein (1954)). of the brain, mind, and memory.
Most probably Einstein did not come into contact
with Abhidhamma, which would have been a won-
derful supplementation and enrichment. Sources of Authority
There is the story or legend in the Theravāda

Characteristics tradition that states Abhidhamma was first taught
by the Buddha for 3 months in the 7th year after
While other religions have to be accepted his enlightenment in Tāvatimsā heaven to deities
˙
because of a god, heavenly messenger, or including the Buddha’s departed mother, who
prophet, Buddhism and Abhidhamma are to be had been reborn there. Ven. Sāriputta, one of his
accepted and practiced only if, when tested, lead main disciples and second in knowledge after the
to wholesome states, more happiness, calmness, Buddha, had received a brief summary each day
serenity, mental peace, and liberty (Essence of from the Buddha himself. Then, Ven. Sāriputta
the popular Kālāma Sutta, Collection of Gradual formulated and arranged what we call
Discourses, A III. 66). One follows according to Abhidhamma today and taught it to a selected
one’s own level of insight and understanding. group of his monk-pupils, who were ready to
While traditions and religious teachings, includ- grasp it. Sāriputta might be the real author indeed,
ing most of the Buddha’s discourses (sutta), give since he is known through the suttas as a very
practical guidelines and explanations to concrete analytical, sharp-minded person. His excellent
persons in various, distinct circumstances, cultures, knowledge and way of explanation were praised
and eras which might no longer be suitable for our by the Buddha himself.
present age and problem, Abhidhamma – with its Modern Buddhologists, linguists, and
ultimate realities (dhamma) – offers a complete, historians claim that the Abhidhamma is a later
abstract picture so that we can find our own answers work. Traditional Buddhists deny this and main-
for an ethical and wholesome life, for mental devel- tain that at least the essence of the Abhidhamma
opment, and for understanding the world and seeing goes back to the Buddha himself, while later
things as they really are. All other religions and rearrangements and rewording found in the
common philosophies rely on a soul or self (atta) books are of minor importance. All six Buddhist
in one way or another and follow personality belief councils, the first was held just 3 months after the
either with eternity or annihilation views, while the Buddha’s death, up to the latest international
Buddha taught nonself, soullessness (anatta) and council from 1954 to 1956, have reexamined,
Abhidhamma can be regarded as a huge compen- accepted, and confirmed the Abhidhamma Pitaka
˙
dium on anatta. as authentic and correct. An exception is the
fifth Abhidhamma book, Kathāvatthu, which

definitely is more recent and was included during
the third council under King Asoka in 246 B.C.
(Nyanatiloka).
Further, Abhidhamma is consistent with and
does not contradict the Suttanta, but systematizes
and explains the manifold contents of the suttas
in greater detail.
Last but not least, Abhidhamma gets its
natural authority by being confirmed and proved
true by generations of meditators according to
their own experience.
Ethical Principles
Ethics and morality are the basics and foundation

of Abhidhamma. Without an ethical lifestyle as
foundation, no insight, attainment, or realization
is possible. In the Abhidhamma, all phenomena Abhidhamma, Southern, Fig. 1 Constituents of the
(dhamma) are classified according to their Noble Eightfold Path
ethical qualities, which additionally have to be
kammically wholesome in the sense of leading in Eightfold Path (ariya atthaṅgika magga), leading
˙˙
the right direction toward goodness and libera- to the cessation of suffering (Fig. 1).
tion. The traditional system of classification of Abhidhamma teaches all three values system-
consciousness and mental states therefore atically and in the ultimate sense. Being
differentiates between wholesome, unwhole- a Buddhist psychology, Abhidhamma analyzes
some, and kammically variable or neutral states. the connected mental states, the circumstances
Abhidhamma always stresses their difference, and conditions which lead to their arising, or, in
their origination, and their impact. Without the case of ethics, the right mental attitude and
blaming unethical persons or behaviors, without motivation in order to behave ethically.
dos and don’ts, the Abhidhamma just teaches the Some factors of the Noble Eightfold Path, like
abstract facts of these wholesome and unwhole- concentration and effort, can be either whole-
some physical, verbal, or mental actions. It is up some or unwholesome. The Abhidhamma offers
to everyone which path to follow, ethical or criteria how to differentiate and decide, which
unethical, but one should know the effects – not one should be developed, and which one should
only for others but also for oneself. One who be abandoned.
really understands and penetrates Abhidhamma The purpose of struggling and developing
will definitely train oneself and lead an these values is the final goal of liberation, the
ethical life. attainment of Nibbāna. The way is shown as
a step-by-step process through increasing insight
and knowledge and by penetrating the realities or,
Key Values rather, experiences, and through realizing them as
impermanent (anicca), as suffering or unsatisfac-
Key values according to Buddhism are ethics tory (dukkha), and as nonself or uncontrollable
(sı̄la), concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (anatta). The Abhidhamma aims specifically at
(paññā), which together form the Noble the understanding of anatta.
Conceptualization physical life or physical vitality in the material
groups, which has the function to protect the
Nature/World coexisting matters from rotting and decay. It is A
Abhidhamma has a realistic view. The world is a direct and immediate product of kamma and
made up of animate and inanimate things. makes the difference between the body of
According to the Abhidhamma, inanimate things a living person and a human corpse. The other
such as mountains, rocks, trees, tables, or books life phenomenon is mental or psychic life or
are made up of matter only, of various material psychic vitality, which is a mental factor
qualities or physical phenomena (rūpa). Animate (cetasika) associated with all types of conscious-
or living beings consist of mind and matter ness (citta) and various kinds of mental states.
(nāmarūpa). These various mental and physical Its function is to protect the coexisting mental
phenomena comprising beings and the world are phenomena within the same mental unit for
taught in detail in their origination and relation a certain tiny lifespan. The great majority of
in Abhidhamma. The conditional relations of beings consist of mind and body, having both
phenomena, following natural laws, are seen in mental and material life. Some beings of the
the interrelationship and dependence among higher planes of existence consist of mind only,
beings and in the whole nature. Therefore, to without bodies, having only mental life. Then,
care for the nature, the environment, and others there is a rare unconscious being (asaññasatta)
will in turn lead to caring for oneself. Nature is in higher planes of existence who has no mind
not seen as perfect, but because of its character- but is made up of matter only, having at least
istic of impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactori- material life.
ness (dukkha), and nonself (anatta), nature How is it that there are all these different
belongs to the conditional world (Samsāra) and beings and types of life? They are all results of
˙
is tied to the endless cycle of arising and various and quite different kamma performed in
dissolving, of birth and death. previous lives. The higher planes and life without
body, that is, only mind, or without mind, that is,
Human Being only body, are reached through intense medita-
A human being is mainly differentiated from other tion, through attaining and mastering the various
beings by its rebirth consciousness (patisandhi meditative absorptions (jhāna) and through
˙
citta), which is a direct product of its previous special aspirations.
wholesome kamma. The Abhidhamma describes For the birth – or rather conception – of
31 planes of existence in the world; only one is a human being, three things have to coincide:
human, and only two, human and animal, planes Mother and father, that is, ovum and sperm, need
can be perceived by us. Productive kamma decides to be present and, as main factor, a kammic
where and as what kind of being one is reborn. It is impulse from a just departed being. The death of
said, as a human being, one has the best chances a being once again has to do with kamma. Death,
for mental development and liberation because that is, the cutting off of the individual lifestream
there is much freedom in decision. In this plane, of a being, may happen because of four reasons
various types of kamma can ripen and produce according to Abhidhamma:
results; usually a mixture of happiness and suffer- 1. End of lifespan (differs for species and in
ing is experienced that can motivate one to strug- epochs)
gle and train the mind. 2. End of kammic energy of the life-producing
kamma
Life and Death 3. Case 1 and 2 together
Life or a living being is characterized in the 4. A destructive kamma which intervenes and
Abhidhamma by two phenomena called life cuts off the energy of the life-producing
faculty (jı̄vitindriya) (Bodhi; Tin Mon). There is kamma
Abhidhamma, Southern,
Fig. 2 Reality according
to Abhidhamma
Death caused by case 1–3 is called timely The only unconditioned reality is Nibbāna
death, while case 4 is called untimely death, (Sanskrit: Nirvāna).
which might happen even at young age by Abhidhamma deals with ultimate reality,
a fatal accident or a life-threatening disease. conditioned and unconditioned. (http://www.
The Abhidhamma gives minute explanations abhidhamma.com) Ultimate realities are what
about the working of kamma and the mental death really can be experienced by the six senses
and rebirth processes. Kamma performed or directly. The Abhidhamma distinguishes four
remembered just before dying has a great chance ultimate realities:
to produce the next life. In that way, 1. Consciousness (citta)
Abhidhamma even proves the benefit of modern 2. Mental factors (cetasika)
hospice work by providing guidelines to relatives 3. Matter (rūpa)
or nurses who accompany a dying person. 4. Nibbāna
These four kinds of reality are again classified
Reality manifold. Abhidhamma enumerates 170 (or 202,
Abhidhamma is a science of reality or rather if consciousness is classified into 121) different
“realities.” First, there is the differentiation into realities (Fig. 2).
conventional and ultimate reality or truth. In daily These ultimate realities are ultimate in the
life, we deal only with concepts (paññatti) which sense that their characteristics do not change,
are essential in the field of ethics, loving kindness whenever they are present, not that they are per-
(mettā), compassion, etc. manent themselves. For example, anger is not
To see with Abhidhamma or “Vipassanā eyes” permanently with us, but whenever anger arises,
means to see the ultimate realities (paramattha it presents itself with the same typical
dhammas) (Boriharnwanaket) behind the facade distinguishing features. Each ultimate reality
of concepts and to penetrate through to their has its specific, individual characteristic, mani-
characteristics in order to let go, detach, and festation, and function. Therefore, each reality is
liberate the mind. defined exactly and, in practical experience, can
Second, reality is twofold: conditioned and be distinguished clearly by a sharp, well-trained
unconditioned. Whatever phenomena, things, mind. Universal characteristics of all ultimate,
beings, and states – they are all conditioned. conditioned realities are:
• Impermanence (anicca) Speaking about truth in Buddhism implies
• Unsatisfactoriness or inherent suffering speaking about the Four Noble Truths, the quintes-
(dukkha) sence of the Buddha’s teachings. They are A
• Nonself (anatta) explained in greater detail in the doctrine of depen-
In contrast, Nibbāna, the only unconditioned dent origination (Paticcasamuppāda) which is
˙
reality, has the characteristics of permanence and clearly explained in the Abhidhamma too
satisfactoriness or happiness (sukha). Yet, as the (Nyanatiloka; Bodhi; Tin Mon; Buddhaghosa b, c)
conditioned phenomena, Nibbāna too has the (Fig. 3).
characteristic of nonself (anatta). The first noble truth of suffering is found in the
second and fourth section of the circle comprising
Knowledge the phenomena conventionally called birth,
Different kinds of knowledge are differentiated in decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, suffer-
Abhidhamma (Bodhi; Tin Mon): knowledge by ing, and despair. In terms of ultimate truth, they
own thinking (cinta mayā ñāna), book knowl- are phenomena like resultant consciousness
˙
edge or knowledge by listening (anubodha-ñāna (viññāna), mind and matter (nāmarūpa), sense
˙ ˙
or suta mayā ñāna), and direct knowledge by bases (saḷāyatana), contact (phassa), and feeling
˙
own, intuitive, and penetrative insight (pativeda (vedanā), which are the kammic results (vipāka)
˙
ñāna or bhāvanā mayā ñāna), the latter being the that we have to face.
˙ ˙
most important and transforming knowledge, The second noble truth of the origin of suffer-
which includes insight knowledge (Vipassanā ing is found in the first and third section of the
ñānas). Meditators have to go through these circle: Ignorance (avijjā) and kamma formations
˙
insight steps in order to attain Nibbāna. Only (saṅkhāra) are mentioned as past causes for suf-
the Buddha himself is awarded omniscience fering, craving (tanhā), clinging (upadāna), and
˙
(sabbaññūtā-ñāna). active, kammic process of becoming (kamma-
˙
Knowledge (ñāna) or wisdom (paññā) is one of bhava). Indeed all these factors worked in past,
˙
the “beautiful” mental factors (sobhana cetasikas), work in present, and will work in future as
which can associate only with wholesome and beau- a natural law – as long as we have not yet found
tiful types of consciousness. It definitely should be and used the exit. In this way, Paticcasamuppāda
˙
developed and included in all actions. If knowledge explains Samsāra, the endless cycle of cause and
˙
is associated with beautiful mental factors, then the effect of suffering. Summarizing it can be said
kammic quality of a wholesome action becomes that Kamma produces its results (vipāka) with the
stronger and better. Furthermore, in Abhidhamma help of mental defilements (kilesa), like igno-
we learn that only people with a kammically rance and craving. The way to stop suffering,
acquired rebirth consciousness associated with that is, painful, undesirable results, is not to stop
knowledge can attain meditative absorptions actions (kamma), but to eradicate the defilements
(jhāna) and may attain Nibbāna, that is, path and (kilesa) (Fig. 4).
fruition consciousness (magga and phala citta). This cessation of suffering or the end of the
cycle of Samsāra is Nibbāna – the third noble
˙
Truth truth. And the path to achieve this practically is
Truth is often mentioned in the same sense as the Noble Eightfold Path, which constitutes the
reality. However, conventional truth and ultimate fourth noble truth. These are fundamental truths
truth are differentiated. The dhamma is attributed in conformity with natural laws.
truthfulness (svakhata) and timelessness
(akalika), that is, it is a teaching according to Perception
the truth, giving ever true replies to questions Perception (saññā) according to Abhidhamma
about suffering, its origin, and its cessation, and (Bodhi; Tin Mon; Boriharnwanaket;
describing solution of existential problems of Buddhaghosa b, c) is a universal mental factor
past times as well as today. (cetasika), that is, it associates with all types of
Abhidhamma, Southern, Dependent Origination (Paticcasamuppada)

.
Fig. 3 Dependent
Origination kamma
result (vipaka) decay

+ death ignorance
mental defilement
(kilesa)
(re–) birth Effects Causes kamma-

in the of the formations
Future Past
–passive
4 1
becoming
–active
3 2 (rebirth)–
consciousness
Causes Effects
of the in the
Present Present mind + body
clinging
sense bases
contact
craving
feeling
Abhidhamma commentaries (Bodhi; Tin Mon;

Dhamma 2007) explain that at least four mental
(1) we want kamma (2) we act processes (vı̄this) are necessary to be able to
kilesa
mental
defilements
intentional
actions
know and name the object which, for example,
(greed, hatred,
delusion, etc.)
(physical, verbal,
mental)
was seen in the first process only. Each process is
made up by 17 or 12 mind moments, respectively,
following each other in fixed and reasonable
vipaka series.
kammic results
(cycling in Samsara Usually people say and think “I perceive” or
and suffering)
“myself perceives this and that.” Yet, according
to Abhidhamma only bare processes are running,
(3) we get conditioned by certain circumstances. There is no
Abhidhamma, Southern, Fig. 4 Cycling in Samsara
perceiver, no observer, no creator, no soul, or
no self behind it. Just impersonal processes
devoid of I or self.
consciousness. It is the awareness of an object’s
distinctive marks. If, through repeated perception Time
of an object, these marks are recognized, saññā Time is a concept that – according to
functions as memory. Sometimes saññā can Abhidhamma – is relative and is derived from
mislead if it compares a new, similar object changeability, impermanence, and movement in
with the memorized marks of a previous object. phenomena. “Chronological time (kāla), denoted
Perception is sometimes used for the whole by reference to this or that event, is merely
mental unit including consciousness. But still, a conventional expression....Since it has no exis-
an object cannot be fully perceived or known tence in itself, one has to understand it as a mere
clearly by just one mind moment, one single concept (Atthasālinı̄, }58–59, commentary by
unit of sense perception, which is conditioned Buddhaghosa to Dhammasaṅganı̄, the first of
˙
by the sense organ and its corresponding object. the seven Abhidhamma books).” Albert Einstein
puts it tersely: ”Time is what one reads from the santāna); this continuous stream will cease only
clock (Quotation ascribed to Einstein).” The in the attainment of the final Nibbāna. This indi-
measurement of time is possible only because of vidual stream of consciousness follows a fixed, A
the movement of the hands relative to the clock’s defined sequence as natural law (citta niyāma).
face or by marking events or certain states in Consciousness does not arise alone, but
changes: birth and death, sunrise and sunset, and always together with at least seven mental factors
appearance of a phenomenon and its disappear- (cetasika), which together constitute the mind
ance. The shortest time span that can be defined (nāma). Consciousness is compared to clean,
according to Abhidhamma is the duration of one clear water which cannot be seen. Only by
of the three submoments of consciousness: (1) the added colors or dirt, water becomes visible.
arising submoment, (2) the existence or standing In the same way, consciousness can be perceived
submoment, and (3) the falling or vanishing by its “colors” only – the mental factors
submoment. All three together form one mind (cetasika) – which arise simultaneously with the
moment, that is, the lifespan of consciousness. same object but with different characteristic and
Seventeen times longer than that is the lifespan function.
of matter. According to the six senses as bases, there are
In Abhidhamma and its commentaries, past, six types of consciousness:
future, and present times are defined precisely for 1. Eye consciousness
the material and mental phenomena or the five 2. Ear consciousness
aggregates (khandhā) respectively according to 3. Nose consciousness
four points: period of time (addhā), continuity of 4. Tongue consciousness
a process (santati), occasion (samaya), and 5. Body consciousness
moment (khana) (Buddhaghosa b, c) (Path of 6. Mind consciousness
˙
Purity (Visuddhimagga), XIV, }494 or }472/473 These are conditioned essentially by the sense
in most translations). organ and its respective object, when they come
Concerning Nibbāna, the unconditioned into contact with each other.
reality, the concept of time becomes meaningless In Abhidhamma, 89 types of consciousness
and cannot be applied. are known; however, another classification
shows 121 types (Fig. 5) (http://www.
Consciousness abhidhamma.com).
Consciousness (citta) is one of the four ultimate Consciousness is classified into four groups
realities in Abhidhamma (http://www. according to plane or sphere, where it predomi-
abhidhamma.com; http://www.abhidhamma.org; nately occurs (Rewata Dhamma 2007):
Bodhi; Tin Mon; Boriharnwanaket; Dhamma 1. Sense sphere consciousness
2007; Buddhaghosa a, b, c). It is that which is 2. Fine material consciousness
aware of an object or cognizes the object. 3. Immaterial consciousness
Consciousness always has an object; it might 4. Supramundane consciousness
be a present sense object or a mental object, a Consciousness is also divided into four classes
thought or a memory. according to its nature:
Throughout life there is consciousness, one 1. Unwholesome consciousness
consciousness after the other without gap, but 2. Wholesome consciousness
only one consciousness a time. Even when 3. Resultant consciousness
someone is “unconscious” like in coma or when 4. Functional consciousness
fainted, a subtle, passive type of consciousness Furthermore, within these classes, conscious-
(bhavaṅga) is present. Therefore, it is spoken of ness often is classified according to roots, feeling,
a “stream of consciousness” which flows contin- association, and promptitude.
uously according to its conditions from birth to Consciousness arises and dissolves in a person
death and continues in the next life (citta at a tremendous rate of more than 1,000 billion
Abhidhamma, Southern, Fig. 5 Classification of consciousness
times per eyewink. In other words, the lifetime of understood by mere intellect and reason. Yet, that
one consciousness is less than 1,000 billionth of is not the purpose of Abhidhamma. Abhidhamma is
a second. (Rewata Dhamma 2007) The duration developed by experience and guides people through
of consciousness is measured by three short experiences and insights and finally to liberation.
instants or submoments, characterizing distinct Abhidhamma should not become an end in itself,
features: but inspire to practice and apply.
1. Arising instant
2. Presence or existing instant Mystery
3. Dissolving instant In Abhidhamma all is explained in detail and
Seventy-five types of consciousness have the openly. Even the final goal, Nibbāna, is well
ability to produce matter (rūpa) at their arising declared. No secret remains, and no phenomenon
instant. could not be defined and explained.
If repeated many times, our body will move, For meditators without Abhidhamma back-
will communicate, will change, or may even suf- ground, experience in meditative absorptions
fer from psychosomatic diseases. (jhāna) beyond common sense experiences
could easily be misunderstood as the goal or
Rationality/Reason seem like a mystery that they cannot explain
Rationality is highly valued in Abhidhamma, which rationally and which they might misinterpret as
in itself is very logical, reasonable, and rational. divine appearance or unity with God.
Once the definitions of the phenomena are fully
understood – which is not easy, as there is no suit-
able and exact translation for some Pāli terms into Relevant Themes
English or another Western language which would
cover the correct and full meaning – the structure Nibbāna (Sanskrit: Nirvāna) is the final goal of
and system are extremely logical and can be all Buddhists, but often they have the opinion that
Nibbāna is not possible to describe and explain. Impermanent, alas, are all conditioned phenomena,
Surely, one cannot get or imagine the taste of They have the nature of arising and decay,
Having been born, they vanish.
something of which one does not have any Their calming is true happiness (“Aniccā vata A
experience. However, Abhidhamma offers saṅkhārā, uppāda vaya dhammino, uppajjitvā
a description which can be grasped and under- nirujjhanti, tesam vūpasamo sukho.” Dı̄ghanikāya:
stood intellectually, although one has not yet Collection of Long Discourses, D16 and D17).
tasted it (Bodhi; Tin Mon; Boriharnwanaket).
Nibbāna literally means end of craving (vāna).
As craving is the main cause for suffering
(dukkha), which is already taught in the Four Cross-References
Noble Truths of the Buddha, the end of craving
is the cessation of suffering, and that is Nibbāna ▶ Anatta
(Boriharnwanaket). ▶ Consciousness (Buddhist)
Nibbāna, deathlessness, the unconditioned, is ▶ Dependent Arising
an ultimate reality beyond impermanence and ▶ Dukkha
beyond suffering and even any latent suffering ▶ Impermanence (Buddhist)
or unsatisfactoriness. Nibbāna is peace, is ▶ Karma (Buddhist)
stillness, is neither coming nor going. There are ▶ Psychology in Buddhism
two types of Nibbāna, and they should be ▶ Reality in Buddhism
distinguished precisely. Nibbāna means ▶ Relations in Buddhism
extinguishing, fading away. The type of Nibbāna ▶ Truths, four Noble
the Buddha had realized in his enlightenment is
Kilesa Nibbāna, the irreversible extinguishing of
the mental defilements (kilesa). However, mind References
and matter still remain and follow their own
Bodhi, B. (ed.). A comprehensive manual of
processes. This type is called “Nibbāna with Abhidhamma – The Abhidhammattha Sangaha of
rest” (sa-upādisesa Nibbāna). In the other Ācariya Anuruddha (trans: Nārada, M., Rewata
type of Nibbāna, there is no rest, no remainings Dhamma, U., Sı̄lānanda, U.). BPS: Kandy, Sri Lanka,
2007. http://www.bps.lk. Wisdom Publications:
(an-upādisesa Nibbāna), and this is Khandha
Somerville, MA, USA, 2007. http://www.wisdom-
Nibbāna, characterized by the extinguishing of books.com. ISBN 955-24-0103-8.
the five aggregates (khandha), that is, mind and Boriharnwanaket, S. A survey of paramattha dhammas
matter. (trans: van Gorkom, N.). Thailand: Dhamma Study
and Support Foundation. Bangkok, 2005. ISBN 974-
The common saying “Nibbāna is the highest
93085-6-5, or Zolag: http://www.zolag.co.uk/. Free
bliss” can be explained in various ways. While download: http://www.abhidhamma.org/survey6.pdf
the mind takes Nibbāna as object, there are Buddhaghosa. The expositor (Atthasālinı̄), commentary to
sublime happiness and peace. Also, having Dhammasaṅganı̄, the first of the seven Abhidhamma-
books (trans: Pe˙ Maung Tin). Pali Text Society. ISBN
attained Nibbāna, the person experiences a great
978-086013-070-3. Melksham, Wilts, U.K., 1976.
feeling of release and is filled with happiness http://www.palitext.com
because one knows that one has attained it and Buddhaghosa. Visuddhimagga. The path of purity (trans: Pe
that there will be no more suffering and rebirth. Maung Tin). Pali Text Society. ISBN 978-086013-008- 8.
Melksham, Wilts, U.K., 1975. http://www.palitext.com
However, the enlightened person still has body
Buddhaghosa. Visuddhimagga. The path of purification
and mind which oppress one and which are natu- (trans: Ñānamoli, B.). Buddhist Publication Society.
rally bound to decay. Only the cessation of body ISBN 955 ˙24 0023 6. Kandy, Sri Lanka, 2011. http://
and mind – even the good, happy states, and www.bps.lk
Nyanatiloka. Guide through the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
emotions – is bringing total stillness and peace;
BPS: Kandy, Sri Lanka, 2008. http://www.bps.lk.
that is the highest bliss indeed. ISBN: 978-955-24-0321-7. Wisdom Publications:
This final state is eloquently summarized in Somerville, MA, USA, 2009. http://www.wisdom-
the Buddha’s famous phrase: books.com. ISBN: 955-24-03219. Free Download:
A 12 Abhidharma
http://www.abhidhamma.com/guide_Abhidhamma_ a leading Hı̄nayāna school, more or less eclipsing

pitaka.pdf the Sarvāstivāda. However, both the Sautrāntikas
Rewata Dhamma, R. (2007). Process of consciousness
and matter. Burmingham Buddhist Vihara. http:// (and their forerunner, the Dārstāntikas) and
˙˙
www.bbvt.org.uk/. Triple Gem Publications, Chino the Vātsı̄putriyas originally descended from
Hills, CA, USA. Free download: http://www. the broad Sarvāstivāda lineage, so that an under-
abhidhamma.com/Process_of_consciousness_and_ standing of the Sarvāstivāda doctrines as repre-
matter.pdf
Tin Mon, M. Buddha-Abhidhamma – The ultimate sentative of the northern Abhidharma tradition is
science. Buddha Dharma Education Association. indispensable.
Yangon, Myanmar, 1995. Free download: http:// Like the Theravādins, the Sarvāstivādins too
www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/abhidhaultsci.pdf maintain that the abhidharma was taught by the
Buddha himself. But unlike the Theravādins who
claim that the whole set of their canonical
Abhidhamma texts was authored by the Buddha,
the Sarvāstivādins ascribe their seven canonical
Abhidharma texts to individual authors: (1) Dharma-skandha
by Śāriputra, (2) Saṅgı̄ti-paryāya by
▶ Abhidhamma, Southern Mahākausthila, (3) Prajñāpti-s á̄stra by Mahā-
˙˙
maudgalyāyana, (4) Vijñānakāya by Devaśarman,
(5) Prakarana-sá̄stra by Vasumitra,
˙
(6) Jñānaprasthāna by Kātyāyanı̄putra, and
Abhidharma, Northern (7) Dhātukāya by Pūrna. Of these, the first
˙
three belong to the earlier period, and the rest
Kuala Lumpur Dhammajoti may be grouped under the later period. The
Glorious Sun Professor of Buddhist Studies, Jñānaprasthāna was upheld as the supreme author-
Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of ity by the Vaibhāsikas who called it the “body,”
˙
Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong in contrast to the other six which were called
the “feet.”
Related Terms
The Meaning of “Abhidharma”
Buddhism, Sarvāstivāda
On the term “abhidharma,” in the developed
Abhidharma system represented by the period
Description of the Abhidharma treatises, firstly, “abhi-” in
the sense of “facing directly” (abhimukha)
The Abhidharma is a system aiming at signifies direct realization (abhisamaya) into the
a systematic analysis and proper understanding true nature of dharma-s. This is the meaning of
of the Buddha’s teachings. Its origin is to be the definition that “abhidharma is outflow-free
traced to the sūtra-s. The northern tradition of (anāsrava) or pure prajñā” (2, 2), where both
Abhidharma is mainly represented by the abhidharma and prajñā are defined as “investi-
Sarvāstivāda – or its orthodox camp known as gation/discernment of dharma-s” (dharma-
the Vaibhāsika, based mainly in Kaśmı̄ra – and pravicaya). Secondly, “dharma” here does not
˙
the Sautrāntika. In fact, it is these two schools that mean “Doctrine,” but refers either to the ultimate
later Indian philosophical texts typically mention reals, each having a unique intrinsic nature
as the “Abhidharma” or “Hı̄nayāna” schools (svabhāva) and being uniquely experienced as
of thought. Around seventh or eighth century an intrinsic characteristic (svalaksana), or to Nir-
C.E., the Sāmmitı̄ya – a branch of the ˙ ˙
vāna as the Dharma par excellence (2, 2). In
˙ ˙
Vātsı̄putrı̄ya – came into prominence as the Abhidharma-mahāvibhāsā (compiled around
˙
Abhidharma, Northern 13 A
150 C.E.), the Sarvāstivāda master Buddhapālita study of intrinsic and common character-
explains the signification of “abhi-” thus: istics of the real existents (dharma)
“abhi-” is a prefix signifying “abhimukha.” This within and outside the sentient being. A
dharma is called abhidharma because it induces all 3. “Conjunction” studies the dynamic rela-
skillful dharma-s—the factors conducing to tionship between the simultaneously
Enlightenment (bodhi-paksa-dharma)—to mani- existing mental factors.
fest directly. (3, 4b22–25) ˙
4. “Inclusion” is an important device for
Abhidharma as pure prajñā defines determining the nature of dharma-s in
abhidharma in the highest or absolute sense. terms of their intrinsic natures:
We can also speak of abhidharma in the conven- For instance, the visual faculty is subsumed under
tional sense as comprising all that serves as the matter-aggregate, by the visual abode (caksur-
āyatana) and the visual element (caksur-dhātu), ˙
the means for the acquisition of this pure prajñā ˙ origin.
(2, 2). In the northern Abhidharma, prajñā does and the truths of unsatisfactoriness and
This is because they constitute its intrinsic nature.
not refer exclusively to pure wisdom; it represents It is not [subsumed under] the other aggregates,
the faculty of understanding which can be pure or etc., for it is distinct in nature from them. (2, 12)
impure, proper or improper, correct or erroneous,
etc. Abhidharma in the conventional sense 5–7. Every dharma is both a cause/condition
for other dharma-s and is also caused/
then includes the various forms of impure or
with-outflow (sāsrava) understanding – possessed conditioned by other dharma-s; the study
by an ordinary worldling (prthagjana) – derived of causality (“causes,” “conditions,” and
˙ “effects”) is therefore of fundamental
from listening (s´ruta-mayı̄), from reflection
(cintā-mayı̄), from cultivation (bhāvanā-mayı̄), importance.
and from birth (upapatti-prātilambhikā) – as well 8. “Endowment” – a modality of acquisition
(prāpti) – is a special topic, also of fun-
as the Abhidharma texts that serve as the means for
the development of the pure prajñā. damental importance to the Sarvāstivāda
The definitional identification of system (see below).
From the perspective of the above definition
“abhidharma” with “prajñā” spells out the cen-
tral importance of the latter as both the means and of prajñā/abhidharma, an “Ābhidharmika,”
i.e., a specialist in the Abhidharma, may be
the ultimate aim of abhidharma investigation.
succinctly defined as one who specializes in
This is more explicitly shown in the definition
of prajnā in the Abhidharmadı̄pa-prabhāvrtti the study of these eight topics.
˙
(1, 70) and Skandhila’s Abhidharmāvatāra:
Understanding (prajñā) is the discernment of The Five Fundamental Categories

dharma-s. It is the examination (upalaksana), as
˙
the case may be, of the following eight ˙kinds of Comprising 75 Dharma-s
dharma-s: inclusion (samgraha), conjunction
˙
(samprayoga), endowment (samanvāgama), causes The totality of the ultimate reals arrived at by
˙
(hetu), conditions (samgraha), effects (phala), the Ābhidharmika-s are subsumed under the
intrinsic characteristic ˙ (svalaksana), common
˙ ˙83)
characteristic (sāmānyalaksana). (5, traditional “five-aggregates” (pañca-skandha)
˙ ˙ scheme, plus the group of three unconditioned
The eight items enumerated constitute the dharma-s:
fundamental topics as well as methodological (1) Matter (rūpa); (2) sensation (vedanā); (3) idea-
devices of the Ābhidharmikas. tion (samjñā); (4) conditionings (samskāra),
1–2. “Intrinsic characteristic” and “common divisible ˙ as the conjoined conditionings ˙
characteristic.” These two constitute the (samprayukta-samskāra, i.e., the thought-
concomitants other than sensation and ideation)
core concern of dharma-pravicaya, so and the disjoined conditionings (viprayukta-
much so that Abhidharma in a gist may samskāra); and (5) consciousness (vijñāna).
in fact be defined as the methodological The˙ three types of unconditioned (asamskrta)
˙ ˙
A 14 Abhidharma, Northern
dharma-s are (6) cessation through deliberation duration-characteristic, deterioration-charac-

(pratisamkhyā-nirodha), (7) cessation independent teristic, impermanence-characteristic, words,
˙
of deliberation (apratisamkhyā-nirodha), and
(8) space (ākāsá). ˙ phrases, syllables
5. Three unconditioned dharma-s (asamskrta-
˙ ˙
A more commonly adopted scheme of classi- dharma): cessation through deliberation,
fication is that of the five fundamental categories, cessation independent of deliberation, space
innovated by Vasumitra in his Prakarana-pāda.
˙
A total of some 75 dharma-s are subsumed under
this scheme: Remarks on the Five-Category
1. Matter (rūpa): visual faculty, auditory faculty, Classification
olfactory faculty, gustatory faculty, tangible
faculty, visual object, auditory object, olfac- 1. Matter comprises the four Great Elements
tory object, gustatory object, tangible object, (mahā-bhūta) and the derived matter
noninformative matter (avijñapti-rūpa) (upādāya-rūpa, bhautika).
2. Thought (citta) Under this category, there is an item known as
3. Thought-concomitants (caitasika-dharma) the noninformation matter, which is a special
(a) Ten universal dharma-s (mahā-bhūmika): doctrine of the Sarvāstivāda school. This is
sensation, volition, ideation, predilection, a special type of rūpa, being invisible, nonresis-
contact, understanding, mindfulness, men- tant, and nonspatialized. Nevertheless, it is said to
tal application, resolve/determination, be of the nature of matter since its supporting
equipoise basis (ās´raya) – the four Great Elements – are
(b) Ten skillful universal dharma-s (kusála- resistant matter. This is the medium of preserva-
mahābhūmika-dharma): faith, diligence, tion of the karmic efficacy projected from
calm, equanimity, modesty (hrı̄), a momentary bodily or vocal karma. It is
shame (apatrāpya), nongreed, nonhatred, “noninformative” because it is a karmic action
harmlessness, vigor that does not inform us of the mental state of its
(c) Six universal dharma-s of defilement doer. At the time when an information (vijñapti)
(klesá-mahābhūmika-dharma): delusion, karma – namely, a bodily or vocal karma – is
nondiligence, slackness, lack of faith, accomplished, the corresponding avijñapti
torpor, restlessness is projected as an invisible force in which the
(d) Two unskillful universal dharma-s karmic efficacy is preserved. Once projected, it
(akusála-mahābhūmika dharma): continues to exist as a series until either the
nonmodesty (āhrı̄kya), shamelessness corresponding karmic effect is retributed or
(anapatrāpya) when a certain condition is met with – such as
(e) Ten defilements of restricted scope the person’s death. In the course of development,
(parı̄ttaklesá-bhūmika dharma): anger, it came to be particularly emphasized as the kar-
enmity, dissimulation, jealousy, depraved mic efficacy projected when one solemnly takes
opinionatedness (pradāsá), concealment, an ordination vow (samvāra; “restraint”); e.g., of
˙
avarice, deceptiveness, pride, harmfulness abstaining from killing (2, 8, 205, 208, etc.). But
(f) Eight indeterminate dharma-s (aniyata even when its serial continuity has been termi-
dharma): remorse, sleep, reasoning, inves- nated by reason of the person’s death or his giv-
tigation, greed, hostility, conceit, doubt ing up the ordination vow, etc., the karmic
4. Conditionings disjoined from thought efficacy is not lost. In the Sarvāstivāda tenet of
(cittaviprayukta samskāra dharma): acquisi- the tritemporal existence of dharma-s, the said
˙
tion (prāpti), nonacquisition (aprāpti), avijñapti continues to exist in its past mode of
group homogeneity, ideationlessness, being (bhāva). The difference between a serially
ideationless attainment, cessation attainment, continuing avijñapti that always arises in the
vital faculty, production-characteristic, present and one that has become past is that,
unlike the former, the latter’s karmic status has the Sarvāstivāda conception of the simultaneous
come to be fixed and subsequently no more capa- existence of distinct thought-concomitants.
ble of being continuously interacted upon – and 3. The category of “conditionings disjoined A
thus modified – by the person’s actions. Never- from thought” is not found in the Theravāda
theless, as a past dharma, it is still efficacious in and other schools. It represents an
contributing to the actual giving of the Abhidharma development that recognizes the
corresponding effect at a future time. existence of a third category of reals, beyond
The Sautrāntikas deny that the avijñapti is the matter–mind duality. Although these
a real entity. They hold that, as the Buddha has disjoined forces are neither physical nor
taught, all karma is volition (cetanā), and mental, they can nonetheless exercise
a karmic force of the nature of matter is unimag- efficacies in both domains.
inable and unacceptable. For them, the preserva- Their nature and function are best illustrated
tion of karmic efficacy is to be explained in terms with the example of “acquisition” (prāpti),
of a progressively transformed serial continuity a force which links a dharma – whether physical
projected from the initial volition (see below). or mental, conditioned or unconditioned – to
2. The Sarvāstivādins hold that (1) thought and the a sentient being. Thus, when, say, a sensual crav-
thought-concomitants (such as sensation, idea- ing arises in the sentient being, he comes to
tion, etc.) are distinct real entities and (2) no “possess” this dharma called sensual craving,
thought or thought-concomitant can arise which has always been existing in the universe,
singly – they necessarily arise in conjunction thanks to this force, “acquisition,” which as it
(samprayoga). For instance, any thought nec- were ties (like a rope) the craving to him.
˙
essarily arises with the set of ten universal The acquisition of this craving, once projected,
thought-concomitants. When a skillful serially flows on in the person even when the
thought-concomitant arises, it necessarily does craving does not arise manifestly – e.g., when
so together with the thought involved, the set of the person’s mental stream is of a skillful or
ten universal dharma-s and the set of ten skillful neutral nature. For this reason, he is continuously
universal thought-concomitants (faith, etc.). possessed of this craving. When, as a result of
A conjunction presupposes a fivefold same- spiritual praxis, the person comes to be freed
ness or equality (samatā): The thought and from (to “abandon,” pra-√hā) this craving, it is
thought-concomitants (1) arise at the same time, not that the dharma called craving as an ontolog-
(2) share the same basis (ās´raya), (3) take the ical entity comes to be destroyed but, rather, that
same cognitive object (ālambana), (4) have the the serial continuity of its acquisition is cut off
same mode of activity/understanding (ākāra), from him.
and (5) each has a singularity of substance When one comes to attain Nirvāna, it cannot
˙
(dravya – e.g., a single thought conjoined with be that the unconditioned dharma arises as an
a single species of sensation, a single species of effect of a path which is conditioned
ideation, etc.). (see below). What is produced by the path is the
The Dārstāntikas in the Abhidharma- acquisition (itself a conditioned dharma) of
˙˙˙
mahāvibhāsā maintain that mental factors arise the Nirvāna, which links the latter to the
˙ ˙
sequentially, rather than simultaneously. Among practitioner.
them, Buddhadeva teaches that the so-called In this way, we see that through the operation
thought-concomitants are none other than thought of acquisition, the ever-existent dharma-s come
itself. Dharmatrāta and others concede that to be linked to the domain of the sentient. It is also
there are three distinct thought-concomitants – as much a sine qua non for the explanation of the
sensation, ideation, and volition – all other process of pollution (samklesá) as for purification
˙
“thought-concomitants” are merely different (vyavadāna) and even the attainment of Nirvāna.
˙
modalities of volition. The 4th C.E. Dārstāntika- 4. For the Sarvāstivādins, not only are the condi-
˙˙
Sautrāntika master, Śrı̄lāta, vehemently opposes tioned dharma-s pluralistic, the unconditioned
dharma-s as well, are pluralistic. They are the dharma that has come to be of the nature of
only dharma-s that can be truly said to be nonarising (anutpatti-dharmaka).
“permanent” (nitya), because they alone (c) The Sarvāstivādins make a clear distinction
transcend time and space. Even the “intrinsic between conditioned space, which is visible
natures” of dharma-s, which retain their in the openings in windows, doors, cleavages,
integrity throughout time, are impermanent. etc., and the unconditioned space. The condi-
There are three types of conditioned dharma-s: tioned spaces, called the “space element”
(a) Cessation through deliberation. This is (akāsá-dhātu), though nonobstructive in
a cessation brought about through an effort nature, are nonetheless obstructed by mate-
of understanding (prajnā; pratisamkhyā is rial things. The unconditioned space, in con-
˙
explained as prajñā-visésa) the true nature trast, is beyond space and time and is
˙
of defilement. This cessation is a real entity, characterized by being neither obstructive
not a mere absence of the defilement. It con- to, nor obstructed by, any material thing. Its
tributes to the absolute prevention of reality is to be comprehended from the fact
the defilement’s future arising. There are that there exists the conditioned space which
therefore as many instances of cessation accommodates conditioned things and
through deliberation as there are instances provides the venues for their activities.
of with-outflow entities to be disconnected This does not mean that space can exercise
from. any activity, but that it serves as a necessary
(b) Cessation independent of deliberation. This contributing factor – a “dominant condition”
cessation is acquired without specifically (adhipati-pratyaya) – through a sequence of
applying any effort of understanding, but conditionality, making possible the fact of
simply on account of deficiency in the cognition of things in space–time. (3, 389a).
required conditions for a dharma’s arising. It is to be noted that not all canonical
For example, when the present eye and the Abhidharma texts of the Sarvāstivāda mention
mental faculty are focusing on a particular space as an unconditioned dharma. In the
object giving arise to its visual conscious- Abhidharma-mahāvibhāsā, we see that some
˙
ness, it is not possible for any of the five masters, like Dharmatrāta, do not accept
sensory consciousness to arise with regard space as a real entity. Samghabhadra (ca. late
˙
to any of the other objects (visibles, sounds, fourth century C.E.) argues that we can infer
etc.) existing in that same moment. There its reality from its observable, distinctive func-
arise accordingly the cessations independent tion and characteristic (laksana); and that
˙ ˙
of deliberation of these latter instances of which possesses a unique function and a unique
sensory consciousness by virtue of the characteristic is a unique real: Its function is
deficiency in the conditions for their arising. manifested through the fact that it accommodates
As another example, when one has fully aban- resistant things; its characteristic – i.e., its observ-
doned a certain amount of defilements and able aspect – is manifested through light
attains the spiritual fruition of stream-entry (9, 429a–430a. Cf. 6, 496).
(srota-āpatti), causal conditions for rebirth in The conditioned dharma-s, which arise into
the unfortunate states of existence (durgati) space–time and their operation therein, are
come to be deficient: One acquires the described by two terms: (1) samskrta
˙ ˙
apratisamkhyā-nirodha of these unfortunate (“compounded”), indicating their aspect of
˙
rebirths. being causally produced by an assemblage of
This cessation, too, is a real entity. It is conditions, and (2) samskāra (“conditioning”),
˙
a positive force, and not a mere absence of indicating their aspect of being conditioning
conditions. It is efficacious in absolutely forces that contribute to the arising and
preventing the possible rearising of the operation of other conditioned dharma-s.
The unconditioned dharma-s are in complete (avyākrta); (4) connected with/pertaining to
˙
contrast: Being transcendent to space and time, (pratisamyukta) sensuality sphere, to fine-
˙
they are neither causally produced nor do they materiality sphere, to nonmateriality sphere; A
operate as causes. However, they can serve as (5) with-outflow, outflow-free; (6) with-reasoning
“condition qua object” (ālambana-pratyaya) (savitarka), with-investigation (savicāra); (7) with
inasmuch as they can be apprehended as cogni- cognitive object (sa-ālambana), without cognitive
tive objects. The Sarvāstivāda Ābhidharmikas object (anālambana); (8) appropriated (upātta),
would also concede that in some special sense nonappropriated (anutpātta); (9) Great Elements
and in conformity to worldly parlance, it is per- (bhūta), derived from Great Elements (bhautika);
missible to speak of the unconditioned dharma-s (10) accumulated (samcita), nonaccumulated
˙
as “efficient causes” (kārana-hetu) inasmuch as (asamcita); (11) that which cuts (chinatti), that
˙ ˙
they do not hinder the arising of other dharma-s. which is cut (chidyate); (12) that which burns
Although not causally produced, the cessation (dāhaka), that which is burnt (dahyate); (13) that
through discernment may also be expediently which weighs (tulayati), that which can be weighed
spoken as a “disconnection-fruit” (visamyoga- (tulya); (14) the five species: retribution-born
˙
phala) inasmuch as it is acquired (pra-√āp) (vipākaja), accumulative (aupacayika),
through the efficacy of the noble path – even emanational (naihsyandika), yoked with a real
˙˙
though it is not directly produced by it (2, 91). entity (dravya-yukta), momentary (ksanika);
˙ ˙
The Sautrāntikas deny the realities of all the (15) acquisition (prāpti/pratilambha), endowment
three types of unconditioned dharma-s. But they (samanvāgama); (16) external, internal; (17) partic-
do not assert that unconditioned things do not ipative/active (sabhāga), nonparticipative/facsim-
exist in any sense – just that they do not exist as ile (tat-sabhāga); (18) abandonable through
metaphysical entities. In particular, Nirvāna is seeing/vision (darsána-heya), abandonable
˙
emphasized as a true spiritual attainment. through cultivation (bhāvanā-heya), not to be
This, they explain in terms of the doctrine of the abandoned (aheya); (19) view (drsti), not view;
˙ ˙˙
transformation of the basis (ās´raya-parivrtti) – (20) consciousness (vijñāna), object of conscious-
˙
the spiritual path culminates in bringing about ness (the cognized; vijñeya – i.e., what elements are
a totally transformed psychophysical basis cognized by which consciousness); (21) perma-
(ās´raya) which is completely purified, utterly nent, impermanent; (22) faculties (indriya),
purged of any latency of defilements: nonfaculties.
Nirvāna is said to have been attained as a result of Thus, through such a process of perspectival
˙
the obtaining—by virtue of the counteragent—of analysis, the nature of an ultimate real factor
a basis which is absolutely opposed to the generation in the universe can be articulately determined.
of defilements and rebirth. (2, 93) For example, a given mental factor is
invisible, nonresistant, skillful/unskillful/neutral,
nonaccumulative, emanational, momentary,
Investigation in Terms of Doctrinal a consciousness or object of consciousness, etc.
Perspectives
Abhidharma also investigates into the nature of Sarvāstivāda Versus Vibhajyavāda

dharma-s from different doctrinal perspectives. In
Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakosábhāsya (ca. late A controversy of fundamental doctrinal impor-
˙
fourth century C.E.), there are some 22 such per- tance occurred quite early (probably around
spectives in the first chapter: (1) visible third century B.C.) in the northern Abhidharma
(sa-nidarsána), invisible (anidarsána); (2) resistant tradition and came to exert tremendous impact
(sa-pratigha), nonresistant (apratigha); (3) skillful throughout the subsequent development in
(kusála), unskillful (akusála), nondefined Buddhist thought. This relates to the question
of the ontological status of dharma-s in the therefore capable of yielding a fruit at some
three temporal periods. point in the future. In fact, a nonexistent cannot
One camp of thought, described as the be causally efficacious.
“all-exist,” sarvāstivāda/sarvāstitva, maintains The Sautrāntikas, on the other hand, must
that dharma-s exist in their intrinsic nature explain everything in terms of the single pre-
through the three periods of time. But temporal sent moment. In this connection, they devel-
distinction is nonetheless possible on account of oped the theory of the seed (bı̄ja): The
a dharma’s “activity” (kāritra), defined as its momentary volition (cetanā) qua karma pro-
efficacy to “project its own fruit” – i.e., to serve jects into the mental serial continuity of the
as the condition for its own rearising in the person a specific efficacy which is continuously
succeeding moment of its serial continuity. Such transmitted from moment to moment. At
an activity, which is neither identical with nor a distinctive point of this serial continuity
different from the dharma itself, is necessarily which has been undergoing a process of trans-
and uniquely possessed by a present dharma: formation (samtati-parināma-visésa) in terms
˙ ˙ ˙
When the dharma has not exercised this activity, of the progressive maturation of the karmic
it is said to be “future”; when it is exercising this efficacy, when the required assemblage of
activity, it is “present”; when it has exercised conditions is obtained, the corresponding fruit
this activity, it is “past.” Such is the standpoint is generated. This efficacy in the serial continu-
of the Sarvāstivāda school and its offshoots ity is called the “seed,” which is neither identi-
(such as the Vātsı̄putrı̄ya and Sāmmitı̄ya). cal with nor different from the serial continuity.
An important point to bear in mind is that the Another important difference among the
doctrine of sarvāstivāda asserts that “dharma-s Abhidharma schools relate to their theory of
exist at all times” (sarvadā asti), but never that causality. All Abhidharma schools accept that
they are permanent (nitya) (see above). dharma-s are momentary (ksanika). The
˙ ˙
The other camp of thought, called the Sāmmitı̄ya (like the Theravāda) is an exception,
˙
“distinctionist” (vibhajyavāda), represented by holding that material things last relatively lon-
the Sautrāntikas and others, holds that only the ger than the momentary mental factors.
present dharma-s are existent. The past and However, these various schools differ with
the future are mere concepts (prajñapti) derived regard to their understanding of the causal pro-
on the basis of the present: The “past” is simply cess. The Sarvāstivādins and others uphold the
“what has been”; the “future” is “what will be.” theory of simultaneous causality (sahabhū-
Some of them, like the Kāśyapı̄yas, also hetu): Cause and effect can exist simulta-
concede that the karma-s that have not given neously. In contrast, the Sautrāntikas and others
fruit (adatta-phala) can be said to be existent maintain that the causal process is strictly
(Cf. 6, 117 ff). sequential: A cause necessarily precedes an
effect. As a result, the two schools developed
contrasting theories of perception. For the
Theory of Karma and Causality Sarvāstivāda, a sensory object is directly per-
ceived, since the sensory faculty, the external
The above-mentioned contrasting standpoints object, and the resulting sensory consciousness
have profound implication for the doctrinal all arise in the same moment. For the
interpretations of the Abhidharma schools. Sautrāntikas, all perceptions are indirect
For instance, on the question of the preservation (apratyaksa) and representational. In the first
˙
of karmic efficacy, the Sarvāstivādins explain moment, the sensory faculty and object exist;
that a past karma is still existent – it its past the sensory consciousness then arises in the
“mode of being” (bhāva) – and is still causally next moment: As the object arises only to
efficacious, albeit devoid of “activity.” It is cease, it leaves behind an imprint or exact
Action Control 19 A
resemblance (ākāra) of itself, which becomes
the cognitive object (ālambana) that generates Academic Theology
the corresponding knowledge of it in the next A
moment. Thus, external reality is never known ▶ Practical Theology
directly; its knowledge is necessarily derived
from our mental content. This theory came to
be known as the “theory of the inferability of
the external object” (bāhyārtha-anumeyavāda) Action Control
(Cf. 4, 136 ff).
Giacomo Rizzolatti and Maria Alessandra Umiltà
Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di
References Fisiologia, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy
Abhidharma-mahāvibhāsā. T29, no. 1545.

˙
de La Vallée Poussin, L. (1923–1931). L’Abhidharmakosá
de Vasubandhu. Vol. I–VI. Paris.
Related Terms
Dhammajoti, K. L. (2008). Entrance into the supreme
doctrine (2nd ed.). Hong Kong. Canonical neurons
Dhammajoti, K. L. (2009a) Abhidharma doctrines and
controversies on perception (3rd ed.). Hong Kong.
Dhammajoti, K. L. (2009b). Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma
(4th ed.). Hong Kong. Introduction
Dhammajoti, K. L. (2011). Śrı̄lāta’s Anudhātu doctrine.
In Bukkyō Kenkyū, Vol. XXXIX (pp. 19–75). The capacity to generate movements is
Hamamatsu.
a characterizing aspect of animals’ behavior.
Jaini, P. S. (Ed.). (1959). Abhidharmadı̄pa with Vibhāsā-
prabhāvrtti. Patna. ˙ Some movements are rigidly determined by
˙ T29, no.1562.
Nyāyānusāra. external or internal stimuli. They are called
Pradhan, P. (Ed.). (1975). Abhidharmakosábhāsyam of reflexes. Others are manifestations of a centrally
Vasubandhu. Patna. ˙
generated intention to act. They are called
Wogihara, U. (Ed.). (1932–1936). Sphutārthā
Abhidharmakosá-vyākhyā of Yaśomitra. Tokyo.˙ voluntary movements. The way in which
intention to act is generated is irrelevant for the
notion of voluntary movement. It may result from
bodily needs such as hunger or thirst, or from
higher-order deliberations based on one’s own
Aboriginal Studies beliefs and desires. What counts for voluntary
movements is that the individual has a goal and
▶ Native American Studies that this goal determines movements leading to
its achievement.
Being endowed with the capacity to generate
movements, animals move in their environment
Absorption looking for objects or situations that may satisfy
their immediate or future needs. When they find
▶ Hypnosis an appropriate stimulus they may interact with it.
Unlike for reflexes, however, in voluntary
behavior stimuli do not determine the response,
they only set the occasion for it. According to
Abuse their needs, animals may respond to the same
stimulus in different ways. They may approach
▶ Violence it, avoid it, or ignore it.
A 20 Action Control
Action Control, Fig. 1 Lateral view of macaque monkey anterior intraparietal area, AI inferior arcuate sulcus, AS
cerebral cortex showing frontal and parietal areas. The superior arcuate sulcus, C central sulcus, Cg cingulate sul-
intraparietal sulcus is opened to show areas located in its cus, L lateral fissure, LIP lateral intraparietal area, Lu lunate
medial and lateral banks. Motor areas are indicated with sulcus, MIP medial intraparietal area, Opt occipito-parieto-
F and Arabic numbers; parietal areas are indicated with temporal area, P principal sulcus, ST superior temporal
P and progressive letters. For nomenclature and definition sulcus, VIP ventral intraparietal area
see Rizzolatti and Luppino (2001). Abbreviations: AIP
The region centrally involved in the genesis of inputs gives origin, in higher primates, to cognitive
voluntary movements is the posterior part of the capacities such as space perception and comprehen-
frontal lobe. Classically, this region was subdivided sion of intentions of others (Rizzolatti et al. 2001).
into two areas: the primary motor cortex, located on In this entry we describe the neural basis of
the cortical convexity and the supplementary motor a specific voluntary behavior: that enables primates
area located on the medial aspect of the to interact with objects. Our aim, by using this
hemispheres. Modern data showed that this region behavior, is to outline some general principles of
is actually formed by a mosaic of different areas action organization.
with specific functions and connectivity (Fig. 1).
These premotor areas code different types of motor
behavior among which are hand grasping, arm The Importance of the Hand
reaching, mouth movements, and different types
of eye movements (Rizzolatti and Luppino 2001). Unlike most mammals, primates have a prehensile
The frontal motor areas receive inputs from the hand. This evolutionary achievement tremen-
anterior part of the frontal lobe that plays a crucial dously enriched their motor capacities and had
role in the control of overt behavior, setting when profound consequences on the development of
a voluntary action may or may not be executed, and cognitive capacities. As the German philosopher
from parietal lobe. Classically, this lobe was Friedrich Engels wrote in 1882: “Man alone has
thought of as an association area combining all succeeded in impressing his stamp on nature. He
sorts of sensory stimuli mostly for space perception. has accomplished this primarily and essentially by
Modern research showed that the basic organiza- means of the hand. But step by step with the
tion of the parietal lobe is in terms of a motor development of the hand went that of the brain”
representation of body parts (Hyv€arinen 1982). (Friedrich Engels 1882).
On the top of this basic motor organization, an The evolution of the hand’s prehensile abilities
integration of motor information with sensory radically changed the way in which primates relate
Action Control 21 A
themselves to the external world. For primates, were active regardless of how the object was
humans in particular, objects are not only grasped. Most, however, discharged only when
something on which to jump or avoid, but things the monkey grasped objects using specific types A
that can be used. This required the evolution of new of grips. As in AIP, a considerable portion of F5
cortical circuits that enable the transformation of neurons also discharged when the monkey simply
objects into motor acts having different purposes. observed an object. The visual and motor responses
of majority of these neurons (called “canonical”
F5 neurons) were congruent one with another
The Organization of Grasping (Rizzolatti and Luppino 2001; Jeannerod
et al. 1995) (Fig. 2).
The behavioral analysis of reaching to grasp move- What is the meaning of this coupled visual and
ments showed that an individual facing an object motor discharge? The most accepted interpretation
performs two main separate, although interacting, is that the object presentation determines the
series of computations in order to get possession of transformation of the object visual properties into
it (Jeannerod 1988; Fagg and Arbib 1998). One is a potential motor act. Every time an appropriate
the transformation of the spatial position of the object is presented, AIP and canonical F5
object into the appropriate reaching movement; neurons code a potential motor act toward it. The
the second is the transformation of object intrinsic potential motor act may be executed or not
properties (e.g., shape and size) into an appropriate (Jeannerod et al. 1995).
hand shaping. The notion that operations underly-
ing reaching and grasping require parallel
processing has been fully confirmed by neurophys- A Model of How Objects Are
iological studies (Jeannerod et al. 1995). Here, we Transformed into Potential Motor Acts
describe the motor act of grasping a paradigmatic
example of action organization. A fundamental property of neurons of AIP and
The cortical circuit mostly involved in the F5 is that they respond to the presentation of
organization of grasping is formed by a parietal three-dimensional objects. The functional meaning
area (area AIP) and a premotor area (area F5) of these responses could be understood considering
(see Fig. 1). Single neurons were recorded from the notion of “affordance” introduced by James J.
area AIP in behaving monkeys trained to grasp Gibson (1979). According to Gibson, the observa-
different types of objects. It was found that the tion of an object entails an immediate and auto-
most neurons fired during grasping performed matic selection of those of its properties that allow
with a specific grip. Furthermore, many AIP one to interact with it. The affordances are not the
neurons, with or without motor properties, visual aspects of the object, but the pragmatic
responded to object presentation. Most interest- opportunities that the object offers to the observer.
ingly, neurons that discharged selectively during Visually responding AIP neurons represent
grasping of a specific object also discharged during the stage in this processing in which, after the
the observation of that object. This finding suggests extensive elaboration of object visual properties
that AIP neurons are involved in the transformation in the extrastriate visual areas, affordances
of seen objects into the representations of how to became the neuron triggering features. This
grasp them (Rizzolatti and Luppino 2001; information is then sent to AIP and F5
Jeannerod et al. 1995). visuomotor neurons, which code potential motor
A similar experiment was performed on the acts. Because of the congruence between AIP and
premotor area F5 where a motor representation of F5 neuron responses elicited by a specific object
hand is located. The results showed that area F5 characteristic (i.e., by its affordance) and the
contains neurons that discharge in association with motor act they control, a given object affordance
different types of hand motor acts (e.g., grasping, is transformed into the appropriate potential
holding, manipulating). Some hand-related neurons motor act. Objects become motor acts.
A 22 Action Control
Action Control, Fig. 2 (continued)

Action Control 23 A
The Importance of Potential Motor Acts a motor act done by another individual. If one
for Increasing the Individuals’ Freedom considers that the same motor pattern is evoked,
and Understanding the Actions of internally, when the individual intends to do an A
Others action, and in response to the observation of the
same action done by another individual, it is very
An extremely important characteristic of F5 canon- plausible that that the potential motor act evoked by
ical neurons is that they discharge both when the observation of others gives meaning to the
monkey performs a motor act like grasping and observed action (Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia 2007).
when an appropriate visual stimulus is presented. The mirror mechanism is considered one of the
Note that, in both cases, the experimenter records ways in which individuals understand others and
the neurons’ output, that is, the message that the the only one that gives an experiential knowledge
neuron sends to other neural centers. Because of of what the others are doing.
this, the experimenter knows the meaning of neuron
discharge even when there is no overt behavior. If
the overt motor act, associated with neuron Conclusions
discharge, is grasping, the firing of that neuron in
the absence of an overt movement also means Historically, the motor system has been
grasping. However, because there is no motor considered as a mere executor of commands
response, the grasping in this case is a potential coming from higher-order association areas.
motor act and not an overt response. A common view was that the motor system
The presence of potential motor acts has two exist “to translate thought, sensation, and
important functional consequences. First, this emotion into movement” (Mountcastle et al.
mechanism enables the individuals to decide 1975). According to this view, all the more
whether or not to respond to a given stimulus. The “intelligent” processes occur before its activa-
vision of a graspable object does not necessarily tion. The example we described of how the
lead to grasping. The object may be acted upon, the control of grasping is achieved and, in particu-
action may be delayed, thus choosing the moment lar, the existence of potential motor acts indi-
most appropriate for performing it, or may be not cates the close relation between the motor
emitted at all. system and higher cognitive capacities. Even
Second, recent data showed that, besides canon- more telling is the presence in the cortical
ical F5 neurons, there is another set of visuomotor motor system of neurons that are involved in
neurons in F5 that respond both when the individual understanding motor acts done by others. The
makes a given motor act and when it observes modern view of the motor cortex is that of
another individual doing the same act (Fig. 3). For a system intimately linked to perception and
these neurons, called “mirror neurons” the effective cognitive functions and, according to some, the
visual stimulus is not the object affordances as for backbone on which conscious perception evolu-
the canonical neurons, but the observation of tionary originated.
Action Control, Fig. 2 Example of an F5 canonical The lower part of the figure (left) shows the activity of the
neuron. The upper part of the figure (object grasping) same neuron during object fixation (only the responses to
shows the neuron’s activity during observation and grasp- the ring are shown in the figure). Rasters and histograms
ing of different objects. The monkey was seated in front of are aligned with the key press. The lower part of the figure
a box, which housed six different objects. Objects were (right) shows the activity of the same neuron during fixa-
presented one at a time in a central position in random tion of a spot of light. In this condition, the task was the
order. Rasters and histograms are aligned with the key same as in the object fixation condition, but carried out in
press (the moment when the object became visible). In the the dark. No object was visible and the monkey simply
ring grasping panel, the second peak of discharge corre- was required to fixate the spot of light
sponds to the activity related to the grasping movement.
A 24 Action Control
Action Control, Fig. 3 Example of the visual and motor (b) A piece of food on a tray shown to the monkey, the
responses of an F5 mirror neuron. The behavioral situa- experimenter grasped it. (c) Neuron activity recorded
tions during which the neural activity was recorded are when the monkey grasped the food. Clear responses of
schematically illustrated near the rasters. (a) A tray with the neuron were present both during grasping and grasping
a piece of food placed was presented to a monkey that observation. Abscissae: time. Ordinates: spikes/bin. Bin
grasped the food and ate it. The monkey from which width: 20 ms
neuron was recorded observed the first monkey.
References Jeannerod, M., Arbib, M. A., Rizzolatti, G., & Sakata, H.

(1995). Grasping objects: The cortical mechanisms of
Engels, F. (1882). Die Entwicklung des Sozialismus von visuomotor transformation. Trends in Neurosciences,
der Utopie zur Wissenschaft [The development of 18, 314–320.
socialism from utopia to science]. In Engels F. Mountcastle, V. B., Lynch, J. C., Georgopoulos, A.,
(1973) Werke (Collected works). Berlin/DDR: Dietz Sakata, H., & Acuna, C. (1975). Posterior parietal
Verlag. p 177–228. association cortex of the monkey: Command functions
Fagg, A. H., & Arbib, M. A. (1998). Modeling for operations within extrapersonal space. Journal of
parietal-premotor interactions in primate Neurophysiology, 38, 871.
control of grasping. Neural Networks, 11(7–8), Rizzolatti, G., & Luppino, G. (2001). The cortical motor
1277–1303. system. Neuron, 31, 889–901.
Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual Rizzolatti, G., & Sinigaglia, C. (2007). Mirrors in the brain:
perception. Boston: Houghtom Mifflin. How our minds share actions, emotions, and experience.
Hyv€arinen, J. (1982). Posterior parietal lobe of the primate Oxford: Oxford University Press.
brain. Physiological Reviews, 62, 1060–1129. Rizzolatti, G., Berti, A., & Gallese, V. (2001). Spatial
Jeannerod, M. (1988). The neural and behavioral organi- neglect: Neurophysiological bases, cortical circuits
zation of goal-directed movements. Oxford: Clarendon and theories. In Handbook of neuropsychology
Press. (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 503–537). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Aesthetics (Philosophy) 25 A
and the relationship of art to other domains. How
Adaptation, Behavioral does the art world intersect with the world of
culture as a whole, the world of politics, A
▶ Evolutionary Psychology commerce, religion, and so on? When the term
“aesthetic” is used to refer to experience, it is
customarily used to pick out emotive features,
as in the experience of the austere desert, the
Adaptationism moody valley, the sanguine brook, the sublime
mountain, and so on. Such motive features seem
▶ Functionalism to mark the object, as we experience it. Thus,
Beethoven’s ninth symphony may be experi-
enced as itself joyful, and not merely thought to
be joyful because it makes listeners and per-
Adaptiveness
formers feel joy. The precise nature of such expe-
riences is (as in most topics in philosophy) under
▶ Evolutionary Psychology
debate.
The term “aesthetics” was introduced in the late
nineteenth century and the field (as just described)
Adoration took shape gradually in the twentieth century, but
reflection on beauty and art may be traced back to
▶ Love (Affective, Sexual) Plato. Arguably, Plato was the first philosopher to
develop a substantial position in aesthetics. He
held that there was an ideal form of beauty and
that the beautiful things we observe are beautiful
Aesthetics (Philosophy) because they participate in this ideal form. He
treated matters of beauty as objectively real (not
Charles Taliaferro as a matter of taste), and he thought that works of
Department of Philosophy, St. Olaf College, art must involve “techne” or a disciplined practice.
Northfield, MN, USA In his dialogues, the Ion and the Republic, Plato
advanced the thesis that Homeric poetry is not
a proper art form. Aristotle was the next great
Related Terms contributor to what we would today call aesthetics.
He defended Homeric poetry and theater and other
Philosophy of aesthetic experiences; Philosophy artistic practices as proper disciplines while also
of art serving an overall good in terms of the moral
formation and enrichment of citizens.
David Hume in the eighteenth century was one
Description of the most prominent of those in the history of
ideas in the west to propose that beauty is in the
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that is eye of the beholder. Even so, he thought that there
concerned with two general domains: the philos- were standards that were better or worse when it
ophy of art and what may be considered the comes to assessing beauty.
philosophy of aesthetic experiences, especially Today, the field of aesthetics is diverse. There
the experience of beauty and ugliness. In the are contemporary versions of aesthetic theories
philosophy of art, philosophers in aesthetics that are Platonic, Aristotelian, Humean, and
have developed different definitions or analyses a plethora of different methods and topics. Con-
of what makes an object or event a work of art, temporary philosophers disagree on the norma-
different accounts of the meaning of art, its value, tive nature of beauty.
A 26 Aesthetics (Philosophy)
Self-Identification Relevance to Science and Religion
Science There has been recent interest in what might be

There have been scientific accounts of the aes- called the aesthetics of science and religion, as
thetic experience. Evolutionary biologists have noted earlier. In The Image in Mind, Taliaferro
debated about the role of beauty in mate selec- and Evans juxtapose the aesthetic dimensions of
tion, for example, and this was a matter that very naturalism and theism. Many of the proponents of
much engaged Charles Darwin and the co- atheism, sometimes called “the new atheists,”
founder of the theory of evolution, Alfred Russel may be read as offering an aesthetic critique
Wallace. It has also been argued that the practice of religion, sometimes in the name of science
of science itself involves aesthetic standards, for (Richard Dawkins seems to fit this description).
example the appeal to elegance, simplicity, And defenders of religious beliefs and practice
coherence, and the like have been thought of as offer a counterpoint, arguing that there is an ugly
aesthetic properties. side to “new atheism.”
Some philosophers in aesthetics who are in the
Religion general, Platonic tradition (Douglas Hedley,
The discipline of aesthetics has involved the phil- Mark Wynn, Anthony O’Hear) tend to argue
osophical exploration of the religious implications against what may be called “scientism,” the
of art, and there have been many philosophers who view that the sciences (especially the natural sci-
have engaged in aesthetics with an eye on consid- ences) can offer a sufficient description and
ering the cognitive value of religious experience. explanation of our life and values, including aes-
This may be seen clearly in the works of Cole- thetic values.
ridge, the British romantic poet and Platonist.
There has been recent work that has also studied
the aesthetics of religious versus secular views of Sources of Authority
the world. The most recent example is The Image
in Mind: Imagination, theism, and naturalism by Categories are varied. Because aesthetics
Charles Taliaferro and Jil Evans. involves two domains (art and experience, in
general) that are overlapping, the sources will
vary depending on the way aesthetics is carried
Characteristics out. If, for example,one is concerned with the
philosophy of art, then a chief source of material
Aesthetics is distinguished from other branches for reflection will be artworks themselves. What
of philosophy by its subject matter. No other kinds of things or events have been considered or
discipline is devoted explicitly to reflecting on are being considered works of art? Presumably,
the nature and value of beauty or of artworks, a philosophical account of what it is to be a work
though one might do so in the context of axiology of art needs to be responsible to the history and
(the study of values) or ethics (when assessing the culture of art making. Questions about the mean-
comparative worth of beauty and, say, principles ing of works of art would presumably rely upon
of justice). Aesthetics is also a domain that takes the discipline of history. One needs reasonable,
up topics of great interest which are not otherwise reliable accounts, of how persons have treated the
typically covered by other subdisciplines. So, in meaning of works of art over time in order to
aesthetics one investigates the nature of imagina- construct a philosophy of meaning.
tion and creativity. While imagination may come In terms of the philosophy of beauty, philoso-
up in the course of epistemology or even meta- phers have used a balance of reason and experi-
physics (Can one imagine other possible ence. One may refine this more with reference to
worlds?), imagination and creativity (as topics) phenomenology (the study of experiences, such
are very much at home in aesthetics. as the experience of what we take to be beautiful)
Aesthetics (Philosophy) 27 A
and conceptual analysis (considering the concept reflection on what aesthetic values are specific to
of beauty, artwork, and so on). a culture, and which values are cross-cultural. In
Aesthetics as a practice often involves thought terms of methodology and marks of excellence in A
experiments. So, the way a philosophy of art may the works of aesthetics: Key values include con-
be tested is in terms of whether the philosophy ceptual clarity, comprehensiveness, openness to
can satisfy not just all actual works of art, but of counterarguments, historical soundness, scope
imagined artwork as well. (not employing too narrow a scope of art or
There is also what is sometimes called artists), and beauty. A philosophy of beauty can
“the test of time,” which is sometimes used in itself be beautiful.
the assessment of works of art, that can also be
applied to aesthetics itself as a discipline. The
extent to which a philosophy of art or imagination Conceptualization
can stand the test of time (stand up to counter-
examples and arguments) it may be considered Nature/World
more sound than a philosophy that has not been Aesthetics is interested in the concept of nature
so tested. and such questions as: Is the natural world beau-
tiful? sublime? In environmental aesthetics, there
is a concern to articulate the differences between
Ethical Principles an aesthetic appreciation of the environment
when this is informed by the natural sciences or
The ethical principles of aesthetics are those that not. There is no single concept of “nature”
pertain to academic publication and discourse accepted by all working in aesthetics. The con-
generally. There is, however, interest in aesthetic cept of a “world” does have a use among some
accounts of ethical principles. Could it be that our philosophers of art. Some artworks may be
senses or judgments of right and wrong are rooted thought of as interacting with the world, for
in our aesthetic attraction to or revulsion of example a sculptural figure in a palace. But
certain things? While an affirmative answer to some works of art, like a novel or painting or
such a question was a hallmark of positivism in play, may be thought of as constituting a world.
the twentieth century and its rejection of ethics as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, for exam-
a cognitive discipline, one can answer the ques- ple, may be thought of as a world in which readers
tion affirmatively and adopt a position of moral enter.
realism. In the nineteenth century, Brentano
contended that ethical principles could be ana- Human Being
lyzed in terms of what persons should (correctly) There is no one theory of human beings put forth
love or not love. by the field of aesthetics, except that there is
Aesthetic work on the value of artworks also probably a common assumption by almost all in
concerns itself with moral principles. There is the field that aesthetics (as this concerns works of
currently significant debate about whether an art- art and beauty/aesthetic experiences) is a vital
work that promotes something unethical is element in human life.
thereby deficient as a work of art.
Life and Death
Philosophers working in the field of aesthetics do
Key Values not share a common view of life and death, but
they have given attention to what may be called
Among the key values in aesthetics is its engage- the aesthetics of life and death. Some Christians
ment with the world of art (historically and today) in aesthetics treat death as something ugly (it is
within and across cultures. Insofar as aesthetics perhaps necessary to pass through, but not some-
also involves the philosophy of beauty, it invites thing that is itself fitting and possibly beautiful),
A 28 Aesthetics (Philosophy)
whereas secular naturalists tend to think that Time

death is natural and not something ugly, in the Time is philosophically interesting in aesthetics
case of someone who lives “a natural life span.” for different reasons. Here are six matters:
First, there is “the test of time” that is sometimes
Reality used in assessing the value of a work of art.
There is some concern in aesthetics over the The fact that Shakespeare’s work has been
extent to which beauty and ugliness are objective appreciatively embraced as great over many
properties of reality itself. Are some things in centuries may be taken as one reason to think
reality supposed to be the objects of pleasure or it deserves praise.
revulsion? Also, to what extent is reality, as Second, time seems to be part of certain works of
revealed in human experience in affective terms art such as music.
(the tree looks sad, the sea feels angry, the moun- Third, some philosophers in aesthetics believe
tain appears majestic), truly real or simply that the meaning of an artwork can vary over
a reflection of our psychological attitudes? time. Hamlet might have had one meaning
when first performed (e.g., an embodiment of
Knowledge Protestant anxiety) and another at a later date
In aesthetics, there is concern for (a) the extent to (when performed in London during the Sec-
which we may know truth claims about beauty or ond World War, it may have embodied the
works of art and (b) how much must be known spirit of the nation).
about X (whatever) to know its value, meaning, Fourth, some philosophers have contended that in
or beauty or ugliness. So, some in aesthetics think a photograph, you actually see the past.
that if you are assessing the meaning of a novel or Fifth, there is a philosophy of ruins. For some,
poem, it is absolutely irrelevant what the novelist a ruin of an ancient civilization may be a sign
or poet was intending. On this view, one need not of a past golden age, whereas for others it may
know anything of the biography of the artist. be valued as a humble realization of the effects
A growing number of philosophers disagree of time.
(Gary Iseminger). Sixth, how should artworks be cared for over
time. Should we seek to preserve the way
Truth they looked when first made? Or should they
Philosophers working in aesthetics have different be allowed to decay over time?
views about the relationship of works of art to
truth. Some think that a mark of excellence of Consciousness
a work of art is (partly) determined by the extent Some philosophers have considered the aes-
to which the work of art sheds light on the truth of thetics of different accounts of the emergence of
its subject matter. A feminist (as well as many who consciousness. See The Image in Mind.
do not self-identify as feminists) may object to
a work of art because of its advancing a corrupt, Rationality/Reason
sexist understanding of what it is to be female. In the philosophy of art, rationality and reason
have sometimes been seen in contrast to passion
Perception and the imagination (as in the Romantic tradi-
In aesthetics, philosophers have been concerned tion). One interesting account of reason in aes-
with the extent to which our perception is suf- thetics has involved the invocation of ideal
fused with affective properties (properties with aesthetic observation. According to some, the
aesthetic content) and the implications of such ideal point of view to assess the aesthetic proper-
properties. Is the fact (if it is one) that most ties of an object or event would be to have almost
human beings find certain acts ugly/revolting limitless experiential access to the object or
evidence that in fact such acts are (objectively) event, to be impartial, to know all of its history,
bad and deserve our disapprobation? and so on.
Affective/Emotional Computing 29 A
Mystery
Some philosophers treat aesthetic properties, as well Affection
as beauty, as basic, and not further explainable. Iris A
Murdoch may be a good case in point. She thinks ▶ Emotion
that beauty is real, and it is not reducible to any sub- ▶ Love (Affective, Sexual)
category such as ethics or psychological appetites.
Relevant Themes Affective Attitudes
Beauty and Ugliness: To what extent is ▶ Passion and Emotion, Theories of

a scientific view of the world beautiful or ugly?
To what extent is a religious view of the world
beautiful or ugly? These are questions explored at
length in the book The Image in Mind: Imagina- Affective/Emotional Computing
tion, theism, and naturalism.
Religious and Aesthetic Experience: David Sidney D’Mello
Brown has argued that our aesthetic experiences Departments of Psychology and Computer
of the world are an important resource for theology. Science, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame,
IN, USA
References
Related Terms
Beardsley, M. (1982). In M. Wreen (Ed.), The aesthetic
point of view. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Danto, A. (1981). The transfiguration of the common- Computer science
place: A philosophy of art. New York: Columbia Uni-
versity Press.
Iseminger, G. (2004). The aesthetic function of art. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press.
Description
Mothersill, M. (1984). Beauty restored. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. The field of affective computing aspires to narrow
Murdoch, I. (1970). The sovereignty of good. New York: the communicative gap between the highly expres-
Routledge.
Scarry, E. (1999). On beauty and being just. Princeton:
sive human and the socially challenged computer
Princeton University Press. by developing computer interfaces that recognize
Sircello, G. (1975). A new theory of beauty. Princeton: and respond to the affective states (or emotions,
Princeton University Press. e.g., frustration, surprise) of the user. Stemming
Taliaferro, C. (2011). Aesthetics: A beginner’s guide.
Oxford: OneWorld Press.
from Picard’s influential book (Picard 1997), affec-
Taliaferro, C., & Evans, J. (2011). The image in mind. tive computing is motivated by the assumption that
London: Continuum. computer systems that are able to recognize and
Tanner, M. (2003). Morals in fiction and fictional respond to users’ affective states (in addition to
morality: A response. In A. Neil & A. Ridley (Eds.),
Arguing about art. London: Routledge.
their cognitive states) will provide a more effec-
Tolkien, J. R. R. (2008). On fairy stories. In Tales from the tive, meaningful, and naturalistic interaction expe-
perilous realm. New York: Houghton Mifflin. rience. This assumption is grounded in
contemporary psychological and neuroscience the-
ories that claim that cognition and emotion are
inextricably bound as emotion influences cognitive
Affect processes such as perception, memory, delibera-
tion, problem-solving, planning, and action
▶ Emotion (Barrett et al. 2007; Damasio 2003; Lazarus 1991).
A 30 Affective/Emotional Computing
One major goal of the field is to develop com- earlier systems focused on physiological measures,
puter systems with a degree of emotional intelli- facial expressions, and paralinguistic features of
gence (Goleman 1995). These affect-sensitive speech, affect detectors that combine these
interfaces automatically detect users’ affective classical channels with more novel sensors are
states, respond in an affect-sensitive fashion, coming online.
and even synthesize affect. Affect detection Although virtually any human-computer inter-
involves the development of sensors and compu- face can be transformed into an affect-sensitive
tational algorithms to monitor and extract the interface, some of the recent applications have
affective content from users’ physiological, involved affect-sensitive intelligent tutoring
behavioral, and verbal signals. Examples of phys- systems (D’Mello et al. 2007), affect-sensitive
iological channels include electrodermal virtual avatars for online communication,
response and electrocardiography, while facial and systems that facilitate emotional communica-
expressions, speech contours, gross body move- tion for individuals diagnosed with autism spec-
ments, posture, and gestures are the widely used trum disorder (Madsen et al. 2008) (see http://
behavioral channels to detect affect. Affect can emotion-research.net/ for more information).
also be inferred from a textual analysis of a users’ In addition to building functional affect-
utterance by analyzing the linguistic, syntactical, sensitive systems to assist users, the field is also
and semantic content of the utterance. devoted to understanding how humans experi-
Once a user’s affective state is detected, an ence, express, and regulate their emotions. Rig-
affect-sensitive interface needs to respond to orous empirical investigations and computational
that state much like a human would. These affec- modeling of users’ affective experiences guide
tively modulated responses should be tightly this endeavor. In this fashion, affective comput-
coupled to the environment supporting the inter- ing is a truly interdisciplinary field encompassing
action (i.e., the context of the interaction). For computer science, artificial intelligence, human-
example, a computer tutor that detects that computer interaction, engineering, psychology,
a human student is frustrated might make an cognitive science, and artifact design.
empathetic remark (to acknowledge the student’s
frustration) and offer a hint (to presumably
alleviate the student’s frustration). In contrast, Self-identification
an affect-sensitive e-mail client that senses that
a user is frustrated might suggest postponing the Science
transmission of an angry e-mail (sensed from Affective computing self-identifies as a science.
a textual analysis of the message). Before building computational systems to
In addition to detecting and responding to respond to affect, one must first understand how
users’ affective states, affect-sensitive interfaces humans experience, express, and regulate their
with embodied conversational agents may also affective states. Hence, researchers in the field
synthesize affect via facial expressions, inflec- of affective computing conduct empirical inves-
tions of speech, and body language. For example, tigations into the nature of human emotions via
an embodied conversational agent simulating observations and experiments. In addition to
a human tutor might synthesize encouragement empirical research, researchers also routinely
by leaning forward, smiling, and increasing the build computational models of important affec-
pitch of its voice. tive phenomenon (Conati and Maclaren 2009).
Recent advances in affective computing involve Insights gleaned from the empirical studies on
the development of nonintrusive physiological and human emotions and the subsequent computa-
bodily sensors along with computational systems tional modeling are leveraged towards engineer-
that automatically detect affect with moderate ing functional systems that address practical
accuracy in real-world environments (Calvo and problems related to affect-sensitivity in different
D’Mello 2010; Zeng et al. 2009). While most of the human-computer interaction contexts.
Affective/Emotional Computing 31 A
Characteristics Key Values
Affective computing can be distinguished from Building better computer systems to assist A
broader fields such as human-computer interac- humans is a key value. Honesty in all research
tion, human factors, ergonomics, artificial intel- activities, intellectual curiosity, and a willingness
ligence, computer science, and cognitive science to undertake challenging problems where success
by its focus on affective states (in conjunction is sometimes indeterminate and fuzzy are key
with cognitive and motivational states) and its scientific values of affective computing.
goal of building functional affect-sensitive
systems rather than simply studying human
emotions. Conceptualization
Affective computing does not explicitly concep-

Relevance to Science and Religion tualize these terms.
Affective computing researchers are currently

more interested in practical problems related to Relevant Themes
detecting and responding to affective states. They
are less concerned with the issues pertaining to There are no additional issues relevant to science
“science and religion.” and religion engagement.
Sources of Authority Cross-References

Affective computing has a science and an engi- ▶ Artificial Intelligence, General
neering side. Sources of authority on the scientific ▶ Brains, Artificial and Computational
front are peer-reviewed publications that focus on ▶ Cognitive Psychology
empirical research on how humans experience and ▶ Computer Science in Human Learning
express affect. Falsifiable theories, empirical data, ▶ Emotion
and replication of experiments are authoritative ▶ Happiness
for affective computing researchers. On the engi- ▶ Passion and Emotion, Theories of
neering side, systems that work and can be ▶ Positive Psychology
deployed in real-world contexts as well as peer- ▶ Robot Emotions
reviewed publications describing and evaluating
these systems are sources of authority.
References
Ethical Principles Barrett, L., Mesquita, B., Ochsner, K., & Gross, J. (2007).
The experience of emotion. Annual Review of Psychol-
Full disclosure of methods used to study human ogy, 58, 373–403.
affect so that empirical research can be repli- Calvo, R. A. & D’Mello, S. K. (2010). Affect Detection:
An Interdisciplinary Review of Models, Methods, and
cated, and honest descriptions and evaluations their Applications. IEEE Transactions on Affective
that highlight both the strengths and weaknesses Computing, 1(1), 18–37.
of affect-sensitive interfaces are important ethi- Conati, C., & Maclaren, H. (2009). Empirically building
cal principles. Affect-sensitive systems attempt and evaluating a probabilistic model of user affect.
User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 19(3),
to diagnose and respond to human emotions; 267–303.
hence, nonmalfeasance is also an important ethi- Damasio, A. (2003). Looking for spinoza: Joy, sorrow,
cal principle. and the feeling brain. Orlando: Harcourt.
A 32 Affordances
D’Mello, S., Picard, R., & Graesser, A. (2007). Towards

an affect-sensitive autotutor. Intelligent Systems, African Languages and Literature
IEEE, 22(4), 53–61.
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York:
Bantam Books. ▶ Languages and Literature, Africa
Lazarus, R. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Madsen, M., el Kaliouby, R., Goodwin, M., & Picard, R.
(2008). Technology for just-in-time in-situ learning of
facial affect for persons diagnosed with an autism African Psychotherapy
spectrum disorder. Paper presented at the 10th ACM
Conference on Computers and Accessibility, Halifax, Augustine Nwoye
Canada.
Picard, R. (1997). Affective computing. Cambridge, MA: School of Applied Human Sciences, University
MIT Press. of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg,
Zeng, Z., Pantic, M., Roisman, G., & Huang, T. (2009). South Africa
A survey of affect recognition methods: Audio, visual,
and spontaneous expressions. IEEE Transactions on
Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 31(1),
39–58. Related Terms
African indigenous counselling; African

traditional counselling
Affordances
Harry Heft Description

Department of Psychology, Denison University,
Granville, OH, USA African psychotherapy, also referred to as
“African indigenous counseling” or “African
traditional counseling,” can be defined as
The perceived functional significance of environ- a subdiscipline within the currently more inclu-
mental features taken relative to an individual. sive field of psychotherapy in Africa (Madu et al.
For example, a surface at approximately knee 1996), devoted to the study of the psychological
height to an individual is perceived as affording healing systems indigenous to the traditional
sitting-on. To perceive an object’s affordances is communities of Africa (Nwoye 2010). Until
to perceive its meaning relative to the actions of recently, its initial preoccupation was the system-
the self/another individual. Affordances point to atic study of the patterned ways and rituals,
a domain of values/properties that is neither “in” theories, and techniques, invented in indigenous
the environment, considered apart from an indi- African communities for addressing the psycho-
vidual, nor “in” the mind, considered apart from logical needs and problems of living in the
the environment, but rather are relational proper- African world. This definition implies that there
ties of an environment-organism system. Formu- are many dimensions to the meaning of the term
lated by James Gibson in his ecological approach African psychotherapy. One of these is that it has
to perception-action. both a precolonial and postcolonial reference.
In its precolonial emphasis, it is concerned with
the task of understanding the various healing
practices, processes, and rituals set up in indige-
African Indigenous Counselling nous African communities for assisting clients in
traumatized circumstances and in making big life
▶ African Psychotherapy decisions. In its postcolonial concerns, it is
African Psychotherapy 33 A
interested in helping modern African clients to However, in whatever way it is delivered,
regain belief in themselves and to find their way whether for and by an individual or a group, the
successfully through the complicated and diffi- essential point is that in the actual practice of A
cult contemporary African environments. African psychotherapy, the art of conversation
Another dimension of its meaning that is not in which healing is effected through interpersonal
often well represented in the literature is that meeting or the heart-to-heart dialogue between
African psychotherapy is also concerned with persons is valued very highly. Hence, the major
achieving an understanding of the African techniques of African psychotherapy include oral
worldview as a background for gaining dialogue; effective use of proverbs that inspire
a deeper appreciation of the African’s percep- the need for inner recollections/reflections;
tion of his or her world and his or her place didactic fixed expressions; and insight-promoting
within it. The African worldview implies myths, stories, and wise sayings.
unpredictable life events influencing people’s In terms of recent developments in African
destiny in the world. In this perspective, human psychotherapy, one can say that, presently,
beings have limited agency rather than complete some African counseling practitioners operate
control of what happens to them in this world. as bridge builders after receiving training in
This angle of its preoccupation is important. It is both the theories and techniques of the Western
from studying such a worldview that the prac- and the African indigenous healing systems and
ticing counselors in modern Africa would be use their discretion to determine when each
able to discover important assumptions that con- approach should be drawn upon and synthesized
temporary African clients make regarding who to form a more critical mass for successfully
to blame or not to blame for the sources and confronting the problem presented by contempo-
meanings of their various frustrations and rary African client/s. And there exist some impor-
difficulties. tant literatures that give an account of such new
In terms of the beneficiaries of its interven- developments in the context of psychological
tions, one can see that, broadly speaking, people therapies within the modern African continent
judged in need of counseling in traditional and (Madu et al. 1996; Makinde 1978; Moodley and
modern Africa are not restricted to those with West 2005; Nwoye 2010).
important and difficult decisions to make in life.
This is because in traditional African psychother-
apy, even those with impatient and impulsive Self-identification
temperamental dispositions are equally seen as
fitting cases for counseling. Through counseling, Science
the elders and the relatives enjoin such people to African psychotherapy identifies itself as a
reconsider their ways. In addition, people about science and as an art. In their research engage-
to get married and those in grief and loss are ments, African psychotherapists are guided
equally considered as fitting cases for counseling by the procedures emphasized in the research
in indigenous and modern Africa. In the context methods of the social science disciplines particu-
of grief work in Africa, for instance, the practice larly Western psychology from which most of its
of counseling is often not confined to the idea of practitioners have received training. However, in
a psychological service which one individual addition to operating in line with established sci-
gives to another individual in need of emotional entific principles in its research endeavors and
support and care, but indeed extends to the impor- theoretical assumptions, from the point of view
tant healing role of the community in bringing of their practice, African psychotherapists oper-
succor to one of their members in distress ate as artists, humanists, or people-makers, plac-
(Nwoye 2005a). ing particular premium on the role of
A 34 African Psychotherapy
interpersonal dialogues and the miraculous context, it operates in the same line and spirit
power of words in bringing healing to people in as those like African history, African religion,
distress. Hence, one can say that African psycho- African literature, African music, and African
therapy is essentially humanistic in emphasis archaeology, all of which support the call by
with the goal of rational decision-making, cogni- African writers and leaders of thought such as
tive restructuring, emotional healing, and Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong’o for the
problem dissolution as its major targets of inter- need, which modern Africans have, to reassert
vention. In this way, African psychotherapy can their cultural heritage in all the various depart-
be described as a discipline that promotes the ments of life. The aim is not only to prove to
processes of human care which according non-Africans that we have something of value
to Watson “consists of transpersonal human to to share with the rest of the world in the area of
human attempts to protect, enhance, and preserve theory and practice of psychological healing but
humanity by helping a person to find meaning in also to get to understand the African worldview
illness, suffering, pain, and existence; to help that controls the way the African client inter-
another to gain self-knowledge, control, and prets his or her world, the sources of his or her
self-healing wherein a sense of inner harmony is problems and what she or he needs to do to
restored regardless of the external circum- resolve them. It is, of course, believed that
stances” (Watson 1985). when the non-African audience explores and
understands the content and message of the
Religion African worldview, a better understanding
African psychotherapy does not self-identify as between Africans and their foreign partners
a religion. However, it is influenced in its prac- can ensue.
tice models and rituals of action by the African
worldview which is essentially religious in
nature. The term African worldview is used in Characteristics
this context to refer to the African’s view of and
approach to his or her world. Such a worldview One unique element in African psychotherapy
is said to imply a religious perspective, lies in the great respect it accords to understand-
encompassing a belief that the world is made ing and working in line with the spiritual view of
up of two interdependent realms: the visible the people (Nwoye 2002). Another unique aspect
and the invisible or the material and the spiritual of African psychotherapy in which it differs very
planes. Under this platform, the invisible realm much from the general philosophy of practice in
is believed to be peopled by supernatural agen- Western psychotherapy (where professionals stay
cies, some of which are benevolent, while others in their clinics to be sought out by needy clients)
are malevolent to humans in the world. The is that often in traditional Africa, counseling is
visible realm on the other hand is believed to not given at the formal request of the counselee.
be the abode of human beings and other material Rather, members of the community may often see
forms of existence, some of which are good, the need to give counseling and guidance to their
while others are evil in their direct or indirect member(s) in need, particularly those trauma-
effects on other lives in the world. Based on this tized by negative experiences. In that case, the
understanding, African psychotherapists agree intended beneficiary may not seek out for such
that the average African holds a precarious counseling service. The people opt to visit him or
view of the universe (Kalu 1978). her with their service/care, acting in the convic-
In addition, one of the major reasons for the tion that that is what they ought to do to assist
study of African psychotherapy is to prevent their member(s) or friend(s) in need. In this way,
the extinction of and to recover and preserve the approach is not understood as a meddling but
the valuable ways and rituals of psychological rather as a means of helping to lighten the burden
healing systems indigenous to Africa. In this faced by one of their own.
Relevance to Science and Religion participated directly in the current scholarly
debates on the interconnections between science
African psychotherapists do not participate in the and religion, some organize some healing prac- A
scholarly debates within the area of “science and tices that respond to the religious needs and views
religion.” But in its research and practice, it rec- of the people.
ognizes and respects the spiritual view of the
people and believes in the power of religion to
fight against the crises of despair and demorali- Sources of Authority
zation in people overcome by the challenges of
living in the difficult contemporary African world There are multiple sources of authority for
in which the ravages of war, poverty, and disease African psychotherapy. Some of these derive
confront millions of people with enormous pain from results of continuing in-depth study of the
and distress. variety of the psychological healing systems
In addition, the creative response of many indigenous to Africa. Others come from results
trained African psychotherapists in modern of cultural studies on the wealth of African ways
Africa, particularly members of the clergy and wisdom such as embedded in African
(who combine their African orientation with proverbs, didactic myths, and figures of speech
professional training in spiritual counseling), is propagated in the works and writings of illustri-
to direct some of their skilled assistance toward ous African novelists like Chinua Achebe, Wole
the development and management of hope- Soyinka, Elechi Amadi, Sam Aluko, Flora
healing communities intended to inspire and Nwapa, Mariama Ba, Tsitsi Dangarembga,
encourage the people in their difficult circum- Buchi Emecheta, etc. From such sources as
stances. In the majority of cases, the prayer ses- these, the needs, aspirations, beliefs, and world-
sions/services organized by these communities view of indigenous African men and women are
take place in an open-air theater platform to mined. And these help the African psychothera-
accommodate the mammoth crowd who come pists in understanding the stories of pain
from far and near to attend the hope-healing and despair of modern African clients. Current
sessions/services. Thus, some healing sessions/ practices in African psychotherapy are also
services of the most popular of these ministries influenced by the theories and writings of impor-
have very close resemblance with the atmosphere tant Western authorities in the field of main-
of healing in ▶ agoral gathering, as reported by stream psychology and counseling, such as
Biela and Tobacyk (1987). Such communities those by Sigmund Freud, Carl Rogers, Carl
serve as a place of spiritual renewal for those Gustav Jung, Alfred Adler, Fritz Perls, Albert
who participate in them. The participants use Ellis, and Aaron T. Beck. Modern African
them as a place where they can go to be taught psychotherapists are equally influenced in their
by God and to report their problems to Him. family therapy practice not only by the views and
Presently, there are many such hope-healing perspectives of Western authorities on the matter
communities found scattered in all the corners (e.g., Salvador Minuchin and Boszormenyi-
of the continent. The leadership of these commu- Nagy) but also by the values and approaches
nities typically goes along denominational lines. of African indigenous marriage and family
This is why it is amazing to see the enormous therapy systems.
similarity of pattern of organization and theme In African psychotherapy, the notion of
emphases in the services and sessions of the six authority does not derive merely from the
communities studied and reported by this present newness or recency of a given theory or view-
author in the article from which some of the data point but from its capacity and economy to cap-
quoted above are drawn (Nwoye 2002). ture accurately and successfully and to address
The above indications imply that although the needs, problems, and concerns of relevant
African psychotherapists may not have African clients.
Ethical Principles system and the typical cultural patterns of inter-

vention in emergencies, people are constantly
The African worldview provides an important faced with enormous psychological brokenness
guide to African psychotherapy and indeed for and identity fragmentation (Gergen 1991), lead-
the successful practice of effective psychological ing to social despair and demoralization. This
therapies among African clients. Through arises from the complicated nature of the new
a thorough knowledge of such a worldview, a cultural environment under which we live and
lot of the problems which African clients bring work. Trained African psychotherapists endeavor
up for attention become easily appreciated. This to blend what is good in the healing systems of
is because the African worldview profoundly indigenous Africa and the West to fashion out an
permeates the African people’s experience of appropriate response to the psychological needs
the world and the way they give meaning to and problems of the contemporary African
what affects their welfare in the world. In some clients.
cases, having a good knowledge of the African In particular, African psychotherapists do
worldview helps to understand what needs to be their work in full recognition of the kind of
done or the rituals to be conducted for healing globalized influences that present challenges to
to take place. Through the guide of such a world- the task of psychological adaptation of the
view, important dos and don’ts in dealing with an modern African youth. In this regard, following
African man or woman in the counseling context the transformations wrought by colonialism,
also come to light. political independence, industrialization, and
Yet, because the current African psychothera- urbanization, as well as the missionary presence
pists are often people of double socialization, and Westernization of educational systems in
a good number of them being well trained in Africa, the need for modern African psychother-
both the Western models of psychotherapy and apy has become intensified. The complicated
in the African way, most are members of psycho- nature of the new African environment compels
therapy associations scattered all over the world the need for the use and application of psycho-
that abide by the Ethical Principles of Psycholo- logical therapies (African and Western) and
gists and Code of Conduct of the American allied methodologies and frameworks that will
Psychological Association (APA) and that of the enable the upcoming African youth to navigate
British Association for Counselling’s (BAC) the complex terrain of the complicated cultural,
Code of Ethics and Practice for Counsellors. educational, and career worlds into which they
African psychotherapists also abide by the prin- have been embroiled.
ciples of research ethics in the social sciences Against the above, the effort and understand-
which emphasize the need for anonymity of ing of modern African psychotherapists (com-
respondents and for seeking the informed consent posed not only of trained counselors but also
of these respondents before subjecting them to African novelists and poets) is that unless
any research. redirected, the emerging African youth may
never be fully happy even in adulthood. In this
way, the philosophy of African psychotherapy, as
Key Values reflected in its various practice models (both
critical and clinical), becomes an attempt to
In contrast to the nature of life in indigenous uproot or to facilitate the uprooting of the toxic
African societies, the modern African environ- factors (psychological, social, political, and
ment is characterized by the presence of an cultural) in the modern African world. In the
unpredictable world where people grow up with South African context, for instance, it was pro-
few definite guidelines on how to confront the posed that a more relevant indigenous counseling
problems of living. Increasingly bereft of psychology must work to awaken the oppressed
the usual social support of the extended family members of the black community to appropriate
political action and the counselor to conscientize as a decentering subjectivity, rather than as
all clients about the influence that sociopolitical a demarcated or bounded entity, walled off
factors have on their lives. from the rest of the world (Nwoye 2006). A
Indeed, the common understanding in African
perspective is that there is a dialectical inter-
Conceptualization penetration of the individual and the commu-
nity in which neither has full primacy.
Nature/World Similarly, in African psychotherapy, there is
African psychotherapy conceptualizes nature a belief that within the metaphysical compo-
and the world from the perspective of the Afri- nent of the African human being there exists
can worldview in which there is a belief that the a melioristic element, a melioristic self (Nwoye
entire universe is composed of three 2006) which acts as the individual’s resident
interdependent planes: the physical (material), therapist for questioning misfortune, for
the metaphysical (abstract), and the spiritual responding to uncertainty, and for coping with
(transcendental) planes. Such a view of the the ordinary challenges and adversities of the
world goes hand in hand with the African belief African experience. Thus, the melioristic com-
in the existence of mystical causality in the ponent of the African human being is the part of
human world. In this perspective, humans are the human being which, in difficult circum-
believed to live in the midst of invisible forces, stances, enables the individual to maintain psy-
to which they are mystically linked, which when chological serenity by helping the individual
provoked can visit them with anger and adver- not to fixate on the decadence of the present
sity, but when appeased and well served and but on his or her own greater meaning or
disposed can bring them good fortunes and improvement that is yet to unfold. Another
blessings. aspect of the metaphysical component of the
Accordingly, African psychotherapists con- human being as understood in African psycho-
sider as incomplete, the Western individualistic therapy is the notion of its liminality. This
picture of human beings as self-sufficient living refers to a recognition which is often celebrated
systems, fundamentally determined in their in ritual form in Africa that every human being
basic motivation by the force of the pleasure always lives in a state of liminality, that is to
principle, for, in the context of African world- say, at the threshold of something, in which the
view, an individual’s life project is essentially individual is no longer one thing (e.g., a child),
multiple and broad-based in range and is but still not yet another (an independent and
worldly centered with the aim to achieve max- self-supportive adult) (Nwoye 2006). The tran-
imum success in various departments of life: scendental/spiritual element is the one that is
life, health, wealth, offspring, and peace/joy assumed to be responsible for the widely
(Nwoye 2005b). acknowledged trait of exceptional religiosity
in the African human being.
Human Being Based on the above, the Western notion of the
In African psychotherapy, a human being is self as a self-contained, imperial, and value-free
conceived of as a complicated organism, simul- agency in control of its fate in the world appears
taneously physical and spiritual in nature, and foreign to African psychotherapy.
constitutive of multiple and interdependent
dimensions that encompass the biological (the Life and Death
bodily), the social, the psychological (the heart, African psychotherapists recognize and work
the emotional), the spiritual (the religious), with the view that the average African holds
and the metaphysical (the liminality, hopes, a precarious view of the universe. This means
and beliefs) aspects. In African psychotherapy, that they tend to attribute many forms of mis-
in particular, the human being is conceived of fortune, illness, death, and failure to arise
from the activities of ubiquitous malevolent Truth

spirits, revengeful ancestors and forces of des- African psychotherapy acknowledges and
tiny operating through nature, and some evil respects the existence of multiple perspectives
human beings. This means that in African to truth, including the existence of the phenome-
psychotherapy, there is recognition of the non of complimentary duality in human contexts.
fact that humans are not in full control of By this is meant that in human life, nothing exists
their fate in the world. People come into the in complete isolation from one another and that
world not on their own behalf but from other when one thing stands, another stands beside it. In
people’s (their parents’) solicitations and this perspective, there is no single road to truth,
decisions. But once born, the individual is no royal road to success, or to good life. Thus,
expected to participate in the joint ownership in the process of African approach to truth and
of his or her life and to submit to training and reconciliation, four types of truth are sought for in
normative guidance to benefit positively from the search for justice between opposing parties
the blessings of having earthly life and being (Nwoye 2003). These include factual or forensic
in the world. truth, personal or narrative truth, social or dia-
logue truth, and healing or restorative truth.
Reality These were the same four that were sought for
African psychotherapists acknowledge the exis- and reported in 1998 by the Truth and Reconcil-
tence of two levels of reality, visible and invisible iation Commission of South Africa.
or material and spiritual realms, both of which
are interdependent in their relationship to one Perception
another. In this perspective, there exist both African psychotherapists recognize that human
good and evil spirits as well as good and evil behavior is influenced by the field as perceived
human beings, and everything in nature is either or by the way things seem or feel to the individual
a manifestation of matter and, as such, is tangible, or the group concerned. Human perception is
physical, and responsible for sensible perception, therefore understood as phenomenological/
or supernature, that which is nature’s hidden perspectival or personal in nature and thus subject
power and life. The perfect combination of the to human errors. African psychotherapists
two levels of reality (material and spiritual) similarly believe in the evolutional nature of per-
ensures the harmony and ordered progress of the ceptual competence in human beings. That is,
African world. that it gets better with age due to the influence
of experience in the evolution of people’s cogni-
Knowledge tion; hence, the saying in most parts of Africa that
African psychotherapists recognize in their what the elders may see while sitting down, the
research, theory, and practice that human knowl- youth may not see even while standing up.
edge is partial, historical, and evolutional in
nature and changes with time. They also believe Time
that there are various sources of human knowl- African psychotherapists recognize that a special
edge. And they derive some of their working constituent of the African human being is its
knowledge: from direct research on a given prob- capacity for the abstract attitude, reflected in the
lem, from the wisdom of the sages, from individual’s power to live and move in the
interviewing and listening to clients offering shadow of the “thick present.” This orientation
own explanations and “theories” of the genealogy refers to an African individual’s capacity to hold
of their problems, from African and Western in his or her present time consciousness the
psychology, from African literature (oral and three dimensions of time: the “past present,” the
written), and from African art, African religion, “present present,” and the “future present” syn-
African anthropology, and African archaeologi- optically. In this way, the present state of the
cal finds. African individual keeps on reminding him or
her not only of the present situation (good or bad) the most acceptable paradigm to guide practice is
confronting him or her but also of a past that has the one derived from quantum or post-Einsteinian
gone before and the future that is yet to unfold. physics which proposes that in their judgment of A
Many African psychotherapists believe that this experience, people tend to go beyond the infor-
capacity for the abstract attitude, which promotes mation given (to use Jerome Bruner’s phrase
the African’s capacity for a synoptic time con- (Bruner 1990)). This is an important insight in
sciousness, is a foundation for good mental the context of African psychotherapy, in that
health. It enables many people in Africa to live Africa is a world where meaning that is given to
beyond the decadence and tribulations of their events of life is influenced not always by ratio-
“present present” (Nwoye 2006). nality/reason but by the context and the grammar
of the culture in which the individual is situated.
Consciousness This perspective implies that the African’s
One of the goals of African psychotherapy is universe is not an Aristotelian universe, but
expansion of peoples’ consciousness in the form essentially an interpreted universe, implying
of psychoeducation. And there are several levels a world of information and relationships domi-
of human consciousness acknowledged and nated by the influence of local knowledge
targeted for action in African psychotherapy. (Nwoye 2006). In this way, African psychother-
For instance, in African psychotherapy, enor- apists acknowledge that in the experience of
mous emphasis is placed on the development of some of their clients, life can at times be larger
extended family consciousness or the spirit of than logic. Yet they also recognize that certain
▶ ubuntu, which although is often said to consti- institutions like African marriage are built on
tute a source of multiple pressure to provide for a framework of order. In African marriage, the
the needs of others in the modern African envi- presumed order takes place if after marriage there
ronment, yet is recognized as a source of moral comes childbearing, followed by childrearing/
and emotional strength in African traditions. investment in children, and thereafter filial care
Besides, the extended family consciousness and support of parents in old age.
plays the role in African traditions of reinforcing
the individual’s moral sense by making him or Mystery
her constantly aware that his or her immoral In African perspective, there is a belief in the
actions will bring disgrace not only to himself existence of mystical causality (Nwoye 2005b,
or herself but also to the entire family and, 2006) in the human world, reflecting an under-
through it, to the entire community among standing in which mysterious happenings are
whom he or she is a part. seen to arise from unpredictable events and
The crucial implication of the above is that chance encounters. In that way, reasons for fail-
in African psychotherapy, the successful life is ure or success in this world are often interpreted
not understood as one lived in self-sufficient to arise from the deliberate agency of inscrutable
isolation, in which the emphasis is toward greater forces, which at times operate through the agency
self-sufficiency and independence of others, as of evil-minded persons to cause disasters to
often emphasized in the West. Rather, the notion targeted victims. A related belief to this concep-
of mature human development in African tion is the attribution, still extant in present-day
psychotherapy is conceptualized as one that is Africa, and which is often encountered in the
conscious of the interdependent nature of context of practice of some African psychothera-
human beings from conception to death. pists, that evil human beings can transform into
dangerous animals like snakes, scorpions, and
Rationality/Reason lions to kill their human enemies (Nwoye 2006).
African psychotherapists give due recognition to And some can mystically change into wild pigs to
the place of rationality/reason in human life. But enter and destroy their enemies’ crops or farm.
in African psychotherapy, it is acknowledged that This aspect of the African understanding of the
human condition is the one that is meant to sug- Cross-References

gest that in the African imagination, physical
nature is not dead but, rather, is understood to ▶ Coping, Psychology of
be imbued with immanent vitality and spirit ▶ Cosmology
force. In the African view, there is a supernature ▶ Counseling Psychology USA/Europe
underlying all aspects of nature, the spirit of ▶ Epistemology
which animates and infuses nature with mystical ▶ Experience
potency (Nwoye 2005b, 2006). ▶ Holism
▶ Imagination
▶ Meaning, the Concept of
Relevant Themes ▶ Methodology in Psychology
▶ Perception
One additional issue or theme in African psycho- ▶ Phenomenology
therapy is the recognition and attention given to ▶ Pluralism (Religious)
the influence of spirituality in the life of African ▶ Ritual
clients. One implication of this is that a typical ▶ Social Construction in Psychology
African client holds a number of religious beliefs ▶ Time
that influences his or her way of living in the ▶ Truth
world. These include the following. First, there ▶ Worldview
is a belief in the existence of the Supreme Being
or a power from whom all good things come. This
notion coincides with the important assumption References
in Africa that God is involved in the details of our
human experience and that things do not happen Biela, A., & Tobacyk, J. J. (1987). Self-transcendence in
the agoral gathering: A case study of Pope John
unless God approves them. The same attitude
Paul II’s 1979 visit to Poland. Journal of Humanistic
encourages the great principle in Africa of resig- Psychology, 27(4), 390–405.
nation to God’s will when confronted with prob- Bruner, J. S. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA:
lems that we can neither handle nor alter. Second, Harvard University Press.
Gergen, K. J. (1991). The saturated self: Dilemmas of
there is a belief in the existence of other spiritual
identity in modern life. New York: Basic Books.
agencies and in the capacity of these agencies Kalu, O. U. (1978). Precarious vision: The African per-
to influence – positively or negatively – the ception of his world (Chapter 3). In O. U. Kalu (Ed.),
course of human welfare in the world. This belief Readings in African humanities: African cultural
development. Enugu: Fourth Dimension.
coincides with the notion that there is an
Madu, S. N., Baguma, P. K., & Pritz, A. (Eds.). (1996).
intermingling of forces in the universe (Nwoye Psychotherapy in Africa: First investigations. Vienna:
2006). World Council for Psychotherapy.
Third, there is a belief that our ancestors and Makinde, O. (1978). Historical foundations of counselling
in Africa. The Journal of Negro Education, 47(3),
other deceased relatives, though dead, are still
303–311.
living (Mbiti 1969) – that like the gods, they Mbiti, J. S. (1969). African religions and philosophy.
need only to be venerated to be of service to us London: Heinemann.
in challenging the problems of living. This notion Moodley, R., & West, W. (Eds.). (2005). Integrating
traditional healing practices into counselling and
goes with the idea of invisible loyalty that is ever
psychotherapy. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
present in the mind of a typical African, that the Nwoye, A. (2002). Hope-healing communities in contem-
voice or directives of the ancestors and dead par- porary Africa. Journal of Humanistic Psychology,
ents must be respected and adhered to. This aspect 42(4), 58–81.
Nwoye, A. (2003). African approach to truth and recon-
differs from the Western existential notion of the
ciliation. Human Systems: The Journal of Systemic
self as an unbounded, imperial, or a totalitarian Consultation and Management, 14(4), 183–198.
subject that is invested with values and principles Nwoye, A. (2005a). Memory healing processes and com-
that are personally chosen (Nwoye 2006). munity intervention in grief work in Africa. Australian
After-Metaphysical Theology 41 A
and New Zealand Journal of Marital and Family
Therapy, 26(3), 147–154. Afterlife
Nwoye, M. A. C. (2005b). Transitional Ceremonies in
Igbo Indigenous Religion: The Case of Nri and A
Ihiala People of Anambra State, Nigeria. ▶ Hope (Life After Death)
Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Kenyatta University,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Nwoye, A. (2006). Re-mapping the fabric of the African
self: A synoptic theory. Dialectical Anthropology, 30,
119–146. After-Metaphysical Theology
Nwoye, A. (2010). A psycho-cultural history of psycho-
therapy in Africa. Psychotherapy and Politics Interna- Ulrik Houlind Rasmussen
tional, 8(1), 26–43.
Watson, J. (1985). Nursing: Human science and human University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen,
care. Norwalk: Appleton-Century-Crofts. Denmark
Related Terms
African Traditional Counselling End of metaphysics; Philosophy of religion;

Postmetaphysical theology; Postmodernity
▶ African Psychotherapy
Description
African Worldview The meaning of the expression “post-” or “after-

metaphysical theology” is anything but obvi-
Augustine Nwoye ous. Rather, the expression’s omnipresence in
School of Applied Human Sciences, University postmodern theological circles rather appears
of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, inversely proportional to its transparency. The
South Africa term covers a wide spectrum of dissimilar
meanings and a certain amount of confusion
therefore seems unavoidably present in any
This refers to an African’s perceptions of his or attempt to straightforwardly define this concep-
her world. In African psychotherapy, it is tual centaur. The term not only expresses
believed that Africans have a tragic sense of a methodological position stressing the neces-
life (Madu et al. 1996). This means that in sity of thinking somehow “after” metaphysics
Africa there is a firm belief in the existence but also expresses a certain conception of our
and operation of the power of unforeseen cir- situation in the world. As such, “after-meta-
cumstances or unpredictable life events in physical” has become a key concept articulating
influencing people’s destiny in the world. In a certain (but vastly divergent) philosophical
this perspective, human beings have limited and/or theological self-understanding. As an
agency rather than complete control of what attempt to (in the words of Hegel) “apprehend
happens to them in this world. our time in thoughts” (Hegel 1821, 26),
the expression “after-metaphysical” seems to
compete with and/or overlap a number of dif-
ferent, more or less idiosyncratic compound
References
expressions such as “postmodern theology,”
Madu, S. N., Baguma, P. K., & Pritz, A. (Eds.). (1996). “postsecular theology,” “the end-of-
Psychotherapy in Africa: First investigations. Vienna: metaphysics theology,” “deconstructive theol-
World Council for Psychotherapy. ogy,” “theology after the death of God,”
A 42 After-Metaphysical Theology
“postliberal theology,” “feminist theology,” Metaphysical

etc. (cf. Ward 2001; Vanhoozer 2003). Hence, Since the expression “after-metaphysical
the expression must be seen as a hybrid which theology” is related explicitly to the notion
covers a wide range of different movements “metaphysical,” it must first be clarified what is
or trends. meant with metaphysical. The Greek expression
In his book, Postmetaphysical thinking meta ta physiká is a compound of the prefix meta
(1992) (German: Nachmetaphysisches Denken meaning “after” or “beyond” and the substantive
1988), J€ urgen Habermas argues that the ta physiká meaning “physical” or “natural” and
philosophical situation in the wake of Hegel’s thus literally means something like “that which
speculative idealism (i.e., the “post-Hegelian comes after or lies beyond the physical.” Even
situation”) does not differ significantly from our though this etymological “definition” on the face
present age. In other words, the philosophical of it appears reasonably comprehensible, it must
situation after Hegel has left us with no real be remembered that the “physical” or “natural” is
alternative to an “after-metaphysical thinking” itself a metaphysical category which does not
(Habermas 1988, 36). As regards theology, this represent a constant in history. In relation to the
after-metaphysical situation is reflected in the question about “after-metaphysical theology,”
late-Enlightenment shift from “natural theology” the following three “aspects of metaphysical
(theologia naturalis) to a brand new philosophi- thinking” (Cf. Habermas 1988, 36ff) deserve
cal discipline: philosophy of religion (Jaeschke particular attention since it is these aspects
1992, 748). Even though, of course, it would which are somehow critically refused or at least
be erroneous to identify “after-metaphysical challenged by after-metaphysical theology:
theology” with “philosophy of religion,” it must (a) Identity: Metaphysical thinking is guided by
be conceded that any attempt to think theologian attempt to reduce (literally: lead back) the
cally without taking into account the different manifold of experience to conceptual unity.
developments within philosophy of religion The abstract relation between identity and
and modern science is untrustworthy. Thus, difference is conceived both logically (“to
the dissolution of natural theology in the late- give the grounds for”) and ontologically
Enlightenment period may be said to offer (as “foundation” or “basis”): The unifying
a parallel to what Habermas refers to as principle of identity is both principle in the
philosophy’s after-metaphysical situation. sense of “beginning” or “source” and in
In any case, it is obvious that the exact the sense of the stabilizing “ground” or
meaning of the expression “after-metaphysical “foundation” which underlies the manifold
theology” not only depends on the understanding of reality. As “first philosophy” (prima
of what is meant by “theology” but also relies on philosophia), metaphysics is concerned with
the meaning of the other two elements contained the “foundations” or the “principles” of
in the expression: “after” and “metaphysical.” “being qua being” (Met. 1026 a 32),
Whereas the meaning of the prefix “after” at a formulation which becomes a pivotal point
a first glance may appear uncontroversial, the in Heidegger’s account of metaphysics as
term “metaphysical” is notoriously ambivalent ontotheology (see below). According to
and controversial. The polysemic character of Deleuze and Guattari, the tree has become
the term “metaphysical” threatens to efface any the predominant model of orientation in
liable attempt to define the expression “after- Western thought: “It is odd how the tree has
metaphysical theology.” In order, however, dominated Western thought, from botany to
to avoid making the expression unreasonably biology and anatomy, but also gnosiology,
diffuse and vague, it seems necessary to unfold theology, ontology, all of philosophy. . .: the
the different layers of meaning attached to the root-foundation, Grund, racine, fondement”
expression somewhat more in detail. (Deleuze/Guattari 1988, 20). The roots of
After-Metaphysical Theology 43 A
Western (metaphysical) thought is to be (Derrida 1977, 236). Thus, the “will to order”
found in its insistence on thinking within the may be said to be an important facet of meta-
model of the upright standing tree, thereby physical thinking. A
thinking being “vertically” (cf. Deleuze/
Guattari 1994, 43). This aspect of metaphys- After
ical thinking is often referred to as Even though the word “after” on the face of it
“foundationalism” (cf. Green 1999, 2–3): appears harmlessly unproblematic, it does, on
The attempt to ground thinking on an incor- closer inspection, become quite unclear in what
rigible, firm foundation. sense “after” should be taken when brought
(b) Transcendence: Metaphysical thinking is together with the word metaphysical. Already
guided by the establishment of a “plane Heidegger’s project of a so-called Verwindung of
of transcendence” (Deleuze/Guattari 1988, metaphysics displays a fundamental ambiguity in
310). The abovementioned “ground” or relation to metaphysics: The process
“foundation” is thereby transferred to of Verwindung is neither identical with an
a realm “beyond” or “above” the immanently €
“overcoming” (Uberwindung) nor with a “leaving
given. Nietzsche’s critique of the metaphys- behind” but must rather be understood as
ical tradition may be understood within this a particular way of being related to the past
binary scheme: “Nihilism” is, in Heidegger’s in a “manner that (. . .) constitutes neither the
interpretation of Nietzsche, “that historical acceptance of its errors nor a critical surpassing
process whereby the dominance of the which would merely continue that past” (Vattimo
‘transcendent’ becomes null and void, so 1987, 11). Inspired by Derrida, Mark C. Taylor has
that all being loses its worth and meaning” suggested the following understanding of the word
(Heidegger 1982, 4). According to “after”: “On the one hand, to come after is to be
Heidegger’s interpretation of Nietzsche, the subsequent to what previously has been, and on the
“death of God” constitutes nothing (!) but other hand, to be after is to be in pursuit of what lies
the dissolution or annihilation of every ahead. Betwixt and between past and future, after is
attempt to ground “being” in a transcendent never present as such but is the approaching with-
level; a figure of thought which also resounds drawal and withdrawing approach that allow pres-
in Deleuze/Guattari’s claim that transcen- ence to be present” (Taylor 2007, 345).
dence is a “specifically European disease” Nonetheless, the understanding of “after” remains
(Deleuze/Guattari 1988, 20), namely, the dis- a question: Does it mean that we have left some-
ease to interpret the “value” of life from thing irrevocably behind us that we are definitively
a transcendent perspective. beyond metaphysics in the abovementioned sense?
(c) Order: Metaphysical thinking is guided by the Would that not presuppose that metaphysics is
construction of a certain order which is to be indeed something “outside us” that we can divest
understood both on an ontological and an axi- ourselves of or “brush aside like an opinion” (Hei-
ological axis. The transcendent principle of degger 1954, 72)? Moreover, to speak of “meta-
identity is not only placed topographically physic” (in the singular, definite form) may be
“beyond” or “outside” the given but is also rhetorically appealing, but it suffers from
simultaneously declared “higher,” “better,” a tendency to “liquidate the particular” (Adorno
“more real,” “more true” than “the realities 1951, 15), thereby representing the exact same
in which we live.” Such binary codes (good/ tendency toward “totalization” which it so passion-
bad/pure/unpure/essential/accidental, etc.) are ately criticizes. Finally, it should be noted that the
not just, Derrida claims, “one metaphysical very discourse of the “end” (or, as a possible impli-
gesture among others, it is the metaphysical cation, “the return”) of metaphysics (or of “God”)
exigency, that which has been the most con- itself seems to constitute a significant metaphysical
stant, most profound and most potent” line of reasoning.
A 44 After-Metaphysical Theology
After-Metaphysical Theology References

Of particular importance for the understanding
of “after-metaphysical theology” is the term Adorno, T. W. (1951). Minima Moralia. In: Gesammelte
Schriften Bd. 4, (Lizenzausgabe f€ ur Wissenschaftliche
“ontotheology.” Kant first introduced this terminus
Buchgesellschaft) Darmstadt, 1998.
technicus in his Critique of pure Reason (1781/ Adorno, T. W. (1966). Negative Dialektik. In:
1787) as a term used to describe a particular type Gesammelte Schriften Bd. 6, (Lizenzausgabe f€ ur
of theology which deduces the existence of God by Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Darmstadt,
1998.
“pure” concepts, i.e., concepts having no appeal to
Aristotle. (1928). Metaphysica (W. D. Ross, Trans.).
experience (Kant 1998, 556 (B 659)). Since then, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
the sense of the term has been expanded quite Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1988). A thousand plateaus:
significantly by Heidegger and Derrida (Hart Capitalism and schizophrenia. London/New York:
Continuum.
2000, 75) so that all metaphysics fundamentally is
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1994). What is philosophy?
“ontotheology” because it is the forgetfulness of the London/New York: Verso, 2003.
(ontological) difference between being and beings Derrida, J. (1977). “Limitid inc: a b c. . .. Glyph: Textual
(Heidegger 1957, 59): “metaphysics is defined as Studies 7(2): 202–232 (1980).
Green, G. (1999). Imagining God. Theology and the
the question about beings as such and as a whole.
religious imagination, 2 edn., Grand Rapids, MI:
The wholeness of this whole is the unity of beings, William B Eerdsmans, 1998.
the ground that brings them forth and unifies them. Habermas, J. (1988). Nachmetaphysisches Denken.
To anyone who can read, this means: metaphysics Philosophische Aufs€ atze. Frankfurt am Main:
Suhrkamp Verlag, 1992.
is Onto-Theo-Logy” (Heidegger 1957, 63). This
Hart, K. (2000). The trespass of the sign. Deconstruction,
identification of metaphysics (as such) with theology and philosophy. New York: Fordham
ontotheology raises the question whether it is pos- University Press. 1989.
sible to formulate a “nonmetaphysical theology” Hegel, G. F. W. (1821). Grundlinien der Philosophie des
Rechts. In: Hegels Werke in 20 B€ ande, Bd. Frankfurt
(Hart 2000, 75) which finds itself outside the area
am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1986.
of ontotheology. Such an attempt has been pursued Heidegger, M. (1954). Vortr€ age und Aufs€ atze. Pfulling:
by, e.g., Gianni Vattimo’s “weak thinking” Neske.
insisting on the structural similarity between the Heidegger, M. (1957). Identit€at und Differenz (GS Bd. 11).
Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann, 2006.
incarnation (understood as a nonviolent “kenosis”)
Heidegger, M. (1982). Vol. IV: Nietzsche. San Francisco:
and the “weakening of strong structures of being” Harper and Row.
attested to by after-metaphysical thought (Vattimo Jaeschke, W. (1992). Religionsphilosophie. In:
1997, 40) and Merold Westphal’s endeavor to Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie Band 8.
Basel: Schwabe & CO, pp 748–763.
“overcome ontotheology” by means of a radically
Kant, I. (1998) Kritik der reinen Vernunft. In: Werke in
hermeneutical approach (Westphal 2001). In any sechs B€ ande, Bd. II (Edt. Wilhelm Weischedel).
case, the problem of a “negative dialectic” or Lizenzausgabe f€
ur die Wissenschaftliche
“dependency” between the “overcoming” and that Buchgesellschaft: Darmstadt.
Taylor, M. C. (2007). After God. Chicago: The University
which has been overcome cannot easily be left
of Chicago Press. 1999.
aside (cf. Adorno 1966, 373) and the question Vanhoozer, K. J. (2003). The Cambridge companion to
therefore remains: Can we avoid thinking postmodern theology. Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-
metaphysically; in which sense is an “after- sity Press.
Vattimo, G. (1997). Beyond interpretation. The meaning
metaphysical theology” altogether possible?
of hermeneutics for philosophy. Standford: Polity
Press.
Westphal, M. (2001). Overcoming onto-theology.
Cross-References Towards a postmodern Christian faith. New York:
Fordham University Press.
Ward, G. (2001). The Blackwell companion to postmodern
▶ Philosophy of Religion theology. Oxford/Massachusetts: Blackwell.
▶ Secularization, Secularity, Secularism
Agape 45 A
word “agape” is used by many Christian theolo-
Agape gians to connote the particular other-regarding
and self-giving love of the Christian God (e.g., A
Per Sundman cf. Anders Nygren, Gene Outka, and Timothy P.
Department of Theology, Uppsala University, Jackson). The supposed self-giving nature of the
Uppsala, Sweden love of God means firstly that it is supposed to
flow out of the loving subject independently of
any kind of reward. Secondly, agape is allegedly
Related Terms not conditioned by any possible merit or worthi-
ness of its object. One possible merit could be
Empathy that loving someone is in fact rewarding. Nev-
ertheless, love can in principle be bestowed on
Common usages of the words “Eros,” “agape,” deserving objects independently of whether lov-
and “altruism” overlap in important ways. They ing the deserving is in any sense rewarding, and
are all used to connote a certain direction and most theologians claim that loving indepen-
substance of desiring or willing. It is a direction dently of reward is better than if love would be
toward the other. And it is for the good of the conditioned by reward. Thirdly, agape is not
other. Furthermore, ordinary use of the word only characterized by being unmotivated, it is
altruism presupposes a threshold degree of also supposed to have the power and function to
intentionality. That is, the altruistic person is bestow value on its objects (e.g., cf. recent work
supposed to be aware of herself (self-con- by Nicholas Wolterstorff). Among contempo-
sciousness) and of her positive regard for the rary theologians, this value is thought of as
other. The following interpretation of the con- very high and as equal between all individual
cept of altruism is close to the ordinary use of human beings. It is therefore also often labeled
the word. human dignity. It is worth noting here that
Besides important overlapping aspects, in equality does not belong to the concept of
contemporary Christian ethical discourse as agape. It is used as an addition or qualification
well as in Freudian Psychology, the words of the character of God’s love. It makes perfect
“Eros” and “agape” are also used in contrasting sense to start explaining the meaning of God’s
ways. Here, Eros connotes a desire, often sup- love by saying that God loves everyone equally.
posed to be sexual in kind, to possess or enjoy But the concept of agape is not similarly needed
the other. This usage of the word “Eros” sug- for the explication of the meaning of the concept
gests that both the direction and the substance of equality.
of “Eros desires” are somewhat ambiguous. Finally, the word “altruism” has usages that
Desiring to enjoy another person does undoubt- usually differ in primarily two ways from the
edly involve her or him, but it is not directed mentioned theological interpretations of both
toward her or him in any other sense than as an Eros and agape. In ordinary use, altruism is not
instrument for the desiring subject. It is under- supposed to have the function of constituting
stood as more similar to the coveting of a piece value. It, however, is not self-regarding either,
of chocolate than to positive regard. The satis- like some claim Eros is. Like “agapist” action,
faction of a desire to enjoy is something that altruistic action is not supposed to be motivated
solely happens to the desiring subject; it is self- by merits of its object. Nor is it motivated by
regarding. personal reward other than the simple satisfaction
Other regarding desires in contrast are of the desire to do good for the other (which does
defined by a wish that something goes well or not count as an ulterior motive). In recent
that something bad happens to the other. The Christian normative animal ethics where the
A 46 Agency
ingredient of bestowing value is downplayed,

agape is oftentimes understood as synonymous Agency Detection
to altruism. Thus, one can say that the concept of
altruism contains the first two basic elements of Matt Rosano
classical theological interpretations of agape. Psychology Department, Southeastern Louisiana
University, Hammond, LA, USA
Cross-References
Ascribing behavior to an internal mental state
▶ Altruism such as a desire, goal, or intention. Agency detec-
▶ Christian Ethics tion is the first, necessary step for developing a
▶ Ethics theory of mind (TOM) where one understands
▶ Love (Affective, Sexual) others to have beliefs and inferences based on
▶ Love (Alterity, Relationship) his/her particular perspective of the world.
▶ Passion and Emotion, Theories of There is some evidence indicating that nonhuman
▶ Systematic Theology apes may understand others as intentional agents
▶ Virtue and may even possess a limited form of TOM.
▶ Virtue Ethics However, this is controversial and continues to be
a topic of research and debate.
References
Frankfurt, H. G. (1988a). The importance of what we care Aggression

about. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Frankfurt, H. G. (1998b). Necessity, volition, and love.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Maren Strenziok1,2, Frank Krueger3 and Jordan
Frankfurt, H. G. (2006). Reasons of love. Columbia: Grafman4
University Presses of California. 1
Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax,
Grant, C. (2009). Altruism and Christian ethics.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
VA, USA
2
Holte, R. (1958). Augustinus und die Diskussion der Department of Cognitive Psychology,
antiken Philosophenschulen u€ber das Lebensziel des Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Menschen. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wicksell 3
Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George
International.
Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
Jackson, T. P. (1999). Love disconsoled. Cambridge: 4
Cambridge Univeristy Press. Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Injury Research
Jackson, T. P. (2002). The priority of love. Princeton: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago,
Princeton University Press. IL, USA
Nagel, T. (1970). The possibility of altruism. Oxford:
Clarendon.
Noddings, N. (2002). Caring. Columbia: University
Presses of California. Related Terms
Nygren, A. (1969). Agape and Eros. New York: Harper
and Row.
Belligerence; Violence
Outka, G. (1973). Agape. Yale: Yale University Press.
Williams, B. (2006). Ethics and the limits of philosophy.
London: Taylor and Francis.
Definition
Aggression is a complex concept historically

Agency rooted in social psychology, anthropology, and
psychoanalysis. It encompasses behavioral
▶ Attribution/Attribution Theory (fighting), emotional (anger), and cognitive-
Aggression 47 A
motivational (aggressive thoughts and goals) Social Correlates of Aggression
aspects resulting from a combination of genetic,
neurobiological, endocrine, and social processes. A major root of aggression is the relationship of A
Often reduced to the behavioral component, the individual with her social environment.
aggression is understood as the intentional phys- Several psychological mechanisms are known
ical harm of another person. Recent research to be involved in the development and mainte-
acknowledges indirect forms of aggression such nance of aggression, including instrumental
as social exclusion. The term violence is usually learning (aggressive behavior controlled by
used for a subset of aggressive behaviors that are reward and punishment), social learning
severe in nature, e.g., physical fights with danger- (observation and imitation of others’ aggressive
ous objects or robberies that inflict severe psy- behavior), priming (e.g., weapons effect), desen-
chological harm. The World Health Organization sitization (emotional blunting and changes in
defines violence as “the intentional use of physi- thoughts and beliefs), aggression-frustration
cal force or power, threatened or actual, against (response to a frustrating event), and enacting
oneself, another person, or against a group or (engagement in virtual aggressive behavior).
community, that either results in or has a high Two research lines on the influence of social
likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psycho- factors on aggressive behavior are described
logical harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation” below as examples.
(World health organization 2002). Although
most often seen as a violation of social rules and Aggression and Media Violence
norms, aggression is also sanctioned by societies Violent media is available to individuals of all
in the case of war, revolution, certain sports, ages. Hundreds of laboratory, retrospective, and
media, and the arts. Due to a lack of a unified longitudinal studies suggest that exposure to
concept, the field of psychiatry does not identify violent TV programs, horror movies, songs
aggression as a distinct diagnostic category but with graphic lyrics, and violent video games is
rather as a symptom prevalent in many different associated with aggression. The exposure to
mental illnesses such as antisocial personality these media facilitates physical aggression,
disorder, borderline personality disorder, inter- anger, hostile thoughts, perception of violence
mittent explosive disorder, and conduct disorder. as common and inevitable, and perception of
the world as a mean and dangerous place and
decreases prosocial behavior and empathy
Types of Aggression toward victims of real-life violence. Video
games have been the focus of recent research
Current research supports the validity of subtypes because they portray violence in increasingly
of aggression. The most common distinction is realistic settings and engage the player proac-
drawn between reactive and proactive aggression tively in aggression. Long-term changes associ-
(similar to affective vs. predatory aggression). ated with exposure to violent media are thought
Reactive aggression is executed in a state of to develop through observational learning,
increased emotional and autonomic arousal fol- enactive learning, and desensitization. Violent
lowing a frustrating or threatening event. Proac- media is usually presented without criticism,
tive aggression is intentional, goal-directed expression of remorse, or long-term negative
behavior to obtain a desired outcome such as consequences thus promoting the justification
social dominance or money and has been associ- of aggressive acts. Other factors that moderate
ated with psychopathy. Empirical data has shown these effects are personality variables, e.g., pre-
that there are two groups of aggressive individ- disposition for aggressive behavior and identi-
uals, those that present with reactive aggression fication with the aggressor, as well as the
and those that present with reactive and proactive context in which the media is consumed
aggression. (Huesmann 2007).
A 48 Aggression
Aggression and Religion development of aggression. For example, longi-

There has been a recent research interest in tudinal research on structural changes in the pre-
understanding violence in religious movements frontal cortex – a region of the brain that has been
and appreciating the psychosocial dynamics of associated with aggression – revealed that pre-
religious belief. Throughout the history of man- frontal cortex gray matter thickens until about
kind, religious beliefs have been exploited to age 11 and then begins to gradually decrease,
justify and drive war and violent attacks. It is currently thought to result from a combination
assumed that religious people have a set of beliefs of synaptic elimination and increasing white mat-
about the will of god and how to execute it and ter volume from myelination. Another neural
that these beliefs guide social behavior. First system that undergoes significant changes during
experimental findings indicate that violence adolescence and that has been intimately linked
portrayed in scripts and sanctioned by god to behavioral adaptation through reward and pun-
increases the risk for aggressive behavior through ishment is the dopaminergic system of the brain.
processes of justification and identification To date, it is largely unknown how these morpho-
(Bushman et al. 2007). Further studies are needed logical changes affect brain function and subse-
to investigate the link between religion and quently aggressive behavior in interaction with
aggression, such as in-group identification and environmental influences during adolescence
aggression toward out-groups and the cognitive (Blakemore 2008).
processes underlying militant extremism and the
refusal to tolerate divergent worldviews.
Biology of Aggression
Development of Aggression Neurotransmitters

Although neurotransmitters such as GABA and
There is evidence suggesting that aggressive glutamate have been discussed in the literature,
behavior develops along distinct trajectories: An the most prominent neurotransmitter that is asso-
early-onset form of aggression that starts in early ciated with aggression and violence is serotonin.
childhood and persists well into adulthood and Decreased brain serotonin activity as a correlate
a later-onset form that is limited to adolescence of aggression has been shown in studies
and early adulthood (Moffitt et al. 2002). Regard- employing chemical serotonergic indices, phar-
less of the trajectory, risk and protective factors macological challenge with serotonin agonists,
for aggression differ depending on the develop- functional imaging, and genetics. Compelling
mental stage. Early risk factors include child results in psychiatric populations with elevated
fighting, victimization, childhood substance use, levels of aggression revealed that depletion of
inconsistent or harsh parenting, and family con- the serotonin-synthesizing tryptophan increases
flict. During adolescence, poor relationships with aggression, whereas the administration of sero-
peers, gang involvement, and living in a violent tonin reuptake inhibitors decreases aggression.
neighborhood become significant risk factors for Furthermore, serotonergic stimulation increases
the development of severe aggressive behavior. metabolic responses in the prefrontal cortex,
Protective factors such as competent parenting a region that has been associated with aggressive
skills, including monitoring, consistent disci- behavior and that has abundant serotonin recep-
pline, and supportiveness, may reduce the likeli- tors. It has been proposed that variations in
hood of engaging in aggressive acts during serotonergic activity are particularly linked to
childhood, adolescence, and later in life impulsive aggression and investigations of nor-
(National Institutes of Health 2004). mal variations of aggression in healthy individ-
Recent advances in neuroimaging and other uals indicate a broader role of serotonin in self-
biological research can potentially promote the control and goal-directed behavior (Manuck
understanding of factors that contribute to the et al. 2006).
Aggression 49 A
Genetic Aspects of Aggression investigating the association between behavioral
Twin and adoption studies have shown that vio- measures of aggression and gray matter volume
lence has a heritable component. However, indicate that decreased prefrontal cortex, or A
results from studies in the 1970s on chromosomal increased amygdala, and insular volumes are asso-
abnormalities in prisoners could not confirm the ciated with aggression in aggressive psychiatric
causal influence of the XXY genotype on aggres- patients, aggressive interactions between healthy
sive behavior. Rather, modern molecular genetics adolescents and their parents, and symptoms of
research indicates that polymorphisms in neuro- aggression in conduct disorder, respectively.
transmitter metabolizing enzymes are a fruitful Functional imaging studies revealed that reduced
approach to investigate the link between genetic levels of activation in the ventromedial prefrontal
dispositions and violence mediated through indi- cortex are linked to aggression in healthy individ-
vidual differences in neurocognitive functioning. uals (Meyer-Lindenberg et al. 2006).
For example, it is known that the low expression
variant of monoamine oxidase A, a crucial
enzyme in the serotonin catabolism, is involved Treatment of Aggression
in emotion processing and cognitive control and
increases the risk for impulsive aggression There has been a paradigm shift in the treatment of
(Meyer-Lindenberg et al. 2006). There is, how- aggression from “nothing works” in the late 1970s
ever, an interaction between genetic polymor- to “some things work in some settings with some
phisms that can increase the risk for aggressive people” in the early 1990s. Despite limitations,
behavior and childhood upbringing. The low there are several pharmacological options avail-
expression variant of the serotonin transporter able for symptomatic treatment. Double-blind pla-
5HTT generally increases the risk for aggressive cebo-controlled studies and clinical experience
behavior particularly in the context of an adverse indicate that mood stabilizers, anticonvulsants,
childhood environment, but a supportive child- antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines,
hood environment suppresses the risk for aggres- and beta-adrenergic blockers are useful agents for
sion in the presence of the low expression variant the treatment of aggression. Some of these agents,
of 5HTT. e.g., serotonin agonists and mood stabilizers, have
a more direct effect on brain systems that modulate
Brain Structure and Function behavior and that have been associated with
Modern, non-invasive neuroimaging methods aggression including the prefrontal cortex. How-
have stimulated the study of structural and func- ever, it cannot be determined today to which
tional correlates of aggression and violence. The extent these agents are effective due to their
prefrontal cortex, insula, and the amygdala – antiaggressive impact rather than to their
a gray matter structure underneath the cortex that nonspecific sedative or neuroleptic effect, and
helps weigh the emotional relevance of stimuli – there are currently no drugs available that primar-
have been linked to aggressive behavior. The ily target aggressive behavior (Comai et al. 2012).
amygdala is thought to be involved in the basic While pharmacologic agents can be helpful in
threat circuit and has a role in increasing or reducing aggression, a combination with psycho-
decreasing the likelihood of aggression in therapeutic strategies is usually indicted to
response to a threatening or frustrating event. achieve long-term reductions in aggressive
Damage to the orbitofrontal and ventromedial pre- behavior. The successful implementation of psy-
frontal cortices, both parts of the prefrontal cortex, chotherapy depends on a number of variables
has been shown to increase aggression in patients including age, diagnosis, cognitive capability,
with penetrating and other head injuries, and it has severity of family dysfunction, and the willing-
been argued that these structures are involved in ness of the individual to engage in therapy.
the exertion of inhibitory control over aggressive Children and intellectually challenged individ-
impulses (Blake and Grafman 2004). Studies uals typically profit from behavior modification
A 50 Aggression
techniques and modeling of behavior, while ado- Cross-References

lescents and adults may benefit from more cog-
nitive methods and dynamic psychotherapy due ▶ Forensic Psychology
to their better insight. According to the NIH ▶ Neuroimaging
State-of-the-Science Consensus Statement for ▶ Personality Psychology
Preventing Violence and Related Health-Risking ▶ Social Neuroscience
Behaviors in Adolescents, treatment that is most ▶ Social Psychology
effective is characterized by the following ▶ Violence
criteria: it is based on sound theory, intensive
and long-term, multimodal and multicontextual,
developmentally appropriate, delivered with
References
fidelity and in a noncoercive setting; it targets
strong risk factors and the improvement of social Blake, P., & Grafman, J. (2004). The neurobiology of
skills and other relevant competencies and fol- aggression. The Lancet, 364(Suppl 1), 12–13.
lows a cognitive-behavioral strategy. Without Blakemore, S. J. (2008). The social brain in adolescence.
Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9(4), 267–277.
hesitation, these factors can be transferred to
Bushman, B. J., Ridge, R. D., Das, E., Key, C. W., &
the treatment of aggression in adults (National Busath, G. L. (2007). When god sanctions killing.
Institutes of Health 2004). Psychological Science, 18(3), 204–207.
Comai, S., Tau, M., Pavlovic, Z., & Gobbin, G. (2012).
The psychopharmacology of aggressive behavior:
a translational approach: part 2: clinical studies
Summary using atypical antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, and
lithium. Journal of clinical psychopharmacology,
Aggression is harmful behavior that directs phys- 32(2), 237–260.
Huesmann, L. R. (2007). The impact of electronic
ical attacks, angry feelings, and hostile thoughts
media violence: Scientific theory and research.
toward other people. While some individuals dis- Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6 Suppl 1),
play aggression only during adolescence, others S6–S13.
develop notable violent behavior starting in early Manuck, S. B., Kaplan, J. R., & Lotrich, F. E. (2006).
Brain serotonin and aggressive disposition in humans
childhood. Through a combination of observa-
and nonhuman primates. In R. J. Nelson (Ed.), Biology
tional and instrumental learning, priming, desen- of aggression (pp. 65–113). New York: Oxford Uni-
sitization, aggression-frustration pairings, and versity Press.
enacting aggressive thoughts, cognitive- Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Buckholtz, J. W., Kolchana, B.,
Hariri, A. R., Pezawas, L., Blasi, G., Wabnitz, A.,
emotional and behavioral patterns of aggression
Honea, R., Verchinski, B., Callicott, J. H., Egan, M.,
are formed. Children and adolescents are at par- Mattay, V., & Weinberger, D. R. (2006). Neural mech-
ticular risk for aggression when they face adverse anisms of genetic risk for impulsivity and violence in
family conditions, peer relations, and neighbor- humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sci-
ences, 103(16), 6269–6274.
hoods. Biological risk factors impact aggressive
Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Harrington, H., & Milne, B. J.
behavior in interaction with social mechanisms. (2002). Males on the life-course persistent and adoles-
Genetic predisposition and brain damage can set cence-limited antisocial pathways: Follow-up at age
the stage for cognitive and social dysfunction in 26 years. Developmental Psychopathology, 14(1),
179–207.
prefrontal and subcortical regions that lead to an
National Institutes of Health (2004). Preventing violence
increased likelihood of aggressive behavior. and related health-risking social behaviors in
Pharmacological agents can help decrease adolescents: an nih state-of-the-science conference.
aggressive symptoms in some patients, while (http://consensus.nih.gov/2004/2004YouthViolence
PreventionSOS023html.htm).
behavioral therapies (sometimes in combination
World Health Organization (2002). World report on vio-
with drugs) can reduce social risk factors and lence and health (http://www.who.int/violence_injury_
foster interpersonal skills in other individuals. prevention/violence/world_report/en/).
Aging 51 A
current interest in the modifiability of patterns
Aging long associated with normal aging combines
many of the subdisciplines, with an emphasis on A
Gisela Labouvie-Vief1 and Pierre-Yves Brandt2 the potentials and limits of the plasticity of the
1
Department of Psychology, University of aging process.
Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
2
Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies,
University of Lausanne, Unil-Dorigny, Self-Identification
Lausanne, Switzerland
Science
The study of aging identifies itself as a science in
Description the sense that it uses qualitative and quantitative
research methods of the human and experimental
Interest in all aspects of aging has rapidly grown sciences, such as biology, medicine, cognitive sci-
for about 60 years, with the dramatic gains in ence, neuroscience, psychology, and sociology.
health, population growth, and longevity and
the increasing number of aging individuals Religion
worldwide. Neuropsychological aspects of The study of aging includes research on the effects
aging are treated as part of, or as subdisciplines of religion and religious practices on such outcomes
of a variety of disciplines such as psychology, as psychological and physical well-being. As an
psychiatry, medicine, and neuroscience. The example, one recent strong current interest is
respective subdisciplines attempt to understand research on the effects of meditative practices on
the relationship between psychological aspects cognitive and emotional processes as well as health.
of aging and their relationship to neurological
processes, especially, the functioning of the
brain. An overarching endeavor is to understand Characteristics
and describe the aging process, and to search for
mechanisms related to aging as distinct from The study of religion and aging is part of the
earlier development. For example, earlier devel- larger domain of religion and development
opment appears to be primarily driven by pro- (over the total life span) but interests itself
cesses of genetic regulation and cultural efforts primarily in the relationship between aging and
that encourage negentropy or the formation of religion, although some studies propose a view of
increasingly complex structures, but aging and a continuous process from birth to death.
ultimately death are seen to reflect entropy, the
lowering of the orderliness of structures that
results when the effectiveness of these regulatory Relevance to Science and Religion
processes ceases. These processes are in part
“natural” but across many of the aging subdisci- This subdiscipline is interested in the scholarship
plines, increasing emphasis is based on concep- of “Science and Religion” in the sense that
tualizing aging not merely as a normal process of it contributes empirical data about individuals’
deterioration and decline. Instead, increasing religious beliefs and practices and their relation-
interest focuses on the mechanisms that may ship to diverse outcomes, ranging from physical
accelerate or slowdown aging and to understand to psychological health. In that effort, a central
ways in which deterioration can be prevented and question is to describe the specific forms and
or ameliorated, as well as competencies that may aspects or religiosity in elders that may foster or
even improve in later life. A particular strong hinder well-being.
A 52 Aging
Sources of Authority Life and Death

Life is seen as a process of evolution that involves
As is true of other sciences, the sources of authority interaction of the individual with his or her social
are based on published research that is rigorously and physical environment and that is in part
selected through a process of peer review in research shaped by genetic mechanisms. Death is seen as
funding and publications. A large variety of major a natural end of life but its quality is shaped by
scientific journals is devoted to or includes research medical, social, and psychological dimensions.
and theoretical writings on aging; some of these Psychologically, individuals’ inner attitude
journals focus specifically on aging and religion. toward and preparation of death, includes pro-
A large number of regularly reissued handbooks cesses of grief related to the death of others or
further offer state-of-the-art reviews of the field. of one’s own anticipated death.
Reality
Ethical Principles Reality, like time, is in part subjective and
constructed, in part objective and externally
Like other empirical studies, research of this dis- given.
cipline is subject to institutional ethical reviews
which assure the safety, dignity, and entirely Knowledge
voluntary nature of research participation. Knowledge is seen to comprise not only quanti-
tative accumulation, but also personal structuring
of experience.
Key Values
Truth
The key values, like those of other scientific Truth is seen from both an objective perspective
disciplines, focus on objective inquiry while at as consensus, and also from a subjective perspec-
the same time respecting the rights, dignity, and tive as individuals’ construal of beliefs, etc., held
safety of research participants. to be inalienable.
Perception
Conceptualization The field studies changes in the sensory percep-
tion (vision, hearing, taste, etc.) that are seen to be
Nature/World part of the process of aging, but perception is also
Nature and world are defined in terms of natural used to refer to the personal and social construc-
biological, psychological, social, and physical tion of these meanings.
processes, and aging is seen as a natural process
of biological, psychological, and social changes. Time
Time is seen as a mere chronological passage but
Human Being over and above mere chronology, also the way in
The human being is seen in terms of genetic and which psychological-inner and physical-outer
physical dimensions and as encompassing psy- dimensions (e.g., social experience, environmen-
chological needs and propensities that lead him tal pollution) work to delay or accelerate time-
or her to construct meanings within complex related processes.
social organizations; these psychological propen-
sities are related to (i.e., in part derive from and in Consciousness
part influence) his physical and biological capac- Consciousness refers to individual’s awareness of
ities, resulting in a basic view of evolving indi- self and others and their capacity to use reflection
viduals equipped with plasticity. as a means of change. Consciousness is an
Aging and the Life Course, Sociology of 53 A
important area of study on many dimensions from Craik, F. I. M., & Salthouse, T. A. (Eds.). (2008). The
psychological to neuroscientific. handbook of aging and cognition (3rd ed.). New York:
Psychology Press.
Kimble, M. A., & McFadden, S. H. (2003). Aging, spiri- A
Rationality/Reason tuality, and religion: A handbook. Minneapolis:
Reason refers to objective aspects as cognitive Fortress Press.
capacities and their changes with age as well as to
more subjective aspects such as individuals’ own
reasoning on aspects of self and the world.
Aging and the Life Course,
Mystery Sociology of
This term is used little if at all in the field of
Aging and Religion. Duane F. Alwin
Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State
University, University Park, PA, USA
Cross-References
▶ Aging, Psychology of The subfield of the discipline of sociology

▶ Anatta referred to as “Aging and the Life Course” is
▶ Attachment: Theory and Patterns concerned with understanding the interplay
▶ Bodhisattva Ideal between the development of human lives and
▶ Buddha changing social structures across the entire span
▶ Buddhist Meditation Practices of life. Human development is considered as
▶ Cognitive Psychology a multidimensional and multidirectional phe-
▶ Cognitive Science of Religion nomenon within a broad framework that extends
▶ Consciousness across the entire life span, from conception to
▶ Developmental Psychology death (see Baltes 1987). Historically, the concept
▶ Emotion of “aging” refers to changes to individuals in
▶ Empathy older age that occur over time resulting from
▶ Epistemology some combination of biological, psychological,
▶ Geriatrics and social mechanisms. The “life span develop-
▶ Intelligence mental” perspective is a somewhat broader
▶ Philosophy of Mind framework, as it considers ▶ aging to begin at
▶ Psychology in Buddhism conception and conceptualizes human develop-
▶ Rationality (Philosophical) ment as multidimensional and multidirectional
▶ Truth processes of growth (or change) involving both
gains and losses across the life span. From this
perspective, human development and/or aging
References are embedded in multiple contexts and are con-
ceived of in terms of dynamic processes in which
Aldwin, C. M., Park, C. M., & Spiro, A., III (Eds.). (2007). the ontogeny of development interacts with the
Handbook of health psychology and aging. New York: social environment, a set of interconnected social
Guilford Press.
Bengtson, V., Silverstein, M., Putney, N., & Gins, D. settings, embedded in a multilayered social and
(Eds.). (2008). Handbook of theories of aging cultural context. In addition, the uniqueness of
(pp. 277–293). New York: Springer. individual biographies and the diversity of life
Birren, J. E. (Ed.). (2007). Encyclopedia of gerontology: patterns have encouraged a “life course”
Age, aging and the aged (2nd ed.). Oxford: Academic.
Birren, J., & Schaie, K. (2006). Handbook of the psychol- approach to human development within the social
ogy of aging, (6th Rev. ed.). Elsevier Academic Press. sciences.
A 54 Aging and the Life Course, Sociology of
The life course can be defined narrowly, implications of this body of work for public pol-
focusing on the unique pattern of events, transi- icy and professional practice.
tions and trajectories of roles, or social pathways, One important focus of the life course
extending across the life span, such as entering approach is the study of the social pathways
and leaving school, acquiring a full-time job, defined by events and transitions experienced by
marriage, divorce, retirement, and the like individuals and the sequences of roles and expe-
(Elder 2000, p. 1615). Social pathways are dis- riences followed by individuals over particular
crete trajectories of roles followed by an individ- phases of their lives (see Mortimer and Shanahan
ual through particular life stages, or between life 2003). Influences of development, maturation,
stages, through time, for example, the transition and aging are usually identified with changes
from adolescence to adulthood may follow a within individuals linked to their getting older,
variety of different social pathways. Or, equally becoming more mature due to having lived more
common, the life course perspective can be seen of life, having experienced a variety of different
as “an approach to the investigation of the chang- life course events, or due to physical, cognitive,
ing environment of the individual and its devel- or other kinds of developmental change. For sim-
opmental implications (see above) . . . through an plicity, we often refer to all of these types of
evolving concept of age-graded life course that is “within-person” change as the effects of (or con-
embedded in a matrix of social relationships, an sequences of) aging, but it is an important empha-
active view of the individual shaping the life sis of the life course approach to understand that
course, and an approach toward understanding these changes occur in a social context defined by
the historical influences in lives and developmen- the individual’s unique configuration of roles and
tal processes” (Elder and Shanahan 2006, p. 968). the nature of the social environment. Human
A number of concepts have been applied inter- development and aging do not necessarily follow
changeably – life span, life course, life cycle, and exactly the same course for all individuals and the
life history – but each of these makes a distinctive life course perspective presents an approach to
contribution that often has different meanings studying the variety of life course patterns.
across disciplines (see Elder 2000; Alwin 2012). One fundamental aspect of the social context
The purpose of the life course approach is to experienced by the individual is the historical
examine the interdependence between (a) human location and/or participation of those born at the
development over the life span as a process that same time. Indeed, one important premise of the
includes socio-environmental (as well as biolog- life course perspective is that individuals are both
ical) factors and (b) societies and groups as strat- producers and products of a complex historical
ified by life cycle stages, often socially and socioeconomic context through which their
constructed, which give meaning to temporal life experiences are shaped and understood. The
sequences of roles, (c) with succession of birth concept of cohort is essential to this perspective
cohorts as the link connecting the human devel- in that it provides a mechanism for identifying
opment and age-statuses. This special field and interpreting the potentially distinct collective
draws, not only on sociology, but on the disci- characteristics of individuals who share a
plines of anthropology, psychology, economics, common year of birth. These distinct character-
and history, with an multidisciplinary perspective istics are commonly referred to as “cohort
that contributes to the reformulation of traditional effects,” and their empirical identification is
emphases on process and change, on the multiple a subject of considerable interest. In life course
interdependent levels of the social system, and on and human development research, the common
the multidimensionality of outcomes of interest time interval defining the cohort is often one
as they touch on related aspects between disci- calendar year, and the shared event is birth.
plines (see Featherman 1983). The field is Thus, a birth cohort (often shortened to just
concerned with both basic scholarly research on “cohort”) is the group of people sharing
aging and human development, as well as the a common year of birth. Members of a birth
cohort have the distinction of potentially measures events and processes in time is referred
experiencing a shared history inasmuch as they to as longitudinal.
are the same age at any given point in time and, Table 1 (below) depicts four different types of A
thus, share a common set of political, social, and research designs – three of which are clearly
cultural events at approximately the same point in longitudinal designs – that can produce poten-
the life cycle. tially valuable information about aging and its
Finally, another important element in the life consequences. One-shot cross-sectional studies
course approach is that people’s lives are (upper left-hand quadrant) can provide informa-
uniquely shaped by the timing and sequencing tion on critical differences of groups of persons of
of life events (both intended and unintended), different ages, but such studies provide a weak
and that early life events and exposures contrib- basis for drawing inferences about the processes
ute in meaningful ways to later life outcomes. of aging. While the limitations of such designs
Various strands of individual life trajectories, are increasingly recognized, they are pervasive in
(such as schooling, work, military service, mar- inquiries on aging. Two types of studies are typ-
riage, family, wealth, and health) are ical of this type of design: (a) surveys of a cross
interconnected to one another, and it is assumed section of the population are undertaken in
that events occurring in one domain can affect order to compare persons born at different times
outcomes in another. This is implied by the fact (i.e., persons of different ages) in order to draw
that lives are embedded in institutional structures conclusions about the role of age in association
and historical contexts, and distinctive birth with other variables, such as attitudes toward
cohort experiences are considered to reflect exog- certain social policies, and (b) laboratory studies
enous influences. Not only are lives linked across of cognitive aging, where a group of subjects
generations, they are also linked intra- (usually students) representing “young” people
generationally. are compared to a group of subjects (usually
older volunteers) representing the “old” and on
the basis of observed “age differences” conclu-
The Scientific Study of Aging and Life sions are drawn about “aging.” In this case,
Course “between group” differences are viewed as
reflecting the nature of “within-person” change
To understand how earlier life events and expo- that occurs with age or development.
sures influence the present and future, it is impor- There is a variety of other kinds of longitudi-
tant to have accurate information about both the nal designs, including everything from compli-
past and the present. How do students of aging cated life-history calendars, which go to great
(human development) and the life course gather lengths to date events, their timing and duration,
information in an effort to study the causes and on the one hand, to retrospective life histories
consequences of within-person change within presented in narrative form, on the other. Often
a socio-environmental framework? Several dif- these can be embedded in one or the other of these
ferent approaches have been used by researchers four major types of designs, including the one-
interested in the causes and consequences of shot cross-sectional study, so even this design
within-person change with respect to outcomes can ultimately be construed as longitudinal if it
of interest, outcomes typically related to health, captures events and processes retrospectively
disability, psychological well-being, or cognitive (see Belli et al. 2009).
functioning, but the emerging consensus among One of the critical problems with the one-shot
students of aging is that research designs that cross-sectional studies in drawing inferences
collect measurements on the same persons over about the influences of “aging” is that they con-
time are a particularly valuable approach to fuse these with the influences of “cohort” factors
studying the causes and consequences of aging. (Mason and Fienberg 1985). Persons of
However, any research design that locates and a particular age at a given point in time are also
A 56 Aging and the Life Course, Sociology of
Aging and the Life Course, Sociology of, hold many variables constant, it is difficult to
Table 1 Designs for the study of aging generalize about processes of aging because of
Single cross-section Repeated cross-section the confounding influences of aging and history.
design design Having information on the same persons
Multiple cohorts observed Multiple cohorts observed at across a range of birth cohorts opens up several
at one point in time multiple points in time
possibilities for analyzing the effects of aging
Longitudinal single cohort Longitudinal multiple cohort
design design across cohorts (see the lower right-hand quadrant
Single cohort of persons Multiple cohorts of persons of Table 1). The value of this type of longitudinal
observed over time observed over time design is borne out by the vast number of research
projects over the past few decades that locate and
measure events and processes in time (see Kuh
and Ben-Shlomo 2004). Indeed, we have reached
members of the same birth cohort (i.e., persons a point where there are several longitudinal data
born during the same year). Members of sets that permit the study of patterns and pro-
a particular birth cohort share the experience of cesses of aging in different historical and cultural
the life cycle, that is, they experience birth, contexts. For example, in the United States, the
infancy, and childhood; reach adolescence; series of panel surveys known as the Health and
grow into early adulthood; and mature into mid- Retirement Study (HRS) provides a series of rep-
life and old age during the same historical time. licated longitudinal studies of a sequence of birth
In this sense, members of a birth cohort share cohorts currently and in the future. The first of
a social history, that is, they experience the these began in 1992 as a panel survey of persons
same historical events and the opportunities and from cohorts born in 1931 through 1941 and
constraints posed by society at a given time in reinterviewed biennially since then. The idea for
history. A person’s cohort membership may be the HRS derived from a growing awareness of the
thought to index the unique historical period in inadequacy of data available from the Retirement
which a group’s common experiences are embed- History Survey that began in 1969 and followed
ded, and their behavior may have as much to do a set of cohorts of men and unmarried women
with their historical experiences as they do with born in 1906 through 1911 for 10 years. Basing
their age. one’s inferences about processes of aging, it was
It is important to realize that one-shot cross- argued, on such a limited spectrum of historical
sectional designs are not inherently limited, espe- cohorts had obvious limitations, given, for exam-
cially if they involve the replication of cross ple, the growing participation of women in the
sections over time. The existence of diachronic labor force and related changes in the family. The
cross-sectional data for the same cohorts (see collection of data on health and other antecedents
upper right quadrant) can be used as a legitimate of work and retirement decisions for more recent
basis for separating the effects of aging and cohorts was viewed as essential to understanding
cohort effects under certain circumstances experiences related to processes of aging in the
(Mason and Fienberg 1985). Another way to con- more contemporary social context. The HRS
trol for cohort differences is to study a single design is one that studies multiple cohorts over
cohort (lower left-hand quadrant of Table 1). time, sometimes referred to as an accelerated
Eaton (2002) provides a strong rationale for longitudinal design.
studying a single cohort from conception to The assessment of change over time is funda-
death. In this type of single-cohort study, age mental to the quantitative study of aging, and
variation occurs over time rather than cross- longitudinal designs are vastly superior to cross-
sectionally, and this permits an explicit focus on sectional studies in their ability to reveal causal
within-person change. However, development influences in social processes because they can
and aging do not occur in a historical vacuum, better pinpoint the temporal order of events, con-
and while studying a single cohort over time does ditions, and experiences. For example, consider
the explosion of research interest in the relation- health status, and what processes transmit these
ship between socioeconomic status and health effects? Does the linkage between SES and health
(see Alwin 2012; Alwin and Wray 2005). Many change over historical time (e.g., are younger A
of the existing studies on this topic are cross- cohorts less disadvantaged by early health defi-
sectional and not necessarily suited to the kind cits)? Do changes in (physical and mental) health
of causal analysis that is necessary to understand status contribute to the loss of social status or
the SES-health connection. In cross-sectional social capital? Do changes in cognitive and/or
studies, it is possible to observe a substantial emotional well-being shape decisions to exit the
association between indicators of SES and mea- labor force, or retire, and therefore influence
sures of health, but this research strategy is quite one’s social status? These are just some of the
limited because it ignores the dynamic processes types of questions that could be answered with
of social stratification. For example, few studies data from longitudinal designs, about which one
measure both health in old age and health status at can only speculate from relationships observed in
earlier points in the life cycle; therefore, it is cross-sectional designs.
difficult to know the extent of “within-person Longitudinal data are also essential for exam-
change” in health status, or how stable individual ining issues linked to life course theory, which
differences in health are over the life span. Stud- focuses primarily on the developmental or age-
ies that measure health at midlife or old age rarely related patterns of change over the life span that
include measures of early health status, or of are embedded in social institutions and subject to
early socioeconomic life experiences and family historical variation and change. However, in
background. It is well known, for example, that research on aging and the life course, there are
early educational attainment, which is influenced several major impediments to drawing inferences
by parental socioeconomic characteristics, about change and its sources. Perhaps the most
shapes later life occupational opportunities as fundamental of these is to be able to locate events
well as the economic consequences of those and processes in time and specify their causal
attainments. relation to consequences or outcome variables,
Using a life course perspective, along with while taking other causal factors into account.
longitudinal data which measures early family Thus, in research on aging, virtually all the best
background and relevant childhood socialization designs for studying life course phenomena are
experiences, it would be possible to better sort out longitudinal because they allow one to more
the extent to which the SES-health linkage is accurately conceptualize the nature of the sub-
largely causal, or in part spuriously due to stantive phenomenon and locate lives in time.
a range of “selection” factors that index events This requirement strongly implies the need for
and experiences occurring earlier in the life repeated longitudinal studies based on sequences
course. Of course, even the best longitudinal of birth cohorts, or what is often referred to as the
data are unlikely to firmly resolve many substan- accelerated longitudinal design (see Alwin and
tive issues of this sort, in that there will still be Wray 2005).
relevant variables that are omitted from the Finally, longitudinal designs also fit well with
design, limitations of sampling, measurement the newer perspectives linking the demography
imperfections, and other impediments to drawing of the life course to human development. If one
causal inferences. On the other hand, longitudinal takes a life span developmental perspective with
data permit one to address far more interesting respect to the study of processes of aging (includ-
questions than is possible with cross-sectional ing life cycle processes and life course events and
data. For example, continuing with the SES- transitions) and recognizes that human lives are
health linkage: How do early health deficits affect embedded in social and historical contexts, it is
life-long socioeconomic outcomes? Do the clear that a range of ontogenic and sociogenic
advantages and disadvantages linked to one’s factors impinge on people’s lives in ways
family background differentially affect current that affect their well-being. Capturing the
A 58 Aging, Psychology of
interlocking trajectories or pathways across the Kuh, D., & Ben-Shlomo, Y. (2004). A life course
life span that are marked by sequences of events approach to chronic disease epidemiology (2nd ed.).
Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
and/or social transitions which impact upon indi- Mason, W. M., & Fienberg, S. E. (1985). Cohort analysis
vidual lives and relating them to measures of in social research: Beyond the identification problem.
health and functioning (among other things), as New York: Springer.
well as linking them to underlying social pro- Mortimer, J. T., & Shanahan, M. J. (2003). Handbook of
the life course. New York: Kluwer/Plenum.
cesses, is an important focus of a great deal of
research on aging, and these are the major theo-
retical concerns that drive the present discussion
of longitudinal methods for the study of aging and
human development. Aging, Psychology of
Susan H. McFadden
Cross-References Department of Psychology, University of
Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI, USA
▶ Aging
▶ Causality
▶ Experience Related Terms
▶ Religious Experience
▶ Time Geropsychology; Psychogerontology
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Alwin, D. F. (2012). Integrating varieties of life course The psychology of aging seeks to understand the
concepts. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences,
67B(2), 206–220. regular changes in the organization of behavior
Alwin, D. F., & Wray, L. A. (2005). A life-span develop- and subjective experience that occur after young
mental perspective on social status and health. Journal adulthood. Changes that occur earlier in life are
of Gerontology: Social Science, 60B(Special Issue II), typically categorized as development, with the
7–14.
Baltes, P. B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span differentiation of “development” and “aging”
developmental psychology: On the dynamics between often popularly expressed through the metaphor
growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, of the hill of life. Historians note that with the rise
611–626. of modernity, this metaphor of growth and
Belli, R. F., Stafford, F. P., & Alwin, D. F. (Eds.). (2009).
Calendar and time diary methods in life course decline replaced a circular view of human life
research. Thousand Oaks: Sage. that was expressed in religious iconography,
Eaton, W. W. (2002). The logic for a conception-to-death showing the wheel of life from birth through
cohort study. Annals of Epidemiology, 12, 445–451. death revolving around images of transcendence
Elder, G. H., Jr. (2000). The life course. In E. F. Borgatta
& R. J. V. Montgomery (Eds.), Encyclopedia of soci- (Cole 1992).
ology (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 1614–1622). New York: Since the 1980s, psychologists have embraced
Macmillan. a multidirectional model of aging, meaning that
Elder, G. H., Jr., & Shanahan, M. J. (2006). The life course they view gains and losses as occurring through-
and human development. In W. Damon & R. M. Ler-
ner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (Theoretical out human life. Aging is commonly seen as
models of human development 6th ed., Vol. 1, a counterpart of development, with plasticity
pp. 665–715). New York: Wiley. and opportunities for growth maintained through-
Featherman, D. L. (1983). Life-span perspectives in social out life, even as physical, psychological, and
science research. In P. B. Baltes & O. G. Brim Jr.
(Eds.), Life-span development and behavior (Vol. 5, social losses accrue. These changes occur at
pp. 1–57). New York: Academic. different rates in different biopsychosocial
Aging, Psychology of 59 A
systems. Therefore, chronological age alone can- the focus of the research, the psychology of aging
not be viewed as an explanatory variable. operates with the assumptions of modern science,
The psychology of aging, which is sometimes including the necessity of ▶ falsifiability for A
called “geropsychology” or “psychogerontology,” hypotheses and theories.
emerged as a subdiscipline of psychology in the Research designs vary according to the
mid-twentieth century, although its roots reach specific topics and populations being examined.
back to ancient discourses on human longevity. For example, intervention studies of cognitive
Today, psychologists who study aging often collab- rehabilitation for memory impairment employ
orate with persons representing the many other experimental designs with participants randomly
fields that together form gerontology. These include assigned to treatment and control groups. Cross-
scholars and researchers in the biomedical sciences, sectional research compares persons of different
the social sciences, the arts, and the humanities, as ages and often analyzes effects of multiple pre-
well as practitioners such as nurses, social workers, dictor variables on various outcomes. Quite a few
neuro- and clinical psychologists, art and music ongoing longitudinal studies throughout the
therapists, and clergy. world have contributed to the knowledge base
The number of publications in the psychology about age change in psychological phenomena
of aging has increased exponentially in recent like speed of response, memory, intelligence,
years. The 6th edition of the Handbook of the and personality. Occasionally, psychologists are
Psychology of Aging (Birren and Schaie 2006), interested in cohort differences and thus employ
published in 2006, illustrates the growth and time-lag designs which compare cohorts on vari-
diversity of this field. Like the previous volumes ables like grandparenting styles, attitudes about
in this series of handbooks, chapters in this psychotherapy, and sexual behavior. Sequential
edition review earlier work and point out new designs enable psychologists to combine cross-
developments in topics ranging from behavioral sectional, longitudinal, and time-lag analyses in
genetics to psychotherapy with older adults. order to control for the varying effects of age,
Although many people still hold negative cohort, and time of measurement. One example
views of aging and older adults, today there is of this type of research is found in ongoing ana-
greater emphasis in research and practice on lyses of data on primary mental abilities (i.e.,
healthy aging and resiliency. Researchers are aspects of intelligence studied through tests of
documenting the ability of older persons to verbal meaning, word fluency, number, spatial
adapt to changing life circumstances, maintain relations, memory, perceptual speed, and general
positive affect, remain engaged with their com- reasoning), from the Seattle Longitudinal Study
munities, and cope with the stresses of late life, which began in 1956. These more complex
while practitioners are developing interventions designs enable psychologists of aging to explore
to support older persons in making these adaptive both inter- and intraindividual change and
responses. stability in a variety of characteristics.
Psychologists who study aging also employ
qualitative methods grounded in the human
Self-identification sciences, rather than the natural sciences. For
example, interpretative phenomenological analy-
Science sis is used to reveal the experiences of persons
The psychology of aging primarily identifies itself living with early-stage dementia. Interviews with
as a science. Some research in the psychology of aging persons, as well as narrative studies of their
aging is barely distinguishable from biological autobiographical writings, provide insight into
research on topics ranging from gene expression the lived experience of old age in our time.
to neural anatomy and function. Other research is Researchers continue to debate whether this
situated within the social sciences. Regardless of type of work qualifies as scientific and whether
it meets the rigorous demands of science for interdisciplinary enterprise, geropsychologists

reliability and validity of measures. Nevertheless, tend to pay more attention than some psycholo-
it has produced important insights into the phe- gists to interconnections among genes, neuro-
nomenology of old age experiences and has cre- chemicals, brain systems, behaviors, perceptions
ated a foundation for collaboration with artists, and cognitions, personality traits, social relation-
literary theorists, philosophers, theologians, and ships, and the cultural and historical contexts in
other scholars in the humanities. which these are expressed. In particular, most
psychologists of aging employ an ecological
perspective to account for the dynamic, dialecti-
Characteristics cal relationships between aging persons and their
environments.
One of the key distinguishing features of the Finally, the psychology of aging examines
psychology of aging is its awareness of time and a portion of the life cycle that is fraught with
the differential timing of biological, psychologi- loss and inevitably closes with death. Intimations
cal, and social age changes. Although chronolog- of loss and mortality elicit social stigma, adding
ical age is a key index to time’s passage, to the burdens of old age. For these reasons,
geropsychologists also must account for cohort geropsychology engages more with existential
differences and the effects of the historical period issues of meaning and purpose than many other
when data are collected. For example, current subdisciplines in psychology. This is illustrated
public awareness about the importance of in the growing literature on dementia that con-
a healthy diet for late life brain function may siders issues of self and identity as memory fades.
influence behaviors of older adults, making cur- Other areas of geropsychology that acknowledge
rent research on diet and cognition hard to com- existential issues include studies of terminal care,
pare to studies conducted 20 years ago when there coping and resiliency, civic engagement, and late
was less knowledge about diet and health. life religiousness and spirituality.
Psychological research in general has mostly
focused on young adults, especially those
enrolled in the colleges and universities where Relevance to Science and Religion
research is conducted. Much of this research
does not include a developmental perspective, In general, psychologists of aging do not
and thus what we know about basic psychological participate in contemporary debates about the
phenomena like sensation and perception, atten- competing truth claims of science and religion.
tion, memory, learning, and problem solving is Gerontologists have been conducting research on
based upon observations of persons in their 20s. religion, spirituality, and aging since the 1980s
Much of this research implicitly assumes that as (although some sociologists of religion studied
long as researchers control for variables like older adults many decades earlier). This work
gender, education, race, and ethnicity, then obser- has primarily addressed connections between
vations can be assumed to have external validity. religious beliefs and practices and the health of
Geropsychologists also recognize the importance older persons (Koenig et al. 2001). In the 1990s,
of controlling for the effects of demographic vari- some researchers expressed concern that such
ables; in addition, however, they are aware that studies harmed the tenure aspirations of persons
variable rates of change in biological, psycholog- in academia, but by the turn of the twenty-first
ical, and social phenomena affecting aging per- century, enough studies had been published in
sons produce increasing heterogeneity with respected journals to reduce that concern some-
increasing age. Thus, extra care must be taken what. In addition, funding from the federal
in generalizing about research outcomes. government, as well as private foundations,
Because the psychology of aging is so became available for research on the relation of
intimately connected to gerontology, a broadly religion and health. This supported investigations
into what some psychologists called the designs), and aging (longitudinal designs) must
“mechanics,” underlying the observed salutary abide by the Ethical Principles of Psychologists
effects of religious activities and beliefs. How- and Code of Conduct of the American Psycho- A
ever, with the exception of a few persons working logical Association (APA). The APA Ethics
in the area of “critical psychology” or “critical Committee regularly meets to review violations
gerontology,” scholarly study of the interface of the code of conduct and recommend changes
between science and religion is lacking. necessitated by evolving technology, forms of
psychological interventions, and research proto-
cols. Researchers must be competent to conduct
Sources of Authority the research, obtain informed consent from
participants, and guard the confidentiality of par-
Authority in the psychology of aging derives ticipants’ responses. Research protocols must be
from systematic, repeatable observations that approved by institutional review boards (IRBs)
have been reviewed by peers and published in which usually consist of peers in the field as well
respected journals (usually those with high rejec- as informed citizens and representatives of the
tion rates). Longitudinal studies are accorded institution where the research is to be conducted.
special respect, particularly if they include mul- Some psychologists of aging provide various
tiple cohorts, allowing for complex analyses and kinds of services to older adults, including cog-
control for age, period, and time of measurement nitive rehabilitation and psychotherapy.
effects. Interventions tested with randomized, They must also abide by the Ethical Principles
controlled trials are also highly respected. of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, be com-
The psychology of aging tends to locate authority petent practitioners, obtain informed consent, and
in the most recently published papers with the insure confidentiality. Interventions must be
exception of highly cited “classic” papers by evidence-based, meaning that they have been
certain leading researchers. tested scientifically, preferably in randomized
The first generation of geropsychologists controlled trials. In addition to the Ethical Prin-
began their work in the 1950s and flourished in ciples of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, the
research universities in the second half of the APA has also published guidelines for practice
twentieth century. Included among these elder with older adults. This document details particu-
“sources of authority” in geropsychology lar concerns that may arise in working with older
are Paul B. Baltes, James E. Birren, Irene persons, including questions about mental
M. Hulicka, Robert Kastenbaum, M. Powell competency (Abeles et al. 1998). Researchers
Lawton, K. Warner Schaie, Lillian Troll, and and practitioners working with persons along
Sherry Willis (Birren and Schroots 2000). the dementia spectrum must carefully assess
By the turn of the twenty-first century, some had participants’ competence to provide informed
retired or died. However, others have continued consent. The Capacity to Consent to Treatment
to contribute to the field in the years following Instrument (CCTI) is one example of an assess-
their first retirements, thus demonstrating the ment tool designed for and tested with older
vitality of what some call the “third age” of adults (Marson and Hebert 2006). If a person is
life (the time between the first retirement and incapable of providing consent, then it must be
disability or death). obtained from the legal guardian.
Ethical Principles Key Values
Research on the psychology of age (cross- As stated in the first issue of the Journal of
sectional designs), older adults (descriptive and Gerontology (1946) published by the newly
experimental designs), cohorts (time-lag formed Gerontological Society of America
(GSA), geropsychologists and other researchers Conceptualization

and practitioners in gerontology seek to add life
to years in a time when advances in medicine Nature/World
have added years to life. This goal continues to The psychology of aging conceptualizes nature/
be central to gerontological research and practice. world objectively as matter that exists in space
The GSA’s mission statement adds that gerontol- and time and subjectively as the felt experiences
ogists promote and engage in multi- and interdis- of older persons. The dialectical perspective on
ciplinary research that is widely disseminated aging and development argues for the reciprocity
to practitioners and political decision makers. between human actions and the world such that
Similarly, the American Society on Aging people influence their environments and environ-
(ASA) states that its membership works to ments influence persons. This occurs at multiple
advance knowledge and skills that will lead to levels of analysis, from the genetic to the social.
increased quality of life for older persons. Geropsychologists generally accept the compe-
Psychologists of aging value the acquisition of tence-press model first articulated by M. Powell
scientific knowledge and the translation of that Lawton, which argues that subjective well-being
knowledge into practice. They employ a and adaptive behaviors are a function of the
biopsychosocial approach to understanding interaction of individuals’ competencies and
older persons, including those with neurological environmental challenges.
impairments. While the biomedical interpretive
framework regards older persons primarily Human Being
in terms of their physical deficiencies, A human being is a person, formed from birth
geropsychologists insist on considering the until death through the interplay among individ-
complex interconnections among physical condi- ual characteristics, relationships with others,
tions, psychological resources, past experiences, and the environment (both human created and
relationships, and cultural and historical contexts. natural).
This approach embraces what geropsychologist
Paul Baltes called a “multidirectional” view of Life and Death
life span development, meaning that gains and Psychologists of aging accept evolutionary
losses coexist. Thus, an aged person might show biology’s perspective on the origins of life.
multiple losses of physical functionality while at They are more concerned with the ways death is
the same time demonstrating gains in effective defined biologically, psychologically, and
coping strategies, meaningful relationships, and socially. They attempt to counter the popular
spiritual insight. conception of the state of advanced dementia as
Increasingly, scholars in gerontology are akin to psychological death (e.g., the death of the
critiquing traditional Enlightenment values of self), a position that often leads to social death
rationality and individualism. Those who work whereby others treat the individual as if he or she
with persons with dementia are especially aware is already dead. This produces what Tom
of the stigma these values attach to persons living Kitwood (1997) calls a “malignant social
with memory loss and cognitive confusion. environment” that elicits problematic behaviors.
Emphasis on personhood, as formed and rooted Some geropsychologists conduct research on
in relationality, has produced a new culture of psychosocial conditions associated with morbid-
dementia care and has inspired research on the ity and mortality. These include anxiety, depres-
lived experience of dementia (Kitwood 1997). sion, and social isolation. Some research has
The emerging discussion of relationality among shown that religiousness functions as a stress
geropsychologists has broadened views on older buffer for older persons and is associated with
adults’ spirituality, including persons living with better health and longer life. Geropsychologists
dementia (Allen and Coleman 2006), and has also study predictors of mortality in aged persons,
invited dialogue with theologians. such as declines in measured intelligence and
changes in personality traits in the 6 months pre- senses. Perception is viewed as being shaped by
ceding death. Finally, clinical geropsychologists sensory acuity, by individual motivations and
sometimes work with bereaved persons and with emotions, and by socially reinforced attitudes. A
individuals in hospice care as they prepare for Psychologists of aging study various forms of
death (Oyebode 2008). perception. For example, they inquire about how
younger persons’ perceptions of older people are
Reality informed by social stereotypes. Another example
Most psychologists of aging do not debate the is found in research on how changes in auditory
nature of reality and view it as what is presented sensation, the speed of neural conduction, and
through various stimuli that affect sense organs. information processing in the brain affect older
In other words, psychology takes an empirical people’s ability to perceive speech.
approach to understanding reality. However,
under the influence of postmodern critical theory, Time
some geropsychologists emphasize internal and Psychologists of aging differentiate physical time
external influences on the ways human beings (measured by clocks and calendars), biological
interpret information. Gender, race and ethnicity, time (expressed in circadian and metabolic
social class, culture, and language, as well as rhythms), psychological time (experienced subjec-
physical and mental health and well-being, are tively as duration of present events, memory of the
all seen by these persons as shaping older past, and anticipation of the future), and social
persons’ understanding of reality. time (normative expectations about the timing of
important life events). Currently, a dominant
Knowledge geropsychological theory – socioemotional selec-
The psychology of aging follows an empirical tivity theory – emphasizes older people’s sense of
epistemology, meaning that reproducible obser- time passing and their awareness that the duration
vations are viewed as the source of knowledge. It of their lives is limited. This awareness of the
should be noted, however, that geropsychologists limitations of personal time influences them to
who are open to the humanistic stirrings in ger- select social partners with whom they feel most
ontology are willing to entertain the idea that comfortable and from whom they receive support
metaphor as expressed in the arts, literature, and for positive affect.
religion yields another pathway to knowledge In addition to conducting research on percep-
about aging and older people’s experiences. tions of time by older adults, geropsychologists
are also interested in timing in terms of the speed
Truth with which the nervous system processes infor-
Truth in science is viewed as partial. All scientific mation. A robust observation in gerontology is
assumptions must be subjected to procedures that that aging persons experience generalized
have the potential to prove the assumptions to be slowing of neural transmission, a condition that
false. What is held as true today may be refuted affects multiple psychological systems including
tomorrow by additional evidence. Psychologists sensation, attention, and cognition.
do not debate the meaning of ultimate truth. Time is also important to geropsychologists in
When psychologists of aging study the religious- terms of how they design their research.
ness of older adults, they do not evaluate the truth For example, it is important for them to be
of the religious convictions held by elders; rather, aware of the confounding of age and time of
they describe the effects of religious convictions measurement in a simple longitudinal design.
on behavior and physical and mental well-being. This means that if the same persons are tested
periodically over a period of years, the researcher
Perception cannot know if differences are due to increasing
Perception refers to the organization and inter- age or the circumstances of the time when the
pretation of information received from the observations were gathered. Similarly, cohort
and time of measurement are confounded in most research finding more robust maintenance
simple time-lag designs. of semantic memories.
Geropsychologists interested in older adults’ In addition to differentiating episodic and
religiousness and spirituality have noted that the semantic memory, psychologists of aging also dif-
experiences of aging often produce a greater ferentiate explicit from implicit memory. Explicit
appreciation of the meaning of time. This memories are those that persons are aware of
may be expressed through the practice of spiritual (or conscious of) recalling. Implicit memory is
disciplines like meditation and a deeper nonconscious, with no perceptible effort involved.
appreciation of how religious rituals order time Getting on a bicycle and riding it is an example of
(McFadden and Atchley 2001). procedural, implicit memory. Those who work
with persons living with dementia often observe
Consciousness implicit memory. For example, you might ask
Although psychologists have debated the nature a person with dementia to recall the first line of
of consciousness and its neurophysiological Psalm 23 and receive no response. However, in
substrate since the founding of the discipline, a worship setting, even those who rarely if ever
psychologists of aging tend to focus more on speak sometimes repeat this well-learned Psalm
subjective awareness which is sometimes called when the worship leader begins reciting it.
“autonoetic awareness.” This name was given to In the laboratory, psychologists sometimes use
the feeling of remembering one’s own past a method called “priming” in which they activate
experiences by the well-known cognitive psy- ideas implicitly and then observe how these
chologist, Endel Tulving. A more common term implicit, nonconscious ideas affect behavior. For
is episodic memory. Humans have the ability to example, one group of elders might be asked to
engage in imaginative time-travel that can be write a paragraph about how they envision their
personal, in terms of recalling one’s past, and deaths. Another group might be asked to write
historical, as when people picture themselves about how they envision having a tooth drilled.
living in former times. Autobiographical memory Terror management theory predicts that the group
consists of narratives, or stories, about one’s life. that was “primed” with death thoughts will behave
Researchers have found that in old age, differently than those “primed” with pain
the greatest number of autobiographical memo- thoughts, with the former group more inclined to
ries originated between ages 10 and 30, protect their self-esteem and views of the world
a phenomenon sometimes called the “reminis- when asked to do a task like reading a paragraph
cence bump.” about a crime and deciding on a punishment. Prim-
People also are aware of the things they know. ing has also been used in studies of religiousness;
As Tulving said, they have a feeling of knowing when God concepts are implicitly activated, peo-
about “facts” about the world, including their ple show greater helpfulness to others.
own grasp of languages and knowing what
words mean in different tongues. Tulving called Rationality/Reason
this semantic memory. Sometimes the feeling is Psychologists of aging study reasoning capacity
frustratingly incomplete, as when people and style in older adults. Much research focuses on
describe the “tip of the tongue” phenomenon everyday problem solving as a way of preserving
when they can grasp only partial knowledge ecological validity in data collection and promot-
about a word (e.g., number of syllables) or ing greater generalization of findings beyond the
world fact (e.g., recalling that a city is in the research environment. In this work, older persons
northeast part of a country without being able to may be asked to respond to short vignettes by
recall the city’s name). The cognitive psychology telling what they would do if, for example, they
of aging examines how episodic and semantic discovered that the electricity had gone off in the
memories are preserved as people age, with night. Scores on the task reflect the number of safe
and effective solutions to the problems posed. Sometimes the felt sense of mystery merges
Sometimes these problems are practical, like elec- with the experience of the holy. This need not be
tricity failure, and some are interpersonal, as, for occasioned by religious rituals or settings. Gazing A
example, when an elder is asked about advice she into the eyes of one’s first grandchild, contemplat-
would give to a young pregnant granddaughter. ing the twists and turns of life’s journey, watching
Many researchers have noted that, compared to a strapping teen grandson fishing in the lake by the
younger adults, older people tend to combine emo- family cottage, and sitting at the bedside of
tional coping strategies for managing feelings with a beloved spouse slipping into death – all these
practical behavioral solutions. In other words, they and many other experiences may envelop elders in
show an integration of reason and emotion. a sense of mystery that some call holy.
Longitudinal studies show a gradual decline in
inductive reasoning abilities with age. However,
the Seattle Longitudinal Study, which includes Relevant Themes
a number of different birth cohorts, has demon-
strated an increase in inductive reasoning ability 1. Although psychologists of aging have begun
in birth cohorts since the 1920s, which is proba- to study late life religiousness and spirituality,
bly due to greater educational emphasis on prob- much more work remains to be done, particu-
lem solving rather than rote memorization. larly in terms of exploring how elders experi-
Since the Enlightenment, philosophers and ence spiritual development. They may not
psychologists have emphasized the primacy of associate this development with the beliefs
reason over emotion, with rationality often cited and practices of the world’s religions, and in
as the defining characteristic of being human. fact, studies of the baby boom cohort (born
This position, however, has been challenged by between 1946 and 1964) suggest that they will
researchers whose work on the interface between not engage with religious ideas and experi-
reason and affect has demonstrated that without ences in traditional ways as they grow older.
feeling, human beings cannot make good judg- As neuroscientific findings about the aging
ments. Moreover, the preeminence of reason in brain accumulate, there will be a greater need
defining what it means to be human is also chal- for scholarship that brings science and religion
lenged by persons living with the progressive into dialogue about aging persons’ experi-
memory loss and confusion of dementia. ences of all of the topics addressed above,
Although they may no longer be able to reason especially time, consciousness, and mystery.
about problems as they once did, they continue to 2. The scientist-practitioner model of
express emotion, demonstrate agency, and geropsychology demands scientific evidence
respond to persons and things in their environ- regarding the efficacy of activities undertaken
ments. An emerging new culture of dementia care to improve the welfare and well-being of older
locates personhood in relationships and not in persons. Pastors and others who offer spiritual
individual reasoning abilities (Kitwood 1997). care to older persons generally do not sub-
scribe to this model. Nevertheless, their work
Mystery can comfort the bereaved, support those seek-
In the empirical psychology of aging, the closest ing forgiveness, challenge the complacent,
researchers come to the notion of mystery is in their and give hope to the despairing. Should these
research on wisdom. Nearly all writing and research professionals submit their practices to the
on wisdom in the last two decades has emphasized scrutiny of science? These are discussions
that one important characteristic of wisdom is the that need to be conducted within an atmo-
acknowledgment of the uncertainty of life. Thus, sphere of mutual respect between those
elders described as wise often say that aging has representing sciences and those representing
given them a greater appreciation for mystery. religions.
A 66 Agoral Gathering
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mass, by six characteristics: (a) voluntary par-
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(1998). What practitioners should know about working
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Allen, F. B., & Coleman, P. G. (2006). Spiritual perspectives
mass media; (c) mass scale, that is, a large pro-
on the person with dementia: Identity and personhood.
In J. C. Hughes, S. J. Louw, & S. R. Sabat (Eds.), portion and cross section of members of society
Dementia: Mind, meaning, and the person participate, and knowledge of the gathering and
(pp. 205–221). New York: Oxford University Press. its effects reach virtually every member of the
Birren, J. E., & Schaie, K. W. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of
society; (d) higher-values-oriented, nonviolent
the psychology of aging (6th ed.). Boston: Academic.
Birren, J. E., & Schroots, J. J. F. (Eds.). (2000). A history of behavior in participants, which distinguishes
geropsychology in autobiography. Washington, DC: the gathering from mass-scale sports events,
American Psychological Association. music performances, and violent demonstra-
Cole, T. R. (1992). The journey of life: A cultural history
tions; (e) the message expressed in the agoral
of aging in America. New York: Cambridge University
Press. gathering is so universally congruent with the
Kitwood, T. (1997). Dementia reconsidered: The person values/beliefs of the society that it facilitates a
comes first. Philadelphia: Open University Press. sense of identification among the participants;
Koenig, H. G., McCullough, M. E., & Larson, D. B.
and (f) this leads to expression, clarification,
(2001). Handbook of religion and health. New York:
Oxford University Press. amplification, and verification of values under-
Marson, D., & Hebert, K. R. (2006). Functional lying the message and, for some participants, to
assessment. In D. K. Attix & K. A. Welsh-Bohmer the experience of horizontal self-transcendence
(Eds.), Geriatric neuropsychology: Assessment and
(Biela and Tobacyk 1987).
intervention (pp. 158–197). New York: Guilford
Press.
McFadden, S. H., & Atchley, R. C. (Eds.). (2001). Aging
and the meaning of time. New York: Springer. References
Oyebode, J. R. (2008). Death, dying, and bereavement.
In R. Woods & L. Clare (Eds.), Handbook of the
Biela, A. & Tobacyk, J. J. (1987). Self-transcendence in
clinical psychology of ageing (2nd ed., pp. 75–94).
the Agoral gathering: A case study of Pope John Paul
Hoboken: Wiley.
II’s 1979 visit to Poland. Journal of Humanistic
Psychology, 27(4) Fall, 390–405.
Agoral Gathering
AI
Augustine Nwoye
School of Applied Human Sciences, University ▶ Artificial Intelligence, General
of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg,
South Africa
According to Biela and Tobacyk (1987), the

agoral gathering is a large-scale public gathering Alchemy
inspired by some higher moral and social ideas.
It is differentiated from other collective ▶ Robotics and Religion
Alchemy in Islam 67 A
In the context of medieval Islamic thought,
Alchemy in Islam alchemy is a science of its own, since it is part
and parcel of theoretical knowledge. A
Sébastien Moureau Transmutation was the subject of important
FNRS, Institut Orientaliste, Université debates and controversies during the Middle
Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Louvain-la- Ages of Islam. Some scholars, like Avicenna,
Neuve, Belgium denied the possibility of transmutation and were
interested only in the very practical processes
(such as dying metals).
Related Terms
Religion
History of chemistry in Islam; Islamic alchemy Alchemy cannot be defined as a religion. It would
be more relevant to underline the links it has with
religion, as is often the case with Gnostic views.
Description But some alchemists did mix up Islamic religion
with alchemy to such a degree that religion may
Alchemy is, in the strictest sense, an attempt at be considered the principle of their thought
finding a process to transmute vile metals (such (see below).
as lead and copper) into gold or silver. It was
transmitted from Greece to the Arab world
(probably through Syriac intermediaries) dur- Characteristics
ing the ninth century for the most part (even if
some treatises had perhaps already been trans- The specific feature of alchemy is its attempt to
lated some time before). Alchemy appears as find a process to transmute vile metals into gold
a discipline in its own right in various Islamic or silver.
classifications of sciences, such as that of al-
Fārābı̄. The subsequent development of
alchemy in Islam was significant, and it is Relevance to Science and Religion
from the Latin translation of Arabic works that
the medieval West owes to know of alchemy. Many links between alchemy and religions can be
Many trends in the Arab-Muslim science of traced back. For some alchemists, alchemy could
alchemy can be traced back, ranging from be viewed as a purely religious fact. For instance,
purely metallurgical details to properly Gnostic by mixing shı̄‘ı̄te interpretations with alchemy,
or magic elements. many texts of the Jābirian corpus (see below)
Unfortunately, the discipline as such has not draw connections between man, world, and
been much studied up to now, and only some alchemical work. According to them, the alche-
treatises have been edited. mist, by transmuting lead into gold, is simulta-
neously purifying himself and leading his soul
to God.
Self-Identification
Science Sources of Authority

Alchemy may be called a science in its modern
acceptation especially when it is considered in its Two alchemists are representative of the two
link to metallurgy: some classifications of mate- major trends in Islamic alchemy (this division is
rials, some practical operations, etc. exaggerated here, all alchemists are mixing
A 68 Alchemy in Islam
different considerations, and it is difficult to clas- In the religious trend, knowledge is a revealed
sify them in so distinctive types). The religious understanding of nature and man (i.e., result of
point of view can be represented by many texts a gift).
attributed to Jābir ibn Hayyān (a pseudepigraphic
corpus probably written in the ninth century, but Truth
the dating and attribution are subject to contro- What is in accordance with nature. In Arabic, the
versy). The other trend, based on more technical word haqq (truth) has an epistemological and
˙
and empirical considerations, is represented by ontological meaning: it does not only mean
the work of Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyyā’ “truth”, but also “reality”.
˙
al-Rāzı̄ (865–925), the well-known philosopher.
We may also mention the Emerald tablet, a very Perception
short text of Greek origin (contained in the Kitāb Foundation of the alchemical knowledge, espe-
sirr al-khalı̄qa of Bālı̄nūs (pseudo-Apollonius cially in the Aristotelian conception of knowl-
of Tyana)), and Muhammad Ibn Umayl (first edge acquisition (the neoplatonist trend basing
half of the tenth century), representing a more the knowledge on divine illumination).
allegorical trend.
Mystery
In the religious trend, the alchemical work
Key Values is considered a mystery, whose knowledge is
given by God (via the prophet or the imām).
In the scientific and practical trend of alchemy, the
key values are accurate observation and experiment.
As for the religious trend, initiation (reception Cross-References
of the intellect) is the main principle, but, exper-
iment has also a very important place (depending ▶ Astrology in Islam
on the author). ▶ Gnosticism
▶ Magic
▶ Mysticism in Islam
Conceptualization ▶ Science in Islam, Classification
▶ Science in Islam, Transmission
Nature/World
Object of the alchemical work and knowledge.
References
Human Being
In the scientific and practical trend, human being Al-hassan, A. Y. (2009). Arabic Alchemy. ‘Ilm al-San‘a:
(i.e., the alchemist himself) is the subject of the Science of the Art, on the Internet site. http://www.his-
alchemical work. tory-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2010.htm
(consulted in June 2009).
But in the religious trend, the alchemist is not Anawati, G. C. (1996). Arabic alchemy. In R. Rashed
only the of the alchemical work, but also its (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the history of Arabic science
subject and object. (Technology, alchemy and life sciences, Vol. 3,
pp. 853–885). London: Routledge.
Lory, P. (1989). Alchimie et mystique en terre d’Islam.
Reality Lagrasse: Verdier.
Cf. truth. Multhauf, R. P. (1966). The origins of chemistry
(pp. 117–142). Oldbourne: London.
Knowledge Ruska, J. (1924). Arabische Alchemisten. Heidelberg: Carl
Winter’s Universit€atsbuchhandlung (Heidelberger
In the scientific and practical trend, knowledge is Akten der von-Portheim-Stiftung, 6, Arbeiten aus
considered as theoretical and practical under- dem Institut f€ur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaft, I),
standing of nature. 2 vols.
Algebra in Islam 69 A
Sezgin, F. (1972). Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums. Stage 2: The equation is simplified to one of six
Band IV (Alchimie – Chemie – Botanik – Agrikultur) canonical types.
(pp. 1–299). Leiden: Brill.
Ullmann, M. (1972). Die Natur- und Geheimwis- Stage 3: The proper procedure is applied to arrive A
senschaften im Islam (pp. 145–270). Leiden: Brill at the answer.
(Handbuch der Orientalistik, erste Abteilung, The first degree unknown, our x, is most often
Erg€anzungsband VI zweiter Abschnitt). called shay’ (“thing”), and sometimes jidhr
Ullmann, M. (1986). Article Al-Kı̄mı̄yā. In Encyclopedia
of Islam (Second edition, Vol. 5, pp. 110–115). Leiden: (“root”). The second power, our x2, is called māl
E. J. Brill. (“sum of money/property/wealth”). Units were
counted in dirhams, a denomination of silver
coin, or simply “in number.” So al-Khwārizmı̄’s
equation “a hundred ten and two māls less
twenty-two things equals fifty-four dirhams”
Algebra in Islam corresponds to our 110 + 2x2 22x ¼ 54.
The Arabic name of algebra, al-jabr
Jeffrey A. Oaks wa’l-muqābala, literally means “restoration
Department of Mathematics and Computer and confrontation,” the two fundamental steps
Science, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, of stage 2. For example, to simplify the equation
IN, USA “four things equal ten less a thing” (4x ¼ 10 x)
Abū Kāmil must “restore” the ten, which has
been diminished by a “thing”: “So restore
Description (ajbir, conjugated from al-jabr) the ten by the
thing, and add it to the four things. So it yields:
Algebra is the only medieval numerical problem- five things equals ten dirhams” (5x ¼ 10).
solving method capable of resolving general qua- Like terms on opposite sides of an equation are
dratic problems (those involving the square of the “confronted,” resulting in their difference on the
unknown). The first written algebra books were side of the larger. To simplify the equation
lifted from the oral tradition in the early ninth “a māl and four things equals five things
century. Al-Khwārizmı̄, Ibn Turk, and Sanad ibn and thirty dirhams” (x2 + 4x ¼ 5x + 30) Ibn
‘Alı̄ are all known to have composed books al-Bannā’ writes “So you confront (tuqābil,
on algebra during the reign of al-Ma’mūn from al-muqābala), so there remains [after
(813–833), though only al-Khwārizmı̄’s seminal the subtraction] a māl equals a thing and thirty
Book of Algebra survives complete. In addition dirhams” (x2 ¼ x + 30) (Oaks and Alkhateeb
to books devoted to the method, algebra is 2007).
also explained in chapters of many arithmetic At the end of stage 2 an equation of first or
textbooks. second degree has been simplified to one of these
The presentation of algebra is usually divided six forms:
into two parts. First comes an explanation of the Simple equations
names of the powers, the six simplified equations 1. Māls equal roots (in modern terms,
and their solutions, and the rules for operating ax2 ¼ bx)
on polynomials and roots. This is followed by 2. Māls equal numbers (ax2 ¼ c)
a collection of worked-out problems which 3. Roots equal numbers (bx ¼ c)
illustrate the method. All texts were written out Composite equations
entirely in words, though some later texts use 4. Māls and roots equal numbers (ax2 + bx ¼ c)
Hindı̄ numerals. 5. Māls and numbers equal roots (ax2 + c ¼ bx)
There are three basic stages in the algebraic 6. Māls equal roots and numbers (ax2 ¼ bx + c)
solution to a problem: Medieval algebraists worked with six equa-
Stage 1: An unknown quantity is named (usually tions instead of our single ax2 + bx + c ¼ 0
as a “thing”), and an equation is set up. because the algorithms for their solutions take
A 70 Algebra in Islam
the numbers (coefficients) of the individual terms with explicit references to propositions from
as parameters, and these must be positive. Euclid’s Elements by Thābit ibn Qurra and Abū
There is a particular numerical recipe for Kāmil later in the ninth century. Powers greater
solving each of the six types. Most books show than the māl were introduced in Qust ā ibn Lūqā’s
˙
the solutions in terms of specific examples, like translation of Diophantus’ Arithmetica, ca. 860.
al-Khwārizmı̄’s solution to the sample type The third power is ka‘b (“cube”) and higher
4 equation “a half māl1 2and five roots
equal powers are written as combinations of māl and
twenty-eight dirhams” 2 x þ 5x ¼ 28 : ka‘b. In the early eleventh century the arithmetic
of polynomials was expanded and explored by
So you want to complete your māl, so that it
becomes whole, which is that you double it. So al-Karajı̄. Probably following Diophantus, he
double it and double everything you have which extended the range of powers to include their
is equated with it. So it yields: a māl and ten roots reciprocals (our negative exponents), and he
equals 56 dirhams. So halve the (number of) roots, applied the numerical method of root extraction
so it yields five. Multiply it by itself, so it yields 21.
Add it to the 56, so it yields 81. Take its (square) to polynomial equations. His work was further
root, which is nine. Subtract from it half the [num- developed in the twelfth century by al-Samaw’al.
ber of] roots, which is five. There remains four, Indeterminate analysis was part of Arabic
which is the root of the māl that you wanted,
algebra from the beginning. Many inheritance
and the māl is sixteen and its half is eight
(al-Khwārizmı̄ 2009, 103 (my translation)). problems in al-Khwārizmı̄’s book are indetermi-
nate, and Abū Kāmil devoted an entire book
Worked-out arithmetic problems often occupy to abstract indeterminate analysis without
more pages than the explanation of the rules. The being aware that Qustā had recently translated
˙
enunciation of a typical problem from Abū Diophantus’ Greek into the vocabulary of
Kāmil’s latter ninth century Book of Algebra, is: contemporary Arabic algebra (Djebbar 2005).
“Ten: you divided it into two parts. So you divide Geometers found in algebra a tool for prob-
the larger by the smaller. Then you add what lems not solvable by ruler and compass. In the
results from the division to the ten. Then you latter ninth century al-Māhānı̄ converted
multiply what results by the larger part, so it yields a problem of Archimedes into a cubic equation
sixty-nine dirhams.” Abū Kāmil begins the solu- which he unfortunately could not solve. In the
tion “Its rule is that you make the smaller part following century, Abū Ja‘far al-Khāzinı̄
a thing.” He then works out the operations outlined reinterpreted the unknown “thing” in the equation
in the enunciation in terms of this “thing” to arrive as a line and transformed it back into a geometry
at the equation “nine-tenths of a māl less two problem. This way he was able to represent
things and 9 a 2 tenth1 of a thing equals ten less the solution by a segment extending to the
a thing” 10 x 2 10 x ¼ 10 x : This equation intersection of two conic sections.
is then simplified to a type 6 equation and solved. This potential for algebra to serve geometry
Algebra was used to solve textbook inspired al-Khayyām (Omar Khayyam,
problems in branches of mathematics beyond 1048–1131) to write his Treatise on the Proofs of
arithmetic. By expressing lengths and weights Problems in Algebra. In addition to numerical solu-
as numbers, problems in geometry and metrology tions, he gave geometric constructions for solving
were also solved by setting up and solving an the 25 simplified equations of degree three or less.
equation. In his proofs of these solutions he reinterpreted the
There are several aspects of the method homogeneous unknowns shay’, māl, and ka‘b as
of algebra which attracted the interest of mathe- geometric magnitudes of degree 1, 2, and 3, respec-
maticians. Already in al-Khwārizmı̄’s book tively. Sharaf al-Dı̄n al- Tūsı̄ (d. 1213) furthered al-
˙
the solutions to the composite equations and the Khayyām’s work by specifying conditions on the
method of adding polynomials with diminished coefficients which determine the number of solu-
terms were proven by geometry using lettered tions, and by providing algorithms for finding
diagrams. These proofs were made rigorous numerical solutions (Oaks 2011).
Algorithms, Computer 71 A
No work in this “geometric algebra” is known at: http://math.unipa.it/grim/MahdiAbdjQuadll.pdf.
after al- Tūsı̄’s, but production of practical books Accessed 10 Aug 2012.
˙ Djebbar, A. (2005). L’algèbre Arabe: Genèse d’un Art.
and chapters on numerical algebra (usually with- Paris: Vuibert. A
out the geometric proofs) continued to be written Oaks, J. A., & Alkhateeb, H. M. (2007). Simplifying
down to the ninteenth century. equations in Arabic algebra. Historia Mathematica,
By the twelfth century an interesting notation 34, 45–61.
Oaks, J. (2011). Al-Khayyām’s scientifi revision of alge-
had developed in the Maghreb in combination bra. Suhayl, 10, 47–75.
with Hindi numerals for working out problems
by algebra (Abdeljaouad 2002). In some respects
it is more symbolic than the notation of Italian
abbacus authors. Algorithm
Algebra was sometimes invoked to solve
problems in other branches of mathematics. In Linda Sherrell
addition to the application of algebra to geometry Department of Computer Science,
in Archimedes’ problem, al-Māhānı̄ (and others) The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
also presented an arithmetical reinterpretation
Book X of Euclid’s Elements, on the theory of
commensurable and incommensurable magni- An algorithm, which is usually expressed in
tudes. Via algebra they found, for instance, that
pffiffiffiffiffi qffiffiffiffiffi qffiffiffiffiffi
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi natural language or pseudo-code, is a step-by-
9 45 ¼ 7 12 1 12: Later, al-Khayyām step procedure to solve a problem. Pseudo-code
solved problems in specific gravity using algebra, is a mixture of words from the programmer’s
and al-Fārisı̄ used algebra to manipulate prime natural language and constructs (similar or
numbers in Thābit’s formulas for amicable num- actual) from the target programming language.
bers. In the early fifteenth century al-Kāshı̄ set up Note that a programmer should construct his or
a cubic equation whose solution is the sine of 1 , her algorithm before composing the actual code
and which he solved by a method equivalent to for the program.
the Ruffini-Horner method.
Cross-References Algorithmic Complexity
▶ Arithmetic in Islam ▶ Computational Complexity

▶ Geometry in Islam
▶ Mathematics in Islam General
▶ Mathematics, Ancient and Medieval
▶ Science in Islam, Classification Algorithms, Computer
Vinhthuy Phan
Department of Computer Science,
References The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
Abdeljaouad, M. (2002). Le manuscrit mathématique de
Jerba: Une pratique des symboles algébriques
maghrébins en pleine maturité. Quaderni de Ricerca Related Terms
in Didattica del G.R.I.M. 11, 110–173. Also published
in Vol. 2, pp. 9–98. In A. El Idrissi, & E. Laabid (Eds.).
Computer algorithms; Computer programs;
Actes du 7ème Colloque Maghrébin sur l’Histoire des
Mathématiques Arabes. Vol. 2. Marrakech: École Computer science; Computer software; Comput-
Normale Supérieure, 2005. Also available online ing machinery; Flowcharts
A 72 Algorithms, Computer
Description produce erroneous answers or none at all (but

with low probability). In general, it may be very
A computer algorithm is a computational proce- hard to establish the correctness of an algorithm.
dure that describes how to perform a series of This is one reason why software is often buggy and
discrete steps to achieve a particular task and in need of updates. Another essential attribute of
obtain a solution to a computational problem, an algorithm is its efficiency, i.e., how fast it will
such as sorting a bunch on integers in increasing run on any computer, particularly as the size of the
order. Algorithms are described visually as flow- input data increases. Since an algorithm can be
charts or textually in a natural language as slow on one computer and fast on a more powerful
pseudocode. A given algorithm is usually one, the efficiency of an algorithm is formally
intended to be run by a digital computer, in defined as an asymptotic intrinsic measure of the
which case it must be translated (or implemented) order of growth of the running time as a function of
into a piece of software in a programming lan- the size of the inputs (e.g., the number of integers
guage, and is thus often confused with to be sorted), and not in absolute units. Asymptotic
a “program,” especially when it is described in complexity allows efficiency of algorithms to be
pseudocode closely resembling a programming assessed consistently and independently of the
language. Sometimes, the term “software” is underlying computer they may be eventually run
used to refer to one or several programs that on. Based on these measurements, algorithms are
perform one or several related tasks (see “▶ Soft- considered tractable if they can run in a time that
ware Engineering”). only increases polynomially as functions of input
An algorithm consists typically of control size (e.g., linearly or at quadratic rate for
structures and data structures. Control structures quicksort). Many important problems in real-
include conditionals, which allow instructions to world applications (such as the Traveling Sales-
be carried out in different logical conditions, and person problem) are not known to be solvable
loops, which allow the same instructions to be efficiently by polynomial-time deterministic algo-
repeated several times with slightly different rithms on conventional computers. Whether such
effects. Data structures store data as they are solutions exist is considered one of the most
being manipulated during the execution of an important open problems in computer science
algorithm. Data structures can be quite complex and is known as the P ¼ ?NP question.
and are designed to support specified types of Researchers in this area have discovered that
operations efficiently. The word “algorithm” is concepts from biological evolution can also be
a latin transliteration of the Persian mathemati- used as an inspiring strategy to develop so-called
cian’s family name al-Khwārizmı̄, to whom the genetic and evolutionary algorithms, which are
origin of the most basic data structure (the deci- often used to optimize specific objectives (known
mal notational system) and algorithms (to solve as fitness functions, for example, the number of
linear and quadratic algebraic equations) can be times a solution in the pool correctly sorts
traced in the 800 s A.D. a number of inputs from a given number of
An algorithm can be described either abstractly cases). Using evolutionary strategies, these algo-
and informally in a natural language or technically rithms start with a population (pool) of approxi-
and formally at a lower-level machine language. mate or imperfect solutions, which are then
In any case, an algorithm needs to be precise and improved using mutation and crossover operators
unambiguous. Two essential attributes of an algo- to generate better and better solutions through
rithm are correctness and efficiency. Although an rounds of an “evolve-evaluate” cycle (Mitchell
acceptable algorithm must produce correct results 1998). It is well known, albeit surprising, that
for the problem it is intended to solve, recent after hundreds of such iterations, these algo-
advances on probabilistic or randomized algorithms usually and eventually converge to good
rithms focus on algorithms as strategies that are solutions with very high performance scores.
provably mostly correct, although they may Further, some argue that these features should
Algorithms, Computer 73 A
be an integral component of every computational There are many books, conferences, and
procedure (Garzon 2012). journals focusing on the design and analysis of
algorithms. Sources of authority in this area A
include (Cormen et al. 2009; Skiena 2008; The
Self-identification Art of Computer Programming 1998; Mitchell
1998; Garey and Johnson 1979).
The area of design and analysis of algorithms is
definitely part of computer science. The effi-
ciency of an algorithm is well defined and can Ethical Principles
be measured. Correctness of algorithms can be
proven and tested. Repeatability is an essential Computers can be instructed to do good as well as
feature of the study of algorithms. Published evil. Certain algorithms can take the form of
algorithms can typically be implemented and computer viruses, which are programs with
tested in most programming languages. unethical agendas. The programs exploit vulner-
abilities in computer systems programs to steal
private information and use them for unexpected
Characteristics purposes. Producing and/or using these algo-
rithms is considered unethical and it is in fact
Algorithms are at the heart of computer science unlawful in most countries.
and increasingly of other sciences. The concept
of “computational thinking” is spreading to many
other areas of science in order to carry out com- Key Values
plex tasks for which scientists increasingly rely
on computers, and so scientists must describe Computer science and technology have made
their strategies in an algorithmic form. significant advances in the past two decades
due to breakthroughs in both hardware and soft-
ware. The area of algorithms provides the frame-
Relevance to Science and Religion work, techniques, and processes for designing
and analyzing complex software. As computer
Here, entries also may address practical implica- science keeps permeating the fabric of society,
tions the area “Science and Religion” may have the role of algorithms and software remains
for, for example, the teaching of a particular dis- essential.
cipline, the career of the scientists/nonscientist,
and the place of that discipline within
a university/academic setting and in society. Conceptualization
There is no such interest among practitioners
or theorists in this field. Natural/World
Algorithmic researchers continually borrow
ideas from the natural world, including evolution
Sources of Authority (genetic algorithms), how ants form colonies (ant
colony optimization), how birds fly in formation
For example, very recent journal articles (i.e., (swarm optimization), or how metals cool
recent is more valuable), books, ancient manu- (simulated annealing).
scripts, a particular written text, a particular per-
son, or influential figure (e.g., in the case of some Human Being
religions/traditions, Elders, the Pope, or the Dalai There are certain algorithmic strategies, espe-
Lama; in the case of some sciences, perhaps cially in the area of Artificial Intelligence,
Newton, Einstein, etc). aiming to simulate human behaviors, such as,
A 74 Aliens
deduction, learning, languages, vision, and tact. Cross-References

The goals of these lines of research are twofold.
By mimicking human behaviors, scientists aim ▶ Artificial Intelligence, General
to produce software embedded in robots and ▶ Computer Science in Human Learning
other structures that are effective at using ▶ Quantum Computing
these processes to perform tasks that ordinarily ▶ Robot Programming
only humans could perform (such as playing ▶ Software Engineering
chess, participating in games such as jeopardy,
doing the dishes, or driving a car). Conversely,
such studies help better understand human References
behaviors.
Cormen, T., Leiserson, C., Rivest, R., & Stein, C. (2009).
Introduction to algorithms (3rd ed.). Cambridge: MIT
Rationality/Reason
Press.
The design and analysis of algorithms are based Garey, M. R., & Johnson, D. S. (1979). Computers and
on reasoning. intractibility: A guide to the theory of NP-complete-
ness. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Garzon, M. H. (in press). On the role of evolutionary
Reality
models in computing. ACM Ubiquity, 2012.
Although not directly applicable, algorithms run- Knuth, D. E. (1997). The art of computer programming
ning on computer programs can control physical (Vol. 1–3, 3rd ed.). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
reality in very direct ways (such as automatic Mitchell, M. (1998). An introduction to genetic algorithms
(3rd ed.). Cambridge: MIT Press.
pilots to fly airplanes, controls for nuclear
Skiena, S. (2008). The algorithm design manual (2nd ed.).
power plants, software to trade in the stock mar- London: Springer.
ket, implants in humans to control prostheses, or
cochlear implants to help people cope with
disabilities).
Knowledge/Truth Aliens
The correctness of algorithms is based on
mathematical truth in a model of objective ▶ UFO Cults
reality.
Time
Efficiency is measured as running time and is Allah
usually conceptualized as the value of a counter
(digital clock) on an electronic computer. Some Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem
problems require algorithms that may take bil- School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS),
lions of years to run and are not considered fea- University of London, London, UK
sible or efficient.
Related Terms
Relevant Themes
God; Modernity in Buddhism and in Islam
Implementable algorithms are deterministic.
Nondeterministic procedures are possibly
beyond the capability of conventional com- Description
puters, although quantum computers may be
capable of running them (see “▶ Quantum Allah, an Arabic word, means God, in the mono-
Computing”). theistic sense. Allah is the center of the Qur’an
Allah 75 A
and Islam, as is reflected in the Islamic testament well-known list of His 99 Beautiful Names. Mus-
of faith, “There is no God but Allah.” He is Rabb lims memorize and chant these, inscribe them on
al-Alamin, Lord of all Worlds – human, animals, plaques, posters, and other public and private A
the earth, the universe, angels, this world, and the objects, to contemplate them and inspire them-
next. He is the Creator of everything, the Pro- selves and others to emulate these qualities. Some
vider, who gives life and death, and the ultimate of the attributes of Allah were debated at length,
Judge. particularly from the time when the Muslim
When looking to discuss the characteristics of world expanded and came into contact with
Allah, the main source must be the Qur’an, Greek philosophy and generations of Muslim
Allah’s message to humanity, in which His char- philosophers tried to reconcile these attributes
acteristics are outlined. The picture the Qur’an with the ideas of philosophers like Aristotle.
gives of Allah appears to offer a fine balance of The debate continued for centuries, culminating
attributes: Allah is both before and after every- in a work written by Ibn Rushd (Averroes) (d.
thing, the first and the last; manifest in His visible 1198 AD) known in English as The Harmony of
creation but also beyond sight: “No vision can Religion and Philosophy. In his Introduction, he
take Him in but He takes in all vision. He is the All says:
Subtle, the All Aware” (6:103), merciful and lov- All that is wanted in an enquiry into philosophical
ing and turns towards those who repent, though reasoning has already been perfectly examined by
His punishment is severe (40:3). When every- the Ancients. All that is required of us is that we
thing else disappears, “all that remains is the should go back to their books and see what they
have said in this connection. If what they say be
Face of your Lord, full of majesty and bestowing true, we should accept it and if there be something
honour” (55:27). Allah transcends everything but wrong, we should be warned by it. Thus, when we
observes everything, gives provision to every have finished this kind of research we shall have
creature, and knows where each one is at any acquired instruments by which we can observe the
universe and consider its general character.
moment (11:6). He encompasses everything. He
is closer to people than their jugular veins As Ibn Rushd also notes, theological discus-
(50:16). He sends revelation for their guidance sion has many characteristics of philosophical
and every individual will stand before Him for discourse. The Qur’an is an argumentative and
judgment. rational text. From beginning to end, it provides
A crucial attribute is Allah’s Oneness arguments for all its beliefs and teachings. Noth-
(tawhiid). He has no child or equal or partner. ing is assumed, even the existence of God. The
Indeed the whole discipline of Theology in Islam Qur’an asks its audience to think on the nature of
is called the Science of Tawhiid. The Qur’an the Divine, posing the question for the disbe-
argues this concept repeatedly: “If there had lievers, “Were they created out of nothing? Did
been in the heavens and the earth any god other they create themselves? Did they create the
than Him they would have fallen into ruin” heavens and the earth?” (Qur’an 52:35–36).
(21:22) “each would have tried to overthrow the The universe itself is presented as signs (aayaat)
others” (23:91); He is the One God of all. He is that prove the existence of a Creator and caring
described in the Qur’an as the eternal Reality (al- Lord. The word aayaat (sing. aaya) appears in the
Haqq). Everything else in creation is ephemeral, Qur’an 382 times, and it is through these signs
like plants that flourish then wither and disappear. that Allah makes Himself known, “We shall show
Allah’s laws in the universe are unchangeable them Our signs everywhere and in themselves
(35:47). Al-Haqq also means the Truth: “If the until it becomes clear to them that this is the
truth were in accordance with their desires, the Truth.” (Q.41:53). The Qur’an urges people to
heavens, the earth and everything in them would observe, think, and find out about Allah’s laws
disintegrate” (23:71). in the universe; it then urges them to look as hard
All these qualities and others mentioned in the as they can at what is around them until they can
Qur’an to describe Allah are summarized in the look no more (67:7). They are even challenged to
A 76 Allah
“penetrate the heavens and the earth” if they can the Muslim scholar al-Jahiz (160–256 AH/776–
(55:33). The more they know, the more they will 869 AD) who said, in his Book of Animals:
appreciate Allah, “It is those of His servants who
Animals engage in a struggle for existence; for
have knowledge who stand in true awe of Allah” resources, to avoid being eaten and to breed. Envi-
(35:28). Many examples of natural phenomena ronmental factors influence organisms to develop
are given in the Qur’an to prompt thought. There new characteristics to ensure survival, thus
are bodies of scholars now in Muslim countries transforming into new species. Animals that sur-
vive to breed can pass on their successful charac-
who study the “scientific miracles” in the Qur’an, teristics to offspring.
where they assert it is consistent with modern
scientific discoveries, particularly obvious in However, in al-Jahiz’s work, this process
embryology, astronomy, and geology. remains subject to the will of Allah.
Human beings are also frequently urged to The Qur’an states that Allah created the heavens
study and learn from history, to travel the earth, and the earth “in six days,” but that these are not
see and learn; to think, reflect on themselves, and days according to our reckoning. The Qur’an speaks
the world around them. They are told: “Why do of a certain day “whose measure is 50,000 years”
you not use your reason?” This includes the fac- (70:4). Days in this sense seem to mean stages;
ulty of conscience, or the “reproaching soul” (al- Allah’s time is different from time on earth. When
nafs al-lawwaama). Allah inspires the human people are resurrected to face Him, they will feel as
soul “with knowledge of what is right and though they have stayed on the earth/in the grave for
wrong. The one who purifies it succeeds, the one only “a day or part of a day” (23:113–114), “an
who corrupts it fails” (91:9–10). The limited time evening at most, or morning” (79:46).
humans have on earth is their chance to do good In the earthly dimension however, “Every-
deeds and make up for bad ones, “before death thing has its measure with [Allah]” (13:8). “He
comes to one of you and he says, ‘Lord, if you made the Sun a shining radiance and the moon a
would only reprieve me for a while I would give in light, determining phases for it so that you might
charity and become one of the righteous’ God know the number of years and how to calculate
does not reprieve a soul when its time comes. time” (10:5). This is true not only of time but of
God is fully aware of what you do” (63:10–11). everything else. He has determined a time for
The Qur’an says that Allah created the first each individual and a time when the world
human being with His hands from “an essence of comes to an end (6:2) “There is not a thing
mud” (23:12), and breathed into him “from His whose storehouses are not with us. We send it
spirit,” but this brief description is not to be down only according to a well-defined measure”
understood literally or necessarily taken to con- (15:21). “He keeps count of everything” (72:28).
tradict scientific facts, in the same way as Allah With all Allah’s exhortations and observations
cannot be understood as having hands and a in the Qur’an about the universe and all it con-
mouth to breathe with: “There is nothing like” tains, it is not the aim of His holy scripture to be a
(42:11). Muslim theologians say that when repository of scientific facts. It is enough that it
thinking about Allah, He is unlike any image urges believers to think and reflect and find out
that springs to mind. After the first couple, more for themselves. Indeed it makes this an
humans are created in stages in the womb, then obligation on them. It says, “It is Allah who
through infancy, childhood, adulthood, old age, brought you out of your mothers’ wombs knowing
and death and another stage after death when nothing, and gave you hearing, sight, and minds”
eventually Allah will resurrect them (23:13– (16:78). The Qur’an condemns “those who have
16; 22:5–7). hearts they do not use for comprehension, eyes
With this background, the theory of evolution they do not use to see, ears they do not use to
did not seem to disturb Muslim scholars; in fact, hear. They are like cattle – no, even further
long before Darwin, a theory of evolution by astray: these are the ones who are entirely heed-
natural selection can be found in the works of less” (7:179). The first verse of the Qur’an
Altruism 77 A
revealed to the Prophet Muhammad puts knowl- extends over the heavens and the earth; it does
edge on a par with the creation of man. “He not weary Him to preserve them both. He is the
Most High, the Tremendous.
created man, … he taught man” (96:1–5). God A
swears “by the pen and what they write” (68:1).
The Qur’an states that Allah honored human
beings above many of His creations. He gave References
human beings the trust (amaana) of moral choice,
khilaafa (stewardship) of the earth, and power Abdel Haleem, M. A. S. (2004). The Qur’an: A new
translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
over many of His creatures, instructing them,
Al-Aqqād, A. M. (1962). al-falsafa al-Qur’āniyya, Cairo:
“Do not corrupt the earth, after it has been set Al-Hilal.
right” (7:56). Yet “Corruption has flourished on Al-Aqqād, A. M. al-Tafkı¯r farı¯dah islāmiyah.
land and sea as the result of people’s actions and Al-Jahiz, A. U. A. B. (776–869 CE) Kitab al-Hayawan
(The book of animals).
He will make them taste the consequences of
Bayrakdar, Dr. M. Al-Jahiz and the rise of biological
some of their own actions so that they may turn evolution. http://dergiler.ankara.edu.tr/dergiler/37/
back” (30:41). 772/9842.pdf
All humans are one big family, “People, We Ibn Rushd. (1959). On the harmony of religion and phi-
losophy. In G. Hourani (Ed.), Arabic Kitab fasl al-
created you all from a single man and a single
maqal… (c. 1190).
woman and made into races and tribes so that you Kopf, L. The ‘Book of Animals’ (Kitab al-Hayawan) of al-
could get to know one another. In Allah’s eyes, Jahiz.
the most honoured of you are the ones most aware Masood, E. (2009). Science and Islam: A history.
Nasr, S. H. (1976). Islamic science: An illustrated study.
of Him: Allah is all knowing, all aware” (49:13).
Westerham: WIFT.
Being aware of Allah includes worshipping Shah, M. S. Pre-Darwinian Muslim scholars’ views on
Him, taking heed of His guidance, and putting it evolution. http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/uoc/PDF-
into practice in the world to establish justice, FILES/%2811%29%20Dr.%20Sultan%20Shah_86_2.
pdf
which is among the objectives of sending the
scripture and prophets (57:25). The final Judg-
ment gives purpose to our lives and actions here,
without which the creation would be futile
(32:115; 67:3). This is a central theme of Allah’s Altruism
message in the Qur’an and it again uses rational
arguments to persuade people of the possibility Lisa Goddard
and reality of the Resurrection (36:77 ff; see also Science and Theology, Spurgeon’s College,
22:5–7). South Norwood Hill, London, UK
Because the Qur’an aims to convince people
rationally in order to persuade them to accept its
teachings, it urges them to reflect and condemns Related Terms
those who follow blindly what they find their
forebears, their masters, or their chiefs doing. Agape; Empathy; Group altruism; Group theory;
Words urging the use of reason, thinking, reflec- Kin altruism; Love; Morality; Reciprocal
tion, and consideration occur 183 times in the altruism; Reciprocity
Qur’an.
However, there are limits to human percep-
tion. For humans there will always be an area of Introduction
mystery (ghayb) – it is only God’s knowledge
that comprehends everything (2:255): Altruism is a well-established concept in evolu-
He knows what is before them and what is behind tionary biology, psychology, and theology. In
them, but they do not comprehend any of His biology, it refers to behavior, and any coincident
knowledge except what He wills. His throne motivations, in which one individual aids
A 78 Altruism
another’s survival and reproductive success at While there obviously is competition for food
a cost to its own, whereas psychological altruism and mates, there is also cooperation in nature,
relates specifically to the motivational state in especially among the higher mammals.
which the welfare of another is of ultimate con- Moreover, sexual reproduction itself is, for
cern. While biological altruism may be purely many animals, a demanding and risky task as
behavioral, psychological altruism is possible parent individuals expend themselves in produc-
only by moral agents, those able to form con- ing, and often providing for, as many progeny
scious intentions. In Christian theology, altruism as possible. Courtship, nest building, birthing,
is usually understood within the tradition of feeding, and protecting the young are all costly
agape – a self-giving love which has its ecclesial ventures. So, if there is selfishness in pursuing
origins in the New Testament. reproductive fitness, there is also much sacrifice.
Within the science-theology discourse, the Cooperation is even found at the genic level,
question is how these disciplines relate to one since most genes which persist in populations
another and, specifically, the extent to which are those that cooperate and coact with other
biological explanations can account for altruism genes (the nonalleles which form the vast major-
within both nature and human culture, including ity) to produce functional and reproductive indi-
psychological altruism and religious love. This viduals – an outcome which is usually good for
entry proposes that these three forms of altruism sustaining populations. So-called selfish genes
are indeed deeply interrelated, although they are are therefore cooperators that produce benefits
by no means equivalent. One problem for such beyond themselves; hence, the selfish metaphor
a consonance has been the view of some biolo- is again evidently inadequate (Rolston 1999).
gists, most notably those within sociobiology and Arguably, the key sociobiological concepts of
its related discipline of evolutionary psychology, individualism, selfishness, and competition are
that whatever appears as altruistic is actually derived not from biological nature so much as
selfish at some more foundational level. from the culturally dominant ideology of Western
capitalism.
Selfishness and Biological Altruism

Kin Altruism: Biology and Psychology
In evolution, natural selection generally results
in establishing and sustaining the traits (and In kin altruism, individuals increase the probabil-
corresponding genes) that enhance individual ity of the survival and reproduction of genetic
reproductive success, since the greater the indi- relatives at a potential cost to their own. As
vidual’s production of viable offspring, relative some of these beneficiary kin will also carry the
to others in the population, the more its particular genes for kin altruism, the behavior can be
characteristics and genotype will feature in the sustained through natural selection. While such
next generation. This relative fitness of individ- actions are altruistic with regard to the individ-
uals and their genes provides an explanation of ual’s own body and reproductive interests, they
physical and behavioral traits, including aspects are interpreted by sociobiologists in terms of
of altruism. In sociobiology, natural selection is genic selfishness – the genes in the individual
depicted as a competitive process in which indi- are simply promoting the survival of copies of
viduals selfishly vie for resources and mates in themselves in the bodies of kin (Dawkins 1989).
order to outreproduce others in their population, This description in terms of selfishness is
and genes selfishly compete to outreplicate other inappropriate, however, since the genes that are
genes (their alleles) in the gene pool. Altruism, sustained in populations are good cooperators
like other evolved traits, is therefore construed as and, in the case of kin altruism, lead to the aiding
serving either selfish reproductive or genic ends, of other individuals over the self. In addition,
and sometimes both. kin altruistic acts often involve supporting
Altruism 79 A
a substantial number of nonreplica genes as most included in kin altruism, and it forms the core
species outbreed, i.e., mate with individuals that of family bonds. Since parental care is costly,
are not closely related. There is a recent debate especially in humans where it is intense and A
about whether the altruism is thereby graded, as prolonged, empathy is critical, as such care
summarized in Hamilton’s rule, such that there is could not have been supported solely by the
a preference for nearer kin (those carrying more self-regarding instincts involving innate aversion
replica genes) over more distant kin and also to uncomfortable or painful stimuli and attraction
whether there is a preference for the more repro- to pleasurable ones. Although these capacities are
ductively fertile (those better able to pass on these necessary for survival and even for empathy
replicas) over those less fertile. E. O. Wilson has (we cannot understand another’s pain and plea-
argued that, at least in hymenopteran species such sure without first knowing our own), empathy
as bees and ants with which the rule was first itself is an other-regarding response which acts
established, individuals will sometimes assist counter to self-concern. (The other-regarding
colony members in ways beyond these character of empathy is seen in the psychological
gradations. studies by Batson 1991). It enables the parent to
While the applicability of Hamilton’s rule is vicariously experience the emotions and needs of
somewhat disputed, kin altruism itself remains their offspring and to place these needs beyond
a widely accepted theory with evidential support their own immediate gratification. This ability to
from a number of species. An often-given exam- identify with others is augmented by human rea-
ple is the alarm calling among some mammals soning and imagination, which also facilitate
which warns family members that a predator another important element in other-regard: the
is in the area but risks attracting the predator’s appreciation of the other as a subject, one who
attention to the caller. With regard to humans, has a unique emotional and cognitive life and is
kin altruism is said to explain the universality capable of their own desires, intentions, and
of kinship groups and the pervasive nepotism goals.
in societies, systems of favoritism that are These other-regarding senses enable
supported by cultural norms including religious humans to express a psychological altruism
prescriptions on love. toward their children and other kin which tran-
Clearly, humans do form strong attachments scends Hamilton’s rule. So for reasons very
to family members, in particular to those in the different to that of bees and ants, the human
immediate family, and sometimes these alliances care of kin is not dependent upon the degree of
are nepotistic such that concern for kin excludes shared replica genes. Humans can also exhibit
the rightful care of others. These bonds may be egoism and hedonism which entail the pursuit
mediated through unconscious odor and visual of self-interested goals or pleasure, in prefer-
cues such that individuals prefer those who look ence to the care of others, including kin, and
and smell similar to referential figures like par- even at the expense of their own reproductive
ents. The primary means of kinship attachments, interests. Whether such instances of empa-
however, are probably the close associations thetic altruism and of egoism should be cate-
forged around the parent-offspring unit. Both gorized as evolutionary mistakes and
familiarity and similarity of situation, such as exaggerations, as some claim, or as capacities
those naturally occuring in the familial setting, with particular moral obligations, is an
foster empathy; it is easier to understand and ideological and not biological issue. Indeed,
identify with the experience of those we know evolution has generated the human felt need
and who are like us in some way. for an ideological framework; it has forced
Empathy owes its evolutionary origins, to humans to search beyond their biological
some extent, to the parent-offspring relationship. natures for a metanarrative within which to
Although this relationship is properly part of resolve their mix of self-regarding and other-
individual reproductive fitness, it is sometimes regarding motivations.
A 80 Altruism
Kin Altruism and Agape Love others for, in accord with the divine will, devo-
tion to Christ requires love for kin as well as
In the New Testament, agape includes the love of nonkin. Thus, there is support for familial love
kin, and in its character resembles psychological but not nepotism, for the love of kin is both
altruism (The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard deepened and constrained.
Version 1995). It requires a deeply attentive
other-regard, which carries the potential for
self-sacrifice on those occasions when the other’s Reciprocal Altruism: Biology and
needs should be placed before one’s own. It is Psychology
contrasted with the self-interest of egoism and
hedonism which are themselves explicitly In evolutionary theory, direct and indirect reci-
prohibited. Yet agape also bears its own distinc- procity are the two main forms of reciprocal
tive elements for, alongside the prohibitions and altruism, the cooperation between nonkin indi-
the agape commands, there is the transforming viduals. Direct reciprocity entails exchanges of
experience of humility and divine love. With the altruistic acts between individuals over a period
sense of awe before the greatness of the transcen- of time, in which the overall benefits outweigh
dent Deity, the self is compelled to acknowledge the costs of the altruism. As gains are invested
that it is not ultimate (suggested by Post (2002)). into each partner’s reproductive success, the
More profoundly, humility and love are experi- behavior is perpetuated in the population through
enced in the Divine’s own immanent agape as natural selection. Reciprocity can be observed in
revealed in the crucified Christ who died on a diverse range of species from the food sharing
behalf of humans to forgive their failure to love. among vampire bats that roost together to the
In identifying with this divine act of grace primate exchanges in food and grooming ser-
the individual is thereby freed from self- vices. Critics have suggested, however, that
preoccupation and enabled to respond with alter- immediate individual gains are sufficient to
ity and agapistic love toward others. explain nonhuman reciprocity, for example, per-
With regard to kin, the New Testament texts haps the bats only feed hungry roost mates so that
assume the appropriateness of familial bonds, they can sleep without being pestered.
particularly within the immediate family, which In indirect reciprocity, an individual cooper-
is perhaps indicative of an implicit recognition ates or may even assist another without expected
that these kinship ties are innate. Nonetheless, return, so long as an audience is present that will
they are not just accommodated as presumed be induced into future reciprocal exchanges with
practice; they are also explicitly rooted in the the altruist. As this assumes an ability to estab-
divine will. This is evident in texts such as 1 lish a reputation and evaluate relationships –
Timothy 5:8: “But if anyone does not provide knowing and remembering who offers aid and
for his relatives, and especially for members of who fails to repay debts – it is found only among
his household, he has denied the faith.” The love the most social and cognitively able species,
for natural family is a basic element in the primarily in humans. Since reciprocity benefits
agapistic commitment of believers. an individual’s reproductive and genic fitness, it
The constraints that are set upon this familial is viewed by sociobiologists as selfish. There is
love, however, ensure that it does not amount to also an expectation of widespread cheating
nepotism. The ultimate priority in love is not the (where individuals try to access the gains of
natural family but Christ. In the Gospels, Jesus’ reciprocity while minimizing their contribution
teaching requires that believers should be willing or giving nothing at all) and of subsequent coun-
to leave their families for his sake, a setting of ter-reprisals. (The general features of reciproc-
priorities that is found in the practice of the early ity are given in Dawkins op. cit., pp. 166–188,
church. While this love for Christ takes prece- 202–233, (Trivers (1985) and Nowak &
dence, its consequence is an enhanced regard for Highfield (2011)).
Altruism 81 A
The existence of direct and indirect reciprocity the explanatory power of reciprocity is limited.
is supported by human game experiments in Certainly, the gains of reciprocity are not always
which volunteer participants behave in a invested in human reproduction, and with regard A
tit-for-tat manner in exchanges of money. Most to its putative universality, while humans use
players cooperate in equitable exchanges, and reciprocity in exchanges of goods and money,
those that cheat (defect) by giving an unfair con- a distinction is commonly made between this
tribution are often punished by the other player’s economic context and a relational one, such as
subsequent defection. When the past behavior of concern for the welfare of a vulnerable person.
participants is made known, reputation becomes The former will be motivated by reciprocal inter-
important, and players are more generous toward ests, but the latter will entail an other-regard that
cooperators than defectors. Interestingly, how- surpasses reciprocity. Similarly, while reputation
ever, some game participants (so-called strong building is permitted in an economic context,
reciprocators) go beyond reciprocity by such as for being a fair tradesman, it is generally
punishing defectors and rewarding cooperators unacceptable within personal relations. Even in
at overall cost to themselves – an evolutionary friendship, one of the most seemingly reciprocal
explanation for this behavior is still being of personal relationships, the ideal is not of
discussed. Some biologists, including sociobiol- returned benefits but a mutual psychological
ogists, assume that reciprocal game results reflect altruism. Indeed, the similarities in circumstance
general human social behavior with nonrelatives. and interests which are common between friends
They interpret Christian moral teachings such as ensure a deep empathetic regard. So it is hardly
the golden rule, “In everything do to others as you surprising that direct reciprocity and indirect
would have them do to you,” and the command to reciprocity are found to be the primary modes
“love your neighbor as yourself” as advocating of behavior in game exchanges of money, and
reciprocity, and they see the story of the Good while this shows that reciprocation is part of
Samaritan in terms of reputation building the human makeup, it does not indicate its
(discussed in Rolston, op. cit., pp. 248–260, and comprehensiveness.
also Ruse (1994)). Moreover, how humans actually engage in
Reciprocity is also used to account for the both economic and personal relationships is
wide spectrum of emotions and abilities in somewhat open. In trade exchanges where the
human psychology. Deception of self and others, individuals are motivated by a concern for both
for instance, facilitates cheating by allowing, self and others, the consequence will be fair rec-
respectively, the feigning and the realistic postur- iprocity. In contrast, cheating and deception
ing of sincerity. Guilt is explained as a means of occur where there is an egoistic preoccupation
redress when one is found to be cheating, so that with the self and simultaneous de-emphasizing
reciprocal relationships can resume. Shame indi- of the other-regarding senses. These biases may
cates an individual’s inferiority in reciprocal be initially formed consciously, but, like all emo-
encounters which will be resolved either by tive responses, they may then become ingrained
appeasing superiors or by expressions of anger by habit. Even self-deception often has an initial
which preempt any exploitation. Contempt conscious element in the repeated internal justi-
allows an individual to defect from reciprocal fication of the behavior. The specific meaning or
relationships that are not productive, and grati- content of human emotions also depends upon
tude acts as an inducement toward further gener- how the individual resolves their self-regarding
osity by the donor. (Reciprocal explanations of and other-regarding propensities. So, for exam-
human emotions can be seen in Fessler and Haley ple, the expression of guilt may be entirely self-
(2003)). concerned feelings of unease generated only by
Although it is entirely reasonable that some what others may think, or it may be a genuine
human emotions and cultural norms have evolved sense of contrition stemming from an empathetic
to effect reciprocal relationships, nevertheless, awareness of how others have been wronged.
A 82 Altruism
Thus, fairness and cheating, sincerity and decep- not be interpreted as an inconsistency within
tion, reciprocity, psychological altruism, and agape love such that the love for the weak
egoism are all possible within human nature. supersedes that for the enemy; the purpose is
both to protect the weak and to bring the enemy
to a proper regard for God and others.
Reciprocal Altruism and Agape Love Such expansive agape love is often criticized
as being motivated by the promise of recipro-
The New Testament assumes both the acceptabil- cated eschatological rewards. Certainly, the
ity of reciprocation in economic contexts and its texts refer to rewards for those who love Christ
appropriateness in terms of fairness and justice – more than their natural families, who love their
“the laborer deserves to be paid.” The ideal for enemies, and who show compassion to the vul-
personal relationships, however, is an agapistic nerable and do not reputation-build in the pro-
love which transcends reciprocal interests. Even cess. But these rewards are nonreciprocal in
the appropriate agape love for self is ultimately terms of both motivation and content. The only
other-regarding, as its final locus is thankfulness acceptable motive in agape love is the genuine
and love toward God who both created and for- concern for the other, not a focus upon the
gave the self. Nonreciprocity is particularly evi- reward. This finds its most poignant expression
dent in the golden rule, where the focus is not on in the exposition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 and
returned benefits but upon treating others in the in the Gospel tradition that the “first will be last,
way that the self would want to be treated regard- and the last will be first.” Paradoxically, the one
less of their response. Hence, in the Matthean who loves others receives rewards, while the
gospel, it is required in “everything,” in all and one who seeks their own benefit, including
every circumstance, an inclusivity which is rewards, receives little or no recompense. With
emphasized by its setting within the love for regard to content, it is God who is the primary
enemies in the Lukan text. This love which tran- reward: the eschatological vision is that of being
scends enmity, both in terms of nonretaliation and fully able to love and worship God, as well as
generous care, is also the context for Jesus’ para- participating in a completely united and agapistic
ble of the Good Samaritan. Moreover, in the com- human community. The reward is not concerned
mand to pray for one’s enemies, an empathetic with reproduction, much less egoism, but with the
regard is engaged as the believer takes up the consummation of agapistic love, its perfect and
enemy’s needs and welfare and acts as an advo- full expression.
cate in presenting them before God. Prayer, in
particular, makes it possible to transform the
self-concern provoked by enmity into agape love. Group Altruism: Biology and Psychology
Reciprocity is also very clearly transcended in
the priority within agape love that is given to the Group selection theorists have recently proposed
weak – individuals without the means of that groups can function like individuals, as adap-
returning benefits. This includes those who were tive superorganisms, that compete to outlast and
marginalized and vulnerable in ancient society outreproduce other groups. This relative group
such as the poor, disabled, widows, and orphans. fitness may include differentials in birth and
The care of such persons is not for reputation mortality rates, susceptibility to group extinction,
building, as such deeds are to be done in secrecy or differences in their propagation of new groups.
and even the self is not to dwell on the goodness Among the traits subject to group selection are
of the action. This care for the vulnerable, how- the prosocial ones such as altruism; for the groups
ever, necessarily involves potential conflict with containing altruistic individuals, those willing to
those who oppress the weak, and there are indeed partially forgo their own welfare and reproduc-
instances of confrontation with such enemies tive interests in order to aid group members
alluded to in the New Testament. This should are able to outcompete the groups which exhibit
Altruism 83 A
less internal solidarity. There is a necessary are personal reasons, however, and need not be
ambivalence in group altruism as care must be related to group survival and reproductive out-
expressed only within the group while toward comes. In fact, just as some ideologies form A
outsiders there will be indifference or open exclusive group identities which legitimize
hostility. As Elliott Sober and David Sloan intergroup conflict (group theory itself could be
Wilson say, “Group selection favours within- used in this way), others may choose to extend
group niceness and between-group nastiness” care beyond the group boundary. One often-given
(Sober and Wilson 1998). instance is the choice of some charitable individ-
While there is still debate about whether group uals and organizations in the West to express
selection occurs in nature, it has become an empathetic care for, and provide aid to, poorer
increasingly popular means of explaining the countries. Every group, therefore, must be evalu-
forging of groups in human society, including ated by its own particular ideological commitments.
religious affiliations. It is argued that religions,
like political parties, nations, and tribes, establish
group boundaries that identify those who belong Group Altruism and Agape Love
and those who do not. They provide instruction
and sanction of ingroup altruism and outgroup The New Testament texts undoubtedly envisage
apathy or hostility. These are particularly binding a deeply bonded ingroup community, one in
in theistic communities where they are endorsed which the familial metaphor of brothers and sis-
by a moral deity, not least because this supernat- ters unites a culturally and ethnically diverse
ural and invisible agent is ever watching. Such people. Such kinship terms mediate an empa-
a vigilant divine presence is deemed particularly thetic altruism, for cobelievers are not alien but
important during times of environmental crises belong within the natural intimacy of the imme-
when group solidarity is most fragile – a cited diate family. This community is also demarcated
example of this is the frequent experience of from the rest of society – most pointedly in
water scarcity in biblical Israel. Religions such the Johannine description of them as “not of
as Christianity are also said to be particularly the world.” There are prescriptives for both com-
effective in solving the problem of cheats or munal love and group separateness. Yet the latter
free riders – those who want to benefit from the is primarily concerned with the internality of
group coalition without bearing the cost of con- believers not being drawn away from their prior
tributing to group welfare. Costly signals such as commitment to God and toward idolatry. That it
rituals, prayer, charitable commitments, and is not about external human relations is evident in
especially virtues like self-giving love make Jesus’ prayer in the Johannine gospel itself: “I am
extensive demands upon the individual. These not asking you to take them out of the world,
deter cheats and also facilitate trust within the I have sent them into the world.”
group; the signals are symbols of the individual’s Indeed, there is no expectation of intergroup
genuine commitment to the group’s shared rivalry as the community was not to displace
ideals and aims (Norenzayan and Shariff review other groups in society, such as kin and civic
group and reciprocal explanations of religious units, nor even to restrict the activities of other
altruism – Norenzayan and Shariff (2008)). religious communities. There is, rather, a com-
Clearly, humans do associate in exclusive mitment to love all those outside the group
groups with resulting rivalries between religious boundary. Even the community’s ingroup love
communities, nation states, and even scientific was intended both for the support of its members
laboratories. Most likely, these ingroup bonds and for outsiders for whom it was a witness to the
are the result of the empathetic attachments that reality of Christ and the divine love. Those so
are formed between those who are familiar with drawn to Christ were, of course, welcomed into
one another or who share the same cultural back- its communal life. This outgroup love cannot be
ground, ideological views or shared goals. These considered a costly signal for, although its sheer
A 84 Altruism
expansiveness may be a potent excluder of free References

riders, the agapistic commitment to outsiders
transcends a group theory explanation. Batson, C. D. (1991). The altruism question: Toward
a social-psychological answer (p. 116ff). Hillsdale:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dawkins, R. (1989). The selfish gene (p. 88ff). Oxford:
Conclusion Oxford University Press.
Examples of New Testament texts which relate to the
themes discussed in this article are listed here: agape
Agapistic love evidently encompasses psychologi-
love and prohibitions of egoism–Mt. 20:25–28,
cal altruism and some aspects of biological altru- 23:25–26, Lk. 20:46–47, Phil. 2:3–8, 1 Pet. 5:5–6 1
ism, but it has its own distinctive character in Jn. 3:16–17; love for kin–Mt. 15:3–6, Lk. 11:11–13, 1
a radical humility and self-giving which is formed Tim. 5:3–8; constraints on kinship–Mt. 10:37-39,
22:37-40, Mk. 10:29-30, 1 Cor. 7:32-35; fair reciproc-
around the nature of God as revealed in Christ.
ity in economic exchanges–Lk 3:12–13, 10:7, Rom.
A criticism of such agape love is that it is too costly 4:4, Jas. 5:4; nonreciprocity in agape–Mt. 7:12, Lk.
and universal to be bearable by its adherents – it 6:31–36, 10:27–37, Jn. 15:12–14, Gal. 5:13–14; love
surpasses the inherent limits of human capacity. for the enemy–Mt. 5:38–48, Lk. 6:27–36, Rom.
12:14, 1 Cor. 4:11–13; love for the weak–Mt. 6:2–4,
Indeed, agape love is constrained for while there
25:34–36, Lk. 14:12–14, Acts 4:34–35, Jas. 1:27, 1 Jn.
is a commitment to love all others, each individ- 3:17–18; promised rewards–Mt. 5:11–12, 6:1–4,
ual’s love is bound by both circumstance and call- 19:29, Lk. 6:35, 2 Cor. 5:10, Rev. 2:10; nonreciprocity
ing, that is, to those within their normal realm of in the motivation for rewards–Mt. 19:27–20:16, Mk.
9:33–35, 10:29–31, 1 Cor. 13:1–13; the content of
influence, as well as those who may be outside their
rewards–Mt. 8:11, Jn. 17:1–3, Rev. 7:9–15; ingroup
immediate context but to whom they are particu- identity–Mk. 3:31–35, Jn. 15:19, 17:16, 2 Cor.
larly called. Encountered within both categories 6:14–18, Heb. 2:11–12; group nonexclusivity–Jn.
will be individuals and communities who are out- 17:15–18, 1 Cor. 5:9–10; commitments to kin and
civic groupings–see above for love of kin, Rom.
side our kin, reciprocal and even group affiliations.
13:1–7, Titus 3:1–2, 1 Pet. 2:13–17 (the only exception
The more serious criticism is that this love is prior loyalty to God–Mt. 10:37–39, Acts 5:29);
bears no relation to reality, for even those who group witness and love for all–Mt. 5:14–16,
self-consciously adhere to such agapistic love fail Jn. 13:34–35, 17:20–23, 1 Thess. 3:12, 5:15, 1 Pet.
2:11–12. Quotations and book abbreviations are
to fulfill it. Certainly, love competes with egoism
taken from The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard
in human nature, and agape itself competes with Version (1995). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
other ideologies in human society, not least the Fessler, D. M. T., & Haley, K. J. (2003). The strategy of
self-interest espoused by contemporary Western affect: Emotions in human cooperation. In P. Ham-
merstein (Ed.), Genetic and cultural evolution of coop-
culture. There is no reason to abandon the ideal,
eration (pp. 7–36). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press;
as through the New Testament tradition of especially p. 12f, and Trivers, op. cit., p. 388ff.
received forgiveness for past failures, restoration Norenzayan, A., & Shariff, A. F. (2008). The origin and
of commitment and empowering by the Spirit of evolution of religious prosociality. Science,
322(5898), 58–62.
Christ, agape can be constantly renewed.
Nowak, M., & Highfield, R. (2011). Supercooperators:
Beyond the survival of the fittest. Why cooperation, not
competition is the key to life (p. 21ff). Edinburgh:
Cross-References Canongate Books.
Post, S. G. (2002). The tradition of agape. In S. G. Post,
L. G. Underwood, J. P. Schloss, & W. B. Hurlbut
▶ Agape (Eds.), Altruism and altruistic love: Science, philoso-
▶ Christian Ethics phy and religion in dialogue (pp. 51–64). Oxford:
▶ Cognitive Science of Religion Oxford University Press, p. 63.
Rolston, H., III. (1999). Genes, genesis and god: Values
▶ Empathy
and their origins in natural and human history (p. 70f).
▶ Evolutionary Psychology Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
▶ Love (Alterity, Relationship) Ruse, M. (1994). Evolutionary theory and Christian
▶ Natural Selection ethics: Are they in harmony? Zygon, 29(1), 5–24.
Amnesia 85 A
Sober, E., & Wilson, D. S. (1998). Unto others: Description
The evolution and psychology of unselfish behaviour
(p. 9). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; for
general discussion of human group altruism see The neurobiology of amnesia is concerned with A
p. 132ff. the way information is stored in the brain, and
Trivers, R. L. (1985). Social evolution (p. 361ff). with what goes wrong when this process fails. In
Menlo Park: The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing this sense, it largely overlaps with the study of
Company.
memory (see ▶ Memory). It is mostly based on
the study of normal and amnesic humans as well
as animals, but also benefits from other sources of
knowledge. It aims for a better understanding of
Alzheimer’s disease the human mind, and to provide ways to help
people with memory disturbances.
Rudi D’Hooge and Detlef Balschun
Laboratory of Biological Psychology,
Department of Psychology, Katholieke Self-identification
Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Science
The study of amnesia is a science. It is based on
A neurodegenerative disorder that leads to the scientific method and the systematic investi-
progressive dementia. First symptoms include gation of hypotheses. Nevertheless, since its
impaired memory, but later on also thought and object of study is also perceived subjectively,
speech processes are affected, and finally patients some of its questions are open for speculation
become completely disabled and die. Its classical based on this kind of experience rather than on
neuropathological hallmarks include intracellular objective data.
neurofibrillary tangles and brain deposition of
amyloid protein.
Characteristics
Research in amnesia is concerned with the very

American Indian Studies nucleus of identity, which is memory, leading it
to offer privileged insights about the mind and the
▶ Native American Studies human condition. It is also an area of neurobiol-
ogy which draws knowledge from a very wide
range of subfields, ranging from cognitive psy-
chology to molecular biology.
Amnesia
Relevance to Science and Religion
Olavo B. Amaral
Instituto de Bioquı́mica Médica, Universidade The neurobiology of amnesia, although not spe-
Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, cifically concerned with religion, has implica-
RJ, Brazil tions for concepts such as self and human
nature, as it provides clues on how personality
and self-awareness persist when memory is dis-
Related Terms turbed. Also, the fact that memories can incorpo-
rate subjective meanings and even imagined
Memory loss experiences during their processing leads to
A 86 Amnesia
questions about the veracity of empirical knowl- knowledge about the mind to increase under-
edge. Such issues have implications for the Sci- standing of the human condition.
ence and Religion debate.
Conceptualization
Sources of Authority
Nature/World
Although memory has been a subject of philoso- Amnesia researchers tend to view nature in the
phy for centuries, its experimental study largely usual way of the natural sciences (i.e., within the
started in the late nineteenth and early twentieth limits of what can be empirically observed); how-
centuries with precursors such as Hermann ever, its findings are not particularly pertinent to
Ebbinghaus, who started the study of association such concepts.
formation in humans, and Ivan Pavlov, who
developed the first conditioning paradigms in Human Being
animals. A human being is seen as arising from the inter-
The study of amnesia in human subjects action of a genetic background with the environ-
gained impulse with the 1957 description of mental events occurring during an individual’s
patient H.M., who underwent removal of the lifetime. These events affect the brain through
temporal lobes for the treatment of seizures and synaptic plasticity to make up an individual’s
could not form new declarative memories after neurobiological structure. Synaptic plasticity is
the surgery. This and other cases led to the dis- the phenomena through which synapses between
tinction between anterograde (the failure or neurons can change their efficacy, thereby
inability to form new memories in the long encoding information which is thought to under-
term) and retrograde amnesia (a dysfunction in lie memory.
the ability to retrieve established memories),
leading to a distinction between memory acqui- Life and Death
sition, consolidation, and retrieval mechanisms. It Amnesia research sees brain function and con-
also helped support the hypothesis that memories sciousness as one of the key factors defining “life”
undergo late forms of processing which continue in humans. As for the larger concept of “life” in
to occur over large periods of time (i.e., years) nature, it is not particularly pertinent to such a topic.
after their initial acquisition, such as systems
consolidation. Reality
Amnesia research tends to view objective reality
in the same framework as the natural sciences.
Ethical Principles However, as other areas of neurobiology, it
acknowledges that “empirical” reality is ulti-
Research in amnesia is usually guided by national mately a subjective perception.
legislation on research on human and animal sub-
jects, as well as international research guidelines Knowledge
such, as the Declaration of Helsinki. Amnesia researchers usually think of knowledge
in a personal level as the abilities and information
which can be retrieved from memory and used.
Key Values However, they understand that knowledge can
also be discussed in a collective scale.
The study of the neurobiology of memory and
amnesia is driven by the principles of (a) allevi- Truth
ating the suffering of patients with memory dys- Amnesia researchers usually believe that there
functions (see ▶ Dementia) and (b) providing is “truth” in understanding the functioning of
Amnesia 87 A
the physical world. However, truth is consid- Relevant Themes
ered an abstract concept which we approach
partially through scientific models, with no As memory is a subject so vital for human A
assumptions on the existence of an absolute experience, it has been constantly revisited
truth. by other sciences and arts, such as philosophy
and literature. Amnesia is also a popular topic
Perception in literature and cinema, possibly because it
Perception is the information which an individual allows one to discuss the limits of the human
acquires through the senses. It is thus a necessary self in these conditions. However, the depic-
first step for memory formation. tion of amnesia in such works is usually inac-
curate, following poetic license rather than
Time science.
Amnesia research views time in the general Specific definitions of memory are also central
framework of physics and the natural sciences. for many religions. Spiritual beliefs in past lives,
However, it also acknowledges the existence of for example, has led some to hypothesize that
a subjective sense of time, which is part of the memories might be transferred to future genera-
information contained in memories. tions or unrelated individuals. However, this is
also contrary to what neurobiology observes and
Consciousness predicts based on empirical evidence.
Consciousness is a very controversial concept
in neuroscience, even within specific subdisci-
plines. Most definitions describe it as an Cross-References
organism’s representation of itself and of its
world, or as the feeling of awareness derived ▶ Biological Psychology
from perceptions and thoughts. Memory ▶ Cognitive Neuroscience
researchers acknowledge the existence of ▶ Cognitive Psychology
declarative memories, which can be con- ▶ Conditioning and Learning
sciously retrieved by a subject, but also of ▶ Dementia
nondeclarative memories, such as abilities ▶ Memory
and reflexes, which can influence behavior ▶ Neuropsychology
through unconscious mechanisms. ▶ Neuroscience
Rationality/Reason
In amnesia research, reason is generally seen as References
the foundation of science. In neurobiological
terms, it can also be an object of research, when Bear, M. F., Connors, B. W., & Paradiso, M. A. (2006).
Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain (3rd ed.). New
viewed as the way in which an individual uses
York: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
knowledge to solve problems and make Eichenbaum, H. (2011). The Cognitive Neuroscience of
decisions. Memory: an Introduction (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford
University Press.
Scoville, W. B., & Milner, B. (1957). Loss of
Mystery
recent memory after bilateral hippocampal lesions.
As a natural science, amnesia research usually Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry,
sees mystery as something about which we lack 20, 11–21.
comprehension, not as an intrinsically incom- Squire, L. R., & Kandel, E. R. (2008). Memory: From
mind to molecules (2nd ed.). New York: Scientific
prehensible entity. Some neuroscientists also
American Library.
study concepts such as “mystery” and “faith” Tulving, E., & Craik, F. I. M. (2005). The Oxford hand-
as subjective perceptions arising from the book of memory (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford Univer-
brain. sity Press.
A 88 Anastenaria
the continuity of Greek civilization, from ancient

Anastenaria to modern Greece. Nevertheless, it became the
dominant view of the Anastenaria for more than
Dimitris Xygalatas a century, and caused a persecution of this
LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental tradition by the Greek Church, which is to this
Research of Religion, Masaryk University, Brno, day very hostile toward it (Danforth 1989;
Czech Republic Xygalatas 2011).
Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus The Anastenaria are devout and practicing
University, Aarhus, Denmark Orthodox Christians; however, in addition to
church religious life, they observe an elaborate
annual ritual cycle with several ceremonial
Related Terms events around the year, all of which are based
on important days of the Orthodox calendar and
Nestinari are related to various saints. Special emphasis
is given to saint Constantine, who is considered
to be the founder of this tradition, and his
Description mother, Saint Helen. According to one folk
legend, at some indefinite time in the past, the
The term “Anastenaria” (from the Greek verb church of saints Constantine and Helen in Kosti
anastenazo, to sigh) is a plural noun which refers caught fire. As the church burned, the villagers
both to a tradition and the members of that heard the icons crying for help. The bravest
tradition (singular: Anastenari). The Anastenaria rushed into the burning church to save them
are religious communities of Northern Greece and neither they nor the icons were harmed by
and Southeast Bulgaria (where they are called the fire. To commemorate this miracle, the peo-
Nestinari), known for their devotion to saints ple of Kosti organized an annual fire-walking
Constantine and Helen and the fire-walking ritual.
rituals they perform in their honor. Each community of Anastenaria has its own
This tradition was maintained in various sacred spaces, exclusively used for religious
villages of Eastern Thrace during the time of the purposes: Fire-walking is performed within
Ottoman Empire by Greek-speaking populations. a fenced circular field of about 30 m in diameter.
The most notable of those villages was Kosti, in Most ceremonial activities take place in
the area of Strandja. After the Balkan Wars, during a rectangular building called the conaki. There
the first quarter of the twentieth century, when is also a chapel (parekklisi) and a sacred well
Bulgaria gained control of this territory, those (ayiasma), from which holy water is drawn. The
populations were forced to migrate to Greece. most important sacred objects of the
Today, most of their descendents live scattered Anastenaria are the icons of the saints, which
around Greek Macedonia and they perform their are passed from one generation to the next.
rituals in five villages: Ayia Eleni, Langhadas, These icons are thought to carry some of the
Meliki, Mavrolefki, and Kerkini. A handful of power of the saint they depict and to have mirac-
Bulgarians still perform these rituals in their orig- ulous properties.
inal location near the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. The biggest events in the religious life of the
The origins of this tradition are unknown. Anastenaria are two festivals, that of Saint Ath-
Certain Greek scholars have argued that it is anasius in January and especially that of Saints
related to the ancient orgiastic Dionysian cults. Constantine and Helen in May. These festivals
However, this theory was ideologically moti- incorporate elaborate sequences of ritual
vated and lacks any evidentiary support whatso- actions, including processions of the icons
ever. It was constructed as part of a general effort around the village, purifications with incense
on behalf of Greek nationalist folklorists to prove and water, communal meals, and an animal
Anastenaria 89 A
Anastenaria, Fig. 1 The
Anastenaria dancing
barefooted over the fire
A
sacrifice. Each festival lasts 3 days, and during includes rituals that the Greek Church opposes
that period, the Anastenaria dance ecstatically and considers as pagan.
for many hours to the sounds of lyres and drums.
The festival culminates with a fire-walking rit-
ual, where the participants, carrying the icons of Characteristics
Saints Constantine and Helen, leave the conaki
and continue their dance barefoot over glowing- The Anastenaria are a distinct tradition in that
red coals without getting burned (Xygalatas they combine Orthodox Christian doctrine and
2012) (Fig. 1). liturgical life with ritual actions that are not part
of Orthodoxy, such as animal sacrifice, ecstatic
dance, and fire-walking. Furthermore, although
Self-identification the Anastenaria recognize the Trinity and all the
saints of the Orthodox Church, their worship is
Science mostly focused on two saints, Constantine and
The Anastenaria do not in any case self-identify Helen, and particularly the former, to the extent
as a science. However, they often claim the that some observers have described it as a cult of
ability to explain and influence the natural Saint Constantine.
world with the use of their icons and the perfor-
mance of their rituals. According to these claims,
they can often predict the future, heal the sick, Relevance to Science and Religion
bring rain and fertility, etc.
The Anastenaria themselves are not explicitly
Religion interested in the disciplinary relationship between
The Anastenaria are a religious group. How- science and religion, as they do not see a conflict
ever, they do not self-identify as a separate between the two domains. However, scholars who
religion. They are devout Orthodox Christians, study this tradition often debate about the priority
who fully endorse the doctrines of the Greek of scientific or religious explanations of incombus-
Orthodox Church, participate in its rituals, and tibility. Scientists have asserted that fire-walkers
honor all its saints, but have a special place in do not get burned because of the poor conductivity
their worship for saints Constantine and Helen. of coal and short time of contact. They point out
They also have a distinct ritual cycle, which that those who perform fire-walking around the
A 90 Anastenaria
world, whether religious or not, do not usually get Becoming an Anastenari is a life-long commit-
burned. On the other hand, participants as well as ment, as withdrawing can evoke the saints’
various scholars argue that science cannot explain wrath.
fire-walking. According to this view, fire-walking
is a mystery, only explainable in terms of divine
intervention, and nonbelievers who perform it will Conceptualization
get burned unless they somehow manage to cheat.
Nature/World
As Christians, the Anastenaria see nature as
Sources of Authority God’s creation ex nihilo. As such, nature is not
sacred in itself and it is not to be worshiped but
The Anastenaria have no prophets nor sacred texts admired and revered as God’s creation.
or any other form of written tradition, although as Thus, those elements of the physical world that
Christians, they accept the authority of the Bible are considered as holy for the Anastenaria, such
and Jesus Christ Danforth 1989, Xygalatas 2011. as their sacred wells (ayiasmata), are seen as
The official leader of the group is the such not because of some intrinsic property, but
archianastenaris, who initiates their rituals; how- only to the extent that they provide some material
ever, he is rather considered as “the first among means for the manifestation of divine properties.
equals.” Important decisions regarding the tradi-
tion are often made by popular consensus, while Human Being
the succession of an archianastenaris is decided The Anastenaria accept the Christian view of
by a form of council of elders, called “the twelve” human beings as created by God and consisting
(although the number is merely symbolic and in of a mortal body and an immortal soul/spirit.
practice varies). In general, elders are seen as
much more knowledgeable and therefore authori- Life and Death
tative than youths on matters of tradition. As Orthodox Christians, the Anastenaria believe
that life was created by God. Whether present life
forms were created by a miraculous creative act
Ethical Principles (creationism) or through evolutionary processes
(theistic evolution) is a wider debate in Christian
For the Anastenaria, the world is governed by theology, not directly relevant to the Anastenaria.
the will of God and the saints, particularly According to Orthodox doctrine, death brings
Saint Constantine, who is the progenitor of the the dissolution of the body, while the soul awaits
Anastenaria and has an active interest in their the Final Judgment, which will take place at the
affairs, guiding and protecting them, helping the Second Coming of Christ.
pious, and punishing the sinful. The icons of
the saints contain part of their essence and have Reality
the power to heal the sick. As Orthodox Christians, the Anastenaria believe
that there is a physical reality that is knowable
and finite as well as a divine world that is beyond
Key Values the reach of human experience, unknowable, and
timeless. However, God’s will is manifested in
The Anastenaria must serve the saints and look the physical world through His workings and
after their icons, lead an ethical life, and be good those of the saints, who function as mediators
Christians. If one receives the saints’ calling in between Him and human beings. Most important
the form of a dream or other “sign,” one must among them is Saint Constantine, who often
become a fire-walker; failure to obey will cause performs miracles, appears in people’s dreams
the saints’ punishment in the form of misfortune. and visions, and sends them meaningful signs.
Anastenaria 91 A
Knowledge Consciousness
Religious knowledge within the tradition of the In addition to normal consciousness, certain
Anastenaria is orally transmitted and comes from people among the Anastenaria are thought to A
two main sources. The first is personal experience have a special kind of consciousness, which
and its individual or collective interpretation. allows them to communicate with the saints,
Dreams and visions are seen as manifestations most commonly Saint Constantine. In particular,
of the saints, while unusual events are often con- many Anastenaria claim that they enter
sidered as divine signs or miracles performed by this altered state of consciousness during the
them. The second source of religious knowledge performance of ritual dance and fire-walking.
comes from oral narratives that get transmitted
from one generation to the next by word of Rationality/Reason
mouth. Those usually involve the myths and leg- As people of the modern Western world, the
ends of the Anastenaria that talk about the origins Anastenaria usually rely on reason and science
of fire-walking, the lost homelands, and an ideal- for explanations of the world. However, rationality
ized past, when the saints interacted directly with is not the only source of knowledge. There are
their forefathers, who were wise and pious. things that are inaccessible to human reason, and
This transmission is not regular or explicit but for those things faith is a better guide. Religious
rather occasional and even rare. Elders are explanations are not usually seen as incompatible
generally considered as much more knowledge- with scientific ones. Especially when science fails
able and wise, even if this knowledge is never to provide solutions to everyday problems (for
displayed or challenged. example, when doctors fail to provide healing),
religious explanations are sought alongside.
Truth
Truth can be the understanding of the physical or Mystery
the metaphysical world. The former can be The term “mystery” refers to that which is
grasped by humans only in part, while the latter beyond human reason and understanding and
is unattainable by them. However, in certain can be made known only by divine revelation.
occasions, the saints may reveal fragments of The Anastenaria consider fire-walking as one
divine truth through their signs and other such mystery. According to them, the fact that
manifestations. their feet remain unharmed by the fire cannot be
explained except as a miracle. Only those who
Perception enjoy the protection of Saint Constantine can fire-
Human perception is limited to the physical walk successfully.
world, while metaphysical things are beyond
our perception. However, certain devout persons Relevant Themes
can often perceive things that are outside normal
sensorial awareness, through the mediation of the Fire-walking rituals are performed the world
saints, who send them their signs in dreams, over, but there is no established connection
visions, as well as in everyday life. between the Anastenaria and other traditions,
with the exception of the Nestinari of Bulgaria,
Time as the two originate from the same tradition.
As all Orthodox Christians, the Anastenaria
have a linear concept of time, which has
a beginning and an end. The beginning is the Cross-References
act of creation by God and the end will come
with the Second Coming of Christ and the Final ▶ Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the
Judgment, which will bring the consummation Sciences
of the world and time. ▶ Experience
A 92 Anātman (Sanskrit)
▶ Fire-Walking as diffusion imaging have revolutionized how

▶ Religious Experiences circuits and structures are mapped in the human
▶ Ritual brain. The in vivo approaches have greatly
improved our understanding of the normal trajec-
tory of brain anatomy during maturational and
References development changes as well as normal aging.
These in vivo anatomical techniques have also
Danforth, L. M. (1989). Fire-walking and religious healing. transformed clinical neuroscience in the diagno-
The anastenaria of Greece and the American fire-walking
sis, care, and treatment of many neurological and
movement. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Xygalatas, D. (2011). Ethnography, historiography, and psychiatric disorders. Brain anatomy varies
the making of history in the tradition of the somewhat and studies of populations have
anastenaria. History and Anthropology, 22(1), 57–74. revealed variation by anatomic region, gender,
Xygalatas, D. (2012). Cognition and culture in the fire-
handedness, and other demographic categories.
walking rituals of the anastenaria (Religion, cognition
and culture). London: Equinox. Brain tissue can be examined postmortem using
a variety of histological, immunohistochemical,
and other approaches to identify and characterize
its cellular and chemical composition.
Anātman (Sanskrit) The brain is a complex concentration of nerve
cells in the central nervous system weighing
▶ Anattā approximately 3 lb and responsible for sensory
perception of the environment, determining and
effecting appropriate motor responses, as well as
thinking and learning. The brain governs the
Anatenaria functioning of all the body’s other organs. It is
also responsible for instinctual behaviors and
▶ Fire-Walking integrates current information with past experi-
ences. The brain makes us conscious, emotional,
and intelligent.
In humans, the brain is made up of about
Anatomy of the Brain 100 billion nerve cells, called neurons;
supporting cells (glia); and vascular and other
Arthur W. Toga tissues. There are numerous neuron types differ-
Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of entiated by structure and function. Encased in the
Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, bony cranium, the brain’s outward appearance is
Los Angeles, CA, USA dominated by two large, almost symmetrical
cerebral hemispheres located on either side of
a central core known as the brain stem. The
Related Terms brain stem gradually becomes the spinal cord
exiting the cranium through an opening at the
Brain anatomy base of the skull called the foramen magnum.
Description Self-Identification
Brain anatomy is studied in a variety of ways Science

from cyto- and chemoarchitectural studies to Anatomy is, by its very nature, descriptive sci-
whole brain in vivo maps created using magnetic ence. Observing and documenting the structure
resonance imaging (MRI). Newer methods such of the human brain has fascinated students of
Anatomy of the Brain 93 A
biology and medicine for centuries. It is a science depend. The structure of the brain defines the
that uses exquisitely sensitive instruments capa- machinery upon which our understanding of its
ble of dissecting the components of individual functions and systems operate. As such, it is A
cells along with imaging machines capable of fundamental and often linked to many other dis-
witnessing, in a living healthy human being, the ciplines related to the nervous system.
neuronal and hemodynamic consequences of Brain anatomy is distinctive as it provides the
thinking and behaving. Both structural and func- nomenclature for communicating the location
tional anatomy can be defined as a harmonious and relationship of structures relevant to the
partnership between a number of scientific disci- study of neurology and psychiatry and other spe-
plines including neuroscience, computer science, cialties of medicine. Brain anatomy also clas-
physics, and mathematics. sifies structures into systems establishing the
Since anatomy is a descriptive activity, mor- relationship between parts of the brain and its
phological statistics such as shape, size, position, functions. As such, it is critical in understanding
orientation along with reports of the overall cell the consequent deficits following insult from
type, packing density, and other features are used trauma, disease, or other causes.
to label and quantitatively measure regions of the The modern science of brain anatomy includes
brain. Augmenting these descriptions are the neu- coordinate systems that have application in the
ronal fiber pathways that connect different regions care and treatment of patients by neurologists,
of the brain. These too are compiled into atlases neurosurgeons, and radiologists. Population stud-
that document the accumulated understanding of ies are enabled by the utility of these coordinate
brain anatomy. These days, mostly all this activity systems and the sophisticated mathematical tools
is done across populations and to compare one for averaging and comparing across subjects that
subpopulation with another. But more impor- accompany them.
tantly, it is done digitally and computationally, In basic neuroscience, brain anatomy figures
enabling comprehensive statistics and visualiza- prominently in cognitive neuroscience, psychol-
tions to be computed and rendered quickly. ogy, and other related fields. Relating behaviors
The science of anatomy is now often performed, to specific circuits and systems of the brain is
in part, automatically using machine vision tech- a form of functional anatomy studied using
niques whereby algorithmic feature extraction, MRI, positron emission tomography (PET),
identification, measurement, and modeling can be transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), elec-
performed with little or no human assistance. This troencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalog-
science is applied in basic and translational raphy (MEG), and other methods. Hence, it is
research to normal and diseased brain. a science that is tightly interwoven with many
Historically, this field has always considered other specialties of neuroscience.
itself a science as it describes, following obser-
vation, features that can be seen and measured of
an organ system found in all mammals. Its utility Relevance to Science and Religion
in medicine has only been realized relatively
recently. The study of neurology includes com- The science of brain anatomy includes the study
prehensive knowledge of brain anatomy coupled of its changes (both structural and functional)
with an understanding of its component func- over time. The adaptive consequences present
tions, diseases, and abnormalities. themselves in many brain areas across the life
span influenced by many factors including expe-
rience. As such, a variety of experiential influ-
Characteristics ences have been investigated including
meditation and practices of certain eastern reli-
Brain anatomy is often the foundation upon gions to determine if and to what extent brain
which other clinical neuroscientific disciplines changes can be measured. Functional anatomy
A 94 Anatomy of the Brain
studies in the form of fMRI have been used to (1911–2007) developed a system for stereotactic
measure brain responses to moral and ethical localization of human brain structures, creating
dilemmas. Thus, the science of structural and human brain atlases that enabled quantitative
functional brain anatomy may have relevance to comparison of brain anatomy across subjects.
the scholarly area called science and religion. With the advent of imaging devices, the power
Certainly the emergence of ever more sensitive of population studies and replication of findings
methods will encourage this line of investigation by independent laboratories and studies defines
to continue. the authority of this discipline.
Sources of Authority Ethical Principles
Illustrations of the brain underwent a dramatic There are general principles regarding the use of
leap in quality, along with general scientific human subjects that are enforced by independent
inquiry, in the fifteenth century (Clarke, et al., regulatory bodies. These review boards examine
1996; Finger, 2000). Objective survey of brain the ethics, methods, and usage of all data col-
anatomy along with considerable artistic skill lected from human subjects to determine the
produced increasingly accurate representations value and risk of each study.
of the many of the structures of the brain. Exam-
ples include drawings made by Leonardo da
Vinci (1498–1504) and Andreas Vesalius Key Values
(1543). Created during the Renaissance and Age
of Enlightenment, these are among the first illus- Understanding the human brain is one of the
trations of brain anatomy rendered following greatest quests in science. This is the organ that
careful examination of cadaverous specimens. makes us who we are and hence the value of this
Andreas Vesalius is recognized as one of the discipline is immeasurable. As this discipline is
greatest of the Renaissance anatomists, one only also fundamental to clinical specialties such as
has to look at his illustrations in his book De neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry, and psy-
humani corporis fabrica, 1543, to appreciate the chology, its value can be found in the care and
quality of his scientific observation. In 1664, treatment of patients suffering from diseases of
Thomas Willis published his book on the anat- the nervous system.
omy of the brain and nerves, Cerebri Anatome.
Cerebri Anatome can be considered the first
attempt at describing the functional anatomy of Conceptualization
the brain. Willis proposed three areas in the brain:
the corpus striatum, corpus callosum, and cere- Nature/World
bral cortex responsible for the sensus communis, Nature is conceptualized as the biological and
imagination, and memory, respectively. Perhaps biochemical foundation of life. The world is
one of the more important milestones was the where we are.
functional anatomy mapping of Korbinian
Brodmann in the early 1900s. His numerical cat- Human Being
alog of cortical areas is still a valuable reference Humans are one of a vast and diverse collection
system utilized today. of living things on Earth. Humans are arguably
In modern times, the study of brain anatomy the most advanced intellectually and hence
transitioned from gross brain anatomy to cyto- dominate the food chain. We have created
and chemoarchitecture, mapped into coordinate a sophisticated culture and environment for our-
systems and related to other modalities describ- selves and extended our already highly developed
ing brain structure and function. Jean Talairach capacity for communicating and thinking.
Anatomy of the Eye 95 A
Life and Death Mystery
Life is the coordinated functioning of Mystery is that which is presently unknown. The
interconnected organ systems. There are many goal of science is to unlock that which at first A
life forms, each with its own operational require- appears mysterious.
ments. These range from single cell organisms to
humans. Death is the extinction of this coordi-
nated functioning. Relevant Themes
Reality The great challenge that is the human brain

Reality, for each of us, is what we can observe. begs the question, is the human brain capable
of understanding the human brain? This, most
Knowledge complex organ has such remarkable structure
Knowledge is derived from information and and function that many neuroscientists and
enables understanding. We can communicate other students of brain anatomy often marvel
that knowledge now with countless media from at how much we still do not understand. But the
verbal language to streams of digital bits. wonder of the human brain inspires every sci-
entist who has taken up the journey of
Truth discovery.
Truth is perceived fact, indisputable, and absolute.
Perception
Cross-References
Perception is the processed from of signals
detected by any of our five senses. Neurological
▶ Comparative Neuroscience
and psychiatric disorders can alter, disrupt or
▶ Neuroimaging
impair perception.
▶ Neurology in Asia
▶ Neurology in Europe
Time
▶ Neuropsychology
Time can be perceived from internal stimuli such
▶ Neuroradiology
as the last time one had a meal or slept and it can
▶ Neurosurgery
be perceived from external stimuli such as the
▶ Psychiatry in America
apparent movement of the sun across the sky.
▶ Psychiatry in Europe
Although we may use devices to quantify the
passage of time linked to celestial movements,
we also have genes in cells that cycle with time.
References
Consciousness Clarke, E., Dewhurst, K., et al. (1996). An illustrated
Consciousness is responsiveness to any external history of brain function: Imaging the brain from
physical stimulus. There are different degrees of antiquity to the present. San Francisco: Norman
consciousness, some of which are modulated by Publishing. ISBN O-93O4OS-65-X I.
Finger, S. (2000). Minds behind the brain: A history of the
internal conditions such as wakefulness and pioneers and their discoveries. New York: Oxford
attentiveness. University Press. ISBN 0-19-518182-4.
Rationality/Reason
Rationality is appropriate behavior for the situa-
tion. In part determined by culture, rational
behavior is considered appropriate and accept- Anatomy of the Eye
able. Some diseases of the brain can render an
individual incapable of rational behavior. ▶ Optics in Islam
A 96 Anattā
a discourse that according to the traditional

Anattā account was the teaching given by the Buddha
to lead his first disciples to full awakening
Bhikkhu Anālayo (Feer 1884–1898, III 66). As a first step in this
Center for Buddhist Studies, University of examination, the discourse clarifies that none of
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany these five aggregates are fully amenable to con-
trol, that is, neither one’s bodily condition nor
what one feels, what one perceives through the
Related Terms sense doors, how one reacts, and what one is
aware of by way of consciousness will always
Anātman (Sanskrit); Not-self be as one would like it to be. Hence, the notion of
a self in the sense of an independent controller
who wields complete mastery over experience is
Description not empirically verifiable and thus should be
considered as not existing in truth and fact.
The teaching on the absence of a self is one of the A complementary line of investigation forms
most prominent characteristics of Buddhism, the next step in this examination. This comple-
when compared to other religions. This distinc- mentary approach begins by inquiring if the five
tive feature of Buddhist thought has considerable aggregates can be reckoned as permanent. Intro-
relevance for placing Buddhism within the spection shows that each of these five sooner or
dialogue between science and religions, as later is bound to change. Hence, the conclusion to
Buddhist texts take the absence of a permanent be drawn is that each of the five aggregates is
self to be the evident outcome of a thorough impermanent (▶ Impermanence (Buddhist)).
investigation of all aspects of subjective experi- Next follows the query if what is impermanent
ence. Such investigation is held to lead to the should be reckoned as unsatisfactory or as agree-
unavoidable conclusion that a permanent self able. Although what is impermanent might be
cannot be found at all. Hence, the notion that agreeable for some time, due to its inevitable
such a self exists should be understood as change, it sooner or later turns out to be unsatis-
mistaken. factory (▶ Dukkha), in that it fails to yield lasting
Buddhist analysis distinguishes between satisfaction. This conclusion then leads to the
twenty possible modes of construing a notion of third and final step in this investigation,
a self (e.g., Trenckner and Chalmers 1888–1896, according to which what is impermanent and
I 300), referred to with the term satkāyadrsti unable to yield lasting satisfaction fails to fulfill
˙ ˙˙
(Sanskrit) or sakkāyaditthi (Pāli). This analysis the requirements for being regarded as a self.
˙˙
is based on the so-called five aggregates, which The argument employed in this investigation
according to Buddhist thought are the chief serves to clarify what kind of a self the Buddhist
constituents of an individual. These five comprise teaching of anattā rejects, namely, a self that is
the aggregates of the body, feeling, perception, permanent and endowed with complete mastery
volitional reactions, and consciousness. Buddhist over its own field of experience. While the teach-
thought holds that a self cannot be found in ing of anattā clearly opposes the notion that an
relation to these five aggregates in any way, eternal core can be found behind the changing
neither by identifying any of the five aggregates processes of the five aggregates that make up an
as the self, nor by postulating a self as the owner individual, it does not deny the existence of this
of an aggregate, nor by assuming that the changing process as such nor the empirically
aggregates exist in some way within a self, nor verifiable fact of personal continuity.
by locating a self within an aggregate. An illustrative simile provided in one
The type of investigation that leads up to discourse compares the five aggregates to
insight into the absence of a self is depicted in a chariot (Feer 1884–1898, I 135). The term
Anattā 97 A
“chariot” is simply a convention used to desig- predominantly directed toward the insight that
nate a functional assemblage of different parts, no self can be found within an individual. With
like the wheels and the axles. Once taken apart, later traditions, apparently in opposition to what A
besides these constituent parts, no chariot as such was perceived by some Buddhist thinkers as
can be found. Yet, the denial of the existence of a tendency by others Buddhist thinkers toward
an eternal chariot independent of its parts does a reification of elements (dharmas) as the basic
not mean that it is impossible to drive with the constituents of reality, teachings regarding the
impermanent and conditioned assemblage of absence of any permanent essence were explicitly
parts to which the term chariot refers. applied to these elements. Expositions of the
Similarly, although according to Buddhism absence of an eternal self also increasingly tend
what makes up the individual person are merely to use the term “emptiness” instead of “not-self.”
the five aggregates and besides these no eternal The notion of emptiness occurs, however, already
self can be found, to assume that the denial of a self in the early texts, such as in the dictum that “this
leaves no agency for karmic responsibility is con- world is empty of a self and what belongs to
sidered a mistaken conclusion (Trenckner and a self” (Feer 1884–1898, IV 54). Thus, the idea
Chalmers 1888–1896, III 19). The five aggregates that emptiness is all pervasive – in the sense
as a conditioned process continue and thus provide that a permanent essence or self cannot be found
the required medium for the taking of decisions anywhere at all – can be traced to early Buddhist
and the performance of actions, as well as for their thought. As a stanza poetically sums up, by
subsequent karmic retribution (▶ Karma (Bud- rooting up the view of self and by looking on
dhist)). As the simile of the chariot shows, to the world as empty, one would be able to
combine the denial of an eternal self with personal transcend even death (Andersen and Smith
continuity does not require invoking two different 1913, Stanza 1119).
levels of truths, as is sometimes done in later
Buddhist tradition, but merely involves a clear
recognition of what is being denied with the doc-
Cross-References
trine of not-self and what is not being denied.
That the existence of an individual as
▶ Reality in Buddhism
a changing process is not being denied can be
▶ Religious Experiences
seen from various passages in the Buddhist
▶ Self
discourses. These indicate, for example, that bad
▶ Soul
actions done by oneself will in due course affect
oneself (von Hin€ uber and Norman 1994, Stanza
161) or else that it is by one’s own acts that one References
defiles or purifies oneself (von Hin€ uber and Nor-
man 1994, Stanza 165). Even instructions on the Primary Sources
practice of mindfulness as a key aspect of the path Andersen, D., & Smith, H. (Eds.). (1913). The Sutta-
to awakening explicitly employ terms like “I am nipāta. London/Oxford: Pali Text Society.
walking” or “I feel pleasure” (Trenckner and Feer, L. (Ed.). (1884–1898). The Samyutta Nikāya
˙
(5 vols). London/Oxford: Pali Text Society.
Chalmers 1888–1896, I 56). Elsewhere, the Bud- Trenckner, V., & Chalmers, R. (Eds.). (1888–1896).
dha is on record for remembering his past lives in The Majjhima Nikāya (3 vols). London/Oxford: Pali
terms of “I was reborn” (Trenckner and Chalmers Text Society.
1888–1896, I 22). In short, even a fully liberated von Hin€ uber, O., & Norman, K. R. (Eds.). (1994).
The Dhammapada. London/Oxford: Pali Text Society.
one may still use terms such as “I” or “mine”
(Feer 1884–1898, I 14), even though any notion
Secondary Sources
of a permanent self has been forever eliminated. Collins, S. (1982). Selfless persons, imagery and thought
In the early Buddhist texts, the teaching on the in Theravāda Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge
absence of a self appears to have been University Press.
A 98 Anatta: Non-self
Hamilton, S. (1996). Identity and experience; the consti- this unstable conditionality, which would be per-
tution of the human being according to early manent, reliable, to cling to, and identify with.
Buddhism. London: Luzac Oriental.
Harvey, P. (1995). The selfless mind; personality, con- There are only void processes following their
sciousness and Nirvāna in early Buddhism. Richmond own natural laws according to conditions.
˙
Surrey: Curzon. Anatta presents itself as uncontrollability.
Karunadasa, Y. (2010). Non-self and the putative over- All things, phenomena, and experiences are
self. Journal of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Sri
Lanka, 8, 25–48. conditioned and we do not have the power to
control these conditions. Therefore, the effect
of these conditions, our experience or whatever
phenomenon, is not under our control. For
example, we cannot make happiness or love
Anatta: Non-self stay forever, or sadness, pain, and decay
disappear.
Ven. Agganyani The contemplation of non-self
German Vinaya Sangha Association (DBO) and (anattānupassanā) is one of the three main
Centre for Buddhist Studies (CBS), Myanmar, methods in insight meditation. It discards the
Bruckmuehl, Germany clinging to a self. Nibbāna appears through the
void aspect and the practice leads to emptiness
emancipation (suññatā-vimokkha) with wisdom
The doctrine of anatta (Pāli) or anātman (San- (paññā) as gateway to liberation.
˙
skrit) is the central, most profound, and typical
teaching of Buddhism and Abhidhamma.
Atta stands for “soul” or a permanent self, I,
ego, or intrinsic core. An-atta is the negation of Anesthesiology
such a soul or self. The Buddha’s anatta doctrine
teaches that neither within the five aggregates Viji Kurup and Paul G. Barash
(khandha) – which constitute a being and are Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University
bodily and mental phenomena – nor outside of School of Medicine, New Haven, USA
them, can be found in anything that could be
regarded as a permanent, self-existing ego-entity,
or soul in the ultimate sense. Related Terms
Anatta, non-self, non-I, non-ego, soullessness,
impersonality is the third of the universal charac- Sedation
teristics of existence and all phenomena, not only
of conditioned phenomena (saṅkhāra), but even
of the unconditioned Nibbāna. Anatta can be Description
understood through penetrating the Buddhist
doctrine of “Dependent Origination” Anesthesia refers to a state where most sensation
(paticcasamuppāda), and in more detail and clar- (primarily pain) is reversibly blocked to facilitate
˙
ity through “Conditional Relations” (patthāna), surgical procedures. The discovery of anesthesia
˙˙
the seventh book of the Abhidhamma, which was the most significant contribution to the
teaches the relations and connections of all men- advancement of health care in the world. The
tal and physical phenomena, which form a huge, origin of the term is credited to Oliver Wendell
complex net of causes, conditions, and effects. Holmes, who introduced the word to describe the
Everything one experiences happens because of effect produced by inhalation of ether. The devel-
conditions, and oneself, the subject including opment of the specialty of Anesthesiology as
one’s observing mind, is conditioned too. There a science began in 1846 after the first public
is no inner core, self or soul, that is not subject to demonstration of the effects of ether in treating
Anesthesiology 99 A
surgical pain by W.T.G. Morton (Smith and was awarded its royal charter in 1992 (http://
Bacon 2006). In the USA, Anesthesiology www.rcoa.ac.uk/).
evolved as a specialty in its own right in the late The increase in knowledge in the different A
nineteenth century and Europe followed suit. subdisciplines has resulted in the evolution of
Today, the specialty of anesthesia encompasses different societies, such as the Society for Edu-
taking care of the patient before, during, and after cation in Anesthesia (SEA), Society for Ambula-
surgery. Anesthesiologists are experts in airway tory Anesthesia (SAMBA), Society of Pediatric
management, treating pain outside the operating Anesthesia (SPA), and Society for Cardiac Anes-
room, and in managing intensive care units and thesia (SCA).
researchers exploring the mechanisms of pain
and methods to improve the outcomes of patients
after surgery. Characteristics
Anesthesiology is distinctive among the other

Self-identification specialties of Medicine. The specialty is focused
on studying the mechanisms and effect of medi-
Anesthesiology is a scientifically based specialty cations on consciousness, awareness, the changes
in the field of medicine. It aims to achieve that take place in the human body during surgery,
a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of and its response to surgical stress. Anesthesiolo-
awareness, consciousness, pain, and the human gists undertake the complex task of managing the
body’s response to surgical stress. Anesthesiolo- delivery of medications causing GA or RA, as
gists apply scientific methods of the natural sci- well as monitoring and preserving the vital func-
ences for clinical and basic research as well as for tions of the patients undergoing surgery while
developing diagnostic algorithms and doing this in the safest possible way for the
implementing therapeutic regimens. Two well- patient.
known methods of surgical anesthesia are Gen-
eral Anesthesia (GA), where the patient is ren-
dered unconscious without arousal to painful Relevance to Science and Religion
stimuli for the surgery, and Regional Anesthesia
(RA), where certain regions of the body are selec- Anesthesiology has a rich tradition of scientific
tively rendered insensible to pain. The agents research both in the laboratory (basic sciences)
used include inhalational anesthetics, intravenous and in the clinical arena (clinical sciences). It is
anesthetics, as well as adjuvant medications, based on knowledge derived from hypothesis-
which together can cause amnesia, analgesia, driven studies and promotes practice of evi-
loss of consciousness, and muscle relaxation if dence-based medicine.
needed. Anesthesiology has now branched into
the subspecialties of Cardiac Anesthesia, Pediat-
ric Anesthesia, Pain Medicine, Critical Care Sources of Authority
Medicine, Obstetric Anesthesia, and
Neuroanesthesia. The early authorities in the specialty of Anesthe-
The first American Organization of physician siology were dedicated physicians who set stan-
anesthetists was formed in 1905 and called the dards in education and achieved proficiency in
Long Island Society of Anesthetists. The apex the administration of anesthetic agents (Sykes
body for anesthesiologists in the USA today is and Bunker 2007). John Snow (1813–1858),
called the American Society of Anesthesiologists a respected British physician, was one of the
(ASA), which got its present name in 1945 first to study and calculate dosages for adminis-
(www.asahq.org). Its counterpart in the UK is tration of ether and chloroform for surgical anes-
called the Royal College of Anesthetists, which thesia and described the clinical stages of depth
A 100 Anesthesiology
of anesthesia. He set the scientific basis for the rules on human experimentation and informed
study of the art and science of anesthesia. He consent by focusing world attention on unethical
published two remarkable books, “On the Inha- practices in medical experimentation (Best and
lation of the Vapour of Ether” (1847) and “On Neuhauser 2010).
Chloroform and Other Anesthetics” (1858). He
administered chloroform to Queen Victoria for
the birth of two of her children and bestowed Key Values
respectability to the science of anesthesia. His
work on inhalers set the stage for the evolution The key value of the specialty of anesthesia is to
of equipment for delivery of anesthetic agents in alleviate human suffering and maintain life. This
the latter half of the nineteenth century. is done not only in the context of a patient under-
Arthur E Guedel (1883–1956) established going surgery or painful procedures, but is also
himself as a pioneer in designing innovative extended now to patients suffering from chronic
equipment used to administer anesthesia in the pain as well as giving birth, and the acutely ill
USA. His textbook “Inhalation anesthesia” was patient in intensive care settings.
published in 1937. He described and categorized
physical signs that correlated with stages of ether
anesthesia, which are described in major text- Conceptualization
books to this day.
Peter Safar (1924–2003) was instrumental in Nature/World
pioneering the science of cardiopulmonary resus- Nature is conceptualized as the biological and
citation (CPR) (Safar 1959; Safar et al. 1959). biochemical foundation of life on earth. The
Virginia Apgar (1909–1974) developed world comprises the material and interspersed
a standardized scoring system for newborn babies space of the universe.
that correlates with outcomes after birth and sig-
nificantly reduced infant mortality throughout the Human Being
world (Apgar et al. 1958). The human being is considered a biological being
In keeping with the evolution of the specialty equipped with a highly developed complex brain,
of Anesthesiology as a science, original publica- and a complex functioning of organ systems giv-
tions in peer-reviewed, scientific journals have ing them unique skills including emotions and
become increasingly important in the current abstract thinking, which differentiate them from
age. Based on the existing knowledge, the ASA the rest of the animal world.
and other subspecialty organizations have
established evidence-based guidelines for good Life and Death
clinical practice, which are constantly updated. Life is conceptualized as the presence of physical
functions in biological systems. In the human
body, it includes functioning of the cells in dif-
Ethical Principles ferent organs. Death is considered the cessation
of such physiological functions.
As for other medical specialties, Anesthesiology
is guided by the Hippocratic Oath, which is Reality
supplemented by the rules of the Declaration of Reality is considered the physical world around
Helsinki (1971). Anesthesiology is at the core of us that humans can observe or measure with their
development of ethical principles in the practice senses.
of medicine and is intimately involved in devel-
oping guidelines related to end-of-life decisions. Knowledge
Henry Knowles Beecher, an anesthesiologist was Knowledge is understood to have an objective
instrumental in the implementation of federal dimension, such that it is the wisdom that can be
Anicca (Pāli) 101 A
transferred in a verbal or textual form from one Relevant Themes
person to the next. Knowledge builds up from one
generation to the next. All knowledge has Anesthesiology today is focused on meeting the A
a scientific basis. challenges of modern surgical techniques. The
role of novel drug administration techniques
Truth and target controlled infusion pumps are being
Truth is defined as the ultimate reality underlying explored. Research is continuing to develop drugs
facts and rules. Accordingly, truth is assumed to that can target specific areas of the brain with
be absolute or universal, which humans can grasp minimal side effects for the provision of anesthe-
only partially. sia. New surgical techniques such as robotic sur-
geries and minimally invasive surgeries will make
Perception new demands on the anesthesiologist to tailor med-
Perception is the conscious sensation of the ications and techniques to suit the procedure.
forces and influences the external physical
world exerts on living beings. Anesthesia, Cross-References
whether general or local, may disrupt or impair
this perception. ▶ Amnesia
▶ Pain Medicine
Time ▶ Sedation
Time is the fundamental unit of ongoing change ▶ Surgery
in the world. Humans can measure time objec-
tively and perceive it owing to the changes
observed in the surrounding environment. The References
perception of time can be affected by the influ-
ence of sedative or hypnotic drugs or when Apgar, V., Holaday, D. A., James, L. S., Weisbrot, I. M., &
a patient is under anesthesia. Berrien, C. (1958). Evaluation of the newborn infant;
second report. Journal of the American Medical Asso-
ciation, 168(15), 1985–1988.
Consciousness Best, M., & Neuhauser, D. (2010). Henry K Beecher: Pain,
Consciousness is the responsiveness of subjects to belief and truth at the bedside. The powerful placebo,
any physical stimulus in the outside world. It can be ethical research and anaesthesia safety. Quality and
graded in different levels of sedation ranging from Safety in Health Care, 19(5), 466–468.
Safar, P. (1959). Resuscitation. I. Inefficiency of manual
minimal sedation to complete loss of conscious- respiration because of the obstruction of the upper air
ness. Consciousness can be altered by administra- passages. Anaesthesist, 8, 228–231.
tion of medications. Under anesthesia, loss of Safar, P., Aguto-Escarraga, L., Drawdy, L., Mcmahon,
consciousness is usually accompanied by amnesia. M., Norris, A., & Redding, J. (1959). Resuscitation.
II. Methods of mouth-to-mouth breathing.
Anaesthesist, 8, 231–235.
Rationality/Reason Smith, H. M., & Bacon, D. R. (2006). The history of
Rationality is a foundation of accountable and anesthesia. In B. F. Cullen, R. K. Stoelting, & P. G.
responsible human behavior and of understand- Barash (Eds.), Clinical anesthesia (pp. 3–26).
Philadelphia: LWW.
ing reason as ultimate authority. It is impaired Sykes, K., & Bunker, J. (2007). Anaesthesia and the
under sedation and anesthesia. practice of medicine: Historical perspectives. London:
Royal Society of Medicine Press.
Mystery
Often mystery is considered to be contradictory
to modern medicine including Anesthesiology. In
science, mystery is understood as potentially Anicca (Pāli)
explainable after accumulation of adequate sci-
entific knowledge. ▶ Impermanence (Buddhist)
A 102 Anicca: Impermanence
appears through the signless aspect and practice

Anicca: Impermanence leads to signless emancipation (animitta-
vimokkha) with faith (saddhā) as gateway to
Ven. Agganyani liberation.
Bruckmuehl, Germany
Animal Learning
Anicca (Pāli) or anitya (Sanskrit) is imperma- ▶ Conditioning and Learning

˙
nence or transitoriness. According to Buddhist
Abhidhamma, all phenomena, physical and
mental, are momentary and transient only, they
arise and dissolve. This impermanence is defined Animal Magnetism
in ancient texts:
“Not existing before, they (the phenomena) arise. ▶ Hypnosis
Having arisen, they vanish forever.”
Anicca is not the slow change in things which

one can observe. It is the constant, rapid arising, Animal Theology and Ethics
and immediate cessation of phenomena which
can only be perceived by a well-trained, keen, Kurt Remele
and sharp mind in vipassanā meditation. Department of Catholic Theology,
According to the ancient Abhidhamma commen- Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Graz, Austria
taries, arising and vanishing takes place at a
tremendous rate of more than a 1,000 billion
times per eyewink. In other words, the lifetime Related Terms
of phenomena is less than 1,000 billionth of a
second. Cognitive ethology; Interbeing
In the Buddha’s teachings, the transience and
constant renewal of phenomena is compared with
dewdrops at sunrise, a bubble on water, a line Description
drawn on water, or a lightning flash.
Anicca is one of the three universal character- Animal Ethics is the conscious reflection on and
istics of existence, of all conditioned phenomena the fundamental criticism of traditional ethical
(saṅkhāra), or in Abhidhamma terms, of all judgments and the prevailing, culturally vali-
ultimate realities (paramattha-dhamma) except dated moral beliefs in which (nonhuman) animals
Nibbāna. In vipassanā, to penetrate and realize are dismissed from moral consideration
anicca of one’s meditation-object as well as of or regarded as having little value compared
one’s observing mind (the subject), is said to be with any kind of human interest. Animal Ethics
definitely necessary on the step-by-step stages of challenges the anthropocentric, humanocentric,
the insight knowledge (vipassanā-ñāna) which and instrumentalist view of animals held by
˙
leads to disenchantment, equanimity, and final Aristotelian (Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas) and
liberation of the mind. Enlightenment philosophers (René Descartes,
The contemplation of impermanence Immanuel Kant) and by many others. It contra-
(aniccānupassanā) is one of the three main dicts those who regard animals merely as means
methods in insight meditation. It discards the to human ends, as machines, resources, commod-
sign of perversion of permanence. Nibbāna ities, and thereby reduce them to things to be
Animal Theology and Ethics 103 A
killed, eaten, and (ab)used arbitrarily. In contrast cells, tissues or organs from one species to
to humanocentric ethical concepts and to behav- another, e.g., from pigs to humans).
iorist psychology, but in accordance with In contemporary Animal Ethics there are A
the insights of contemporary cognitive ethology several ethical schools or theories that support
and neuroscience (Bekoff 2007), animal ethics the cause and the protection of animals: the
proceeds from the scientifically substantiated utilitarian welfare theory, the rights theory, the
assumption that (many) animals do have con- feminist care tradition, and the generosity theory.
sciousness and emotions: Animals have mental The utilitarian welfare theory goes back to
experiences, they can perceive the things around Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832). Bentham
them, they are able to think and to feel, they demanded that human beings act in such a way
experience pleasure and pain, joy and fear, grief as to maximize pleasure and minimize pain of
and various other feelings. Of course, it is impor- both human beings and animals. Bentham was
tant to remember that animals frequently use the mentor of Peter Singer, who in the 1970s
different senses than human beings do and that initiated an animal liberation movement which
visual cues are not the only ones used in self- has denounced the assumption of human superi-
awareness. ority as arbitrary and “speciesist” and has com-
The ability to experience pleasure and pain is pared it to the ideologies of racism and sexism
commonly called sentience. Even though there (the term “speciesism” was coined by Richard
are grey areas, because scientists cannot be abso- Ryder, though). According to Singer (1995) all
lutely certain which animals are sentient (and to sentient beings, human or animal, have
what degree), it is safe to say that mammals a basically equal claim to the recognition of
and most other vertebrates (animals with a spinal their interests. Of course, as a utilitarian, Singer
column, i.e., mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and attaches great importance to the weighing of
amphibians) and even some invertebrates competing interests, not on moral and legal
(e.g., octopuses), are able to feel pain and rights. In contrast, the animal rights theory
pleasure. (Regan 2004; Francione 2000) regards animals
Animal ethics is based on the conviction that as intrinsically valuable, as “subjects of a life”
there is a link between sentience and the moral who have certain individual rights which nor-
considerability or the moral status of a living mally must not be infringed, even if it would
creature. Animals’ sentience therefore entails benefit human beings to do otherwise. With
that how animals are treated by human beings regard to actual demands and concrete concerns,
really matters: Human actions must be evaluated however, animal welfarists and animal rightists
as right or wrong, i.e., they are an ethical issue. frequently agree. A large number of supporters of
The moral debate about animals at present mainly the contemporary animal protection-movement
revolves around the following areas: animals feel comfortable with a compromise position
being bred and killed for food, particularly that regards animal rights as a long-term goal
under conditions that severely frustrate their nat- and an ideal state of affairs, yet accepts animal
ural needs (factory farming); animals used for welfare measures as a short-time goal. This “new
medical experiments and cosmetic testing; breed- welfarism” proceeds on the assumption that there
ing and killing animals for clothing (fur, leather); is some causal connection between cleaner and
hunting, especially so-called sport or recreational larger cages today and empty cages tomorrow.
hunting; the use of animals in education (biology, Both the feminist care tradition (Donovan and
medical training, veterinary science), human Adams 2007) and the generosity theory go
entertainment (zoos, aquariums, circuses, horse beyond utilitarianism and animal rights: The for-
and greyhound racing, bullfighting), military mer argues for attentiveness, sympathy, and emo-
experiments and training; the welfare of compan- tional engagement in our relationships with
ion animals (pets); genetic engineering and xeno- animals and examines the links between species
transplantation (the transplantation of living oppression and gender oppression (Carol Adams),
A 104 Animal Theology and Ethics
the latter contends that animals have an analogous Abrahamitic religion), Hinduism, Buddhism,
status to that of children and therefore should be and Jainism (all of which originated on the
seen as having not equal claim but greater claim Indian subcontinent), Daoism, and Baha’i. In
upon adult humans precisely because of their vul- a comparative perspective, Hinduism, Buddhism,
nerability and relative powerlessness. Its main and especially Jainism seem to be more compas-
proponent is the Anglican theologian Andrew sionate toward animals than the monotheistic
Linzey. religions. Yet a close theological scrutiny reveals
It was also Linzey (1994) who first termed the that according to the tradition of these three reli-
phrase “Animal Theology.” Animal Theology is gions it is frequently not the benefit of the animal
a theological approach that relates theology to that is the dominant factor for animal-friendly
contemporary debates about the status, the wel- behavior, but the spiritual advancement of the
fare and the rights of the (nonhuman) animals. It practitioner or the belief that s/he himself/herself
is not merely a study of animal ethics in the might be reborn as animal (reincarnation). Some
context of – in Linzey’s case – the Christian contemporary interpretations of, e.g., Buddhism,
moral tradition (although, of course, it entails however, emphasize the first Buddhist precept
specific moral obligations), but rather that prohibits all killing and calls for a vegetarian
a fundamental theology: Its content is the whole diet, and the Buddhist teachings of interbeing
Christian doctrine read or reread from the per- and of compassion toward all living beings
spective of contemporary science and its insight (Thich Nhat Hanh, Phelps 2004).
into animals’ minds and emotions and their con-
sequent moral status. Animal Theology deals
with three main areas of the traditional Christian
Cross-References
doctrine: creation and the notion of human dom-
inance, superiority or specialness; incarnation,
▶ Christian Ethics
the doctrine that affirms that God became
▶ Ethics
human in the person of Jesus Christ; redemption,
▶ Utilitarianism
humanity’s reconciliation with God and its salva-
tion by and in God through Jesus Christ. The
traditional humanocentric bias of these funda-
References
mental Christian doctrines is reinterpreted by
Linzey in a way that makes room for (nonhuman) Armstrong, S. J., & Botzler, R. G. (Eds.). (2008). The
animals: Human uniqueness is understood as animal ethics reader. London/New York: Routledge.
a special responsibility to act not as the master Bekoff, M. (2007). Animals matter. A biologist explains
why we should treat animals with compassion and
but as the “servant species”; God’s becoming
respect. Boston/London: Shambhala.
flesh in Christ affirms all flesh, both animal and Bekoff, M., & Meaney, C. A. (Eds.). (1998). Encyclopedia
human; animals are not excluded from God’s of animal rights and animal welfare. Westport, CT:
redemptive purposes, they are not without souls Greenwood Press.
Donovan, J., & Adams, C. (Eds.). (2007). The feminist
and will be granted immortality and supreme
care tradition in animal ethics. New York: Columbia
happiness after their earthly death. University Press.
Through his cooperation with Rabbi Dan Francione, G. L. (2000). Introduction to animal
Cohn-Sherbock, Linzey has developed his rights: your child or the dog? Philadelphia: Temple
University Press.
Animal Theology beyond the confines of the Linzey, A. (1994). Animal theology. London: SCM Press.
Christian tradition into a Judeo-Christian Animal McDaniel, J. B. (1989). Of God and pelicans: A theology
Theology. An even more comprehensive notion of reverence for life. Louisville, KY: Westminster/
of the term would suggest an examination John Knox Press.
Panksepp, J. (2003). Affective neuroscience. Oxford:
and reinterpretation of all (major) religious tradi-
tions with regard to their theological understand- Phelps, N. (2004). The great compassion. Buddhism and
ing of animals, primarily Islam (as the third animal rights. New York, NY: Lantern Books.
Anthropic Principles 105 A
Regan, T. (2004). The case for animal rights. Updated For an organism to survive, its environment
with a new preface. Berkeley/Los Angeles: The Uni- must be fit for it just as much as it must be fit for
versity of California Press.
Singer, P. (1995). Animal liberation. With a New preface that environment. Most discussions of evolution A
by the author. London: Pimlico. focus on the latter aspect, but the physiological
chemist, Lawrence Henderson, gave detailed and
often quantitative recognition to the reciprocity
in The Fitness of the Environment (1913) and
Anitya (Sanskrit) later writings. Among Henderson’s most telling
examples are the exceptional properties of water –
▶ Impermanence (Buddhist) e.g., that its solid state is less dense than its liquid
one, with the consequence that aquatic life can
continue at the bottom of lakes whose surfaces
are frozen. A remarkable range of other special
Anthropic Principles properties is cited, with modern values, in Barrow
and Tipler (1986).
Neil Spurway Such thinking was taken forward by some
University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK other biologists, notably George Wald, two gen-
erations after Henderson; among his emphases
were the extraordinary properties of chlorophyll.
Description Nonetheless, the pioneering steps which followed
Henderson’s were taken by cosmologists. Among
Popular accounts of the history of science con- them, beginning in the 1930s and increasingly
tend that the Copernican revolution diminished since the 1950s, recognition of an apparent
humanity’s opinion of itself and that the Dar- “fine-tuning” of the universe for life has emerged.
winian revolution completed our cutting down The features considered during this phase were
to size. From being the embodiment of Imago on a very large scale. Most basic of all, the very
Dei, with dominion over the other inhabitants age and consequent size of our universe, far from
of the central component of the universe, Earth, demonstrating our insignificance, became recog-
the human species came to see itself as an nized as essential if stars were to have had oppor-
accidental product of chance forces, precari- tunity to host the nuclear syntheses which
ously clinging to a brief existence on the sur- produce carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phospho-
face of a trivial planet, orbiting an insignificant rus – elements at the core of life as we know it.
star near the edge of one among billions of That recognition seems to have been voiced first
galaxies. However, equating centrality with by J.G. Whitrow in the 1950s, but of course it
importance has little logic, and anyway few depended on the earlier redshift observations of
modern cosmologists would consider that the Edwin Hubble and the imaginative perception of
universe has a center. Moreover, the concept George Lemaitre, out of which has come the
that life, even perhaps conscious life, arose modern acceptance of a universe expanding in
only as the product of an immensely improba- a finite time from an initial singularity.
ble sequence of accidents, has been challenged The concept of an anthropic principle was
on strictly scientific grounds, quite independent introduced in the 1970s by the cosmologist
of theological ones, by many thinkers in the past Brandon Carter (Leslie 1990), reflecting on
century. The term “anthropic principle(s)” seeks a group of “large-number coincidences” origi-
to encapsulate the common spirit of all these nally noted 40 years earlier by the physicist
challenges. As coined, it referred directly to cos- P.A.M. Dirac. These (enormously) large num-
mological calculations, but the lead had been bers, extremely esoteric to the layman, were the
taken, early in the twentieth century, by dimensionless ratios of various physical con-
biologists. stants, and the coincidence was that these ratios
A 106 Anthropic Principles
seemed constrained to lie very close to (1040)n, individual estimates. To appreciate the strength
where n ¼ 1, 0, 1 or 2. The most easily stated of of this point, consider that if a mere six factors
the figures is an instance of n ¼ 2: it is the ratio would each permit life in as much as a tenth of its
of the mass of the observable universe to that of possible range, the overall probability of life
the proton or neutron, a ratio which is 1080. being possible would be 1:106 – one in
The additional realization during 1950–1975, a million. Actually, well over 20 factors have
associated particularly with John Wheeler, R.H. been identified, and many of the individual prob-
Dicke, and thence with Carter, was that Dirac’s ability estimates are a great deal lower than one in
coincidences themselves “were not random but ten. Indeed, one parameter has recently been esti-
conditioned by biological factors” – had the mated as having only one chance in 10120 of
ratios not been close to those found, there would being right for galaxy formation, and therefore
have been no cosmologists to observe them. for life, were its value to have been determined by
The phrase “anthropic principle” sought to random influences (Davies 2006). Many cosmol-
express this recognition, and Carter formulated ogists have thus concluded that the universe is
it in two ways (Barrow and Tipler 1986; Leslie enigmatically fit for life – “uncannily” so in Paul
1990). The weak anthropic principle (WAP) Davies’ phrase – or, in the words of the late Fred
merely noted the inevitability just expressed. Hoyle, “a put-up job.”
This represents the situation as an example of Carter, apparently sensing this trend well
a “selection effect” – the only kind of universe before many of the calculations cited here, pro-
which can ever be observed is one which creates posed a second and “strong” anthropic principle
its own observers. Though inevitable, this is not (SAP) that the Universe must be such as to admit
trite. On the contrary, it indicates that many creation of observers within it at some stage in its
detailed aspects of the world’s makeup, which history. “Must” is ambiguous: deduction or
on other grounds would seem to have an immense imperative? As the deduction would merely
range of possible values, could in fact have varied restate the WAP, an imperative is normally pre-
only a very little from those we actually find if we sumed (Barrow and Tipler (1986); Davies 2006;
were to exist and observe them. c.f. Leslie 1990). This is a far more metaphysical
Aspects of fine-tuning recognized since Dirac statement, and the nature of the imperative it
include the perception that a term in Einstein’s adduces is scientifically obscure. Its theological
extended formulation of general relativity, the scope, however, is obvious.
“cosmological constant,” which influences the Several developments of the SAP have subse-
course of universal expansion, must be and is quently been proposed: two will be mentioned.
extraordinarily small – so small as to suggest Wheeler, reflecting subjectivist interpretations of
that it may actually be zero – though values quantum theory, suggested a “participatory”
ranging over many orders of magnitude seem in anthropic principle (PAP) evocative of Bishop
principle possible. A second aspect is that the Berkeley: observers are necessary to bring the
ratio of the forces of attraction and repulsion universe into being. The alternative, “many
between nuclear particles (the “strong” and elec- worlds” interpretation of quantum mechanics,
tromagnetic forces) could have differed only first suggested by Hugh Everitt and considered
fractionally from those we observe if atoms by Carter, leads to the proposition that there are
were to form. A third is that the amount by countless parallel, independent universes, each
which a neutron’s mass exceeds that of a proton with a random distribution of properties, one of
must also be very small if anything like the chem- which has happened to produce us. The overall
istry we associate with life is to be possible. complex has lately acquired the name
However, it is not enough to list the low proba- “multiverse.”
bilities that each individual factor would be in the The scientific value of positing a myriad, per-
right range for life to result because the probabil- haps an infinity, of universes which we can, by
ity of all of them being so is the product of the definition, never know has been philosophically
Anthropology in Hinduism 107 A
challenged. Theists suspect that it is the last
recourse of minds constitutionally incapable of Anthropological Behavioral Ecology
accepting the idea of a creator – which seems to A
the theists immensely simpler and more satisfy- ▶ Biological Anthropology and Human Ethology
ing. However, they must concede that a creator is
not a scientific concept either!
Theistic implications apart, most commenta-
tors regard the family of anthropic principles as
modern versions of the classical and medieval Anthropological Genetics
arguments from design (Manson 2003). It is
questionable, however, whether this is a proper ▶ Biological Anthropology and Human Ethology
perspective on the WAP: no true design
argument consists in pointing out the inevitable.
By contrast, the SAP, as interpreted here and in
Barrow & Tipler (1986) and Davies (2006), is
clearly in the category, and a case can be made Anthropology
for considering the PAP as in it too. The
▶ Biology of Religion
multiverse concept offers a determinedly con-
trary view. ▶ Ecclesiology
▶ Ethnology
One final point: The physical and chemical
▶ Magic
considerations adduced in this field of theorizing
combine to make a very strong case indeed for
concluding that the universe we inhabit is
predisposed to harbor life. But life is not conscious-
ness: to move from one to the other is to make
Anthropology and Biology
a metaphysical leap whose magnitude can scarcely
be exaggerated. Yet every proposed anthropic prin-
▶ Biological Anthropology and Human Ethology
ciple refers to observers and so implies conscious-
ness. This point was doubtless, not lost on Brandon
Carter, though he did not expressly acknowledge it;
it should not be lost on us.
Anthropology and Darwin
Cross-References ▶ Biological Anthropology and Human Ethology
▶ Cosmology
▶ Evolutionary Theology
▶ Intelligent Design
Anthropology and Evolution

References
Barrow, J. D., & Tipler, F. (1986). The anthropic cosmo-

logical principle. Oxford: Clarendon.
Davies, P. (2006). The goldilocks enigma. London:
Penguin.
Leslie, J. (1990). Physical cosmology and philosophy.
Anthropology in Hinduism
London: Collier Macmillan.
Manson, N. A. (2003). God and design. London: Routledge. ▶ Hinduist Anthropology
A 108 Anthropology in Islam
goals, and values that are rooted in Western ideo-

Anthropology in Islam logical systems that are influenced by Christian-
ity. Islam has different sources, orientations, and
Zulfikar Hirji approaches. For example, Mauroof states that
Department of Anthropology, York University, “the World of Islam has known no parallel to
Toronto, ON, Canada the intense religion vs. science debates so char-
acteristic of Euro-America” (1:136). He proposes
that Muslims develop Islamic anthropology on
Related Terms the basis of Islamic sources such as the Qur’an
and hadith, as well as the curricula, methods, and
Anthropology in the Muslim world scholars of Islam’s classical scholastic tradition.
The Qur’an is primary for anthropology
Muslim/Islamic anthropology is not a fully devel- because it contains a theory of human history
oped social science discipline/subdiscipline in and “a conception of humankind” (1:123). In
either Muslim or non-Muslim academic Mauroof view, the Qur’an also addresses issues
contexts. Articulated and advocated for in of human diversity and the “nature of groups” and
varying ways, by a range of authors, including engages in a discussion about “natural bonds of
Said Mohamed Mauroof (1981), Akbar S. Ahmed mutual obligation” (1:123). It also contains
(1986), and Merryl Wyn Davies (1988), Muslim/ appropriate theoretical and axiological categories
Islamic anthropology remains at the level of for anthropological reflection. Most importantly,
a proposition. Common to such proposals are the Qur’an calls upon mankind to undertake
critiques of the epistemological assumptions, “a scientific approach to the study of history”
prejudices, and sociopolitical agendas that under- (1: 123). Thus, for Mauroof, there is no conflict
lie Western (Euro-American) social science between the God’s Word and the social scientific
knowledge production in general and anthropo- study of man. In this regard, his views echo those
logical knowledge production in particular; use of Isma’il R. Al-Faruqi, the coeditor and
of concepts and ideas from the Qur’an, other a contributor to the volume, who proposes that
foundational texts, and the works of an Islamization of the social sciences would
classical Islamic scholars to construct an Islamic engender a “discovery and understanding of
study of man; and appeals to Muslim scholars to the divine pattern in human affairs,” as God artic-
advance an Islamic worldview and ethos ulates in the Qur’an (1:16–18). For Mauroof, the
through their investigations of human social and scholarly efforts of classical Muslim scholars
cultural life. such as Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406), al-Biruni
This entry surveys the proposals for Muslim/ (973–1048), and Ibn Battuta (1304–1368/9)
Islamic anthropology by the above-mentioned exemplify the best efforts Muslims have made
authors and some criticisms put forward about in terms of the study of man. While not anthro-
their ideas from scholars working in the pologists proper, the texts of these classical
discipline of Western anthropology. scholars contain “proto-anthropological” strands.
Said Mohamed Mauroof’s, “Elements for an Indeed, for Mauroof, the “descriptive, analytic or
Islamic Anthropology,” is part of a volume comparative investigation of man” was part of
on Social and Natural Sciences: The Islamic the Islamic classical curriculum and should be
Perspective. Mauroof’s main concern is with considered part of contemporary teaching and
importing (wholesale) Euro-American anthropol- learning. Mauroof also suggests that Islamic
ogy and its accompanying assumptions and epis- anthropology extends beyond social and cultural
temological frameworks into institutions of issues to biological anthropology and archaeol-
higher education institutions in Muslim contexts ogy. His interpretation of the Qur’an’s statements
(1:117ff). He argues that Euro-American anthro- about history and human life are used to
pology has an epistemology, intellectual history, support these views. In sum, for Mauroof, it is
Anthropology in Islam 109 A
the introspective examination and use of this (Muslims and non-Muslims) committed to the
range of Islamic sources that can produce an universalistic principles of Islam – humanity,
anthropology that is distinctively Islamic in knowledge, tolerance – relating to macro village A
form, content, and intention. tribal studies in particular to the larger historical
Akbar S. Ahmed develops his fullest concep- and ideological frames of Islam” (2:56). Such
tion of Islamic anthropology in Toward Islamic a project can serve to dispel some of the myths
Anthropology: Definition, Dogma and Directions generated about Islam and Muslims and provide
(1986), a work written as part of “Islamization Muslims a way to examine their own history
of Knowledge” series directed by Isma’il R. and societies. Thus, among the projects Ahmed
Al-Faruqi. From the outset, Ahmed states that proposes are a sociological account of the life the
his proposal “defends a metaphysical position, Prophet Muhammad and studies comparing
advances an ideological argument and serves “major social categories (e.g., peasants, tribes
a moral cause,” namely, Islam (2:13). Nonethe- and cities) which would help us better understand
less, he argues, there is merit in developing and reach conclusions regarding Muslim society
Islamic anthropology in so far as it can seriously and its immediate contemporary problems”
challenge the presuppositions and conclusions (2:66).
about Islam and Muslim societies that continue Merryl Wyn Davies’s book-length monograph
to be articulated by Western anthropologists Knowing One Another, Shaping an Islamic
and conduct studies that ultimately “illuminate Anthropology (1988) defines Islamic anthropol-
God’s plan/path for humankind” (2:57–58). ogy as “the study of mankind in society from the
Thus, like Mauroof, Ahmed, who frequently premises and according to the conceptual orien-
refers in his essay to the sociologist Ali Shariati tations of Islam” (3:82) and “a social science,
(1933–1977), stresses that in Islam, religious concerned with studying mankind in its social
beliefs do not conflict with an anthropological communal relations in the diversity of social
study of Islam. Ahmed’s main concerns are with and cultural settings that exist around the world
the prejudices and ignorance about Islam and today and have existed in past. The focus of its
Muslims that have proliferated in Western attention is human action, its diversity of form
anthropology since its inception. Among these and institutionalization; it seeks to understand the
misunderstandings is the idea that there are principles that order, organize and give it mean-
“many Islams,” a view forwarded by A. H. El ing” (3:113). Like Mauroof and Ahmed, Wyn
Zein (1977), a Muslim anthropologist working Davies locates the building blocks of Islamic
from within the Western anthropological tradi- anthropology in the Qur’an. But she goes much
tion. In this regard, Ahmed categorically states further in elaborating upon a number of Qur’anic
that “there can only be one Islam” and therefore concepts such as nafs (soul, the agentive force
“we must attempt to place the multitude of that binds and permeates humanity), khilafa
Muslim societies within the framework of one (man’s role as vice-regent of the earth), and
universal Islam” (2:58). Ahmed argues that tawhid (unity of Being). She draws upon these
contemporary social anthropology is a branch of concepts in a systematic manner to develop
empirical, observational science focused on the a rationale and impetus for her endeavor and
study of man that developed in the nineteenth a conceptual framework for her inquiry. For
century as part of the European colonial project: Wyn Davies, it is essentially the idea of “God’s
“anthropology is, if not a child, a creation of purposeful ordered creation” through which one
the West and more specifically Western imperi- can undertake Islamic anthropology (3:86). That
alism” (2:56). Its flaws lie in the ethnocentrism, is, since all of creation, including mankind, is
orientalism, arrogance, and hostility toward compelled to know God through His creation,
the “other” of some of its practitioners. the holistic study of humanity within creation is
By contrast, Ahmed defines Islamic anthropology also an imperative. Wyn Davies elaborates upon
as “the study of Muslim groups by scholars the appropriate subjects of study for Islamic
A 110 Anthropology in Islam
anthropology. Chief among these is umma, scholars working in the anthropology of Islam/
“a range of units of community formation” that Muslims have presented critical examinations of
can refer to “a people, a society, a nation, a tribe, knowledge production about Islam and Muslims
a culture, or a multi-social, multi-cultural com- in anthropology, as well as methodological prop-
munity” (3:128). Wyn Davies goes further adding ositions that aim to examine the epistemological
that implicit in the conception of umma is the frameworks from within which Muslim social
“idea of diversity of communities” (3:128). actors express themselves (5, 6, 8, 9, 10). These
Hence, to “know one another,” a Qur’anic imper- studies are taking place at a time when Western
ative, is the logical outcome of an anthropologi- anthropologists are exploring the possibilities
cal investigation, particularly in the context afforded by the notion of “world anthropologies,”
of undertaking ethnographic fieldwork, and examining the whole arena of science and
provides further evidence of the Qur’anic responding to the increasing presence of Islam
basis for the study of humanity. Ultimately, and Muslim societies on the world stage (Hirji
Wyn Davies calls for Islamic anthropology to be 2010). There may be the potential in these trends
renamed ‘ilm al-‘umran, the total science to renew a dialogue about Muslim/Islamic
of social organization/civilization/culture elabo- anthropology.
rated upon by Ibn Khaldun. Here, the use of
‘ilm “firmly establishes the conceptual founda-
tions as those of Islam, and therefore conditions References
the mind set of the Muslim scholar undertaking
this branch of knowledge” (3:161). Abu-Lughod, L. (1989). Zones of theory in the anthropol-
ogy of the Arab World. Annual Review of Anthropol-
These propositions have drawn a series of
ogy, 8, 267–306.
criticisms from anthropologists working on Ahmed, A. S. (1986). Toward and Islamic anthropology:
anthropology of Islam/Muslims, an emerging Definition, dogma and directions. Herndon: Interna-
field in Western (Euro-American) anthropology. tional Institute of Islamic Thought.
Asad, T. (1986). The idea of an anthropology of Islam.
Scholars such as Richard Tapper (1995), Daniel
Washington, DC: Centre for Contemporary Arab
Martin Varisco (2004), and Gabriele Marranci Studies.
(2008) have argued, in different ways, that pro- Eickelman, D. F., & Piscatori, J. (1990). Social theory in
posals advocating for Muslim/Islamic anthropol- the study of Muslim Societies. In Muslim travelers:
Pilgrimage, migration, and the religious imagination
ogy are not “scientifically objective” and are
(pp. 3–28). London: Routledge.
“theologically deterministic” (7:48). They ques- Hirji, Z. (2010). Debating Islam from within:
tion the extent to which such proposals can Muslim constructions of the internal other. In
accommodate diverse expressions of Islam and Z. Hirji, & I. B. Tauris (Eds.), Diversity and pluralism
in Islam: Historical and contemporary discourses
plurality of readings of the Qur’an that are made
amongst Muslims (pp. 1–30). London.
by Muslims themselves; for example, they ask Marranci, G. (2008). Anthropology of Islam. London/
who decides which concepts and Islamic ideals New York: Berg.
are to be adopted into this science? To this, Mauroof, S. M. (1981). Elements for an Islamic anthro-
pology. In I. R. Al-Faruqi & A. O. Nasseef (Eds.),
one could add that the proposals do not make
Social and natural sciences: The Islamic perspective
clear the hermeneutics used to read and (pp. 116–139). Jeddah: Hodder and Stoughton.
interpret the Qur’an, processes that are elaborated Momin, A. R. (1989). Islamization of anthropological
on at length in the classical Islamic tradition. thought. American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences,
6(1), 143–153.
Such proposals also have little new to offer Tapper, R. (1995). “Islamic anthropology” and the
anthropology and social science and simply “anthropology of Islam”. Anthropological Quarterly,
replicate Western anthropological methods and 68(3), 185–193.
theoretical concepts, often under the guise of an Varisco, D. M. (2005). Islam obscured: The rhetoric of
anthropological representation. New York: Palgrave
Islamic/Arabic/Qur’anic vocabulary (5:190).
Macmillan.
While a number of these criticisms remain Wyn Davies, M. (1988). Knowing one another, shaping an
unanswered, it may be worthwhile noting that Islamic anthropology. London/New York: Mansell.
Anthropomorphism 111 A
humanlike gods. Theologians have sought to
Anthropology in the Muslim World reduce religious anthropomorphism, but most
say that we cannot eliminate it without elimi- A
▶ Anthropology in Islam nating religion, because we cannot relate to
deities totally unlike ourselves. Deities must
have humanlike language and symbolic behav-
ior, for example, or we could not interact with
Anthropomorphism them. Indeed, a classic theory of religion holds
that religion itself is best understood as
Stewart Elliott Guthrie anthropomorphism (Guthrie 1993; Harvey
Fordham University, New York, NY, USA 1995; Hume 1957).
As noted, anthropomorphism is not
restricted to religion, but pervades secular
Related Terms thought and action as well, so that human fea-
tures seem to appear throughout nature and
Personification even among artifacts (Anthropmorphism.org
2008; Caporael and Hayes 1997; Epley et al.
Anthropomorphism may be defined as the inter- 2007; Guthrie 1993, 1997, 2007). Stars, storms,
pretation of nonhuman things and events in terms oceans, mountains, the Sun and Moon, and the
of human characteristics. For example, we may Earth itself are seen as alive and active. Simi-
perceive a stuck drawer as stubborn, think that larly, humans everywhere have seen imple-
a plague is a message, or see an upright garbage ments (swords and spears in antiquity, for
bag as a person. The term stems from the Greek example, and cars and computers at present)
anthropos (“human”) and morphe (“form”). as volitional. In literature and graphic art,
Originally it meant understanding gods in terms such depiction is often called personification,
of human physical or mental features, but by the especially when the subject is an abstraction
1800s it also meant a broader phenomenon that (such as Death or Liberty).
occurs not only in religion but also throughout Anthropomorphism is common in science
secular thought and action. It is common in daily also, though often criticized there. For example,
life, in the arts, and even in the sciences. Much of Isaac Newton (1642–1727) used love and hate,
it is unconscious. or attraction and repulsion, in his physics.
Following Francis Bacon (1561–1626), who Astronomers at first thought pulsar radio waves
noted that purposes and goals characterize were messages. Neurologists speak of brain
humans but not nature in general, most commen- cells “talking” with each other; and Charles
tators have said that anthropomorphism obstructs Darwin (1809–1882) said that Nature sought
better understandings of the world. Nonetheless, constantly to improve her creatures. (That
it is persistent and indeed universal. some of these claims may be called metaphori-
Humans everywhere have, for example, cal makes no difference, since metaphor is basic
understood deities as humanlike, with such to all domains of human thought, including
qualities as anger, vanity, and affection, and science.)
often with humanlike physical form as well Nonetheless, most scientists see anthropo-
(Harvey 1995). Even deities that look like morphism as subverting good science, and
animals or, that are invisible, are conceived they strive to avoid it. In the history of
as understanding prayer, offerings, and other science, anthropomorphism has therefore
human communications. Writers have noted diminished steadily and significantly. In reli-
such anthropomorphism in religion at least gion, in contrast, anthropomorphism appar-
since the time of Xenophanes (c. 560 to ently cannot be eliminated and arguably is
c. 478 B.C.E.), who criticized conceptions of central. Thus, the different degree of
A 112 Anthropomorphism
anthropomorphism found in science and in reli- disposed to see and hear the world in terms of
gion appears as a major dimension of contrast human qualities.
between the two. Indeed, our evolved perceptual strategy is
If, as most scientists hold, anthropomorphism much like that of Pascal’s Wager: better safe
is a mistake, why is it so common? Established than sorry. When in doubt about what an
explanations are of two kinds, which may be event or something is, we tend to assume
called the familiarity and the comfort theories that it is human. If we are right, we are
(Guthrie 1993). The familiarity theory, advanced rewarded by being prepared, and if wrong,
by the philosopher David Hume (1711–1776) and we lose little.
others, is that our motives are intellectual: We Analogy and metaphor, among other forms of
wish to understand the world, which otherwise is abstraction and pattern recognition, underlie
uncertain and mysterious, and we do so by using much of human thought and action. Through
the model most familiar to us, that of ourselves them, we often see humanlike qualities even
(Hume 1957). This theory is useful, but fails to where we see neither actual humans nor actual
show why humans also anthropomorphize things traces, as when we see “design” in organisms or
and events that are themselves familiar, such as see epidemics as punishments. Nevertheless, the
the behavior of cars and computers, or why we interpretive impulse leading to anthropomor-
see faces in accidental patterns such as those of phism is not to make the world humanlike.
clouds. Instead, it is to find whatever humans, or their
The second theory, held by Sigmund Freud messages or traces, actually are present. In
(1856–1939) and others, is that our motive is a world of perceptual uncertainty, we inevitably
emotional: to make the world less threatening. overestimate these.
This theory is useful as well, but does not explain Our better-safe-than-sorry strategic response
why we posit humanlike yet frightening features to uncertainty and our resulting anthropomor-
in the world, as when we mistake the night-time phism appear deeply rooted in our neurology
sound of a door closed by the wind for the sound (Anthropomorphism.org 2008; Farah and
of a burglar. Heberlein 2007) and, in turn, in evolution.
A third explanation, more recent and more Hence it is unsurprising that our perceptual strat-
general, agrees with Hume that we live in egy is not unique to humans but appears also in
a chronically uncertain world that we need to other animals which, like us, seem on a hair
interpret. This newer view differs, however, on trigger to perceive more animacy in the world
the reason why we use humanlike models to than actually exists (Guthrie 2002; Foster and
do so. It is not because they are familiar or Kokko 2008).
reassuring, but because they represent the most Under any of the three theories discussed,
important possibility. If an actual human, when we first see something (e.g., a shadow in
a human message, or a human trace is present, an alley) as human or humanlike but later see it as
we need to know it, since humans are uniquely something nonhuman, we may call our earlier
powerful and important. interpretation anthropomorphism. And under
However, because our perceptual worlds are any of the three, anthropomorphism may be
always uncertain and because humans may described as a category of interpretations retro-
operate from behind the scenes, we can never spectively seen as mistaken.
be sure that they are not present. As the psy-
chologist and historian of art Ernst Gombrich
(1909–2001) notes, perception is interpretation Cross-References
and hence a bet. According to the third theory,
those bets that may give the most information ▶ Biology of Religion
are the most valuable, and these usually involve ▶ Cognitive Psychology
humans. Therefore, we are unconsciously ▶ Cognitive Science of Religion
Apophatic and Cataphatic 113 A
▶ Perception
▶ Psychology of Religion Apocalypticism
▶ Religion, Theory of A
Robert M. Geraci
Associate Professor of Religious Studies,
References Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY, USA
Anthropomorphism.org (2008). http://anthropomorphism.org

Caporael, L. R., & Heyes, C. M. (1997). Why anthropomor-
A social system reflective of or emergent from
phize? Folk psychology and other stories. In
R. W. Mitchell, N. Thompson, & L. Miles (Eds.), apocalyptic texts, such as the biblical books of
Anthropomorphism, anecdotes and animals Daniel and Revelation. It is characterized by four
(pp. 59–73). Albany: SUNY Press. chief features: (1) a dualistic view of the world in
Epley, N., Waytz, A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2007). On seeing
human: A three-factor theory of anthropomorphism.
which good and evil contest against one another,
Psychological Review, 114(4), 864–886. (2) an experience of alienation caused by the
Farah, M. J., & Heberlein, A. (2007). Personhood and present circumstances in which evil is apparently
neuroscience: Naturalizing or nihilating? The ascendant, (3) the expectation that a transcendent
American Journal of Bioethics, 7(1), 37–48.
guarantor (usually a god) will soon rectify the
Foster, K., & Kokko, H. (2008). The evolution of super-
stitious and superstition-like behavior. Proceedings of alienating circumstances by creating a new and
the Royal Society B, doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.0981, glorious world, and (4) the belief that humankind
Published online. will take on glorious new bodies with which to
Guthrie, S. E. (1993). Faces in the clouds: A New theory of
occupy the transcendent new world. Apocalyptic
religion. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Guthrie, S. E. (1997). Athropomorphism: A definition and beliefs have influenced science at least since the
a theory. In R. W. Mitchell, N. Thompson, & L. Miles medieval period, where they encouraged
(Eds.), Anthropomorphism, anecdotes and animals European thinkers to develop technologies that
(pp. 50–58). Albany: SUNY Press.
Guthrie, S. E. (2002). Animal animism. In I. Pyysi€anen &
could be used in war with the Antichrist. In the
V. Anttonen (Eds.), Current approaches in the cogni- twentieth century, apocalyptic expectations have
tive science of religion (pp. 38–67). London: been relevant to a wide array of technological
Continuum. fields, including robotics and artificial
Guthrie, S. E. (2007). Anthropomorphism and anthropol-
intelligence.
ogy in religion. In H. Whitehouse & J. Laidlaw (Eds.),
Religion, anthropology, and cognitive science
(pp. 37–62). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
Harvey, V. A. (1995). Feuerbach and the interpretation of
religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hume, D. (1957). The natural history of religion (1757).
Apodosis
Stanford: Stanford University Press.
▶ Eschatology
(Epistemological) Antirealism Apophatic and Cataphatic
▶ Constructivism (Philosophy of Mind) Catharina Stenqvist

Centre for Theology and Religious Studies,
Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Apheresis Apophatic theology or negative theology con-

cerns the possibility and non-possibility of
▶ Transfusion Medicine achieving knowledge of the divine. Apophatic
A 114 Apostolic Churches
theology claims an absolute difference between

the human being and the divine. This difference Applied Mathematics (Mathematical
makes the human being incapable to employ Physics, Discrete Mathematics,
either her natural faculties or her senses in her Operations Research)
effort to achieving knowledge of the divine. In
virtue of realizing this non-possibility, she has to Luis Vázquez
enter into a dimension of non-conceptuality Departamento de Matemática Aplicada, Facultad
through which she understands the discrepancy de Informática, Universidad Complutense de
between herself and the divine. She enters “the Madrid, Madrid, Spain
cloud of unknowing.” Hereby she gains the
wisdom that the divine is beyond comprehension
and is to be perceived by renouncing her natural Related Terms
faculties. The divine is commonly described as
“hidden” and “secret,” and the human being per- Mathematics and empirical sciences
ceives the divine through a mental darkness.
Apophatic theology employs the idea of a quali-
tative difference, a difference in kind, between Description
the human being and the divine.
Cataphatic theology or positive theology Applied Mathematics is a discipline of Mathe-
claims a similarity between the human being and matics which deals with the application of Math-
the divine, which makes it possible to achieve ematics to understand and to solve the problems
knowledge of the divine. The knowledge is gained which appear in the investigation of the Physical
through using the natural faculties such as the five World (Science, Technology, and Engineering)
senses and reason. By using an analogical think- and Human Enterprise (Sociology, Business,
ing, that is, making a comparison between the and Commerce). This discipline also includes
human being and the divine, it is possible to the studies and developments of the mathemati-
achieve a partial understanding and knowledge cal areas useful in the past to solve real world
of the divine. Cataphatic theology employs the problems or promising for present problems.
idea of a quantitative difference, a difference in Historically, Applied Mathematics has been
degree, between the human being and the divine. largely reduced to ordinary and partial differen-
tial equations, continuous mechanics, numerical
methods, and the calculus of variations. The
numerical methods combined with the computers
Apostolic Churches allow finding approximate solutions for explicit
mathematical problems given, for instance, in
▶ Pentecostalism terms of differential and/or variational equations
when the analytic solutions are not available or
cannot be obtained. Initially, the significant part
of Applied Mathematics relied on the problems
Application Security arising from physics and with the broad range
from classical to quantum systems. On the other
▶ Information Security hand, Applied Mathematics has grown to include
a large variety of areas or subdisciplines which
take into account, for instance, the contributions
of the algebra to particle physics as well as to the
Applied Logic study of the genome. We will consider three
of such subdisciplines: Mathematical Physics,
▶ Logic, Informal Discrete Mathematics, and Operations Research.
Applied Mathematics (Mathematical Physics, Discrete Mathematics, Operations Research) 115 A
In each case, we have to consider four corner- mathematical description of cosmological and
stones as the ground support of the Applied quantum field theory phenomena, the topology
Mathematics: is playing an important role. Other separate field A
• Data obtained from the observation and of the mathematical physics is the statistical
experimentation. They are the primary refer- mechanics, which is closely related to the
ence in the study of any problem. The Data mathematical ergodic theory and some parts of
Mining is a correlated area with a strong iden- the probability theory.
tity in its own. Sometimes the Mathematical physics
• Algorithms which are used to analyze data and denotes the research addressed to study and to
models. In many cases, we only have the data solve problems motivated by physics within
while in others we have data and equations. a mathematically rigorous framework. In this
When we have equations, there is a good sense, the Mathematical Physics covers a very
instrument of reference to study and to com- broad area of topics with the common feature
bine with the data. At the same time, we have that they combine pure mathematics and physics.
to develop numerical methods to approximate Related to the Mathematical Physics we have the
the solutions of such equations. Theoretical Physics which emphasizes the
• Theories and Models include the theories links to observations and experimental physics
of Pure Mathematics and they are used to and which requires using heuristic, intuitive,
analyze the data and the ideas. The Applied and approximate arguments. We can say that
Mathematics provides a basic ground test rigorous mathematical physics is closer to
for ideas in which the strength of competing mathematics and theoretical physics is closer to
theories can be measured. physics.
• Computers as instruments to implement The field of Mathematical Physics is basically
the algorithms and carry out large and concentrated in four main areas:
massive computations, which allow exploring • Quantum Field Theory devoted to precise
the solutions of the models in unthinkable and construction of models
unexpected regions. • Statistical Mechanics especially concentrated
in the theory of phase transitions
Mathematical Physics • Nonrelativistic Quantum Mechanics including
The objective of the Mathematical Physics is the the connections to atomic and molecular
application of the mathematics to problems in physics
physics and the development of mathematical • Quantum Information Theory
methods appropriate for such applications and
for the formulation of the physical theories. Discrete Mathematics
The theory of differential equations is perhaps The Discrete Mathematics is the branch of
the most closely associated with Mathematical Mathematics that studies the mathematical struc-
Physics. This theory is related to many applica- tures that are fundamentally discrete rather than
tions as celestial mechanics, acoustics, elasticity continuous. The discrete objects can often be
theory, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, enumerated by integers. In a formal framework,
hydrodynamics, and aerodynamics. On the other the Discrete Mathematics deals with countable
hand, the development of the linear algebra, the sets, which have the same cardinality as subsets
spectral theory of operators, and the functional of the natural numbers. In this context, the set of
analysis are the mathematical basis of the quan- objects studied in discrete mathematics can be
tum mechanics and the theory of the atomic spec- finite or infinite. The term Finite Mathematics is
tra. The group theory also played an important sometimes applied to the parts of the field of
role in quantum field theory as well as in differ- discrete mathematics that deals with finite sets.
ential geometry, which turns out to be relevant for The Discrete Mathematics excludes the Calculus
special and general theories of relativity. In the and Analysis of the continuous mathematics
A 116 Applied Mathematics (Mathematical Physics, Discrete Mathematics, Operations Research)
which is the branch of the mathematics dealing associated to understand the tree of life. This is
with objects that can vary smoothly. On the other the case of Combinatory and Graph theory.
hand, the analytic methods from continuous We can summarize some of the relevant topics
mathematics are often employed as well in in Discrete Mathematics:
Discrete Mathematics. This is the case of • Information theory
Discrete Calculus and Discrete Analysis, which • Mathematical logic
cover the discrete version of concepts in contin- • Set theory
uous mathematics as the examples of difference • Combinatory: Discrete probability theory
equations, discrete Fourier transforms, and dis- • Graph theory
crete probability distributions. • Number theory
The development of the computer increased • Abstract algebra
the research in Discrete Mathematics. The com- • Discrete and computational geometry
puters operate in discrete steps and store data in • Discretization: Finite differences
discrete bits. The concepts and notations from There is special relevance of the Discretization
Discrete Mathematics are useful in the study which concerns the process of approximating
and description of objects and problems in differ- continuous models and equations by discrete
ent branches of computer science, for instance, systems. The difference equations are similar to
programming languages, software development, differential equations, since they replace the
algorithms, and cryptography. Reciprocally, due differentiation by incremental differences. That
to the computer we can apply ideas from Discrete allows approximating the solutions of equations
Mathematics to real world problems as in where the analytical methods cannot be applied.
Operations Research. In this approach, we have different important
The history of Discrete Mathematics is issues as the relation between the discrete and
involved with grand challenging problems. In the continuous solutions. It is high desirable that
Graph Theory, much research was originated to the discrete approach preserve the main features
prove the famous Four Color Theorem: All maps of the underlying continuous system, otherwise
could be colored with only four colors. This was the numerical solution could not have nothing to
stated in 1852 and proved by Kenneth Appel and do with the continuous solution.
Wolfgang Haken in 1976, by using substantial
computer assistance. Operations Research
In Logic, the second and tenth problems of The Operations Research is a discipline that
David Hilbert’s list of open problems presented studies the application of advanced analytical
in 1900. The second problem was to prove that methods to help to make the better scenario
the axioms of arithmetic are consistent. In 1931, for the decisions. This provides techniques for
Gödel showed that this was not possible, at least solving practical problems in business and
not with arithmetic itself. Concerning the tenth other fields such the allocation of resources to
problem, it was proved in 1970 by Yuri maximize profit or the schedule project activities
Matiyasevich that we cannot determine whether to minimize the risk. These techniques include
a given polynomial Diophantine equation with areas of optimization as the linear programming,
integer coefficients has an integer solution. the queuing and scheduling theories, as well
World War II was the driving force for the as the network theory. On the other hand, the
advances in cryptography and theoretical com- Operations Research also includes continuous
puter science. The Computational Geometry is topics such as continuous-time Markov process,
a basic component of the computer graphics continuous-time martingales, and continuous and
incorporated into modern video games and hybrid control theory.
computer-aided design tools. Other fields of Historically, and as a formal discipline, the
Discrete Mathematics are very relevant to Operations Research originated during World
solve challenging problems in Bioinformatics War II as a consequence to define strategies
Applied Mathematics (Mathematical Physics, Discrete Mathematics, Operations Research) 117 A
to reduce the ships and airplanes losses in Religion
the different kind of actions. After the war, the The oldest records about mathematics show it
operational research has expanded to be applied appears as the answer to practical problems in A
in business, industry, and society. It was extended agriculture, astronomy, business, and industry.
to analyze equipment procurement, training, Such evidences are found in Egypt, Mesopota-
logistics, and infrastructure. Some of the mia, India, and China. Later on, the Greek con-
addressed relevant problems are the following: tributions introduced a deep change in the nature
• Network Organization: For instance, optimize and approach to mathematics. Initially, the
the network telecommunications in order to knowledge of the mathematical developments
guarantee the quality of the service was associated to the religious environment of
• Routing: To determine the routes of transpor- the temples. For instance, in old Greece some
tation in order to minimize the costs and the groups devoted to the study of different areas as
time of transportation Algebra, Analysis, and Geometry were tied to
• Project Planning: To identify the processes certain rules of life, which could be understood
that affect the overall duration of the project as practitioners of a religion.
• Allocation and Assignment: To find the appro- The Applied Mathematics covers the develop-
priate distribution of tasks, problems, and ment of new mathematical scenarios and instru-
resources in order to optimize the project ments that can be applied to understand practical
The business use of the Operations problems as well as the application of such tech-
Research was defined by Stafford Beer in niques. We can say that the Applied Mathematics
1967 as the Management Science which cannot be considered as a religion but as an
becomes an interdisciplinary branch of applied approach to understand the reality, which is also
mathematics. It is devoted to optimal decision an objective of the religion. A better approach to
planning with strong links with economics, describe the reality implies better knowledge and
business, and engineering. The Management more possibilities to interact with it.
Sciences help businesses to carry out their
goals by using the scientific methods of oper-
ational research. Characteristics
The Applied Mathematics is transdisciplinary in

Self-Identification the sense that the same approach of modeling and
simulation can be applied to problems with very
Science different experimental context in the Physical
Applied Mathematics is deeply related to the World and the Human Enterprise. On the other
observation and experiment because the main hand, the Applied Mathematics represents an
objective is to quantify and solve, through the interface between the world of the problems to
modeling, the problems which arise in the study be solved and the world of the computers that
of the physical world and the human enterprise. have to be used when the nature of the associated
In this context, the studies of Applied Mathe- simulations and computations are very large and
matics allow to make predictions about other complex.
regions of the involved parameters where either
we do not have complete information and/or
experimental data. That shows the relevance of Relevance to Science and Religion
the experiments. Moreover, the beauty of the
Mathematical power lies in the possibility to The Science and Religion are two fundamental
connect different kinds of problems through dimensions of the human being related to the
the similar mathematical structures used to activity of the human brain. On the other hand,
study them. the Applied Mathematics as a part of the Science
A 118 Applied Mathematics (Mathematical Physics, Discrete Mathematics, Operations Research)
activity has a great impact in technology for World is the Nature plus the Human Enterprise
modeling and simulation. There is a large range through the Science, Technology, Engineering,
and variety of applications of mathematics in Business and Commerce.
industry and government, by involving fields as
communication and optimization theories, Human Being
design, medical diagnosis, development of finan- The Mathematics and, in particular, the Applied
cial products, as well as network management Mathematics is a creation of the human being
and weather prediction. who starts to construct it as a response to practical
needs in agriculture, business and industry.
Sources of Authority Life and Death

The life in Applied Mathematics is associated to
The authority relies on different sources as the the possibility of exercise the singular capacities
publication of the results in peer-reviewed papers; of the human brain activity. When such possibil-
and the nature of the solved problems of the phys- ity is not anymore possible we have the death
ical world and human enterprise. Historically, the from the mathematical point of view.
authority of the Applied Mathematics is the same
of the Mathematics in general: the mathematicians Reality
from Egypt and Mesopotamia to our days. The Reality is the Physical and Biological together
with the Human Enterprise and the World of the
abstract structures created by the human brain.
Ethical Principles
Knowledge
The ethical principles are basically the disclosure The knowledge associated to the Applied Math-
of the designed mathematical methods and ematics is the wide range of studies with signifi-
numerical algorithms such that they can be cant application in the empirical sciences.
repeated and confirmed.
Truth
The Applied Mathematics models are an approx-
Key Values imation to the Reality under the context of the
Mathematical Logic and Set Theory, which are in
The Mathematics and, in particular, the Applied the foundations of Mathematics.
Mathematics is a basic tool to educate the mind to
design the mathematical and algorithmic strategy to Perception
approach the solutions of problems where the solu- The perception of the Reality is associated to the
tion is unknown. To compare the solutions obtained model context. An important feature is that the
with different strategies is fundamental to ensure the models offer the possibility to enlarge the pano-
reliability of the solution. On the other hand, such ramic view of the studied problem and to find pos-
strategies have to reproduce the available qualitative sible unexpected connections with other problems.
and quantitative knowledge of the system.
Time
The time is the fourth dimension of the Reality
Conceptualization and plays a key role in the modeling of the phe-
nomena that evolves in time. The time scales are
Nature/World fundamental to understand the dynamics of many
The Nature is the Energy and Matter with their systems. Precisely, the competition among the
Physical and Biological manifestations that the different scales of time and/or space is on the
Applied Mathematics tries to understand. The basis of the chaotic behaviors.
Apraxias 119 A
Consciousness ▶ Mathematics, Modern
The consciousness is associated to a high mental ▶ Model Theory
state that in the framework of the panoramic view ▶ Operations Research in Applied Mathematics A
provided by Applied Mathematics could corre- ▶ Philosophy of Science
spond to the whole possible set of relations with ▶ Simulation Theory
other areas associated to the studied problem. ▶ Space and Time
Rationality/Reason
The rationality is the basic capability of the human References
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Kaku, M. (2011). Physics of the future. Barcelona: Random
Mystery House Mondadori, S.A.. ISBN 978-84-9992-011-5.
The mystery is associated to the lack of knowledge Kline, M. (1990). Mathematical thought from ancient to
and appropriated mathematical instruments to modern times. New York: Oxford University Press.
study a given problem. Any time we make ISBN 0-19-506135-7.
Kusse, B. R. (2006). Mathematical physics: Applied math-
a progress to model and understand a problem,
ematics for scientists and engineers. Weinheim:
we increase our knowledge in the broad sense. Wiley-VCH. ISBN 3-527-40672-7.
Sometimes the kind of mystery associated to cer- Laughlin, R. B. (2008). The crime of reason. And the
tain codes or algorithms is related to the cost of closing of the scientific mind. New York: Basic
Books. ISBN 978-0465005079.
their development and his restricted use. The fact
Leach, J. (2010). Mathematics and religion. Our
of the existence of Mathematics confirms that there languages of sign and symbol. West Conshohocken:
is a mystery we need to quantify and to explore. Templeton Press. ISBN 13-978-1-59947-149-5.
Maybe we can say that if Religion is “The Ques- Rosen, K. H. (2000). Handbook of discrete and combina-
torial mathematics. Boca Raton: CRC Press. ISBN 0-
tion,” Mathematics (Science) is “The Answer.” 8493-0149-1.
Scott, A. (Ed.). (2005). Encyclopedia of nonlinear sci-
ence. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Relevant Themes ISBN 1-57958-385-7.
The International Federation of Operational Research
Societies (IFORS). (2011). http://www.ifors.org
The Applied Mathematics is understood as the use
of Mathematics to solve and quantify the problems
which arise in the investigation of the physical
world and human enterprise. In this context, the Apraxias
Applied Mathematics has grown to include other
issues associated to other areas as biomathematics, F. Binkofski
cryptography, economics, scientific computation, Division for Clinical and Cognitive
social networks, and finances among others. These Neurosciences, RWTH Aachen University,
areas increase every day the impact in our lives. Aachen, Germany
Department of Neurology, University of L€ubeck,
L€ubeck, Germany
Cross-References
▶ Complex Systems Related Terms

▶ Graph Theory
▶ Mathematics, Early Inactivity
A 120 Apraxias
Apraxias are deficits of higher motor behavior apraxia) and (2) an action production system,
that are not primarily caused by elementary def- with information about the motor programs and
icits of the sensorimotor system such as paresis, their conversion into learned movement patterns
ataxia, dyskinesia, or hypoesthesia. Nor do they (damage leads to ideomotor apraxia) (Roy and
represent impairment of language understanding Hall 1992). Liepmann (1920) also differentiated
or recognition of objects or dementia. Instead, the a third component, this of the “kinetic memory”
patients present with deficits of imitating mean- of the “sensomotorium” in which overlearned
ingful or meaningless gestures, purposeful use of movement patterns are stored and whose damage
objects, or dexterity. The term apraxia (Greek: leads to an isolated limb-kinetic apraxia of the
inactivity) was coined by Heymann Steinthal to opposite hand. Traditionally, the investigations
describe failures in the performance of purpose- of patients with such complex forms of apraxia
ful actions and the incorrect use of objects by concentrated on disturbances of the three most
patients with aphasia (Steinthal 1871, 1881). important domains of action performance: imita-
The different forms of apraxia originate from tion of meaningless gestures, performance of
lesions of different levels/structures of the meaningful gestures on verbal command (panto-
motor system, reflecting its complexity. Apraxias mime), and the use of tools and objects. Interest-
are caused by deficits in motor programs gener- ingly, isolated deficits can be observed in all three
ated in the frontal motor areas (executive domains, and these deficits can dissociate from
apraxias, e.g., limb-kinetic apraxia), in the each other. In Liepmann’s terminology, deficits
modality-specific higher sensorimotor control of imitation of meaningless gestures and in pan-
(unimodal apraxias, e.g., tactile apraxia, optic tomime are characteristic for ideomotor apraxia,
apraxia), or at the highest level of motor planning and object use is typically deficient in ideatory
and motor conception (polymodal apraxias, i.e., apraxia. Since the expression of deficits in the
ideomotor and ideational apraxias). Polymodal three domains can vary among patients with
apraxias typically result from left hemisphere apraxia and the borders between the ideomotor
lesions and are therefore often, but not necessar- and ideatory apraxia are blurred, in the modern
ily, observed in combination with aphasia. apraxia research, there is a strong tendency to use
Historically, most influential were the defini- the term limb apraxia for complex apractic dis-
tions of complex forms of apraxia: the ideatory turbances within the three domains (imitation,
and ideomotor apraxia syndromes as defined by observation, and object use). Although in the
Liepmann (1920). They are caused by lesions of light of the modern research, the Liepmann
the language dominant hemisphere, though their model cannot longer be regarded as valid, it has
manifestation is bilateral (i.e., contra- as well as had a strong influence on the development of
ipsilateral). In rare cases, with a lesion of the apraxia research. The terms ideomotor and
callosal fibers, a unilateral form of ideomotor ideatory apraxia are still widely used in the clin-
apraxia in the extremities ipsilateral to the lan- ical practice.
guage dominant hemisphere can be observed. In In clinical examination, apraxia can be found
those forms of apraxia as defined by Liepmann, quite often in patients with stroke. According to
the disturbance of execution of complex move- De Renzi (1989), apractic disorders can be found
ments results either from incorrect action plan- in dependence of the applied testing in 30–50 %
ning (ideational apraxia) or from the incorrect of left brain damaged patients and in 2–9 % of
conversion of correct planning into correct per- right brain damaged patients. Aphasia (a disorder
formance of actions or action sequences (ideo- of language perception and production) and
motor apraxia). Thereby, two main components apraxia may often occur simultaneously, but
of action planning and execution can be distin- their grades of severity do not correlate. Some
guished: (1) an action concept system, containing studies could demonstrate a (double) dissociation
knowledge of the tool use and of the basic of impairments in language functions and prac-
mechanical constraints (damage leads to ideatory tice, which suggests that the neural organization
Apraxias 121 A
of these two functions is organized in at least, in Limb-kinetic apraxia results in the most cases
part, structurally different networks. The natural from lesions of the premotor cortex and manifests
history of apraxia is quite heterogeneous – of itself contralaterally. It may also develop with A
those patients who were apractic in the first basal ganglia diseases such as corticobasal
week post onset of infarction, approximately degeneration or the Parkinson’s disease
half were still apractic after 3 months and (Leiguarda and Marsden 2000).
remained apractic in about 20 % of cases (Basso Limb-kinetic apraxia is well accessible to
et al. 1987; Kertesz and Ferro 1984). The differ- physiotherapeutic measures, much better than
ent types of apraxia differentially affect the activ- many forms of paresis. The patients profit very
ities of daily living and hence show marked well from intensive structural exercise.
differences in the prognosis of recovery and the – Speech Apraxia
need of physiotherapeutic treatment. In speech apraxia, the composition of artic-
With reference to the work of De Renzi ulatory movements to produce language
(De Renzi and Luchelli 1988) and Goldenberg sounds and words is disturbed. Patient’s
(e.g., Goldenberg 1996, 2006), the following speech seems weary; it is slow and disfigured
modern classification of apraxias can be by phonetic deviations. When speaking, the
proposed: patients give the impression that they must
• Executive Apraxias consciously control their mouth movements,
The executive apraxias are characterized by the coordination of the speech apparatus, and
deficits in the execution of complex movement respiration.
components. Representative forms are the limb- The diagnosis of a speech apraxia is based on
kinetic apraxia and the speech apraxia. They are analysis of the linguistic utterances of the patient,
the consequence of the disturbed “premotor” particularly with missing symptoms of aphasia or
functions of the caudal frontal lobe which is act- dysarthria. Advanced planning of speech move-
ing as a store and a processor of complex actions. ments is disturbed and sounds are poorly coordi-
Lesion-induced interruptions of the parieto- nated. With speech apraxia, individual
premotor information flow often play an impor- movements of the mouth can be accomplished
tant causal role. with normal strength and speed, but they cannot
– Limb-Kinetic Apraxia be coordinated for fluent execution of speech.
The limb-kinetic (also innervation or Speech apraxia results most frequently from
melokinetic) apraxia manifests itself as the left frontal lesions, in or around the gyrus
inability to accomplish finely coordinated and precentralis (parts of Broca’s area), and subcorti-
precise hand movements (Kleist 1911; cal structures may also be affected.
Liepmann 1920). The higher the demand on Patients, who are moderately to heavily
finely tuned motor control, the more awkward affected, should begin the therapy with the exer-
is the movement execution. This syndrome is cise of pronunciation and intonation of simple
rarely diagnosed, mainly because the distinc- syllables. Performance of correct movements of
tion from paresis resulting from a lesion of the lips and the tongue might be helpful. Some
pyramidal system is difficult. There is also, as patients may improve their articulation by rhyth-
of yet, no standardized test for limb-kinetic mic knocking or clapping. The exercise of pro-
apraxia. The characteristic clinical diagnostic nunciation should be aligned to the natural
features are awkwardness of arm and hand speech rhythm in order to improve
movements, disturbance of fine motor skills, comprehension.
dexterity, coordination of exploratory finger • Unimodal Apraxias
movements, writing and of the joint coordina- Unimodal apraxias are localized within one
tion, all that which is associated with preserved sensory system and manifest themselves pre-
force production and individual finger dominantly on the contralateral side to the
movements. lesion. Typical representatives are the tactile
A 122 Apraxias
apraxia and the optical (visuomotor) apraxia contralesional arm and in the contralesional
(also optic ataxia). hemifield. Typically, the patients are capable of
– Tactile Apraxia reaching toward their own body parts or toward
In tactile apraxia (Klein 1931), explorative objects, which are localized on the body surface.
finger movements are mainly affected with For the diagnostics of optic apraxia, goal-directed
simultaneous absence of paresis or sensory defi- reaching should be examined with each arm and
cits. The finger movements are uncoordinated in both peripheral hemifields under simultaneous
and inadequate in relation to size and shape of central fixation. In many studies regarding optic
objects to be explored (Binkofski et al. 2001). apraxia, lesions of the superior parietal lobulus
Typically, the intransitive (not object-related) were reported (Ratcliff and Davies-Jones 1972).
and expressive movements such as gestures are Newer studies localize the critical lesion site
well preserved. Tactile apraxia is often accompa- within the parieto-occipital junction and the adja-
nied by the inability to recognize objects by tac- cent intraparietal sulcus (Karnath and Perenin,
tile exploration, despite the well-preserved basic 2005). The most severely affected patients show
sensory and motor functions which is called misreaching also for centrally fixated objects.
astereognosia (Binkofski et al. 2001; Wernicke These rather rare cases are usually associated
1876). Tactile apraxia results typically from with larger or bilateral lesions. These patients
lesions of the contralateral superior parietal have difficulties getting along in unusual envi-
lobulus and/or the more anterior part of the ronments. Patients with smaller and one-sided
intraparietal sulcus. If the caudal parts of the lesions are often mildly affected. If the optic
gyrus postcentralis are affected, accompanying apraxia is limited to the periphery of the visual
disturbances of somatosensory qualities can field, compensatory strategies can be practiced, in
occur. Since the disturbed handling of objects is which the patients first learn to turn their gaze to
the central failure in tactile apraxia and fre- objects and then to reach for them under central
quently a concomitant disturbance of the tactile fixation.
object recognition is present, the patients – Limb Apraxias
are often significantly impaired in daily life The execution of simple movement compo-
(Delay 1935; Binkofski et al. 1999). In particu- nents is not affected in limb apraxias; the deficits
larly severe cases, the hand can be useless, of action execution depend rather on the context
despite intact motor and sensory function. Dedi- in which the motor action is implemented. An
cated intensive physiotherapeutic measures and important feature of limb apraxia is that the dis-
learning of alternative strategies can provide turbance of action execution manifests itself on
good results. both sides of the body (ipsi- and contralateral to
– Optic Ataxia the lesion). The disorder affects mechanisms of
In 1909, optic ataxia was first described by action conception which are operating on
Balint (1909) as part of a broader visuo- a hierarchically higher level than the purely con-
perceptive deficit. Optic ataxia is characterized tralateral action execution and sensorimotor con-
by an inaccuracy when reaching for visually trol. Such apraxia can manifest itself both in the
located objects. The terms visuomotor ataxia or extremities and in the face, in the latter case it is
optic apraxia are being used synonymously. The called buccofacial apraxia. Up to 80 % of all
typical behavior of a patient with optic apraxia aphasic patients have a buccofacial apraxia.
includes misreaching toward objects, in particu- Limb apraxia manifests itself in three domains
lar when the objects are not centrally fixated of motor behavior: imitation of meaningless ges-
by the patient. In some patients, misreaching is tures, execution of meaningful gestures on verbal
present only in one arm but in both hemifields command, and use of tools and objects. Since
(hand effect), in others in both arms in each of them can vary in dependence of localiza-
the contralesional visual field (field effect). The tion and lateralization of the lesion, Goldenberg
most frequent deficit is present in the is proposing their separate examination
Apraxias 123 A
(Goldenberg 2006). In everyday life, patients pantomime of the object use (Vaina et al.
with lighter forms of limb apraxia are rather 1995). They have also difficulties with panto-
inconspicuous, their deficit is revealed predomi- mime of object-associated movements A
nantly in the experimental situation, mostly if (Goldenberg and Hagmann 1998; Goodglass
they are requested to perform a pantomime of and Kaplan 1963) or with the selection of
object use after verbal or visual presentation of objects, which are to serve the same purpose
the object. Whereas most errors occur during the (Rumiati et al. 2001). The integrity of the left
pantomime of the object use, the patients show hemisphere is crucial for establishing associa-
clearly less remarkable findings during the real tion of tools with purpose, recipient, and action,
use of objects. The impairment of object and tool and the inference of function from structure.
use is a cardinal symptom of severe limb apraxia. Many patients with limb apraxia need signifi-
Patients with this type of apraxia are severely cantly more assistance than non apractic patients
impaired in their daily life. Limb apraxia is typ- (Sundet et al. 1988). The deficit of imitation can
ically associated with lesions of the language also have a negative influence on motor learning
dominant hemisphere. The imitation of simple in physical and occupational therapy. The
and complex movements can be affected after inability to express the meaning of objects or
lesions of the left frontal and parietal cortex, actions by gestures reduces the ability of
this deficit can be seen more frequently after patients with severe aphasia to compensate
lesions of the parietal cortex (De Renzi et al. their language deficits by nonverbal
1983). Many patients with lesions of the left communication (Borod et al. 1989). Therefore,
parietal lobe seem to have difficulties to execute “gesture training” can provide positive results.
and to analyze movements, which refer to their A clear reduction of faulty actions and patients’
own body schema (Halsband et al. 2001). The need for assistance could be found only after the
lateralization of the deficiency in imitation of direct training, in which concrete ADLs were
meaningless movements is specific for the body learned. On the other hand, the patients could
part: Left brain lesions affect imitation of hand not concretely use the new insights about the
and foot postures more than of finger postures. object use they have gained from the exploration
Right brain lesions do not have an influence on training. Apparently, only those patients who
hand and only slight one on foot postures, but practice on a regular basis can keep the level of
may cause marked deficits in imitation of finger improvement high (Goldenberg and Hagmann
postures (Goldenberg 1996). Within the left 1998), patients who stop practicing deteriorate.
hemisphere, lesions of the lower parietal lobe The therapeutic aims for patients with ideational
(supramarginal gyrus) are particularly important. apraxia should be strongly orientated toward the
Also, deficits of pantomime of transitive (object- domestic environment and on the desires of the
related) movements can be seen predominantly patients and their family members.
after left hemispheric lesions. Conversely, defi-
cits in the pantomime of intransitive (not object-
related) movements seem to be distributed over Cross-References
both hemispheres (Haaland and Flaherty 1984).
Patients with right hemisphere lesions do not ▶ Action Control
have problems with the pantomime of meaning- ▶ Cerebrovascular Diseases
ful gestures. Patients with deficits in object use ▶ Clinical Psychology
have usually large lesions, which include the ▶ Cognitive Psychology
temporoparietal region in the language dominant ▶ Neuroimaging
hemisphere (Goldenberg and Hagmann 1998). ▶ Neurology in Europe
Patients with left hemispheric lesions have diffi- ▶ Neuropsychology
culties to select objects fitting to such move- ▶ Physiotherapy
ments, which were shown to them as ▶ Recovery
A 124 Aptitude
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tion in ideomotor apraxia. Brain, 107, 921–933.
Balint, R. (1909). Seelenhamung des ‘Schauens’, optische Klein, R. (1931). Zur Symptomatologie des
Ataxie, r€aumlische Störung des Aufmerksamkeit. Parietallappens. Zeitschrift f€
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Binkofski, F., Buccino, G., Posse, S., Seitz, R. J., apraxias. Higher order disorders of sensorimotor
Rizzolatti, G., & Freund, H.-J. (1999). integration. Brain, 123, 860–879.
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Binkofski, F., Kunesch, E., Classen, J., Seitz, R. J., & Ratcliff, G., & Davies-Jones, G. A. (1972). Defective
Freund, H.-J. (2001). Tactile apraxia: An unimodal visual localization in focal brain wounds. Brain, 95,
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Performance of left brain damaged patients on chological predictors in stroke rehabilitation. Journal
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Frontal and parietal injured patients compared. Cortex, Vaina, L. M., Goodglass, H., & Daltroy, L. (1995). Infer-
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Architecture in Islam 125 A
primarily formed in the West. One of the diffi-
Arabic Astronomy culties associated with attempting to understand
the field has been the stubborn preoccupation A
▶ Astronomy in Islam with bringing this diverse chronological and
geographic architectural production under the
umbrella of one unifying category, that of
“Islamic architecture.” This has begun to change,
Arabic Philosophy particularly over the past two decades, as the field
has achieved higher levels of specialization as
▶ Philosophy in Islam a result of various factors including its maturing
age and also because an increasing number of
institutions and scholars have become involved
in the field and a substantial number of studies
Architecture have been published on it. Still, the legacy of
a unifying single category remains very strong
▶ Architecture in Islam and present, particularly among those not special-
ized in the field, including architects as well as
architectural historians and critics.
In attempting to understand the architecture of
Architecture in Islam Islam as a field on inquiry, a point of departure
would be to present it within the context of three
Mohammad al-Asad simple and basic, but interconnected, systems of
The Center for the Study of the Built categorization: chronological, geographic, and
Environment (CSBE), Amman, Jordan typological.
There are a number of manners through which
one may present the chronological evolution of
Related Terms the architecture of Islam. What follows is only
one of a number of possible scenarios. The birth
Architecture; Structure of the architecture of Islam symbolically may be
traced to the construction by the Prophet Muham-
mad of his house and mosque in Medina in 622,
Description which is the year of the Hijra, or the Prophet’s
pilgrimage from Mecca to Medina, the founding
The architecture of Islam covers a very wide of the first Islamic state, and the beginning of the
chronological and geographic expanse. Islamic calendar. The building activity that took
The birth of this architectural tradition dates place under the Prophet and his four successors
back to the first half of the seventh century, (known as the Orthodox Caliphs) remained
almost 1,400 years ago. Geographically, it rather modest in its symbolic aspirations
extends across an expanse that includes consid- and made no pretenses at achieving any level of
erable areas in Asia, Africa, and Europe, covering monumentality or grandeur. It was under the first
the Near East – where Islam was born, in the Muslim imperial dynasty, that of the Umayyads
Arabian Peninsula – and extending into areas as (661–750), that a deliberate will for achieving
distant and diverse as Spain, North Africa, sub- such monumentality and grandeur in architecture
Saharan Africa, East and South Europe, Central came into being, as evident in their main
Asia, South Asia, and East Asia. constructions of the Dome of the Rock and the
The study of the architecture of Islam gradu- Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and the Umayyad
ally emerged as an academic field of inquiry over Mosque in Damascus, all dating to the late
the past two centuries or so and has been seventh and early eighth centuries.
A 126 Architecture in Islam
The Abbasid dynasty (750–1258), which bringing about a period of extensive fragmenta-
violently overthrew the Umayyads, continued tion, with a series of smaller and often warring,
this imperial tradition of architecture. Their ear- though, in many cases, culturally vibrant inde-
liest most prominent building effort was the pendent states coming into being in various parts
founding of their capital, the city of Baghdad, in of the Islamic world. With this fragmentation,
762, which was designed as a circular walled however, also came a high level of diversity and
enclosure with a diameter of about 2 km but richness of architectural production. The Saljuq
quickly grew beyond its pure geometric confines. dynasty and its vassals did manage to achieve
The Umayyad and the early Abbasid periods some consolidation of authority in the central
generally are considered to belong to the Islamic lands beginning in the late eleventh cen-
“early” Islamic architectural tradition. This was tury, with much of its weight being located in Iran
a formative period in which new architectural and Central Asia. They were among the earlier of
vocabularies were established through a process a series of rulers of Turkic origins that eventually
involving a considerable borrowing and transfor- ruled much of the Islamic world. Another wave of
mation of prototypes from the architectural tradi- territorial consolidation, though a brief one, came
tions of the two empires that ruled much of the with the devastating Mongol invasion during the
earliest regions to become part of the Islamic thirteenth century, which extended across
world. The first empire is that of the Sasanians, Asia and brought vast areas under Mongol rule
which ruled Iran and Iraq and which the Muslims including Baghdad in 1258, which, in spite of the
eliminated, and the second is that of the political weakening of the Abbasid dynasty, had
Byzantines, which ruled in Anatolia, Syria, and managed to remain a metropolis of tremendous
Egypt and which the Muslims greatly weakened. symbolic and cultural importance.
The Umayyads initially expressed a stronger The Mongols were followed by a number of
reliance on Byzantine rather than Sasanian powerful dynasties. These included the Ilkhanids,
prototypes, but as the political and economic the successors of the Mongol rulers who had
weight of the Muslim empire gradually shifted converted to Islam, the Mamluks, who ruled
eastward, Sasanian influences increased consid- Western Asia and the Nile Valley from the mid-
erably by the late Umayyad period to become dle of the thirteenth century to the early sixteenth,
overwhelmingly dominant by the advent of the and the Timurids, the dynasty founded by Timur
Abbasids. in the late fourteenth century and that brought
This formative early period of about two cen- much of Central Asia under its control. Each
turies is followed by what art and architectural established its own unique and monumental
historian Oleg Grabar identified as a “classical” architectural tradition. Samarkand and Cairo
period of Islamic architecture and this usually is particularly provided magnificent urban and
marked by the construction of the expansive architectural expressions of the glories of the
Abbasid royal suburb of Samarra outside Timurid and Mamluk empires.
Baghdad in 836. With the advent of this classical The next phase is the founding of what
period, architectural references became primarily historian Marshall Hodgson termed the “gun-
internal and no longer heavily dependent on powder empires,” which coincided with the age
outside prototypes. During that same period, of gunpowder and the use of firearms. These great
the Umayyads, who managed to survive and empires are those of the Mughals in India, the
maintain their rule at the western edge of their Safavids in Iran and Central Asia, and the
far-flung Muslim empire in the Iberian Peninsula Ottomans in Turkey as well as Eastern Europe,
(or al-Andalus in Arabic) until 1031, also concur- Western Asia, and North Africa. These empires,
rently developed their own unique, independent, which reached their zenith during the sixteenth
and mature architectural vocabularies. and seventeenth centuries, were among the most
The Abbasid dynasty began to show serious powerful in the world, ruled much of the Islamic
signs of political weakening by the tenth century, world, and provided a consolidation of authority
as well as an expansion of territories under architecture of Egypt generally expressed
Muslim rule not seen for centuries. Their archi- a clear independent character and often had
tecture provided a major and conscious expression a strong influence on the architecture of Greater A
of their glory, as can be seen in representative Syria. This influence became increasingly strong
well-known monuments such as the Taj Mahal in after the Fatimid dynasty, which was established
Agra (1632–1653), the Royal Mosque of Isfahan in North Africa in 909, advanced into Egypt in
(1611–1638), and the Selimiye in Edirne 969, reaching Greater Syria soon after that. While
(1568–1574). The latter monument is considered Greater Syria is the birth place of the Islamic
the masterpiece of the Ottoman architect Sinan, world’s first imperial tradition, that of the
the most celebrated architect of the Islamic Umayyads, its architecture with time became
world’s long and varied architectural legacy, and more integrated with, and often subjected to, the
its most prolific. The weakening of those empires architectural traditions of the main regional pow-
during the course of the eighteenth century marked ers, including the Abbasids, Fatimids, Ayyubids,
the initiation of the modern era, which was accom- Mamluks, and the Ottomans. The same applies to
panied by growing Western influence, often the architecture of Iraq, which played a crucial
expressed through direct colonialism. With that, and central role in the development of the Umay-
the architectural production of the Islamic world yad and Abbasid architectural traditions.
enters a new period, but this falls beyond the scope Although Iraq generally managed to maintain
of this entry. a level of cultural autonomy until the fall of
Geographically, the Islamic world may be Baghdad to the Mongols, this autonomy later on
divided into a series of regions defined by various succumbed to the influences of larger empires
factors including natural borders as well as such as those of the Safavids and the Ottomans.
linguistic, sectarian, and overall cultural bonds, Turkey of course is a most significant central
with each region developing rather unique archi- region of the Islamic world and, beginning with
tecture traditions. While the natural borders are the growth of the Ottoman Empire in the second
fixed, the cultural ones are very elastic, resulting half of the fifteenth century, became the center of
in a frequent shifting of borders defining those architectural influence that extended into the
regions and strongly affecting the nature of rela- various areas under Ottoman control, including
tionships between them. Still, a certain level of East Europe, North Africa, and West Asia.
continuity marks this regional division of No less important than Turkey is Iran, which
the Islamic world throughout Islamic history. played a most crucial role in the development of
Moving from west to east, the Iberian Peninsula, Islamic civilization since the early days of Islam
or al-Andalus, emerged as a very important although its widespread cultural influence was
region of the Islamic world after it became somewhat curtailed under the Safavids, when it
a separate principality under the Umayyads in became the main center of Shiite Islam while
the mid-eight century and until the Iberian much of the other parts of the Islamic world
Peninsula began to fall to advancing Christian were ruled by Sunni dynasties. In fact, it is Iran,
European forces from the north in the early Turkey, and the eastern Arabic-speaking lands
thirteenth century, a process that was completed (extending from Iraq in the east to Egypt in the
with the fall of Granada in 1492. In addition to west) that form what may be referred to as the
al-Andalus, the other Arabic-speaking regions of “central” regions of the Islamic world, and it is
the Islamic world consist of North Africa, Egypt there where a good part of the Islamic world’s
and the Nile Valley, the Fertile Crescent (Greater political and cultural developments originated.
Syria and Iraq), and the Arabian Peninsula, with This still does not minimize the importance of
each expressing a rather separate architectural regions falling outside this “central” core, most
character. The architecture of North Africa importantly Central Asia, or what until recently
greatly interacted with that of al-Andalus, while were the former Central Asian republics of the
the latter was under Muslim rule. The Soviet Union and also Afghanistan. A number of
A 128 Architecture in Islam
very important dynasties such as the Timurids Wood, while not common as a structural mate-
were based in Central Asia, and significant rial, was widely used for specific elements such
urban centers of Islamic civilization such as as wall and ceiling panels, as well as for screens
Samarqand, Bukhara, Tashkent, Nishapur, and balconies.
Merv, and Herat are located in that region. The From a typological point of view, a certain
Indian subcontinent of course forms an integral level of confusion has always evolved from the
part of the Islamic world although its relation to use of the term “Islamic architecture” as it gives
the Islamic world is very much complicated by a religious overtone to that architectural produc-
the fact that in spite of its enormous Muslim tion even though it fully covers both religious and
population and that it was ruled by various secular buildings. Of course, the most prominent
Muslim dynasties for centuries, most notably building type of the architecture of Islam remains
the Mughals, the majority of its population a religious building: the mosque. Every city was
remained Hindu. to have a main congregational mosque where the
To the east are the regions of East Asia, and in Friday prayers led by the ruler would take place,
fact, Indonesia is today’s largest Muslim country. with the mosque and house of the Prophet in
The Islamic architectural traditions of East Asia, Medina being the first example. Many cities,
however, are more closely affiliated with however, early on became too large to be served
preexisting local traditions than with those of by a single congregational mosque and had to be
other regions of the Islamic world. Interestingly served by more than one. In addition, there are the
enough, even though one associates Islam with its smaller mosques that serve the various districts or
central regions, the majority of the world’s neighborhoods of the city.
Muslims in fact reside east of these central Other buildings with strong religious connota-
regions, in the Indian subcontinent and Eastern tions include the mausoleum, the earliest surviv-
Asia (primarily Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and ing example of which is the octagonal al-Qubba
Indonesia). And of course, various parts of sub- al-Sulaybiyya in Samarra from the second half of
Saharan Africa such as present-day Mali and the the ninth century. In it, three Abbasid rulers were
Niger produced their own unique and rich archi- buried. By the middle of the twelfth century,
tectural traditions, even though their role in the mausoleums were often combined with mosques
overall political and cultural developments to form a unified architectural complex. Out of
affecting the Islamic world remained peripheral. the mausoleum also developed the important
One manner in which the architecture of these building type of the shrine, or mashhad, which
different regions may be differentiated is through commemorated an important religious person. In
the primary building material used in them, par- this context, mashhads commemorating religious
ticularly stone and brick. One cannot and should events existed since the early days of Islam, with
not draw clear-cut lines of division. Still, stone two prime examples being the Ka’ba in Mecca,
generally is prevalent in the architecture of which is associated with events from the life of
regions such as Turkey, Greater Syria, Egypt, Abraham and marks the direction which Muslims
and India, while brick is the common construc- face when praying, and the Dome of the Rock in
tion material in regions such as Iraq, Iran, and Jerusalem, which is associated with Prophet
Central Asia. These two materials were used both Muhammad’s night journey to heaven.
for structural purposes and for sheathing surfaces. Another important structure with religious
Another important surface-sheathing material is connotations is the madrasa, or the institution
glazed tiles, of which impressive examples are where religious scholars were educated. The ear-
found in Turkey, Iran, and North Africa. Mosaics liest were built by the Saljuqs during the eleventh
were particularly common for covering surfaces century, with the earliest surviving examples dat-
in the early Islamic architecture of Syria and ing to the first half of the twelfth century. These
al-Andalus, and stucco was widespread in various too often were combined with the mosque or – by
parts of the Islamic world and at different periods. the twelfth century – the mausoleum (usually of
the patron), and it is not unusual to have com- And there is no shortage of princely residences
plexes containing all three. Architecturally, some although these have not survived as well as reli-
of the most magnificent surviving examples of gious buildings since succeeding dynasties were A
these combined complexes are found in Mamluk not particularly concerned with preserving the
Egypt, as with the mid-fourteenth-century com- symbols of power of those preceding them, and
plex of Sultan Hasan in Cairo. There also are in some cases deliberately destroyed them. What
other building types with religious connotations does survive, however, is spectacular, as evident
such as the Ribat, which essentially is a fortified in two of the best-known palaces of the Islamic
enclosure for religious warriors, or the Khanqah, world, the Alhambra in Granada and the Topkapi
which is a hostel for sufis. in Istanbul, both of which evolved over centuries,
There of course is an abundance of public build- with the Alhambra coming into being in the
ings of a secular nature in the Islamic world. Some thirteenth century and the Topkapi in the fif-
were intended as philanthropic structures that pro- teenth. In addition, there is that most interesting
vide services to the public, such as the sabil, or and still not fully understood group of early
public water fountain. There also are other con- palaces constructed by the Umayyads during the
structions connected to the theme of water, such as seventh and early eight century in Syria, mainly
aqueducts and reservoirs, all incorporating sophis- along the edges of the Syrian desert, and which
ticated methods for collecting, conveying, and stor- provide the first surviving examples of Muslim
ing water. A unique water-related structure is the palaces.
mid-ninth-century Abbasid-era Nilometer in Cairo, Numerous examples survive of military
which consisted of a marked column located in the architecture. Some had clear religious connota-
middle of well-like space that was connected to the tions as with the ribats. Although the ribats were
Nile by tunnels. The Nilometer measured the level located outside cities, many military structures,
of the waters of the Nile for the purposes of deter- particularly the citadel, occupied commanding
mining taxes for a given year. locations in cities, often along city walls. One of
Another common building type is the public the most magnificent is the Citadel of Aleppo,
hospital, known as the maristan or bimaristan. which began to take its present shape during the
A well-known and relatively early example is Crusader period particularly in the second half of
the mid-twelfth-century bimaristan of Nur al- the twelfth century, under the rule of the Zangids,
Din in Damascus, which the Zangid ruler Nur but evolved considerably over the next few cen-
al-Din built (the Zangids were one of a number turies. The site, however, was used for military
of dynasties founded by governors appointed by purposes as early as the third millennium BC. In
the Saljuqs). Public baths, or hammams, were this context, it is important to keep in mind that
also significant urban public structures. Although numerous important monuments in the Islamic
the earliest surviving baths are private ones found world were built on the remains of pre-Islamic
in the palatial residences that the Umayyads built structures.
in the Syrian desert, they evolved into public The various building types of the Islamic
structures and an integral component of cities in world of course often came together in many
the Middle East and North Africa. complexes. The Citadel of Aleppo, for example,
There also are numerous commercial structures not only housed military facilities but also had
and complexes that were developed in the Islamic residential as well as religious ones, in addition to
world, which is not at all surprising considering water collection, storage, and distribution
the central role that trade played in its economic facilities.
life. These include the suq (souk), or market, the Finally, one cannot ignore the urban scale.
khan, and caravanserai, as well as the wakala, the Islam was very much an urban religion
urban caravanserai that contained storage areas on connected to urban centers, and the architecture
the ground floor with accommodations units for of the Muslim world very much is an urban
traveling merchants above. architecture. One expression of this emphasis
A 130 Argument from Design
on urbanism is how Muslim rulers established Grabar, O. (1987). The formation of Islamic art (Revised
numerous new cities in different locations and and enlarged edition). New Haven: Yale University
Press.
in different periods. Cities were established Hillenbrand, R. (1994). Islamic architecture. New York:
since the earliest days of Islam, as is the case Columbia University Press.
with Basra and Kufa in Iraq, both of which Michell, G. (Ed.). (1995). Architecture of the Islamic
initially were founded during the rule of the world: Its history and social meaning. London:
Thames and Hudson.
Orthodox Caliphs as garrisons for Muslim
armies but quickly grew to become full-fledged
cities. During their heyday, many of the cities
of the Islamic world, such as Baghdad, Cairo,
Cordoba, Isfahan, and Istanbul, were major Argument from Design
cosmopolitan metropolises and great interna-
tional centers of commerce, culture, and ▶ Deism
learning.
Clearly, there is considerable diversity in the
architecture of the Islamic world. However, there
also are certain visual elements that linked the
architectural production of its various regions. Argumentation Theory
The dome is common in many parts of that world
and so are the minaret and the iwan (a vaulted ▶ Logic, Informal
space enclosed on three sides and entirely open
on the fourth, often onto a courtyard). Calligraphy
was a common feature for articulating buildings,
providing documentary information on the build-
ings as well as presenting their symbolic signifi- Arguments from Necessary Being
cance. Certain decorative features, such as the
muqarnas (also known as stalactite or honeycomb ▶ Ontological Arguments
vaults) as well repetitive floral and geometric dec-
orative patterns (known as the arabesque), can be
found in regions as diverse as the Indian subcon-
tinent and Spain. Still, it should be noted that if one
examines the architecture of the geographic Arguments from Perfection
“edges” of the Islamic world, such as East Asia
or sub-Saharan Africa, it is noticed that these ▶ Ontological Arguments
various elements generally are not incorporated
in their unique and impressive architectural
traditions.
Argumentum Ad Ignoratiam
References ▶ God of the Gaps
Blair, S., & Bloom, J. (1996). The art and architecture of

Islam, 1250–1800. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Ettinghausen, R., & Grabar, O. (2003). Islamic art and
architecture 650–1250 (2nd ed.). New Yaven: Yale
University Press.
Frishman, M., & Khan, H.-U. (Eds.). (2002). The Mosque:
Arithmetic
History, architectural development and regional
diversity. London: Thames and Hudson. ▶ Mathematics, Formal and Contemporary
Arithmetic in Islam 131 A
Arabic text is al-Khwārizmı̄’s Book on Hindı̄
Arithmetic in Islam Reckoning (early ninth century), which survives
only in Latin translation. Originally, the algo- A
Jeffrey A. Oaks rithms for calculating in this system were devised
Department of Mathematics and Computer for use on a dust board where erasing is easy. In
Science, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, the mid-tenth century al-Uqlı̄disı̄ presented new
IN, USA algorithms for use with pen and paper, partly to
dissociate the method from the work of astrolo-
gers who calculated with the dust board. One
Related Terms Arabic contribution is decimal fractions,
described for the first time by al-Uqlidisı̄ (tenth
Calculation; Reckoning century) and later exploited by mathematicians
such as Jamshı̄d al-Kāshı̄ (early fifteenth
century).
Description Since Babylonian times astronomical calcula-
tions were performed and recorded in base 60.
Arabic arithmetic exhibits two interconnected In Greek texts the letters of the alphabet designate
currents, the practical and the scientific. Before the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 30,
the ninth century CE practical arithmetic was etc. In this way 42 was written “MB,” where “M”
traditionally communicated orally by trade represents 40 and “B” is 2. To write
groups, with emphasis on calculation and prob- a hexadecimal number like “2; 13, 42, 0, 45”

lem solving. Here the concept of “number” is any 2 þ 13 601
þ 42 6012 þ 0 6013 þ 45 6014 , a Greek
positive quantity which arises in calculation,
including fractions and irrational roots. text will have “B IG MB ō ME,” where a special
Three systems of practical calculation were symbol fills the empty place, and the order
taught in medieval Islam: finger reckoning, of magnitude is (usually) not indicated. Arabic
Hindı̄ numerals, and the base 60 system of the astronomers learned the hexadecimal system
astronomers. Merchants preferred finger reckon- from Ptolemy’s Almagest, and their jummal
ing. In this system calculation is done mentally system replaces the Greek letters with Arabic
utilizing clever shortcuts, and intermediate letters (Al-Uqlı̄disı̄ 1978).
results from 1 to 9,999 are “stored” by position- Trigonometric tables and algorithms for cal-
ing the fingers in particular ways. Different culating roots were composed for both the Hindı̄
problem-solving methods were associated with and the Jummal systems. To give two late exam-
finger reckoning, including double false position ples, Berggren describes al-Kāshı̄’s extraction of
and algebra. Al-Khwārizmı̄’s lost Book of Adding the fifth root of 44,240,899,506,197 in Hindı̄
and Subtracting, written in the early ninth cen- numerals and his calculation of 2p in hexadeci-
tury, was probably devoted to this method. If so, mal, via trigonometric identities and the square
it is the earliest known written text on the subject. root algorithm, to an accuracy equivalent to 16
One famous book, which inspired many later decimal places (Berggren 1986, pp 20, 53ff).
works, is al-Karajı̄’s The Sufficient [Book] of In contrast to practical calculation, scientific
Arithmetic, composed in the early eleventh cen- Arabic arithmetic is an extension of Greek num-
tury. The author covers practical mensuration in ber theory, originating in the arithmetical books
addition to arithmetic. of Euclid’s Elements and in Nicomachus’
Our “Arabic” numerals 1, 2, 3, etc., were Arithmetica. Books typically cover number
called by the Muslims “Hindı̄” numerals, because sequences, series summation, polygonal num-
they acquired the system from India. The bers, and perfect/amicable numbers. Following
numerals were already in use in the Middle East the lead of the Greeks, only positive integers
by the seventh century CE, and the earliest known were considered to be numbers in scientific texts.
A 132 Arithmetic in Islam
Arabic mathematicians made particular and you took away from it a dirham, leaving ten
progress in aliquot parts. Two numbers are dirhams.” (We can convert this to the modern
amicable if each is the sum of the proper divisors algebraic equation 2(2x 1) 1 ¼ 10.) Al-Fārisı̄
of the other. The pair 220, 284 was known to solves it three ways, by algebra, analysis, and
Iamblichus in late antiquity. Thābit ibn Qurra double false position.
(ninth century) derived and proved a remarkable For reasons of space I will describe only dou-
rule for generating amicable numbers: if three ble false position here (algebra is covered in the
prime numbers p1, p2, and p3 take the form entry “Algebra in Islam”). In this method two
p1 ¼ 2n+1 1 + 2n, p2 ¼ 2n+1 1 2n1, and guesses are made for the value of the unknown,
p3 ¼ 2n+1(2n+1 + 2n2) 1, then the two numbers and the solution is found from the guesses and
2np1p2 and 2np3 are amicable. For n ¼ 4 this their errors. For this reason it was called called
generates the pair 17,296, 18,416, probably the method of “the two errors” (al-khata’ayn) in
˙
found by Thābit, and reported later by al-Fārisı̄ Arabic. Al-Fārisı̄’s solution to the problem posed
(d. ca. 1320) (Hogendijk 1985). Later authors, above is:
beginning with al-Baghdādı̄ (ca. 1000), intro- And by the two errors, you suppose the sought-after
duced “balancing numbers.” Two numbers sat- [quantity] is ten. So its double less one is 19, and its
isfy this condition if their proper divisors sum to double less one is 37. The difference between it and
the same number. The pair 39, 55 is frequently the known 10 is an added 27.
Then you suppose it is six, and its double less
mentioned. one is 11, and its double less one is 21. The differ-
Many books give formulas for series summa- ence between it and 10 is 11, also added.
tion. Al-Qābisı̄’s tenth century treatise on this So multiply the first guess, 10, by the second
topic includes both old and new results. One error, 11: you get 110. And multiply the second
guess, I mean 6, by the first error, I mean 27, so it
interesting example not known from any Greek gives 162. And since the two errors are added, take
source, and later proven by Ibn al-Haytham, is: their sum: it yields 52. And divide it by the differ-
ence between the two errors, I mean 16. It results in
three and a quarter, which is the desired [quantity].
14 þ 24 þ 34 þ þ n4

n n 1 1 The method of double false position was
¼ n2 þ ð n þ 1Þ þ n : proven to be correct by geometry by Qustā ibn
2 5 5 15 ˙
Lūqā in the ninth century, but it seems to have
attracted no further scientific interest.
This and other results are expressed all in
words, with no symbolism (Sesiano 1987).
Many practical texts give definitions and exam- Cross-References
ples of perfect, amicable, and balancing numbers,
as well as formulas for series summation. ▶ Algebra in Islam
▶ Astronomy in Islam
Arithmetical Problem Solving ▶ Mathematics in Islam General
▶ Mathematics, Early
The different problem-solving methods illus-
trated in arithmetic textbooks including single
false position, working backward, analysis
(al-tahlı̄r), double false position, and algebra. References
˙
Many books employ two or more methods for
the same problem, like this one from an arith- Al-Uqlı̄disı̄ (1978). The arithmetic of Al-Uqlı̄disı̄: The
story of Hindi-Arabic arithmetic as told in Kitāb
metic text of al-Fārisı̄ (early fourteenth century):
al-Fusūl fı̄ al- Hisāb al-Hindı̄ (Translated and
“a quantity: you doubled it and you took away ˙
annotated ˙ Saidan). Dordrecht/Boston: D.
by A. S.
from it a dirham. Then you doubled the outcome Reidel.
Art, Studio 133 A
Berggren, J. L. (1986). Episodes in the in the mathematics
of medieval Islam. New York: Springer. Art, Studio
Hogendijk, J. P. (1985). Thābit ibn Qurra and the pair of
amicable numbers 17296, 18416. Historia A
Mathematica, 12, 269–273. Deborah Sokolove
Sesiano, J. (1987). A Treatise by al-Qabı̄sı̄ (Alchabitius)
˙ & G. Saliba
Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion,
on arithmetical series. In D. A. King Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington,
(Eds.), From deferent to equant: A volume of studies
in the history of science in the ancient and medieval DC, USA
near east in honor of E. S. Kennedy (pp. 483–500).
New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
Related Terms
Art; Fine art; Graphic and plastic arts; High art;

Ariyasacca (Pāli) Museum art; Two- and three-dimensional art;
Visual art
▶ Truths, Four Noble
Main Text
Description
Arrow of Time Studio Art has historically been understood as
a discipline involved with the practice of making
Russell Stannard paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures for the
Department of Physics and Astronomy, purpose of aesthetic contemplation. Since the
Open University, Milton Keynes, UK late nineteenth century, this definition has been
continually expanded to include a variety of
media and processes, including (but not limited
This refers to the fact that, given a filmed to) photography, collage, computer imagery,
sequence of events, it is more often than not conceptual art, performance art, earthworks,
possible to tell which way round the film video, soundscapes, and installation art. While
should be shown. For example, it is much many artists continue to use traditional media
more likely that a chimney will collapse into such as oil paint, watercolors, engraving, lithog-
a pile of rubble, rather than a pile of rubble raphy, stone carving, and bronze casting, others
will spontaneously assemble itself into a use the ordinary materials of everyday life to
chimney. There is a tendency toward increas- make found-object or welded-steel sculptures,
ing disorder with time. It is closely associated mechanical objects controlled by computers, or
with the operation of the second law of all-encompassing environments which the audi-
thermodynamics. ence enters rather than viewing from a safe
distance.
At the same time that the materials and pro-
Cross-References cesses of Studio Art were expanding, the definition
of Studio Art has been continually contested by
▶ Time artists, museums, galleries, schools, and theoreti-
cal-critical institutions. Throughout the twentieth
century, a variety of movements and styles
emerged, including futurism, constructivism,
Art dada, formalism, expressionism, minimalism,
photo-realism, pop art, and many others. Many of
▶ Art, Studio these movements and styles were accompanied by
A 134 Art, Studio
manifestos and theoretical constructs that explicitly Relevance to Science and Religion
rejected notions of aestheticism and defined Studio While it is virtually impossible to speak of the
Art in political, social justice, or spiritual terms. interests of Studio Art as a whole, there are many
The definition of Studio Art has also been Studio Artists who are interested in science,
contested by those whose work was not tradition- religion, and the intersection between them, as
ally recognized as within the discipline. In the subject matter for artworks.
last few decades, practitioners of crafts such as
weaving, quilting, pottery, glassblowing, and Sources of Authority
woodworking have sought, with some success, The sources of authority for the discipline of
to have their work recognized as Studio Art. Studio Art include the artworks and artifacts
The discipline of Studio Art has also begun to of earlier periods and cultures; the writings of
recognize the works of artists not trained within artists about their own processes, materials, and
the academy, naming it variously as Visionary, intentions; and the ongoing tradition of critical-
Outsider, or Primitive Art. historical reflection on these artworks and arti-
The most recent movement in Studio Art has facts. In the modern and postmodern era, specific
been termed “Postmodernism.” It is character- authorities include curators at major museums of
ized by the appropriation of elements from past art, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
styles and movements, references to contempo- Museum of Modern Art, and the Guggenheim in
rary pop culture, an ironic tone, and a blurring of New York City; the Art Institute of Chicago; The
the boundaries between high and low art. British Museum, the Tate, and the Tate Modern
Today, Studio Art may best be understood as in London; or the Louvre, the Centre Pompidou,
the practice of making objects and experiences and Musée d’Orsay in Paris; art critics, historians,
that externalize a particular way of viewing the or philosophers, such as Clement Greenberg,
world, express their cultural context, and reflect Harold Rosenberg, Lucy Lippard, or, more
that context in a way that may affect the collec- recently, Arthur Danto and James Elkins; influ-
tive conscience of that culture (Danto 1981). ential art dealers, galleries, and collectors; and
the artists, themselves. Publications generally
Self-Identification recognized as authoritative include Art Journal,
Science the organ of the College Art Association;
The discipline of Studio Art is not a science, ArtNews, a New York-based journal which is
although some artists use the language of science, widely read throughout the world; ArtWeek,
or attempt to promote their art as science, often which offers thoughtful critiques and articles
collaborating with scientists in experiments that from the US West Coast; and Art Monthly,
involve light and/or sound. However, even when a well-regarded British journal on contemporary
artists use scientific ideas and processes, or speak art. These sources become authoritative to the
in scientific terms, they do so for purposes that are extent that they affect the subsequent discourse
different from those of scientists. The purpose of about and practice of Studio Art.
Studio Art is, broadly speaking, the exploration
and communication of ideas, feelings, or experi- Ethical Principles
ences through visual, tactile, spatial, and other Since individual artists work from an enormous
media. While Studio Art is a way of knowing variety of cultural, religious, and personal view-
(scientia), it is not a science as that term has points, it is virtually impossible to say that the
come to be understood. discipline as a whole is guided by specific ethical
principles.
Characteristics There is a strong strand within artistic thought
Studio Art is distinctive in that it uses materials that values the traditions of the past and seeks to
and processes, rather than words, to explore and maintain continuity with those traditions. Con-
communicate its discoveries and insights. cepts such as beauty, transcendence, and mystery
Art, Studio 135 A
are often invoked, especially when the artworks Relevant Themes
are intended for religious or spiritual communi- One of the issues that for some time has been
ties. The ethical principles guiding such artists marginal, but is currently becoming central to A
often include reverence for God and/or nation, the discipline is the relationship between art and
and respect for individuals as well as for social religious faith. There is a growing interest
structures. among studio artists in the question of how to
An equally strong tradition views art as an make art that is considered excellent in the
essentially subversive activity, whose task is to contemporary art world while maintaining
critique society. Such critique may take the form the integrity of religious belief and practice. In
of apparently destructive acts, or images the western world, the Reformation and the
intended to shock the viewer, or experiences Enlightenment drove a wedge between Art and
that are meant to distort perceptions. For those Religion, causing each field to be somewhat
who see art as subversive, such destruction, suspicious of the aims and practices of the
shock, or distortion is understood as the neces- other. Toward the end of the twentieth century,
sary (and therefore ethical) means toward the some artists and thinkers, on the one hand, and
desired end of a better world. Often, but not some religious bodies, on the other, have come
always, the implicit or explicit ethical principles to question this mutual antagonism, as they
of such subversion include world peace, ending recall that Art and Religion have generally
poverty, promoting ecological harmony, and been allies throughout most of history. This
similar ideas. issue is critical as artists of faith seek ways to
A third view is that art stands outside of ethical communicate their religious understandings in
considerations, existing only for its own sake as works that are consistent with contemporary
aesthetic experience. For those who hold this ideas and values in the art world generally;
view, any attempt to force art to address ethical and as churches, synagogues, and other reli-
issues is to violate the integrity of art as such. gious institutions seek ways to embody their
insights and doctrines in symbols and images
Key Values that are relevant to twenty-first century
Integrity, authenticity, creativity, innovation, worshippers.
cultural awareness, craftsmanship, design
Conceptualization Cross-References
The discipline of Studio art, as a whole, does not
directly address questions of Nature/World, ▶ Aesthetics (philosophy)
Human Being, Life and Death, Reality, Knowl- ▶ Visual Art
edge, Truth, Perception, Time, Consciousness,
Rationality, or Mystery, and does not have a
consensus on how to conceptualize them. Many References
in the discipline simply accept the everyday def-
initions of the terms, without attributing any spe- Alberro, A., & Stimson, B. (Eds.). (1998). Conceptual art:
cial meaning to them with regard to their work or A critical anthology. Cambridge: MIT Press.
that of artists generally. Others maintain that Barzun, J. (1975). The use and abuse of art (Bollingen
series XXXV, Vol. 22). Princeton: Princeton UP.
questioning any definition of any one or all of Danto, A. C. (1981). The transfiguration of the common-
these ideas is central to the practice of Studio Art, place: A philosophy of art (p. 164). Cambridge, MA:
making such questioning the implicit (and often Harvard UP.
explicit) subject matter of their work. Still others Elkins, J. (2004). On the strange place of religion in
contemporary art. New York: Routledge.
may make some specific definition, or set of Hunter, S., Jacobus, J., & Wheeler, D. (2004). Modern art,
definitions, of these terms foundational to their revised and updated (Vol. 3). New Jersey: Prentice-
practice. Hall.
A 136 Artificial Immune Systems
Janson, H. W., & Janson, A. F. (2001). History of art. New extraction, pattern recognition, learning, mem-
York: Harry N. Abrams. ory, and its distributive nature, provide rich met-
Kleiner, F. S. (2005/2010). Gardner’s art through the ages
(2 Vols., 13th ed.). Boston: Wadsworth. aphors for its artificial counterpart. Since 1985,
Rexer, L. (2005). How to look at outsider art. New York: there has been an increased research interest in
Harry Abrams. immunity-based techniques and their applica-
Stiles, K., & Selz, P. (Eds.). (1996). Theories and docu- tions. Some of these models, however, are
ments of contemporary art: A sourcebook of artists’
writings. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of intended to describe the processes that occur in
California Press. the BIS to have a better understanding of the
Taylor, J. C. (1981). Learning to look: A handbook for the dynamic behavior of immunological processes
visual arts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. and simulate BIS’s dynamic behavior in the pres-
ence of antigens/pathogens. In contrast, immune-
inspired models have been developed in an
attempt to solve complex real-world problems,
Artificial Immune Systems such as anomaly detection, pattern recognition,
data analysis (clustering), optimization, and com-
Dipankar Dasgupta puter security.
Computer Science Department, The University Theoretical models of immune processes have
of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA attempted to explain adaptive immune response.
For instance, the immune system’s ability to
“remember” its encounters with antigens to
Related Terms achieve a faster response when the similar anti-
gen is confronted at a later time has been modeled
Immunological computation by immune networks and danger theory models.
In order to formulate theoretical and compu-
tational models, it has been necessary to develop
Description general abstractions of some immune elements
and processes. Accordingly, some standard pro-
The field of artificial immune systems (also cedures, representations, and matching rules have
called immunological computation, or just AIS) been adopted in most immunological models.
is an area of study devoted to the development of Some representative immunity-based algo-
computational models and techniques based on rithms include the following:
the principles of the biological immune system • T-cell algorithms, which include negative
(BIS). Specifically, it is an emerging area that selection, one of the earliest immune algo-
explores and employs different immunological rithms, are based on the negative selection
mechanisms to solve computational problems. (NS) process that occurs in the thymus.
The BIS is a complex, adaptive, highly dis- • B-cell algorithms, which are mainly based on
tributive learning system endowed with several immune network theory and clonal selection
alternative and complementary mechanisms for principles.
defense against pathogenic organisms. The • Danger theory approach, based on danger
immune system learns, through adaptation, to Theory introduced by Matzinger (1994), which
distinguish between dangerous foreign antigens states that the immune system is activated on
and the body’s own cells or molecules. Clearly, receipt of molecular signals, which indicate
nature has been very effective in creating organ- damage (or stress) to the body rather than by
isms that are capable of protecting themselves pattern matching of “nonself” versus “self.”
against a wide variety of pathogens, such as • Dendritic cell algorithms, which intend to
bacteria, fungi, and parasites. capture the way dendritic cells serve to com-
The powerful information-processing capabil- municate innate and adaptive immune
ities of the immune system, such as feature systems.
Artificial Immune Systems 137 A
In addition, a significant amount of work has to study other biological systems have also been
been done in combining some of these methods used in the AIS.
with other computational intelligence approaches, A
such as neural networks, evolutionary algorithms,
fuzzy logic and swarm algorithms. Relevance to Science and Religion
During the last two decades, immunological
computation (IC) techniques (or artificial The field of AISs is involved in studying
immune systems) are increasingly used as prob- a particular biological system, the immune sys-
lem solvers in a wide range of domains, such as tem, and those natural processes related to it, and
optimization, classification, clustering, anomaly to model the understanding of its elements and
detection, machine learning, adaptive control, processes from a scientific point of view and also
associative memories, etc. on developing technological applications using
IC techniques have also been used in real- metaphors of the natural system. Although it is
world applications, such as computer security, believed that, in some cases, some metaphysical
fraud detection, robotics, fault detection, data aspects may influence the biological immune
mining, text mining, image and pattern recogni- system’s behavior, such as psychosomatic dis-
tion, bioinformatics, games, and scheduling. eases, no work has been done on trying to under-
stand and model any other than biological and
chemical aspects of the biological immune
Self-identification system.
As a scientific/technological discipline artifi-
Science cial immune system is relevant to the scholarly
The field of artificial immune systems is not area “Science and Religion” to some extent. By
a science by itself. It may be considered as a its nature, artificial immune system is related to
scientific and technological discipline, since it science. Since this discipline deals with many
involves theoretical and applied aspects of sev- evolutionary processes, so has it also a concern
eral sciences and technologies – mainly biology, to the interaction of science and religion which is
chemistry, mathematics, statistics, medicine, and described by the “conflict thesis” (http://en.
computer science. wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis). Although
AIS have been considered mainly as a subarea this thesis is rejected in the present-day context,
of computational intelligence, along with the still it indicates an elemental relevancy between
main representatives, namely, neural networks, a scientific discipline and religion. Artificial
fuzzy systems and evolutionary algorithms, and immune system not only studies those evolution-
swarm intelligence. ary processes, but it strengthens the practical
aspect of those concepts by applying them on
real-life problems. Apart from this, there are reli-
Characteristics gious practices, for example meditation, that are
believed to take part in enhancing the immune
Although artificial immune systems field uses system. Studies of BIS and AIS, as well, may
a general biological system and processes as an reveal conflicting or collaborating concerns on
inspiration, just as in other bio-inspired areas, this matter.
such as neural networks (after biological neural
networks) and evolutionary systems (after evolu-
tion of biological systems), AIS is distinctive Sources of Authority
among other specialties of Computational Intel-
ligence and Bio-inspired computing by having The authorities in artificial immune systems used
immune mechanisms as the focal point of study. to be scientifically interested computer scientists,
However, it is important to note that models used engineers, and algorithm developers. As the
A 138 Artificial Immune Systems
research work has been increasing on this field, performing these primary functions. Death is
several associations (research groups) have the event that happens on a living being when
emerged to promote research in this area of it is no longer capable of performing its basic
study. Among the most relevant and well- functions.
known organization is the IEEE Computer Soci-
ety Task Force on Artificial Immune Systems Reality
(IEEE Computer Society Task Force on Artificial Reality is considered as the set of all elements in
Immune Systems). the universe that exist and can affect and interact
with each other in real time.
Ethical Principles Knowledge

Knowledge is a set of data, rules, and facts known
This discipline does not directly deal with living about a particular system or process. Knowledge
beings, but rather uses metaphors of biological can be individualized or collective.
immune systems. Ethical principles are the gen-
eral principles from applied and theoretical Truth
sciences to provide solutions to theoretical and Truth is some factual knowledge about the world
technological problems of human kind. that can be verified.
Perception
Key Values Perception is some partial knowledge that any
life or artificial being acquires from its environ-
The key value of AIS is to provide solutions to ment through some special components provided
different kinds of problems that remain unsolved for such task.
or that could be solved in more efficient ways by
providing better performance than existing Time
solutions. Time is a reference measure that is used to keep
track of the changes that occur in the world.
Conceptualization Consciousness
Consciousness is a life being’s ability to know
Nature/World about itself and its role in the world and of being
Nature is conceptualized as the constituent phys- aware of the consequences of its actions.
ical and biological elements that form the uni-
verse. World is the set of all physical elements in Rationality/Reason
the earth. Rationality is an ability of human beings to ana-
lyze situations and make what they believe is the
Human Being right decisions under those circumstances.
A human being is considered as a complex bio-
logical being endowed with special features that Mystery
make him very efficient in problem solving and A mystery is something for which there is no
understanding and changing his/her environment formal or scientific explanation.
for his benefit and those of his/her own species.
Life and Death Cross-References

Life is conceptualized as the presence of spe-
cial functions in natural systems that allow ▶ Immunological Computation
them to remain in its environment by ▶ Self
Artificial Intelligence, General 139 A
References A second such triumph involved mathematics,
which everyone would agree, requires intelli-
Cutello, V., & Nicosia, G. (2002). An immunological gence. In a 1933 paper, E.V. Huntington gave
approach to combinatorial optimization problems. A
a new set of three axioms that characterized
Lecture notes in computer science, Vol. 2527.
Springer, pp. 361–370. a Boolean algebra, a type of formal mathematical
Dasgupta, D. (Ed.). (1999). Artificial immune systems and system with important computer science applica-
their applications. Berlin: Springer. tions. The third of these axioms was sufficiently
Dasgupta, D., & Nino, F. (2008). Immunological compu-
complex as to be practically unusable. This
tation. London: Auerbach Publishers.
Farmer, J. D., Packard, N., & Perelson, A. (1986). The motivated Herbert Robbins to replace this third
immune system adaptation and machine learning. axiom with a more usable one, and to conjecture
Physica D, 2, 187–204. that his new axiom set also characterized Boolean
IEEE Computer Society Task Force on Artificial Immune
algebras. This Robbins conjecture soon became
Systems. (http://ais.cs.memphis.edu/index.php?
page¼ieee). a famous unsolved mathematical problem that
Matzinger, P. (1994). Tolerance, danger, and the extended resisted the efforts of numerous human mathema-
family. Annual Reviews of Immunology, 12, 991–1045. ticians for over half a century. The Robbins con-
Tarakanov, A. O., Skormin, V. A., & Sokolova, S. P.
jecture was finally proved correct, also in 1997,
(2002). Immunocomputing. Principles and applica-
tions. London: Springer. by a general-purpose AI automatic theorem
Timmis, J. I., & De Castro, L. N. (2002). Artificial immune prover called EQP (EQuational Prover), produc-
systems: A new computational intelligence approach. ing a proof that mathematicians could read and
London: Springer.
agree to. In an area requiring intelligence where
humans had failed, the AI system EQP, not
designed for this particular problem, succeeded
(McCune 1997).
Artificial Intelligence, General A third such spectacular AI triumph occurred
in 2011 when an AI system called Watson
Stan Franklin defeated three human champions on live TV in
Computer Science Department & Institute for two rounds of the so popular intellectual game of
Intelligent Systems, The University of Memphis, Jeopardy. Watson’s ability to answer complex
Memphis, TN, USA questions posed in the same ordinary English
heard by the human competitors depended
heavily on its AI technology. Its AI natural lan-
Related Terms guage processing allowed Watson to understand
the questions, as well as possible answers, from
AI; Artificial minds; Computer science; Machine its knowledge base, while its AI heuristic search
intelligence technology enabled it to find possibly correct
answers more rapidly than its human
Artificial Intelligence (AI) devotes itself to pro- competitors.
ducing computer systems that act intelligently, Less spectacular, but even more of a triumph
solving problems in ways we would call intelli- for AI was the advent and wide commercial
gent if done by a human. One outstanding exam- acceptance of knowledge-based expert systems,
ple was the AI system called Deep Blue in 1997, AI systems that captured and represented expert
defeating world champion Gary Kasparov in human knowledge and made it available to the
a six-game chess match. Though running on user. Perhaps the earliest such commercially suc-
a specially built computer and provided with cessful expert system was XCON (McDermott
much chess knowledge, Deep Blue depended 1980), which saved millions of dollars for Digital
ultimately upon traditional AI game-playing Equipment Corporation by effectively configur-
algorithms. The match with Kasparov constituted ing their VAX computers before delivery, rather
an AI triumph. than having DEC engineers solve problems after
A 140 Artificial Intelligence, General
their delivery. Other such applications followed, described above. More recently (circa 2006),
including diagnostic and maintenance systems interest has reemerged in developing systems
for Campbell Soups’ cookers and GE locomo- with a more general, human-like intelligence,
tives. A Ford Motor Company advertisement for and the research field of Artificial General Intel-
a piece of production machinery stipulated that ligence was born, with its own academic confer-
such a diagnostic and maintenance expert system ences and journal (Goertzel and Wang 2007). As
be a part of every proposal. Expert systems con- yet, the enterprise still seems daunting, but no
stituted the first AI killer application. longer impossible, just difficult.
The advent of video games led to a second AI Since AI systems run on computers, AI can be
killer application, the production of AI systems to considered a branch of computer science, and is
control video game characters. The smarter, and typically found in computer science departments
more human-like, the characters, the better the in universities. But the study of machine intelli-
game. Video game companies came to compete gence can also be used to shed light on human
for the services of AI programmers. intelligence, giving AI a major intersection with
Video game characters are one example of cognitive science and cognitive modeling.
a type of AI system called software agents that A cognitive model provides a conceptual theory
are absorbing most of the attention of AI of how human cognition works, all the way from
researchers. A software agent is autonomous in sensation and perception, through understanding
that, once programmed and turned on, it senses and problem solving, to action selection and exe-
its environment and acts on it in pursuit of its own cution. Cognitive architectures, the computa-
agenda. Autonomous software agents come in tional implementation of such cognitive models
several varieties, most “living” in some kind of are used on their science side to guide experimen-
virtual, digital environment such as on the Internet. tations with humans, and on their engineering
They autonomously perform a specified task, such side, to control software agents and real-world
as the “bots,” that search the Web for new links to autonomous robots.
bring home to their search engine masters. Others, So far, we have viewed AI as outsiders looking
sometimes called avatars, have virtual faces or in. What can it do for us anyhow? If we changed
bodies displaying on monitors that allow them to perspective and view AI as would a student,
interact more naturally with humans, as in intelli- a researcher, or a practitioner, we would find
gent tutoring systems. Still others, called conver- a world concerned with searching heuristically,
sational virtual agents, simulate humans, and with planning, with representing knowledge,
interact conversationally with them in chat with pattern recognition, with heuristic search,
rooms, some so realistically as to be mistaken for with natural language processing, with machine
human. Finally, there are the virtual agents as vision, with decision making, with machine
characters in computer and video games. learning, with autonomous agents, and with
AI has come a long way since its inception in many other such arcane areas of study. AI is
the summer of 1956. During its early days, AI very much a technical field of study and practice
researchers were intent of creating systems (Russell and Norvig 2009).
exhibiting human-level intelligence, including Is AI a science? Well, yes and no, depending
the ability to gather new knowledge on their on how you want to use the word. In our often
own, to solve non-routine problems, and to learn scientifically illiterate world, the term science is
new skills. It was not long before they discovered often, if mistakenly, used synonymously with
just how daunting and seemingly impossible such technology. And as we have seen, AI is surely
an enterprise really was. The field of AI rapidly a technology. The insiders, the scientists them-
changed course so as to devote itself to develop- selves, would restrict science to empirical studies
ing and implementing AI systems that produced that seek knowledge from the real world through
intelligent behavior within some relatively nar- observation or experiment. Such usage would
rowly defined domain such as those we have include such disciplines as physics, chemistry,
Artificial Intelligence, General 141 A
biology, psychology, and cognitive science, but McCarthy, and Marvin Minsky (collectively the
would omit fields, such as mathematics, com- parents), they are revered but not looked to as
puter science, medical science, and the various authorities. In its 50 years of existence, AI has A
engineering fields. Science pursues knowledge always been a fast moving field, rapidly
for its own sake and with the prescribed methods progressing both theoretically and practically.
of observation and experimentation. These latter Its practical products are typically commercial
fields, while sometimes using science as a tool, and, thus, proprietary. The source of authority
have quite other aims and are not truly science. on this side of the aisle is the dollar. On the
Where does AI fit within this scheme? In both theoretical side, AI produces studies that are
camps. The modeling contribution of AI to cog- presented in numerous workshops and confer-
nitive science provides hypotheses, and thus ences, usually with published proceedings, and
guidance, for experimentation into human cogni- published in a wide variety of professional
tion, making this sort of AI a part of science. journals. One might say that this accumulated
Chess players, expert systems, etc., belong to literature comprises the sole source of authority
technology, but not to science. in AI, if there is any at all. Within AI, every
AI is distinguished among other disciplines, assertion is subject to scrutiny, analysis, and
and among other subdisciplines of computer question. Nothing is accepted by authority,
science, by its major aims, to understand intelli- because someone in authority claimed it, or
gence and to implement it in intelligent computer because it was published in an authoritative jour-
systems. Among other subdisciplines of com- nal. Textbooks, conference papers, journal arti-
puter science it can also be distinguished by its cles may all be influential, but none are
use of heuristics to seek good enough, rather than authoritative in the sense of being accepted
optimal, solutions to problems, and also by its upon its own say-so.
willingness to take advantage of biological influ- AI shares its key values with other academic
ences. The latter has led to such AI subdisciplines and commercial disciplines. One must be honest
as artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, in one’s claims, one must not plagiarize, one must
artificial immune systems, and fuzzy logic. behave ethically, etc. Ethics also arises as part of
AI is entirely concerned with science and tech- the content of AI in two different ways. AI cog-
nology and has nothing whatever to say nitive architectures model decision making in
concerning religion or AI’s relevance to religion. humans, which includes moral decision making.
The issue just never seems to come up. In the same An entire issue of the journal Topics in Cognitive
way, AI is completely silent about the relationship Science was devoted to “Cognitive Based Theo-
between science and religion, or its relevance ries of Moral Decision Making,” but made no
thereto, being only tangentially related to science mention of religion (Wallach and Franklin
and totally unrelated to religion. The relationship 2010). Also, during the formative AGI workshop
of science and religion seems to have no implica- (Goertzel and Wang 2007) a panel discussion
tions for the teaching of AI, for a career in AI, or seriously considered the ethical ramifications of
for the role of the discipline in industrial informa- creating an AGI agent with human-level intelli-
tion technology departments or in academic com- gence or beyond.
puter science departments. AI’s role in the larger AI takes a naturalistic and scientific world
society is for the most part determined by com- view, considering human beings as one species
mercial considerations, the usefulness, and value of animal when used to model either humans or
of AI systems. In addition, people most often find other animals. AI does not speak of life, except to
the very idea of an intelligent machine intriguing, have given rise to the now quite separate disci-
and want to know more about it. pline of artificial life. Of death, it does not speak
Though AI has produced its share of heroes, at all.
such as Alan Turing (the grandfather of the field), AI does not concern itself with epistemology,
Herbert Simon and Allen Newell, John the philosophical study of knowledge. It is,
A 142 Artificial Intelligence, General
however, vitally concerned with the representa- mostly in the sense of functional consciousness,
tion of knowledge in computer systems, with almost synonymous with attention (Franklin
knowledge representation being a major subfield 2003). Phenomenal consciousness is mostly
of AI. How best to represent and use the various ignored except for a new subfield of AI called
sorts of knowledge, perceptual, declarative, pro- machine consciousness, which has its own work-
cedural, etc., is a primary occupation of many AI shops and journal.
researchers and a secondary occupation of almost When producing broad, comprehensive archi-
all of them. Not only knowledge-based systems, tectures, the cognitive modeling subfield of AI
but AI systems of every variety, must employ often concerns itself with perception, knowledge,
representations of knowledge. and reason, as well as occasionally with time and
As is the case with knowledge, AI is consciousness.
concerned with truth not in a philosophical The term “mystery” never arises in the AI
sense, but as it is employed in AI systems based literature. There is simply no such issue to be
on mathematical logic. Many AI systems use considered. Nor do there seem to be other
symbolic logic for knowledge representation issues, themes, or concepts used in AI that are
and, so, face the issue of machine determination relevant to a discussion of the relationship
of the truth or falsity of propositions expressed between science and religion. With the excep-
within such systems. All these considerations are tion of cognitive modeling, AI has little to
quite formal, being concerned with truth within say about science, nothing to say about reli-
the system and not with truth in the real world. gion, and nothing at all to say about their
The situation is quite similar regarding ratio- relationship.
nality/reason. Many AI systems, using mathe-
matical logic for knowledge representation,
employ reasoning algorithms to derive new Cross-References
true propositions from the existing ones within
the system, or in the case of AI agents, to opti- ▶ Affective/Emotional Computing
mize the selection of its next action. Such agents ▶ Artificial Immune Systems
are referred to as rational agents. ▶ Attention
The situation is again much the same with ▶ Brains, Artificial and Computational
respect to time, concerns with which occur ▶ Computational Memories
mostly in AI systems using temporal logic for ▶ Formal Logic
knowledge representation. These systems are ▶ Natural Language Processing
used primarily in the AI sub-areas of planning ▶ Philosophy of Mind
and scheduling. Time is typically to be reasoned ▶ Robot Emotions
with within the system. ▶ Robotics and Religion
Perception, the understanding of sensory
input, is a central concern of that branch of AI
called computer vision. Machine vision systems References
must recognize objects, identify individuals,
understand events, etc. Also, AI agent systems Franklin, S. (2003). IDA: A conscious artifact? Journal of
face these problems with respect to their built-in Consciousness Studies, 10, 47–66.
Goertzel, B., & Wang, P. (2007). Advances in artificial
sensory modalities. Of course, an AI-controlled general intelligence: Concepts, architectures and algo-
autonomous real-world robot will have quite dif- rithms. Proceedings of the AGI workshop 2006, Wash-
ferent sensors than an AI software agent. The ington, DC.
digital senses of the latter may not even seem McCune, W. (1997). Solution of the Robbins problem.
Journal of Automated Reasoning, 19(3), 263–275.
like senses at all. McDermott, J. (1980). R1: An expert in the computer
AI agent systems are also occasionally system domain, Proceedings of the national confer-
concerned with consciousness, which is used ence on artificial intelligence, pp. 269–271.
Astrology 143 A
Russell, S., & Norvig, P. (2009). Artificial intelligence:
A modern approach (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Artilects (Artificial Intellects)
Prentice Hall.
Wallach, W., & Franklin, S. (2010). Topics in cognitive A
science, special issue on cognitive based theories of ▶ Brains, Artificial and Computational
moral decision making. Cognitive Science Society:
Wheat Ridge.
Aryasatya (Sanskrit)
Artificial Life ▶ Truths, Four Noble
▶ Robot Societies
Associative Learning
Artificial Minds ▶ Conditioning and Learning
▶ Artificial Intelligence, General

▶ Brains, Artificial and Computational
Astrology
Nicholas Campion
Artificial Neural Network University of Wales, Trinity Saint David,
Wales, UK
Gómez González Daniel
Universidad Complutense De Madrid, Madrid,
Spain Related Terms
Horoscope; Prediction
An artificial neural network (with acronym
ANN), usually addressed as neural network
(with acronym NN), is a model used in the Description
field of mathematics or computer science that
is inspired in the structure and/or functional Astrology claims that there is a relationship
aspects of biological neural networks or between celestial patterns and earthly events.
human brain. A neural network consists of The astrological world view holds that all things
an interconnected group of artificial neurons in the universe are interconnected, whether
or nodes, and it administers the information psychically, physically or both (Campion
using a connectionist approach to computa- 2012a). Within this inclusive definition there are
tion. In most cases, an ANN is an adaptive different philosophical rationales, religious affil-
system that changes its structure based on iations, technical procedures, and attitudes to
external or internal information that flows what the study or practice of astrology can
through the network during the learning achieve. Arguments about astrology’s validity
phase. Modern neural networks are nonlinear focus on the extent to which general principles
statistical data modeling tools. They are usu- of cosmic interconnectedness can be used to
ally used to model complex relationships extrapolate the detailed rules which allow astrol-
between inputs and outputs or to find patterns ogers to reach precise judgments on human
in data. affairs. Astrology claims to yield different kinds
A 144 Astrology
of information, from the correct times to plant and 12 other divisions known in modern
crops or perform religious ceremonies, the diag- astrology as “houses” (Campion 2009a). Modern
nosis and treatment of disease, information about newspaper and magazine astrology columns are
personality, knowledge of the future or the means also known as horoscopes.
required in the quest for personal meaning or There are four primary divisions of practical
salvation. astrology (Campion 2009b): (a) natal, in which
The principle justifications for astrology view a horoscope is cast for the time of birth,
it as functioning via either (a) a set of signs, (b) electional, in which auspicious times are
usually sent by a divine entity, which may be arranged to perform appropriate acts, including
read by the astrologer, (b) influences or causes, sacred rituals, (c) horary (previously interroga-
which might themselves be of divine origin, tional), in which a horoscope is cast for the
though manifesting in the natural world, or time that a question is asked, and (d) mundane
(c) correlations, in which events on earth may (previously revolutions), in which history is ana-
correspond in time to those in the heavens, but lyzed and political events are forecast.
possess no causal relationship in the modern Prediction has, in most traditions, been
sense. The first justification may be defined as practiced only in the context of a desire to change
divination, the second as natural science, and the future; determinism in astrology has usually
the third finds textual authority in Platonic and been qualified by the notion that destiny can be
Aristotelian philosophy, and the psychology of negotiated. The active participation of the astrol-
C.G. Jung, in which it is described as oger in the manipulation of time and space may
“synchronicity.” be seen as a species of magic. The most recent
Most cultures have an astrology in the sense innovation in the western tradition has seen the
that they endow the celestial bodies with meaning application of depth psychology and counseling
or use them for timing significant events (Cam- to natal astrology. In contemporary psychologi-
pion 2012a). However, there are only three math- cal astrology, character analysis and advice-
ematically complex systems, which claim to be giving are seen as more important than predicting
able to either predict the future or manage the the future.
present with exact detail. These are (a) the Meso-
American (Mayan and Aztec), (b) the Chinese,
and (c) the Western/Indian. The latter draws on Self-identification
Babylonian antecedents, with probable Indian,
Greek, Persian, and Egyptian contributions, and Science
reached its current level of technical complexity Within the tradition opinion is divided. Some prac-
in Hellenistic Egypt in the first and second cen- titioners reject the term “science” altogether but,
turies BCE. In the modern world, only India, in for those who use it, it can have two meanings. For
which astrology is one of the six vedangas, the some, astrology-as-science implies that it has
subjects necessary to a proper understanding of a body of rules that are founded in self-evident
the Vedas, remains home to a popular, complex truth. The term “divine-science” is sometimes
tradition which dates back in an unbroken lineage used in this sense, pointing to a belief that the
to the ancient world. “science” can reveal the individual’s relationship
The primary technical tool of Hellenistic with the divine, or that its rules are divinely sanc-
astrology was the horoscope, strictly defined as tioned. For others, astrology-as-science suggests
the degree of the zodiac rising over the eastern that astrology should be based on testable claims
horizon but, in a looser sense, the entire diagram and empirical data. Among historians Babylonian
of the heavens cast for a particular moment: the astrology is often defined as a science on the
earth is placed at the center, surrounded by the grounds that it used rules of interpretation based
planets and selected other features, sometimes on a clear logic. The term is less frequently applied
including stars, themselves located in the zodiac, to the astrology of later periods.
Astrology 145 A
Religion respected authors but no “scriptural” or sacred
Opinion is divided. While many western astrolo- texts. Most texts are teaching manuals, which
gers would agree with historians that astrology give instruction in reading horoscopes but there A
originates in ancient religion, there is a profound is very little philosophy. This is usually gleaned
hostility to the term among many modern practi- elsewhere, from whatever ethical or religious
tioners (Campion 2012b). There are two main tradition with which the individual astrologer is
reasons. The first is that religion is commonly affiliated.
identified with belief and many astrologers are
aware of skeptical arguments that objects of
belief are automatically false. They prefer to Ethical Principles
justify their use of astrology on the grounds that
they “know” it works, such knowledge being Astrology’s interpretative rules have no inherent
based on personal experience, a species of gnosis. morality, although modern astrology tends to be
The second reason is that many astrologers share guided by the New Age “self-ethic,” assuming that
the modern western rejection of “religion” as personal spiritual or psychological development of
negative and repressive, in favor of “spirituality,” necessity leads to a higher standard of ethical
which is viewed as positive and liberating. behavior. Classical and medieval astrology was
heavily influenced by notions, inspired by Plato-
nism and Stoicism, that acts of either prediction or
Characteristics magical engagement with the cosmos are only
possible if a virtuous life is followed.
Astrology’s distinctiveness is rooted in its claim
that its frequently intangible assumptions are
based in the measurable motions of the stars and Key Values
planets. As a practice which lacks any necessary
belief in a Supreme Being, sacred text or single Astrology generally holds that harmonization of
set of dogma, it can attach itself to any religion or individual and collective behavior with cosmic
ideology. There are few atheist astrologers, but patterns is inherently desirable and bound to
there is no bar to being one. bring beneficial consequences.
Relevance to Science and Religion Conceptualization
Modern western astrology exists in a state of Nature/World

tension with science and religion. Astrologers generally see the world as alive and
Although the terms “science” and “religion” a source of wonder. Nature tends to be romanti-
are usually rejected by astrologers, most feel that cized as special, spiritual, and possessing healing
orthodox science and mainstream institutional qualities.
religion would benefit from the astrological
world view and, in some deterministic accounts, Human Being
will, in the near future, recognize its value. Human beings are thought of as a “microcosm” of
the celestial “macrocosm” containing an inner
cosmos, often represented through planetary or
Sources of Authority zodiacal correspondences with parts of the body.
Astrologers derive their authority from personal Life and Death

experience and a body of literature mainly The majority of modern practitioners accept the
handed down since Hellenistic times. There are reality of reincarnation and the wheel of death
A 146 Astrology
and rebirth, a belief which was also present in Mystery

Hellenistic astrology through Platonic influences The function of astrology is to give mystery a
and is standard in Indian astrology. daily relevance by using symbols to relate feel-
ings of mysterious, numinous, cosmic wonder to
Reality specific conditions, from spiritual states to daily
Reality is often perceived as being “psychic” activities and physical objects. Astrologers report
rather than material, evidence of the legacy of that the experience of astrology “working” can
Platonic Idealism in the tradition. itself lead to a sense of numinous wonder, and an
awareness of the mystery of the cosmos.
Knowledge
A high value is placed on personal experience
and “intuition” as sources of knowledge. Many Special Themes
(but not all) modern astrologers claim that the
techniques of astrological interpretation have Natural and Judicial Astrology
no intrinsic objective validity but that each An important distinction between two kinds of
astrologer finds the techniques which work for astrology separates Natural Astrology from Judi-
them. cial Astrology (Campion 2009). Natural Astrol-
ogy is based in natural influences, seasonal
Truth effects and cyclical phenomena which can be
There is a general belief in the existence of understood as objective phenomena. Judicial
absolute spiritual truths, but modern opinion is Astrology assumes that the astrologer’s interpre-
divided on whether astrological “truths” are tation is necessary in order to judge the outcome
themselves absolute, or only relative. of any scenario. At its extreme there can be no
astrological phenomenon without the presence of
Perception the astrologer to interpret it.
Astrologers generally believe that astrology can The distinction between Natural and Judicial
help them perceive truths which are concealed astrology is paralleled by that between two
from non-astrologers. theories about the construction of the rules of
astrological interpretation (Brown): either they
Time are based on empirical observation of the coinci-
Time is perceived as broadly cyclical in that dental repetition of terrestrial and celestial events,
general conditions recur in complex patterns or they are derived from systems of imaginative
and in line with celestial movements, but usually word-association, metaphor and metonymy. In the
without exact repetition. majority of cases the two theories are combined.
Associated with the distinction between Nat-
Consciousness ural and Judicial astrology is the question of
Most (but not all) astrologers are Idealists, in the whether astrology investigates the objectively
Platonic sense, believing that consciousness is real world, measuring personality and predicting
prior to matter. events, or whether it is a symbolic language
concerned with the construction of meaning
Rationality/Reason (Campion 2012a).
Although the use of reason was a key feature of
the Platonic and Stoic schools of thought in Pseudoscience
Hellenistic astrology, modern astrologers tend The term pseudoscience is applied to astrology in
to polarize “intuition” with rationality, regard- two different senses. One is that its claims are
ing the former as a reliable source of knowledge untestable and hence non-falsifiable. The other is
and the latter as likely to obstruct self- that its claims have been tested and have univer-
knowledge. sally been falsified. However, there are two
Astrology 147 A
problems with these assertions. The first is that were introverted. It was later concluded that the
they are mutually contradictory: the former positive results were due to self-attribution in
claims that astrology is untestable, and the latter which participants rated themselves in Eysenck’s A
that it has been successfully tested. The second is system according to their astrological profiles. The
that the results of scientific testing are mixed and, Carlson research (1985) asked astrologers to match
while some results are negative, others are posi- individuals to the California Personality Inventory.
tive and have not been refuted. The description The results were negative for astrology but
of astrology as a pseudo-science may therefore Carlson’s methodology and results have since
be applicable in specific instances but cannot be been challenged (e.g. Currey 2011). The Gauquelin
applied to the practice as a whole. Protagonists research (1988) had three components. First, the
for astrology, like critics, are divided between “Character Trait-word Hypothesis” identified
those who think that astrological claims are test- astrologically-appropriate descriptions for notable
able and those who argue they are not. Claims of individuals in reference books. This has been chal-
testability are based on the idea that astrology lenged on the grounds of selection-bias. Second,
exhibits a deterministic order in the cosmos the “Heredity Hypothesis” proposed that children
(which, however, does not contradict the pres- tend to be born with the same prominent planets as
ence of variety and individual choice). The chal- were their parents. Gauquelin concluded that the
lenge to testability rests on a number of claims: phenomenon ceases when birth is induced and the
(1) all astrological phenomena are unique and Heredity Hypothesis has neither been replicated
replicable experiments are therefore impossible, not refuted. Third, the “Eminence Effect” demon-
(2) individuals have free-will and the manner in strated that individuals who achieve eminence in
which astrological indicators at birth manifest sport, politics, the army, theatre, science and liter-
in life events is therefore inherently uncertain, ature tend to be born with certain planets rising or
(3) some traditions of astrology, sometimes culminating. Only the “Mars Effect,” which links
characterised as magical, require manipulation sporting achievement to the planet Mars, has been
of the world, rendering experimental testing replicated, with claims of both negative and posi-
impossible, (4) astrology is a system of interpretive results (Ertel and Irving 1996).
tation which has no necessary basis in astronom-
ical measurement and (5) astrology may include Substitute Religion
divine intervention, as in India, rendering test- Both religious and secular critics have defined
ability inherently impossible. astrology as a “substitute” or “quasi” religion.
The argument is problematic because it assumes
Scientific Research into Astrology that it is possible to identify a “true” or “genuine”
The earliest known systematic attempt to gather religion as opposed to a “false” one. In India,
empirical data on astrology dates back to Assyria in where astrology is one of the vedangas, necessary
the seventh century BCE in the compilation of the for the understanding of the Vedas, the sacred
co-called “Diaries.” The first attempts to test astro- texts, and the planets are still linked to gods and
logical claims date to Johannes Kepler’s (1571– goddesses, astrology is an integral part of religion.
1630) experimental political and meteorological
forecasts. Consistent attempts to test astrology New Age
date only to the 1950s–1980s. There are three Astrology is often defined as a New Age religion
notable examples. The Eysenck-Mayo research (Campion 2012b). However, while modern
(1982) matched zodiac signs to the Eysenck Per- astrology is popular in New Age culture and has
sonality Inventory and concluded that individuals been shaped by New Age ideology, the term
born with the Sun in Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Gem- should only be applied in particular circum-
ini, Libra and Aquarius exhibited extroverted qual- stances, such as the impact on recent develop-
ities, while those born with the Sun in Taurus, ments in astrology of the belief that a New Age is
Virgo, Capricorn, Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces imminent.
A 148 Astrology in Islam
Cross-References Description
▶ Astrology in Islam The discipline featuring as “science of the stars”

▶ Astronomy (‛ilm al-nujūm) in medieval classifications
▶ Christian Cosmology of knowledge in Islam actually consists of
▶ Determinism and Indeterminism three parts: (1) astronomy (‛ilm al-falak, literally
▶ Free Will “the science of the sphere” or ‛ilm al-hay’a, “the
▶ History of Ideas (Intellectual History) science of the exterior shape”), which is concerned
▶ Myth with the observation and the mathematical
▶ New Age Religions description of the celestial bodies and their move-
▶ Time ments; (2) a science, otherwise unnamed, to do
with tables, calendars, and the calculating of
eras; (3) astrology (‛ilm ahkam al-nujūm, literally,
˙
References “the science of the celestial decrees”), which deals
with the prediction of events on earth on the basis
Brown, D. (2000). Mesopotamian planetary astronomy- of indications from the celestial revolutions (Ken-
astrology. Groningen: Styx Publications.
nedy 1998; Nallino 1944; Saliba 1982).
Campion, N. (2009a). A history of western
astrology (Vol. 1). The Ancient World. London: Like most other fields pertaining to the “rational
Continuum. sciences,” Islamic astrology is largely indebted to
Campion, N. (2009b). A history of western astrology ancient traditions, especially from India, Persia, and
(Vol. 2). The Medieval and Modern Worlds. London:
Ancient Greece as these traditions were introduced
Continuum.
Campion, N. (2012a). Astrology and cosmology in the into Islam as part of the translation movement of
world’s religions. New York: New York University scientific works initiated in early Abbasid times
Press. (Caiozzo 2003). Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos remained
Campion, N. (2012b) Astrology and popular religion in
the modern west: Prophecy, cosmology and the new
for long the great model of astrological treatises.
age movement. Abingdon: Ashgate. Although it is characterized by a high level of
Carlson, S. (1985). A double-blind test of astrology. sophistication in its form and a certain abstruseness
Nature, 318(5), 418–425. in its methods of computation, astrology as devel-
Currey, R. (2011). U-Turn in Carlson’s astrology test?
oped in Islam by its most famous representatives
Correlation, 27(2), 7–33.
Ertel, S., & Irving, K. (1996). The tenacious mars effect. (Māshā’allāh, Abū Ma‛shar, the Ikhwān al-Safā’,
˙
London: Urania Trust. among many others) lays on a few basic assump-
Eysenck, H., & Nias, D. (1982). Astrology: Science or tions inherited from the Greeks: the geocentric
superstition? London: Pelican.
representation of the world, the cyclicality of time
Gauquelin, M. (1988). Written in the stars.
Wellingborough: Aquarian Press. and the circularity of all celestial movements, the
conception of man as a microcosm and, con-
versely, that of the universe as a big man, the
general sympathy between all elements in the cre-
ation, the ontological barrier between the perfect,
Astrology in Islam divine and uncorrupted world of the spheres, and
the sublunary world regarded as the place of com-
Godefroid de Callataÿ ing to be and passing away (Sezgin 1979; Ullmann
Institut Orientaliste, Université Catholique de 1972). It appears that the Neoplatonist theory of
Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium emanation, by postulating the existence of
a process whereby all beings are said to have
flowed or “emanated,” like a light, from the
Related Terms original principle, largely contributed to the accep-
tance of astrology among the philosophical and
Science of the stars scientific circles of Islam. From Sassanid Persia,
Astronomy 149 A
Islamic astrology borrowed an important theory of ▶ Cosmology
conjunctions between Saturn and Jupiter, supposed ▶ Philosophy in Islam
to induce replacements of individuals on the royal A
throne, shifts of dynasties from one nation to the
next, and changes of empires and religious confes- References
sions (de Callataÿ 1996; Pingree 1968).
Caiozzo, A. (2003). Images du ciel d’Orient au Moyen
Âge. Une histoire du zodiaque et de ses repré
sentations dans les manuscrits du Proche-Orient
Relevance to Science and Religion musulman. Paris: Presses de l’Université de
Paris-Sorbonne.
Along with other occult disciplines in Islam such de Callataÿ, G. (1996). Annus platonicus. A study of world
cycles in Greek, latin and Arabic sources. Louvain/
as divination or magic, astrology occupies an
Paris: Publications de l’Institut Orientaliste de
interesting position in the scholarly area called Louvain 47.
“science and religion.” Although not explicitly Kennedy, E. S. (1998). Astronomy and astrology in the
condemned by the Qu’rān, the practicing of astrol- medieval Islamic world. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Lemay, R. (2000). Religion vs science in Islam.
ogy was constantly perceived as dangerous and
The medieval debate around astrology. Oriente
therefore rejected by the traditionalists of Islam, Moderno, 803, 557–575.
most notably by Ghazālı̄ and Ibn Taymiyya. In his Nallino, C. (1944). Astrologia e astronomia presso
“On religions and sects,” a well-known treatise of i Musulmani. In Raccolta di scritti editi e inediti
(Vol. 5, pp. 1–41). Rome: Istituto per l’Oriente.
heresiography, Shahrastānı̄ despises as followers
Pingree, D. (1968). The thousands of Abū Ma‛shar.
of a pseudo-religion all those who, like the mem- London: The Warburg Institute.
bers of the pagan sect of Harrān, vowed a cult to Saliba, G. (1982). Astrology/astronomy Islamic. In J. R.
˙ Strayer (Ed.), Dictionary of the middle ages, I
the heavenly bodies and thought our lives are
(pp. 616–624). New York: Scribner.
influenced by them. In spite of this, astrology
Sezgin, F. (1979). Geschichte des arabischen Schriftums.
never ceased to be practiced and regarded as Astronomie (Vol. 7, pp. 3–199). Leiden: Brill.
a genuine science by many (Lemay 2000). To Ullmann, M. (1972). Die Natur- und Geheimswis-
various Shı̄‛ite branches, especially among the senschaften in Islam (pp. 271–358). Leiden: Brill.
Ismailis, the theory of astrological cycles was
used as a powerful instrument in order to justify
Messianic expectations. But astrology also
appealed to those who were supposed to imper- Astronomy
sonate the strict Sunni orthodoxy. Thus, for
instance, al-Mansūr asked a team of astrologers Kenneth R. Lang
˙
of his time to cast the horoscope of the foundation Department of Physics and Astronomy,
of Baghdad to make sure the new capital was Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
founded under the best possible circumstances.
Related Terms
Astrophysics; Cosmology; Universe
Ancient and modern works in the field and their
authors.
Description
Cross-References Astronomy is the study of luminous celestial

objects, of the dark intervening regions of space,
▶ Astrology and of the observable Universe as a whole. It is
▶ Astrology in Islam primarily an observational science, seeking to
A 150 Astronomy
measure and quantify the physical properties of Self-identification

the known constituents of the Universe, and to
discover previously unknown celestial objects or Science
phenomena. Astronomers investigate how cosmic Modern astronomy self-identifies as a science
objects originate, change, interact, move, and that observes, measures, and quantifies the
radiate. Theoretical studies, analytical models, known physical constituents of the Universe out-
and numerical simulations with computers are side Earth, often looking at them in new ways. It
also employed to help understand these processes. assumes that these celestial bodies obey identical
Most significant astronomical discoveries have physical laws to those on Earth, and uses these
been accidental and serendipitous. They are the laws to explain them. Such explanations are
result of using new technology and novel tele- tested and verified through predicted observable
scopes that extend our vision to places that are consequences.
not accessible to direct observation, enabling us to
“see” the invisible and permitting us to look at the Religion
Universe in new ways. Larger and larger optical Although modern astronomy is not identified as
telescopes, operating at the visible wavelengths a religion, it has aspects that might be called reli-
we detect with our eyes, have pushed the bound- gious. Astronomers believe, for example, that
aries of the known Universe beyond our stellar there is much more to the Universe than is pres-
Milky Way, resulting in the discovery of the ently known, and that there are hidden patterns and
expanding galaxies, rushing away from us and unknown phenomena that await our discovery.
each other with speeds that increase with their Astronomers participate in an endless search for
distance. None of these receding galaxies can be these vast, previously undiscovered aspects of the
seen with the unaided eye. Modern optical tele- Universe, often with a sense of awe and wonder.
scopes permit detailed scrutiny of the composi- Like religion, astronomy provides us with a sense
tion, distance, mass, size, position, and motion of of something larger than ourselves, transporting us
the stars and galaxies, in conjunction with spec- to distant realms far beyond our immediate mate-
troscopy and digital detectors, such as the rial world and hectic lives and helping us connect
charged-coupled device. These instruments have with the immensity of the Universe.
also recently been used to detect miniscule, peri-
odic stellar motions caused by large planets
revolving in unexpected closeness to nearby Characteristics
stars. Smaller telescopes and cameras aboard
spacecraft have been hurled past the moons and Astronomy is a nonexperimental science in that
planets to reveal diverse and unexpected worlds. celestial bodies cannot be taken apart or manipu-
Ground-based radio telescopes have been used to lated by controlled experiments in terrestrial
discover and characterize interstellar hydrogen laboratories, and astronomical explanations of
atoms, giant molecular clouds, pulsars, radio gal- cosmic phenomena can only be verified by pas-
axies, quasars, and the cosmic background radia- sive observations. Astronomers study matter in
tion. X-ray telescopes, lofted above our obscuring the Universe under extreme conditions of tem-
atmosphere with rockets and satellites, have been perature, pressure, or density that cannot be
used to discover ten million-degree radiations achieved on the Earth.
from objects such as the Sun’s corona, black
holes, and intergalactic space in galaxy clusters.
Satellite-borne telescopes operating at gamma ray Relevance to Science and Religion
and infrared wavelengths are also making new
discoveries, such as the extraordinarily energetic Astronomy operates under a faith that objective
gamma-ray bursts and the infrared heat of proto- physical laws, which are verified by experimental
planetary disks. and observational tests on the Earth, can explain
Astronomy 151 A
physical objects throughout the Universe. Like today’s astronomical instruments or now unseen
religion, astronomy often seeks a deeper under- and detectable by future instruments.
standing of phenomena that can operate beyond A
the range of known perception. Human Being
Astronomy does not normally consider either
human beings or the pains and pleasures of
Sources of Authority human life. Such topics are thought to be outside
the domain of astronomical inquiry.
The ultimate source of authority in astronomy is
peer review by repeated observations and predic- Life and Death
tions. Any astronomical discovery, or explana- Astronomers and astrophysicists have shown that
tion of it, must be tested and verified by decisive our planet and everything on it are composed of
observations of predictable consequences that are elements synthesized either in the nuclear cruci-
shown to be true or false. bles of stars that exploded into space before the
Earth and Sun formed or before that, during the
first moments of the Big Bang that gave rise to
Ethical Principles the expanding Universe. Despite our ability to pry
living things apart, identifying their atomic, chem-
Astronomers are skeptical, taught to question any ical, and molecular constituents, which can often
discovery and to test it by significant observations, be found outside Earth, no one has discovered the
and they are trained to employ personal detachment spark of life, showing how inanimate matter could
and uncompromising honesty. They focus on the have been transformed into a living thing, either
predictable, repeatable aspects of the observable on our planet or elsewhere. Astronomers forecast
Universe, and their results are either right or wrong, that life on Earth will not last forever, and that the
either verified or falsified by new observations. entire human race is scheduled for extinction in
a few billion years when the brightening Sun will
vaporize the Earth’s oceans.
Key Values
Reality
The key values of astronomy are the discovery To an astronomer, the real Universe consists of the
and physical explanation of celestial bodies currently observable one, but they often believe in
throughout the observable Universe. a yet undiscovered, invisible reality that lies beyond
the visible one and includes all that exists. Known
celestial bodies, with well-defined, observed phys-
Conceptualization ical characteristics, are thought to be real, but so are
other ill-defined celestial phenomena such as dark
Nature/World matter, dark energy, and supposedly empty space.
Astronomers regard nature as equivalent to the
observable physical world outside Earth, Knowledge
although the natural terrestrial world is used as Astronomers regard knowledge of the Universe as
a foundation for physical laws thought to be a cumulative, ongoing process of the discovery of
applicable throughout the Universe. Astronomy its ingredients and behavior, and coin new terms to
uses telescopes to investigate all detectable celes- describe newly discovered celestial objects, such
tial bodies, which most likely amount to just as black holes, blazers, pulsars, and quasars.
a modest observable fraction of nature, of the
vast Universe. Nature is supposed to include Truth
both known and currently unknown cosmic Astronomers believe in an objective, scientific
objects and phenomena, either perceptible with truth verifiable by decisive observations and
A 152 Astronomy
significant tests. To them, truth in the extraterres- Mystery

trial world consists of celestial bodies or phenom- The entire Universe is regarded as a great hidden
ena that may be repeatedly and consistently mystery awaiting discovery and understanding,
observed. and its known constituents may also have myste-
rious aspects that remain to be examined and
Perception understood.
Astronomers use new technology and novel tele-
scopes to extend the capacity of their physical
senses, thereby perceiving, becoming aware of, Relevant Themes
and eventually understanding otherwise invisible
physical objects that lie outside the Earth and are There are many critical, unexplained aspects of the
inaccessible to direct observation. These percep- Universe that lie outside the domain of direct astro-
tions are repeatable, and can be obtained by any- nomical observations, and are concerns of religion.
one using the same or similar instruments. They include the origin and fate of the Universe
and life within it. No astronomer, astrophysicist, or
Time cosmologist knows for certain what happened
Because light travels at a finite speed, astronomers before the Big Bang, or how the observable Uni-
look back into time when observing distant objects. verse came into being, and they do not know if life
As long as light passes through empty space, originated from inanimate matter, or exactly what
encountering no atoms or electrons, it can persist might have provided the spark of life on Earth. And
forever, bringing its message forward from the owing to the recent discoveries of dark matter and
beginning of time to the end of the Universe. Pow- dark energy, which we know almost nothing about,
erful telescopes are therefore used as time machines the eventual fate of the observable Universe
to see objects as they were in the past, when their remains unknown, despite the fact that distant gal-
light was first emitted. They are seen as they were axies are now accelerating into invisibility.
then and not as they might be now. The expanding
Universe has a history, which astronomers deci-
pher, but this only applies to times after the Big Cross-References
Bang. No astronomer, astrophysicist, or cosmolo-
gist knows for certain what happened before the Big ▶ Astronomy
Bang about 14 billion years ago, and time might ▶ Astrophysics
have even begun with this creative event. ▶ Geography in Islam
▶ Physics in Christianity
Consciousness ▶ Physics in Judaism
To an astronomer, consciousness is the mental ▶ Physics in Protestantism
awareness of the surrounding Universe, involv- ▶ Science in Buddhism
ing the perception of any physical object that ▶ Space
exists, both visible and invisible. ▶ Space and Time
▶ Time
Rationality/Reason
An astronomical concept is rational if it is
grounded in direct, verifiable observations of References
celestial bodies, and explained using accepted
physical laws. Speculative explanations of cos- Lang, K. R. (2006). Parting the cosmic veil. New York:
mic phenomena, including those based on math- Springer.
Lang, K. R. (2010). Serendipitous astronomy. Science,
ematical equations, may not be fully rational in
327, 39–40.
an astronomer’s sense if they have not been deci- Lang K. R. (2013). The life and death of stars. New York:
sively tested by significant observations. Cambridge University Press.
Astronomy in Judaism 153 A
in the waters, fly above the earth, and either crawl
Astronomy in Judaism or walk upon the surface of the earth.
The above conception of the cosmos A
Norbert M. Samuelson undergoes radical change as it is interpreted by
School of Historical, Philosophical, and the early rabbis in their commentaries on the
Religious Studies, Arizona State University, biblical text. These commentaries are called
Tempe, AZ, USA “midrash.” Without explicitly referencing their
scientific sources in the Greco-Roman world, sci-
entific sources (i.e., sources from natural philos-
Related Terms ophy) are used to transform biblical cosmology
into a rabbinic cosmology that reflects a form of
Cosmology in the Jewish culture; Jewish cosmol- synthesis of the early Hebrew culture with the
ogy; Jews and the study of the universe; Judaism contemporary Hellenistic culture. With respect
and the study of the universe to cosmology, the rabbinic view of the cosmos
has the following distinctive features: First, the
The opening chapters of the Book of Genesis in original light of creation disappears from the
the Hebrew Scriptures draw a very general but cosmos and is seen rather as something reserved
simple picture of what the universe looks like. It for a world to come when this world comes to an
is that picture that frames subsequent interpreta- end, a light that early modern utopians and
tions of the narratives within the Jewish Bible and messianists will identify with “enlightenment.”
guides their interpretation. The cosmology of Second, to the three elements of the biblical cos-
Genesis divides all of space into two distinct mos – earth, fire, and water – the rabbis add the
regions, one governed by light (called “day”) fourth element of Greco-Roman science – air.
and the other guided by dark (called “night”). Third, the two regions of reality – earth and
Similarly, this occupied space is divided into sky – coalesce into a single region called “this
two regions. There is a central disk of earth, world,” which is opposed to a hoped for vision of
surrounded by a ring of water, above which is another, presumed better “world to come.”
a ring of fire. The one deity, named “Elohim,” is Fourth, the mover of the biblical cosmos, called
the sole active agent in this story of creation. He “God’s wind,” becomes two distinct entities –
wills divisions in the space of the earth forming God (Elohim) and spirit (Ruach) of God, and
waters below the disk of the earth as well as the spirit increasingly becomes associated with
waters above the disk (called “seas”). Further- aspects of God through whom communication
more, he stretches out something called between God and humanity is transmitted.
a “firmament” (raqiya’ in Hebrew, which literally Whereas the biblical text speaks only of God,
means a stretcher) to isolate between the earth who rules all creation through commandments,
and its upper waters on the one hand and the ring the rabbis increasingly diversify God’s functions,
of fire on the other hand a bubble (so to speak) of each reflected by different divine names – God
air, called “the sky” (ha-shamayyim in Hebrew, (Elohim), the Lord (YHWH), the Presence
a word that suggests a compound substance of fire (Shekhinah), the Place (ha-Makom), etc. What
and water). The sky divides the upper waters into are the ontological references of all of these
“seas” and rests upon a now waterless surface of names will become a major theological issue for
earth called “dry lands”. Together, this two-part subsequent rabbinic Judaism no less than it is for
rotating space (day and night) houses two distinct the offshoots of this early Judaism – Islam and
spatial territories (earth and sky) that are home to Christianity.
all living things. The inhabitants of the sky are It is the medieval Jewish (as well as Muslim
those objects we would recognize as celestial and Christian) philosophers who work out in
bodies – stars as well as planets, while the inhab- detail this synthesis of biblical and hellenistic
itants of the earth include living things that swim cosmologies that becomes the authoritative view
A 154 Astronomy in Judaism
of the cosmos in subsequent Jewish, Muslim, and with (1) the age of the cosmos, (2) the nature of
Christian philosophy. This synthesis is formu- the cosmos, and (3) the causal principles of the
lated between the twelfth and fourteenth centu- cosmos.
ries. It reflects the best of Aristotelian-based First, if Biblical time references are taken lit-
empirical astronomy synthesized with the best erally, then the age of the cosmos will turn out to
of Platonic-based natural theology as the context be something like what the rabbi’s calendar
for a radically non-literal interpretation of what marks as the age of the universe, which as of
the creation accounts in the Hebrew Scriptures 2009/20010 A.D. is 5,770 years old. In contrast,
really mean. The composites of the now four physical cosmology suggests something like
elements are defined by what they are rather what is called a “hot big bang model” according
than by what they do, and while their function to which the universe is 13.7 billion years old.
in a sacramental food chain continues to describe Now this is a quantitative difference so great that
them, it is no longer part of the expression of who it suggests that the two conceptions of the uni-
and what they are. In other words, although verse are different qualitatively.
sacramental food continues to have special Second, all premodern views of the cosmos
importance in the spiritual life, it ceases to be in posit a universe sharply distinguished by kinds.
any sense near as important as a scientific cate- Things are not all the same; there are real princi-
gory of animal classification. Finally and possi- pled differences between entities. However,
bly most importantly, “nefesh” ceases to mean in modern cosmology, the distinctions collapse.
just breath and comes to mean a nonphysical In fact – in a spirit totally coherent with
entity called “soul.” The study of “nefesh” modernity’s adoption of an inherent value
defines a radically distinct field of scientific or in democratic forms of government – everything
naturalist study, the field of psychology. Whereas is in fundamental, natural components the
physics and astronomy study objects that are same. Irrespective of the particular cosmology
material, psychology studies objects that are spir- employed – be it biblical or medieval – there is
itual or mental, where material and physical are a persistent belief that differences matter –
closely associated and spiritual and mental are between humans and other species as well as
closely associated, but increasingly the two intel- between Jews and other nations. However,
lectual fields of study are seen to share little in according to modern physical cosmology, every-
common. thing that has ever existed in the past, or exists in
This medieval synthesis of rabbinic dogma is the present, or will exist in the future, has its
shattered by the new sciences of modernity. In origin in a vast sea of totally undifferentiated
fact, it can be argued that the demands for con- plasma. In the moments following the beginning
ceptual synthesis between the past and present of everything, as the universe gradually cools and
science are so radical that, unlike the transition expands, forces emerge – first gravity and the
from biblical to Hellenistic, no synthesis is pos- strong force (at about 1043– 1030 of a second
sible. Whatever is the case in theory, in actual- after the big bang of creation), followed by the
ity, no synthesis has yet succeeded. Rather, the weak force and electromagnetism (at about
tendencies are to affirm one over the other 1012– 106 of a second after creation), followed
(the modern scientific over the traditional Jew- by the first physical entities. At 3 minutes and
ish cosmology or vice versa), to radically sepa- 20 seconds after the creation, atomic nuclei
rate the two (claiming that cosmology is emerge from energy soup, leading to distinct
a scientific question for which Jewish thought fundamental particles. Some 150 million to
has no relevance or that rabbinic tradition guides 1 billion years after creation, there form stars
our view of the cosmos and in this context what and galaxies. Some 8 billion years ago, our solar
science says is irrelevant) into absolutely dis- system formed out of the particles in our galaxy,
tinct epistemic domains. The most dramatic sep- which, in turn, gave rise some 2.3–2.4 Ma ago to
arations between the two cosmologies have to do the first members of genus homo on planet earth,
Astronomy in Islam 155 A
and then, a mere 400–250 thousand years ago to ▶ Theology in Judaism
the first Homo sapiens. ▶ Time
Third, and probably most importantly, the A
kinds of causal principles admissible in
explaining change within the cosmos are differ- References
ent. Aristotle had listed four kinds of causes –
formal, material, efficient, and final – and insisted Close, F. (1988). End: Cosmic catastrophe and the fate of
the Universe. New York: Simon & Schuster.
that any valid scientific explanation would
Davies, P. (1994). The last three minutes. London:
involve a synthesis of all of them. The biblical Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
narrative is easily adaptable to Aristotle’s classi- Drees, W. E. (1990). Beyond the big bang. LaSalle: Open
fication for the biblical text speaks of efficient Court.
Matt, D. C. (1996). God & the big bang discovering
causes wedded to final, i.e., teleological causes
harmony between science and spirituality.
(viz., distinct divine speech acts as efficient Woodstock: Jewish Lights.
causes wedded to proclamations that what God Samuelson, N. M. (2009). Jewish faith and modern sci-
says is “good” (tov) as final causes). But modern ence: On the death and rebirth of Jewish philosophy.
Lanham/Bouldet: Rowman & Littlefield.
cosmology, like modern science in general,
Weinberg, S. (1997). The first three minutes. New York:
admits only mechanical causes. Whereas the bib- Basic Books.
lical and rabbinic cosmology interpreted all Wertheim, M. M. (1999). The pearly gates of cyberspace.
events as purposeful, modern cosmology inter- London: Virago.
Zajonc, A. (1993). Catching the light: The entwined his-
prets all events as purposeless, viz., as expres-
tory of light and mind. New York: Oxford University
sions of natural accidents. Press.
All of these differences can and have been
reconciled in Jewish religious thought in one
way or another with one single exception.
Whereas the standard scientifically oriented
interpretations of the cosmos consistently tend Astronomy in Islam
to see the universe as a product of mechanical
forces operating on what is ultimately a cosmic Robert G. Morrison
accident, the rabbinic understanding of the uni- Religion Department, Bowdoin College,
verse as God’s creation demands that the cosmos Brunswick, ME, USA
be understood as something “good,” i.e., that
exhibit an ordering that is subject to moral
judgment. Related Terms
Arabic astronomy; Astronomy in Islamic civiliza-

Cross-References tion; ‘Ilm al-falak; ‘Ilm al-hay’a; ‘Ilm al-nujūm;
Islamic science
▶ Cosmology
▶ Creation in Judaism
▶ Historical Theology Description
▶ History of Ideas (Intellectual History)
▶ Judaism: An Overview Civilizations in which Islam was the religion of
▶ Natural Sciences in Judaism either the rulers or the majority of the population
▶ Philosophy in Judaism were the cultural context for several hundred
▶ Philosophy of Science years of remarkable achievements in astronomy.
▶ Physics While astronomy was sometimes in
▶ Physics in Judaism a conversation with Islamic law, speculative the-
▶ Space and Time ology (kalām), and Qur’ān commentary and
A 156 Astronomy in Islam
while at other times Islamic astronomy served studied astronomy and patronized astrology, along
clearly religious applications (such as the with his descendants, an impressive program of
determination of the direction and times of prayer observations (Sayılı 1960, pp. 105–109; Charette
(qibla)) (King 2004/2005, Vol. 1), Islamic astron- 2006, pp. 127–128 and 133). Beginning in the
omy was driven by more than religious concerns. tenth century, astronomers in Andalusia and
Astronomy in Islam aimed at an increasingly North Africa began to develop models for preces-
precise description of the universe, whether in sion and variations in precession (trepidation)
the domains of physical consistency of observa- (Comes 1996).
tions, more accurate observations and tables, or The prominence of astrology in Islamic
theories’ predictive accuracy. civilization among political, intellectual, and, occa-
There is evidence of astronomical activity and sionally, religious elites elicited various reactions.
translation of astronomy texts under the Some of these reactions addressed astrologers’
Umayyads (661–750); both activities intensified inability to produce accurate predictions. But
under the Abbasids (750–1258). Recent scholar- others targeted astrology’s theoretical dependence,
ship has attributed the rise of science in Islam to particularly after the ninth century, on falsafa, phi-
practical considerations rooted in the engineer- losophy in the Hellenistic tradition. Astrological
ing, architectural, and computational needs of the predictions also had religiously objectionable
expanding empire as well as the political prestige implications for personal responsibility and under-
associated with patronizing science and using standings of divine foreknowledge. As a result of
astrology publicly (Saliba 2007, pp. 25–72). these debates about astrology, astronomers began
Older accounts had paid more attention to wholly to distinguish their science (increasingly known
intellectual motivations, including religious as ‘ilm al-hay’a) from judicial astrology and
exhortations to seek knowledge. The earliest refashioned astronomy’s relationship with falsafa
astronomical texts to be transmitted and (Saliba 2007, pp. 78–79, 174–176).
translated were astronomical handbooks with The need for patronage meant that astrology
tables (Ar. zı̄j, plural azyāj). never disappeared as an application for astronomy.
Frequently, practical applications spurred Even al-Bı̄rūnı̄ (d. c. 1048), an astronomer who
theoretical advances and further translations. For paid little heed to falsafa (Ragep 2001, pp. 58–59),
example, in the ninth century, the practical appli- wrote a text on astrology for the daughter of his
cation of qibla calculation led to developments in patron. Bı̄rūnı̄’s most famous work was his
trigonometry. And after the al-Hajjāj ibn Matar al-Qānūn al-Mas‘ūdı̄ (The Mas‘udic Canon)
˙ ˙
translation of Ptolemy’s Almagest, the caliph al- a handbook of astronomy with tables that reflected
Ma’mūn (d. 833) patronized observations that his own observations as well as his extensive
assessed and improved parameters such as the familiarity with the work of others. He also wrote
length of the solar year, the obliquity of the eclip- works on trigonometry and on transits. His India,
tic, and the precession of the equinoxes (Sayılı in which astronomy was only a single topic among
1960, pp. 51–87; Charette 2006, p. 125). All of many, was a masterpiece of ethnography.
these observations had applications in calendar By 900, Ptolemy’s geometric and physical
calculations and astrology and affected the physi- models to account for the observed positions of
cal models proposed to represent celestial the planets had become dominant in Islamic
motions. A subsequent Almagest translation civilization. One of Ptolemy’s (fl. 125–150 C.E.)
included improved values for those parameters; insights had been to determine, mathematically,
even Hajjāj’s translation had improved Ptolemy’s the point about which a planet’s mean motion was
˙
parameters (Saliba 2007, pp. 79–80). Major obser- uniform. This point came to be known as the
vational work continued in the tenth century. As equant. Because the equant was not the center of
was the case previously, rulers’ interest in astrol- an orb (or the center of the Earth), and because
ogy, an application of a zı̄j, was a motivation. For Ptolemy accounted for a planet’s mean motion
instance, the Buyid ruler ‘Adud al-Dawla (d. 982) with an orb, the existence of the equant was
˙
Astronomy in Islam 157 A
physically and philosophically inconceivable model for later observatories, such as the one at
since orbs had to rotate uniformly about their Jaipur. In the sixteenth century, Taqı̄ al-Dı̄n ibn
centers. Aiming for a more accurate picture of Ma‘rūf used a comet to predict military success A
the cosmos, Ibn al-Haytham’s (d.c. 1040) Doubts for the Ottomans (Sayılı 1960, pp. 289–305).
Against Ptolemy (Ar. al-Shukūk ‘alā Batlamyūs) Astronomy became part of a tradition of
˙
catalogued this and other inconsistencies in religious scholarship not only because of the
Ptolemy’s work (Saliba 2007, pp. 173–179). emerging division between astronomy and astrol-
Scientists associated with the Marāgha ogy but also because religious texts, from early
Observatory in Azerbaijan, such as Mu’ayyad on in Islamic civilization, paid attention to scien-
al-Dı̄n al-‘Urdı̄ (d. 1266), Nası̄r al-Dı̄n al-Tūsı̄ tific developments. Early Mu‘tazilı̄ kalām texts,
˙ ˙ ˙
(d. 1274), and Qutb al-Dı̄n al-Shı̄rāzı̄ (d. 1311), for instance, argued implicitly against the
˙
developed innovative models, consisting entirely emerging falsafa. Al-Ghazālı̄ (d. 1111) subjected
of orbs rotating uniformly about their own science and natural philosophy to a sustained
centers, that accounted for the available observa- critique in The Incoherence of the Philosophers
tions. In so doing, these astronomers removed the (Al-Ghazālı̄ 1997/2000, pp. 166–177).
physical and philosophical inconsistencies of Mutakallimūn (practitioners of kalām) did not
the equant point. Ibn al-Shātir (d. 1375) an astron- aim to advance astronomy, but their arguments
˙
omer and mosque timekeeper from Damascus forced astronomers working in a religious milieu
continued the intellectual project of the Marāgha to couch more carefully the physical foundations
astronomers (Saliba 2007, pp. 131–170); of their own science. In the following centuries,
Ibn al-Shātir’s models resurfaced in Copernicus’ mutakallimūn and Qur’ān commentators incor-
˙
De Revolutionibus, having been transformed into porated astronomical material into their own trea-
heliocentric models (Saliba 2007, pp. 193–232). tises (Morrison 2007, pp. 95–125; Sabra 1994,
Observations were an important part of the pp. 34–42). Once Ghazālı̄ had pointed out the
research associated with Marāgha, and as astro- weaknesses of falsafa, the theoretical aspects
logical forecasts were one motive for H€ ulegu’s of astrology, such as the idea that the heavens
patronage, better observations would mean better were a cause (though not an independent cause)
forecasts (Sayılı 1960, p. 202). But astronomers of terrestrial events, found their way into some
associated with Marāgha also related observa- Qur’ān commentaries. Many of the astronomers
tions to theoretical concerns. Al-Maghribı̄ associated with Marāgha (e.g., Tūsı̄, Shı̄rāzı̄, and
˙
(d. 1283) carried out observations to find new Nizām al-Dı̄n al-Nı̄sābūrı̄ (d. c. 1330)) achieved
˙
parameters for the solar model, which was recognition for their writings on religious subjects.
crucial for timekeeping. Maghribı̄ also wrote on Perhaps the culmination of scholars pursuing both
astrology. Tūsı̄’s Zı̄j-i I¯lkhānı̄ (The Ilkhanid scientific and religious subjects was ‘Alı̄ Qushjı̄’s
˙
Astronomical Handbook) contained a new value proposal for an astronomy founded on axioms
for the precession of the equinoxes, a parameter derived wholly from observation and mathematics
that would help astronomers calculate future and not at all from natural philosophy as had been
celestial positions. Though the Ptolemaic solar the case in the past (Ragep 2001, pp. 61–63).
model did not suffer from the difficulty of the Astronomy became part of a tradition of
equant, Ibn al-Shātir proposed a new solar model religious scholarship also because astronomy
˙
which better fit the available observations. could enhance one’s appreciation of God’s
Theoretical and observational activity creation of the cosmos (Ragep 2001, p. 63).
continued at the observatory in Samarqand in Certain religious scholars introduced a skepticism
the fifteenth century under the leadership of about human perception to undercut the authority
Ulugh Bey (d. 1449). At Samarqand was of astronomers (Morrison 2007, pp. 108–112).
a madrasa with science as part of the curriculum That skepticism, though, pitted itself against the
(Fazlıoǧlu 2008, pp. 3–68). The instruments at ability of astronomy to enlighten Muslims as to the
Samarqand were on a large scale and were the wonders of God’s creation. One astronomer
A 158 Astronomy in Islamic Civilization
working in a religious milieu, Nı̄sābūrı̄, used his Charette, F. (2006). The locales of Islamic astronomical
relative confidence in knowledge derived from instrumentation. History of Science, 44, 123–138.
Comes, M. (1996). The accession and recession theory in
astronomy to convey a sense of wonder and mys- al-Andalus and the North of Africa. In J. Casulleras &
tery at all that he did not know. More important, J. Samsó (Eds.), From Baghdad to Barcelona (Vol. 2,
Nı̄sābūrı̄ drew a parallel between patterns of rea- pp. 349–364). Barcelona: Instituto “Millás Vallicrosa”
soning in Islamic law and patterns of reasoning in de Historia de la Ciencia Arabe.
Fazlıoǧlu, İ. (2008). The Samarqand mathematical-
astronomy (Morrison 2007, pp. 70–72). astronomical school: A basis for Ottoman philosophy
There was no astronomy unaffected by Islam to and science. Journal for the History of Arabic Science,
compete with ‘ilm al-hay’a, but there was 14, 3–68.
a competing astronomy based entirely on revealed Heinen, A. (1982). Islamic cosmology: A study of
as-Suyūtı̄’s al-Hay’a as-sanı̄ya fı̄ l-hay’a as-sunnı̄ya,
sources (Heinen 1982). Astronomy affected Islam ˙
with critical edition, translation, and commentary.
and vice versa. But astronomy in Islamic civiliza- F. Steiner Verlag: Beirut/Wiesbaden.
tion and Islam still had, in the end, different King, D. (2004/2005). In synchrony with the heavens: Stud-
sources of intellectual authority. Astronomy was ies in astronomical timekeeping and instrumentation in
medieval islamic civilization (Vol. 2). Leiden: Brill.
classified apart from sciences such as Islamic law Morrison, R. (2007). Islam and science: The intellectual
or Qur’ān commentary for the source of authority career of Nizām al-Dı̄n al-Nı̄sābūrı̄. London: Routledge.
˙ Freeing astronomy from philosophy: An
was the intellect not revelation. The intellect could Ragep, F. J. (2001).
be authoritative if the science contained nothing aspect of Islamic influence on science. Osiris, 16, 49–71.
Sabra, A. I. (1994). Science and philosophy in medieval
religiously objectionable. Matters of intellectual Islamic theology. Zeitschrift f€ ur Geschichte der
authority, the position of science in religious Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften, 9, 1–42.
scholarship, and religious objectionability are the Saliba, G. (2007). Islamic science and the making of the
ways in which astronomy in Islamic civilization is European renaissance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Sayılı, A. (1960). The observatory in Islam. Ankara: T€ urk
relevant to a broader discussion about religion and Tarih Basımevi.
science. Matters of intellectual authority are, then,
bound up in how astronomers in Islamic civiliza-
tion conceived of knowledge.
Astronomy in Islamic Civilization
Cross-References
▶ Astrology in Islam
▶ Mathematics in Islam General Astrophysics
▶ Philosophy in Islam
▶ Physics, Science in Islam Kenneth R. Lang
▶ Science and Religion Dialogue and the Department of Physics and Astronomy,
Interreligious Dialogue Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
▶ Science in Islam, Classification
▶ Theology in Islam Related Terms
▶ Typologies in Science and Religion
Astronomy
References
Description
Al-Ghazālı̄ (translation, introduction, and annotations by
Michael Marmura). (1997/2000). The incoherence of
the philosophers. Chicago/London: Brigham Young Astrophysics is the application of the known laws
University Press. of physics and/or theoretical models to understand
Astrophysics 159 A
the known contents of the Universe, such as known physical constituents of the Universe out-
planets, stars, and galaxies, whose discovery and side the Earth. It assumes that these celestial
quantitative physical properties have been previ- bodies obey identical physical laws to those on A
ously established by astronomical observations. Earth, such as the laws of universal gravitation,
Astronomers determine the luminosity, distance, dynamics, and thermal radiation. Astrophysicists
size, mass, density, chemical composition, use these laws to describe celestial bodies, with
motion, and magnetic fields of these cosmic explanations that can be tested and verified by
objects, while astrophysicists interpret and explain decisive observations.
the astronomical observations using diverse
aspects of physics, including dynamics, mechan- Religion
ics, statistical mechanics, continuum and line radi- Astrophysics is not a religion, but it incorporates
ation processes, atomic and molecular physics, a belief in ordered physical behavior described by
quantum mechanics, nuclear and particle physics, laws that operate throughout the observable
thermodynamics, and special and general relativ- Universe.
ity. Good astrophysics includes the prediction of
definitive, new observational consequences. An
example was the interpretation of pulsars, discov- Characteristics
ered by radio astronomers, as radio beams emitted
from rotating neutron stars, with the prediction Astrophysics is a nonexperimental science in
that the observed pulsar periods would lengthen that celestial bodies cannot be taken apart or
as time goes on and the rotational energy of the manipulated by controlled experiments in terres-
neutron star is expended. Bad astrophysics trial laboratories, and astrophysical explanations
includes mathematical speculations with sufficient of cosmic phenomena can only be verified by
adjustable parameters to accommodate most passive observations. Astrophysicists study mat-
future observational tests. Recent developments ter in the Universe under extreme conditions of
in astrophysics include the explanation of the temperature, pressure, or density that cannot be
pervasive 3 microwave background as the relic achieved on Earth.
radiation of the Big Bang; galaxy formation in
the earliest stages of the expanding Universe; the
interpretation of cosmic X-ray sources in terms Relevance to Science and Religion
of a neutron star or black hole that is accreting
material from a nearby stellar companion; and the Astrophysics operates under a faith that objective
implications of unexpectedly high-speed motions physical laws, which are verified by experimental
at the peripheries of galaxies or within galaxy and observational tests on Earth, can explain
clusters in terms of invisible dark matter required physical objects throughout the Universe. Like
to hold the visible moving material together. More religion, astrophysics often seeks a deeper under-
speculative astrophysical concepts, which may not standing of phenomena that can operate beyond
be stringently constrained by observations, include the range of known perception.
theories of the origin of the Big Bang, cosmic
inflation, dark matter and dark energy, and string
theory. Sources of Authority
The ultimate source of authority in astrophysics is

Self-identification peer review by application of known physical
laws, mathematical calculations, and verifiable
Science predictions of observational consequences. Any
Astrophysics self-identifies as a science that astrophysical explanation of celestial phenomena
explains the observed physical properties of the must be tested through decisive, new
A 160 Astrophysics
observations that show that the explanation is true Earth and Sun formed or before that, during
or false, right or wrong. the first moments of the Big Bang that gave rise
to the expanding Universe. Despite our ability to
pry living things apart, identifying their atomic,
Ethical Principles chemical, and molecular constituents, which can
often be found outside Earth, no one has discov-
Astrophysicists are skeptical, taught to question ered the spark of life, showing how inanimate
any discovery and to test it by repeated calcula- matter could have been transformed into a living
tions and predictions of significant observations, thing, either on our planet or elsewhere. Astro-
and they are trained to employ personal detach- physicists forecast that life on Earth will not last
ment and uncompromising honesty. They focus forever, and that the entire human race is sched-
on the predictable, repeatable aspects of the uled for extinction in a few billion years when the
observable Universe, and their results are either brightening Sun will vaporize the Earth’s oceans.
verified or falsified through an ongoing process of
peer review. Reality
To an astrophysicist, the real Universe consists of
the currently observable one, but they often
Key Values believe in a yet undiscovered, invisible reality
that lies beyond the visible one and includes all
The key value of astrophysics is the physical that exists. Known celestial bodies, with well-
explanation of celestial bodies throughout the defined, observed physical characteristics, are
observable Universe. thought to be real, but so are other ill-defined
celestial phenomena such as dark matter, dark
energy, and supposedly empty space.
Conceptualization
Knowledge
Nature/World Astrophysicists regard knowledge of the Universe
Astrophysicists regard nature as equivalent to the as a cumulative, ongoing process of the discovery
physical world outside Earth, although the natu- and explanation of its ingredients and behavior.
ral terrestrial world is used as a foundation for
physical laws thought to be applicable throughout Truth
the Universe. Nature is supposed to include both Astrophysicists believe in an objective, scientific
known and unknown cosmic objects and phe- truth verifiable by decisive observations and sig-
nomena, either perceptible with contemporary nificant tests. To them, truth in the extraterrestrial
astronomical telescopes or currently unseen and world consists of celestial bodies or phenomena
potentially observable with future instruments. that may be repeatedly and consistently observed
and explained by known physical laws.
Human Being
Astrophysics does not normally consider either Perception
human beings or the pains and pleasures of Astrophysicists provide possible explanations for
human life. Such topics are thought to be outside the observations of astronomers who use new
the domain of astrophysical inquiry. technology and novel telescopes to extend the
capacity of their physical senses, thereby perceiv-
Life and Death ing, becoming aware of, and eventually under-
Astronomers and astrophysicists have shown that standing otherwise invisible physical objects that
our planet and everything on it are composed of lie outside the Earth and are inaccessible to direct
elements synthesized either in the nuclear cruci- observation. These perceptions are repeatable,
bles of stars that exploded into space before the and can be obtained by anyone using the same
ATP 161 A
or similar instruments. Some astrophysicists astrophysics, and are concerns of religion. They
regard mathematical extrapolations of existing include the origin and fate of the Universe and
physical laws as a method of perception. life within it. No astrophysicist knows for certain A
what happened before the Big Bang, or how the
Time observable Universe came into being, and they do
Because light travels at a finite speed, astronomers not know if life originated from inanimate matter,
look back into time when observing distant or exactly what might have provided the spark of
objects. As long as light passes through empty life on Earth. And owing to the recent discoveries
space, encountering no atoms or electrons, it can of dark matter and dark energy, which we know
persist forever, bringing its message forward from almost nothing about, the eventual fate of the
the beginning of time to the end of the Universe. observable Universe remains unknown, despite
Powerful telescopes are therefore used as time the fact that distant galaxies are now accelerating
machines to see objects as they were in the past, into invisibility.
when their light was first emitted. They are seen as
they were then and not as they might be now. The
expanding Universe has a history, which astro- Cross-References
physicists decipher, but this only applies to times
after the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. No ▶ Astronomy
astrophysicist knows for certain what happened ▶ Cosmology
before the Big Bang, and time might have even ▶ Physics in Christianity
begun with this creative event. ▶ Physics in Judaism
▶ Physics in Protestantism
Consciousness ▶ Science in Buddhism
To an astrophysicist, consciousness is the mental ▶ Space
awareness of the surrounding Universe, involv- ▶ Space and Time
ing the perception of any physical object that ▶ Time
might be explained by known physical laws.
Rationality/Reason References
An astrophysical concept is rational if it uses
accepted physical laws and can be decisively Lang, K. R. (1999a). Astrophysical formulae volume I.
Radiation, gas processes and high energy astrophys-
tested by significant observations. The use of
ics. New York: Springer.
mathematical equations in applications of physi- Lang, K. R. (1999b). Astrophysical formulae volume II.
cal laws to astrophysical situations may also be Space, time, mass and cosmology. New York:
considered rational. Springer.
Lang, K. R. (2006). Parting the cosmic veil. New York:
Springer.
Mystery
The entire Universe is regarded as a great hidden
mystery awaiting discovery and understanding,
and its known constituents may also have myste- ATP
rious aspects that remain to be examined and
understood. Stanley N. Salthe
Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton
University, Binghamton, NY, USA
Relevant Themes
There are many critical, unexplained aspects of the Adenosine triphosphate. The energy exchange
Universe that lie outside the domain of medium in the biological cell. It is a chemical
A 162 Attachment: Theory and Patterns
that has three phosphate groups lined up in a row, dangers, such as predation. In other words, phys-
the outer one of which is susceptible to being ical proximity is the predictable outcome (or set
detached in such a way as to free up energy for goal) of attachment behaviors, and increased
use by the cell. The ATP can be regenerated from chances of survival, in turn potentiating future
ADP (adenosine diphosphate) and Pi (inorganic reproductive success, is their evolutionary func-
phosphate) by an enzyme, using energy obtained tion. According to Bowlby, attachment behaviors
from food in animals and from sunlight in plants, are governed by an attachment behavioral sys-
to reattach the third phosphate. tem. This system is believed to be universal and
to work similarly to mechanical systems, such as
thermostats and goal-directed missiles, but to
have been programmed by EAS rather than
Attachment: Theory and Patterns humans. Like other control systems, the attach-
ment system is activated by certain conditions
Pehr Granqvist and deactivated by others. The attachment system
Department of Psychology, Stockholm is held to be activated by natural clues to danger,
University, Stockholm, Sweden which can have both external (e.g., physical sep-
aration, predators approaching) and internal (e.g.,
fear, illness) sources. The system is held to be
Related Terms deactivated by natural clues to safety, most nota-
bly physical contact with the figure selected out
Caregiving; Mental representations; as a source of security and safety (i.e., the Attach-
Relationships; Religion as attachment; Spirituality ment Figure).
The attachment system is one among many
evolved systems (e.g., exploration, reproduction,
Normative Aspects of Attachment caregiving systems). Flexibility of functioning
Theory for the organism requires that these systems
communicate rather than operate in isolation.
The term attachment refers to a strong disposition For example, activation of the attachment system
on the part of the offspring in many mammalian should be associated with deactivation of
species to seek proximity to and contact the exploratory system; when frightened by
with a specific figure and particularly to do so in a sudden, loud sound, the offspring ceases to
certain situations such as when he or she is fright- play (i.e., explore) and instead moves closer to
ened, ill, or tired. John Bowlby, the founder of the attachment figure (i.e., displays attachment
attachment theory (Bowlby 1969–1980), sought behavior). The offspring’s attachment system
to understand this mammalian phenomenon by also operates in close synchrony with the care-
drawing mainly on principles from control sys- giver’s caregiving system, for example, when the
tems theory and the theory of evolution by natural former part is frightened and cries, (i.e., displays
selection but also by incorporating selected attachment behavior) the latter moves closer and
principles from psychoanalysis (particularly the picks him or her up (i.e., displays caregiving
object relations theory and the independent behaviors).
school of British psychoanalysis), information During the first year of life, the offspring
processing theory, and the early literature on typically develops one or a few attachment rela-
artificial intelligence. Bowlby argued that attach- tionships, typically with their primary caregiver
ment behaviors have been naturally selected by (s). Although the term “attachment” has broad
mammalian species’ ancestral environments (i.e., connotations in everyday language, attachment
environments of evolutionary adaptedness, EEA) relationships differ from other relationships
by keeping the offspring in physical proximity to (including close relationships in general) in
their caregivers and thus protected from natural important ways. Bowlby (1969–1980) and his
Attachment: Theory and Patterns 163 A
close collaborator Mary Ainsworth used the term conscious experience and associated explicit/
“attachment relationship” to denote a strong declarative memories. This, Bowlby believed, is
affectional bond between two individuals, in especially likely if the caregiver provides incon- A
which none is interchangeable with others. The sonant information to the child (e.g., “I love you
attachment figure accomplishes two important so much”). In this example, the child is likely to
functions for the attached person: (a) provides develop an implicit/procedural representation of
a safe haven in times of threat or stress and (b) the self as unworthy of care and others as unlikely
serves as a secure base from which to explore the to provide care but an explicit/declarative repre-
environment and develop new mental and phys- sentation of themselves as self-sufficient and
ical skills. The attached person also resists sepa- others as loving. In other words, defensive exclu-
ration from the attachment figure and experiences sion was thought to lead to a structural incoher-
anxiety when involuntarily separated. Moreover, ence (or multiplicity) of working models. Part of
loss of the attachment figure leads to grief and the strategy believed to underlie defensive exclu-
mourning. Finally, the attachment figure is, at sion is a defensive shift of attention, character-
least implicitly, viewed as stronger and wiser by ized by the individual attending to other aspects
the attached person. of the environment (e.g., toys) instead of, for
Bowlby (1969–1980) also argued that the example, a rejecting caregiver. Although Bowlby
offspring develops a set of partly unconscious used information processing terminology, his
mental representations, or internal working usage of the term “defensive” (rather than merely
models (IWMs), of self and other, based on his “selective”) in reference of exclusion implied
or her interaction history with the attachment that a child who has received insensitive care
figure(s). These IWMs are held to reflect real uses a self-protective strategy to enable himself
experiences, to be continually updated based on or herself to maintain behavioral organization
new experiences, and to generalize to the individ- vis-a-vis the caregiver and to ward off potentially
ual’s representations of self and other in future overwhelming feelings of anxiety and anger. This
relationships. Although IWMs are continually account clearly connects Bowlby’s theory to the
updated, principles of cognitive assimilation and psychoanalytic idea of defense mechanisms.
behavioral automatization make a complete However, when the child’s needs for safety and
transformation of IWMs based on later experi- security have been consistently met, according to
ences less likely. Therefore, Bowlby expected Bowlby, the child will not need to resort to defen-
general continuity of IWMS across maturation sive strategies. In consequence, the IWMs of such
and relationships while acknowledging that in individuals will display structural coherency
the wake of radical and lingering shifts (or singularity), where the child’s conscious/
in experience, lawful discontinuity was to be explicit feeling of worth will correspond with
expected. The partly unconscious nature of his or her actual (procedural/implicit) disposition
IWMs stems from the immaturity of the brain’s to seek out care and advice when needed.
memory systems at early ages of development.
In memory terms, early interactions with
attachment figures are stored as implicit or pro- Individual Differences in Attachment
cedural memories rather than as explicit or Organization
declarative memories.
Bowlby argued that psychological defenses Utilizing a semi-structured 20-min, 8-episode
are closely linked to peoples’ mental representa- separation-reunion laboratory procedure for
tions of self and other. In particular, he suggested infants and toddlers, known as the strange situa-
that individuals who have consistently or often tion procedure, Ainsworth and colleagues (1978)
encountered insensitive caregiving will defen- identified individual differences in child-
sively come to exclude this information, for caregiver attachment patterns (i.e., secure [B],
example, about parental rejection, from their insecure/avoidant [A], and insecure/resistant [C]
A 164 Attachment: Theory and Patterns
attachment). This procedure combines elements classified as securely attached tend to be reliably
aiming at activation of both the child’s attach- sensitive to their child’s signals (i.e., responding
ment (i.e., novel environment, a participating promptly and appropriately), caregivers of
stranger, separation from the attachment figure) avoidant children tend to reject their child’s attach-
and exploratory (i.e., novel attractive toys) sys- ment behaviors (e.g., show signs of discomfort
tems. In this procedure, secure children strike with physical contact), caregivers of resistant chil-
a balance between attachment and exploration; dren tend to be markedly inconsistently responsive
they tend to use the attachment figure as a secure (i.e., sometimes sensitive, oftentimes neglecting),
base for constructive exploration and protest and caregivers of disorganized children tend to be
separation, actively seek physical contact and/or abusive and/or subtly frightening, dissociative, or
interaction with the attachment figure on reunion, frightened (Cassidy and Shaver 2008).
be comforted by the renewed contact with Individual differences in early attachment orga-
the attachment figure, and finally return to explo- nization have been established as an important
ration. Avoidant children tend to engage predictor of various aspects of socioemotional
in (defensive) exploration at the expense of development in several long-term prospective lon-
attachment (i.e., a minimizing attachment strat- gitudinal studies (Cassidy and Shaver 2008). For
egy (Main 1991)); their exploration is marked by example, secure attachment has been found pre-
independence, they typically do not protest sepa- dictive of a high social competence and a low
ration, and they do not seek physical contact or degree of behavioral problems throughout child-
interaction with the attachment figure on reunion; hood and adolescence. In contrast, disorganized
indeed, they may even subtly avoid the attach- attachment has been established as an important
ment figure. Resistant children tend to engage attachment-related risk factor in development as it
in attachment at the expense of exploration foreshadows later behavioral problems (e.g.,
(i.e., a maximizing attachment strategy (Main aggression), dissociative inclinations, and psycho-
1991)); they tend to cling to or be preoccupied pathology (Cassidy and Shaver 2008).
with the attachment figure even prior to
separation, protest separation strongly, and inter-
mingle between passivity and angry resistance Attachment in Adulthood
(e.g., temper tantrums) on reunion with the
attachment figure, without returning to any Bowlby (1969–1980) emphasized that the attach-
constructive exploration. Mary Main and Judith ment behavioral system is active “from the cradle
Solomon (Main and Solomon 1990) subsequently to the grave,” and he suggested that long-term
identified a fourth category, known as insecure/ adult romantic or marital relationships are often
disorganized/disoriented attachment, character- the principal attachments in adulthood. Based on
ized by various behavioral breakdowns in this notion, social and personality psychologists
attachment-related patterning in the presence of (Hazan and Shaver 1987; Mikulincer and Shaver
the attachment figure (e.g., prolonged freezing, 2007) began to study attachment-related aspects
marked anomalies or stereotypies, and sequential of adult relationships. Like Bowlby, these
or simultaneous displays of opposing behaviors, scholars suggested that the attachment, caregiv-
such as moving away from parent while crying). ing, and reproductive behavioral systems are
Empirical research has shown that aspects of integrated in long-term adult pair-bonds, for
caregiving tend to be the most robust and consis- example, a given adult partner both gives and
tent predictors of attachment quality as assessed receives care within the pair-bond. In other
with the strange situation procedure, while the words, unlike child-parent attachments, adult
direct role (i.e., main effect) of genetic heritability pair-bonds are symmetrical (i.e., none of the part-
has been found negligible in normal (twin) ners are consistently seen as stronger and wiser).
populations (Cassidy and Shaver 2008). More spe- Based on the idea that adult pair-bonds
cifically, caregivers of children subsequently involve attachment components, Cindy Hazan
Attachment: Theory and Patterns 165 A
and Phillip Shaver (1987) constructed a brief self- maintain that God does not die or abandon peo-
report questionnaire measure to assess adult ple, the subjective feeling of losing a previously
attachment style, that is, an adult’s typical per- felt connection with God is associated with A
ceptions, expectations, and behavioral inclina- intense separation distress, a “wilderness experi-
tions in adult pair-bonds and other close adult ence,” among believers. Indeed, according to
relationships (see (Mikulincer and Shaver 2007) much Christian theology, separation from God
for methodological developments). Since then, is the very essence of hell. Finally, God is thought
attachment theory has established the position to be omnipotent and omniscient, thus clearly
as one of the leading frameworks for understand- stronger and wiser than believers themselves.
ing close relationships across the life span within Novel empirical research on ▶ religion as
many disciplines in psychology (most notably attachment has corroborated Kirkpatrick’s idea
developmental, clinical, social, and personality that people actually do use God as an attachment
psychology). figure (Granqvist and Kirkpatrick 2008; Granqvist
et al. 2010). For example, separation-related expo-
sures (such as “God has abandoned me”) have been
Religion as Attachment found to increase theistic believers’ motivation to
experience closeness to God, even when delivered
Attachment theory has also made an important subliminally (i.e., unconsciously for the study par-
contribution to the psychology of religion ticipants). It should be noted, however, that unlike
(Kirkpatrick 2005; Granqvist and Kirkpatrick other attachment figures, God does not have
2008; Granqvist et al. 2010). From the early a visible interaction history with believers. Partly
1990s onward, Lee Kirkpatrick has argued therefore, it has been suggested that the believer-
based on religious phenomenology and a review divine relationship should be considered an attach-
of 100 years of research and theorizing in the ment-like relationship, or a symbolic attachment,
psychology of religion that believers’ perceptions rather than an attachment proper (Granqvist and
of God and their own relationship with God often Kirkpatrick 2008; Granqvist et al. 2010).
tend to meet the established criteria for defining Kirkpatrick also proposed two hypotheses,
attachment relationships. In other words, God is the compensation and correspondence hypotheses,
viewed and used as an attachment figure, espe- about how individual differences in attachment
cially in theistic faith traditions characterized may relate to religiousness (see Kirkpatrick
by the idea of a personal God with whom one 2005). Since then, these hypotheses have been
may have a personal relationship. For example, revised (Granqvist and Kirkpatrick 2008;
regarding the proximity component of attach- Granqvist et al. 2010). In the current formulation
ment, an important function of prayer is to estab- of the compensation hypothesis, it is stated that
lish a sense of connection or closeness to God. religiosity in the case of insecure attachment
Also, people tend to turn to God as a safe haven develops from explicit/controlled distress regula-
when distressed. One example is that an over- tion strategies, where God is used as a surrogate
whelming majority of sudden religious conver- attachment-like figure. This hypothesis is founded
sions occur during life situations of emotional in Bowlby’s (1969–1980) and Ainsworth’s discus-
turmoil. In addition, believers tend to describe sions of the use of surrogate attachments among
God with words that are analogous to those children whose principal attachment figures are or
used to describe other secure bases, for example, have been unavailable or unsatisfactory. In sup-
“loving,” “guiding,” “caring.” Perceiving port of this hypothesis, empirical research has
a personal relationship with a God thought to shown insecure attachment to be related to, for
possess such secure base-related qualities has example, sudden religious conversions during
also been found, as expected, to confer certain life situations marked by emotional turmoil.
psychological advantages (e.g., freedom from In the current formulation of the correspondence
worry and guilt). Although religious teachings hypothesis, it is stated that religiosity in the case of
A 166 Attention
secure attachment develops from (a) generalized, Bowlby, J. (1969–1980). Attachment and loss (Vol. 1–3).
positive representations of self and other (IWM New York: Basic Books.
Cassidy, J., & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.). (2008). Handbook of
aspect) and (b) partial adoption of a sensitive care- attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applica-
giver’s religion (social aspect). This hypothesis is tions (2nd ed.). Guilford: New York.
founded both in Bowlby’s (1969–1980) idea of Granqvist, P., & Kirkpatrick, L. A. (2008). Attachment
generalizing IWMs and the proposition that secure and religious representations and behavior. In
J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attach-
attachment facilitates successful socialization of ment: Theory, research, and clinical applications
parental values in general. Supporting this hypoth- (2nd ed., pp. 906–933). New York: Guilford.
esis, empirical research has found secure attach- Granqvist, P., Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2010).
ment to be related to, for example, a loving God Religion as attachment: Normative processes and indi-
vidual differences. Personality and Social Psychology
image, the use of God as an available safe haven Review, 14, 49–59.
even at implicit/unconscious levels of operation Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptu-
(presumably due to a coherent/singular representa- alized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality
tion of God), and a high degree of parent-offspring and Social Psychology, 52, 511–524.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. (2005). Attachment, evolution, and the
similarity in religiousness. psychology of religion. New York: Guilford.
Extant research on religion as attachment has Main, M. (1991). Metacognitive knowledge,
used a wide variety of research methodologies. metacognitive monitoring, and singular (coherent) vs.
The published literature includes studies using multiple (incoherent) models of attachment: Findings
and directions for future research. In C. M. Parkes &
different data collection methods (e.g., self-report J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds.), Attachment across the life
questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, lexical cycle (pp. 127–159). London: Tavistock/Routledge.
decisions), research designs (cross-sectional, pro- Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identify-
spective, and experimental designs), religious ing infants as disorganized/disoriented during the
Ainsworth strange situation. In M. T. Greenberg,
populations (e.g., Swedish Lutherans, New D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment
Agers, Pentecostalists, Americans from the in preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention
“Bible Belt,” Israeli Jews, Italian Catholics), and (pp. 121–160). Chicago: University of Chicago.
participants in different developmental periods Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2007). Attachment pat-
terns in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change.
(children, adolescents, young adults, elders). New York: Guilford.
Cross-References
▶ Anthropomorphism Attention
▶ Control Theory (Cybernetics)
▶ Conversion Anna C. Nobre and Mark G. Stokes
▶ Developmental Psychology Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity,
▶ Evolutionary Psychology University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
▶ Love (Alterity, Relationship)
▶ New Age Religions
▶ Psychoanalysis/Depth Psychology Related Terms
▶ Psychology of Religion
▶ Social Psychology Concentration; Focalization
Description
References
Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. “▶ Attention” is one of the major domains of
(1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study psychological functions and, as such, it is central
of the strange situation. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum. to our understanding of the mind. In the fields of
Attention 167 A
experimental psychology and cognitive science, though few would dispute that attention is neces-
attention typically refers to the set of functions sary for determining the contents of awareness, it
that prioritize the processing of information may not be sufficient. In some cases, what drives A
relevant to immediate task goals. Occasionally, our behavior may not conform fully to what
the term “attention” is also used to refer to occupies our awareness. It is possible, therefore,
nonselective functions relating to states of arousal, that some events may be prioritized and selected
effort, concentration, or vigilance. Though these for guiding action without reaching conscious
state-related functions may interact with selective awareness. In the intriguing case of
attention functions, it is best to draw a clear con- “▶ blindsight,” individuals with damage to the
ceptual distinction between them, and to reserve primary visual cortex show some residual goal-
the technical term for selective attention functions. directed action toward, and accurate “guessing”
The content of our conscious experience is about, events that they do not experience phe-
highly selective: at any given moment, only nomenologically. Moreover, selective attention
a very small number of events will come to can optimize behavioral responses toward events
occupy our awareness, and consequently, drive that are not consciously perceived by these
voluntary behavior. These events are drawn from patients. Therefore, although attention and
a boundless stream of continuous sensory stimu- awareness are tightly interrelated, they should
lation by the mechanisms of selective attention, not be considered to be synonymous.
which enhance the processing of potentially rel- The study of attention can trace its roots to the
evant information while suppressing processing earliest days of experimental psychology and psy-
of irrelevant, and potentially distracting, sensory chophysics. Herman von Helmholtz (1867) pro-
input. Selected information can then be used vided the first well-known empirical observations
more efficiently to guide purposeful, or goal- that it is possible to control the focus of spatial
directed, action. Selective attention has been attention at will, independently of the location of
most intensively investigated within perception. the eye gaze. He built an apparatus in which it was
However, similar mechanisms for prioritizing possible to illuminate a display containing several
behaviorally relevant information also operate letters for a fraction of a second. While holding his
within internalized representations of events gaze at a fixed location, he noted that it was
maintained within short-term, or working mem- impossible to view simultaneously all the items
ory. The selective retrieval of relevant long-term in the briefly presented display. However, he
memories could also rely on mechanisms related found that he could reconstruct the display by
to selective attention, but this is only beginning to mentally focusing on specific locations of the dis-
be explored in the psychological literature. play, over multiple iterations, while continuing to
Attention and conscious “awareness” are hold his gaze fixed. After Helmholtz’s seminal
strongly interrelated concepts. One prevalent empirical explorations into voluntary attentional
view is that awareness is the direct product of control, William James (1890) lucidly described
selective attention, insofar as only prioritized and many of the principles and properties of selective
selected events come to occupy awareness. Neu- attention. Using introspective methods, James
rological case studies provide striking evidence wrote what was to become the most highly cited
that attention is a necessary precondition for per- quotation defining selective attention:
ceptual awareness. “Hemispatial neglect” is
Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking
a neurological syndrome characterized by possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of
a pathological failure to attend to sensory infor- one out of what seem several simultaneously pos-
mation from affected spatial locations, typically sible objects or trains of thought. Focalization,
the side of space opposite to the site of damage. concentration, of consciousness are of its essence.
It implies withdrawal from some things in order to
As a result of the spatial inattention, information deal effectively with others, and is a condition
at unattended spatial locations typically fails to which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed,
reach conscious awareness. However, even scatterbrained state. . .
A 168 Attention
Attention in Early Cognitive Psychology: neuroscience exploits a range of powerful

Capacity Limitations methods to measure and manipulate brain activ-
After an extended hiatus during the behaviorist ity, thereby permitting systematic analysis of
movement, when the study of internal mental pro- how activity in different neural structures and
cesses, including attention, was discouraged, the networks is modulated by task goals. To date,
study of attention once again took central stage the majority of attention research has been car-
within the emerging fields of cognitive psychology ried out using visual spatial selective attention,
and neuropsychology. Psychological tasks, such where visual events at an instructed, or cued,
as the dichotic-listening task, were developed to location are made relevant to the task goals
test the behavioral consequences of focusing atten- (e.g., covert orienting, Posner 1980). Neverthe-
tion on one out of multiple competing streams of less, studies have also shown that it is possible to
information versus dividing attention among the orient attention to objects, features within
multiple streams. The major aim of these early objects, temporal intervals, and high-level asso-
studies was to determine where the resource ciative attributes of stimuli. Moreover, similar
“capacity” for information processing became mechanisms of selection also govern perceptual
limited, that is, the stage at which simultaneous processing within other sensory modalities (e.g.,
processing of multiple tasks becomes impossible. audition, touch) as well as across modalities (e.g.,
The empirical data gathered during these early between vision and audition).
days of cognitive psychology showed that it was Although our understanding of the neural
possible to focus effectively on one stream of mechanisms by which selective attention priori-
information based on basic physical characteris- tizes and selects task-relevant events remains
tics of the signals (e.g., spatial location or pitch) so incomplete, important strides have been made.
that little of the irrelevant, competing auditory The evidence to date shows clearly that the bias-
stream reached awareness. However, occasion- ing of information processing according to task
ally, salient information from the irrelevant goals is a widespread property across sensory,
stream, such as the individual’s name, or informa- motor, and associative regions of the brain. The
tion that was related to the attended message, was findings, therefore, argue against fixed points of
registered. Different scholars used such findings to limited capacity during information processing,
support contrasting theories. “Early selection” the- but instead indicate that the mechanisms of selec-
ories, first proposed by Donald Broadbent (1958), tive attention operate at multiple stages. Emerg-
placed the capacity limit, or “bottleneck,” at early ing consensus is gathering around the theoretical
stages of information processing. They held that view that the function of selective attention is to
information related to irrelevant sensory streams is deliver the relevant data to guide perception
filtered out, or attenuated, during the earliest stages and action within the current task goals and
of perceptual processing. “Late selection” theo- motivational state. This is achieved through two
ries, first proposed by J. Anthony Deutsch and complementary mechanisms: “selecting” the
Diana Deutsch (1963), placed the bottleneck attributes of the relevant events throughout mul-
much later during information processing. They tiple levels of the information processing stream,
contended that information processing was and integrating, or “binding,” the selected attri-
unimpeded until after semantic analysis of stimuli, butes into coherent objects.
after which only relevant information was selected Noninvasive recordings of brain activity from
to drive awareness or action. electrodes positioned on the scalp of human
participants, using “event-related potentials”
Attention in Contemporary Cognitive (ERPs), have indicated that the neural processing
Neuroscience: Selection and Integration of a given event, such as a briefly presented visual
In more recent years, technological advances stimulus, is strongly influenced by whether that
have paved the foundation of a new scientific event is potentially relevant to the current behav-
perspective into attention. Cognitive ioral task. This type of recording based on the
Attention 169 A
electroencephalogram – event-related potential – are sensitive to progressively more complex fea-
has low spatial resolution, but it enables tures, and/or feature combinations, presented
monitoring of stimulus-related brain activity on within increasingly large proportions of the A
a millisecond-by-millisecond basis, providing visual field (i.e., receptive field). As a result of
sensitive measures of successive stages of infor- this convergence, multiple features and objects
mation processing from perception to action. within the receptive field compete for coding.
Multiple stages of attentional modulation can be Some features will compete more strongly than
observed, which become dissociable under dif- others, due to inherent differences in stimulus
ferent experimental conditions, from early stages energy (e.g., brighter and bigger stimuli), and
of perceptual analysis to higher processing stages therefore, will be more likely to be selected for
related to semantic analysis and decision-making further perceptual processing. In addition to this
processes. Corroborative and complementary “bottom-up” selection, top-down attentional con-
evidence has come from the measurement of trol mechanisms also bias perceptual processing
changes in blood flow that are coupled to neural via feedback signals that convey information
activity with “positron-emission tomography” about the task goals. Top-down biasing is
(PET) and “▶ functional magnetic-resonance achieved through a combination of cellular
imaging”. PET and fMRI measure local changes mechanisms. When more than one stimulus
in blood flow that accompany brain activity. comes to occupy the receptive field of a neuron
Unlike ERP, these neuroimaging methods have in a visual cortical area, activity related to the
high spatial resolution, but the temporal resolu- attributes of irrelevant distracting stimuli is fil-
tion is relatively coarse. Such experiments gen- tered away. The tonic baseline activity of neurons
erally demonstrate selective modulation of neural coding a potentially task-relevant location or an
activity: stimuli that are the target of a behavioral object shape is also elevated relative to activity in
response within the current task activate percep- neurons coding irrelevant locations or shapes.
tual cortex more strongly than a physically iden- The activity across neurons that code relevant
tical, but behaviorally irrelevant stimulus. In the spatial locations also becomes more tightly syn-
case of visual tasks, such attentional modulations chronized within high-frequency, gamma bands
have been observed across the hierarchy of visual and less synchronized within low-frequency,
areas, including in primary visual cortex, lateral alpha bands, which in turn increases the impact
geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, and superior that the output of these neurons can exert further
colliculi. Direct recordings from individual neu- down the hierarchy. Critically, as selected attri-
rons in nonhuman primates performing visual butes become more strongly represented, neural
tasks have also confirmed modulation of neuronal interactions will also bias competition in favor of
activity across the visual hierarchy, including other attributes of the same item aiding co-
cortical and subcortical regions. selection and integration.
According to one of the prevailing contempo- The result of a biased competition during per-
rary theories of attention, selective attention ceptual processing is sometimes referred to as
“biases” neural competition in sensory areas via a “saliency map,” which encodes the spatial loca-
“bottom-up,” sensory-driven mechanisms favor- tion of a small number of potentially relevant
ing high-contrast events and by “▶ top-down” targets. It is not yet completely understood how
feedback signals, which carry information about these cellular mechanisms come together to pri-
the task goals (“biased competition” model: oritize processing of relevant events, and addi-
Desimone and Duncan 1995). During visual per- tional aspects of the cellular mechanisms are
ception, for example, sensory input from the ret- likely to be unveiled. But, in broad terms, it is
ina proceeds through a number of processing presumed that, by enhancing the signals from
stages. This stimulus-driven input is integrated neurons coding the relevant locations or attri-
along the hierarchy of visual brain areas, so that butes, filtering out distracting activity from the
neurons within higher-level processing regions output of these neurons, and by synchronizing the
A 170 Attention
high-impact activity of these relevant and filtered Self-identification

signals, it is possible to select only the attributes
of the relevant objects, which then become inte- Science
grated into cohesive objects to guide conscious The study of attention as a psychological domain
perception and action. According to this view, has consistently been approached from
attention plays a major role in solving the difficult a scientific perspective. However, one inherent
“binding problem” posed by the way that percep- difficulty in investigating attention is that it is
tual systems are organized, by helping piece a process that operates upon internal mental
together the constituent features of putative target states. As such, it cannot be observed directly,
events. An early account proposing a role of but can only be experienced by the subject of the
attention in the integration of the features of mental state. This inherent subjectivity has, at
task-relevant objects was proposed by Anne times, been considered reason for excluding
Treisman (Treisman and Gelade 1980, Feature attention, and other internal mental phenomena,
Integration Theory), though in this case only spa- from scientific enquiry, especially during the
tial biases were considered to be necessary for behaviorism movement.
correctly binding features of potential target Although it is not possible to negate the onto-
objects. logical subjectivism of a mental process such as
The setting and monitoring of task goals is part attention, it is possible to observe and quantify its
of the psychological domain of “executive func- effects upon overt behavior and upon neural
tions,” which are thought to involve activity in activity. For example, the effects of attention on
prefrontal regions of the brain. Once task goals behavioral responses and neural activity can be
are established, biasing of task-relevant informa- measured by experimentally manipulating the
tion may be mediated through working memory predictability of task-relevant stimuli (Posner
or long-term memory representations. In the case 1980). Using this approach, attention is typically
of spatial attention, a large-scale frontal-parietal operationalized behaviorally as the optimization
network of areas has been implicated in providing of motor responses (e.g., faster reaction times or
the top-down feedback signals to bias informa- more accurate perceptual discrimination) to
tion processing along the perceptual hierarchy detect or discriminate a predicted, expected stim-
(Mesulam 1981). In particular, parietal, frontal, ulus as compared to an unexpected stimulus.
and subcortical areas that code the location of Alternatively, it is possible to manipulate the
events to guide eye movements may also play number and type of distracting stimuli in visual
a prominent role in guiding spatial attention, search tasks (Treisman and Gelade 1980). In this
even in the absence of overt eye movements. case, the time required for accurate behavioral
The overlap between the control of spatial performance is taken to indicate of the duration
attention and of eye movements is supported by of the attentional mechanisms required to select
co-extensive patterns of activation for the two and integrate the task-relevant target objects.
types of functions obtained using functional mag-
netic resonance imaging, by the sensitivity of
neurons to both oculomotor and attention func- Characteristics
tions in the same brain regions; and by the
measurable and spatially specific influence in The process of attention – as the prioritization of
visual cortical excitability upon stimulation of task-relevant information – is relevant to most
the frontal area implicated in eye-movement con- psychological functions. Though mainly investi-
trol (frontal eye fields). A strict interpretation of gated in the context of perception, the selection
spatial attention as the consequence of planned and integration of task-relevant information is
eye movements, and later of planned actions also relevant for memory, emotional processing,
more generally, is known as the “premotor theory language, and motor control. Whereas the spe-
of attention.” cific mechanisms for biasing and optimizing
Attention 171 A
neural activity in different neural systems may upon the interpretation of data that are
differ in the details, attention can be viewed as recorded by experimentalists, and dissemi-
a basic principle underlying the efficient func- nated to the academy via peer-reviewed publi- A
tioning of neural and cognitive systems. cations in specialist journals. In practice,
Since the early days of Experimental Psychol- authority also comes from academic institu-
ogy, attention has been recognized as tions (Universities and research institutes),
a fundamental aspect of human perception and funding bodies, and specialist organizations
behavior, and its investigation has enjoyed or societies to which academics may belong,
a privileged position in the field. The study of via membership fees (Cognitive Neuroscience
attention spans various levels of organization. Society) and/or peer election (Society for Neu-
The mechanisms of attention have been investi- roscience; Royal Society). Together, these
gated within single neurons in perceptual and asso- organizations strongly influence the direction
ciative brain areas, in retinotopic maps within brain of research in attention and the acceptance of
areas, across neural circuits, and at the level of particular interpretations of data. Nevertheless,
behavioral responses and conscious reports. In in the end, as an empirical science, the absolute
this way, attention might provide a crucial bridge source of authority must remain with the data.
to span multiple levels of analysis within the In the absence of scientific fraud, data
human cognitive and neurophysiological system. cannot be challenged, only the subsequent
interpretations.

Ethical Principles
The study of attention has not played a prominent
role in issues at the interface of science and reli- The study of attention poses no particular ethical
gion. As a fundamental organizing principle of challenges. Research follows established ethical
human cognition, see above, attention is relevant guidelines for experimentation on humans and
for understanding many aspects of the human animals.
mind. As such, it will be of relevance to issues Society can benefit in two different ways.
in religion that relate to the human mind, such as The enquiry into attention enhances our under-
how the human mind creates and transmits reli- standing about the human mind and brain. Tradi-
gious discourse. tionally, beneficiaries have been largely limited
The basic concept of attention – prioritization to academics and university students; however,
of certain items over other to achieve goals – can there is an increasing focus to educate the broader
also be extended to high-level concepts such an community via the public media. Findings from
individual’s system of beliefs. In this regard, one basic research can also fuel translational or clin-
may focus on religious beliefs or prioritize reli- ical research, whose aim is to develop and eval-
gious interpretations of events. uate treatments for disorders involving attention
The ability to focus attention and to block out (e.g., attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder,
distraction is required by many religious and neglect).
spiritual practices, such as meditation, whose
goal is to heighten awareness, self-awareness,
and self-knowledge. Key Values
Research into attention, as a major psychological

Sources of Authority domain, is part of the academic quest for knowl-
edge about the biological mechanisms of cogni-
The primary source of authority is the empiri- tive systems, undertaken with scientific integrity
cal data. Scientific models of attention are built and rigor.
A 172 Attention
Conceptualization information is thought not only to guide aware-

ness and action, but also to guide the formation of
Nature/World memories, including memories for meanings and
The study of attention does not conceptualize facts.
nature/world any differently from other empirical
sciences. Truth
The study of attention does not imply any specific
Human Being conceptualization of truth.
The majority of scientists engaged in the scien-
tific study of human cognitive mechanisms, Perception
including attention, consider the human being as The study of attention is central to the under-
a species of primate that, although highly standing of perception, as already described in
advanced, shares a continuity of cognitive com- the main definition of this entry. In short, percep-
plexity with other living creatures. In practice, tual awareness may be considered as the result of
researchers often emphasize the similarities, attentional processes operating upon the compet-
rather than differences, between humans and itive processing of signals triggered by the trans-
other primates, to the extent that there is little duced sensory stimulation. Our perception is
consensus as to whether humans possess any highly selective, limited to only a few items,
entirely unique cognitive faculties that cannot and highly determined by subjective factors,
be observed in some form within other species. such as our task goals and expectations.
Life and Death Time

The study of attention does not conceptualize life The study of attention has little to say about the
and death any differently from other biological nature of time. In contrast, it has revealed inter-
sciences. esting insights about how our cognition unfolds
over time, and about how we perceive temporal
Reality durations and intervals.
Cognitive psychology and neuroscience recog- Our perceptual abilities have significant tem-
nize that external reality is not fully and directly poral limits. Studies in which participants are
apprehensible through perception. Our senses required to perform concurrently two or more
transduce only a small fraction of the external tasks that require planning and production of
energy impinging on the individual. Furthermore, separate responses reveal dramatic interference
our perception is guided by a complex interaction and performance costs, a phenomenon known as
between the transduced external information the “psychological refractory period.” Even in
(through vision, touch, audition, etc.) and internal the absence of speeded motor requirements,
signals (based on past experience, motivation, upon detecting a task-relevant event, people
current goals, etc.). Our apprehension of reality become unable to perceive another relevant
is therefore highly subjective, and greatly deter- event for hundreds of milliseconds, a phenome-
mined by the process of selective attention. non known as the “attentional blink.”
The perception of temporal attributes –
Knowledge such as onset times, durations, and intervals
The study of attention has little bearing on gen- – is also influenced by attention. Attended
eral concepts of knowledge. However, selective items are perceived to occur earlier than
attention may play an important role in shaping nonattended items (“prior entry”), and to last
an individual’s corpus of knowledge, accumu- longer. Paying attention to the passage of time
lated through his or her accumulated experiences itself expands the duration of perceived time
(also referred to as semantic memory). The selec- relative to paying attention to other aspects of
tive biasing of task-relevant or salient an event.
Attribution/Attribution Theory 173 A
Consciousness
Attention is strongly related to conscious aware- Attribution/Attribution Theory
ness, as already explained in the main definition A
of this entry. Bertram F. Malle
Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and
Rationality/Reason Psychological Sciences, Brown University,
The study of attention does not have any specific Providence, RI, USA
implication for the concepts of rationality or reason.
Mystery Related Terms

The study of attention does not have any specific
implication for the concept of mystery. Agency; Causal inference; Causality; Explana-
tion; Intentional action; Intentionality; Moral
judgment; Person perception; Social cognition;
Cross-References Social inference; Social perception
▶ Cognitive Neuroscience In social psychology, the term attribution has at

▶ Cognitive Psychology least two meanings: the first refers to explana-
▶ Consciousness, The Problem of tions of behavior (i.e., answers to why-questions)
▶ Neglect and the second refers to inferences or ascriptions
▶ Neuroimaging (e.g., inferring traits from behavior, ascribing
▶ Neurophysiology blame to a person). What the two meanings
▶ Neuropsychology have in common, in science as in dictionary def-
initions, is a process of assigning: in attribution as
explanation, a behavior is assigned to its cause;
References in attribution as inference, some attribute
(e.g., a personality trait or blame) is assigned to
Broadbent, D. A. (1958). Perception and communication. the agent on the basis of the behavior. Despite the
New York: Pergamon.
connection between these processes, they have
Desimone, R., & Duncan, J. (1995). Neural mechanisms
of selective visual attention. Annual Review in Neuro- distinct psychological characteristics and have
sciences, 18, 193–222. evolved in two distinct historic lines of research.
Deutsch, J., & Deutsch, D. (1963). Attention: Some theoret- Both originate in work by Austrian philosopher
ical considerations. Psychological Review, 70, 80–90.
and psychologist Fritz Heider (1958), who recog-
James, W. (1890; reprinted 1981). The principles of
psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. nized attribution as a central process of forming
Mesulam, M. M. (1981). A cortical network for directed subjective interpretations of the world;, but the
attention and unilateral neglect. Annals of Neurology, two lines emphasize different aspects of this
10(4), 309–325.
fundamental insight.
Posner, M. I. (1980). Orienting of attention. Quarterly
Journal of Experimental Psychology, 32, 2–25.
Treisman, A. M., & Gelade, G. (1980). A feature-integration
theory of attention. Cognitive Psychology, 12(1), 97–136. Attribution as Explanation
von Helmholtz, H. (1867). Handbuch der Physiologischen
Optik (2nd ed., p. 1334). Hamburg: Verlag von
Leopold Voss. Heider examined how people make sense of
human behavior, and he argued that they search
for causes of behavior. But people have two
distinct conceptions of causality. They subsume
Attraction purposeful human behaviors under a model of
“personal causality” – according to which behav-
▶ Love (Affective, Sexual) ior is based on the agent’s intention, which is in
A 174 Attribution/Attribution Theory
turn based on reasons. Quite different, the model externally caused (i.e., by the situation). If
of “impersonal causality” applies to any Miriam experiences repeated headaches, she
unintentional behavior and all other physical may look for triggering events that co-occur
events; these events are brought about by causal with the headaches until she finds whether some-
forces that do not involve subjective reasons or thing inside or outside of her appears to cause the
intentions. Heider’s dichotomy is, in somewhat headaches (e.g., a sinus infection vs. MSG in the
awkward terminology, the fundamental distinc- food she eats at work).
tion between intentional and unintentional The covariation model has limited applicabil-
events – a distinction that arises early in infancy, ity, however. First, it succeeds only when repeated
is understood by other primates, and reaches co-occurrences can be observed. Second, the
a sophisticated conceptual structure in adulthood model delivers only whether the cause is
(Malle et al. 2001). Few concepts have as much “internal” or “external,” which by itself would be
influence on human social cognition as the folk uninformative for most everyday explanations.
concept of ▶ intentionality. Third, the model treats explanations of all events
Surprisingly, however, attribution research alike, ignoring the important distinction between
soon moved away from Heider’s emphasis on intentional and unintentional behavior.
intentionality. Whether it was an exegetic misun- Empirical tests of the covariation model
derstanding or perhaps a theoretically motivated tended to support it, but only in experimental
simplification, attribution researchers after situations in which covariation information was
Heider claimed that people explain behavior by explicitly presented. The few studies that have
referring to one of two kinds of causes: either examined whether people actually seek out
“person causes” (internal to the agent) or covariation information when answering a why
“situation causes” (external to the agent). This question in everyday life have disconfirmed the
dichotomy is not the same as Heider’s personal/ model.
impersonal distinction, because, in the standard Doubts and criticisms of the standard attribu-
reading, “person causes” can be either beliefs, tion model had existed since the late 1970s, and
desires, and intentions that guide intentional even Heider himself, in an interview in 1976,
action (e.g., She quit her job because she felt the argued that the literature had not adequately
pay was too low), or causal states that bring about analyzed attributions of intentional actions to
unintentional behavior (e.g., He cried because he motives. It became clear that, when explaining
was sad). Likewise, “situation causes” can also intentional action, people don’t look for abstract
guide intentional action (e.g., He chose Spain for things like internal vs. external causes or for
vacation because it is warm) or bring about covariation, but they try to construct the agent’s
unintentional behavior (e.g., He fell because the own reasons for acting (Malle 1999). Reasons
floor was slippery). The person-situation dichot- are unlike any other causes. They are subjective
omy cuts across and, therefore leaves out the states involved in a reasoning process that inte-
intentionality concept, implying that people care grates what the actor desires and how she
most about whether a behavior’s (main) cause is believes she can achieve it. Because social per-
inside or outside the skin, not whether it was ceivers perform such belief-desire reasoning
performed intentionally. when they prepare to act themselves, finding
The most explicit theory of attribution that another person’s reasons is not just pure obser-
relied on this dichotomy (but relabeled it inter- vation; it is also perspective taking, reconstruc-
nal-external) was Harold Kelley’s covariation tion, and simulation of what one’s own reasons
model (Kelley 1967). According to this model, would be in the actor’s situation. The process of
people look for covariations between causes and understanding why another person acted is,
effects, and they search for such information in therefore aided by an act of imagination, but it
service of finding out whether the behavior was is also constrained by the limits of such imagi-
internally caused (i.e., by the person) or nation – to most people, the serial killer’s
Attribution/Attribution Theory 175 A
actions will remain a complete mystery, and Attribution as Inference
even the actions of people from different cul-
tures may feel not only unfamiliar but at times Beginning with Jones and Davis in 1965 A
incomprehensible. (Jones and Davis 1965), researchers became inter-
When people cannot imagine the agent’s spe- ested in an inference people sometimes make
cific reasons or when they find those reasons when they observe another person’s behavior:
unsatisfactory (e.g., “he wanted to kill people”), inferring the person’s stable dispositions such as
they often take a step back and look into the personality traits, attitudes, and values. For exam-
“causal history” of those reasons, citing factors ple, James sees Audrey putting coins in somebody
such as personality, culture, and context that else’s parking meter and concludes she is kind.
seemed to have contributed to those reasons Jones and Davis’s model identified two main con-
(Malle 1999). The choice between reason expla- ditions under which such dispositional attributions
nations and causal history of reason explana- are likely: if the chosen action deviates from
tions is guided by both cognitive processes a norm and if it has unique effects when compared
(e.g., knowing or not knowing the reasons) and with alternative courses of action.
motivational processes (e.g., trying to portray However, even when those conditions do
the agent as rational and deliberate, which not hold and situational demands instigate the
favors reasons) (Malle 2004). We see here the behavior, people sometimes make dispositional
two major functions of explanations of inten- attributions and are then said to display the
tional action: their cognitive function, which is “fundamental attribution error” (Ross 1977).
to interpret behavior and provide meaning; and This charge has become a core element of main-
their social function, which is to manage ongo- stream attribution work and generated several
ing interaction. These two functions hold for theoretical models to account both for the normal
explanations of unintentional behavior as well, and the erroneous cases. In these two-stage
but those explanations are less central in social models, an automatic trait inference in response
life, and they do not match the conceptual and to a behavior is followed by (often insufficient)
linguistic richness contained in explanations of correction for situational demands that
intentional behavior. are impinging on the behavior. The evidence
This more recent approach to attribution supporting these models has been compelling,
takes into account the folk-conceptual structure but, once more, no evidence outside of tight lab
underlying behavior explanations – in particu- paradigms has been offered. There surely are cases
lar, the intentionality concept and the notion of in which a person is too quick to infer a disposition
reasons – and by doing so, it resolves a number from another’s behavior. But how frequent are
of inconsistencies in past research. For example, such erroneous inferences in everyday life?
the famous hypothesis of an actor-observer Traditional attribution work has portrayed
asymmetry in attribution (suggesting that actors social perceivers as always aiming at a disposi-
refer to more external causes than observers do) tional inference – because, the argument goes,
has been falsified by a recent meta-analysis of dispositions are predictive of future behavior.
over 100 published research studies. But the However, recent research suggests that social
hypothesis is falsified only when explanations perceivers who interact and converse with each
are analyzed as internal vs. external; variants other in naturalistic settings are concerned less
of an actor-observer hypothesis are strongly with prediction than with making sense of behav-
supported when explanations are analyzed in ior in the here and now and with trying to grasp
terms of their folk-conceptual structure. For the meaning of other people’s actions in terms of
example, due to both cognitive and motivational their beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions. As
processes, actors offer more reason explanations a result, among the events people attend to in
for intentional behaviors than observers do social interaction, dispositions make up less
(Malle et al. 2007). than 10%, whereas behaviors and ongoing mental
A 176 Attribution/Attribution Theory
states make up 90%. And among explanations of The Search for Meaning in
behavior, no more than 5% refer to traits, whereas Human Behavior
two thirds refer to mental states (Malle 2004). We
must conclude that people are not dispositionists, Attribution research has played an important
as social psychology traditionally assumed, but role in social psychology over the past
mentalists. This observation converges well with 50 years. It has seen a theoretical evolution
developmental, evolutionary, and social neuro- from simpler dichotomies to more complex,
science research, which considers the capacity detailed models of how people conceptualize,
to represent other people’s mental states as the cognitively process, and speak about human
core of social cognition (Malle and Hodges behavior. From the start, attribution work has
2005). It also converges well with recent research highlighted the importance of studying social
on the role of attributions in communication, behavior by examining people’s perceptions of
which documents people’s subtle responsiveness behavior, as those often form the basis for social
to the demands of an ongoing conversation and behavior itself. Likewise, it has illustrated peo-
their focus on present actions and mental states. ple’s persistent search for meaning in social
interactions. The linking of behavior to its
causes, especially the actor’s reasons, makes
Attribution and Moral Judgment meaningful what would otherwise be inexplica-
ble bare movement.
When a negative outcome occurs (e.g., a window People’s search for meaning goes of course
was shattered), people try to find out who is respon- beyond social interaction and includes the
sible for the outcome and who is to blame. Such attempt to understand the entire physical
blame judgments often rely directly on causal attri- world. In these attempts, too, we can see traces
butions (e.g., whoever shattered the window is of the folk-conceptual structures that are so
likely responsible) (Weiner 1995), but sometimes, prominent in explanations of behavior. When
they are more complex. When a window was elementary particles have “charm,” thermostats
shattered by the neighbor’s dog trying to chase “notice” a temperature discrepancy, and evolu-
a cat, the dog owner may be responsible; if the tion “selects” the fittest, we see the ease with
window was damaged by a light wind, the builder which the human mind employs the familiar
who improperly installed the windows may be conceptual framework of mind and action. Like-
responsible. Responsibility and blame attributions wise, most religious traditions ascribe to
are thus based both on assessments of causality supreme beings the qualities of human agents,
(who brought about what) and on obligations from desires to punish to plans and emotions,
(who ought to do or prevent what). In addition, from perception and knowing to deliberate
attributions of responsibility and blame are criti- action. Gods, just as humans, are objects of
cally dependent on the intentionality of the behav- attribution.
ior in question. Obviously, a behavior is more
blameworthy when it is judged to be intentional
than when it is judged to be unintentional. But even Cross-References
among unintentional negative behaviors, those that
are preventable are highly blameworthy because ▶ Developmental Psychology
the agent could have formed an intention to prevent ▶ Empathy
it. Such negligence is not as bad as intentional ▶ Evolution
wrongdoing, but it is nonetheless blamable because ▶ Social Neuroscience
humans expect each other to intentionally follow ▶ Social Psychology
the norm of preventing harm. ▶ Theory of Mind
Autism 177 A
References ways and reasons in which religious postulates,
explanations, and schemas become plausible.
Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal
relations. New York: Wiley. A
Jones, E. E., & Davis, K. E. (1965). From acts to disposi-
tions: The attribution process in person perception.
In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental Autism
social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 219–266). New York:
Academic.
Simon Baron-Cohen
Kelley, H. H. (1967). Attribution theory in social psychol-
ogy. In D. Levine (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on moti- Autism Research Centre, Department of
vation (Vol. 15, pp. 129–238). Lincoln: University of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas
Nebraska Press. House, Cambridge, UK
Malle, B. F. (1999). How people explain behavior:
A new theoretical framework. Personality and Social
Psychology Review, 3(1), 21–43.
Malle, B. F. (2004). How the mind explains behavior: Related Terms
Folk explanations, meaning, and social interaction.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Autistic thinking
Malle, B. F., & Hodges, S. D. (Eds.). (2005). Other minds:
How humans bridge the divide between self and other.
New York: Guilford. Autism is a spectrum condition, meaning that it is
Malle, B. F., Moses, L. J., & Baldwin, D. A. (Eds.). manifested to varying degrees of severity. At one
(2001). Intentions and intentionality: Foundations of
extreme, a person may have no social skills, no
social cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Malle, B. F., Knobe, J., & Nelson, S. (2007). Actor- language, and major learning difficulties. At the
observer asymmetries in behavior explanations: New other extreme, the individual may have average
answers to an old question. Journal of Personality and or even above average IQ, precocious vocabulary
Social Psychology, 93(4), 491–514.
(though a lack of interest in small-talk or chat-
Ross, L. (1977). The intuitive psychologist and his
shortcomings: Distortions in the attribution process. ting), and odd social skills (being one-sided or
In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social extremely self-centered). The former would
psychology (Vol. 10, pp. 174–221). New York: receive a diagnosis of classic autism. The latter
Academic.
would receive a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome
Weiner, B. (1995). Judgments of responsibility:
A foundation for a theory of social conduct. (AS). Both of these are subgroups on the autistic
New York: Guilford. spectrum. Both also share a strong preference for
routines and repetition, and “obsessional” inter-
est in highly specific topics.
The empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory
Attributional Theory of Religion proposes that there are empathizing deficits in
autism, while systemizing is either intact or supe-
Jakub Cigán rior. Empathy involves imagining another per-
Department for the Study of Religions, Faculty of son’s thoughts and feelings, and having an
Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic appropriate emotional reaction to those feelings.
Children and adults with AS show their empa-
thizing deficits on age-appropriate tests of emo-
Derives from the general attributional theory in tion recognition, theory of mind, and spontaneous
psychology and social psychology. It assumes empathy. Systemizing is the drive to analyze
human universal capacity of making sense of a system in terms of underlying rules in order to
the world and creating plausible explanations of understand and predict its behavior. People with
things, events, and persons. Attributional theory autism spectrum conditions show precocious
of religion focuses on situations and contexts, understanding of systems, relative to their mental
A 178 Autistic Thinking
age, on tests of intuitive physics or questionnaires References

assessing how interested a person is in different
types of systems (maps, train timetables, Baron-Cohen, S. (2008). Autism and Asperger syndrome:
The facts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
machines, syntax, etc.). The unusually strong
repetitive behavior, the strong desire for routines,
and the “need for sameness,” can be seen as the
result of a strong drive to systemize. Systemizing
also requires excellent attention to detail, and Autistic Thinking
people with autism and AS are faster on visual
search tasks. ▶ Autism
Anatomical abnormalities have been identi-
fied in different brain regions in autism. The
brain regions that have been reported to be atyp-
ical include the cerebellum, corpus callosum hip- Automation
pocampus and the amygdala. Epilepsy also
occurs in a proportion of individuals with autism ▶ Control Theory (Cybernetics)
spectrum conditions, though the exact rate is no
longer clear. The number of Purkinje cells in the
cerebellar cortex is abnormally low. Abnormali-
ties have also been reported in the density of Automation, Electronic
packing of neurons in the hippocampus, amyg-
dala, and other parts of the limbic system. Abnor- Alberto Delgado
malities have also been found in the functioning Electrical and Electronics Engineering
of the amygdala, the orbito- and medial-frontal Department, National University of Colombia,
cortex. These atypical patterns of neural activity Bogota, Colombia
arise in relation to the empathizing deficits.
Today, we recognize that 1% of children have
an autism spectrum condition. The sibling recur- Related Terms
rence rate is 5–10%. Regarding twin studies, 60%
of monozygotic (MZ) pairs are concordant for Computer science; Computerization; Computing
autism versus no dizygotic (DZ) pairs. When machinery; Control; Mechanization
a broader phenotype is considered, 92% of MZ
pairs are concordant as compared to 10% of DZ
pairs. Molecular linkage genetic studies have led Description
to a number of chromosomal regions being impli-
cated, such as 2q, 7q, and 15q (Baron-Cohen Permanently searching for automation is an inter-
2008). disciplinary area of study searching for applica-
tions of mechanics, control theory, and
electronics to improve the quality of human life
Cross-References or enhance human tasks under different religious,
social, economic, and political conditions. The
▶ Cognitive Science Psychology word automation is a contraction for automatic
▶ Empathy operation, and the inspiring ideas can be traced
▶ Medical Psychology back to 2,000 years ago (Bennett 1996). Automa-
▶ Neuroimaging tion is based on control theory and the concept of
▶ Neuropathology feedback (the output is compared permanently
▶ Neuroscience with the input to produce an error, and the goal
Automation, Electronic 179 A
is to minimize the error between desired and Distinction Among Other Disciplines/
actual). The area of automation first developed Religions
during the industrial revolution to control process A
variables such as temperature (boiler control for Automation integrates mathematics, chemistry,
steam generation), pressure (pneumatic systems), biology, and physics around practical applica-
liquid levels, and the speed of rotating machinery tions. Mathematical models are used to under-
(steam engine governor). Later, electricity and stand real-world problems and to design control
electronics were incorporated for measurement, strategies; computer simulations are used to
transmission, and manipulation of signals and reduce costs or to test the limits of the proposed
for actuation (Bennett 1996). During the Second physical systems.
World War, automation brought together
mechanical, electrical, and electronic engineers
to solve complex problems, i.e., aiming of anti- Relevance to Science and Religion
aircraft guns, electric motor speed control, and
ship and aircraft steering. By the end of the war, There is no deep connection between automation
the classical control techniques have been and religion. While some religions may see work
established, and books published during the as punishment, automation improves labor con-
1940s and early 1950s helped to disseminate ditions by freeing workers from tedious or dan-
results. Automation is pervasive in industries gerous activities.
where there is a constant need for faster, efficient, A recent use of automation argues for a limit
and green manufacturing (Difrank 2008; Hitomi on physical labor by orthodox Jews during the
1994). Sabbath, a time for peace and relaxation during
In recent years, control theory and automation which any work or act of creation is prohibited.
have incorporated mathematical models and Jewish law prohibits manually turning on and off
techniques inspired by living systems, for exam- electrical devices, as this act is a demonstration of
ple, artificial neural networks are simplified mastery. Automation might be described as an
models of the nervous system; the genetic algo- enhancer of religious experience since technol-
rithm is an optimization technique that follows ogy performs human activities and supports spir-
the principles of natural selection; artificial itual experience (Woodruff et al. 2007).
immune systems are basic models of the actual
immune system; and electronic controllers such
as the electronic gene and the emulated DNA Sources of Authority
chip model the working principles of gene
expression and gene networks. The source of authority for this discipline comes
from first principles, mathematical theories,
experiments, computer simulations, and success-
Self-Identification ful technological implementations. Control
theory provides the mathematical framework for
Science automation.
Automation is an interdisciplinary area of study
and takes concepts from physics, chemistry, biol-
ogy, and mathematics. Plant and process models Ethical Principles
are based on first principles; control strategies
are formulated in mathematical language with The ethical principles are the same as in any
rigorous proofs; recent control techniques human endeavor. There are moral questions
known as computational intelligence or machine about automation taking jobs from people or
learning are inspired by natural systems. replacing humans with machines.
A 180 Autonomic Nervous System
Key Values References
The key values are to respect, value, and protect Bennett, S. (1996). A brief history of automatic control.
IEEE Control Systems Magazine, 16(3), 17–25.
human life; improve the quality of human life
Difrank, G. (2008). Power of automation. IEEE Industry
by minimizing dirty, dull, and dangerous activi- Applications Magazine, 14(2), 49–57.
ties; respect nature; and follow environmental Hitomi, K. (1994). Automation – its concept and a short
regulations. story. Technovation, 14(2), 121–128.
Muller, M. J., Christiansen, E., Nardi, B., & Dray, S.
(2001). Spiritual life and information technology.
Communications of the ACM, 44(3), 82–83.
Conceptualization Woodruff, A., Augustin, S., & Foucault, B. (2007) Sabbath
day home automation: It is like mixing technology and
religion. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on
Nature/World
Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 527–536).
The natural world is to be mastered and con- San Jose, California.
trolled in a responsible, sustainable way to
enhance human happiness.
Human Being Autonomic Nervous System

The main purpose of automation is to free
humans from dull, dangerous, and dirty tasks Max J. Hilz
by using mechanics, control theory, and Department of Neurology, University
electronics. Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
Department of Neurology, Medicine and
Reality Psychiatrie, New York University, New York,
Automation is applied to reality to improve NY, USA
human living conditions.
Knowledge Related Terms

Control theory is knowledge developed to sup-
port automation. New knowledge is created by Autonomous; Nervous system
modeling and simulating real-world situations.
The autonomic (or vegetative) nervous system
Truth (ANS) is that part of the nervous system that is
Mathematical theories need to be proved and be not under our direct volitional control, but assures
true. permanent and instantaneous adjustment of body
and organ functions to changing needs and con-
Perception ditions, e.g., at rest or during stress, when supine
Measurements of variables to perform control or standing, in warm or cold environment,
loops. during sleep, digestion, effort, intercourse, while
walking or sitting, meditating or working men-
Time tally, etc. Thus, the ANS serves our bodily, emo-
Time is fundamental for faster and more efficient tional and behavioral functions by adapting the
processes. Automation happens in a real context. multitude of, e.g., cardiovascular, respiratory,
thermoregulatory, metabolic, endocrine, gastro-
Mystery intestinal, urinary, reproductive, and other func-
Reality is modeled, and experiments are designed tions and responses to changes in the
to learn and reduce mysteries. Current models of surrounding, external as well as in the internal
reality are used to understand the world (Muller milieu. These complex tasks involve central and
et al. 2001). peripheral parts of the ANS and integrate
Autonomic Nervous System 181 A
behavioral and physiologic status and responses The ventrolateral medulla participates in vaso-
(Hamill and Shapiro 2004). motor, cardiac, and respiratory control (Hilz
The term “autonomic nervous system” was 1999). The various areas of central autonomic A
first introduced in 1898 by the Cambridge phys- modulation are interconnected at different levels
iologist John Newport Langley (November 2, (Hilz 1999).
1852–November 5, 1925) who divided the ANS The peripheral ANS can be divided into the
into the sympathetic, parasympathetic, and sympathetic and parasympathetic systems (Hilz
enteric (intestinal) systems (Langley 1921). Yet, 1999).
there is also a complex central autonomic net- Among the many responses mediated by the
work involving areas in the spinal cord, sympathetic system are increased melatonin syn-
brainstem, and brain that interact with each thesis, heat production in Brown adipose tissue,
other, receive peripheral visceral and humoral sweat secretion, pupillary dilatation, skin
afferences and modulate the peripheral ANS piloerection, light serous saliva production,
and visceral organs (Bennaroch 1997, 2004; increase in heart rate, excitability and contractil-
Blessing 1997; Hilz 1999; Saper 2002). ity, bronchial relaxation, abdominal vasocon-
The central ANS participates in the control of striction, gastrointestinal motility decrease and
endocrine and somatosensory systems. Among sphincter contraction, increased bladder capacity
the multiple and interconnected areas of central and continence, male ejaculation and –
autonomic modulation are the insular cortex with depending on the type of receptors activated –
influence on blood pressure, heart rate, respira- variable changes in hormone secretion including
tion, gastrointestinal motility, secretion, saliva insulin and glucagon from the pancreas, constric-
production, piloerection, pupillary dilatation tion or dilatation of small muscle arteries (arteri-
(Bennaroch 2004; Hilz 1999; Saper 2002; oles), uterus relaxation or contraction, and
Verberne and Owens 1998); the ventromedial catecholamine secretion in the adrenal medulla
prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus; the (Hamill and Shapiro 2004).
amygdala modulating emotional and fear Preganglionic sympathetic nerve cells receive
responses; the basal forebrain and limbic stria- input from multiple supraspinal pathways,
tum, the hypothalamus, and the periaqueductal and arise from the intermediolateral and
gray modulating motor, pain perception, and intermediomedial cell columns, at the spinal
autonomic stress responses (Bennaroch 1997, cord levels T1 to L2-3 (Hilz 1999). Using acetyl-
2004; Blessing 1997; Hilz 1999; Saper 2002). choline as main transmitter, preganglionic nerve
The parabrachial nucleus participates in fibers communicate via nicotinic synapses with
cardiovascular, respiratory, osmo- and thermo- the secondary or postganglionic nerve cells in
regulatory, and gastrointestinal activity including paravertebral sympathetic chain ganglia,
taste and saliva production (Bennaroch 2004). prevertebral, previsceral, or terminal ganglia.
The dorsal pons includes a “pontine micturi- Among co-transmitters are substance P,
tion center” and innervates sexual organs, blad- neurotensin, somatostatin, enkephalins, GABA,
der and bowel, and pelvic floor muscles serotonin, etc. The adrenal medulla is innervated
(Bennaroch 2004; Blessing 1997; Saper 2002). by preganglionic fibers only, and produces
The nucleus tractus solitarii in the dorsomedial mainly epinephrine (>80%), particularly during
medulla oblongata is a most important relay stress, and some norepinephrine (<20%) (Hamill
area for visceral and taste afferents, and and Shapiro 2004; Hilz 1999).
viscerosensory input to all areas of central auto- Postganglionic neurons innervate, e.g., blood
nomic control. It has areas for taste, gastrointes- vessels, pilomotor muscles, sweat glands, and
tinal, respiratory, and cardiovascular afferents, internal organs via so-called varicosities that are
and is involved in cardiopulmonary, gastrointes- packed with neurotransmitter vesicles mainly
tinal, baroreceptor- and chemoreceptor-reflexes secreting norepinephrine (at muscarinic sweat
(Bennaroch 2004; Blessing 1997; Saper 2002). glands acetylcholine); some neurons also use
A 182 Autonomic Nervous System
dopamine, epinephrine, or serotonin transmis- plexus submucosus internus Meissneri,

sion. Among co-transmitters are ATP, neuropep- coordinate peristalsis, and ion- and water-
tide Y. Target organs have different adrenergic transportation across intestinal cells. Yet, there
receptors such as a1-, a2-, b1-, b2-receptors is also sympathetic and parasympathetic modula-
(Hamill and Shapiro 2004; Hilz 1999). tion of the enteric system. Among the abundant
The parasympathetic system mediates func- neurotransmitters and co-transmitters mediating
tions such as pupillary constriction, tear flow, motility activating or inhibiting signals are ace-
serous saliva secretion, decrease in heart rate, tylcholine, substance P or norepinephrine, nitric
cardiac excitability and contractility, increase in oxide, and vasointestinal peptide (Hamill and
mucous bronchial secretion and bronchial con- Shapiro 2004; Hilz 1999).
traction, gallbladder contraction, increase of gas-
trointestinal muscle tone, motility and secretion,
gastrointestinal sphincter relaxation, pancreatic
Cross-References
hormone secretion, voiding of the bladder, or
penile erection.
▶ Anatomy of the Brain
Parasympathetic preganglionic neurons are
▶ Neurophysiology
located in the brainstem or sacral spinal cord,
▶ Neuroscience
mainly at segments S2–S4. Long preganglionic
nerve fibers synapse with short postganglionic
nerve fibers in the “ganglia” (e.g., ciliary, sub-
References
mandibular, pterygopalatine, or otic ganglion),
close to the target organs (Harati and Machkhas Bennaroch, E. E. (1997). Central autonomic network:
1997). Functional organization and clinical correlations.
Seventy-five percent of all parasympathetic Armonk, NY: Futura Publishing Company.
activity is mediated by the Vagus nerve that Bennaroch, E. E. (2004). Central autonomic control. In
D. Robertson, I. Biaggioni, & G. Burnstock (Eds.),
travels from the brainstem to chest and abdomi- Primer on the autonomic nervous system (2nd ed.,
nal organs, and the gastrointestinal tract to the pp. 17–19). San Diego/London: Elsevier Academic
level of the left colonic flexure. Press.
Sacral preganglionic parasympathetic neurons Blessing, W. W. (1997). The lower brainstem and bodily
homeostasis. New York: Oxford University Press.
from S2 to S4 receive spinal and supraspinal Hamill, R. W., & Shapiro, R. E. (2004). Peripheral auto-
autonomic input, and mediate parasympathetic nomic nervous system. In D. Robertson, I. Biaggioni,
impulses via nicotinic cholinergic synapses to & G. Burnstock (Eds.), Primer on the autonomic
postganglionic neurons with short fibers and nervous system (pp. 20–28). San Diego/London:
Elsevier Academic Press.
muscarinic, cholinergic neurotransmission to Harati, Y., & Machkhas, H. (1997). Spinal cord
lower bowel and pelvic target organs. Apart and peripheral nervous system. In P. A. Low (Ed.),
from the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, there Clinical autonomic disorders (2nd ed., pp. 25–45).
are various “co-transmitters” such as vasoactive Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven.
Hilz, M. J. (1999). Autonome Störungen. In B. Kukowski
intestinal polypeptide (VIP), nitric oxide (NO), (Ed.), Differentialdiagnose neurologischer symptome.
calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), galanin, €
Tabellen und Ubersichten f€
ur eine schnelle und
peptide histidine methionine (PHM), and many sichere Diagnosestellung (pp. 348–368). Stuttgart/
others (Harati and Machkhas 1997). New York: Thieme.
Langley, J. N. (1921). The autonomic nervous system part
The enteric nervous system contains 50–100 I. Cambridge: Heffer.
million motor, sensory, and interneurons and reg- Saper, C. B. (2002). The central autonomic nervous sys-
ulates bowel motility, secretion, and absorption. tem: Conscious visceral perception and autonomic
Largely independent from central control, three pattern generation. Annual Review of Neuroscience,
25, 433–469.
layers of interconnected ganglion cells, the Verberne, A. J., & Owens, N. C. (1998). Cortical modu-
plexus myentericus Auerbachi, the plexus lation of the cardiovascular system. Progress in
submucosus externus Schabadaschii, and the Neurobiology, 54(2), 149–168.
Awakening 183 A
1888–1896, I 365). The expression used to
Autonomous describe such waking up employs a derivative
of the same root budh. A
▶ Autonomic Nervous System The term “enlightenment,” besides carrying
unwarranted connotations as a referent to a
European intellectual movement, runs the risk
of giving the misleading impression that bodhi
Autonomy involves some form of a luminous experience.
According to Buddhist meditation theory, how-
▶ Free Will ever, visions of an inner light or luminosity rather
pertain to the development of mental tranquility,
which on its own is held to fall short of issuing in
any of the levels of awakening recognized in
Averaged Evoked Potentials Buddhism. Far from being an inner vision of
light, awakening is better compared to the extinc-
▶ Evoked and Event-Related Potentials tion of a light (Alsdorf and Norman 1966, Stanza
906). That is, what awakening refers to, in terms
of actual experience, appears to be a cessation of
the whole world as previously cognized and
Awakening therewith inevitably also a cessation of any light
or other visual object. In other words, what
Bhikkhu Anālayo the Buddhist practitioner awakens to is the
Center for Buddhist Studies, University of realization of Nirvāna.
˙
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany The early Buddhist discourses, representing
the earliest textual strata at our disposition for
the study of Buddhist thought, indicate that with
Related Terms the realization of Nirvāna one awakens
˙
to a sphere of experience that goes beyond
Bodhi (Sanskrit & Pāli); Enlightenment matter – represented in terms of the four main
elements of earth, water, fire and wind – as well
as beyond various forms of immaterial experi-
Description ences (Steinthal 1885, 80). Nirvāna, as the uncon-
˙
ditioned, stands apart from the conditioned nature
Awakening stands at the core of the Buddhist of all other aspects of the world (▶ Dependent
scheme of deliverance; hence, an understanding Arising).
of its implications is of central relevance for The realization of Nirvāna is the goal of
˙
a proper positioning of Buddhism in relation to Buddhist soteriology, which stipulates as precon-
the dialogue between science and religions. ditions for such a realization a threefold training
The expression “awakening” renders the San- in morality, concentration, and wisdom. Morality
skrit and Pāli term bodhi, sometimes also trans- in the sense of adherence to ethical conduct by
lated as “enlightenment.” This latter translation is abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual miscon-
less apt, however, given that the term bodhi duct, falsehood, etc., is considered to provide the
derives from the verbal root budh, which means indispensable foundation for progress to awaken-
quite literally “to wake up” or “awaken.” ing. Building on this foundation, an aspirant to
An example for this usage can be found in awakening develops concentration as a basis for
a description of a person who sees various beau- the growth of liberating wisdom, in line with the
tiful sights in a dream, all of which disappear as maxim that only a concentrated mind will be able
soon as he wakes up (Trenckner and Chalmers to see and understand in such a way that genuine
A 184 Awakening
wisdom arises. The arising of wisdom, from (Feer 1884–1898, V 347), which covers the central
a Buddhist perspective, requires in particular requirements for progress to full awakening
insight into the three characteristics of condi- (▶ Truths, Four Noble). The time required for this
tioned existence. These three characteristics “stream” to lead the one who has entered it to the
describe the nature of existence as being imper- highest level of awakening, the full liberation of an
manent, as lacking any lasting satisfaction and as arahant, is reckoned to be seven lives at most, none
being devoid of an unchanging essence or self. of which will take place in a lower sphere of rebirth.
Central qualities required for the arising of The next two fetters to be overcome during
liberating wisdom are the seven so-called factors progress to full awakening are sensual lust and ill
of awakening: mindfulness, investigation will. A once-returner has made substantial
of phenomena, energy, joy, tranquility, concen- progress in this respect, since with the second
tration, and equanimity. According to early level of awakening these two fetters have been
Buddhist meditation theory, the bringing into considerably weakened. Their complete over-
being and maturation of these seven mental coming is accomplished with the third level of
factors will enable the breakthrough to the actual awakening, the attainment of non-return.
experience of awakening. An arahant has eliminated the remaining five
Early Buddhist thought describes a break- fetters, which are desire for fine-material experi-
through to awakening as taking place at four ences, desire for immaterial experiences, pride,
distinct levels: restlessness, and ignorance. With all fetters
• Stream-entry destroyed, it is held impossible for an arahant to
• Once-return be acting under the influence of desire, hatred,
• Non-return delusion, or fear (Carpenter and Rhys Davids
• Arahantship 1890–1911, III 133). By dint of having fully
These four levels of awakening reflect the awakened, an arahant is also said to be incapable
degree to which the mind has been liberated of undertaking such deeds as deliberately depriv-
from ten types of fetters, mental forms of bonding another living being of life, appropriating
age that according to Buddhist thought are what belongs to others by way of theft, or con-
responsible for keeping the unawakened person sciously speaking falsehood (Trenckner and
bound to continued existence in the cycle of Chalmers 1888–1896, I 523). The inner aloofness
rebirths, samsāra. reached with full awakening is also reckoned to
˙
On reaching the first of these four levels, the make it impossible for an arahant to engage in
attainment of stream-entry, three of these fetters sexual activity in any form, or else to hoard up
are eradicated. These are the fetter of personality things for the sake of sensual enjoyment.
view, which stands for belief in the existence of With subsequent developments in later Buddhist
a permanent self (▶ Anattā); the fetter of doubt, traditions and the evolution of the bodhisattva
in particular uncertainty regarding the nature of ideal – the aspiration to become a Buddha in the
what is wholesome and unwholesome; and distant future (▶ Bodhisattva Ideal) – the awaken-
the fetter of clinging to rules and vows as in ing of an arahant was seen as inferior to the awak-
themselves sufficient for reaching awakening. ening of a Pratyekabuddha (Pāli Paccekabuddha) –
The actual experience of stream-entry a Buddha who does not teach – and the awakening
involves the arising of the so-called eye of of a full-fledged Buddha.
Dharma, a metaphorical description of the first The arahant, the Pratyekabuddha, and the
“vision” – if it can be called such – of Nirvāna. Buddha already feature as distinct types of fully
˙
Such direct realization of Nirvāna corresponds to awakened beings in the early texts. While an
˙
insight into the four noble truths, in particular into arahant gains full awakening after having
the third of these four (▶ Truths, Four Noble). received the liberating teachings of a Buddha,
The “stream” that has been fully “entered” at a Pratyekabuddha and a Buddha reach the same
this point is the noble eightfold path without the guidance of a teacher. The two types
Awakening 185 A
of Buddhas differ in as much as the ▶ Freedom
Pratyekabuddha does not deliver teachings, ▶ Impermanence (Buddhist)
whereas a Buddha is one who, having gained ▶ Liberation, Theology of A
full awakening himself, teaches others the way ▶ Wisdom (Philosophically)
to awakening. Thus, what in the early texts marks
the difference between these three is mainly
the way they reach awakening, whereas the References
notion that their actual awakening is substantially
different appears to be a later development. Primary Sources
In sum, the Buddhist notion of awakening can Alsdorf, L., & Norman, K. R. (Eds.). (1966). Thera- and
Therı̄gāthā. London/Oxford: Pali Text Society.
be understood to refer to a distinct type of experi- Carpenter, J. E., & Rhys Davids, T. W. (Eds.).
ence which, being based on the development of (1890–1911). The Dı̄gha Nikāya (3 vols). London/
moral conduct and mental cultivation, in turn has Oxford: Pali Text Society.
clear ethical consequences. A fully awakened one Feer, L. (Ed.). (1884–1898). The Samyutta Nikāya
˙
(Vol. 5). London/Oxford: Pali Text Society.
is free from rebirth and any mental defilement, Steinthal, P. (Ed.). (1885). The Udāna. London/Oxford:
being incapable of breaches of morality. Pali Text Society.
In other words, the experience of the uncondi- Trenckner, V., & Chalmers, R. (Eds.). (1888–1896).
tioned – Nirvāna – leads according to early The Majjhima Nikāya (3 vols). London/Oxford: Pali
˙ Text Society.
Buddhist thought to an irreversible liberation of von Hin€ uber, O., & Norman, K. R. (Eds.). (1994).
the mind, which has become totally awakened. The Dhammapada. London/Oxford: Pali Text Society.
According to a poetical comparison, the freedom
of the fully awakened one is like a bird in the sky, Secondary Sources
which leaves no track behind (von Hin€ uber and Gethin, R. (1992). The Buddhist path to awakening:
Norman 1994, Stanza 93). A study of the Bodhi-Pakkhiyā Dhammā. Leiden: Brill.
Horner, I. B. (1936/1979). The early Buddhist theory of
man perfected, a study of the Arahan concept and of
the implications of the aim to perfection in religious
Cross-References life. Delhi: Oriental Books.
Katz, N. (1982/1989). Buddhist images of human perfec-
tion, The Arahant of the Sutta Pitaka compared with
▶ Anatta ˙
the Bodhisattva and the Mahāsiddha. Delhi: Motilal
▶ Dukkha Banarsidass.
B
Baptism in the Spirit Basic Programming Concepts
▶ Pentecostalism Linda Sherrell

The University of Memphis, Memphis,
TN, USA
Basal Ganglia
Every computer program can be written using only
Jörg-Peter Ewert three kinds of control structures: an assignment
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of statement, a conditional, and a looping construct.
Kassel, Schauenburg, Germany The basic assignment statement using the nota-
tion of the programming language Pascal is
<variable> := <value> (e.g., x: = 7); whereas in
In the brains of tetrapod vertebrates, the basal the programming language C or one of its deriva-
ganglia refer to a group of interconnected subcor- tives, the assignment symbol is = (e.g., x = 7). The
tical nuclei: striatum, substantia nigra, globus variable, which is a name for a location in mem-
pallidus (nucleus entopedunculus in anurans), ory, must appear on the left, whereas the value that
and subthalamic nucleus. Neurotransmitters will be stored at that memory location appears on
include dopamine, glutamate, and gamma- the right. A purely functional programming lan-
amino-butyric-acid. Participating in motor guage such as Haskell does not contain assignment
control, attention, and reinforcement learning, statements; rather, the programmer uses functional
the basal ganglionic nuclei belong to the funda- composition (see terms in Mathematics), and the
mental processing units of the tetrapod brain. final value returned is the answer to the problem,
Comparative studies of the anatomic connec- which is specified as a conditional.
tions, the chemoarchitecture and the develop- In many programming languages, the condi-
ment of the basal forebrain suggest that tetrapod tional is expressed as if/else,where the else part
vertebrates share a common pattern of basal may be empty. This basic construct corresponds
ganglia organization. to the way that a programmer might express his

B 188 Behavior Settings
algorithm in natural language. In the declarative

paradigm, which consists of functional (e.g., Behavioral Adaptiveness
Haskell) and logical languages (e.g., Prolog),
the programmer also specifies the problem as a ▶ Evolutionary Psychology
conditional although the syntax differs. For
example, in Haskell, the programmer may
describe the problem with an empty list followed
by a non-empty list; whereas, in Prolog, the pro- Behavioral Medicine and Health
grammer will specify the problem with a list of Psychology
clauses that are executed until a clause becomes
true. In each case, the if/else or if/else if / else Kevin S. Masters
if . . . else construct is inferred from the syntax. Department of Psychology, University of
Most imperative and object-oriented lan- Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA
guages use a while to represent a loop. When a
loop appears in the code, the computer checks a
logical (Boolean) condition, and if true, the state- Related Terms
ments within the loop block execute in sequence,
followed by a recheck of the Boolean condition Clinical health psychology; Medical psychology;
at the top of the loop; otherwise, the loop Occupational health psychology
terminates, and the next statement after the
while executes. However, in a functional lan-
guage, recursion (see below) replaces the looping Description
construct.
Behavioral medicine and health psychology are
closely related fields of inquiry that were first
recognized in the late 1970s. Behavioral Medi-
Behavior Settings cine, as defined by the Society of Behavioral
Medicine (adapted from Schwartz and Weiss
Harry Heft (1978)), is “the interdisciplinary field concerned
Department of Psychology, Denison University, with the development and integration of behav-
Granville, OH, USA ioral, psychosocial, and biomedical science
knowledge and techniques relevant to the under-
standing of health and illness, and the application
Extra-individual, dynamic ecological structures of this knowledge and these techniques to pre-
that are generated through the collective actions vention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation”
of individuals. These naturally occurring, emer- (Society of Behavioral Medicine 2008). The stan-
gent ecological structures are composed of both dard definition of health psychology, provided by
individuals’ actions and the material features Matarazzo and adopted by Division 38 (Health
(affordances) that support them. Behavior settings Psychology) of the American Psychological
are quasi-stable systems whose participants act to Association, states that health psychology is,
preserve setting integrity if circumstances threaten “the aggregate of the special educational, scien-
its stable functioning. By virtue of their participa- tific, and professional contributions of the disci-
tion in behavior settings, individuals’ actions are pline of psychology to the promotion and
constrained through their expression of the norma- maintenance of health, the prevention and treat-
tive practices that characterize that setting. For this ment of illness, the identification of etiologic
reason, behavior settings serve as reliable predic- and diagnostic correlates of health, illness, and
tors of individuals’ actions. The core concept in related dysfunction, and to the analysis and
Roger Barker’s ecological psychology. improvement of the health care system and health
Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology 189 B
policy formation” (Matarazzo 1982). Both are simultaneously unless otherwise indicated. For
concerned with the relationships and reciprocal simplicity the term “behavioral medicine” will
causal connections regarding how health/illness be used.
affects and is affected by biological, psychologi-
cal, and behavioral factors. Consequently, both B
fields are oriented around the biopsychosocial Self-Identification
model of health and illness. The classic definition
of this model was provided by Engel (1977). “To Science
provide a basis for understanding the determi- Behavioral medicine has always identified itself
nants of disease and arriving at rational treat- as a science, albeit one that straddles the bound-
ments and patterns of health care, a medical aries between the natural and social sciences and
model must also take into account the patient, one that has strong basic and applied dimensions.
the social context in which he (sic) lives and the It relies upon the findings from studies conducted
complementary system devised by society to deal using scientific methods to establish knowledge
with the disruptive effects of illness, that is, the in the field, and basic as well as clinical research
physician role and the health care system. This are carried out accordingly. Examples of these
requires a biopsychosocial model.” methods include case studies, single subject
The biopsychosocial model represents experimental designs, correlation studies,
a ▶ systems approach to understanding health cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, and
and illness. In this approach, the person is con- experimental and quasi-experimental studies
textualized within an environment that consists of that incorporate various controls. For treatment
several levels (or analytic systems) including the intervention studies the ▶ randomized controlled
physical, social, and cultural. The person must trial is considered the gold standard. Because of
make continual adaptations to this environment. the types of interventions used in behavioral med-
These adaptations involve the interplay of bio- icine, it is often not possible to conduct blinded
logical (at many levels, e.g., cellular, tissue, studies. Specifically, double blind studies of
organ), psychological, and social factors. Impor- treatment outcomes are nearly impossible to con-
tant to this conceptualization are the following: duct and single blind treatment outcome studies
(1) clear boundaries between levels/systems do are difficult, though sometimes possible. It is
not exist; (2) the dynamic interplay between sys- common to compare two active treatments and
tems is important for health/illness; (3) no level is the use of attention-placebo controls, though pre-
logically superior to another but all are important sent in some studies, is also sometimes deemed
and must be considered, in their interaction, to unethical or impractical. Similarly, it is not
arrive at a comprehensive understanding of always possible, due to ethical or expense con-
health/illness. straints, to use randomization and consequently
The primary distinction between behavioral non-randomized studies are also used.
medicine and health psychology is that health Applied practitioners in behavioral medicine
psychology is discipline specific whereas behav- and health psychology typically practice out of
ioral medicine is multidisciplinary. Therefore, a “▶ scientist-practitioner” model. In this model
only a psychologist could be rightly termed practitioners are trained in the methods of science
a health psychologist but any professional work- so that they are at least minimally capable of
ing in the areas described above could be reviewing, critiquing, and applying the scientific
a behavioral medicine specialist. Older concep- literature to their particular areas of practice.
tualizations of behavioral medicine as only Nevertheless, it became clear that only a small
involving behavior as applied to medical prac- minority of treatments actually had solid scien-
tice, namely treating illness, are now viewed as tific support, a situation that led to calls for sci-
overly restrictive and no longer accepted. In entific examination of all treatments to determine
what follows these two fields will be considered their efficacy and effectiveness. In 2000 the
B 190 Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences at as behaviors, cognitions, and emotions related to
the US National Institutes of Health funded the health/illness. Thus religion (or aspects of it) may
first Evidence-Based Behavioral Medicine be viewed as either the independent or dependent
(EBBM) Committee and there is currently variable in research studies. However, to this
a strong movement in the field toward EBBM point religion is essentially considered as another
practice. The goal of this movement is to “enable psychological or behavioral variable among the
practitioners to access effective techniques that many to be studied; one with no special status of
can be used when their clinical expertise suggests its own. Further, from a theological perspective,
that these will match the needs and preferences of the studies in behavioral medicine that do include
individual clients” (Spring et al. 2005). religious variables tend to be unsophisticated in
terms of their underlying theoretical foundation.
Nevertheless, interest in the area of religion and
Characteristics health is increasing as evidenced by the formation
of the Spirituality and Health Special Interest
Behavioral medicine is distinctive in that it pur- Group of the Society of Behavioral Medicine,
posely and deliberately focuses examination on increasing number of published peer-reviewed pri-
the relationships between physical aspects of mary research articles, and the significant number
health/illness and psychological/behavioral of professional journals that have featured special
aspects of functioning. Consequently its domain issues on this topic. As noted by the title of the
is broad and extends beyond the boundaries of special interest group above, much of the attention
traditional disciplines to include areas of study to this area in behavioral medicine has recently
relevant to fields such as medicine, public health, become focused more on spirituality than religion
psychology, biology, chemistry, sociology, and per se. Discussions of a more fundamental nature
economics. It is common, likely the norm, for concerning behavioral medicine and religion as
research teams to be interdisciplinary in compo- related to epistemology, ontology, and methodol-
sition. As a result of these collaborations new ogy have largely not begun.
fields have been identified. For example,
a prototype of these new fields is psycho-neuro-
immunology, an area of study investigating Sources of Authority
how and in what ways psychological responses
to environmental input may influence immune At the most basic level, the sources of authority in
system functioning and, ultimately, health out- behavioral medicine are peer-reviewed primary
comes. Health psychology shares with behavioral empirical research publications found in schol-
medicine the same topical areas for study and arly journals in the field. These form the basis for
practice, thus establishing its distinctive quality secondary analyses such as meta-analytic exam-
among other areas of psychology. Strictly speak- inations of particular questions or consideration
ing, however, health psychology is not ipso facto by panels of experts who are convened by gov-
an interdisciplinary field. ernment and private agencies to issue statements
regarding aspects of behavioral medicine (e.g., Is
the Type A Behavior Pattern a risk factor for
Relevance to Science and Religion coronary heart disease?). Generally, recent jour-
nal publications carry more weight of authority
Behavioral medicine is interested in the scholarly than ones from the more distant past. Though it is
discussion related to “Science and Religion” to technically the case that each reported study is
the extent that this discussion has importance for judged on its merits, not the journal it is published
understanding how religion or aspects of reli- in, it is nonetheless true that articles in journals
gious belief, practice, or experience influence with higher visibility tend to receive more cita-
and are influenced by health and illness as well tions both in print and at conference presentations
Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology 191 B
and are, therefore, more influential. It is also true Key Values
that individual authors who have published many
well-known studies tend to be viewed as author- The primary value of behavioral medicine is to
ities though, in keeping with the scientific spirit prevent or ameliorate human suffering by the judi-
of the field, their authority is specific to their cious application of knowledge regarding psycho- B
particular area of scientific expertise and their logical and behavioral functioning in ways that are
statements are always open to empirical chal- efficacious. A second value is the acquisition and
lenge. There are many topical subareas, and distribution of knowledge regarding how human
their related journals, subsumed under the psychological and behavioral functioning influ-
umbrella of behavioral medicine. Each subarea ences and is influenced by health and illness.
has its most visible journals and these constitute
principal authorities for that subarea. Journals
with broad coverage that often include influential Conceptualization
articles on behavioral medicine include Annals of
Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Behavioral Nature/World
Medicine, Health Psychology, Psychology and Nature is composed of the observable, or poten-
Health, Journal of the American Medical Associ- tially observable, physical entities of earth and
ation, American Journal of Public Health, Jour- includes their dynamic interaction and attendant
nal of Psychosomatic Medicine, and the Lancet, processes. Strictly speaking, world would be
among many others. Professional presentations at everything included on earth but in practice
the annual conventions of the Society of Behav- both nature and world could be expanded to
ioral Medicine, American Psychological Associ- include all observable entities and their interac-
ation, American Psychosomatic Society, and tions and processes in the universe.
European Health Psychology Society are also
potential sources of influence. In all cases, Human Being
though, ultimate authority rests on the quality of Human beings are biological creatures capable of
the scientific findings pertaining to any question. self-reflection, advanced cognitive functioning,
speech, abstract thinking, and creativity. Humans
are typically social and capable of engaging in
Ethical Principles scientific and artistic pursuits. Humans appear to
be unique in their universal proclivity to make
Behavioral medicine is guided by the ethical moral and ethical judgments. Additionally,
principles of the many disciplines that make up humans often report experiencing a spiritual
the field. Health psychology is governed by the dimension to their existence and the effects of
Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of this spiritual dimension are potentially the object
Conduct of the American Psychological Associ- of scientific study.
ation (2002). Other influential writings include
the AMA Code of Medical Ethics (American Life and Death
Medical Association 2008), the Declaration of Humans are alive, or have life, when they are
Helsinki (World Medical Association 2008), capable of carrying out physical and biological
and the Belmont Report (National Commission functions typical of their species. Behavioral med-
for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomed- icine has not generally examined life apart from
ical and Behavioral Research 1979). The most human existence, though the same definition used
basic ethical obligation is to do no harm to with humans would likely apply to other species.
patients and participants in research. Other core Behavioral medicine has not formally agreed upon
principles include fidelity and responsibility, statements on the origins of life (either for the
integrity, justice, and respect for people’s rights individual or for the species). Death is viewed as
and dignity. the cessation of physical functioning.
B 192 Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology
Reality objectively based on observations of changes in

There is a general common-sense notion in behav- the relationships of objects in the surrounding
ioral medicine that reality is the physical world environment. The subjective experience of time
surrounding humans. However, behavioral medi- is freed from objective measures of relationships
cine is also interested in the “personal reality” of and thus time may be experienced as either
the individual, i.e., how the individual perceives speeded up or slowed down. This subjective
his/her world and experience. It is thus recognized experience is influenced by psychological states
that reality, in the second sense, for any two people and physical occurrences.
residing in the same environment may be quite
different. Reality may be known, at least in part, Consciousness
through the methods of science. Consciousness is the quality of being aware.
Thus, one is conscious (and therefore experienc-
Knowledge ing consciousness) to the degree that one is aware
Knowledge is that which is understood to be of feelings, thoughts, perceptions, ideas, sensa-
congruent with reality. Consequently, there is an tions, and reasoning. States of consciousness
objective knowledge that exists, i.e., proper have to do with the degree that one is awake
understanding of the physical world and its func- and alert and range from completely unconscious
tioning that is publicly verifiable, and a subjective to being fully alert.
knowledge, i.e., that which is understood by
the individual and is in accord with his/her reality Rationality/Reason
but may, at times, conflict with the subjective Rationality has to do with the ability to think in
knowledge understood by others. ways that are in accord with the functioning
of the physical world, the known facts, and the
Truth rules of logic. The more one’s thought processes
To the extent that truth is defined in behavioral are congruent with these, the more rational one is
medicine it is done so implicitly. Thus, in the thinking.
search for knowledge behavioral medicine prac-
titioners are engaged in an attempt to understand Mystery
the true nature of things, i.e., the truth. However, Mystery, to the extent behavioral medicine has
behavioral medicine has not explicitly defined a position on it, would simply be that which is
truth, likely because this construct is viewed as unknown. Behavioral medicine has not, however,
the purview of religion or philosophy. specifically defined this term.
Perception
Perception is a person’s understanding of the Relevant Themes
meaning of a sensation. A sensation occurs
when a sensory stimulus elicits a response from One other issue of some importance from the
the sensory system that reaches the level of perspective of behavioral medicine regarding
consciousness. In behavioral medicine percep- the Science and Religion interface deals with
tion is differentiated from sensation in that per- basic presuppositions regarding the nature of
ception is a higher order mental process humans. For example, behavioral medicine is
involving interpretive activity. This is most often concerned with issues of motivation and
often salient in areas of behavioral medicine behavior change. Fundamental to these consider-
involved in studying pain. ations are hypotheses regarding what motivates
people to behave in certain ways and these
Time hypotheses are, in turn, derived from underlying,
Time has to do with the ongoing relationships of bedrock, theories regarding the essential nature
objects to each other. Time is measured of humans. At this level there is, what has been to
Biases and Heuristics 193 B
this point, implicit or even unrecognized overlap
between the “science” of behavioral medicine Behavioral Neurobiology
and religious doctrines. A more thorough and
explicit discussion at this level of conceptualiza- ▶ Neuroethology
tion about how behavioral medicine theories of B
motivation and behavior change relate to reli-
giously based conceptions of human nature
would serve to engage these disciplines in Behavioral Neuroscience
a significant manner.
▶ Biological Psychology
Cross-References
▶ Aging, Psychology of Behavioral Selection

▶ Medical Sociology ▶ Evolutionary Psychology
▶ Neuropsychology
▶ Pain (Suffering)
▶ Psychobiology
Belief
References ▶ Faith and Belief
American Medical Association. (2008). Code of medical

ethics of the American Medical Association. Chicago:
American Medical Association.
American Psychological Association. (2002). Ethical
Belligerence
principles of psychologists and code of conduct.
American Psychologist, 57, 1060–1073. ▶ Aggression
Engle, G. L. (1977). The need for a new medical model:
A challenge for biomedicine. Science, 196, 129–136
(p. 132).
Matarazzo, J. (1982). Behavioral health’s challenge to
academic scientific and professional psychology. Ben Yehudah, Eliezer
American Psychologist, 37, 1–14 (p. 4).
National Commission for the Protection of Human Sub-
jects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. (1979).
▶ Language and Literature, Hebrew
The Belmont report: Ethical principles and guidelines
for the protection of human subjects of research.
Washington, DC: Department of Health, Education,
and Welfare.
Schwartz, G. E., & Weiss, S. M. (1978). Behavioral Med-
Biases and Heuristics
icine revisited: An amended definition. Journal of
Behavioral Medicine, 1, 249–251 (p. 250). Jason S. Nomi, Anthony J. Ryals and
Society of Behavioral Medicine. (2008). Retrieved from Anne M. Cleary
http://www.sbm.org/resources/behavioral-medicine.
Accessed 18 June 2012.
Department of Psychology, Colorado State
Spring, B., Pagoto, S., Altman, S., & Thorn, B. (2005). An University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
evidence-based practice glossary: Unscrambling
alphabet soup. The Health Psychologist, 27(3), 15–16
(p. 3).
World Medical Association. (2008). World Medical Asso-
Biases are tendencies toward certain types of
ciation declaration of Helsinki. Retrieved from http:// behaviors; the confirmation bias is the tendency
www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm to selectively notice information that confirms
B 194 Bible
what one already believes. Heuristics are simpli- Scriptures, which it refers to as the Old Testa-
fied algorithms (i.e., “quick rules of thumb”) that ment. The Catholic Bible contains, in addition,
people may use in the place of more complicated the Apocrypha, a set of books not included in the
algorithmic rules in order to make a decision Protestant Bible.
more quickly; the availability heuristic is the Literature is defined as “. . .artistic writings
tendency to base judgments of likelihood on worthy of being remembered. . . .that are charac-
how easily an example can be retrieved from terized by beauty of expression and form and by
memory. universality of intellectual and emotional appeal”
(Dictionary.com). Literary Study is defined
as “the humanistic study of literature”
(WordNet ®). “The purpose of a literary inquiry
Bible is a better understanding of the text – its construc-
tion, its forms of expression, its meaning and
▶ Ecclesiology significance, and/or its relation to non-textual
elements or to other texts” (Berlin 2008).
Although the text that Literary Study examines
is usually concrete and specific, no understanding
Bible as Literature it produces is exhaustive or conclusive.
The Bible as Literature/Literary Study of the
Steven Marx Bible is governed by a set of ▶ hermeneutic
California Polytechnic State University, methods – i.e., certain principles of commentary
San Luis Obispo, CA, USA and interpretation. It takes a secular approach,
treating biblical texts as works produced by
human beings within human history rather than
Description a theological approach, which treats them as Holy
Scripture, Divine Revelation, or The Word of
“The Bible as Literature” denotes an academic God. It applies techniques of literary criticism to
subject taught in high schools, colleges, and the Bible in the same ways they have been
universities and the academic specialty of applied to other literary works since the time of
a worldwide network of scholars. As a Library Aristotle. These include:
of Congress subject category in World Cat it • Analysis of plot and structure
elicits entries for 1,252 books. In recent years, • Discussion of character, including the charac-
practitioners have preferred the term, “Literary ters of narrator and author
Study of the Bible,” which produces listings as • Exploration of theme
the subject of 653 books. There is no professional • Consideration of historical and geographic
organization or journal specifically devoted to the setting
topic. • Delineation of linguistic and stylistic devices,
The Bible as Literature/Literary Study of the including figures of speech and verse and
Bible is a subdiscipline of both Biblical prose conventions
Studies and Literary Criticism. Its activity is • Categorization of genres
“exegesis,” i.e., commentary on and interpreta- • Correlation of intertextual references to other
tion of the Bible. works
The word “Bible” has several meanings. It Some readers within faith communities that
refers to a collection of separate books and to adhere to a theological approach to biblical inter-
that collection defined as a single book. The Jew- pretation regard The Literary Study of the Bible
ish Bible consists only of the Hebrew Scriptures as subversive; others see it as complementary.
or Tanakh. The Christian Bible includes the The Bible as Literature/Literary Study of the
books of the New Testament plus the Hebrew Bible is also defined by contrast to a different
Bible as Literature 195 B
secular approach to the Bible known as the writings like Dante’s Divine Comedy and English
“Higher Criticism,” Textual Criticism, miracle and mystery plays.
“Literarkritik,” or, confusingly, “Literary The revival of classics and the rise of human-
Criticism of the Bible.” This academic discipline ism and science during the Renaissance and Ref-
studies the Bible as a documentary artifact, ormation generated more interest in the Bible as B
employing scientific methods to understand the Literature. Petrarch, one of the modern origina-
historical or “diachronic” process that produced tors of the idea of literature as an independent
the texts accreted and deleted during the period in subject, stated that “the bible not only contains
antiquity encompassing the Bible’s composition poetry, it is poetry at its core” (Wall 1995). In his
and canonization. While Higher Criticism “Defense of Poesie” from Puritan attacks against
attempts to reverse engineer the received text secular literature, Sir Philip Sidney celebrated
into earlier constituent layers and fragments, the literary accomplishments of “David in his
The Bible as Literature/Literary Study of the Psalms; Solomon in his Song of Songs, in his
Bible interprets the received text as a completed Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs, Moses and Deborah
“synchronic” whole at the end of its evolutionary in their hymns; and the writer of Job” (Duncan-
history. It discusses characters and plot events in Jones and van Dorsten 1973). George Herbert
the present tense. admired the structural configurations of the text:
The Bible as Literature/Literary Study of the “Seeing not only how each verse doth shine,/But
Bible emerged as a self-conscious academic spe- all the constellations of the storie./This verse
cialty in the 1970s, but recorded interpretations marks that, and both do make a motion/Unto
are as old as the text itself. Examples of internal a third, that ten leaves off doth lie. . .”(Herbert
exegesis include Moses’ explanations of the pur- 1857) and John Donne expostulated upon the
pose of the Sabbath day by reference to the sev- arcane beauty of its rhetoric: “thou art
enth day of the creation, or Jesus’ interpretation a figurative, a metaphorical God too; a God in
of the laws of the Decalogue in his Sermon on the whose words there is such a height of figures,
Mount, or St. Paul’s disquisitions on the spiritual such voyages, such peregrinations to fetch
rather than the literal meaning of circumcision remote and precious metaphors. . .such things in
portrayed in Genesis. thy words, as all profane authors seem of the seed
Early exegetes like Philo of Alexandria sup- of the serpent that creeps, thou art the Dove that
plied allegorical interpretations of anthropomor- flies” (Donne 1975). Works like Milton’s Para-
phic features of the Hebrew God to make the dise Lost and Samson Agonistes amplified such
Biblical deity palatable to rationalistic Hellenis- appreciation by using Biblical texts as sources for
tic readers. During the Rabbinical period collec- original literary production.
tions of oral interpretive commentary on passages This development of literary appreciation of
of the Hebrew Bible were collected in the Mid- the Bible was accompanied by the beginnings of
rash. Some Jewish and Christian commentaries, a scientific-historical approach. Lorenzo Valla
for instance, by Longinus and St. Augustine, applied meticulous scholarship dependent upon
acknowledged the richness of poetic and rhetor- knowledge of ancient languages to finding, com-
ical language in Biblical passages of poetry or paring, emending multiple manuscripts, leading
parable. the way to Erasmus’ critical editions of the Greek
Medieval Jewish scholars described principles New Testament and Tyndale’s translation of the
of parallelism in Hebrew poetry and patterns of Old. Such scholarly efforts continued during the
metaphor, hyperbole, wordplay, and rhyme as late seventeenth and eighteenth century Enlight-
well as different authorships of different sections enment. Spurred by the strategy of systematic
of Isaiah. The Venerable Bede (672–735) wrote doubt and reliance on reason and empirical
a treatise entitled On Figures and Tropes of observation developed by Bacon and Descartes,
Holy Writ. During in the Middle Ages the Bible Spinoza declared that the Bible needed to be
also served as a model for original literary understood only on the basis of evidence present
B 196 Bible as Literature
within it and available to any reader. Reading theological readings of the Bible and led to wide-
unencumbered by theological presuppositions spread Victorian soul-searching about the con-
led to the first formulation of multiple authorship flict between science and religion. An alternate
of the five books of Moses by Richard Simon approach, sidestepping that conflict was provided
in 1678. by the Bible as Literature movement, which,
This secular historicizing scientific approach though secular, repudiated the Higher Criticism’s
was paralleled by further exploration of the atomism, reductionism, technicality, and insensi-
aesthetic literary values of the Bible. Robert tivity to the Bible’s aesthetic values. One of its
Lowth discovered that the principle of Hebrew founders, Matthew Arnold, had abandoned belief
poetics lay not in meter or rhyme but in the in a personal God, but argued that the arts pro-
balance of ideas and phrases, which he discerned vided a worthy successor to religious faith, and as
in the Psalms, the Prophets, and elsewhere. a superlative example of literature the Bible
Lowth’s literary-critical work inspired the should remain as a central object of study and
poetry of Ossian and of William Blake, who appreciation. Arnold maintained that the Bible’s
based his idiosyncratic poetic and artistic output literary language was of a different order than the
directly on Biblical models of style. Blake language of objective description subjected to
claimed that the Old and the New Testament scientific confirmation or rebuttal.
were “the great Code of Art,” that all great art Following Arnold, “The Bible as Literature”
is as visionary as the Bible, that poets are by became a popular phrase denoting the subject of
definition prophets, and that all gods reside in academic research and college and high school
the human breast. English courses. By the middle of the twentieth
These dual tendencies in secular Biblical century, T. S. Eliot and C. S. Lewis, prominent
exegesis continued throughout the nineteenth British author/critics who remained religious
century. Scientific-historical analysis became believers, objected to its secular subversion of
known as “higher criticism,” elaborated in the the Bible’s unique theological authority. The
Documentary Hypothesis proposed by Julius technique of intense close readings of biblical
Wellhausen. Based on linguistic and stylistic texts fostered by the “New Criticism” generated
analysis of the Hebrew Bible texts, he postulated widely cited critical accomplishments beginning
four strains – J, E, P, and D – written at different with the translation of Eric Auerbach’s essay
times in different political and cultural contexts, “Odysseus’ Scar.” It contrasted the Bible’s
eventually knitted together by ancient editors spare characterizations and descriptions with
known as redactors. This hypothesis continues those of the classics, finding them richer
to guide “Biblical Literature” studies today, with suggestive depth and hidden complexity –
where refinements and revisions still proliferate “fraught with background” (Auerbach 1953).
based on new discoveries and interpretations of Northrop Frye and Robert Alter, two literary
material artifacts. Scientific/historical research critics and professors of English, made major
proceeded in New Testament studies with efforts contributions to the field during the latter half of
to separate myth and legend from fact in Gospel the twentieth century. Though often in stark
accounts of the life of Jesus, e.g., in David disagreement, both applied systematic theories
Friedrich Strauss’s 1846 Life of Jesus Critically of literary analysis which rewarded intensive
Examined, and in Adolph Harnack’s, What is attention with the discovery of subtle details and
Christianity?, which placed New Testament rich patterns of coherence. Frye’s Anatomy of
stories and teachings in the context of Near Criticism postulated an overall unity of language,
Eastern religious traditions. plot, imagery, theme, and character, an analytical
The Higher Criticism combined with the framework that he completed elaborating in his
geological discoveries of Charles Lyell and the last three books, all of them about the Protestant
biological theories of Darwin to present direct Bible (Frye 1957, 1982, 1990). Robert Alter’s
challenges to religious worldviews based on The Art of Biblical Narrative developed
a technique for linking small and large units of the category “Bible as Literature” has further
composition in the Hebrew Bible through internal stimulated research, publication, the organization
reference or allusion (Alter 1981, 1985, 1987, of conferences, and the creation of courses. Some
1992). Their approaches have been classified as interpretations generated by these methodologies
variations of “structuralism” or “narratology,” are offered as more scientific than traditional B
each claiming some scientific authority derived literary exegesis, some simply as “a reading,”
from methodological sources in linguistics and one among many that are possible.
anthropology. These approaches also have more Such relativism regarding knowledge of the
traditional roots: Alter’s in the rabbinical tech- Biblical text has issued in two related avenues
niques of midrash (the collection of early Rab- of inquiry in Literary Study of the Bible: (1) the
binic commentaries on the Hebrew Bible, in history of interpretation, which determines
general, a commentary on a text that is free and Biblical meaning as the changing outcome of the
sometimes fanciful), and Frye’s in patristic typol- way it is understood by readers in specified histor-
ogy and in the poetics of visionary experience he ical and ideological contexts and (2) intertextual
found in William Blake. Though secular rather studies, or “The Bible and Literature,” which
than theological interpreters, Alter and Frye explores how literary texts by later writers like
assume that the received texts are coherent and Milton, Blake, Shakespeare, or Toni Morrison,
complete. interpret and are influenced by the Bible.
By the middle 1970s the abundant fruits of Recently developed “ecoliterary” and
such formalist literary study of the Bible were “ecocritical” approaches incorporate the biologi-
attracting historical scholars and led to the launch cal sciences into the Literary Study of the Bible.
of a new journal by their professional association, They focus on Biblical representations of nature
The Society of Biblical Literature. Titled Semeia, and of human and divine relationships with
it combined historical with literary approaches to nature, particularly in light of present day envi-
interpretation. At the same time some literary ronmental issues. Lynn White’s 1967 essay, “The
scholars adapted the historians’ idea of separate Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis”
strains of biblical authorship to arrive at new (White 1967), asserted that a significant cause
literary readings. In the J strain, Harold of that crisis is the influence of the Bible’s lan-
Bloom found a complete literary masterpiece he guage commanding humans to “fill the earth and
ascribed to a woman at King Solomon’s court subdue it and have dominion over. . .every living
(Bloom and Rosenberg 1990). Leslie Brisman thing. . .” (Genesis 1.27) This language has been
construed a dramatic dialogue in Genesis reinterpreted to enlist the Bible in the cause of
between the normative voice of Isaac, associated environmental stewardship, both by secular
with the P strain, and the quirky voice of Jacob, critics and by theological writers concerned
associated with J (Brisman 1990). with Creation Care or Creation Theology. In
The contrast between Literary Study of the one of several hortatory introductory essays to
Bible and other interpretive approaches has The Green Bible, an edition that replaces
been further blurred by literary critics’ adoption red lettering for the words of Jesus with green
of the “hermeneutics of suspicion” associated lettering for words dealing with nature, Ellen
with the movement called post-structuralism, Bernstein writes: “The ecological language of
postmodernism, or Critical Theory. Rather than the creation accounts helps us discern the ecolog-
discovering formal coherence, aesthetic value, ical vision alive throughout the Hebrew Bible.
and truth of representation in the Bible, the new So we begin with a literary reading of these
analytic methods have brought forth Feminist texts to see what we can learn about God and
gender analysis, Marxist class analysis, New Gods relation to the world, and about nature
Historicist power analysis, Cultural Studies and human nature” (Maudlin and Baer 2008).
anthropological analysis, and Psychoanalytic Such ecocritical biblical exegesis is practiced
depth psychology analysis. This expansion of by fundamentalist, anti-Darwinian “creationist”
theologians (http://www.icr.org), by literary and multiply and fill the earth. . .” (1:26). The
critics who find in Genesis evidence for an structuralist literary critic, J. P. Fokkelman
emerging ethos of anti-anthropocentrism observed in 1987 that “the overriding concern of
(Walker-Jones 2008), by cultural geographers the book [is]: life-survival-offspring-fertility-
(Hiebert 1996, 2008), and by environmental sci- continuity” (Alter and Kermode 1987), and
entists who study human history within the Steven Marx elaborated that idea in his discus-
framework of natural history (Hillel 2006). sion of generation, genealogy, and genetics in
Another ecocritical approach is pursued in Genesis in 2000 (Marx 2000), but as of 2009 the
Agrarian Studies, which finds throughout the application of self-conscious Darwinian studies
Bible an underlying theme of respect for the to the Literary Study of the Bible remains only
land, concern for soil, and appreciation for a promise.
sustainable agriculture. Blending theology with
science and literary analysis, Agrarian Studies
supports efforts to reform the present industrial Self-Identification
food system, to critique some applications of
science in modern technology, and to revive Science
local agriculture and the culture of farming As reflected in the preceding chronological
(Davis 2009). The interplay between the Bible account, The Bible as Literature/Literary Study
and such agrarian issues is prominent in recent of the Bible has traditionally defined itself by
ecoliterary works, including the writings of exclusion of science: first by distinguishing its
Wendell Berry, Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, subject matter from theology, which treated the
Prodigal Summer, and Ruth Ozeki’s novel All Bible as God’s revealed truth, and second from
Over Creation. the “Higher Criticism,” which treated the Bible
Yet another new ecocritical approach labeled as a historical artifact representing actual histor-
“Darwinian Literary Studies” applies findings ical events. Some proponents of the Bible as
and methods of sociobiology, evolutionary psy- Literature (Sidney, Donne, Blake, Frye) have
chology, and Darwinian anthropology to the claimed that the language of the Bible refers to
study of literature. Assuming that natural selec- visionary or imaginative reality distinct from
tion “shaped the human mind, and thus human the material, temporal reality referenced by the
behavior, and thus human culture,” it uses the language of science. Ancient midrashic and
mechanisms of evolution to make sense of liter- contemporary postmodern exegetes reject the
ary activity and of the content of texts, claiming scientific principle of falsifiability and the logi-
to find in them elements of a biologically deter- cal law of contradiction and accept multiple
mined and scientifically defined universal human mutually contradictory interpretations. Never-
nature. Such findings are “tied into a web of theless, the Bible as Literature/Literary Study
mutually reinforcing, falsifiable hypotheses in of the Bible has also incorporated methods that
the biological and social sciences” and form can be classified as scientific because of their
part of the larger “tree of knowledge” uniting all appeals to supportive textual and archaeological
of the sciences. According to Jonathan Gottshall, evidence, inner consistency, principles of design
“Darwinian literary criticism . . . focuses on the and symmetry, as well as to the psychology of
fascinating multiplicity of ways characters . . . rhetoric and the classification of genres. Recent
accomplish the prime directive of all life: to live developments in ecocriticism applied to the
long enough to reproduce and, in species where Bible as Literature/Literary Study of the Bible
parental care is necessary (like ours), rear young abandon the exclusionary definition of the field
to reproduce again” (Gottschall 2003). Such and seek to make it compatible with disciplines
a directive echoes the command reported in the conventionally regarded as scientific such as
Book of Genesis to have been issued by God to all ecology, cultural geography, and evolutionary
living creatures including humans: “Be fruitful biology.
Religion controversy by creating new possibilities for find-
The Bible as Literature/Literary Study of the ing meaning and value in the Bible as a work of
Bible does not identify as a religion, but can be art available to nonreligious people. Religion has
considered as either a religious or nonreligious inspired and in turn been strengthened by art, and
endeavor. Early literary biblical exegesis was in this sense the Literary Study of the Bible can B
usually done within the framework of theology enhance religious experience and support reli-
to enhance the status and appreciation of the gious belief. Conversely, study of the Bible as
sacred text by illuminating its literary virtues. Literature can widen scientific access to the rich-
Until the sixteenth century such study was limited ness and complexity of religious experience and
to a few people who could read, and in both can reveal ways that texts and their interpreta-
Jewish rabbinic and Christian patristic traditions, tions have motivated the behavior of readers. For
interpretation was seen to be inspired by God or example, in a general education course entitled
the Holy Spirit. Since the Renaissance, one strain “God and Nature,” proposed for Cal Poly Univer-
of literary criticism considers poets to be prophets sity San Luis Obispo for Spring 2010, a biologist
and the Bible as prophetic utterance stemming will present current scientific research that
from a quasi-divine source within humans. explains the variety of life on earth with Darwin-
Some historical criticism and postmodern literary ian principles, a religious studies scholar will
criticism aims to highlight arbitrary, accidental, compare the Genesis account with creation
or erroneous features of the Bible to undermine myths from other cultures, and a literary critic
claims of its religious significance. will examine the aesthetic design and the
emotional appeals of the language of The Origin
of Species, of the Bible and of the other creation
Characteristics myths.
As mentioned, the Bible as Literature/Literary

Study of the Bible is defined by its distinction Sources of Authority
from both theological and from historical or
scientific biblical studies. It is a blend of literary As a blend of Biblical studies and literary criti-
criticism and Biblical studies. However since cism, The Literary Study of the Bible accords
Biblical studies are sometimes theological authority to researchers in both fields. Prestige
and literary criticism sometimes incorporates of historical Biblical scholars usually depends
methods of historical or scientific disciplines, on mastery of ancient languages, historical, geo-
another distinction lies in its unstable and elastic graphic, and archaeological erudition and techni-
definition. cal skills like paleography and epigraphy, as well
as on standing within professional hierarchies.
Prestige of literary critics depends more on
Relevance to Science and Religion breadth of learning, rhetorical eloquence, self-
fashioned identity, and originality of positions
The category and academic pursuit of The Bible argued. Publication in prestigious journals and
as Literature/Literary Study of the Bible arose out employment at select universities counts for
of the Science and Religion Controversy of the both. Authority also stems from textual sources,
nineteenth century. Scientific discoveries about primary and secondary. Biblical authority is no
the historical evolution of the received biblical higher than the authority of other literary texts.
texts and about the circumstances of their com- Generally in Biblical scholarship, the more
position along with discoveries about geology ancient the material referenced the greater its
and biology contradicted many traditional beliefs authority. Literary criticism tends to value
about the Bible’s truthfulness and authority. The references to new trends and information from
Literary Study of the Bible avoided this unexpected quarters.
Ethical Principles male and female at the same time as the other
animals by the words of God and it is molded
Since the subdiscipline has neither a journal nor male first out of earthen clay and then born
a professional organization and since its defini- female out of the male’s body. Literary Study of
tion is somewhat elastic, it is hard to answer this the Bible relates these stories of origin to other
question. One principle generally observed by discourses in the Bible about the relationships
participants is respect for readers who do not between men and women and between humans
share the same view of biblical authority or and animals. It tends to regard these stories of the
similar interpretations of the meaning and signif- creation of humans by God as products of
icance of biblical texts. the human imagination.
Life and Death

Key Values Literary Study construes the Bible’s stories of the
origin of life either as contradictory to the scien-
One is aesthetic: participants pursue discovery tific narrative of evolution or as analogous to it. It
and elucidation of imaginative and intellectual devises figurative meanings of the story of the
beauty encoded in the Biblical text and its inter- origin of death as punishment for transgression
pretations. Another is philosophical: the appre- and as a consequence of gaining the knowledge of
hension of truth and wisdom through various good and evil and observes the symmetries
ways of understanding the Biblical text and created by New Testament images of death
through the revelation of errors or distortions. overcome by the resurrection of Jesus and the
The values of nonviolence, gender, racial and community of the saved.
ethnic equality, social justice, and environmental
stewardship inform some literary readings of Reality
the Bible. Concepts of reality are classified as (1) “realist,”
meaning that reality consists of formal abstract
universals encoded in words and symbols
Conceptualization (2) “nominalist,” meaning that reality consists
of material particulars arbitrarily categorized
Nature/World and labeled by formal abstractions, words, and
Literature represents nature/world, i.e., creation, symbols, and (3) “conceptualist,” meaning that
with words. The study of literature inquires not reality consists of a combination of formal
about the world of nature, but rather the world of abstractions and material particulars. All three
words and images. The Hebrew Bible shows God have adherents within the Literary Study of the
creating nature with words. The New Testament Bible. The realist view manifests in formalist,
includes the statement that “In the Beginning was typological and archetypal criticism, which
the Word. . . and the word was God.” So both the regards the text as absolute. The nominalist
Literary Study of the Bible and the Bible itself view informs historical and post-structuralist
privilege verbal utterance over physical creation. readings. The conceptualist mix is adopted by
However, insofar as the Literary Study of the most critics in actual practice.
Bible regards it as a historical artifact it treats
the Bible as a product and representation of the Knowledge
natural and social world of its historical and Knowledge in this field is largely textual,
geographic settings. knowing what is in the Bible, understanding its
languages – ancient and modern, explicit and
Human Being occult – and being attuned to subtle detail and
Literary criticism examines the Bible’s alternate hidden pattern. Some knowledge is intuitive: the
representations of the human being: it is created ability to read between the lines, discover
significance in the unstated, discern correspon- interpreters regard perception as a synthetic cre-
dences, and find meaning in unusual psycholog- ation of subject and object and find the range of
ical states. Knowledge is accumulated by study of vision recorded in the Bible worthy of further
the text and its interpretations, by understanding investigation.
literary theories, analytical vocabulary, and lexi- B
cons of symbol and archetype. The Literary Time
Study of the Bible also values non-textual scien- The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament begins with the
tific knowledge about the provenance of the text, creation of Time – “the first day” – by God, who
the history and geography of its settings, and the presumably exists outside of time. The Christian
findings of comparative religion. Bible concludes its temporal narrative of the his-
tory of the world with an account of the end of
Truth time and its replacement by a new heaven and
Literary Study of the Bible elaborates the notion new earth, also presumably eternal. With utter-
that the truth of the text’s assertions is found ances like God’s I AM WHO AM in Exodus 3:14
not only in their literal sense but in figurative, and Jesus’ “Before Abraham was, I AM,” in John
allegorical, or “spiritual” senses arrived at 8:58, the text suggests a supertemporal realm of
through knowledgeable interpretation. Theologi- existence pondered by Biblical interpreters like
cal notions of the Bible’s “inerrant truth” assert Augustine and Aquinas and rendered artistically
that as God’s Word, the Scriptures contain truth by Dante and Bosch. “Synchronic” literary criti-
that no human inquiry, scientific or otherwise, cism of the Bible treats the whole text as contem-
can fully comprehend. Both the Book of Proverbs poraneous and present simultaneously to the
and the Gospel of John claim that the Word of reader, especially in its employment of typology.
the text precedes the creation of the world. The “Diachronic” criticism treats the text as an arti-
Literary Study of the Bible reflects on what is fact that evolved in the past over a long temporal
meant by such paradoxical utterances. Adherents interval.
of New Criticism assume that the Bible in whole
and in parts, like other literary works, has Consciousness
a fullness of meanings that can be approached Some Literary Study of the Bible treats its
but never fully grasped by interpretation. Histor- sequence of portrayals of God from beginning
ical and scientific forms of Literary Study of the to end as a study in an evolving consciousness,
Bible find truth by placing the Bible in its mate- one that learns by experience and by interaction
rial and cultural context – referred to by some with its human offspring in history – for instance,
scholars as its Sitz im Leben. Jack Miles’ God: A Biography and Christ:
A Crisis in the Life of God (New York: Alfred
Perception A. Knopf 1995).
Perception is closely related to “knowledge.”
Realist-leaning literary critics associate percep- Reason/Rationality
tion with “vision” of a nonmaterial higher-order As a secular academic discipline, Literary Study
reality apprehensible through dreams and other of the Bible values rationality and reason, which
altered psychological states. The Bible itself is it applies to understanding even those Biblical
full of representations of such visions and texts that appear irrational or are claimed to be
auditory perceptions, which realist interpreters superrational.
identify with and sometimes share. Nominalist-
leaning critics regard perception as accurate Mystery
only if backed by scientific methods requiring The Bible is filled with incident and language that
falsifiable, repeatable, intersubjectively confirm- is perplexing, enigmatic, and uncanny. Protago-
able evidence. They seek to explain Biblical nists like Abraham, Job, and the disciples of Jesus
visions as hallucination. Conceptualist-inclined and antagonists like the Pharaoh or the Roman
authorities are mystified by God’s words and Brisman, L. (1990). The voice of Jacob: On the composi-
actions. Such mystification promotes wonder tion of Genesis. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press.
and awe, which can contribute to the authority Davis, E. F. (2009). Scripture, culture and agriculture: An
of the divine or the divinely inspired speaker and agrarian reading of the Bible. New York: Cambridge
can increase reverence for the text. Literary University Press (with an introduction by Wendell
analysis can either intensify or undermine such Berry).
Dictionary.com. Literature. Dictionary.com Unabridged
responses on the part of the reader. (v 1.1). Random house, Inc. 06 Jul. 2009. <Dictionary.
com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/literature>.
Donne, J. (1975). Expostulation 19. In S. S. J., Sister
Elizabeth Savage (Ed.), Devotions upon emergent
Relevant Themes occasions (Vol. 21, pp. 139–140). Salzburg: Salzburg
Studies in English Literature.
None Duncan-Jones, K., & van Dorsten, J. (1973). A defence
of poetry. In Miscellaneous prose of Sir Philip Sidney
(p. 80). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Frye, N. (1957). Anatomy of criticism. Princeton, NJ:
Cross-References Princeton University Press.
Frye, N. (1982). The great code: The Bible and literature.
New York: Harvest.
▶ Biblical Studies Frye, N. (1990). Words with power: Being the second
▶ Classics study of The Bible and Literature. New York:
▶ Critical and Cultural Theory Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovitch.
▶ Evolutionary Theology Gottschall, J. (2003). The tree of knowledge and
Darwinian literary study. Philosophy and Literature,
▶ Faith and Belief 27.2, pp. 256, 259, 261.
▶ Hermeneutics, Theological Herbert, G. (1857). The Holy Scriptures (2). In The
▶ Historiography (Classical) poetical works of George Herbert (p. 72). New York:
▶ History of Ideas (Intellectual History) D. Appleton.
Hiebert, T. (1996, 2008). The Yahwist’s landscape:
▶ Humanities Nature and religion in early Israel. Minneapolis:
▶ Poetry Fortress Press.
Hillel, D. (2006). The natural history of the Bible: An
environmental exploration of the Hebrew Scriptures.
New York: Columbia University Press.
References http://www.icr.org/articles/view/350/318/
Marx, S. (2000). Shakespeare and the Bible (pp. 19–39).
Alter, R. (1981). The art of literary narrative. New York: Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Basic Books. Maudlin, M. G., & Baer, M. (Eds.). (2008). The green
Alter, R. (1985). The art of biblical poetry. New York: Bible. New York: Harper Collins.
Basic Books. Miles, J. (1995). God: A biography. New York: Alfred
Alter, R. (1987). In F. Kermode (Ed.), The literary guide A. Knopf.
to the Bible. Cambridge: Belnap Press. Miles, J. (2001). Christ: A crisis in the life of god.
Alter, R. (1992). The world of biblical literature. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
New York: SPCK Publishing. Walker-Jones, A. (2008). Eden for cyborgs: Ecocriticism
Alter, R., & Kermode, F. (1987). The literary guide to the and Genesis 2–3. Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of
Bible (p. 41). Belnap Press: Cambridge. Contemporary Approaches, 16(3), 263–293.
Auerbach, E. (1953). Mimesis: The representation of Wall, J. P. (1995). A history of literary study of the Bible.
reality in western literature (W. R. Trask, Trans.). Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of English, University
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. of Nevada, Las Vegas, May 1995, p. 137.
Berlin, A. (2008). Literary approaches to biblical (My summary chronology from Philo to Auerbach
literature: General observations and a case largely follows Wall’s exhaustive account).
study of genesis 34. In F. E. Greenspan (Ed.), White, L. T., Jr. (1967). The historical roots of our
The Hebrew Bible: New insights and scholarship. ecologic crisis. Science, 155(3767), 1203–1207.
New York/London: New York University Press. WordNet®. Literary study. WordNet® 3.0. Princeton Univer-
Bloom, H., & Rosenberg, D. (1990). The book of J. sity. 14 July 2009. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.
New York: Grove. reference.com/browse/literary study>.
Biblical Studies 203 B
Noteworthy, recent developments in biblical
Biblical Hebrew studies may be highlighted in terms of
Schneiders’ taxonomy. To illuminate the “world
▶ Language and Literature, Hebrew behind the text,” biblical studies has paid increas-
ing attention to noncanonical religious texts that B
were produced contemporaneously with the
works deemed scriptural. Scrutiny of Jewish and
Biblical Studies Christian Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, the
Dead Sea Scrolls, and Gnostic writings reveals
Gregory Allen Robbins the religious diversity within Judaism and Chris-
Department of Religious Studies, University of tianity as they developed during the biblical era.
Denver, Denver, CO, USA Archaeology and the study of material culture
continue to be important complements to biblical
studies. The 2001–2006 collaboration that
Related Terms resulted in the restoration, translation, and publi-
cation of the so-called Gospel of Judas is a parade
Hermeneutics example. In coming to terms with the “world of
the text,” biblical studies has acknowledged
the importance of the postmodern, “linguistic
Description turn.” Narrative criticism, reader-response criti-
cism, and deconstructive criticism are widely
Biblical studies constitutes a subdiscipline of the employed in biblical studies at the beginning of
academic study of religion. Integral to that more the twenty-first century. In elucidating the “world
encompassing discipline is the examination of before the text,” biblical studies now benefits
religious texts and how they have been and from the insights of postcolonial readers, who
are used within particular religious traditions. not only sensitize Western critics to the role the
Specifically, biblical studies focuses on Bible played in imperialistic, colonial expansion
those religious texts deemed sacred and authori- but also offer hermeneutical approaches that
tative (i.e., “scriptural”) by Jews and Christians. build upon and challenge the hegemony of the
Jewish scriptures are frequently referred to by historical-critical method.
the Hebrew acronym, “Tanakh,” used to desig- In light of these developments, one senses a
nate the three parts of the canon: Torah (the transformation underway in the practice of bibli-
Pentateuch), Nevi‘im (prophets), and Ketuvim cal studies as a subdiscipline. No longer a mostly
(the writings). The Christian Bible comprises historical or “historicist” enterprise that seeks to
both the Jewish scriptures and Christian writings drive a wedge between exegesis (narrowly under-
called the “New Testament.” Ultimately, the goal stood as recovering what a text meant) and her-
of biblical studies is to explore fully what meneutics (discovering what a text might mean),
S. Schneiders has felicitously described as three biblical studies has become more conscious (and
“worlds” of meaning: (1) the world behind the accepting) of the fact that its work may be carried
text, that is, the historical context in which the out as both an etic and an emic endeavor. When
biblical writings arose; (2) the world of the text, biblical studies is pursued impartially with an
that is, the linguistic reality presented in the outsider’s (etic) perspective, the task is primarily
biblical texts as they now stand, regardless of descriptive and analytical, the goal of which is to
how they came to be; and (3) the world before understand how religious communities have
the text, that is, the engagement with these reli- appropriated biblical texts as scripture, as “guides
gious texts by past and present readers/ for life” (Sanders 1976: 531–560). However,
interpreters (Schneiders 1991). biblical scholars can and often do work from
B 204 Biblical Studies
the perspective of an insider (emic), that is, literary genres, and posing questions of author-
interpreting scripture while standing within a ship. Following Spinoza’s lead, nineteenth- and
religious tradition (Judaism or Christianity) and twentieth-century historical critics, chary of any
perhaps holding to a particular construal of that hermeneutic shaped by dogmatic or confessional
tradition (i.e., belonging to a specific branch, commitments, attempted to determine what the
denomination, confessional stance of Judaism or biblical texts’ meaning would have been in their
Christianity), or an ideology (feminist, womanist, original, ancient contexts. For that reason, during
queer, etc.). The etic approach is not necessarily the past 100 years or so, biblical studies has been
inimical to belief, practice, or ideology; indeed, it primarily concerned with establishing the origins
can and does provide insights and correctives that of texts, with ferreting out “authorial intention,”
insiders welcome. Similarly, careful attention to with characterizing the original audience(s).
the ways in which the Jewish and Christian scrip- It has also been concerned with how biblical
tures have been and continue to be “adaptable for texts were preserved and transmitted and how to
life” (Sanders, ibid.) among practitioners or describe the historical processes by which they
impact the broader culture in both positive and achieved their present canonical status.
negative ways provides the biblical scholar with By the final quarter of the twentieth century,
a more profound understanding of the function of the limits of the historical-critical method were
sacred texts. abundantly apparent. Biblical studies has
displayed a dogged rigor in reinventing itself.
The subdiscipline has been increasingly willing
Self-identification to acknowledge the provisional nature of its
accomplishments. Methodological conversations
Science have never been so animated. New alliances have
As a subdiscipline of the study of religion, bibli- been forged with the social sciences. In the eyes
cal studies does not identify itself as a science, in of some, the latter move has lent biblical studies
the narrow sense of the word. If science is defined a certain scientific cachet, despite its firm ground-
as a way of knowing whose goal is to understand ing in the humanities.
a universe made up of material and energy, a way
of knowing that seeks to understand the natural Religion
world by building theories with broad and lasting “Historical” fundamentalism is a distinctly
explanatory value, logically constructed of facts Protestant, Christian phenomenon that arose in
built upon a foundation of direct and indirect America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
experimentation, generalized laws, and con- centuries as a response to the “modernist” chal-
firmed hypotheses, then biblical studies cannot lenges of higher biblical criticism, Darwinian
be considered a way of knowing of that sort. It evolutionary theory, and Spencerian “social”
clearly finds its moorings in Renaissance Darwinism. It has as a cornerstone of its construal
humanism. of the Christian religion a belief in biblical iner-
Nevertheless, some do talk about the rancy. Fundamentalists are committed to the
“science” of biblical studies. Since the nineteenth notion that the Bible (in its original autographs)
century, the historical-critical method has domi- is divinely inspired and, by virtue of that inspira-
nated biblical studies. The Jewish rationalist and tion, guaranteed to be without historical, scien-
philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) was an tific, or theological error. As it developed,
important harbinger of that approach. Insisting Christian fundamentalism has given rise to a
that scriptures be read objectively, like any branch of biblical studies whose primary aim is
other text, Spinoza was one of the first to study to bolster biblical inerrancy as the primary tenet
the Bible “scientifically.” He was keen on inves- of religious belief. James Barr terms this “Bibli-
tigating the historical background of the Bible’s cism,” a form of Christianity in which the Bible is
constituent texts, classifying and comparing their the supreme religious symbol, comparable to
Christ, the “accessible and articulate reality, Drawing upon its traditional strengths and
available empirically for checking and verifica- methods, biblical studies is able to contextualize
tion, that provides for the lines that run through the biblical worldview. While writing in
the religion and determine its shape and charac- a prescientific age, the authors of the biblical
ter” (1978: 36). Insofar as fundamentalist biblical texts were neither unconcerned with nor ignorant B
studies functions to protect the Bible against all about the natural world. But the biblical authors
other modes of interpretation, it constitutes were not engaged in “doing science.” Their
a cultus for a quite separate religious form. empirical observations and comments are epiphe-
nomenal to a far bolder religious enterprise, one
that biblical studies can clarify. More impor-
Characteristics tantly, biblical studies can make an even greater
contribution by addressing the role of the Bible in
Biblical studies is distinguished by its methodo- the history of science (see section “Relevant
logical pluralism and interdisciplinarity. Expert Themes,” below), a perspective that has been
training in ancient languages is almost always almost entirely lacking in recent debates.
the starting point. Scholars of the Hebrew
Bible (Old Testament) are expected to achieve
a high level of proficiency in ancient Hebrew and Sources of Authority
Aramaic. Comparative study of other ancient
Near Eastern Languages (e.g., Ugaritic, As a subdiscipline of the academic study of reli-
Akkadian) is usually undertaken as well. Scholars gion, biblical studies is usually carried out in the
of the Christian scriptures master Greek and fre- context of accredited institutions of higher edu-
quently Coptic, Latin, and Syriac. Language cation: colleges, universities, theological semi-
study is complemented by work in humanities- naries, and schools. Scholars of biblical studies
based disciplines such as history, literary theory, normally hold advanced degrees, usually the
gender, and cross-cultural studies. Increasingly, Ph.D. or its equivalent. One of the oldest learned
biblical studies draws upon the methods of disci- societies in America, The Society of Biblical
plines housed in the social sciences, especially Literature (SBL), is also one of the largest and
anthropology, sociology, and linguistics. boasts a large and growing international member-
ship. Many members of the SBL also hold mem-
bership in the American Academy of Religion
Relevance to Science and Religion (AAR). Both the SBL and the AAR are constitu-
ent members of the American Council of Learned
Science and religion are potent forces in contem- Societies. Both publish highly respected, refereed
porary life. Questions about the relationship journals: The Journal of the Society of Biblical
between science and religion – whether construed Literature and The Journal of the American
as conflict, independence, dialogue, or integra- Academy of Religion. Both have sponsored dis-
tion (Barbour 1997: 77–105) – have come to the sertation and monograph series. These are but
fore, especially in the USA. The recurrent, pas- two among a host of professional, academic orga-
sionate debates and court trials about what ought nizations and journals (American and interna-
to be the theoretical basis for teaching biology in tional ones) to which scholars of biblical studies
the science classes of American public schools contribute. Biblical scholars may also seek for-
(evolution, intelligent design, or both) have mal approval or certification (e.g., in the Roman
pitted not only religion against science but the Catholic Church, an “imprimatur”) of their work
scientific method against biblical interpretation. that attests conformity to the doctrine and disci-
Americans continue to replay the Scopes trial – pline of a religious body, or the work may be
over and over again. Biblical studies is poised to published under the auspices of a religious
and should offer an important corrective. institution.
Ethical Principles use, attending the larger field of cultural activities,

including the ways religious texts have been, and
The ethical principles that guide biblical studies are, read, spoken, and performed. Comparatively
are chiefly those of the academy, those that per- speaking, this level of sophistication in
tain to intellectual integrity. Additionally, bibli- approaching religious texts is scarcely equaled
cal scholars share the ethical principles of the in the study of the world’s other great religious
discipline of religious studies. Thus, they strive traditions and can serve as a model for other sub-
to maintain an objective respect for religious disciplines of religious studies.
practitioners whose sacred texts they study.
Humility in approaching the complex phenome-
non of human religiosity is enjoined. All defini- Conceptualization
tions of religion are recognized as provisional and
necessarily incomplete. Broad-sweeping general- In discussing the following concepts, a prefatory
izations are eschewed; comparative taxonomies note is necessary. Topics of this sort are usually
are offered with great caution. Because early taken up under the aegis of “biblical theology.”
Christians appropriated Jewish scriptures as As Dennis Olson of Princeton Theological
their own, and in light of a tragic history of Seminary explains, biblical theology reflects a
Christian anti-Judaism, biblical scholars are constructive engagement with the Bible that
especially sensitive to latent prejudices embed- “seeks to provide greater conceptual articulation,
ded in the subdiscipline. coherence, or development of the Bible’s texts,
ideas, metaphors, stories, and poetry involving
God, humans, and the world in dialogue with
Key Values various methods, contexts, and historic theologi-
cal traditions” (New Interpreter’s ® Dictionary of
As mentioned previously, the subdiscipline of the Bible I.461–465). In others words, biblical
biblical studies embraces methodological plural- theology cannot help but be concerned with the
ism and interdisciplinarity. Beyond that, the key world before the text. Since the 1960s, the arena
values of biblical studies are reflected by the thor- of biblical theology has been a highly contested
oughgoing way in which the subdiscipline has domain. Because biblical texts are themselves
confronted the challenges of modernity in think- diverse (produced over a millennium and
ing about religion and religious texts. For exam- reflecting the religious aspirations of varying
ple, it has certainly not shied away from the notion communities) and because interpreters bring
that sacred texts are human constructs. The rigor a host of methods and perspectives (etic and
with which it has pursued form-critical, source- emic) to the effort, biblical theology is fraught
critical, redaction-critical, text-critical, and with difficulty. There are some who are con-
archeological avenues to their limits bears witness vinced that biblical theology either runs the risk
to that courage. Moreover, biblical studies seri- of reductionism or invariably imports dogmatic,
ously entertains the profound implications of the systematizing assumptions. What follows
“linguistic turn,” the recognition that reality is reflects, admittedly, an attempt to be cautiously
mediated by language. Biblical scholars recog- descriptive, privileging the world behind the text
nize that religious texts create cultural worlds. and the world of the text. In doing so, it attempts
People who embrace biblical religion think to suggest how the work of biblical studies, when
about and experience the world in ways that are directed toward these selected topoi, can uncover
fundamentally shaped by language and texts. That hermeneutical “talking points,” which might
being the case, the study of biblical texts requires serve as the basis for an enhanced, more nuanced
the study of human activity not just written words. conversation between the scientific community
Biblical studies seeks to illuminate not only the and those for whom these religious texts hold
content of biblical texts, but also their context and particular significance.
Nature/World being in the created order rather than detailing the
Biblical studies is quick to note that the English processes by which human being came into
word “nature” derives from the Latin natura, existence:
which is most often used to translate the Greek Genesis 1 – While scholars continue to debate
word phusis. There is no corresponding word in about the precise implications of what is B
Hebrew. In the Hebrew Bible (and echoed in the meant by the account of Genesis 1 (assigned
Christian New Testament), the entire cosmos, by historical criticism of the Pentateuch to the
that is, “nature,” is designated by the phrase Priestly strand of the postexilic period) that
“heavens and earth.” According to the creation says that humans were created in the “image
▶ myths of Genesis, the heavens and the earth and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:26–28), most
(all the entities that are not the product of human agree that the focus there is on the intended
invention) are result of God’s creative activity, rôle envisioned for humanity, viz., that of
God’s “work.” In the Hebrew Bible, God being God’s representative in the world, hold-
“creates” by ordering chaos and forming the cos- ing primary power of governance over it.
mos out of primordial waters. The Bible – in both Genesis 2 – In the second creation story of
its Jewish and Christian portions – presents the Genesis 2:4bff, which historical criticism
creation as a unified whole. The stories that nar- attributes to the so-called Yahwist tradition,
rate the creation of the physical/material realm humanity is formed from already existent,
are neither separate from nor secondary to those arable soil (Genesis 2:7). Employing a
that account for the appearance of human beings. Hebrew pun on a verbal root that can mean
In the Christian New Testament, the concept that both “serve” and “till” (Genesis 2:15), the
God created the cosmos ex nihilo (out of nothing) Yahwist describes humanity’s place as that
emerges more fully (Romans 4:17; Hebrews of “farmer from farmland,” as “slave of soil,”
11:3), though the idea is latent in noncanonical an account whose focus, then, is on
Jewish texts from the Hellenistic era. As the humanity’s relationship to, solidarity with,
product of God’s creative and sustaining activity, the created order, the physical universe.
nature is also revelatory; it points beyond itself to Both of these narrative strands shape the
its source, that is, God (See New Interpreter’s understanding of the human person throughout
Dictionary of the Bible, “Nature, Natural the Christian New Testament (See New
Phenomena,” IV.238–239). Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, “Humanity,
NT” and “Humanity, OT,” II.907–912).
Human Being
As noted above, biblical studies deals with reli- Life and Death
gious narratives that assume human being, the In the biblical worldview limned by this
human person, is the result of God’s creative subdiscipline, the cosmos apart from the animat-
activity. Taken as a whole, the biblical tradition ing activity of God is void and lifeless. God is the
is singularly uninterested in speculation about source of vitality; the world cannot produce life
human essences. It does not belabor the physiol- on its own. Since all that lives depends upon God
ogy of being (as bipartite: body/soul or tripartite: for its existence, to live is to find one’s place in
body/mind/soul). It affirms a simple – though appropriate relationship with God. Thus, biblical
hardly simplistic – theological anthropology: thought betrays relatively little interest in cos-
Human being comprises a psychosomatic unity mology, biology, or philosophy, favoring instead
of life force/vitality (Hebrew: nephesh) and mate- the moral dimension of existence (see “Knowl-
rial physicality. The human person does not edge” below, and New Interpreter’s Dictionary of
possess a soul; the human person is soul (Genesis the Bible, “Life,” III.655–661).
2:7). In the Yahwist’s account of creation in Gene-
The two creation ▶ myths of Genesis 1–2 are sis 2, the prospect for humanity is long life lived
chiefly concerned to describe the rôle of human in fellowship with God (the more abstract notion
of immortality is not introduced in this context). Why “moral understanding,” not “ethics”? One
Mortality – death – is a consequence of human must take seriously the nature of biblical texts.
disobedience. Moreover, as a result of sin, life They are not philosophical treatises. Wayne A.
expectancy for humans decreases. The genealogy Meeks, Woolsey Professor Emeritus of Religious
of Genesis 5:27 reports that Methuselah lived Studies at Yale University, makes an important
969 years. By comparison, Abraham, the progen- distinction between biblical morality and philo-
itor of the Jewish people, lived only 175 years sophical ethics: “I take ‘ethics’ in the sense of
(Genesis 25:7). For the psalmist, the normal span a reflective, second-order activity: it is morality
of a human life is reckoned as 70 years, 80 at the rendered self-conscious; it asks about the logic of
outside (Psalm 90:10). moral discourse and action, about the grounds for
judgment, about the anatomy of duty or the roots
Reality and structure of virtue. It is thus, as the Oxford
Generally speaking, the biblical tradition is not English Dictionary has it, ‘the science of moral-
given to discrete, philosophical meditation/ ity’” (1993: 4–5). By contrast, biblical stories,
speculation about the nature of reality as such. Psalms, prophetic pronouncements, Gospels, and
That God is the source of existence as human letters do not seek to engage readers in ethical
beings experience it is the fundamental, operative reflection. Rather, their aim is to shape religious
presupposition in both Jewish and Christian communities concretely by articulating a set of
scriptures. Nevertheless, apprehension of that practices and by fostering their inculcation with
reality is elusive: Moses was granted only to see paranaesis, that is, moral exhortation.
God’s “backside” (Exodus 33:18–23); Paul The sine qua non of true knowledge is wisdom
admits that “we see by means of a mirror, in an (See New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible,
enigma” (di’ esoptrou en ainigmati – 1 Corinthi- “Wisdom in the NT” and “Wisdom in the OT,”
ans 13:12). To glimpse the richness and subtlety V.865–875). Wisdom denotes a depth dimension
of the Bible’s conception of reality, biblical stud- of knowledge. Wisdom leads to proper relation-
ies pays careful attention to metaphors found in ships, to harmony with God, with one’s fellow
biblical poetry, to the ways in which the verb “to humans, and with the world. In some portions of
be” is manipulated in narratives, to words that can the biblical tradition, wisdom is personified
be translated as “life,” and to expressions such as (often as a female) and is exalted as the creative
“there is” or “there is not.” agent by which the world was brought into exis-
tence and is governed (see Proverbs 1, 8, 9).
Knowledge In the biblical world, revelation is also a
Biblical texts bear witness to the fact that humans source of knowledge, of wisdom. Ultimately,
can and do rely upon the senses to deliver mostly one of the animating features of the biblical nar-
reliable information about the nature of things – ratives is the fact that human perplexity about the
animate and inanimate – and for negotiating elusive nature of reality (see above) and the need
existence in world. Sensory information requires for guidance is met by God’s self-revelation.
the complements of intuition and rational pro- Deuteronomy 29:29 captures this perfectly:
cesses. Taken together, these can lead to “true” “The secret things belong to the Lord our God,
(see below) knowledge. but the revealed things belong to us and to our
Knowledge goes beyond information. It is the children forever: to observe all the words of this
basis for moral agency, right action. The Bible’s law.” In the Christian Gospel of John, Jesus is
concern is not with articulating an epistemology. portrayed as the human embodiment of God’s
Rather, knowledge is assayed in terms of moral Logos, God’s “word,” God’s “reason/logic,” and
understanding, embedded in an unfolding narra- God’s “wisdom” (John 1:14). Those who believe
tive about covenantal relationality (See New that Jesus is God’s self-manifestation, who
Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, “Knowl- follow him and obey his commandments, find
edge,” III.539–546). “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:1–6).
Truth monograph, Biblical Words for Time in 1962,
Biblical words for truth (Hebrew ¼ ‘emeth; biblical studies has been tendentiously reiterating
Greek ¼ alētheia) are used to express a number that the thought world of the authors of the
of concepts. Two may be singled out. Truth is Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament
first and foremost a characteristic of action; one ought not be shoe-horned into anachronistic, B
enacts “truth” by keeping promises, acting justly, abstract, inappropriately comparative categories.
fulfilling an obligation, showing piety, etc. Thus, Rather than offering meditations on the nature of
both the Hebrew and the Greek words frequently “time,” biblical texts provide a lexicon for
render “truth” in terms of “reliability,” “faithful- describing the movements of celestial objects.
ness,” and “trustworthiness.” Secondly, writers in Day, night, week, month, and year are the basic
both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament units of observation. Sunrise and sunset and the
value “truth” in the sense of correspondence waxing and waning of the moon are coordinated
between words and reality. When used to convey with agricultural cycles. Seedtime and harvest are
that meaning, “truth” in the biblical sense implies intimately tied to cultic festivals, days set apart as
“accuracy” and “honesty” in the use of words to “holy.” Time, then, is not so much a dimension to
make some reality evident (See New Interpreter’s be contemplated but a set of relationships to be
Dictionary of the Bible, “Truth,” V.681–686). negotiated. When that is recognized, the enumer-
ation of the first 3 “days” in Genesis 1:3–13 prior
Perception to the creation of the sun and the moon on the
While biblical texts take for granted the fact that fourth is not incongruous. The creative “week” is
humans can and do rely upon the senses to deliver not so much about 24-hour days as it is about
mostly reliable information about the nature of a rhythm established by a plan that brings into
things – animate and inanimate – and for negoti- existence a firmament first, then lights to
ating existence in world, they also betray an “occupy” the firmament, then seas and dry land,
awareness that reality is not conterminous with followed by the life-forms that populate both, all
sense perception. The senses can deceive. In the of this related, ultimately, to the observance of
New Testament, Paul (a Jewish Pharisee and Sabbath.
Christian indebted to intertestamental Jewish While it is granted that “a 1,000 years in
interpreters) states that the entire creation partic- [God’s] sight are like a day” (Psalm 90:4; c.f., 2
ipated in the fall of humanity and that it, too, is Peter 3:8), the God of the Hebrew and Christian
alienated from God. Subsequent Christian inter- religions, who is beyond “time” as humans expe-
preters, especially during the Protestant Refor- rience it, is nevertheless self-revelatory and inter-
mation, argued that Paul’s notion of a fallen venes in human affairs. Epiphanies are made to
creation implied that the self-revelatory nature particular persons, in concrete places, at specific
of the cosmos became diminished and opaque times. Decisions are made as a result. Actions
and human ability to perceive nature aright follow. Modes of reckoning and recording time
skewed. This interpretive trajectory has had and concomitant elements of calendrical calcula-
important implications for how some Christians tion and history writing are ancillary to religious
evaluate the claims of science; there are Chris- purposes. Events are arranged in a constellation
tians who hold that, apart from grace that comes of significances.
from belief in Christ, humans are incapable of Temporal references in the Bible are
understanding the natural world. underlined in ways that indicate their momentous
character. The most common Hebrew word
Time typically translated as “time” (‘eth) is usually
Since James Barr, then Professor of Old Testa- accompanied by prepositions, adjectives, demon-
ment Literature and Theology at the University of strative pronouns, and modifying phrases (“in the
Edinburgh, wrote his groundbreaking Semantics time,” “near the time,” “at that time,” “at the time
of Biblical Language in 1961 and his subsequent of your deliverance,” etc.). In the Christian New
Testament, following the lead of the Septuagint Biblical scholars turn in elsewhere. They
(the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), con- attend to the laconic pronouncements of the
cern to describe events as having moment is indi- “Preacher” in the Hebrew Bible’s Qoheleth
cated by a decided preference for kairos (Ecclesiastes). Writing in the first person singu-
(“appropriate” or “decisive” time) as opposed to lar, the text reflects an astute albeit resigned,
chronos (“workaday” time). This is nowhere world-weary consciousness (Ecclesiastes 3:7)
more evident than in the Christian Gospel of that is altogether unique. Its place among the
John, where the culminating event, Jesus’ sacred writings of the Jews was still being
Passion, is encapsulated as his “hour” (hōra – debated in the 2nd century of the Common Era.
see 17:1). Finally, several writings in the Jewish The Book of Job reflects a sober, hard-won con-
scriptures and all of those in the Christian corpus sciousness about himself and his place in the
are colored by eschatological/apocalyptic expec- world as he attempts to come to terms with appar-
tations. Time is religiously meaningful and tele- ently unjust suffering. The Psalms, for example,
ological (See New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the are rife with explicitly introspective, self-
Bible, “Time,” V.595–600). reflective passages.
The Greek word for consciousness that would
Consciousness have been available to early Christian authors,
The Bible details no Cartesian breakthrough suneidēsis, is not used by the authors of the
(“Cognito ergo sum”). There is no Hebrew word Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
that is even roughly translatable as “conscious- or the Johannine literature (Gospel of John,
ness” (See New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the 1, 2, 3 John). Of the 27 occurrences in the New
Bible, “Conscience,” I.719–726). The stories of Testament, more than two-thirds are found in
Genesis 2–3, which biblical studies regards as Paul’s letters. In most instances, English trans-
▶ myths, drop tantalizing hints, sweetly per- lations render suneidēsis as “moral conscious-
fumed handkerchiefs that beckon interpretive ness” or simply “conscience,” implying the
suitors to retrieve. When the adam is animated existence of an internal capacity [of the soul?]
by God’s breath in Genesis 2:7 and becomes that guides conduct, that provides laws, that
a nephesh (see above, “human being”), is judges or sanctions behavior, and that renders
a coming to consciousness implied? The text is verdicts of guilt or innocence. Biblical studies’
not explicit. When the human male is given the scholars are quick to point out that this later,
task of naming the animals (a role tantamount to shifted sense, with its penchant for legal meta-
being cocreator in comparative, ancient Near phors, is an imposition on the Christian texts and
Eastern thought) and recognizes that among them skews readings (see especially Krister Stendahl’s
is no suitable mate, does he acquire for himself watershed essay, “Paul and the Introspective
reflexive self-awareness (Genesis 2:18–20)? Conscience of the West” cited below). With
Again, interpreters are left at sixes and sevens. Timothy 4:2 and Titus 1:15 being the two notable
Maybe the awakening comes when the woman, exceptions, all of the New Testament occur-
created by the Lord out of the adam’s (“clod rences of suneidēsis point to a more general
man’s”) rib, is presented to him and he declares, conception of a human consciousness in touch
“At last, this is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh” with surroundings and self, which is, secondarily,
(Genesis 2:21–23). Doesn’t the aftertaste for hav- capable of acknowledging shortcomings, produc-
ing eaten the forbidden fruit of the tree of the ing bad feelings, and altering behaviors
knowledge of good and evil count for something (Stendahl 1976).
(“their eyes were opened, and they knew that they
were naked” – Genesis 3:7)? For the most part, Rationality/Reason
historical critics hold back. The interpretative tra- See sections “Human Being” and “Knowledge”
dition, both Jewish and Christian, has been and is above. As noted there, the ultimate goal of reason
more solicitous. is to attain wisdom, the sure knowledge of God as
the source of all that is, the one who orders chaos. according to Paul, may seem more narrowly
In biblical thought, the primary endowment that defined, but to Paul’s way of thinking, it is ulti-
distinguishes human beings from animals is ratio- mately more astonishing and startling: The reve-
nality, the ability of reason. Human governance lation (apokalupsis – Galatians 1:12) of the
in the world as God’s representative is inextrica- crucified and vindicated Messiah (Jesus) adum- B
bly linked to thought and the ability to commu- brates God’s previously hidden intent to include
nicate thought, to translate it into action by means Gentiles with Jews as God’s people (see Romans
of speech acts. Thus, the proximate ends of rati- 11:15). In every other instance in the New Testa-
ocination are regulatory. As the “governor” of ment, mystery is a portmanteau for conveying
life, reason controls the passions; it rules the two ideas at once: (1) it refers to hidden knowl-
emotions; it steels courage and banishes fear. edge that will be unveiled by God (apocalyptic
Self-control is the benchmark, the rational life. secrecy) and (2) it pertains to the telos, the divine
Reason, however, may be misdirected. Or it may purpose, in history (See New Interpreter’s Dic-
overstep its bounds. It can lead to pride, to self- tionary of the Bible, “Mystery,” IV.185–187).
assertion, to self-idolatry, and thus, ironically, to
profound ignorance. In the Jewish scriptures, the
book of Daniel recounts one of the most vivid Relevant Themes
examples of how hubris can lead to the loss of
rationality and of one’s humanity. The Babylo- Ian G. Barbour has outlined four ways for con-
nian king, Nebuchadnezzar, was struck by mad- struing the relationship between science and reli-
ness, insania zoanthropia, which drove him away gion: conflict, independence, dialogue, and
from human society to dwell with animals, where integration (1997: 77–105). At present, sustained,
for an extended period he ate “grass like oxen, his substantive interchange between the sub-
body bathed with the dew of heaven until his hair discipline of biblical studies and the scientific
grew as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails community is, unfortunately, minimal. For exam-
became like birds’ claws” (Daniel 4:28–37). ple, when, in 2006, Richard Dawkins, esteemed
When he was restored to his rightful place as biologist and the Charles Simonyi Professor of
king, Nebuchadnezzar says that his “reason” the Public Understanding of Science in Oxford
(Hebrew ¼ manda‘) returned to him. University, leveled his broadside against religion,
including an outright assault on the God of the
Mystery Hebrew Bible, whom he describes as “arguably
See section “Time” above. In the Hebrew Bible, the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jeal-
“mystery” (Hebrew ¼ razah) first appears in ous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving
Daniel (Daniel 2:18, 19, 27, 30, 47; 4:9). The control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic
word recurs in the apocalypses of the Pseudepig- cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist,
rapha and in the scrolls discovered at the infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential,
Dead Sea. Mystery is revealed by divine agency megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously
to a seer. In Daniel and the intertestamental malevolent bully” (2006: 31), he hardly got
Jewish texts, the content of mystery is cosmolog- a rise from specialists in the biblical studies.
ical: Secrets about the function of universe are The guild paid little attention to his equally vitu-
unveiled, secrets that simultaneously reveal the perative characterization of the New Testament
plan for how God’s purpose will achieve its theology as “vicious, sadomasochistic and
predetermined end. repellent. . .barking mad” (2006: 253). That
The writings of the Christian New Testament frosty silence does not connote the field’s
presuppose this background. The Greek word for entrenchment in a position of either conflict or
mystery (mustērion) occurs 27 times in those independence. Rather, representatives have
writings, 20 of which are in the letters of Paul. adopted a mostly aloof disdain for the way in
The content of the eschatological mystery, which Dawkins and his ilk (Sam Harris,
Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, etc.) existence on our planet. We are among those
superficially cast biblical religion, indeed all organisms, but we posses something special,
of religion, in fundamentalist terms (see section something that no other organism to our knowl-
“Religion” above). edge has ever had—the ability to see and to
Barbour’s hope, shared by many in biblical understand how we came to be” (2009: 134).
studies, is to identify points of contact that Miller goes on to interpret this narrative in
would allow for meaningful dialogue. Barbour terms of an “evolutionary cosmology.” While
urges scientists and religionists to interrogate evolutionary cosmology reckons with a view of
the presuppositions that motivate their respective the universe in which human existence in the
pursuits, their mutual concern with “limit ques- living world is an inherent part of nature
tions,” to examine the methodological parallels itself, it is also a view of human being that brings
that exist between the disciplines, and to with it awesome responsibility. “Evolutionary
acknowledge their common interests in nature. cosmology not only promotes a powerful ethic
Such an investigation, he believes, may provide of environmental stewardship, but it places an
an avenue to authentic engagement. extraordinary premium on scientific learning
Answering Barbour’s call, John Haught, and understanding. . .Science is indeed a human
director of the Georgetown Center for the Study activity, with all of the faults and failings that
of Science and Religion, has pointed the way. He attend any human creation, but it is also a human
documents an emergent awareness among scien- creation that continues to promise to add greater
tists of the “fundamentally narrative character insight, greater understanding, and greater depth
of nature” (2003: 67). Scientists who understand to our lives” (2009: 156).
the cosmos as story have come to “read” physical As the survey of concepts in “Conceptualiza-
laws not as final explanation but as the grammat- tion” above reveals, these sentiments are ones
ical framework – the essential, recurrent, predict- with which biblical studies resonates. The
able constraints – for emergent novelty and for subdiscipline of biblical studies focuses on reli-
bringing the “story” to expression. “Analo- gious texts. In communities for whom they are
gously,” Haught concludes, “the strict Darwinian sacred scripture, these texts reveal the nature of
‘rules’ of adaptation and selection, along with the reality beneath the surface of things, including
laws of physics and chemistry are ‘grammatical’ human existence itself. For both insiders and
requirements of any conceivable life-story” outsiders, these texts do not yield their secrets
(2003), a story that science seeks to “read” and readily; they require interpretation. Science
“interpret.” explores the universe, itself a “text.” Science
Working quite independently of Haught, seeks to discern the reality of nature, of what is
Kenneth Miller, professor of biology at Brown going on beneath the surface, often transcending
University, frames science’s “story” in this way: empirical observation. Hard-nosed materialism
“By any standard we live in a universe that is does not settle for easy explanations; theories
simply brimming with evolutionary possibilities. are hard won. The quest for depth motivates
Our planet is one place where those possibilities both enterprises.
have come to fruition. Not only did life emerge Perhaps, it is not too much of a stretch to say
on this planet, but life mastered it. It adapted to that both science and biblical studies wrestle,
conditions on the earth and then it changed them. fundamentally, with how to read “texts” appro-
It altered the gases in the atmosphere, reshaped priately, that is, with hermeneutics. Viewing
the chemistry of the oceans, and remade the land them as ways of reading, albeit distinct ways of
forever. Life explored the possibilities of exis- reading, promises to bring science and biblical
tence on Planet Earth, and evolution drove that studies profitably into dialogue. Moreover, his-
exploration. Evolution’s winners were the organ- torical examples of how the Bible’s readers
isms that most successfully found a pathway to have both sparked and questioned scientific
change and as a result have come to dominate interpretations – and vice versa – can
Bioethics in Christianity 213 B
be illuminative. It is worth remembering that Sanders, J. A. (1976). Adaptable for life: The nature and
almost as groundbreaking as the publication in function of canon. In F. M. Cross, W. E. Lemke, &
P. D. Miller Jr. (Eds.), Magnalia Dei: The mighty acts
1859 of Darwin’s Origin of Species was, with its of god: Essays on the bible and archaeology in mem-
challenges to the assumptions of natural theology ory of G. Ernest Wright (pp. 531–560). New York:
and biblical literalism of his day, so, too, was the Doubleday. B
appearance in 1860 of a controversial volume Schneiders, S. M. (1991). The revelatory text: Interpreting
the new testament as sacred scripture. San Francisco:
entitled, harmlessly enough, Essays and Reviews. Harper & Row.
Containing contributions by seven English cler- Stendahl, K. (1976). Paul and the introspective conscience
gymen, the collection is likewise a monument to of the west. In Paul among Jews and Gentiles
the serious engagement between religion and sci- (pp. 78–96). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
ence in the Victorian Era. Not only did the essay-
ists respond to Darwin’s theory critically (and
appreciatively), they introduced Great Britain to
methods of interpretation, of reading that made Big Bang Cosmology
biblical studies an equal partner in the advance-
ment of science in the nineteenth century. ▶ Christian Cosmology
Cross-References
Bioethics and the Jewish Culture
▶ Bible as Literature
▶ Hermeneutics, Theological ▶ Bioethics in Judaism
▶ Imago Dei
▶ Myth
▶ Religious Studies
▶ Revelation Bioethics in Christianity
▶ Semantics
▶ Time Edwin C. Hui
▶ Wisdom (Philosophically) Regent College, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Description
References
Barbour, I. G. (1997). Religion and science: Historical

The term “bioethics” was coined in 1927 by Fritz
and contemporary issues. San Francisco: Harper San Jahr, who referred to the ethical use of animals
Francisco (Revised and expanded edition of religion in and plants in scientific research as a “bioethical
an age of science). imperative.” In 1970, the American biochemist
Barr, J. (1978). Fundamentalism. Philadelphia: Westmin-
Van Rensselaer Potter broadened the perspective
ster Press.
Dawkins, R. (2006). The god delusion. Boston: Houghton of the term to include solidarity toward the bio-
Mifflin. sphere, with the intention to establish an aca-
Haught, J. (2003). Deeper than Darwin. Boulder, CO: demic discipline linking biology, ecology,
Westview Press.
Meeks, W. A. (1993). The origins of Christian morality:
medicine, and human values for the purpose of
The first two centuries. New Haven: Yale University helping the survival of both human beings and
Press. other animal species. Today, bioethics also
Miller, K. R. (2008). Only a theory: Evolution and the includes the study of the more commonplace
battle for America’s soul. New York: Viking.
Sakenfeld, K. D. (Ed.) (2006-2009). The new inter-
questions of values which arise in different
preter’s ® dictionary of the bible (Vols. 1–5). branches of medicine. The difference between
Nashville: Abingdon Press. “bioethics” and “medical ethics” is vague and
B 214 Bioethics in Christianity
there are plenty of overlaps between the two One of the earliest and most prominent
fields as witnessed by new terms such as Christian theological voices in bioethics came
“biomedical ethics.” from Paul Ramsey (1913–1988). Ramsey was
When “bioethics” first emerged in the 1960s a Methodist and earned his PhD at Yale under
and 1970s in North America, one key issue was H. Richard Niebuhr. He subsequently taught
human experimentation that exploited vulnerable Christian Ethics at Princeton and published his
populations. These experiments were first influential book on medical ethics in 1970 enti-
conducted by German Nazi and Japanese army tled The Patient as Person in which he exploited
physicians in Germany and China, respectively, several key Christian theological themes, partic-
during WWII. The postwar trial of German army ularly the God-man covenant, creation, human
doctors led to the famous Nuremberg Code brokenness, and dependence to guide in resolving
(1947) that has laid the moral cornerstone for medical quandaries regarding issues such as
ethical human experimentation. Unfortunately, resource allocation, abortion, and genetic engi-
the Nuremberg Code did not prevent the Ameri- neering. Another Christian ethicist of equal
can public from having to face the Tuskegee importance with Ramsey in his contribution to
Syphilis Study, cited as “arguably the most infa- theological bioethics is James M. Gustafson
mous biomedical research study in U.S. history.” (1925–), a Reformed theologian who earned his
The study was conducted between 1932 and 1972 PhD at Yale under H. Richard Niebuhr and held
in Tuskegee, Alabama by the US Public Health teaching posts at Yale, Chicago, and Emory for
Service to study the natural progression of a total of 43 years as a theological ethicist. In his
untreated syphilis in poor, rural black men. The seminal work Can Ethics Be Christian? (1975a)
latter were either not given or prevented from Gustafson provides an affirmative answer to the
accessing penicillin, even though the effective- question and provides the reason that ethics,
ness of the drug for syphilis was established in the including medical ethics, can be Christian
1940s. Other medical and ethical issues that because “religion qualifies morality” (1975a:
emerged in the 1960s included the use of oral 173). This occurs when one’s action and reaction
contraceptives, abortion, withdrawing of futile to the other persons is not only influenced by the
treatments, organ transplants and donations, the persons, but also by the sense of an ultimate
definition of death, and allocation of limited med- power that rules and sustains the world. This
ical resources. Given the life-and-death and suf- affirmation enables Gustafson to draw deeply on
fering nature of bioethical discourses, it is not the Reformed theological tradition to claim that
surprising that the persons who first addressed God is related to the world as Creator, Sustainer,
these issues were theologians. As Daniel Judge, and Redeemer and the implications of
Callahan, one of the early pioneers of bioethics, these theologies for medical ethics. In The Con-
remarked: “When I first became interested in tributions of Theology to Medical Ethics (1975),
bioethics in the mid-1960s, the only resources he specifically makes three theological affirma-
were theological or those drawn from within the tions: “God intends the well-being of the crea-
traditions of medicine, themselves heavily tion” (1975b: 18); “God is both the ordering
shaped by religion” (1990: 2). Hence, although power that preserves and sustains the well-being
the term “theological bioethics” did not come of the creation and the power that creates
into usage until later in the development of bio- new possibilities for well-being in events of
ethics, it is no exaggeration to say that “theolog- nature and history” (1975b: 19); and “humans
ical” was the distinctive birthmark of “bioethics.” are finite and ‘sinful’ agents whose actions have
Initially, in the 1960s and 1970s and onward, the a large measure of power to determine whether
theological voices came primarily from Protes- the well-being of the creation is sustained or
tant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars; later in the fulfilled” (1975b: 22).
1990s, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu scholars These pioneering efforts have been followed
have joined in as well. in the 1980s by other theologians and ethicists,
Bioethics in Christianity 215 B
particularly several Roman Catholics including influence by serving on important policy bodies
Richard McCormick, Germain Grisez, and such as the US National Commission on the Pro-
Bernard Haring, and Jewish scholars including tection of Human Subjects (1974), President’s
Immanuel Jakobovitz and Elliott Dorff. Other Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems
younger female theologians have also joined in in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral B
to provide a voice in feminist bioethics, and they Research (1979), the National Bioethics Advi-
include Lisa Sowle Cahill, Margaret Farley, and sory Commission (1996–2001), and the Presi-
Karen Lebacqz. Depending on the different theo- dent’s Council on Bioethics (2001). As a result,
logical traditions they come from, these theolog- theological viewpoints related to bioethical
ical bioethicists use religious languages and issues are mediated to the public in a variety of
symbols as well as scriptural imageries and ways as these scholars take up different roles in
stories not only when they address audiences teaching, speaking, writing, and advising.
within their own faith traditions, but also when However, the influence of theological bioethi-
they speak in the public square. For example, cists has significantly lessened since the 1980s.
Cahill insists that justice in access to health care Instead of speaking in the center stage of the
resources, guided by “the priority of the prefer- bioethical world, they have become marginalized.
ential option for the poor,” should be the main There are several reasons for this development.
focus for Christian theological bioethics, and this As the discipline of bioethics become more
includes justice in global access to the goods mature in the 1980s, many university philosophy
essential to health. According to this author, jus- departments set up doctoral programs in bioeth-
tice for the poor and the oppressed is not a mere ics. As a result, a new generation of secular phi-
matter of reflecting a progressive or liberal pol- losophers entered this field of scholarship and
icy; rather it is fulfilling a goal demanded by the many feel that the public debate of bioethical
New Testament gospel that should be shared by issues should be conducted on more objective,
both left and right wings of the Christian value-neutral, and rational grounds, purged of
churches. Cahill forcefully argues that theologi- religious biases and dogmas in order to have
cal bioethics must go beyond mere talking to link more public credibility and viability. Confronted
theology to Christian practices that include by this objection, and fearful of losing their influ-
involvement in social and political processes ence in the public arena, many ethicists with reli-
and public discourses. Theological bioethics gious commitments decided to change their
should take the form of “participatory discourse, identity from theological bioethicists to moral
offering a vision, a voice, and action that can philosophers in bioethics. They remain silent
carry into the sphere of democratic activism, about their theological convictions that have hith-
both locally and globally” (2005: 6). Since theol- erto provided rich and substantive discourses on
ogy reveals the nature of the God Christians a variety of bioethical issues, opting for a secular
believe in: historical, personal, relational, loving and minimalistic approach on these issues in order
and just, theological bioethics must inform to win public support. As Leon Kass has
a normative bioethical theory that can lead to observed: “Perhaps for the sake of getting
health care reform that reflects these attributes. a broader hearing, perhaps not to profane sacred
Theological bioethicists have also exerted teachings or to preserve a separation between the
their influence by participating in the formation things of God and the things of Caesar, most
of several centers that shape the field of bioethics religious ethicists enter the public practice of
in the USA, and these include The Institute of ethics leave their special insights at the door and
Religion at the Texas Medical Center, Houston talk about “deontological vs. consequentialist,”
(1954), the Hastings Center in New York (1961), “autonomy vs. paternalism,” justice vs. utility,’
the Kennedy Institute of Bioethics at Georgetown just like everybody else” (1990: 6–7). As
University (1971), and the Park Ridge Center in a result, theology has lost much of its earlier
Chicago (1985). In addition, they also exert their influence by identifying and exposing substantive
B 216 Bioethics in Islam
social problems due to misuses of medicine and Description

technology, such as profit-driven “managed care,”
commercialization of human reproduction, com- In contemporary Islam, bioethics is largely per-
modification, and trivialization of embryonic life, ceived as a subfield of Islamic legal reasoning
reproductive surrogacy, genetic screening, and (fiqh). As a field, it developed since the 1970s
enhancement as a new form of eugenics and so on. and 1980s following the introduction of ground-
breaking medical technologies in reproductive
medicine and end-of-life care. Therefore, bioeth-
Cross-References ics developed primarily as medical ethics. Only
during the 1990s and especially after 2000, the
▶ Bioethics in Islam discussions switched to more general topics with
▶ Bioethics in Judaism less direct links to practical medical care, partic-
▶ Christianity ularly due to the remarkable breakthroughs in the
▶ Christian Ethics field of genetics.
▶ Ethics Since bioethical questions are usually
approached within the framework of fiqh, Islamic
bioethical reasoning is qua definition perceived
as a religious act. So far, no distinct subdiscipline
References
“Islamic bioethics” has developed on a general
Cahill, L. S. (2005). Theological bioethics: Participation,
level. There are several notable religious scholars
justice, change. Washington D.C.: Georgetown Uni- who have specialized in bioethical questions
versity Press. since the 1980s, but the implementation of teach-
Callahan, D. (1990). Religion and the secularization of ing programs is making only slow progress since
bioethics. Theology, religious traditions, and bioeth-
ics. The Hastings Center Report, 20(4), 2–4.
2000 in a handful of Muslim majority countries
(July/August), Special Supplement. such as Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.
Gustafson, J. M. (1975a). Can ethics be Christian? Islamic bioethicists aim to show that the ethi-
Chicago: University of Chicago press. cal-legal system of fiqh, which has its main roots
Gustafson, J. M. (1975b). The contributions of theology to
medical ethics. Milwaukee: Marquette University
in the time span of the seventh until the eleventh
Press. centuries C.E. and developed further until nowa-
Kass, L. (1990). Practicing ethics: Where’s the action? days, is able to contribute answers to the rapid
The Hastings Center Report, 20, 5–12. developments of modern medicine and biotech-
Potter, V. R. (1971). Bioethics: Bridge to the future.
Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
nology. For this reason, their interest in the rela-
Ramsey, P. (1970). The patient as person: Explorations in tion between science and religion is largely
medical ethics. New Haven: Yale University Press. guided by theology, i.e., they assume and often
aim at proving that contemporary scientific dis-
coveries only uncover the rules of God’s creation
and can easily be brought into accordance with
Bioethics in Islam verses from the Qur’an or the collected deeds and
sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and his com-
Thomas Eich panions (Sunna). This would proof scientifically
Asien-Orient-Institut, T€
ubingen University Abt. the heavenly origin of the Qur’anic message and
f€ur Orient- und Islamwissenschaft, T€
ubingen, the godly authorization of Muhammad’s proph-
Germany ethood, because both Qur’an and Sunna from the
seventh century would already contain knowl-
edge uncovered by modern science only in the
Related Terms twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Besides, Qur’an and Sunna texts from a great
Islamic bioethics variety of authors from the four legal schools of
Bioethics in Judaism 217 B
Sunni Islam and the fiqh tradition of the Shiites the traditional concept of heart-lung death has
command authority in Islamic bioethical discus- been substituted by the brain death criterion.
sions due to a consensus about these sources’ A supranatural reality is assumed to exist, mean-
authoritativeness which developed over the cen- ing not only God but also angels and especially
turies. Muslim scholars from the history of sci- a sort of demons (djinns). Therefore, mysteries B
ence or medicine are quoted much more rarely are a break with the usual order of things due to
and usually in passing. God’s will. Mankind’s ability of knowledge is
During the history of fiqh, the concept was generally seen as limited and depending on
developed that Islamic law serves five fundamen- God’s will. Truth can only be found through the
tal values: the protection of religion, human life, interpretation of the foundational texts of Islam,
offspring, property, and intellect, respectively. In but differing perceptions because differences
Islamic bioethical debates, the protection of life in time and space are accepted as an intrinsic
and offspring receive most attention. The main element of fiqh.
principles in achieving the protection of these
values are several forms of balancing legally
protected interests (sg. maslaha). In addition, Cross-References
legal maxims such as “necessity makes the for-
bidden allowed” (al-darura tubıˆh al-mahzûrât) ▶ Anthropology in Islam
provide the possibility of exceptional rulings. ▶ Bioethics in Christianity
Generally speaking, biotechnological and medi- ▶ Ethics
cal innovations are considered unproblematic, ▶ Humanism in Islam
because it is argued that they cannot infringe on ▶ Medicine in Islam
God’s creational will otherwise the created man-
kind would not have been capable of such inno-
vations. They are only viewed as forbidden or References
reprehensible if they collide with a religious
rule directly or indirectly. However, exceptional Atighetchi, D. (2007). Islamic bioethics: Problems and
perspectives. Berlin: Springer.
rulings are allowed within the framework of
Sachedina, A. (2009). Islamic biomedical ethics: Princi-
balancing legally protected interests. ples and application. New York: Oxford University
Nature and everything created apart from Press.
humans are explicitly said to serve the purpose
of attending mankind, which is thus entitled to
make use of it to enhance its life quality. Humans
are conceptionalized as the only being with Bioethics in Judaism
a mixture of earthly and heavenly components
(the body and the soul). Therefore, they constitute Norbert M. Samuelson
a linkage between this world and the next, which School of Historical, Philosophical, and
elevates them over the rest of God’s creation. Life Religious Studies, Arizona State University,
is considered to begin with the mixing of egg and Tempe, AZ, USA
sperm, although there is considerable and yet
undecided debate about the ontological status of
nidation. The majority of Muslim bioethicists Related Terms
follow the model of increasing protection rights
in the course of embryological development, Bioethics and the Jewish culture; Jewish
granting full protection rights only after the bioethics
120th day of pregnancy, commonly perceived to
be the date of ensoulment. Consciousness and Jewish bioethics deals with major moral,
reason are situated in the soul. Since the 1970s, religious, and legal issues for communal forms
B 218 Bioethics in Judaism
of Judaism in modern medicine. Each issue is (6) in order to select sex, (7) in order to test for
described biologically and medically, related to specifically marked Jewish genes, and (8) in
issues in traditional rabbinic law, and then order to study both the genealogy of individuals
discussed by reference to leading contemporary and the collective history of the Jewish people,
rabbis in different contemporary Jewish religious (9) morally judging genes in general, and finally
movements, notably Orthodox, Reform, and (10) using genetics to make naturally non-kosher
Conservative (noting differences between the food kosher.
seven main groups of communal Jewish life – Multiple moral recommendations emerge,
the Ashkenazi, Roman, North African, Kurdish, not all of which are complementary with each
Near Eastern, Yemenite, and Ethiopian – as well other. It is not surprising to see that many of the
as some numerically significant minorities – the differences between liberal and conservative
Lemba of North Africa, the B’nai Menashe of rabbis on questions of medical and biological
India, and the Crypto Jews of South America). ethics correlate, especially in North America,
The discussion of bioethics is guided at with differences between different kinds of
the most universal level by four general princi- Christians, liberal and conservative. However,
ples of western ethics and eight general principles some of the answers are surprising and do not
of Jewish ethics. The western principles correlate to general social class and political
are (1) Maximize freedom of patient choice identities in American and European society.
(Autonomy), (2) Cause no injury to the patient Moral judgments about cloning are a dramatic
(Nonmaleficence), (3) Promote patient welfare example of differences between Jewish and
(Beneficence), and (4) Distribute benefits in Christian moral political stances in western soci-
a just manner (Justice). The rabbinic principles ety. In general, traditional rabbinic authorities
are (1) Be fruitful and multiply (with reference to tend to allow cloning while more liberal author-
Gen 1:2), (2) Be concerned for the suffering of ities oppose it. Similarly, the logic of Jewish law
animals, (3) Repair the world (tikkun olam), is such that traditional Jews tend to prefer non-
(4) Do not destroy (with reference to Dt 20:19), Jewish sperm donors while liberal Jews tend to
(5) Preserve life, (6) Heal (with reference to prefer Jewish donors. The principle underlying
Ex 21:19), (7) Act according to the natural way, the first anomaly is the extraordinary pressure
and (8) There is nothing new under the sun following the Holocaust to parent Jews (viz., be
(with reference to Eccl 1:9). fruitful and multiply), and the principle under-
What emerges are positions on the issues lying the second anomaly is the extreme nega-
that will be familiar to any student of bioethics tive value placed on any form of incest (viz., act
(from the application of the four general princi- naturally).
ples) but will be seen in distinctively new per-
spectives (from the application of the eight
rabbinic principles). Issues commonly discussed Cross-References
include (1) methods to correct infertility, male
and female, (2) responsibility toward all stages ▶ Creation in Judaism
of preembryos, from stem cells to 40 days after ▶ Feminism in Judaism
fertilization, (3) cloning, (4) designer genes and ▶ Judaism: An Overview
children, (5) the special case of human engineer- ▶ Natural Sciences in Judaism
ing in order to avoid the eight deadly genetic ▶ Philosophy in Judaism
diseases especially prevalent among Jews of ▶ Psychology in Judaism
eastern European descent – Canavan disease, ▶ Redemption in Judaism
Huntington disease, cystic fibrosis, Niemann- ▶ Revelation in Judaism
Pick disease, Gaucher disease, fan coni-anemia, ▶ Secularism in Judaism
Bloom Syndrome, and familial dysautonomia, ▶ Theology in Judaism
Bioinformatics, Computational 219 B
References analyze the data and interpret the results from
a biological perspective.
Bleich, J. D. (1998). Bioethical dilemmas. Hoboken, NJ: The development of Bioinformatics goes back
Ktav Publishing House.
as far as 1948, to the Ph.D. thesis by Dr. Margaret
Dorff, E. N. (1998). Matters of life and death. Philadelphia
and Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society. Oakley Dayhoff on the use of computers in chem- B
Feldman, D. (1968). Birth control in Jewish law. istry and biology. She used her knowledge of
New York: New York University Press. chemistry, mathematics, biology, and computer
Jakobovits, I. (1959). Jewish medical ethics. New York:
science to develop an entirely new field.
Bloch Publishing Co.
Rosner, F. (1986). Modern medicine and Jewish ethics. However, the release of the first draft of the
Hoboken, NJ/New York: Ktav Publishing House/ Human Genome Project in 2001 was one of the
Yeshiva University Press. main events that generated a good deal of atten-
Wahrman, M. Z. (2002). Brave new Judaism: when
tion from scientists from different fields. There-
science and scripture collide. Lebanon, NH:
Brandeis University Press. fore, in the last two decades, we have witnessed
a significant increase of available online tools and
services, such as databases, applications to ana-
lyze biological and genetic data, gene ontologies,
Bioinformatics, Computational and paper repositories. Several technologies to
support research at the laboratories have also
Fernando Nino been developed. Among the main data reposito-
Computer Science Department, National ries are GenBank repository of nucleic acid
University of Colombia, Bogota, DC, Colombia sequences (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Genbank/), the SWISS-PROT database of protein
sequences, and DNA Data Bank of Japan, DDBJ
Related Terms (http://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp/).
Computational biology
Self-identification
Description Science
Bioinformatics is not a science itself. It may be
The field of Bioinformatics is an area of study considered as a scientific and technological inter-
that involves several fields, including computer disciplinary endeavor, since it involves theoreti-
science, molecular biology, genetics, and statis- cal and applied aspects of several sciences and
tics. Bioinformatics is devoted to the develop- technologies. It integrates work from biology,
ment of theoretical and computational models computer science, mathematics, statistics, genet-
and technologies for the solution of problems ics, medicine, and chemistry.
based on molecular data. In general, it involves
the use of information technologies for the man-
agement of biological and genetic information, Characteristics
namely, to collect, store, analyze, and integrate
data. One aspect that makes this discipline distinctive is
The main goals of Bioinformatics are the fact that it integrates several sciences and dis-
(1) to manage data in such a way that it allows ciplines. Bioinformatics is mainly concerned with
easy access to the existing information and understanding living beings and their internal pro-
to submit new entries as they are produced; cesses during their lifetime and how genetic infor-
(2) to develop technological tools that help ana- mation is transferred throughout generations, and
lyze biological data; and (3) to use these tools to their interactions with the environment. It involves
B 220 Bioinformatics, Computational
the development and use of technological Key Values

resources that contribute to the solution of health
problems and to some extent understanding genet- The key value of Bioinformatics is the study of
ically related problems. living beings to provide explanations to diverse
biological phenomena and solutions to health
problems that can improve the quality of life in
Relevance to Science and Religion humankind.
Bioinformatics studies biological systems, models

biological elements, and processes from a scientific Conceptualization
point of view. It also deals with the development of
technological tools using information and telecom- Nature/World
munication resources to support research processes Nature is conceptualized as the constituent phys-
in biology, genetics, and chemistry. A significant ical and biological elements that form the uni-
amount of research in Bioinformatics involves verse. World is the set of all physical elements in
genetic information and assumes concepts the universe.
supported on evolutionary theory; it attempts to
give scientific explanations to some of the same Human Being
main issues that Religion deals with such as the A human being is considered as a complex biolog-
origin of life and the evolution of living beings. ical being endowed with special features that make
him/her very efficient at problem solving and for
understanding and changing his/her environment
Sources of Authority for his/her benefit and those of their own species.
Although there are several institutions that may Life and Death
be considered as the main authorities that are Life is conceptualized as the presence of special
concerned with particular subareas of Bioinfor- functions in biological systems that allow them to
matics, the following organizations can be con- remain in its environment performing its primary
sidered as the well-recognized worldwide functions. Death is the event that happens when
authorities in Bioinformatics: a living organism is not capable of continuing to
• The European Molecular Biology Laboratory, perform its basic functions.
EMBL (http://www.embl.org/)
• The National Institute of Health, NIH, from Reality
the United States Department of Health and Reality is considered as the set of all elements in
Human Services (http://www.nih.gov/) the universe that exist and can affect and interact
• National Institute of Genetics of Japan, NIG with each other.
(http://www.nig.ac.jp/index-e.html)
• The National center for Biotechnology Infor- Knowledge
mation, NCBI (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) Knowledge is a set of data, rules, and facts known
about a particular system or process.
Ethical Principles Truth

Truth is some factual knowledge about the world
This discipline deals with the study of living beings, that can be verified.
and in many cases with testing new medical devel-
opments on animals and even on human beings. Perception
Therefore, its ethical principles are the general prin- Perception is some partial knowledge that any
ciples from biological and medical sciences. life form or artificial being acquires from its
Biological Anthropology and Human Ethology 221 B
environment through some special components in bioinformatics). Hoboken: Wiley-Interscience.
provided for such a task. ISBN 0470097736.
Mount, D. W. (2004). Bioinformatics: Sequence and
genome analysis. Cold Spring Harbor: Cold Spring
Time Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN 0879697121.
Time is a reference measure that is used to keep Pevsner, J. (2009). Bioinformatics and functional geno- B
track of the changes that occur in the world. mics. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0470085851.
Ramsden, J. (2009). Bioinformatics: An introduction
(Computational biology). London: Springer. ISBN
Consciousness 1848002564.
Consciousness is a life form or organism’s ability
to know about itself and its role in the world and
of being aware of the consequences of its actions.
Biological
Rationality/Reason
Rationality is an ability of human beings to ana- ▶ Biology of Religion
lyze situations and make what they believe are
the right decisions under those circumstances.
Mystery Biological Anthropology

A mystery is something for which there is no
formal or scientific explanation. ▶ Physical Anthropology (Paleoanthropology)
Cross-References
Biological Anthropology and Human
▶ Algorithms, Computer Ethology
▶ Biology, Theoretical
▶ Complex Systems Jay R. Feierman*
▶ Graph Theory University of New Mexico, Corrales, NM, USA
▶ Natural Language Processing
Related Terms
References
Anthropological behavioral ecology; Anthropo-
Barnes, M. R. (2007). Bioinformatics for geneticists:
A bioinformatics primer for the analysis of genetic
logical genetics; Anthropology and biology;
data. Chichester: Wiley. ISBN 0470026197. Anthropology and Darwin; Anthropology and
Ewens, W. J., & Grant, G. R. (2001). Statistical methods in evolution; Biosocial anthropology; Darwinian
bioinformatics. New York: Springer. ISBN Theory and anthropology; Ethology of humans
0387952292.
and biological anthropology
Gu, J., & Bourne, P. E. (2009). Structural bioinformatics
(Methods of biochemical analysis). Hoboken: Wiley-
Blackwell. ISBN 0470181052.
Jones, N. C., & Pevzner, P. A. (2004). An introduction to Description
bioinformatics algorithms (Computational molecular
biology). Cambridge: The MIT Press. ISBN
0262101068. Anthropology means the study of human beings.
Krane, D. E., & Raymer, M. L. (2002). Fundamental In the early years of anthropology in the
concepts of bioinformatics (The genetics place series).
San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings. ISBN
0805346333.
Mandoiu, I., & Zelikovsky, A. (2008). Bioinformatics *Jay R. Feierman has retired from University of
algorithms: Techniques and applications (Wiley series New Mexico
B 222 Biological Anthropology and Human Ethology
nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth ethology. Human ethology is a subdiscipline of
century, the discipline was divided into cultural ethology. Ethologists, whether they study
anthropology and physical anthropology. nonhuman species or humans, usually ask one
Cultural anthropologists studied features that or more of the four questions about behavior
were transmitted across generations by social originally proposed by one of ethology’s foun-
learning and which constituted what anthropolo- ders, Nobel Laureate Niko Tinbergen: What is
gists considered culture. These features could be the behavior’s evolutionary history (phylogeny)?
material objects, such as tools, or they could What is the behavior’s development in the
be the structural design features in describable lifespan of the individual (ontogeny)? What are
patterns of behavior that were observable in liv- the behavior’s proximate, mechanistic causes?
ing societies. In addition, cultural anthropologists Does the behavior increase one’s survival or
often interpreted that which had been transmitted have adaptiveness? Many ethologists use Niko
across generations culturally within religion, Tinbergen’s definition of behavior, which is
as by Clifford Geertz or structural anthropolo- “the total of movements made by the intact ani-
gists, such as Levy Strauss. In contrast, during mal” (Tinbergen 1951). However, other defini-
this same time period, physical anthropologists tions of behavior used by ethologists and human
were primarily interested in the comparative ethologists are broader than movements. Syno-
study of bones. They compared the bones of nyms for ethology are the biology of behavior and
hominoid and hominid ancestors to modern the comparative study of behavior. Even though
human bones in attempts to reconstruct the evo- human ethology emerged from biology rather
lutionary history of the human species. than from anthropology, they both share an inter-
In the latter half of the twentieth century, est in understanding human behavior from
a small number of anthropologists began to a biological and evolutionary perspective.
study human behavior as well as human culture Ethology can also be divided into behavioral
using Darwinian evolutionary theory. This new ethology, cognitive ethology, and neuroethology.
approach broke down the previous dichotomy of Behavioral ethology’s emphasis is on the move-
anthropology into cultural and physical and cre- ments themselves, often in conjunction with
ated a new more encompassing category called trying to determine the intra- as well as extra-
biological anthropology (Standford et al. 2008). individual proximate causes of the movements.
Within biological anthropology, there are many Cognitive ethology’s emphases are the proximate
more subdivisions, such as biosocial anthropol- cognitive functions as well as the evolution of the
ogy, anthropological genetics, and anthropologi- neural structures whose proximate functions they
cal behavioral ecology. What these new are. Cognitive proximate functions include such
approaches have in common was that they all things as thinking, desiring, planning, goals,
use Darwinian principles of evolution by natural etc. Neuroethology’s emphasis is on neurophysi-
selection to study what used to be separate ological, proximate, and causal mechanisms of
domains of cultural and physical anthropology. naturally occurring behaviors.
The most surprising application of Darwinian Ethology emerged out of zoology and the nat-
theory has been to cultural anthropology uralistic study of animal behavior at the end of
(Boyd and Richerson 1985). the nineteenth century (Burkhardt 2005). By the
Parallel to the introduction of Darwinian evo- early to mid-twentieth century, ethology began
lutionary theory into anthropology in the second developing a terminology, methods, and eventu-
half of twentieth century was the extension of ally theoretical formulations with which to
Darwinian evolutionary theory from the biologi- scientifically study and understand the behaviors
cal study of the behavior of nonhuman animals to of animals in their natural environments
the study of the behavior of human beings. The (Immelmann and Beer 1989). Today, ethological
branch of biology that was studying behavior methods (more so than ethological theory) are
of animals in their natural habitats was called commonly used when the behavior of animals is
studied in their natural or seminatural environ- a good observational foundation of the behavior
ments. Ethological methods have been adopted of animals by the time more formally trained
by individuals who now call themselves zoologists started to systematize their observa-
animal behaviorists, sociobiologists, biosocial tional methods in the early twentieth century.
anthropologists, comparative and evolutionary In the first half of the twentieth century, B
psychologists, primatologists, behavioral ecolo- ethology – primarily under the guidance of
gists, and human ethologists. Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen, and Karl von
In the latter half of the twentieth century a few Frisch – developed an inductive approach by
ethologists began applying the methods and the- careful observation of individual organisms
ory of animal ethology to the study of human alone, in pairs, or in groups of a relatively few
beings (Eibl-Eibesfeldt 1989). One of the most species, predominantly birds, fish, and insects
recent developments in human ethology has been (bees). Only after a number of years of observa-
its application to the understanding of human tion and inductive research did the founders of
religious behavior (Feierman 2009). When reli- ethology generate theoretical propositions by
gious behavior is the focus of ethological study, which instinctive behaviors of animals could
other aspects of religion – moods, feelings, be understood and which outcomes could be
beliefs, and values, the essence of religious expe- predicted. In a move away from the early twenti-
rience – become contributing causes of the eth-century “instinct theories” of Harvard
behavior. In addition, questions about religious Psychology Professor William McDougal, the
behavior’s evolutionary history, development in early ethologists conceptualized instincts as coor-
the lifespan of the individual, its proximate, dinated motor pattern behaviors. These theoreti-
mechanistic causes, and does the behavior have cal propositions then addressed the proximate,
adaptiveness, can all be asked. Ethological stud- causal mechanisms for certain types of these
ies of religion are very narrow in scope. They are stereotyped instinctive behaviors, which are
not going to answer the big questions about reli- seen in all vertebrates, including humans. Prior
gion. They have to be considered adjuncts and to this time and based on the ways of conceptu-
complements to other ways in which the fullness alizing behaviors of McDougal, so-called instinc-
of religion is studied and understood. However, tive behaviors were thought to be outside the
within this narrow confine, there are aspects of realm of scientific understanding. In 1973,
religion which ethology may be uniquely quali- the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology
fied to address. was given to three ethologists – Konrad Lorenz,
Niko Tinbergen, and Karl von Frisch – for their
discoveries of how to understand animal
Self-identification instincts.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, a few
Scientific disciplines usually start out, if possible, individuals began applying ethological theory
with an observation and description phase, and methods – as worked out primarily on fish,
followed by a categorization of that which has birds, and insects – to the study of humans. Much
been observed and described into smaller units of this early work involved observation (often
that become the units of specific study. To guide with the use of documenting film), description,
the study, theoretical propositions, which deduc- and applying the theory of instinct, developed in
tively predict outcomes of either spontaneous acts the lower animals by the early ethologists, to
of nature (including specific naturally occurring some of the more basic human behaviors –
behaviors) or of specific experiments done in the courtship, mother–infant interactions, children
field or the laboratory, are formulated. Ethology playing behavior, etc. Much of human ethology’s
was developed out of the observations of animals current methodology is still inductive. Because of
in their natural settings by late nineteenth-century the strong observational methods used in human
naturalists. As a result, ethology already had ethology and because the main topic of study is
behavior, which is observable, human ethology more emphasis on understanding “body lan-
can be said to be in the late descriptive phase in its guage” in humans ethologically than vocalized
development as a science, still struggling to dis- or written symbolic language.
cover theoretical propositions with which to Cognitive ethology is distinct from cognitive
understand the more complex and variable psychology and cognitive science in terms of
behaviors of human beings beyond the simple, the emphasis on cognitive phenomenon as seen
coordinated motor patterns and reflexes. Much in natural environments. The same applies to
human behavior appears to be outside of the neuroethology as compared to neuroscience in
realm of understanding by current human etho- general. In neuroethology, the emphasis is on
logical methods and theory. the proximate, neurophysiological causes of
behavior in natural environments. To date, most
neuroethology has been on simpler organisms.
Characteristics However, with functional brain imaging, at least
some type of neuroethology of humans is now
In comparison to the other biological disciplines, possible.
ethology is distinctive in that behavior (the move-
ment of an individual) is always the object of
study, even if the particular study is asking one Relevance to Science and Religion
of Tinbergen’s four questions about behavior.
There is overlap of ethology with a number of Human ethology is definitely a newcomer to the
other disciplines, although ethology is distinctive scientific study of religion when compared to
in a number of ways. The emphasis in behavioral other scientific disciplines. Although in the
ethology is on observing movements directly. 1970s and 1980s, there were comments about
This is in contrast to what people say about how religious behavior from some of ethology’s sister
they behave or would behave or how they answer disciplines, such as sociobiology, biosocial
questionnaires on how they behave. anthropology, and behavioral ecology, an early
Other disciplines that include behavior in their book about religion by someone who is an ethol-
area of study often make the actual movement of ogist was Why God’s Persist: A Scientific
the individual an ancillary item or do not study it Approach to Religion, published in 1999 and
at all. Sociobiology, which can be considered the written by Robert A. Hinde (1999). In the past
deductive sister discipline of the more inductive 10 years, there have been a number of edited
discipline of ethology, starts out with a theoreti- books about the evolution of religion that have
cal proposition generated from some aspect of contained a few chapters that can be considered
evolutionary theory and then predicts the behav- ethological, at least in method, and where behav-
ior of individual organisms. Ethology more often ior was the object of study (Voland and
starts out with the behavior of a single organism, Schiefenhovel 2009). Human ethology during
dyads, or groups of organisms in a particular spe- the 1970s and 1980s was primarily interested in
cies and then sees the degree to which the princi- other aspects of human behavior, such as court-
ples governing the behavior are species-specific ship, children’s play behavior, agonistic behav-
or illustrative of a more general principle that ior, dominance relations, and political behavior.
extends over a wider taxa. That methodology During this same period of time – the late 1980s
has been criticized. to present – a new academic discipline called
Because human ethology developed out of evolutionary psychology was emerging. Many
nonhuman animal ethology, primarily fish, of the individuals who had been attracted to
birds, and bees, human ethologists have at times human ethology in the 1970s and 1980s found
been rightly accused by other disciplines that themselves more drawn to evolutionary psychol-
study human behavior of studying humans as ogy where the emphasis was less on behavior per
though they did not talk. There has been much se and more on the “ultimate functions” or
adaptiveness of behavior. At the same time, the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in
main journal publishing human ethology studies 1973 for their paradigm-changing work as
changed its name from Ethology and Sociobiol- ethologists.
ogy to Evolution and Human Behavior, reflecting There are of course many individuals who
the growing influence of evolutionary psychol- preceded them whose names are all but forgotten B
ogy and the waning influence of human ethology by people who today consider themselves
on the evolutionary and biological approaches to ethologists. Such names include Charles Otis
studying and understanding human behavior. Whitman, Oskar Heinroth, George Romanes,
Human ethologists organized themselves into and others. Both Konrad Lorenz and Niko
The International Society for Human Ethology Tinbergen had students who studied under them
(ISHE) in the 1970s. This small society, which and who also became influential in the field. In
has somewhat over 200 members, has met bien- the 1970s and 1980s, the two most influential
nially to the present. It also publishes the Human students in terms of their impact on human ethol-
Ethology Bulletin (ISSN 0739-2036). At the 19th ogy were Desmond Morris, a student of Niko
biennial meeting of the society at the University Tinbergen, and Iren€aus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, a student
of Bologna in 2008, a symposium was held on of Konrad Lorenz. Morris published a number of
“The Biology of Religious Behavior: A Human general readership books, such as Manwatching,
Ethological Perspective on Religion.” That was on the application of ethology to human behavior.
the first time that the society targeted religion as Eibl-Eibesfeldt is known best for his 1989 book,
an object of study. There were 12 papers on the Human Ethology.
biology of religious behavior given within Another individual whose work is clearly
the symposium. That symposium inspired the human ethology, but who is not really identified
book of a similar name Feierman (2009). by that name, is Paul Ekman, Professor of Psy-
Human ethology’s relevance in the science chology in the Department of Psychiatry at The
religious dialogue is that ethology in general University of California, San Francisco. His work
and human ethology in particular tend to concen- on the emotions, especially in the face, has had
trate on that which is observable as the object of wide influence in many different fields.
study. As such, the ethological study of religion There are a small number of “F2 generation”
concentrates on the observable aspects of religion academic descendents of the Nobel Prize gener-
that can be studied in a scientific way. This type ation, whose work today is continuing human
of understanding can aid in understanding some ethology. In addition, there are a number of
of the ways at the biobehavioral level that differ- other individuals who were not direct academic
ent religions are similar. This similarity across descendents of the three Nobel Prize winners in
religions can aid in bridging the religious divide human ethology but who have had a major impact
as well as in coping with religion’s excess, as in on the field. Michael T. McGuire, Professor
fanaticism. Emeritus at UCLA and founding Editor in Chief
of the journal Ethology and Sociobiology, is one
such individual. Some other influential people in
Sources of Authority human ethology include William Charlesworth,
the late Daniel G. Freedman, and Robert
As a science, the sources of authority are those A. Hinde. Today, there are a few young people
authors whose work has been peer reviewed and still being attracted to the field of human ethol-
published and who have had the most influence ogy, many of whom are from eastern Europe.
on other people in the field. The most influential However, the influence of the discipline of
sources of authority in ethology are its founders human ethology both in influencing how human
Konrad Lorenz (1903–1999), Niko Tinbergen behavior is conceptualized and in attracting new
(1907–1988), and, to a lesser extent, Karl von students to the field peaked in the 1970s and
Frisch (1886–1982). All three men won the 1980s.
Ethical Principles people say about their behavior. The proper

place to study human behavior is in a naturalistic
As a scientific discipline, human ethology sub- setting that comes close to the type of setting in
scribes to the basic ethical principles that guide which such behavior would have evolved or is
all science. These principles include empiricism, currently a setting in which the behavior is occur-
objectivity, and openness to all research- ring. This is often called a naturalistic or
supported assertions, critical thinking, and seminaturalistic environment. In addition, there
respect for all people, the environment, and ani- are some core values of all ethologists, such as
mal life. separating the form or structure of a behavior
Because human ethology often observes and from the proximate function of the behavior.
sometimes films or videotapes the behavior of
human beings in naturalistic settings, informed
consent is an ethical issue. However, it is not an Conceptualization
issue that is much discussed. The general consen-
sus appears to be that behavior in public places Nature/World
can be filmed or videotaped, even without Nature is the environment in which humans find
explicit consent. Exceptions might be where the themselves and to which their structures adapt.
behavior is out of the ordinary, would embarrass Whereas the current environment is not the same
or be otherwise detrimental to the person being as the ancestral environment in which many
videotaped, or might reveal personal information human adaptations developed, the current envi-
not intended to be public by the behaving ronment would still be considered “nature” for
individual. modern human beings. The world is synonymous
Many of the early human ethology films were with the planet earth. Nature for human beings is
made by Iren€aus Eibl-Eibesfeldt on a number of that part of the planet earth which humans
tribal societies. These films are currently being inhabit.
archived in Vienna, Austria. The technique to
film unstaged, naturalistic behaviors, often in Human Being
tribal villages, was the use of a mirror lens. This A human being is defined as a member of the
was a telephoto-looking lens that had a mirror species Homo sapiens. Ethologists conceptualize
prism in it which actually captured images at human beings as having evolved from hominid-
a 90 angle from where the front of the lens was like ancestors over the past several million years
pointing. as the result of Darwinian natural selection. Our
There is nothing in the official constitution of closest living relatives would be the chimpanzee
the International Society of Human Ethology, the and bonobo, which are great apes from which we
Bulletin, or on the society’s web site that addresses diverged approximately 6 million years ago.
ethical principles of the discipline. Ethical behav- Human beings are distinguished by their cogni-
ior was however a topic that was addressed from tive capacities that include their intelligence and
an ethological perspective in general, such as how their use of symbolic language and reasoning.
did it evolve. It was not addressed as it pertains to Human beings also have a degree of self-
work done by human ethologists. awareness and self-consciousness that allow for
reasoning about their own being and behavior,
which allow for moral capacities not possible in
Key Values lower forms of life.
If values are the rank order of different beliefs Life and Death
within a value system, human ethology has the Ethology, as a life science, sees life as combina-
following key values. The proper study of human tions of organic and inorganic elements capable
behavior is human behavior itself, not what of replicating and adapting to changing
environments with changes in the structures of parameters can be defined, truth is what is left
the organism through natural selection. The ori- when what is not true is eliminated. Human ethol-
gin of life is of course unknown. However, ethologists can study humans as they attempt to deter-
ogists presume that the transformation from mine what is true. However, in the process of
nonliving to living matter occurred by natural, natural selection, what is contributory to survival B
rather than supernatural, means. Death of an indi- and reproductive success is more important than
vidual is conceptualized as the termination of life. what is true. As a result, humans harbor many
Death is inevitable for individual organisms. The beliefs (that which is held to be true), which may
organism that is dead is no longer capable of self- not be true. Many of these beliefs have to do with
maintenance. The elements of the organism return religion and politics.
to the earth from which it sprang. Most ethologists
would subscribe to the concept that human beings Perception
are “carriers” of the DNA that made us and that The adaptive modification of sensory information
evolution and natural selection is adapting DNA to so that it is potentially actionable. Within cogni-
changing environments, which is accomplished by tive ethology, the issue of subjective perception is
various mechanisms including new species forma- an issue. For the behaviorist branch of ethology,
tion. Human beings are such a species and perception can be determined experimentally as
a relatively new one at that. Human ethology those features of a stimulus which are required to
does not take a position on life after death or get a specific response. Often, only certain features
a continuation of consciousness after death. of a stimulus are attended to and therefore needed.
Reality Time
Reality is conceptualized as the extra-individual The directional interval between behaviors
environment to which the organism, in this case (movements) that are not done simultaneously
the human species, adapts. The perception of the or the interval between the repetition of the
individual, by which subjective reality is known, same behavior, as measured in standard units,
is not considered the same as reality, as each such as seconds, hours, days, etc. Ethology only
species only perceives those aspects of reality deals with time at a proximate and practical level.
that are required to foster the survival of the It does not address the bigger issues in terms of
species in a natural environment. As such, abso- the relationship between time, space, gravity,
lute reality is unknowable from an ethological etc., that physicists contemplate.
perspective.
Consciousness
Knowledge An awareness of one’s awareness, where aware-
Is the adaptive application of information (that ness is defined as the ability of a stimulus to cause
which is necessary to make decisions). Adaptive a change in behavior. A conscious individual is
means that the information is applied in a way aware that specific stimuli are causing a change in
that fosters reproductive success or survival of behavior. Organisms can be aware but not con-
the bearer (or the bearer’s kin) of the knowledge. scious, but all organisms that are conscious are
The theoretical basis for human ethology is crit- also aware. Consciousness also allows for an
ical realism. The presumption is that every adap- awareness of self, but awareness of self is not
tation in an organism reflects a fitness-improving a requirement of consciousness. Most ethologists
feature to reality outside of the organism. presume that humans are not the only species that
has consciousness, as it may be present in all
Truth birds and mammals. However, based on experi-
Truth is what is. Science in general and human mentation, only some taxa like the great apes and
ethology in particular cannot determine what is perhaps some sea mammals may have an aware-
true, only what is not true. In some way, if the ness of self as part of their consciousness.
Rationality/Reason give to these types of questions. Religion must

Rationality is the adaptive, cognitive processing compete with other areas of human life for the
of information by evolved algorithms. Cognitions attention of the biobehavioral scientists who
reconstruct the structures of reality outside the study these types of questions. However, given
subject from sensory impressions perceived as the fact that religious differences now are dan-
projections of these structures. The capacity for gerously dividing the world, perhaps more ethol-
a posteriori and a priori reasoning is thought to ogists and other biobehavioral scientists will turn
have evolved by Darwinian natural selection. their attention toward religion.
Konrad Lorenz’s Behind the Mirror (Lorenz
1977) is a treatise on how a priori reasoning
could have evolved by natural selection. The Cross-References
main difference between a priori and a posteriori
reasoning is that in a priori reasoning, the objects ▶ Biology
of reasoning are symbols with attributed mean- ▶ Body
ing, rather than objects in the natural ▶ Clinical Psychology
environment. ▶ Cognitive Science of Religion
▶ Comparative Neuroscience
Mystery ▶ Collective Behavior
Mystery would be anything that is not known ▶ Evolution
within the realm of scientific certainty. As such, ▶ Evolutionary Psychology
much of nature and the world and the laws that ▶ Love (Affective, Sexual)
govern them are still mysteries. ▶ Natural Selection
▶ Social Psychology
Relevant Themes
References
Additional issues and themes that are relevant for
human ethology, put in the form of questions, are Boyd, R., & Richerson, P. J. (1985). Culture and the
as follows: evolutionary process. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press.
1. What are the proximate mechanisms by which
Burkhardt, R. W., Jr. (2005). Patterns of behavior:
religion has such a powerful influence on Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen, and the founding of
human behavior? ethology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2. What are the actual biological factors and Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. (1989). Human ethology. Hawthorne:
Aldine de Gruyter.
mechanisms that make being religious the
Feierman, J. R. (Ed.). (2009). The biology of religious
default position for most human beings? behavior: The evolutionary origins of faith and reli-
3. Is there a critical period for the acquisition of gion. Santa Barbara: Praeger/ABC CLIO.
religion, like the critical period thought to be Hinde, R. A. (1999). Why gods persist: A scientific
approach to religion. New York: Routledge.
necessary for the acquisition of language?
Immelmann, K., & Beer, C. (1989). A dictionary of ethol-
4. What are the mechanisms of faith by which ogy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
humans believe things that are counterfactual Lorenz, K. (1977). Behind the mirror: A search for
and counterintuitive? a natural history of human knowledge. New York:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
5. What are the mechanisms of subjective reli- Standford, C., Allen, J. S., & Anton, S. C. (2008). Biolog-
gious experience? ical anthropology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River:
Ethology, in conjunction with other biobehav- Prentice Hall.
ioral sciences, has the capacity to answer all of Tinbergen, N. (1951). The study of instinct. New York:
these questions. However, whether these ques-
Voland, E., & Schiefenhovel, W. (Eds.). (2009). The bio-
tions will be answered will depend on the priority logical evolution of religious mind and behavior.
that ethologists and other biobehavioral scientists New York: Springer.
Biological Hierarchies 229 B
out some maneuvers to surround enemy forces as
Biological Evolution soon as possible. A staff officer will translate this
into a more particular order, supplying, for exam-
▶ Evolution, Convergent ple, a date and time when this should be carried
out. A lower ranking officer will then further B
modify this into directions that take into account
the particular terrain his group is confronting.
Biological Hierarchies And so the general’s order is gradually refined,
being made more particular with much greater
Stanley N. Salthe detail added along the way. The logic of this
Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton flow of command is that of a subsumptive hierar-
University, Binghamton, NY, USA chy (Polanyi 1968; Sabelli 2005; Salthe 2012).
The general’s order subsumes those of his
subordinates.
Biologists have in the course of their activities Turning now to biology, beginning with Lin-
constructed two kinds of hierarchies, which have naeus in the eighteenth century, the discipline of
different logical bases (Salthe 2002, 2012). biological systematics (Schuh 2000), which is
Before getting into details about these, consider concerned with determining genealogical relation-
a very commonly acknowledged example of ships among the many different species in the
▶ hierarchy – the organization of an institution world, has been constructing a “tree of life.” This
like the army. Here we have, in simplified form, form, which is that of a subsumptive hierarchy,
a general (in corporations, it would be a CEO), looks like the tree in the structural command hier-
who controls several staff officers, who in turn archy discussed above, but its meaning is very
each control several officers of lower rank, who different. At the base of this tree is represented
each control many soldiers. A diagram of this the oldest ancestral taxon. Branching from this are
would show lines of command from the general waves of descendant taxa gradually approaching
at the top branching downward as an upside- contemporary, living ones at the tips of the
down tree. There are two kinds of hierarchies branches. In evolutionary biology, this picture
involved in the relations here. represents the evolutionary generation of new
On the one hand, we can see that the social role taxa from ancestral ones, as genetic information
of a general, his sphere of interest and influence, (like a command) is passed on from extinct species
is geographically much greater – for example, an to more recent ones. The latter carry an increasing
entire battlefield – than that of any of his sub- amount of information generated by various kinds
ordinates, while a soldier at the bottom of the of mutations along the way. And so the tree of life
hierarchy would be concerned only with the could be thought of as being connected by way of
immediate surroundings of his own current posi- genetic information. The older genetic informa-
tion. So the social role of a general actually tion subsumes any current information, which
encompasses that of a soldier, whose social role was gradually built up from it. Of course, many
is contained with it, even though the soldier’s taxa become extinct along the way, and so any
body is not contained within the general’s body. portion of a genealogical tree does not necessarily
The logic of this “structural command hierarchy” keep adding branches, thereby growing in span
is that of a compositional hierarchy (Ahl and (The number of lowest level entities that are
Allen 1996; Morrison and Morrison 1982; Salthe parts of, or subsumed by, the apex, or base, of a
1985; Weiss 1971). The general’s social role hierarchy, given some number of levels). For
encompasses those of his subordinates. example, the genealogical tree of hominid pri-
On the other hand, we can examine the trajec- mates, culminating at present in humans, has lost
tory of a particular command. The general might branches more recently rather than gaining them,
deliver his order that the army should next carry leaving only us.
B 230 Biological Hierarchies
Biologists, beginning in the nineteenth cen- the leaf cells. This is captured in the form of
tury, realized that larger than microscopic living manufactured sugars, which can be carried
things, like plants and animals, are materially throughout the plant by way of its circulatory
composed of smaller units – biological cells – system. Since the energy in both cases is chemi-
and also that the plants and animals themselves cal, and so microscopic in amount, we can see
in turn do not live their lives alone. Rather, living that it would be impossible to understand the
things necessarily belong to local groups of inter- lives of plants and animals without taking into
breeding individuals referred to as demes (which consideration the fact that they are structured as
would form a genealogical tree within a species). compositional hierarchies. All biological energy
At the same time, ecologists realized that organ- expenditure is microscopic, and so only cooper-
isms exist in more or less socially organized ative activity by many cells wherein this happens
groups – biological populations, making up allows these microscopic energies to be
local flocks, troops, schools, etc., in animals, marshaled for macroscopic activity and growth.
and stands in plants. These interact with other Concerning the informational relations in biol-
such groups in a ▶ biome by way of passing ogy, we understand that genetic information has
energy from one species’ population to others. been passed on through many millions of genera-
(Deme and population are frequently, but not tions since the origin of the genetic system. Many
always, the same group.) So we have genes have been preserved by repeatedly being
populations/demes composed of organisms copied over very long periods of time, so that
which are composed of cells, all connected by some of ours are not very different from those
energy transformations, together forming compo- found in insects. But many new regulatory genes
sitional hierarchies. have been added in the different lineages of living
We can discern in the biological applications things. Since it is reproductive activity in demes
of the two kinds of hierarchy two ways of looking that results in passing genes on to new generations
at the world – as a realm of energy transforma- and species, the question arises as to how to rep-
tions, or as a framework for passing along accu- resent a genealogical hierarchy. We can use the
mulated information. formal property of a compositional hierarchy –
Using the compositional hierarchy, animals, [higher level, larger scale [lower level, smaller
for example, can be seen to marshal energy scale]] – to form the following hierarchy:
resources in order to react to some event. This
involves energy expenditures in the brain, the ½lineage½biological species½deme½family
nervous system, and in muscles. In their cells, ½individual organism
we find that this is most often based on the con-
version of the chemical ▶ ATP to ADP and Pi These are all entities that can be said to hold
(inorganic phosphate), a chemical reaction that genetic information. A biological species, for
releases free energy that can be used by a cell. example, would contain all the information held
Cells act in unison as groups in a tissue (muscle) in its many demes. This may be compared with
or organ (brain), which then produces the ani- a similarly constructed ecological hierarchy in
mal’s motion. This motion might result in the the same compositional hierarchy format.
capture of some food, some of which gets assim-
ilated into the body by other cells, resulting in ½biogeographic region½biome½population
ATP being regenerated from ADP and Pi by ½flock; troop; etc:½individual organism
capturing energy from a chain of chemical reac-
tions involved in the breakdown of the food. In this case, these are all entities that could be
Plants, on the other hand, will have deployed held to engage in energy transactions that are
their leaves, mostly by way of growth, so as to informed by the genetic information held within
optimize their ability to capture some of the organisms, and that are actually carried out by
energy of sunlight by way of photosynthesis in those organisms.
Biological Psychology 231 B
Note that these hierarchies have the form of trees References
branching to the right, and so in these representa-
tions there would be many organisms in any troop Starred references deal with the subsumptive hierarchy.
Twice starred references deal with both forms of
or family, fewer families and troops within a deme
hierarchy.
or population, still fewer demes and populations Ahl, V., & Allen, T. F. H. (1996). Hierarchy theory: B
with a species or biome, even fewer species and A vision, vocabulary, and epistemology. New York:
biomes contained in only one lineage or biogeo- Columbia University Press.
Morrison, P., & Morrison, P. (1982). Powers of ten.
graphic region. Note that the ecological hierarchy is
New York: Scientific American Books.
made of actual material objects, while the genea- *Polanyi, M. (1968). Life’s irreducible structure. Science,
logical hierarchy is composed of relationships. 160, 1308–1312.
From the point of view of the subsumptive *Sabelli, H. (2005). Bios: A study of creation. Singapore:
World Scientific.
hierarchy, these relationships would be
Salthe, S. N. (1985). Evolving hierarchical systems: Their
represented as: structure and representation. New York: Columbia
University Press.
fkingdomforderffamilyfgenus **Salthe, S. N. (2002). Summary of the principles of
hierarchy theory. General Systems Bulletin, 31, 13–17.
fspeciesfsubspeciesgggggg **Salthe, S. N. (2012). Hierarchical structures.
Axiomathes, 22, 355–382
This would represent one branch of many in *Schuh, R. T. (2000). Biological systematics. Ithaca:
the tree of life or Linnaean hierarchy. There could Cornell University Press.
Weiss, P. A. (1971). The basic concept of hierarchic
be branching at each level here; thus, for exam-
systems. In P. A. Weiss (Ed.), Hierarchically orga-
ple, one genus might hold many species in its nized systems in theory and practice. Royal Oak:
span. The genes used for coding proteins might Hafner.
be almost the same in all the levels, but increasing
numbers of regulatory genes would be found in
the subordinate taxa. Only the genetic informa-
tion that is identical in all the contained subspe- Biological Psychology
cies would be considered to be held in the species
in question, and only the genetic information Rudi D’Hooge and Detlef Balschun
found in all the species would be considered to Laboratory of Biological Psychology,
belong to the genus in question, and so on. As Department of Psychology, Katholieke
with a command, genetic information gradually Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
becomes more particular as it is imagined in each
succeeding level. This shows that these standard
taxa of biological systematics are classificatory Related Terms
categories, not actual material entities.
Behavioral neuroscience; Biopsychology; Cogni-
tive neuroscience; Physiological psychology;
Cross-References Psychobiology
▶ Biological Hierarchies
▶ Biology Description
▶ Biology, Theoretical
▶ Collective Behavior Biological psychology can be concisely defined
▶ Complex Systems as the scientific study of the biological processes
▶ Evolution underlying or influencing mind and behavior. In
▶ Logic this regard, it is basically a materialistic approach
▶ Ontology to the human condition since it provides methods
▶ Reductionism and strategies to investigate the natural causes
B 232 Biological Psychology
and aims of (human) behavior. It is one of the emission tomography (SPECT or SPET) are
few scientific disciplines at the crossroad often used to record brain activity in human or
between humanities and natural sciences. animal subjects during the performance of spe-
Dewsbury (Dewsbury 1991) argued that the syn- cific behaviors or mental operations (e.g., brain
onym psychobiology was probably coined at the imaging in a human volunteer who is reading
beginning of the twentieth century, but some a text or solving a mathematical problem). More
authors have dated its first use many years earlier. invasive techniques are sometimes used in exper-
Some students of biological psychology may imental animals to record electrical activity
have used this term or its synonyms to distance in specific brain regions or even in single brain
themselves from mainstream psychology, which cells, or the release of minute amounts of brain
some find insufficiently based on biology or nat- chemicals, during behavioral performance. Stim-
ural science as a whole. American psychologist ulation electrodes can be implanted to investigate
Knight Dunlap (1875–1949) was undoubtedly the effects of local brain stimulation on behavior
one of the pioneers of biological psychology in freely moving animals.
(or psychobiology as he preferred to call it) and Many biological psychologists have been
defined it in his book “An Outline of Psychobiol- involved in specific aspects of the research on
ogy” (Dunlap 1914) as the study of the relation- behavioral genetics and behavioral pharmacol-
ships between mental and physiological ogy (psychopharmacology). One of the most
functions. exciting recent developments is the gradual
Biological psychologists will use experimen- emergence of the subdiscipline of molecular psy-
tal techniques from behavioral science as well as chology that focuses on the molecular neurobiol-
concomitant methods and strategies from neuro- ogy of behavior. The term was first used by
science and biology – their experimental subjects science journalist and Pulitzer laureate Jon
can be human volunteers, brain-diseased patients, Franklin in his 1987 book “Molecules of the
or laboratory animals (most commonly rats or Mind” (Franklin 1987). According to Franklin,
mice, sometimes nonhuman primates). A com- the origins of the subdiscipline coincide with
mon strategy used by biological psychologists is crucial discoveries in the discipline of psycho-
the introduction of a biological manipulation in pharmacology (notably in the lab of Johns
experimental animals (brain lesions, drug admin- Hopkins neuroscientist Solomon Snyder). This
istration, genetic procedures including selective view would relate the biological causes of psy-
breeding and transgenic or RNA interference chology mainly to molecular processes taking
techniques, etc.) and the ensuing observation of place at the contacts (synapses) between nerve
its effects on behavior. These manipulations cells (neurons). More recently, molecular psy-
are often used to construct an animal model of chology has been recoined in relation to the dis-
a neurological or psychiatric disease that can be covery of complicated signal transduction
behaviorally studied and used in preclinical pathways inside living cells that form the basis
behavioral studies to assess the efficacy of of the molecular processes underlying neural and
a therapeutic procedure (e.g., preclinical assess- behavioral plasticity. Specialists feel that pro-
ment of the efficacy of antidementia drugs or gress in this still largely unexplored subdiscipline
environmental enrichment in prevention or rever- may eventually contribute to novel treatments for
sal of learning and memory defects in rodent presently incurable brain diseases.
models of dementia). Recent advances in biolog- Biological psychologists usually hold an aca-
ical imaging and electrophysiological recording demic degree in psychology and/or are working
techniques have contributed to their use in bioin psychology departments of a scientific insti-
logical psychology. Noninvasive functional tute. The emphasis of their work is on behavior or
imaging techniques including ▶ functional behavioral disorders, but apart from measures
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron that originate from the field of psychology, they
emission tomography (PET), or single-photon tend to use also a variety of research techniques
from biology and biochemistry, pharmacology, uncover the biological basis of behavior, emo-
or biomedical science, depending on the level of tion, motivation, perception of internal and exter-
explanation they are interested in. Biological psy- nal stimuli, sleep, learning and memory, etc. By
chologists investigate proximate as well as ulti- comparing these processes across different spe-
mate causes of behavior. Some may even try to cies, it is related to comparative psychology. B
integrate these complementary levels to reach Some research in biological psychology could
a more comprehensive explanation of behavior be called truly fundamental in that it has no pri-
as ethologist Niko Tinbergen (1907–1988) pro- mary practical purpose, but much of it is geared
posed more than 40 years ago. Proximate expla- to solving clinical problems or to improve the
nations may include neurochemical processes human lot in some other way. Notably, knowl-
(interactions between molecules in the nervous edge acquired by biological psychologists may
system, cellular metabolism, molecular pharma- improve the treatment or prevention of brain
cology, etc.), processes at the cellular level (inter- disorders (e.g., Parkinson’s or ▶ Alzheimer’s
actions between neurons or between neurons and disease).
glial cells, transmission of neural impulses, elec-
trophysiological functions of the neuron, etc.), Religion
or those at the level of different brain systems Methodology and theories, history, and recent
(e.g., interactions between different anatomical progress, biological psychology accept observ-
brain structures or between functionally/ able, empirical, and measurable evidence as its
neurochemically distinct parts of the central only source of knowledge and formulates hypoth-
nervous system). More ultimate explanations of eses and theories that are experimentally vali-
behavior would include those that relate to dated. However, it does remain a typically
ontogenic development during an organism’s human activity and may thus not be as value –
life or to the tentative reconstruction of evolu- or culture-free (or objective for that matter) as it
tionary history within its ecological context (i.e., claims to be, but all of its students will most
the subdiscipline of evolutionary psychology). strongly agree that none of its theories are
entirely incontestable and that the science of bio-
logical psychology remains a work in progress.
Self-identification
Science Characteristics
Biological psychology definitely self-identifies as
an empirical science and applies scientific meth- Defining biological psychology rather generally
odology to the study of the biological basis of as the empirical study of the biological attributes
mental processes and behavior. It accumulates of behavior renders it very difficult indeed to
knowledge and builds theories through discov- distinguish this discipline from behavioral neuro-
ery- or hypothesis-driven observation and exper- science, neuropsychology, biological psychiatry,
imentation. All data and methodology are stored, comparative neurology or psychology, ethology,
documented, and archived as a precondition etc. The crucial issue, however, is mostly one of
for statistical examination of their validity and identification, and thus, the distinction might be
reliability and should be available to other least fuzzy at the level of the methods used and/or
researchers for reproduction and verification. the basic training of workers in these obviously
None of the theories or hypothesis in biological highly related disciplines. For example, behav-
psychology should be considered absolute truths ioral neuroscience is probably the most similar
or unquestionable knowledge. The field focuses discipline, largely identical in scope and practice
on the relationship between psychological pro- to biological psychology, but this term is com-
cesses and the underlying physiological, genetic, monly used to denote the multidisciplinary study
and molecular mechanisms, and it thus aims to of neural processes at the basis of behavior.
Specialists trained in biology, biochemistry, (1992). Obviously, Charles Darwin’s (1809–

pharmacology, or biomedical science (including 1882) theory of evolution had a broad and far-
psychiatrists and neurologists), who investigate reaching influence on many fields of psychology
behavior or behavioral disorders, may all, at as well and inspired the study of mental processes
a certain point in their scientific career, identify in animals and their comparison across species.
as behavioral neuroscientists, but scarcely as bio- One of the founders of scientific psychology,
logical psychologists. Also, the related discipline William James (1842–1910), actually treated
of ethology is considered to be a distinct psychology as a biological science and recog-
subdiscipline of biology that includes the study nized the importance of the brain for conscious-
of animal behavior in its ecological or evolution- ness, but the great Russian physiologist and
ary perspective, but the topics of interest and the 1904 Nobel Laureate Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
methods used, as well as the journals that publish (1849–1936) might arguably be considered the
ethological findings, show a high degree of over- first real biological psychologist.
lap with biological psychology. Animal psychol- British physiologist, Charles Scott
ogists, on the other hand, might be interested in Sherrington (1857–1952), made seminal contri-
animal behavior and behavior modification with- butions to many fields of neurophysiology and
out their link to biology. Finally, neuropsychol- devoted his later work to mind-body dualism
ogy is mostly identified as a clinical discipline and the nature of mind. Sherrington was con-
that includes the use and development of vinced that the mind must be material and argued
psychodiagnostic instruments in neurological vehemently against Descartes’ view that
and psychiatric clinical practice and the study nonhuman animals are “automata without
of the psychological characteristics of brain- a mind.” In the early 1920s, Swiss Nobel Laure-
diseased patients. ate Walter Rudolf Hess (1881–1973) pioneered
the use of stimulation electrodes to investigate
the effects of local brain stimulation on behavior.
Sources of Authority In experiments with cats and dogs, Hess observed
that applying current to electrodes in the dien-
Famously, Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) has been cephalon or hypothalamus resulted in instanta-
attributed to have said that in science “the author- neous behavioral changes. Hess’ technique has
ity of a thousand is not worth the humble reason- been instrumental, for example, to the study of
ing of a single individual.” Like other empirical reward centers in the brain, which has contributed
sciences, biological psychology does not for- to our understanding of addiction, and the devel-
mally acknowledge the absolute authority of indi- opment of the technique of electrical self-
viduals or sources, but it does have its giants with stimulation of the brain.
regard to the pioneering aspect or sheer volume Karl Lashley (1890–1958) assessed the effects
of their contributions. The crucial insight that of brain damage on learning and memory in
the brain must be the seat of the mind was held laboratory animals. Early in his career, he collab-
already by Greek philosophers like Pythagoras orated with behaviorist John B. Watson (1878–
(BC 570–510) and Plato (BC 427–347). The 1958) on animal behavior and later with Shep-
renowned Persian polymath Avicenna (980– herd Franz (1874–1933) on the effects of cerebral
1037) linked physical and psychological illnesses lesions on retention and habit formation in rats.
together and, notably, reported an association His student, Canadian psychologist Donald
between changes in pulse rate and emotions. Olding Hebb (1904–1985), explored how neural
The start of modern biological psychology in functions contribute to psychological processes
the late nineteenth century was inspired by the and outlined knowledge about behavior and mind
works of Ernst Weber (1795–1878) and Gustav in his seminal 1949 book “The Organization of
Fechner (1801–1887), who applied methods of Behavior” (Hebb 1949). Hebb might be rightfully
physiology to psychology Schultz and Schultz called the father of cognitive psychobiology,
whose ideas exert a persistent influence on international legislation and rules that govern sci-
neuroplasticity research, and contemporary entific publication and authorship. It acknowl-
cognitive and computational neuroscience. edges human equality and freedom and the
Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904–1990) is one intrinsic value of human and animal life. In as
of the most influential figures in psychology. His much as biological psychology is a laboratory sci- B
stringent methods for the experimental analysis of ence, it subscribes to the principles of Good Lab-
behavior and operant conditioning are still used by oratory Practice, and the ethical rules for the
biological psychologists around the world. Also, experimental use of human and animal subjects.
the work of biopsychologist and 1981 Nobel Lau- In Europe, strict legislation has been included at
reate Roger Sperry (1913–1994) is still of major the level of the European Union that applies to the
significance today. Sperry contributed to our use of animals and humans in research. It is gen-
understanding of the functions of the cerebral erally accepted, and part of contemporary legisla-
hemispheres and is still cited for his work on tion that the use of animals in research should be
split-brain patients. Torsten Wiesel (1924) and justified and evaluated by ethical review proce-
David Hubel (1926) studied information dures. The use of nonhuman primates deserves
processing in the visual system and the mecha- particular consideration because of their high
nisms of cortical neuroplasticity. In addition, the level of social and cognitive performance and
work of these two Nobel Laureates proved critical their neurobiological similarity to our own species.
for the treatment of visual impairment in children
(e.g., congenital cataract and strabismus).
Finally, two psychiatrists-turned-neuroscientists Key Values
largely determined the face of contemporary bio-
logical psychology and its modern focus on Central to this field is the accumulation of empir-
neuromolecular mechanisms. The first is Eric ical knowledge and its application to the benefit of
Richard Kandel (1929), who received the 2000 the human condition. Specific values of biological
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his psychology include (1) continuous search for bio-
research on the cellular basis of memory storage. logical mechanisms underlying mind and behavior
Realizing that the neuronal mechanisms of learning in a purely scientific, reproducible way; (2) cross-
and memory do not reside in the properties of the species comparison of these mechanism to identify
neurons themselves but in those of the connections evolutionary principles; (3) application of research
between neurons, he worked on a simple model findings for the diagnosis, prevention, and treat-
animal, the giant marine snail Aplysia that has ment of brain disorders; and (4) replacement of
a nervous system with a small number of large, invasive methods of investigation by noninvasive
easily identifiable cells. During the most recent techniques (e.g., noninvasive brain imaging).
part of his scientific career, Kandel turned to the
study of the mechanism of learning and plasticity in
the mammalian brain. The second researcher of Conceptualization
interest is Solomon H. Snyder (1938), who is
cited for his work on the molecular basis of psychi- Nature/World
atric disorders and several major discoveries on the The physical world including the dynamics and
neurochemistry of behavior. properties of organic matter, organisms, etc. The
human species is part of nature.
Ethical Principles Human Being

A primate that evolved as a result of biological
As an empirical science, biological psychology evolution and natural selection and a member of
subscribes to the principles of rigorous and reliable the biological species Homo sapiens sapiens.
observation and experimentation and to Although biological psychologists tend to regard
humans as part of a biological continuum that Knowledge

stretches from unicellular organisms through ver- Collectivity of skills, expertise, information, and
tebrate species, they do acknowledge the special data about the external and internal world, passed
family-like responsibility that humans have with on across generations traditionally by means of
regard to other members of their kind. This spe- writing, speaking, imitation of the behavior of
cial responsibility, which is laid down in legisla- relatives or conspecifics (also important in some
tion and ethical principles, obviously includes animal species) and nowadays electronically.
young children and mentally impaired individ- Acquisition of knowledge involves complex cog-
uals as well, even though from a purely biopsy- nitive processes like perception, association,
chological point of view, such human beings learning, communication, and reasoning. Biolog-
might have more limited mental capacities than ical psychologists aim to unravel the cognitive
some of our highly developed animal relatives. and neural mechanisms that underlie these pro-
Notably, this responsibility is the principal justi- cesses. Knowledge is classified into categories
fication for the use of animals in biological psy- (animals), disciplines, and theories and kept/
chology and other fields of science. stored either collectively in the brains of a given
population or in books and on electronic media.
Life and Death
Although not a direct object of their scientific Truth
work, biological psychologists would consider There are obviously no absolute truths in biolog-
that life on earth has originated from natural ical psychology, but there are facts, propositions,
causes. Most of them would hypothesize that theories, and hypotheses. Notorious evolutionist
the processes of biological evolution form the Thomas H. Huxley (1825–1895) argued that truths
emergent origin of biodiversity and life on often begin as heresies and end as superstitions,
earth, and that, consequently, the human species illustrating the relativity of truth or verity. Truth is
is a result of natural selection. Life is defined in practically defined by scientists as the proposi-
its biological sense and its relation to physical tional status of being in accordance with existing
activity, metabolism, and reproduction. Since it knowledge, in concordance with reality, or the
is definitely one of the central tenets of this dis- result of experimental verification of hypotheses.
cipline that biological processes determine the The truth or verity of an assumption, hypothesis,
human psyche – the cessation of these biological or theory can be tested and falsified. It can be
processes hence coincides with death. For all demonstrated by putting it to practice, or as stated
practical reasons, human death is defined as by William James (1842–1910), “the ‘true’ is only
a state without brain activity. the expedient in our way of thinking, just as
the ‘right’ is only the expedient in our way of
Reality behaving” (James 1911).
The living and nonliving matter that can be per-
ceived by organisms at a variable qualitative and Perception
quantitative degree depending on the complexity The process whereby sensory stimulation is
and performance of their sensory cells or organs. translated into biologically/physiologically
Individual representations of reality after sensory meaningful information that is further processed,
processing can be stored by nonhuman organisms reconciled with existing experience (knowledge),
in specialized cells or brain and by humans, addi- leading eventually to the instant activation
tionally, in written form or on electronic media. of certain behavioral programs like defense,
Humans have increased their ability to perceive flight, etc. Historically, Gestalt psychologists
reality by taking advantage of physical devices like Max Wertheimer (1880–1943), Kurt Koffka
that can measure modalities/traits of reality that (1886–1941), and Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967)
otherwise would not be accessible. tried to identify brain mechanism that account for
perception. Gestalt psychology supposed that on temperature (e.g., experiments in human
perceptual organization reflects innate properties subjects have shown that time between events
of the brain itself. Thus, perception and is underestimated when body temperature
brain functions were considered to be formally increases). Biological time, as determined by
identical. At about the same time, behaviorism, the internal clock system and developmental B
founded by John B. Watson (1878–1958), genetic programs, can be measured and is thus
described behavior using objective terms such distinguished from “psychological time” (i.e.,
as stimulus and response. Behaviorism denied subjective/private time that is vitally important
that perception is amenable to direct investiga- in many cognitive processes).
tion, but rather its properties can be inferred from Whereas the seventeenth-century English
objectively measured behavior. philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) thought
time to be only perceived as a relation between
Time successive sensations, William James
Time is a fundamental dimension of the (1842–1910) used the term “specious present”
surrounding world and all mental and physiolog- for the span of time covered by a single act of
ical processes. Organisms have adapted to awareness. He argued that at a given moment of
time-dependent changes in their environment time, a person is aware of events a short time
(e.g., daily, seasonal, lunar, and tidal before that time. Humans (and probably higher
geophysical cycles) by developing internal primates as well) have an awareness of the pas-
clock mechanisms allowing rhythmicity in inter- sage of time even during sleep. However, if
nal body functions and behavior that are knocked unconscious or during anesthesia, this
maintained even during constant environmental awareness is lost and psychological time appears
conditions (e.g., polar night). In mammals includ- to stop. Amnesic patients with functional deficits
ing humans, the most important cycle is the cir- in brain regions that are important for memory
cadian cycle that is driven by hierarchically storage and recall lose the ability to estimate the
organized internal clock mechanisms that are passage of time accurately at the scale of hours,
synchronized by the day-night rhythm of the months etc., although their biological clock is
sun. At the core of the mammalian circadian often intact. This suggests that the processing of
system is the oscillatory expression of several time and certain types of memory must share
“clock” genes such as Period (Per1–3) and some common mechanisms and pathways.
Cryptochrome (Cry1–2) within the hypothalamic The psychological sensation of equal periods
suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) that is regulated by of time can be quite different, depending on
autoregulatory transcriptional/posttranslational attention and emotions (cf. psychological time
feedback loops. This clock/pacemaker in the when we are waiting anxiously for the start of
SCN acts as a master clock synchronizing remote an exam). The mechanism that is responsible has
clock mechanisms in other central neural circuits, been termed “interval timer.” Its main constitu-
peripheral organs, and tissues and synchronizes ents are neural oscillators in the cerebral cortex
these rhythms to each other and to solar time that are all firing at different rates; spiny neurons
(Challet 2007). Many studies have highlighted in the striatum that keep track of elapsed time by
the dominant role of the circadian clock system using these distinct, cortical firing patterns; and
in the organization of 24-h patterns of behavior neurons in the substantia nigra that create on/off
and physiology. It not only permits humans to signals by releasing the neurotransmitter dopa-
estimate time in the absence of clocks and other mine into the striatum and thalamic neurons,
sensory cues but also allows anticipatory physio- which feedback to the cortex upon completion
logical changes even before the periodic change of time recording. Whereas the precision of the
in the environment occurs (e.g., in transmitter and “interval timer” is rather low, its flexibility is
hormone levels). Biological rhythms also depend remarkable, and it can be stopped at any time by
conscious control or even ignored (Meck et al. course. All that is not part of the natural or phys-
2008). Notably, drugs like cannabis, mescaline, ical world is beyond the scope of the empirical
and methamphetamine and brain disorders science of biological psychology.
like schizophrenia, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
disease have been reported to alter the sense
of time. Cross-References
Consciousness ▶ Aging, Psychology of

Consciousness involves a set of loosely related ▶ Anatomy of the Brain
thoughts, perceptions, and emotions. Biological ▶ Animal Theology and Ethics
psychologists tend to define it as the ability to ▶ Biological Hierarchies
perceive your experiences and to be self-aware. It ▶ Biological Psychology
is a mental state based on the function of specific ▶ Biology of Religion
brain regions that include prefrontal cortex and ▶ Clinical Neurophysiology
thalamus. Consciousness may be altered in brain ▶ Cognitive Psychology
disease or damage and influenced by psychoac- ▶ Cognitive Science Psychology
tive drugs. Some primatologists argue that forms ▶ Comparative Neuroscience
of consciousness definitely also exists in apes ▶ Conditioning and Learning
(notably chimpanzees and bonobos) – and other ▶ Creationism
highly developed animals may experience some ▶ Deep Brain Stimulation
form of conscious awareness (e.g., cetaceans), ▶ Dementia
which is by and large difficult to determine or ▶ Dualism
define. ▶ Electroneurography
▶ Evolutionary Psychology
Rationality/Reason ▶ Medical Psychology
This is the ability to act, behave, think, and infer ▶ Memory
(1) within their evolutionary boundaries; (2) to ▶ Natural selection
the benefit of the group (of congeners) the partic- ▶ Neuroethics
ular organism belongs to; (3) in accordance ▶ Neuroethology
with acquired experience and knowledge; and ▶ Neuroimaging
(4) consistent with conclusions and imaginations ▶ Neuropathology
that can be (logically) derived from the former. ▶ Neurophysiology
Rationality is based on the rejection of conven- ▶ Neuropsychology
tional religion and pseudoscience. It may be ▶ Neurotheology
impaired in brain disorders or influenced by ▶ Reductionism
psychoactive drugs. ▶ Social Neuroscience
▶ Theory of Mind
Mystery
Mystery is of no particular professional concern
to biological psychologists, but there are References
unsolved questions and staggering complexities
Challet, E. (2007). Entrainment of the suprachiasmatic
in relation to brain and behavior. All things mate- clockwork in diurnal and nocturnal mammals.
rial (including the human brain and its capacities Endocrinology, 148, 5648–5655.
and attributes) can be the object of scientific Dewsbury, D. (1991). Psychobiology. American Psychol-
investigation. Our knowledge about many natural ogist, 46, 198–205.
Dunlap, K. (1914). An outline of psychobiology.
phenomena is still very incomplete, but it merely
Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
requires the right equipment and methods, as well Franklin, J. (1987). Molecules of the mind. New York:
as scientific stamina, to tackle these topics in due Scribner.
Biology 239 B
Hebb, D. (1949). The organization of behavior. study of life traces back at least to Hippocrates
New York: Wiley. (ca. 460 BC–370 BC) and Aristotle (384 BC–322
James, W. (1911). The meaning of truth. New York:
BC). Just as physics can be divided into macro-
Longman Green and Co.
Meck, W. H., Penney, T. B., & Pouthas, V. scopic physics (or classical physics) and micro-
(2008). Cortico-striatal representation of time in ani- scopic (i.e., quantum) physics based on the B
mals and humans. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, discovery of the quantum of action by M. Planck
18, 145–152.
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (1992). A history of (1858–1947) in 1900 and the subsequent emer-
modern psychology (5th ed.). Fort Worth: Harcourt gence of quantum physics in the 1920s, so biol-
Brace Jovanovich. ogy may be divided into macroscopic biology
(i.e., the traditional or classical biology dating
back to 500 BC or earlier) and microscopic biol-
ogy (or molecular biology) beginning with the
Biological Sciences discovery in 1953 of the double helix structure
of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) by Watson
▶ Biology (1928–) and Crick (1916–2004). Two of the
most important advances in microscopic biology
are (1) the cell theory formulated by T. Schwann
(1810–1882), M. J. Schleiden (1804–1881),
Biologically Based Computers and R. Virchow (1821–1902) between 1839 and
1855; and (2) the theory of evolution proposed by
▶ Computational Memories Darwin (1809–1882) in 1859.
The generally accepted cell theory includes
the following elements: (1) All organisms are
made up of one or more cells; (2) all living
Biology cells, except those originating from abiotic sys-
tem at the origin of life 3–4 billion years ago,
Sungchul Ji arise from preexisting cells; (3) the cell is the
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, basic unit of structure and function of all organ-
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers isms; (4) the free energy, without which no cells
University, Piscataway, NJ, USA can survive, is supplied by the chemical reactions
(i.e., metabolism including photosynthesis)
occurring within cells; and (5) the genetic infor-
Related Terms mation which is necessary to regulate metabo-
lism, and hence the energy supply to cells is
Biological sciences; Biomedical sciences; encoded in the nucleotide sequences of DNA
Contemporary biology; Life sciences that is transmitted from one cell generation to
the next.
According to E. Mayr (1904–2004) (Mayr
Description 1991), Darwin’s theory of evolution is not just
a single theory but contains at least four sub-
Biology (derived from the Greek word “bios” theories: (1) Organisms are not permanent but
meaning “life” and “-logia” meaning “study change in time; (2) species multiply by branching
of”) is a science of living systems (also called into daughter species or by forming founder
organisms) and their processes, including their populations that evolve into new species; (3) evo-
origin, evolution, development, structure, func- lutionary changes occur gradually and not by the
tion, distribution, and classification (or taxon- sudden production of new individuals belonging
omy). Although the term originated in Germany to a new species; and (4) evolution occurs
in the late eighteenth century, the systematic through (a) variation of heritable traits and
B 240 Biology
(b) selective survival of individuals adapted to protein-coding and noncoding sequences of

their environment. DNA/RNA) has gone down by three orders of
Of these sub-theories, (1) and (2) have been magnitude since 1977 and is expected to go
amply confirmed by empirical data. Sub-theory down by a similar factor in the near future to
(3) seems inconsistent with both paleontological about $1,000 per genome (Tucker et al. 2009).
data (Eldredge and Gould 1972) and the general- The high-throughput, massively parallel DNA
ized Franck-Condon principle, a principle sequencing technologies are expected to generate
imported from physics and found to apply to massive amount of sequence data, the correct
a wide range of living processes (Ji 2012, interpretation of which will require experts
pp. 21–24). Concerning the component (a) of trained in bioinformatics, the new field applying
sub-theory (4), the mechanisms underlying the computer science and information technology to
“variation of heritable traits” can include not biomedical sciences. Bioinformaticians must be
only random mutations as widely accepted in knowledgeable in algorithms, databases and
modern synthesis (also called neo-Darwinism) information systems, web technologies, software
but also nonrandom mutations such as recombi- engineering, data mining, image processing,
nation (i.e., breaking and rejoining of DNA structural biology, modeling and simulation of
strands to form new molecules of DNA with dynamic processes, signal processing, discrete
a novel set of genetic information) and what mathematics, control and system theory, circuit
was recently referred to as “active complexi- theory, network sciences, and statistics, in addi-
fication” (Ji 2012, pp. 127–129, 496–498) as tion to the basic laws and principles of theoretical
exemplified by “facilitated variations’” cell biology. The combination of the high-
of Kirschner and Gerhart (Kirschner and Gerhart throughput DNA sequence data and their correct
2005). interpretations provided by bioinformaticians are
There are many noteworthy developments that expected to open up a new era in biomedical
have occurred since 1953 when the era of “micro- sciences in the coming decades including person-
scopic biology” (also called “molecular biol- alized medicine and rational drug design and
ogy”) began. Some of these developments are discovery researches around the globe.
described below: What Is a Gene? The history of the concept of
DNA Sequencing Revolution. The era of the gene is at least one and a half centuries old,
microscopic biology may be said to be ushered but its definition is still in flux. The concept of
in with the determinations of the 3-dimensional a gene as a heritable trait was established through
structures of DNA and myoglobin by Watson the experiments with pea plants performed by the
(1928–) and Crick (1916–2004) and by J. Austrian monk G. Mendel in the mid-nineteenth
Kendrew (1917–1997) and M. Perutz century. The term “gene” itself was coined by
(1914–2002), respectively, in the mid-1960s, W. Johannsen in 1909 in analogy to the term
using the X-ray crystallographic method invented “pangene” used by Darwin in formulating his
by W. L. Bragg (1862–1942) and W. H. Bragg ill-fated pangenesis hypothesis. The modern
(1890–1971) about a half century earlier. The idea of a gene as a sequence of nucleotides in
linear sequence structures of DNA molecules DNA was established by three main discoveries:
began to be determined in 1977 by Maxim and (1) Avery, MacLeod, and McCarthy found that
Gilbert and Sanger et al. (Tucker et al. 2009) DNA is the carrier of genetic information;
leading to the development of the massively par- (2) Watson and Crick discovered that DNA is
allel and high-throughput, next-generation DNA a double helix formed from two complementary
sequencing technologies in the beginning of the strands of deoxyribonucleic acid; and (3) the dis-
twenty-first century (Tucker et al. 2009). The cost covery by Crick, Brenner, Watts-Tobin,
of sequencing a genome (i.e., the totality of an Nirenberg, Matthaei, and Khorana that triplets
organism’s genetic information encoded either of nucleotides code for amino acids. These and
in DNA or RNA, the genome including the other historical facts about the evolution of the
Biology 241 B
gene concept have been reviewed in (Gerstein a single molecule of cholesterol oxidase (Ji 2012,
et al. 2007). Prior to 2007, when the results of Sect. 11.3). One of the most unexpected findings
an international research effort known as the is that the rate constant of the catalytic activity of
ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) Pro- one enzyme molecule is not fixed as previously
ject was announced, the definition of gene was thought but varies from one catalytic cycle to the B
simple: DNA segments encoding RNAs leading to next. They measured about 1,500 rate constants
protein synthesis. But the ENCODE project has (also called waiting times) from a single mole-
revealed numerous findings that cannot be readily cule of the enzyme over a period of 5 to 20 min.
accommodated by such a simple conception of When these rate constants are grouped into bins
a gene, and a new definition of a gene is called (i.e., rate constant classes) covering the range
for. One way to overcome the problems bought from 10 to 250 ms, the frequency of each bin is
up by the ENCODE project was suggested to be counted, and these are plotted on a 2-dimensional
to postulate that there are two classes of genes – graph, a histogram was obtained. The shape of
the S-genes and P-genes, where S and P stand for this histogram was non-Gaussian and found to fit
“structure” and “processes.” The former is iden- a mathematical equation called the “blackbody
tified with the pre-ENCODE conception of genes, radiation-like equation” (BRE) that is similar in
also called the Watson-Crick genes, and the latter form to the blackbody radiation equation discov-
is a new class of genes called the Prigoginian ered by M. Planck in 1900 which introduced the
genes (Ji 2012, p. 232). S-genes are analogous concept of “quantization” of energy into physics.
to sheet music (or written language), and P-genes The fitting of the single-molecule enzymic data
are analogous to audio music (or spoken lan- into BRE thus can be interpreted as indicating
guage). Just as the sheet music is converted into that the Gibbs free energy level of an enzyme
audio music by a pianist, so the Watson-Crick molecule is quantized (Ji 2012, Sect. 11.3.3).
genes are postulated to be transduced into One consequence of this interpretation is that
Prigoginian genes by enzyme systems acting as the rate constant of an enzyme molecule is
molecular machines driven by conformons, completely determined by the ground-state
the sequence-specific conformational strains Gibbs free energy levels of the enzyme. What is
(Ji 2012, p. 231–243). It is possible that the fail- even more unexpected is the finding that the BRE
ure of the pre-ENCODE conception of a gene can also fit the experimental data obtained from two
be traced ultimately to the following fact: Biolo- other biological processes – the protein folding
gists have been measuring the functions of genes Gibbs free energy data and the whole-cell
(which belongs to the class P of processes) and RNA level data measured from budding yeast
attempted to reduce the results to nucleotide (Ji 2012, p. 436).
sequences of DNA (which belongs to the class DNA Microarray Revolution and Intellectual
S of static structures), without specifying the req- Crisis in Biology. In the mid-1990s, biologists at
uisite molecular mechanisms (which belongs to Stanford University developed a revolutionary
the class M of mechanisms). In other words, they technique known as DNA microarrays. A DNA
equated P and S which belong to two different microarray consists of a microscopic slide, typi-
classes (and hence could not be equated) rather cally 2 cm by 2 cm in dimension, divided into
than relating P and S through M, the critical link. 10,000 squares, on each of which are chemically
Blackbody Radiation-Like Equation (BRE). attached hundreds of copies of a whole gene or
The last decade of the twentieth century its characteristic fragments that encode an
witnessed two revolutionary experimental tech- RNA molecule (http en wikipedia org wiki
niques to emerge in molecular and cell biology – DNA_microarray). Thus, using one microarray,
the single-molecule manipulating techniques and it is possible to measure simultaneously the levels
the DNA microarray technique. In 1998, using of 10,000 RNA molecules in a biological sample.
the optical tweezer technique, Xie and his group It is becoming increasingly clear that the
for the first time measured the rate constants of massive amount of genome-wide expression
B 242 Biology
(i.e., transcription of genes to RNA molecules) different genes code for one phenotype), and
data generated by the DNA array technique can (4) many-to-many (e.g., an identical set of genes
no longer be rationally accounted for solely on code for many different phenotypes). These rela-
the basis of the principles and knowledge gained tions can be divided into two groups – deterministic
from test-tube molecular biology alone, but new and quasi-deterministic. The one-to-one relation
whole-cell approaches and perspectives need to is deterministic in that a gene, for example,
be developed in order to enable biomedical sci- completely specifies not only the nucleotide
entists to correctly interpret DNA microarray sequence but also the copy number of its RNA,
data and extract biologically meaningful infor- and the other relations are quasi-deterministic in
mation from them. It is truly astounding to find the sense that a gene can specify completely only
that most of the papers published since the inven- the nucleotide sequence but not the copy number of
tion of the microarray method in the mid-1990s its RNA molecule (Ji 2012, Sect. 12.9).
have erred in interpreting microarray data, The RNA trajectories measured by Garcia-
resulting in false-positive and false-negative con- Martinez et al. (2004) provide indirect experi-
clusions (Ji et al. 2009) which led some biologists mental evidence for the quasi-deterministic
to conclude that there exists “an intellectual crisis relation between structural genes and their phe-
in the field of DNA microarray data analysis” notypes, that is, their RNA levels in the cell. Each
(see Appendices C, D, E and F in (Ji 2012)). of the over 6,000 RNA traces (or trajectories)
Despite these difficulties in interpreting microar- measured by Garcia-Martinez et al. (2004) using
ray data in molecular terms (i.e., genes and gene DNA microarrays in budding yeast undergoing
expression), microarray techniques, used as glucose-galactose shift carries two kinds of
a phenomenological tool, however, are making information – (1) the name of the gene encoding
valuable contributions to both basic biomedical the RNA molecule whose concentration is being
sciences and medicine. For example, two impor- measured, and (2) the time-dependent change in
tant findings have merged in recent years the intracellular concentration (or copy number)
from the DNA microarray data measured from of the RNA. The former can be represented in
budding yeast undergoing nutritional stress the N-dimensional sequence (or genotype)
(i.e., changing the energy source from glucose space, where a point represents an N nucleotide-
to galactose) – (1) the quasi-determinism of geno- long RNA molecule, and the latter in the
type-phenotype coupling, an observation that 6-dimenisional concentration (phenotype) space,
indirectly supports the cell language theory wherein a point denotes the kinetic trajectory of
(Ji 2012, pp. 159, 420–433); and (2) and the an RNA molecule measured at six time points.
quantization of the Gibbs free energy levels in Thus, for any pair of RNA molecules in budding
the living cell, an evidence for the existence of yeast, it is possible to calculate (1) the genotypic
the cell force (Ji 2012, 444–461) (see below). similarity as the degree of the overlap between
Quasi-deterministic Genotype-Phenotype the pair of nucleotide sequences (using
Coupling. A genotype refers to a unique nucleo- the ClustalW2 program on line) and (2) the
tide sequence pattern in a DNA molecule, and phenotypic distance as the Euclidean distance
a phenotype is any effect (e.g., shape of a cell, between the corresponding two points in
color of hair) or products (e.g., DNA, RNA, pro- the 6-dimensional concentration space. When
teins) produced by a gene either directly (e.g., the phenotypic distances (PD) of a set of all
through transcription) or indirectly (e.g., by cod- possible RNA pairs (y values) were plotted
ing for a transcription factor that affects the tran- against the associated genotypic similarities
scription of other genes). In principle, there are (GS) (x values), a scatter lot was obtained
four possible genotype-phenotype relations – wherein all the points were found to lie under
(1) one-to-one (i.e., one gene codes for one phe- a diagonal line with a negative slope. This trian-
notype), (2) one-to-many (i.e., one gene codes for gular distribution indicates that structural genes
many phenotypes), (3) many-to-one (i.e., many have an effect on the intracellular levels of their
Biology 243 B
own transcripts, because, otherwise, the distribu- six RNA levels. The similarity between the
tion of the points on the GS vs. PD plot should be shapes of any pair of RNA trajectories can be
random. On the other hand, if structural genes calculated as the Euclidean distance between
had a complete control over their intracellular two points in the concentration space. It was
transcript levels, all the points should lie on or found that most (70–90 %) of the Euclidean dis- B
along the diagonal line, but only a small fraction tances between all possible RNA pairs belonging
of the points actually was found to lie close to it. to a given metabolic pathway obeyed the black-
More than 95 % of the points were found to be body radiation-like equation (BRE), y ¼ (a/(Ax +
contained in the region below the diagonal line. So B)5)/(eb/(Ax + B) – 1), where x is distances between
the relation between genotype and phenotype RNA trajectories, y is the frequency of observing
as revealed in the GS vs. PD plot embodies a given distance class, and a, b, A, and B are
some regularities, but these regularities are constants. The fitting of the RNA data into BRE
unpredictable, leading to the conclusion that the has been interpreted as the evidence (1) that ther-
genotype-phenotype relation is stochastic or mal fluctuations (or Brownian motions) of
quasi-deterministic, reminiscent of the principle transcriptosomes (catalyzing the transcription of
of rule-governed creativity or arbitrariness of DNA to RNA) and degradosomes (catalyzing the
signs in linguistics (Ji 2012, Sects. 12.9 and 12.10). degradation of RNA) play an important role in
Cell Language. Language is not the monopoly the control of their activities and (2) that the
of humans. Living cells are found to use language Gibbs free energy levels of transcriptosomes
on the molecular scale. Cell language is defined and degradosomes are quantized. Just as the
as “a self-organizing system of molecules, some quantization of the energy of electrons in an
of which encode, act as signs for, or trigger, gene- atom led to the notion of atomic orbitals in
directed cell processes” (Ji 2012, p. 164). What is physics almost a century ago, it appears that
surprising is the finding that 10 out of the 13 the quantization of enzyme complexes (e.g.,
design features of human languages character- transcriptosomes and degradosomes) in living
ized by linguists have molecular counterparts in cells may indicate the existence of “cell orbitals”
cell language, leading to the notion of the isomor- which determine their catalytic activities. Again,
phism between human and cell languages. Just as just as atomic orbitals can be visualized in terms
human languages are based on double articula- of geometric objects (e.g., spheres, lobes) which
tion, that is, the formation of sentences from are invariably symmetric, “cell orbitals” can be
words (called first articulation) and the formation visualized as a 5-dimensional Gibbs free energy
of words from letters (second articulation), so surface whose topology (i.e., shape and curva-
cell language embodies a double articulation ture) varies in space and time. Such a dynamic
in that there are two and only two kinds of geometric object was named the “time-dependent
mechanisms for changing molecular structures – Gibbs free energy landscape” (TGFEL) (Ji 2012,
conformational (also called noncovalent) p. 460), which can be viewed as the geometric
changes corresponding to the first articulation representation of the cell force, the causal agent
and configurational (also called covalent) postulated to be responsible for the metabolic
changes corresponding to the second articulation. organization of the living cell (Ji 2012,
In both human and cell languages, double articu- pp. 444–461). It may turn out that TGFEL is to
lations appear necessary for efficient communi- the cell force that the Calabi-Yau manifolds are
cation, that is, the storage, transfer, and to the strong force (Yau and Nadis 2010). If
transformation of information. analytical geometers can prove the validity of
The Cell Force. The microarray data measured this conjecture in the future, we would be able
by Garcia-Martinez et al. (2004) can be mapped to state with confidence that there exists a new
onto a cluster of points in a 6-dimensional RNA force in nature (in addition to the strong, weak,
concentration space wherein each point repre- electromagnetic, and gravitational forces) that is
sents an RNA trajectory consisting of a set of responsible for life.
B 244 Biology
Conformons and Molecular Machines. interlinked, representing different aspects of the

According to Bruce Alberts of the University of same object, that is, the living cell. This idea
California, San Francisco, the cell, the basic unit is represented geometrically as a body-centered
of life, is “a collection of protein machines,” tetrahedron (Ji 2012, p. 278) (Fig. 1):
protein machines being synonymous with molec- Cell Biological Theories of Evolution.
ular machines. We now have experimental evi- Darwin’s theory of biological evolution was
dence (Ji 2012, pp. 231–246, 444–448) (1) that all published in 1859 and, according to E. Mayr
molecular machines are driven by packets of the (1904–2005), consists of the following four sub-
mechanical (i.e., conformational) energy (called theories:
conformons) stored in sequence-specific sites in 1. Organisms are not permanent but change in
molecular machines themselves and (2) that the time.
motions of millions of molecular machines in 2. Species multiply by branching into daughter
a given cell are not random but organized in species or by forming founder populations that
space and time in order to accomplish gene- evolve into new species.
directed cell functions through the action of the 3. Evolutionary changes occur gradually and not
cell force. The cell force is defined in analogy to by sudden production of new individuals
the strong force in physics: Just as the strong belonging to a new species.
force holds nucleons (i.e., protons and neutrons 4. Evolution occurs through (a) variation of her-
making up atomic nuclei) together against elec- itable traits and (b) selective survival of indi-
trostatic repulsion, so the cell force holds viduals adapted to their environment.
together biopolymers and small molecules Items (1) and (2) have been confirmed by
together in the living cell in functional states empirical data. Some evolutionary biologists
despite the randomizing effects of thermal may dispute the validity of item (3) based on the
motions (Ji 2012, pp. 444–461, 679–689). It theory of punctuated equilibrium. Applying the
appears logical to conjecture that the cell force generalized Franck-Condon principle to evolu-
can be represented geometrically as the curvature tion, it can be predicted that phylogenesis (i.e.,
of the time-dependent Gibbs free energy land- the evolutionary development of groups of organ-
scape (TGFEL) (Ji 2012, Fig. 12.32), just as the isms) will be rate limited by the speed of geolog-
gravitational force can be represented as the cur- ical changes (Ji 2012, p.23), which would be
vature of space-time and the other fundamental consistent with the idea of punctuated equilibria.
(i.e., strong, weak and electromagnetic) forces as Item (4) may also be viewed as confirmed by
the curvatures of corresponding Calabi-Yau sur- empirical data, although the microscopic mecha-
faces or manifolds (Yau and Nadis 2010). nisms underlying the variation of heritable traits
Molecular Theory of the Living Cell. Although are still poorly understood.
the cell theory maintaining that all organisms As is well known, Darwin’s theory of evolu-
consist of one or more cells was formulated by tion is a controversial topic and has been
the early decades of the nineteenth century, there attracting the interest of both scientists and lay
was no theoretical model of the living cell public, ranking among the most widely discussed
published until the Bhopalator was proposed in subjects on the Internet. For example, evolution
1985 (Ji 2012, pp. 269–279). The Bhopalator theory has been visited by more people than
model of the cell contains four theoretical com- Einstein’s relativity theory as of August, 2009,
ponents – conformons proposed in 1972–1974, and is comparable to the topic of Obama’s cabi-
IDSs and the cell force both proposed in net in terms of the number of visitors. Darwin’s
1991, and the cell language theory formulated theory of evolution is a macroscopic theory for-
in 1997. But it took another decade and a half to mulated one and a half centuries ago in order to
recognize that these theoretical components are account for the then-available macroscopic data
not independent of one another but inseparably about organisms. Consequently, the key elements
Biology 245 B
Biology, Fig. 1 The
molecular theory of the Conformons
living cell geometrically
represented as a body-
centered tetrahedron
containing four external B
vertices connected through
six external edges. The
internal node is connected
to the four vertices via three
internal edges
Bhopalator
Cell Language
IDSs
Cell Force
of Darwin’s theory (see above) may be remote decades (reviewed in (Ji 2012, pp. 494–506)),
from, and shed little light on, the microscopic which should shed new light on the contemporary
(i.e., molecular and cellular) data on organisms debates on biological evolution.
that have been accumulating in biology since the
publication of Darwin’s theory of evolution. Just
as Newtonian mechanics formulated in the Self-identification
late seventeenth century failed to account for the
microscopic observations made in the late nine- Science
teenth century (e.g., blackbody radiation, atomic Natural sciences are characterized by syste-
line spectra, the photoelectric effect), so it would matic studies of nature using measurements/
not be surprising to find that Darwin’s theory of observations, analysis based on existing theories,
evolution published one and a half centuries ago hypothesis building, and hypothesis testing
sheds little light on certain molecular aspects of against experimental observations followed by
living systems that were measured only in the modification of existing theories if necessary.
twentieth century (e.g., the role of DNA in inher- Biology contains all these aspects, and hence,
itance and morphogenesis, the genetic codes, sig- there is no doubt that biology is a scientific field.
nal transduction cascades, the cell cycle, cell
differentiation, genetic drift). This is why it is Religion
essential to formulate a microscopic theory of Depending on how one defines a religion, biology
biological evolution that can not only account for may be included as a member of such a religion.
molecular data on living systems but also subsume To some biologists, the distinction between the-
the Darwinian theory of evolution, just as quantum ory and theology can be blurry. Thus, it is not
mechanics subsumes Newtonian mechanics. Such uncommon to witness prominent experimental
theories (referred here as cell biological theories biologists referring to what theoretical biologists
of evolution) have begun to appear in recent do as “theology.” Just as we can regard topology
B 246 Biology
and geometry as the global and local definitions practical applications in basic sciences, physiol-
(or as type and token), respectively, so it may be ogy, psychology, medicine, and the philosophy of
useful to distinguish between global and local mind.
definitions of religion.
Conceptualization
Characteristics
Nature/World
Biology is the science of life and living systems. Biologists regard nature as the material world
In this sense, it differs from physics and chemis- that is accessible to their observations and mea-
try, both of which study primarily nonliving surements. They accept whatever model of nature
systems. that is established in physics based on microphys-
ical and astrophysical observations in the form of
the Standard Model and theories of quantum
Relevance to Science and Religion mechanics and relativity.
Biology is relevant to the science-religion debate/ Human Being

discourse because biology provides a scientific Human beings are systems of 1012–1013 cells that
perspective on life, whereas religion provides are organized in space and time, driven by genetic
a higher and more global perspective on life information and free energy supplying chemical
which is beyond the domain of scientific inquiry. reactions. Biologists believe that anatomically
modern humans evolved from their earlier ances-
tors in Africa between 400,000 and 250,000 years
Sources of Authority ago. The earlier ancestors of Homo sapiens ulti-
mately trace their origin to the first living cells
The source of the authority of biology resides in that originated on this planet some 3–4 billion
the fact that all the regularities and laws of organ- years ago through spontaneous generation of
isms and their components were established self-reproducing chemical reactions-diffusion
through the rigorous method of observations, systems likely driven by thermal gradient on the
critical analysis, and hypothesis testing by earth surface or deep in the ocean floor.
a community of investigators.
Life (and Origins of)/Death
Most biologists believe that life originated on this
Ethical Principles planet 3–4 billion years ago in the form of uni-
cellular organisms through the interactions
Probably, the foremost ethical principle in biol- among certain rare chemical and physical pro-
ogy, as in other branches of natural sciences, is cesses obeying the laws of physics and chemistry
honesty, which naturally leads to the objectivity and under the constraints of the then-extant envi-
of observations and measured data so that they ronmental conditions.
can be reproduced by any biologists anywhere
and at any time. Reality
Biologists view reality as something that exists in
nature prior to measurements and yields records
Key Values upon being subjected to measurements, accurately
reflecting what it (i.e., reality) actually is. Many
The principles and accumulated knowledge of biologists believe that what cannot be measured
biology are essential in understanding the phe- does not exist and hence that theoretical biology
nomenon of life at the deepest level, leading to is of secondary importance as compared to
Biology 247 B
experimental biology. This way of thinking per- Consciousness
vading the contemporary biological community is The property of our nervous system that is aware
probably the result of the almost exclusive funding of its own activity, that is, self-awareness.
of experimental biological researches over theoret-
ical biological ones. This situation may be slowly Rationality/Reason B
changing because of the massive accumulation on The ability of our mind to carry out thought
the Internet of the biological data measured on processes in accordance with a set of logical
living systems and the realization that these data rules as well as natural laws.
cannot be understood without the help of com-
puters supported by sophisticated statistical ana- Mystery
lyses and deep biological theories. It is interesting Biology is replete with mysteries. For example,
to note that, in physics, there are more theories than despite the research efforts by hundreds, if not,
can be evaluated by existing data, whereas, in thousands of biologists around the world during
biology, there are more data than can be understood the past half a century or more and the availabil-
by existing theories. This calls for more experi- ity of the 3-dimensional X-ray crystallographic
ments to be done than theories in physics and and associated amino-acid sequence data of
more theories to be developed than experiments hundreds of proteins, we still do not understand
in biology. Dozens of international organizations how the amino-acid sequence of even a single
invested billions of dollars to create the LHC protein determines the 3-dimensional structure
(Large Hadron Collider) in Switzerland to produce of the protein. That is, we still cannot predict,
data to test the validity of many theories proposed based on the laws of physics and chemistry
by hundreds of theoretical physicists (including alone, the 3-dimensional structure of a protein
Professor P. Higgs) that are published. In contrast, from its amino-acid sequence. This may indicate
the US government alone has invested billions of that there exists one or more fundamental laws
dollars to support biological research over the past hidden in protein folds that either have not yet
half a century or more, but there is practically no been discovered in physics or chemistry or are
general biological theory available that can pro- beyond these scientific disciplines. One possible
vide the theoretical framework to extract biologi- solution to this dilemma was suggested to be to
cally meaningful information from the vast data. postulate that protein folding is determined by
two mutually exclusive kinds of factors referred
Knowledge to as the synchronic (e.g., physical and chemi-
A system of organized information that can be cal) and diachronic informations (e.g., linguistic
applied to solving practical problems. principles) and that the laws of physics and
chemistry, representing synchronic information,
Truth are necessary but not sufficient to account for
A statement or proposition that has been formu- protein folding and the evolutionary history,
lated based on logic and found to agree with representing the diachronic information,
experiments or our daily experience. needs to be relied on in addition (Ji 2012,
pp. 159–173). Of course, one of the most
Perception important mysteries of biology that is relevant
The sum total of the stimuli that enters our con- to the science-religion discourse is the problem
sciousness leaving behind some registered traces of the origin of life (OL). It may be that
in our nervous system. OL has two complementary aspects – the
scientific aspect that is amenable to scientific
Time explanations and the mystic aspect that
A physical parameter that increases unidirection- accounts for the gap left behind by science.
ally just as the entropy of an isolated system does This idea may be diagrammatically represented
that undergo changes of whatever kinds. as shown in Fig. 2.
B 248 Biology
OL Biology, Table 1 The four types of debates on biological

evolution
Based on or implicating
Types of debate/ Macroscopic Microscopic
debaters data data
I Yes No
Science Mystery II No Yes
III Yes Yes
Biology, Fig. 2 The scientific and mystic aspects of the
IV No No
origin of life (OL)
One utility of the typology given in Table 1

may be that it provides us with a “selection rule”
Relevant Themes stating that no two debaters of different types can
reach a fruitful conclusion or that, when the
The relevance of the contemporary biology to the debaters belong to two different types, it is
science-religion dialogue was recently summa- impossible for them to reach a fruitful consensus.
rized in (Ji 2012, p. vii): All the debates on evolution before molecular
The cell is arguably one of the most complex mate- biology was born around the mid-twentieth cen-
rial systems in nature, in no small part because it is tury belong to what is referred to as the type
the building block of all living systems, including I debates in Table 1. The evolution-creation
us. We are cells, and cells are us. To know how
cells work, therefore, will contribute to understand- debates that began in Darwin’s days and continue
ing not only how our bodies work, which will today are mostly between scientists (types II or III)
advance medicine, but also how our mind works, and some Christians acting as type I or even type
which may help answer some of age-old philosoph- IV debaters. Macroscopic data on evolution are of
ical and religion-related questions from a new per-
spective. It is hoped that the molecular theory of such a nature that they may not be able to provide
the living cell presented in this book will contribute an objective basis for rationally resolving any type
to the emergence of ‘the new science of human I evolutionary debates. In contrast, new kinds of
nature’ that can lead ‘to a realistic, biologically debates, here called types II and III, arose as the
informed humanism.’ (S. Pinker 2003)
results of analyzing experimental data on the
In a more practical vein, the emerging molec- molecular biology of inheritance that began most
ular theories of living systems may have signifi- notably with the discovery of DNA double helix
cant contributions to make in resolving some of by Watson and Crick (1953) and the subsequent
the elusive problems raised in contemporary evo- discovery of the genetic code, and these debates
lution-religion debates. are waged among biologists and other scientists
There are two kinds of empirical data that are who are types II and III debaters who are likely to
involved in debates on evolution – macroscopic reach fruitful results.
(or phenomenological) data such as those Darwin Type II debates arise when a given set of
collected during his 5-year trip (1831–1836) molecular data obtained from biological experi-
around the world on the HMS Beagle and micro- ments can be interpreted in terms of more
scopic (or molecular, cellular) data such as those than one molecular mechanism, for example,
on the role of DNA in genetic inheritance that the relative importance of random mutations vs.
became available only during the past century. nonrandom recombinations in determining the
Since fact-based debates on evolution must uti- genotypic variations of an organism. A molecular
lize either one or both of these two kinds of mechanism is defined here as a set of molecular
empirical data, we can logically divide all processes that is thought to underlie a given
debates on evolution into four main types, empirical observation. Type III evolutionary
depending on the kinds of empirical data that debates are concerned with the question as to
inform the debates (see Table 1). how the macroscopic and microscopic aspects
Biology of Aesthetics 249 B
of biological evolution can be bridged. Similar Garcia-Martinez, J., Aranda, A., & Perez-Ortin, J. E.
problems of connecting the macroscopic and (2004). Genomic run-on evaluates transcription rates
for all yeast genes and identifies gene regulatory mech-
microscopic events were encountered and suc- anisms. Mol Cell, 15, 303–313.
cessfully resolved in simpler sciences, physics, Gerstein, M. B., Bruce, C., Rozowsky, J. S., Zheng, D., Du
and chemistry in the past by introducing major Jiang, J., Korbel, J. O., Emanuelsson, O., Zhang, Z. D., B
novel concepts such as the concept of quantum of Weissman, S., & Snyder, M. (2007). What is a gene,
post-ENCODE? History and updated definition.
action in physics and the periodic table in chem- Genome Research, 17, 669–681.
istry. Similarly, connecting the macroscopic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_microarray
Darwinian theory of evolution and the micro- Ji, S. (2012). Molecular theory of the living cell: Concepts,
scopic theories of molecular and cell biology molecular mechanisms, and biomedical applications.
New York: Springer.
may require invoking one or more new concepts Ji, S., Chaovalitwongse, A., Fefferman, N., Yoo, W., &
(e.g., conformons, the cell force; see above). Perez-Ortin, J. E. (2009). Mechanism-based clustering
Finally, for a logical completeness, it is necessary of genome-wide mRNA levels: Roles of transcription
to include type IV debates on evolution that are and transcript-degradation rates. In S. Butenko, A.
Chaovalitwongse, & P. Pardalos (Eds.), Clustering
based neither on macroscopic (e.g., fossil challenges in biological networks (pp. 237–255).
records) nor microscopic empirical data (e.g., Singapore: World Scientific Publishing.
coevolution of DNA sequences among different Kirschner, M. W., & Gerhart, J. C. (2005). The plausibility
species) but only on religious beliefs such as of life: Resolving Darwin’s dilemma. New Haven:
Yale University Press.
found in the Old and New Testaments of Mayr, E. (1991). One long argument: Charles Darwin and
Christianity or in other world religious writings. the genesis of modern evolutionary thought. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Tucker, T., Marra, M., & Friedman, J. M. (2009).
Massively parallel sequencing: The next bing thing in
Cross-References genetic medicine. Am. J. Human Genetics, 85,
142–154.
▶ Biology, Theoretical Yau, S.-T., & Nadis, S. (2010). The shape of inner space:
▶ Biosemiotics String theory and the geometry of the universe’s hid-
den dimensions. New York: Basic Books.
▶ Body
▶ Chemical Thermodynamics
▶ Complex Systems
▶ Conformons Biology of Aesthetics
▶ Creationism
▶ Evolution Bjørn Grinde
▶ Functionalism Department of Mental Health, Norwegian
▶ Hyperstructures Institute of Public Health, Nydalen, Oslo,
▶ Medical Genetics Norway
▶ Mysticism
▶ Philosophy of Mind
▶ Reductionism Description
▶ Scientism
▶ Semiotics Somewhere along our evolutionary path, the
▶ Theory of Mind human lineage developed an obsession with
beauty in sounds and objects. The clue to under-
stand the biology behind this phenomenon lies in
References a dictionary definition of beauty: “A quality that
gives pleasure to the mind.” Humans are
Eldredge, N., & Gould, S. J. (1972). Punctuated equilibria:
An alternative to phyletic gradualism. In R. J. M.
equipped with several types of senses, but only
Schopf (Ed.), Models in paleobiology (pp. 82–115). the two based on eyes and ears transmit signals
San Francisco: Freeman Cooper. associated with aesthetics. Thus, the pertinent
B 250 Biology of Aesthetics
question when it comes to understanding the a love song may stimulate some of the positive
biology of aesthetics is “Why are certain visual feelings involved in love, and a painting of a baby
and auditory stimuli processed in a way that gives may warm the heart of adults.
us pleasure?” This entry focuses on the elements that add
The brain receives a continuous flow of sen- what may be referred to as aesthetic value. It is
sory information. Most signals are neutral, some assumed that these elements operate independent
may be repulsive, but a considerable variety of of cultural implications and associations
signals have the potential of eliciting some sort of involved. This statement is backed by the obser-
pleasure. The term aesthetics within biology, vation that people tend to agree upon what is
however, is generally limited to stimuli derived good, or not so good, in art derived from different
from sounds or objects produced with the aim of cultures. It implies that there are vaguely defin-
eliciting a positive experience. In other words, able aesthetic rules, employed by the artists,
aesthetics is about man-made creations that which add a particular artistic quality. These
offer pleasure based on our auditory and visual rules, or elements, are what we look for when
senses. distinguishing between a bowl with solely func-
Evolution did not give us eyes and ears for the tional value and a bowl with added aesthetic
purpose of idle pleasures. They are part of value; or cherished music compared to just noise.
a survival kit. Looking at a painting or listening While many aspects of art depend on particular
to music is unlikely to help you survive, yet individual or cultural parameters, the underlying
people spend a fair amount of time doing just aesthetic elements appear to rely on innate features
that. This entry tries to explain why. For a more of the human mind. These more intuitive elements
comprehensive text, see (Grinde 2012). are not necessarily the most important, but they are
the focus of this entry. Other aspects of art, not the
least its function in mate choice, have obvious
The Many Components of Art biological implications, but they are considered
less relevant when discussing aesthetics.
A concern for aesthetics appears to be a universal
feature among human cultures, strongly
suggesting that there are innate mechanisms Brain Rewards
behind. The evolutionary perspective may, there-
fore, help explain why we care about beauty, and, The intuitive aesthetic elements are a question of
possibly, suggest what aspects of music and art what sort of visual or auditory signals that are
that tingle our brain in a way that causes likely to be processed by the brain in a way that
satisfaction. gives the observer a positive feeling. In order to
First, one needs to dissect what art is about, that appreciate this perspective, it is important to have
is, to distinguish between aesthetic elements and a basal understanding of why the brain offers
other aspects. Aesthetics serves several cultural positive and negative experiences. As a general
functions, such as communication with God, and rule, feelings serve one of two functions: they
influencing people’s political ideas. Moreover, art either encourage or discourage particular types
has obvious economic aspects, not just in the value of behavior. Food taste good, so you eat. It hurts
of pieces of art, but also in the use of aesthetics to to burn your finger, so you avoid fire. In other
sell products. Another highly relevant feature is words, feelings tend to come in two flavors: pos-
the potential that art has in offering status to those itive or negative. This is, of course, a simplified
with relevant skills – a point that is particularly version of reality. In many instances, the value is
relevant when it comes to attracting a mate. less obvious and quite often it depends on the
Another way of dissecting art is to distinguish situation. Some people enjoy the thrill of
between pure aesthetic elements and experiences a dangerous task, such as climbing a mountain,
based on the associative content; for example, while others consider it a totally unpleasant
affair. Still this bipolar view of brain instigation is archaeologists have discovered signs of similar
useful for the present purpose. Thus, I shall use behavior at least 100, 000 years ago, in the form
the terms brain rewards and brain punishments to of presumed shell necklaces and the use of
signify sensations experienced as respectively pigments. Most likely artistic behavior goes
positive and negative. back much further, but direct evidence is B
Some further comments are called for. difficult to find due to the lock of lasting objects.
Employing your brain or body to do what they In fact, even chimpanzees appear to take delight
are designed for is generally positive, in the sense in producing art – which is not surprising, as
that it is good for your genes, and therefore, the aesthetic elements to be discussed below
connected with rewards. This implies that even presumably have a long evolutionary history
sadness may “feel good” because it is a reaction (see Grinde 1996).
that under certain circumstances serves you well.
Signs of sadness may, for example, elicit help
from others. Several Hollywood productions tes- Elements of Visual Aesthetics
tify to the potential value of sorrow – people flock
to movies that make them cry. Balance and Symmetry
Another important point to note is that reward- One of the few rules of aesthetics that has won
type mechanisms for directing behavior are not a certain acceptance is the principle stating that
necessarily adaptive in the situation we live in at the main motif in a picture should divide the
present. The reward of an orgasm feels good canvas in a ratio of approximately 3:5. What the
regardless of contraceptives. For the genes, principle suggests is that placing an object in
unproductive sex can be seen as a waste of time, the middle is boring, while placing it too far to
but the genes did not foresee the invention of one side produces an unbalanced appearance.
contraceptives. Likewise, adding aesthetic value The ratio of 3:5 is supposedly the optimal com-
to an object or a work of art does not necessarily promise between these two undesirables. The
give any evolutionary advantage. The essential disagreeable effect of the unbalanced picture is
feature of aesthetics is to evoke feelings per- possibly connected with our fear of falling.
ceived as positive. The feelings do not need to Falling is not a common problem for an animal
be cheerful, neither is any engagement in art stationed on the ground, but our ancestors did at
necessarily adaptive. The brain offers “rewards” one point live in trees. Furthermore, even ground-
because directing your attention to particular dwelling animals would be conscious of the pos-
types of sensory input was adaptive at some sibility that an unbalanced rock may roll.
point in our evolutionary history. A dominant object on one side of a picture gives
the unpleasant impression that this side is tilting
unless a balance is added on the opposite side. On
Visual Aesthetics the other hand, we tend to cherish a bit of excite-
ment. Thus, the choice is much a question of what
Our ancestors began to walk upright some sort of subconscious feelings the artist aims for:
3–4 million years ago, thereby freeing their thrill or calmness. Both offer possible brain
hands for more advanced manipulation of tools. rewards.
Tools can be of obvious importance for survival, In some cases, an exact balance may add par-
the surprising part is that at some point people ticular value. Symmetry is appreciated. Perfect
started to add beauty to the objects. Today we symmetry in a person’s anatomy, or in a prey
have moved one step further: We create objects animal, is a sign of gene quality, which is to be
of art with no apparent practical value. desired. The positive value of symmetry in
The first obvious signs of this propensity, in connection with aesthetics is most obvious in
the form of cave paintings and the production of architecture. Many buildings considered to be
figurines, date back some 40,000 years. However, great works of art have symmetrical features.
Color can help it organize the details. Thus, there

Many plants offer nourishment to animals in should be a unity in the diversity. In the aesthetic
exchange for helping their seeds. Tomatoes, for tradition of the Chinese, there is a concept called
example, are meant to be eaten – the perfect start “The rule of five,” referring to the limitations of
for the seeds of this plant is to end up in feces. In the human attention span: The mind can without
order to signal that the fruit is ready to be eaten, too much effort grasp five elements at a time. If
a conspicuous color is usually added. Animals too many unconnected elements are added, the
have evolved the ability to respond accordingly. impact may be stressful. As a rule of thumb, the
They have a visual system enabling them to spot complexity should not move beyond the attention
ripe fruit. Fruits and berries are important for potential of the human brain.
human sustenance. To induce us to find them,
we presumably developed appropriate brain Depth and Movement
rewards, that is, an appreciation of colorful Binocular vision is typical for primates. This
objects that contrast with the surroundings. feature is probably connected with the visual
I believe these rewards constitute an element in requirements of living in trees. Moving from
the biology of aesthetics. In line with this notion, branch to branch demands an accurate ability to
we do indeed appear to prefer warm colors, such measure distances. In order to take full advantage
as red or yellow – particularly as opposed to of the various potentials of the brain, we need
brown. Ripe fruit is typically red or yellow, practice. Children are encouraged to practice by
while feces, a substance to be avoided, are participating in play activities. The purpose of
brown. Colors that are light and fresh tend to be play is to learn tasks that the brain has
considered pleasant while darker, and muddier, a rudimentary potential for performing, but
colors, particularly brownish or grayish, tend to which yet require further training. The brain
be depressing. Humans thrive in daylight. How- rewards us for developing our potentials. Our
ever, as pointed out above, even sadness can be ability to measure depth and calculate move-
conceived as a positive sensation. Thus, the artist ments requires practice. We may, therefore, be
may very well create a great painting using dark rewarded for processing visual input relevant to
brown rather than brilliant red. this task.
A typical criticism of amateur paintings is that
Curiosity and Attention they appear flat. We appreciate a painter who
Some animals are specialists. Cows, for example, manages to create the perception of depth. It is
concentrate their attention on a limited range of possible to lure the brain into perceiving motion
visual impressions, such as the quality of grass. by adding dots of different colors, but the same
Humans are quite the opposite. We are specialists light intensity. Furthermore, a picture may con-
in nonspecializing. We are stimulus-hungry and tain lines that the eyes are induced to follow, and
have an inclination to gather all sorts of informa- thus offer the viewer a sense of movement.
tion from our surroundings. Survival often
depends on careful observation, such as finding Functionality
the way, gathering food, and recognizing faces. The idea that the functional is also visually attrac-
Exploratory behavior is, therefore, connected tive was particularly influential on architecture in
with brain rewards. The term “boring” is used in the 1930s. A central doctrine then was that form
aesthetics when there is not sufficient variation or should follow function. A related idea is that art
novelty in a work of art. The object lacks suffi- should try to perfect nature. Beauty has been
cient detail to attract attention. On the other hand, described as a “comprehensible representation
complexity stimulates our curiosity and is, thereof the perfect.”
fore, pleasing. There are obvious reasons why looking for
A too complex visual input may, however, functionality and perfection should be connected
prove adverse. The mind needs to find clues that with a reward. Consuming rotten food may be
dangerous, whereas eating the best specimens nurture, several arguments favor the notion that
keeps you healthy. Moreover, it is important to the appreciation of music is an innate trait. One
recognize the functional qualities of tools. line of evidence for a genetic influence is the
Receiving a pleasant sensation when viewing universality of musical appreciation. Most cultures
the right objects helps the individual to distin- make use of music, if not with advanced instru- B
guish good from bad, and stimulates us to try to ments, in the form of song and rhythm. Playable
obtain the better items. flutes that are almost 9,000 years old have been
found in China, and a piece of bone discovered at
a Neanderthal site had holes drilled into the hollow
Art as Hedonism part, suggesting that even they made flutes. The
observation that musical appreciation apparently
The above list of elements is not necessarily arises spontaneously in children offers further evi-
exhaustive. The focus has been on presenting dence, and so does the powerful effect music has
a way of understanding aesthetics. The list on the human mind. The Neanderthal lineage
includes what I believe to be the more important diverged from the lineage leading to present-day
factors. Our visual system, including the accom- humans more than half a million years ago. Thus,
panying reward mechanisms, was developed for the ability to appreciate music may have been
viewing nature, not artificial objects. The attri- present in hominids for a long time (for further
butes of our vision, as well as the characteristics reading, see Grinde, 2000).
of nature, may guide us in an attempt to find and
utilize aesthetic elements.
Obviously, there are numerous ways of The Language Connection
eliciting rewards. Thus, the theory presented
here does not restrict the artist to narrow rules. Accepting that our passion for music is based on
The present understanding of aesthetics is related an innate tendency, the question is: Why is the
to a dominant philosophy of art sometimes human brain designed to connect certain forms of
referred to as the hedonist school. Its central auditory signals with pleasurable sensations? In
idea is that aesthetics is about creating images other words, what sort of evolutionary forces
that induce pleasure. The biological model adds carved this tendency into the human mind?
substance to this theory. It agrees with the central Oral language is the most obvious advantage
notion, but by using the word “pleasure” in associated with complex sounds. A possible evo-
a broader sense, the model helps resolve lutionary connection between language and
a paradox of the hedonist school: Why so many music has been discussed by several authors,
of the great works of art reflect sadness and trag- starting with Darwin in his “Descent of Man.”
edy? As explained above, the feeling of sadness is I shall expand on this connection, in an attempt to
not necessarily negative. develop a coherent theory for the evolution of
musical appreciation. The language connection
is the pivotal element, but other forces are pre-
Auditory Aesthetics sumably also involved.
The way human infants learn language is dif-
Music can arouse a surprisingly intense emo- ferent from the way birds learn to vocalize. The
tional response. The biological approach to sound-producing capacity of most birds tends to
understanding the human mind may offer an be fixed. Some are able to learn by imitation and
explanation. to elaborate on themes, thus creating both dialects
Again, the answer depends on insight into why and individual signatures, but their song is mainly
certain sensory stimuli are processed in a way that hard-wired. Humans are born with an innate
engaged reward-type nervous circuits. Although capacity for language, but this is only
musical appreciation is clearly influenced by a template; extensive practice is required in
order to learn to produce and decipher language. Purity and Harmony

Physical play is necessary for infants to develop The tendency to prefer pure sounds is a central
the nerve circuitry required for muscular coordi- element in the enjoyment of music, and a possible
nation. Focusing the mind on the production and consequence of the language connection. The
interpretation of sounds is presumably adaptive preference for purity and consonance appears to
behavior because it helps develop the nerve cir- be innate. One reason why these qualities are
cuitry required for language. As such, this activ- favored may be because they enhance oral com-
ity should be coupled with positive sensations. munication. The capacity to produce pure sounds
According to this hypothesis, our appreciation is most advanced in animals in which auditory
for music was designed by evolution primarily in signals are the prominent form of communica-
order to improve brain structures involved in tion, such as songbirds and whales. A pure tone
language. It might be argued that the hypothesis presumably carries further, and although lan-
would predict that a preoccupation with music, as guage typically includes a mixture of relatively
with other play behavior, should be associated pure (vowels) and dissonant (consonants) sounds,
with children. In response to that, it may be harmony is expected to reduce ambiguity. The
noted that even when the main circuitry has brain centers involved in the production and
been established, the mind presumably continues processing of sounds are probably predisposed
to pay attention to sounds for two reasons: Firstly, to prefer sounds with suitable qualities.
as adults we may still need to exercise our sound- Some languages are referred to as tone lan-
producing and interpreting capacity. Secondly, guages; that is, the meaning of a particular sound
we are stimulated not just to improve our senses, depends on the pitch. Speakers of these languages
but also to use them in exploratory behavior. appear to be more able to recognize variations in
Exploratory behavior, that is, taking an interest pitch compared to speakers of non-tonal lan-
in our surroundings, may decrease upon ageing, guages. It is conceivable that the first human
but does not disappear. languages were more like song, or at least
The concept of agreeable sensations designed depended on pitch, which would lead to an aug-
for the purpose of improving the capacity for oral mented interest in this aspect of sounds.
communication, as well as for stimulating an
interest in sounds, can help explain music but Temporal Patterning and the Human Touch
then why are not all sounds equally pleasing? A main feature of human language, as opposed to
A further analysis is required to understand why oral communication in apes, is the importance of
we distinguish between noise and music – that is, the temporal patterning of sounds. Single sounds
we need to describe the features that cause are in most cases not sufficient to convey mean-
auditory signals to be pleasing. ing, whereas when put together in a sequence
they form words and sentences. Temporal pat-
terning is equally important in music – if the
Elements of Auditory Aesthetics tones are not in some way tied together sequen-
tially, people are unlikely to show appreciation.
Complexity and Coherence The temporal patterning is related to what the
As in the case of visual art, a certain complexity musical literature refers to as melody. It is conceiv-
of sounds presumably has a positive effect on the able that music requires similarities to language,
listener. A single, pure tone is not that interesting such as complexity and melody, in order to be
to explore. A measure of intricacy is required to valued, because only then does it utilize the brain
excite human curiosity. Sounds that are too com- resources involved in processing spoken words.
plex, however, tend to be overwhelming. We Another element in the appreciation of sounds,
presumably prefer some sort of coherence, that as in visual arts, is the communicative aspect.
is, a principle that connects the various sounds Humans seek to gain knowledge about other
and make them comprehensible. individuals as part of our social nature. When a
person creates sounds, we tend to search for The Chill
a message, or at least we expect that something
about that person’s emotional life can be inferred. The above suggestions may explain a general
A voice satisfies this criterion, the same goes for an appreciation for music, yet the emotional
instrument in the hands of a skilled musician, while response is sometimes more overwhelming than B
it is difficult to program a computer to display what would be anticipated. Particular passages
emotion. In other words, the complexity should can generate an intense pleasurable experience
have a human flavor. It is interesting to note that described as a chill or a thrill.
people tend to agree, at least to some extent, on It is not an expected evolutionary strategy to
what emotions a given sequence of music reflects. encourage a certain type of behavior in excess of
what is adaptive. A person who is preoccupied
Safe and Relaxing Sounds with song or music pays less attention to other
The appreciation of music depends on a variety of tasks or to possible dangers. For example, if you
qualities of sounds, the language connection does are engrossed in singing you are unlikely to
not necessarily explain them all. Music can have detect an approaching predator. Thus the rewards
a relaxing effect not only on humans, but on associated with sounds should not divert our
animals as well. attention to a greater extent than what the contri-
One possible explanation for the relaxing bution to survival suggests. The chill appears to
effect is that music is continuous and rhythmical. be excessive encouragement.
In a natural environment, danger tends to be Certain qualities of music that tend to produce
accompanied by sudden, unexpected sounds. chills point toward a possible explanation.
A background of constant noise suggests peace- Research suggests that chills are evoked more
ful conditions; discontinuous sounds demand often by sad music than by happy music, by famil-
more attention. Even soft discontinuous sounds iar music rather than an unknown piece, and
that we consciously realize do not signal danger intense passages, such as crescendos, are particu-
can be disturbing, for example, the dripping of larly chilling. Chills are more commonly experi-
a leaky tap. A continuous sound, particularly one enced by women than by men. It is conceivable
that is judged to be safe, relaxes the brain. As to that chills hook directly onto the brain’s primitive
the soothing effect on humans, it may also be emotional circuits; more specifically, that music
pointed out that music presumably is intuitively has some sort of relationship with the call of an
understood to be man-made, and as such nor- infant crying for its mother. Separation calls are
mally not related to dangerous situations. expected to evoke powerful feelings in parents –
especially in mothers. Human separation calls
Rhythm have properties related to chill-producing sounds:
One of the most characteristic features of music is the cry of a baby is at once intense, familiar, and
rhythm. In tribal music, rhythm instruments are sad. Long before the development of language, the
often the main element, but even elaborate music genes had presumably designed the brain to offer
seems to require rhythm in order to be appreci- ample rewards to ensure attentiveness to the call of
ated. The rare cases of experimental music with- infants. It is possible that a chill is an accidental
out a beat have, as expected, not enjoyed sensation evoked when music happens to
commercial success. Rhythm is probably appre- approach the sounds we are programmed to react
ciated because it helps us organize the sound, and to as caregivers.
because it is a comforting feature. The comfort However, it is also conceivable that a chill can
can be related to the absence of danger associated be explained by the way evolution tends to utilize
with rhythmic sounds, but also to a resemblance structures already present for novel purposes, as
to the pulse of the mother’s heart imprinted pre- exemplified by the way legs evolved from the
natally. Newborns appreciate sound in the form fins of fish. The need for positive sensations
of voices, vocal music, or heartbeats. to encourage the processing and production of
sounds, which I suggest appeared as a conse- mate choice may have depended to some extent
quence of the introduction of language, may on musical and visual artistic abilities. Most of
have triggered evolution to recruit the emotional the advanced acoustic signals in nature are court-
pathways associated with parents’ attention to the ship signals. It is easy to imagine that competence
cries of their babies. in singing, or in following a rhythm, has
improved the odds of success in a human court-
ship situation. The theory would help explain
Sexual Selection why love is the most popular theme for songs.
Skill in decorating the body may have served
An artist may feel that reducing aesthetics to an a similar purpose.
innate trait does not do either music or art justice. Although cultural functions, particularly in
It is important to stress that the biological terms of sexual display, probably contributed to
approach reflects only one of several possible the evolution of aesthetic appreciation, it seems
perspectives relevant to the understanding of art. unlikely that they represent the primary mover.
Moreover, in present society art has gained a “life I believe the aesthetic elements of the type
of its own,” partly independent of our innate described in this entry preceded possible social
preferences for particular qualities. benefits. Sexual selection tends to expand partic-
The suggested elements, and concomitant ular features, among the more famous are the
rewards, promote a preoccupation with certain peacock’s feathers, but generally the feature to
types of sounds and visual stimuli. Obviously, be expanded was present before sexual selection
the particular taste of an individual is governed started using it. In the absence of the aesthetic
by personal and cultural traits. Thus, the obser- elements, the other functions of art would proba-
vation that the same music or painting may bly not have emerged.
produce pleasure in one person and discomfort
in another does not contradict the suggested
aesthetic elements. For the Service of Life Quality
It was pointed out already that art serves sev-
eral cultural functions, such as communication The life of dogs depends on a keen sense of smell.
with both humans and spirits. It is possible that Dogs are unlikely to insist on going to a concert,
these functions contributed to the evolution of our or to an art exhibition, but they certainly would
innate preoccupation with art. Communication appreciate a “gallery” where they can sniff inter-
involves obtaining attention. However, both esting odors.
attention and communication may be achieved Compared to dogs, we are expected to derive
without adding beauty. A traffic sign is perfectly more pleasure from auditory and visual signals,
designed for attracting attention, yet few would and less from olfactory signals, simply because
treasure it as a work of art. Paintings, on the the auditory and visual signals are more impor-
contrary, are sometimes very subtle and quiet. tant for human survival. Present music and art are
Furthermore, much of the art produced, such as designed to hit pleasure circuitries in the brain
that of children or amateurs, is apparently made with maximum power. The artist accentuates the
solely for the satisfaction of the creator, and not elements capable of stimulating brain rewards.
for communicating with others. The greatest That is, they offer exaggerated stimuli akin to
works of art are probably produced when aes- the way a nesting bird will prefer a plastic egg if
thetic elements are used to enhance the commu- it is bigger than the real egg.
nicative content. The aesthetic rewards are then The role of art in present society is far from
added to associative rewards, creating being adaptive in a biological sense. Then again,
a particularly strong impression. there is no reason why it should be. It seems more
It is also likely that sexual selection spurred rational to define the purpose of life as improving
the evolution of our aesthetic disposition; that is, life quality, rather than maximizing procreation.
Biology of Religion 257 B
The term Darwinian Happiness offers an What Does Biology Have to do with
expansion of this way of looking at quality of Religion?
life. The various reward mechanisms activated
by aesthetics offer an excellent strategy for hap- Although it would be understandable for some-
piness (Grinde, 2012). Artists, who are capable of one to ask, “What does biology have to do with B
finding novel ways of hitting the relevant religion?” the answer is easily given. Biology is
rewards, should be valued. the study of life or of living organisms. Humans
are living organisms. Humans engage in religious
behavior. In fact, except in some modern
Cross-References industrialized Western societies that have been
secularizing for the past few centuries, religious
▶ Aesthetics (Philosophy) behavior has been as much of a species-
▶ Biological Anthropology characteristic trait of human beings as the way
▶ Biological Psychology we walk, talk, smile, and cry. It is easier for
▶ Biology, Theoretical biology to concentrate on religious behavior
▶ Evolution rather than the subjective aspects of religious
▶ Evolutionary Psychology experience if for no other reason religious behav-
ior is observable. However, biology has also
modestly contributed something to our under-
References standing of certain aspects of religious
subjectivity by a new field of functional brain
Grinde, B. (1996). The biology of visual aesthetics. scanning, sometimes called “neurotheology,” in
Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems, 19,
which areas of brain that are metabolically active
31–40.
Grinde, B. (2000). A biological perspective on musical during such things as prayer and feelings of tran-
appreciation. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 9, scendence can be studied (Newberg et al. 2001).
18–27.
Grinde, B. (2012). Darwinian happiness – evolution as
a guide for living and understanding human behavior
(2nd ed.). Princeton: The Darwin Press. 466 pages. Ways of Studying Religious Behavior
Biologically
Most biological studies on religion address reli-

Biology of Religion gious behavior, looking at its evolutionary his-
tory, its development in the lifetime of the
Jay R. Feierman* individual, its proximate causal mechanisms,
University of New Mexico, Corrales, NM, USA and whether exhibiting it increases one’s survival
and reproductive success. These are the four
areas of investigation that are used in trying to
Related Terms understand the biology of any behavior, a method
suggested many years ago by behavioral biologist
Anthropology; Biological; Celibacy; Develop- Niko Tinbergen (Tinbergen 1951).
ment; Evolutionary history; God; Infectious
disease; Life; Life sciences; Living;
Neuroethology; Primatology; Proximate causes; Literature on Biology and Religion
Religious; Reproductive success; Survival
The first book to specifically address biology in
reference to religion was Alister Hardy’s The
*Jay R. Feierman has retired from University of Biology of God: A Scientist’s Study of Man the
New Mexico Religious Animal (1976). This was followed
B 258 Biology of Religion
by The Biology of Religion by Reynolds and particular. In human religious history, shamans
Tanner (1983). In the last several years, two and medicine men were the first religious
edited volumes have addressed the biology of practitioners. One of their primary roles was the
religious behavior (Feierman 2009; Voland and treatment of various diseases, which they accom-
Schiefenhovel 2009). plished primarily through ritual.
Religion has another relationship to infectious
disease. In traditional tribal societies religious
Assortative (Preferential) Mating and diversity (i.e., more religions per area) correlates
Religions positively with the area’s pathogen prevalence,
which means that there is more density of tribal
Because in modern industrialized societies peo- religions in the parasite-rich tropics compared to
ple tend to marry persons of their same religion temperate areas (Fincher and Thornhill 2008).
with a greater than chance probabilities, religions Religious differences, often phrased as differ-
can also be thought of what in biology would be ences over religious beliefs, are a known cause
called a “breeding (or mating) population.” That of, and perhaps even a mechanism of, human
of course has lots of biological consequences. tribal groups dividing (Price 2009).
There are very few religions that do not have
rules and regulations regarding the sexual behav-
ior of their members. And they do that for good Survival, Reproductive Success, and
reason, given what appears to be one of religions Religion
functions.
In advanced industrialized societies today, and
for reasons unknown, persons of faith, who are
Religion, Celibacy, and Biology practicing religious behavior, also have better
survival and reproductive success than their sec-
Religious celibacy as one more relationship ularist neighbors (Bloom 2009), a correlation
between biology and religion. Religious all- with lots of biological significance.
male communities, as seen in Buddhism and
Roman Catholicism, are somewhat “natural,” as
they are similar to nonreproducing social groups Cross-References
or bands of nonhuman, normatively social, male
primate species. No normatively social primate ▶ Altruism
species has been described in which females form ▶ Biological Psychology
nonreproducing bands save human beings in ▶ Biology
terms of Roman Catholic women religious com- ▶ Body
munities, an anomaly in primatology for certain. ▶ Epistemology, Evolutionary
Lone males, which could be considered the cur- ▶ Evolution
rent biological characterization of diocesan ▶ Love (Affective, Sexual)
Roman Catholic priests, have much less prece- ▶ Natural Theology
dence in primatology in a normatively social ▶ Neuroimaging
species, such as our own. ▶ Neurotheology
Disease and Religion References
Bloom, M. (2009). The reproductive benefits of religious

There is another rather interesting relationship
affiliation. In E. Voland & W. Schiefenhövel (Eds.),
between biology and religion, which has to do The biological evolution of religious mind and behav-
with disease in general and infectious disease in ior (pp. 117–126). Heidelberg: Springer.
Biology, Theoretical 259 B
Feierman, J. R. (Ed.). (2009). The biology of religious we distinguish Xue (blood) (Ross 1989). Contrary
behavior: The evolutionary origins of faith and reli- to Western medicine, the Eastern, Chinese medi-
gion. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.
Fincher, C., & Thornhill, R. (2008). Assortative sociality, cine was more theoretical than experimental,
limited dispersal, Infectious diseases and the genesis of though both have finally the practical purposes. It
the global pattern of religious diversity. Proceedings was William Harvey (1628) who, underpinning B
of Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275(1651), the mechanistic, “European” methodology of
2587–2594.
Hardy, A. (1976). The biology of god: A scientist’s study of Rene Descartes, described the human circulatory
man the religious animal. New York: Taplinger Pub- system as composed of heart, the pump, and the
lishing Company. vascular system of arteries and veins. Later on
Newberg, A., D’Aquili, E., & Rause, V. (2001). Why god Marcello Malpighi discovered capillaries
won’t go away: Brain science and the biology of belief.
New York: Ballantine Books. connecting arteries and veins, and the whole
Price, J. S. (2009). The adaptiveness of changing religious human circulatory system has been divided into
belief systems. In J. R. Feierman (Ed.), The biology of the closed cardiovascular system, transporting
religious behavior: The evolutionary origins of faith blood, and the open lymphatic system,
and religion (pp. 175–189). Santa Barbara, CA:
Praeger/ABC-CLIO. transporting lymph (Wright 2012). The physical
Reynolds, V., & Tanner, R. E. S. (1983). The biology of theory of hydrodynamics can be applied for
religion. London: Longman. description and explanation of the circulatory sys-
Tinbergen, N. (1951). The study of instinct. Oxford: tem action, using such notions as the velocity and
Voland, E., & Schiefenhovel, W. (2009). Biological evo- the pressure fields, and transport through semiper-
lution of religious mind and behavior. Heidelberg: meable membranes (Elad and Einav 2003). The
Springer. theory explains the flow and diffusion of gases,
electrolytes, nutrients, signaling molecules, anti-
bodies, and the whole movable cells. Recently, the
system of capillaries has been described in terms
Biology, Theoretical of fractal networks (Pereira 2010). Contrary to the
circulatory system, the nervous system of higher
Michal Kurzynski animals cannot be directly described in physical
Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz terms, as the nerve conduction is not a simple
University, Poznan, Poland electric conduction. A special nonphysical theory
of neural networks has been developed, but there
are still too many questions involved to treat it as
The meaning of the word “theoretical biology” a complete biological theory.
depends on what we understand by the word Cell Theory. The cell was first observed and
“theory.” Here, we assume that a theory is described by Robert Hooke (1665) and Antonie
a compact set of concepts and principles able to van Leeuvenhoek (1674), who were among
unify and explain a certain class of facts, in this the constructors of the microscope. Almost two
case related to the phenomenon of life. In exem- centuries of continuous improving, the optical
plary fashion, the conceptual apparatus used is microscopic technique entitled Theodor
abstractive enough to be formalized in terms of Schwann and Matthias Schleiden (1839), and
mathematics. In the course of the history of sci- Rudolph Virchow (1855) to formulate a theory
ence, we can distinguish only a few systems of the main theses of which can be expressed in the
views that are worth to be termed the biological following three statements (Harris 2000):
theory. Some of these are reviewed below in the • The cell is the most basic unit of life.
order of their original formulation. • All living individuals are either unicellular or
Circulation Theory. In a sense, this theory composed of many cells.
goes back to traditional Chinese medicine and • All cells come either from division of
a concept of Zang Fu including five pairs of preexisting cells or by conjugation of two gen-
organs connected by five “fluids,” among which erative cells.
B 260 Biology, Theoretical
We distinguish simple prokaryotic cells from the concepts of genotype as the complete set of all
much more complex eukaryotic cells, which the genes of a given organism, and phenotype as
probably originated from the symbiotic conjuga- the complete set of all the observable traits.
tion of several prokaryotic cells of different Mendel’s laws of inheritance of a single trait
kinds. The origin of the first prokaryotic cell is were generalized to whole phenotype by Godfrey
a separate problem. It is a matter of definition of Hardy and Wilhelm Weinberg (1908). Probabil-
life whether viruses are alive or not. ity theory and mathematical statistics appeared
The cell theory, in natural way, divides math- ideal tools for predicting inherited traits
ematical modeling of the biological phenomena (Edwards 2000).
onto two levels. A subcellular organization is the Introduction of genetics onto the cellular level
object of cellular biology that deals with struc- was done by Thomas Hunt Morgan (1910) who
ture, dynamics, and function of a single cell argued that genes are located on chromosomes at
(Lodish et al. 2000, Chap. 1). Two complemen- definite positions referred to by him as loci. Var-
tary theoretical approaches to cellular biology iation in heredity is not entirely due to gene
have been developed, namely, the reductionist mutations but to gene recombination in the pro-
molecular biology (Lodish et al. 2000) and the cess of crossing-over of homologous pairs of
holistic systems biology (Palsson 2006). Molec- chromosomes. Linear order of genes along indi-
ular biology uses the theoretical apparatus of vidual chromosomes makes probabilities of
molecular biophysics and biochemistry. Systems occurrence and variation of the corresponding
biology on the other hand starts from an informa- alleles mutually correlated.
tional content of the cell genome and uses the However, the greatest turning point was intro-
mathematical apparatus of the theory of evolu- duction of genetics onto the molecular level. It
tion (see below). A supracellular organization of was done by Oswald Avery and coworkers in
living matter is the object of developmental biol- 1944, when the genetic information carrier was
ogy (Wolpert 2011). It deals with the cell differ- identified with DNA. The DNA double helix
entiation and the origin of higher levels of model discovered by James Watson and Francis
organization – tissues, organs, and, in particular, Crick in 1953 explains the genetic information
the circulatory system. The theory of morphogen- replication, point mutations, and the crossing-
esis initiated by Alan Turing (1952) uses mathe- over as well (Lodish et al. 2000). The knowledge
matical language of partial differential equations of genomes, the sets of all genes along the DNA
describing a system of chemical reactions chain, from viruses through yeast to men (2003),
coupled to processes of spatial diffusion of con- started the new era of theoretical biology.
trolling agents (Harrison 2005). Although mathematically inclined researchers
Theory of Inheritance (Smith 1997, Chap. 3). hope to ultimately achieve mathematical ana-
The fundamentals of this theory were formulated lyses of genetic information included at the
by Gregor Mendel (1865) who investigated DNA (genomics), mRNA (trancriptomics), and
inheritance of discrete traits of organisms called protein (proteomics) levels (Palsson 2006), these
genes. Each gene can occur in different versions omics may be too complex to be so analyzed and
called alleles. The organism inherits one allele require utilizing additional nonmathematical
from each parent; hence, each gene is represented tools including linguistics, semiotics (the science
twice. Some alleles are dominant and some reces- of signs), and algorithms (Ji 2012).
sive, and this fact determines the corresponding Theory of Evolution (Smith 1997; Bowler
trait. Forgotten at first, Mendel’s work was 1989). The idea that evolution is driven by natural
rediscovered at the beginning of twentieth cen- selection comes from Charles Darwin (1859). His
tury by Hugo de Vries (1901), who introduced the reasoning can be summarized in three sentences.
concept of mutation and mutant; William • Due to heredity, offspring is similar to parents.
Bateson (1905), who coined the word “genetics”; • However, small variations during reproduc-
and Wilhelm Johannsen (1909), who introduced tion occur, giving rise to different fitness to
Biology, Theoretical 261 B
habitat of particular individuals in the next development of this theory, let us mention the
generation. logistic model by Pierre-Francois Verhulst,
• There is a surplus in reproduction with respect the oscillating predator-prey model by Alfred
to resources; thus, only the fittest can survive. J. Lotka and Vito Volterra, the autocatalytic
The process results in accumulation of gradual hypercycle model of Manfred Eigen and Peter B
changes in subsequent generations which can Schuster (1979), and the evolving networks
culminate in the emergence of new species. The model by Sanjay Jain and Sandeep Krishna
theory explained exclusivity and hierarchity of (1998) (Sneppen and Zocchi 2005).
the biological taxonomy. Darwin’s view was On a deeper level, the population is
very revolutionary. Unfortunately, two of its represented by a probability distribution in a
main propagators in the second half of nineteenth genome space. On assuming that the evolution
century hampered rather than helped the future is a Markov process, the genetic drift can be
triumph. The analogy between phylogenesis and modeled by diffusion in the genome space in
ontogenesis proposed by Ernst Haeckel was which the selection is determined by some fitness
rather shallow, whereas the idea of Herbert Spen- landscape. Various landscapes have been pro-
cer to generalize survival of the fittest to the posed (Sneppen and Zocchi 2005). R. A. Fisher
human society (Social Darwinism, the “struggle (1930) in his simple theory of evolution assumed
for life”) appeared simply dangerous (Bowler a constant gradient of fitness which caused the
1989). initial distribution to move steadily to higher
A weak point of Darwin’s original theory was fitness. There was no mechanism of speciation.
the lack of the knowledge concerning the hered- Such a mechanism was proposed by Sewall
ity mechanism. The rediscovery of Mendel’s the- Wright (1945) who envisioned that barriers
ory of heredity at the beginning of twentieth between local maxima of fitness to be quickly
century did not result directly in combination of overcame. The evolution was treated as an opti-
the both theories. Even Thomas H. Morgan mization process, which later on found an
doubted the theory of evolution, asserting that application in numerical techniques of the evolu-
all individuals have the same “wild” genotype tionary algorithms. Quite opposite mechanism of
because all the mutants are eliminated by natural speciation was proposed by Motoo Kimura
selection. An actual combination of Darwinian (1983) in the neutral theory of evolution. The
evolution by natural selection with Mendelian fitness landscape is flat, but there are many bot-
inheritance was initiated in Soviet Union by tlenecks in reaching particular regions in the
Sergei Chetverikov (1926) and in Great Britain genome space by unfitted genetic drift. Yet
by Julian Huxley (1927), a grandson of Thomas another mechanism of speciation, related to
H. Huxley, a famous partaker of the first debate localization in a random fitness landscape, was
on the theory of evolution. Ronald A. Fisher, proposed by Manfred Eigen (1971, 1989)
John B. S. Haldane, and Sewall Wright (1931) (Eigen et al. 1989).
introduced the concept of genetic drift within A turning point in the theory of evolution
populations, which together with natural selec- appeared in the concept of punctuated equilibria
tion and gene flow between populations are con- formulated by Niles Eldredge and Stephen Gould
sidered by the modern evolutionary synthesis, (1972) (Gould 2007). Basing on a large material
formulated by Ernst Mayr (1942) as the three of fossil records, these authors argued that, con-
main mechanisms of evolution (Bowler 1989). trary to original gradualistic approach of Darwin,
The objects of mathematical models of the evolution did not occur uniformly but in jumps
theory of evolution are populations, the more or between shorter or longer periods of equilibria of
less isolated collections of individuals of the the duration time distributed approximately
same species. The numerical force of individual according to a power law. The diffusion theory
populations and its variation in time are consid- of genetic drift was too weak to explain this
ered by population dynamics. In the course of phenomenon and so did the theory of random
B 262 Biology, Theoretical
Boolean networks considered by Stuard given by various investigators to particular con-

Kauffman (1969). Only cellular automata for- cepts and it is not my aim to discuss it here. I only
malism applied by Per Bak and Kim Sneppen feel that some life processes can be better
(1993) and that of evolving scale-free networks explained in terms of theoretical physics and
applied by Sanjay Jain and Sandeep Krishna others, in terms of theoretical biology. It is
(2001) succeeded in explaining the phenomenon worth pointing out the main difference between
which is now known as self-organized criticality the methodology of physicists and biologists
(Sneppen and Zocchi 2005). which seems to appear when comparing the
Biology and Medicine. The notion of “theory” ways of thinking of the two greatest theorists in
we assumed opposes the notion of “experiment”. both sciences, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.
However, very often the word “theory” is used in For the physicist Newton, the most important
another sense, as opposing the word “practice.” were common properties of all the bodies of the
This is a rule in the case of medicine, an art rather Solar System. His splendid idea was to treat all of
than a science, for which biology is the scientific them as points differing only in masses and
background. Three theories understood in the influenced by the same gravitational forces. For
second meaning influence strongly the contem- the biologist Darwin, in contrast, the most impor-
porary medicine. Germ Theory of Infectious Dis- tant were numerous differences between the indi-
eases, commonly linked with the names of Louis viduals, because exactly these differences were
Pasteur and Robert Koch in the 1870 s, attributes the object of natural selection.
their cause to the action of pathogenic microbial The physical and the biological ways of apply-
agents. Now we know that these can be prions, ing statistics and the probability theory are dif-
viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, or multicellular ferent. The physical approach proves correct if
parasites as well (Waller 2004). Receptor Theory the number of individuals is much greater than
of Pharmacology, foundations of which are due the number of possible internal states of each
to Paul Ehrlich in the beginning of twentieth individual, and the biological approach proves
century, relates action of drugs with inhibition correct if the number of the possible internal
or activation of particular cell receptors of either states is greater than the number of individuals
the patient or the pathogenic organism (Maehle (Sneppen and Zocchi 2005). There is a strong
et al. 2002). And the most recent Gene Theory of experimental evidence that the native state of
Carcinogenesis, for which the names of proteins and nucleic acids with an established
J. Michael Bishop and Harold E. Varmus in the primary (i.e., chemical) structure consists of an
1980s seem to be the most meritorious, relates astronomical number of different conformational
malignant transformation of a normal cell (i.e., spatial) substates with the spectrum of relax-
with mutation of some genes. These can be ation times to equilibrium comprising many
“proto-oncogenes,” whose products participate orders of the magnitude (Kurzynski 2006). This
in cellular growth-controlling pathways or raises the question, unanswered till now, as to
tumor-supressor genes coding proteins that stop whether the physical or the biological statistical
the cell cycle if its previous step has occurred approach is more correct in the description of
incorrectly or if DNA has been damaged (Lodish various molecular processes involving such bio-
et al. 2000). All the three medical theories refer to molecules. These include the DNA to RNA tran-
fundamental fields of biology, mainly cellular scription, the protein folding, and the enzymatic
biology and immunology, in line with the disci- catalysis as well.
plines discussed in more details above.
Biology and Physics. Certainly, all the biolog-
ical organisms are simultaneously physical sys- Cross-References
tems and thus can be described and explained in
terms of physics. The problem of the reduction of ▶ Bioinformatics, Computational
biology to physics depends strongly on meanings ▶ Biology
Biopsychosocial Model 263 B
▶ Biosemiotics
▶ Complex Systems Biome
▶ Creationism
▶ Evolution Stanley N. Salthe
▶ Natural Selection Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton B
▶ Reductionism University, Binghamton, NY, USA
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▶ Cyborgs
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Baltimore, D., & Darnell, J. (2000). Molecular cell
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tionary idea. London: Chatto. gather a complete understanding of human
B 264 Biosemiotic
functioning. Further, it is not simply consider- (Sebeok 1963, 1979). The Cartesian divide
ation of these factors (or levels, subsystems) as between the sciences of nature and culture was,
distinct parts of a whole that is crucial but rather it and to a large degree still is, a vital ingredient in
is the continuous interactions among and between the matrix of beliefs on which human and natural
these aspects of functioning that produces new sciences alike are based. However, this privileg-
emergent properties vital to understanding the ing of human speech, as a different matter alto-
vitality of the organism. Living organisms, such gether than sign processes as they play out in
as humans, are open systems residing in a chang- natural systems (scents, roars, cries, alarm calls,
ing environment and material and energy are animal tracks, fever, coughing, etc.), was chal-
exchanged across the organism-environment lenged more than hundred years ago by the Amer-
boundary. As such, humans are actively involved ican scientist and philosopher Charles S. Peirce
with their environment in a reciprocal and inter- (1839–1914) and long before him by the church-
active relationship. This model was most notably man Augustine (354–430) who defined a sign as
proposed by Engel in an article in the journal “anything perceived which makes something
Science in 1977. besides itself come into awareness” (quoted
from Deely 2001, 221).
In Peirce’s semiotics, the sign only takes on its
signhood in the actual act of interpretative activ-
Biosemiotic ity. An alleged sign becomes a sign only to the
extend it provokes the formation of an
▶ Biosemiotics interpretant (see below) in a receptive system
consisting in the drawing by the receptive system
of a suitable relation between the alleged sign and
its object, that is, the thing or concept to which the
Biosemiotics sign is taken to refer. In Peirce’s own terms,
a sign is “something which stands to somebody
Hoffmeyer Jesper for something in some respect or capacity.” Thus,
Biological Institute, University of Copenhagen, to take a simple case, smoke is something that to
Copenhagen, Denmark a human observer stands for fire. Smoke,
observer, and fire thus are connected through
a triadic sign relation where the smoke takes
Related Terms the position of the primary sign, fire takes the
position of the object, and brain processes in the
Biosemiotic; Semiosis human observer is seen as the interpretant. It is
important to observe in this connection that when
Peirce uses the term somebody, he is not neces-
Semiotics sarily, nor exclusively, referring to a human
person. The Peircean interpretant is a general
Up until twentieth-century semiotics, the study of category that in no way is unique to the semiotic
sign processes (semiosis), that is, processes activity of human beings, but is defined rather
of communication and signification, has been through its position in the triadic logic of the
concerned mainly with that unique sign system sign relation. Neither should the interpretant
which is human language. When in 1963 the therefore be confused with the distinctly different
American linguist Thomas A. Sebeok suggested notion of an interpreter. Since the three elements,
that the science of ethology did also in a sense sign, object, and interpretant, may belong to
belong to semiotics, namely, as zoosemiotics, the various orders of reality as single objects, general
study of animal sign systems, very few of classes, fictions, mental representations, physical
his colleagues were ready to follow him impulses, biological evens, human actions,
Biosemiotics 265 B
organic activities, or natural laws, what consti- life systems, respectively. Most students of
tutes the sign relation in its logical form is the biosemiotics take the cell to be the simplest sys-
particular way in which this triad is bound tem capable of genuine sign action, semiosis, but
together. others subscribe to a more general view of
Now, returning to the example of smoke as semiosis in which semiosis may even be seen as B
a sign, we should notice that a baby will not know inherent to our universe (physiosemiosis).
that smoke signifies fire; the baby’s brain will not Regardless of which position one chooses on
produce an interpretant relating smoke to fire, this question, it remains a challenging question
sign to object. Perhaps the baby will make for biosemiotics to explain how the full-blown
a more simple interpretant, an icon, relating the semiotic activity of whole cells could possibly
smell of smoke to other previously experienced have evolved in the world. It has recently been
unpleasant sensations. In the world of signs, there suggested that rather than trying to determine
is no unambiguous connection between a sign a distinct borderline between semiotic and
and a signified; it all depends on the receptive presemiotic or protosemiotic systems, one should
system and the context in which the interpretant apply the notion of an evolutionary threshold
is formed. A Peircean sign is therefore radically zone comprising a series of intermediate
different from the concept of signal or informa- steps connecting asemiotic prebiotic systems to
tion as used in biology or biochemistry as, for cellular semiotic systems (Kull et al. 2009).
instance, when we talk about transcription and A major distinction in biosemiotics has been
translation of genetic information. In spite of the drawn between so-called endosemiosis referring
semiotic nature of such terminology, biology to sign processes inside the body (the level of
does not ascribe any interpretative capacity to physiology and biochemistry) and exosemiosis,
the cellular system where these processes take that is, the sign processes that take place between
place. Rather such processes are understood as organisms (the level of ethology and ecology).
perfectly normal causal chains of processes to be This endo-exo asymmetry is not always clear,
exhaustively described in molecular terms. Thus, however, since the concept of an individual is
here and in countless other places, semiotic not itself clear-cut. Thus, to take an example,
terminology is understood as only metaphorical, are the bacterial floras in our guts – without
and it is assumed that in due time, they can be and which we could not survive – made up of billions
will be reduced into the chemical and physical of distinct individuals or should it rather be seen
interactions that produce the effects or functions as an integral part of our body so that the semiosic
so labeled. interactions of these bacteria with surface cells of
the gastrointestinal tract are in fact endosemiotic
and not exosemiotic?
Biosemiotics In most cases the exo-endosemiotic distinc-
tion is quite convenient because it more or less
The introduction of a semiotic sign conception follows the traditional division between
into scientific biology marks off the biosemiotic disciplines, but it should be emphasized that the
approach relative to its two parent disciplines, focal locus for biosemiotic analysis is the mem-
biology and semiotics (Sebeok and Umiker- brane. Biomembranes are semipermeable encap-
Sebeok 1991; Hoffmeyer and Emmeche 1999; sulating structures canalizing a highly selective
Favareau 2008). Biosemiotics studies the webs flow of chemicals across themselves. As such the
of sign processes as they occur in natural systems membrane defines an asymmetry between an
including the human body. As in other border “inside” and an “outside” and a need for semiotic
disciplines, there are vivid and as yet unsettled activity that connects the “outside world” to the
discussions in the biosemiotic society concerning “inside world” so as to permit the processes of the
the exact delimitations relative to human cogni- encapsulated system to help the system to deal
tive processes, prebiotic processes, and artificial appropriately with its surroundings. This kind of
B 266 Biosemiotics
connection forms the core of semiosis, the a specification. The process is best described as
meaningful interpretation inside the system of an interpretation with the implication that epige-
the cues that reaches it from the environment. netic and environmental factors must be seen as
Multicellular organisms are not just covered by autonomous resources for ontogeny and pheno-
an external “membrane” in the form of skin typic activity.
(or chitin), but underneath this outer surface The fact that ontogeny is nevertheless very
there are new membranes around organs, tissues, rigidly controlled has been taken as evidence for
and individual cells, and inside cells we again a dominating conservative mechanism linking
find new membranes enveloping the cell organ- the genetic setup to the functional phenotype
elles and filling up the cell volume with through well-buffered chains of causal processes.
sack-formed structures such as the endoplasmic In biosemiotics this explanation is supplemented
reticulum and Golgi apparatus. Thus, the total or replaced by the notion of semiotic scaffolding
area of human biomembranes has been estimated (Hoffmeyer 2008): Processes at all levels of
to be some 30 km2, and the maintenance of these organismic function are controlled by semiotic
extended areas of membranes is extremely costly interactions between components that incessantly
as measured in metabolic energy. adjust biochemical or physiological activity to
Biosemiotics implies a major change in our changing situations. This network of semiotic
conception of the role of the genetic material, the controls establishes an enormously complex
genome. Whereas the traditional view sees the semiotic scaffolding for living systems. Semiotic
developmental process and thus the phenotype as scaffolding safeguards the optimal performance
specified by the genetic setup of the organism, of organisms through semiotic interaction with
the genotype, biosemiotics makes us consider cue elements which are characteristically present
the overall process as one of interpretation rather in dynamic situations. At the cellular level, semi-
than one of specification. The so-called genomic otic scaffolding assures the proper integration of
instructions are buried deeply inside the nuclei of the digital coding system (the genome) into the
individual cells that cannot for good reasons myriad of analogical coding systems operative
“know” which destiny or function in the adult across the membranes of cells and cell organelles.
organism they are “meant” to occupy, and the The big advantage of this mechanism is that
cellular apparatus is therefore utterly dependent contrary to physically based interactions, semi-
on external “instructions” to tell it which genetic otic interactions do not depend on any direct
“instructions” to execute at each moment. causal connection between the sign vehicle and
External cues derived from neighboring cells or the effect. Instead the two events are connected
tissues, or from body glands, or “traveling cells” through the intervention of an interpretative
such as the cells of the immune system (lympho- response. The point is that in semiotic interac-
cytes) must be picked up by specific receptors tions, the causal machinery of the receptive
located on or in the cell membrane and translated system is itself in charge of producing the behav-
to intracellular processes (signal transduction) ior and it thus only needs to acquire a sensitivity
that interact with the protein complexes involved toward the sign as an inducing factor. The bio-
in transcription and translation of DNA as well chemical machinery underlying the response is
as with the targeting of virgin proteins either not, therefore, restricted by any bonds deriving
to their final positions in the landscape of the from the chemistry of the releasing sign.
cell or to excretion into extracellular space. At (Thus any volatile compound, pheromone, may
each step in this complex chain of linked probe taken up and used by the evolutionary process
cesses, contextual factors may interact signifi- as a vehicle for the sign process whereby a certain
cantly with the outcome. Obviously the gene behavior is released in an given insect no matter
does not therefore in any ordinary sense of the what the exact chemistry of that pheromone is.
word determine its own “reading,” and neither is This absence of a direct involvement of the sign
it justified to talk about this process as in the biochemistry and physiology of behavior of
Biosemiotics 267 B
the receptive organism removes the hard limita- meaningless epiphenomenon that it is claimed
tions on causal mechanisms that would otherwise to be by some philosophers). Since the sign itself
have to be obeyed.) When functionality first is a pure relation (and cannot be identified with
arises at a holistic level (e.g., the level of the any of the three entities it brings together),
tissue rather than the individual cells making up biosemiotics necessarily accepts the reality of B
the tissue), any mechanism that will stabilize a causality that is directed (but not effectuated)
such functionality will be favored by selection, by the influence of pure relations, which suggests
and in this context semiotic interaction patterns the possibility that the experiential worlds
provides fast and versatile mechanisms for might be analyzed as a realm of pure relations -
adaptations, mechanisms that depend on commu- interfaces - connecting environmental cues
nication and “learning” (By learning at this level, and sensomotoric brain modules to contextual
we refer to cells’ acquisition of internal structural patterns dependent on memory and intentions.
markers that reflect past events and influence At the ecological level, biosemiotics requires
future activity) rather than on genetic us to extend our concept of an ecological niche to
preformation. embrace the semiotic niche, that is, the totality of
The emergence of this sophisticated kind of cues around the organism (or species) which the
stabilizing agency poses important challenges to organism (or species) must necessarily be capa-
our conceptions of evolution. In many cases ble of interpreting wisely in order to survive and
semiotic scaffolding might work as a possible reproduce. One important aspect of the semiotic
forerunner for natural selection: Due to its stabi- niche concerns the semiotic interactions between
lizing capacity, semiotic scaffolding implies that individuals from different species. Most notably
natural selection may take routes that have been among these, of course, stand predator–prey
semiotically prepared for it rather than being relations but just as significant perhaps is the
directed by the haphazard events of fortunate range of interactive behaviors connected to
chance mutations. Thus, biosemiotics holds that symbiotic relations. When symbiosis is seen as
while genetic fixation may ultimately be the most a semiotically controlled kind of interspecific
secure mechanism for the stabilization of new interaction, it becomes evident that symbioses
traits or behaviors, such traits and behaviors encompass a lot of subtle interaction forms that
were probably often initially stabilized through are not normally seen as belonging in this
semiotic loops and thus kept functional for an category. An illustrative case is so-called plant
indefinite period of generations allowing the signaling. Undamaged fava beans (Vicia faba),
time needed for the much slower mechanism for instance, immediately started to attract aphid
of supportive genetic change to take place. parasites (Aphidius ervi) after having been grown
Especially in the later states of evolution, such in a sterilized nutrient medium in which
semiotic preparation is likely to have had an aphid-infected fava beans had previously grown.
important influence on the actual outcome of The damaged beans thus had managed to signal
selective solutions. their predicament through the medium to the
The introduction of a semiotic understanding undamaged beans, which then immediately
has significant implications for ethology. Rather started to attract aphid parasites, although no
than reducing organismic behavior to inherited aphids were, of course, available for parasites
holistic lumps of reflexes, so-called instincts, to find.
biosemiotics suggests new subtle kinds of The difference between this kind of semiotic
learning in situ associated with the establishment mutualism, involving a delicate balance of inter-
of semiotic scaffolding. The eventual appearance actions between many species, and symbiosis
in big-brained animals such as birds and mam- proper is one of degree rather than one of kind,
mals of an experiential world would also be less and biosemiotics takes semiotic mutualism to be
of a mystery in the biosemiotic perspective than it not only widespread in nature but nearly ubiqui-
is normally seen to be (and certainly not the tous. This implies that the relative fitness of
B 268 Biosemiotics
changed morphological or behavioral traits Rejection of Dualism

becomes dependent on the whole system of Pondering what kind of thing a sign is, we must
existing semiotic relations that the species finds find an answer to the question of what makes
itself a part of and, accordingly, the firm organ- a thing to be of or about another. The classical
ism-versus-environment borderline will be answer to this question has been that it takes
dissolved, and a new integrative level intermedi- human intentionality to produce this effect.
ate between the species and the ecosystem would According to Brentano and Husserl, we can
have to be considered – that is, the level of the define mental phenomena as those phenomena
ecosemiotic interaction structure (Hoffmeyer which contain an object intentionally within
2008). Clearly, this possibility becomes most themselves. For all we know, a rock will not itself
interesting in cases where experience and learn- take any interest in its own past, whereas
ing enter the interaction pattern, as will often be a geologist or even a climber most likely in their
the case in mammals and birds. Such learning minds would form some idea of the rock’s now
might on occasion even subsume the evolution- absent past and they would do so even while
ary process, as is the case in human culture. sitting at home and thinking about the rock.
Conversely, one might wonder if a relatively The rock does not possess intentionality but
autonomous ecosemiotic interaction structure is humans do. Up through the twentieth century,
precisely what is needed for learning to evolve in this understanding has legitimated the so-called
the first place. In this way, eventual increases in glottocentric character of semiotics. From
semiotic freedom, that is, the capacity of a system Saussure and onward, human speech was consid-
to derive useful information from complex signs, ered the paradigm case of semiosis.
will be prone to feed back into the evolutionary But what about the apes? A biologist immedi-
process by strengthening the advantages of ately has to ask such a question for since nothing
possessing semiotic freedom. It follows that the in evolution comes for free, there must be some
evolutionary dynamics would possess an inbuilt line of argument telling us why humans possess
tendency to invent and establish species such an unlikely capacity as intentionality when
exhibiting more and more semiotic freedom in the rest of nature patently is deprived of it.
the sense that their behavior would be increas- According to biosemiotics all living systems
ingly underdetermined by the constraints of are constitutively sign users, and as support for
natural lawfulness and increasingly dependent this view, most biosemioticians would commit
on the in situ interpretative capacity of individual themselves to a Peircean understanding of the
organisms. sign. As we saw the Peircean sign is “pure
relation” connecting three entities irrespective
of their kind in an act of forming an interpretant.
Biosemiotics and the Science-Religion The implication of this is that pure relations
Debate may have causal power in the world – signs make
things happen – but to suggest such a thing
Biosemiotics has strong implications for the implies a negation of the distinction between
science-religion question: (a) It rejects the dual- materialistic and idealistic ontology. It must
istic conception of mind and matter as well as the immediately be remarked here that relations do
derived distinction between materialism and not, of course, have causal power per se.
idealism, (b) it introduces a notion of semiotic The black cloud I saw a few minutes ago was
causality and thus of agency in organismic life, clearly related to the heavy rain falling now,
(c) it suggests a naturalistic account of the but the reason I brought an umbrella is not this
experiential world and thus locates the human relation itself but the fact that an interpretant was
being in all its dimension as a natural being, formed in my mind relating these two phenomena
and (d) it introduces a changed conception of into a triadic sign relation. By far the most
individuality and thus of life and death. relations in this world have absolutely no effects
Biosemiotics 269 B
upon the world; thus, the relation between planet Needless to say, semiotic causality is related
Jupiter and my thumbnail is not likely to ever be to that most tabooed kind of causality normally
implicated in any material events in the universe. called final causality. The concept final causality
(The funny thing is that because I just wrote this however has been contaminated with misunder-
true sentence, it is no longer true. In fact the standings and also hijacked for a variety of B
relation between Jupiter and my thumbnail has purposes that were never implied by Aristotle
now entered my intellectual world and thereby himself when coining the term. Rather than
changed the pattern of ink in my printed manu- entering this confusing discussion, I shall call
script and successively, I must expect, will it attention to the obvious fact that semiotic causal-
change the pattern of ink and paper a great many ity depends on ordinary efficient causality for its
copies of the present book. To the extent my operation. Sign relations do not themselves
mention of the relation has provoked thoughts in “move” the world; what they do is to organize
my reader, it may even have caused further sorts of the “moving power” under an intentionality
unpredictable results.) But when life first origi- inherent to the interpreting system. Thus, my
nated on the cooling Earth, some physicochemical taking the black cloud to be a sign fortunately
regularities must already have become sufficiently organized my muscular power so as to fetch my
stable for primitive life forms to use them as pre- umbrella and thus prevent me from getting wet.
dictive tools, that is, as signs, telling them how to Semiotic causation is the very core principle
adjust their activities. Living systems are per def- behind the agency of life. Nonhuman organisms
inition anticipatory systems, and in the anticipa- do not ever try to survive (for the simple reason
tory process, simple dyadic relations, that is, that they do not know that they shall die). But all
regularities, must have been the basis for the for- of them do exhibit agency: They ceaselessly
mation of genuine triadic sign relations. I have strive to find nourishment, find shelter, escape
suggested we call this phenomenon semiotic cau- predators, and find mating partners or whatever
sality, that is, the bringing about of things under is necessary for them to do in their life.
guidance of interpretation in a local context.
Humans Are Natural Beings
Semiotic Causality and Agency On this background we can now make the asser-
To account for the evolutionary appearance of tion that the sign relation, as exhibited by the very
semiotic causality is probably the most challeng- first life forms, was the germ form for what
ing problem in the whole complex of questions through billions of years of evolution gradually
treated under the umbrella of “origin of life.” developed to become – among many other
Several approaches to this problem have recently things – human mind. Thus, biosemiotics implies
been proposed drawing on new developments in that the spiritual life of humans need not be
studies of complexity and self-organization. a result of supranatural intervention but may
The deep question at stake here, of course, is instead be seen as a peculiar and highly
whether it is possible to give a naturalistic elaborated instantiation of semiotic dynamics
account for the teleological character of natural inherent to life as this has unfolded on Earth
systems. As we have already seen, biosemiotics from its first beginnings.
rejects the eliminativist attempts to explain away To work out a theory of how to explain the
this problem by claiming that the telos of natural natural basis for the function of human mind
systems is only an “as if” telos that may processes is of course a mighty challenge and
ultimately be accounted for in terms of natural one we do not expect can ever be solved in detail.
selection. The reader is referred to a recent What concerns us here is just to point out that
consensus paper by Kalevi Kull, Terrence contrary to classical nonsemiotic neurobiology,
Deacon, Claus Emmeche, Jesper Hoffmeyer, biosemiotics, that is, neurosemiotics, does have
and Frederik Stjernfelt for a deeper treatment of a tool set that makes it possible to attack the
this question (Kull et al. in press). problem in a nonreductionistic way.
B 270 Biosemiotics
Biosemiotics on Life and Death does not last for long but instead quickly divides
Seeing human life in a biosemiotic perspective itself again under the formation of haploid spores
has important consequences for the evaluation of (sex cells with only one set of chromosomes).
the many new challenges to our ethical judgment These haploid cells are then ready to fuse with
posed by the technological development in haploid cells of the opposite sex whereby a new
general and biomedicine in particular. Perhaps phase of dikaryotic life begins.
most significantly biosemiotics dissolves the Thus, in these fungi, the diploid phase – that
borders around individual life and suggests condition that we humans without further reflec-
a much more nuanced conception of life’s tion take to be a proper individual’s life – is
beginning and its end. reduced to only one short intermezzo in between
The semiotization of biological life implies two extended phases of tight common haploid
a loosening of the narrow binding of life to life. Here the process of fertilization has
certain privileged and distinct structures (such been stretched, so to say, to occupy nearly the
as the genome or the individual) in favor of whole of the organism’s life. Diploid life,
a conception that instead identifies the phenome- such as we know it from ourselves, cannot there-
non of life with unbroken semiosis, growth, and fore biologically be seen as being the privileged
cell division. In prokaryotes (that make up by far form of individual life. And one consequence of
the majority of all living creatures on Earth), life this is that the starting point of an individual
is indeed an unbroken chain of daughter cells human life is not a biologically meaningful con-
following upon daughter cells in a continuous cept. To the extent this concept has any meaning
flow of cell growth and division. To ask when, at all, it is a meaning that is derived elsewhere
exactly, any one of these given cells started its than from biology. For human life, just like
life is utterly abstract – since the cell, both as far all other forms of life, is, from the biological
as its substance (cytoplasm) is concerned and as perspective, an unbroken chain of growth and
concerns its form (both its membrane and its cell divisions.
genome), is connected to all ancestral organisms However, the fact that every human being
in the same unbroken line. In multicellular organ- nevertheless is very intimately connected to just
isms such as plants or animals, one may of course one individual life therefore calls for an explana-
speak of an individual’s life that starts with the tion that cannot be derived from the mere biolog-
establishment of a single cell (the zygote in ical fact that human beings are living creatures.
organisms that sexually reproduce) that If we want to explain why human life is seen as so
multiplies through a web of cellular divisions, narrowly connected to our experience as individ-
leading to the formation of an adult individual. uals, we had better search for the explanation in
But as soon as one turns to consider the life cycles the peculiarity of the human form of life and not
found in fungi, it readily becomes clear that the as the result of life processes in general. And here
concept of the individual that seems suitable for the overarching distinguishing mark between
the life cycles of animals and humans cannot be the human form of life and all others is the
generalized to life processes per se. Many fungal extraordinary semiotic agility possessed by this
species, for example, spend the major part of their big-brained animal.
life cycle carrying two autonomous nuclei From these deliberations follows a conclusion
(one male and one female) in each cell. Concep- of deep significance for ethical discussions in the
tion has been frozen in place, so to say, at the medical area: The individuality of a human life
moment right before these two nuclei would cannot be justified by its uniqueness as
normally fuse in plants or animals. The fusion a particular genetic combination, but must be
of the two nuclei takes place only at the ultimate justified by its uniqueness as a particular semiotic
end of this phase of dikaryotic life (karyon ¼ cell creature. Semiotic uniqueness is different in kind
nucleus) whereby, finally, a proper diploid cell is from genomic uniqueness because it depends on
formed. This “normal” diploid cell, however, a potential that bears an inherent indeterminacy
Black Holes 271 B
and creativity – a potential, furthermore, that we Cross-References
humans know much better how to evaluate and
enjoy than is made possible through the severe ▶ Bioethics in Christianity
determinacy of genomic specification. Human ▶ Biology, Theoretical
uniqueness, then, is not molecular, but semiotic. ▶ Emergence, Theories of B
And from this it follows that the readily felt ▶ Natural Selection
irreplaceability of a human being is rooted in its ▶ Reductionism
semiotic individuation process.
This conclusion leads us to the emotionally
troublesome consequence that an objective References
answer cannot be given to the question of when
a human life starts and stops being irreplaceable. Deely, J. (2001). Four ages of understanding. The first
postmodern survey of philosophy from ancient times to
Considered as a genome, it is irreplaceable from
the turn of the twenty-first century. Toronto: Toronto
the moment of fertilization – and the ethics of University Press.
irreplaceability within the viewpoint of genomic Favareau, D. (2008). The biosemiotic turn. Part 1: A brief
individuality logically leads to a rejection of any history of the sign concept in pre-modernist science.
Biosemiotics, 1, 5–23.
and all manipulation with embryos. But if instead
Hoffmeyer, J. (2008). Biosemiotics. An examination into
we ask the question of when the semiotic individ- the signs of life and the life of signs. Scranton/London:
uation process of a fertilized egg cell is University of Scranton Press.
sufficiently far advanced that an abortion would Hoffmeyer, J., & Emmeche, C. (1999). Biosemiotica 2.
Semiotica, 127, 133–695.
be a violation of a human life, no clear answer
Kull, K., et al. (2009). Theses on biosemiotics: The Saka
presents itself. Convention. Biological Theory 2, 167–173.
The biosemiotic understanding in reality Sebeok, T. A. (1963). Communication in animals and
forces us into an evaluation of a more-or-less men. Language, 39, 448–466.
Sebeok, T. A. (1979). The sign & its masters. Texas:
situation. Humanhood thus becomes a more-
University of Texas Press.
or-less property! And thus – as with most other Sebeok, T. A., & Umiker-Sebeok, J. (1991). The semiotic
essential questions of life – the question of web 1990. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
whether a technical intervention destroys
a human life depends on a process of reflexive
pros and cons, and thus, each single instance of
technical intervention must be evaluated through Biosocial Anthropology
a concrete analysis. There simply is no unitary
procedure – neither rational nor ethical – upon ▶ Biological Anthropology and Human Ethology
which such ethical judgments can otherwise be
safely based.
Through this loosening of individuality from
the genomic absolute, the inviolability of life Black Holes
becomes not theoretical and absolute, but specif-
ically embodied and concrete. The stricture that Russell Stannard
you must not kill another human being does not Department of Physics and Astronomy,
then depend on a principle of human inviolabil- Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
ity, but upon the fact that such an act will lead to
the elimination of an invaluable semiotic
richness – one that demands our deepest empa- A region of space having a gravitational field so
thy. It is the existential ability to identify intense that no matter or radiation can escape it. It
ourselves with other semiotically free systems is formed when a massive star runs out of fuel and
that stands as the pivotal point of ethics within can no longer hold itself up under its own gravity.
the biosemiotic perspective. It collapses with the emission of a supernova
B 272 Blindsight
explosion, leaving behind an exceedingly dense monkeys whose primary visual cortex was surgi-
core that is believed to end up as a point, or cally removed in one or both hemispheres could
singularity. It is surrounded by an event horizon recover some responsivity to visual stimuli. The
which is a theoretical surface enclosing the discrepancy between the loss of conscious sight
region from which there can be no escape. that human patients reported to suffer from
Black holes are also thought to be formed at destruction of V1 and the visual responses dem-
the centre of galaxies through the progressive onstrated by monkeys despite similar destruction
capture of the stars in that region. Black holes was interpreted as evidence for the monkeys’
are described in general relativity theory as lesser corticalization. Their residual visual func-
regions where the curvature of space is particu- tions appeared to indicate reduced functionality
larly pronounced. rather than blindness, implying that their sight
was less dependent on visual cortex than that of
man. This hypothesis lost appeal when patients,
instead of only being asked whether they saw the
Blindsight visual stimuli presented in their cortically blind
field, began to be tested with forced choice
Petra Stoerig methods, like the monkeys. Asking a patient to
Institute of Experimental Psychology II, point her eyes or hand to where she thought
Heinrich-Heine-University, Duesseldorf, a briefly presented stimulus might have been, or
Germany to guess whether or not it had been moving, even if
she did not see it, revealed that patients too
responded much better than what could be
Related Terms expected from chance guessing (Pöppel et al.
1973). Blindsight, human blindsight, owes its dis-
Residual vision; Unconscious sight covery to the combination of testing procedures
that ask for perceptual report with those suited to
uncover implicit or covert stimulus processing.
A Brief History of Blindsight The early reports of human blindsight that
were published in the 1970s met with skepticism.
The term “blindsight” denotes a type of uncon- Neuroendocrine or reflexive responses elicited
scious vision observed in neurological patients from the blind field would have been easy to
whose primary visual cortex (V1, striate cortex) accept as they are under little if any voluntary
was damaged or denervated. Such brain damage control and indeed visual reflexes can be elicited
causes homonymous visual field defects in the with blind-field stimuli. But the notion that man
half-field contralateral to the lesioned hemi- could respond voluntarily and non-reflexively to
sphere. If the field defect is absolute, the patients information he/she could not consciously see or
are blind in the affected region and fail to report know seemed preposterous. Methodological
visual stimuli and objects that are confined to it. points of critique – like detection of stray light,
This is the “blind” in “blindsight.” The “sight” eye movements bringing the stimuli from the
refers to the visual functions that can be demon- blind into the sighted field, decision criteria
strated despite the loss of conscious vision the stricter in the affected than the normal field –
patients experience. “Blindsight” captures the were raised to suggest the results were artifactual
dissociation between their visually guided (Campion et al. 1983). Blindsight research pains-
responses and their perceptual report. takingly addressed them, and its methods clearly
Before blindsight was described in human profited in the process. The phenomenon how-
patients, experimental psychologists including ever persisted, and, together with covert memory
Heinrich Kl€ uver (1949) and Lawrence in amnesic patients, became a prime example of
Weiskrantz (1986) had demonstrated that implicit processes in neurological patients.
Blindsight 273 B
Meanwhile, research further detailed the dis- monkeys devoid of (striate) visual cortex and on
criminations that could be demonstrated in the to similar functions in hemianopic humans, and
absence of primary visual cortex in man and finally arrived at blindsight in man and monkey
monkey. Stimulus localization, detection of (Stoerig and Cowey 1997).
light, discrimination of stimulus intensity, orien- Blindsight is not a discipline. It is a phenome- B
tation, motion direction, amount of contour, non that has attracted experimental psychologists,
wavelength, and shape were examined, revealing neuroscientists, neurologists, cognitive scientists,
closely corresponding residual functions in and philosophers, who study the phenomenon and
human and simian subjects. The “hard” question pursue the in-roads to a better understanding of
of whether monkeys have blindsight like human consciousness in general and visual awareness in
patients was addressed in 1995, when two groups particular that it promises. Questions blindsight
published results of experiments designed to may help to answer include: What is its neuronal
learn whether hemianopic monkeys “saw” the basis, and how does it differ from that of conscious
blind-field targets to which they responded. In sight? What species have it, and do they then have
brief, both groups used target localization tasks conscious sight too? What is it good for, what are
and confirmed that their monkeys could quite its limits? What are the functions and advantages
accurately touch or look toward stimulus posi- of conscious versus blindsight? Certainly
tions in the blind field, but added different twists blindsight is not a religion either, but some of the
to learn about stimulus awareness. Arguing that issues it raises do impact on both ethical consider-
unlike patients, monkeys were not given an ations and religious beliefs. I will address the
option to indicate that they did not see questions posed above in turn.
a stimulus, the first group added a detection task The neuronal basis of blindsight. Destruction
to the localization that their monkeys had already of V1 causes degeneration of the dorsal lateral
mastered. As before, the position where brief geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of the thalamus.
visual stimuli, brighter in the blind field to com- Transneuronally, this process will affect the reti-
pensate its loss of sensitivity, appeared was to be nal ganglion cells that normally provide the reti-
touched to gain a reward. But on new no-stimulus nal input to the dLGN which in turn transmits it
(“blank”) trials, monkeys were to touch a special on to V1; the retinal ganglion cell layer will
outlined region on the screen. Would they touch it shrink where its cells lost their target neurons.
only on blank trials, indicating “no” when no Factors like age at lesion, primate species,
physical target was present? Or would they also retinal eccentricity, and ganglion cell type impact
touch it on blind-field target trials, indicating that extent and speed of transneuronal degeneration.
they did not see the physically present target? The Blindsight must be mediated by the surviving
results were clear. Hemianopic monkeys treated ganglion that project to midbrain as well as
blind-field stimuli as blanks when given the thalamic and hypothalamic structures. These
option to signal “no stimulus” (Cowey and transmit the retinal information to further nuclei
Stoerig 1995). The second group argued that that, directly or indirectly, pass it on to higher
their monkeys would not direct their eyes to visual cortical areas. The participation of visual
a blind-field stimulus unless they either saw it cortical areas has been demonstrated physiologi-
or, if blind, were cued as to its presence (not cally in monkey and, with functional neuroimag-
position). Omitting the dimming of the fixation ing, in man; it indicates that blindsight is not
point that had served as a cue indeed caused blind because it relies solely on subcortical
a massive drop in the blind-field performance of processing. Moreover, the engagement of a host
adult-lesion animals (Moore et al. 1995). This of retino-recipient structures suggests that differ-
evidence of monkey blindsight completed the ent blindsight functions rely on pathways that
loop of the trajectory of blindsight research: also mediate this type of function in the healthy
Beginning with the cortical blindness patients brain. Indeed, extensive series of experiments
reported, it moved to the visual functions of conducted to elucidate how different residual
B 274 Blood Banking
functions displayed by anopic monkeys were recovery are among them, and contained in the
affected by additional cortical or subcortical definition of blindsight as residual visual functions
lesions revealed how different functions ranging that remain or recover in fields of absolute cortical
from brightness discrimination to manual locali- blindness. There is potential in blindsight to impact
zation and shape discrimination depend on rehabilitation as well as enquiries along the border-
pretectal, collicular, and higher visual cortical line between conscious and unconscious functions.
regions (Pasik and Pasik 1982). The missing
ingredient that is responsible for the blindness is
still being sought in precise temporal neural inter- Cross-References
action, in integration of visual and unspecific
thalamic, respectively, frontoparietal processes, ▶ Anatomy of the Brain
or in blindsight’s dependency on occipitoparietal ▶ Cognitive Neuroscience
more than occipitotemporal processing. ▶ Comparative Neuroscience
Blindsight in different species: Investigations ▶ Neuropsychology
of blindsight have predominantly been performed ▶ Perception
on man, other primates, and cat. Whether
blindsight is always and completely blind however
is still debated in the first two and has not been References
addressed in cats or the other, often rodent species
that have been studied. As blindsight implies vol- Campion, J., Latto, R., & Smith, Y. M. (1983). Is
blindsight an effect of scattered light, spared cortex,
untary visual responses when conscious sight has
and near-threshold vision? Behavioural and Brain Sci-
been lost due to V1 damage, experimental designs ences, 6, 423–448.
need to implicitly or explicitly capture a feature Cowey, A., & Stoerig, P. (1995). Blindsight in monkeys.
that distinguishes, as convincingly as possible, Nature, 373, 247–249.
Humphrey, N. K. (1974). Vision in a monkey without
between these two types of sight.
striate cortex: A case study. Perception, 3, 241–255.
Functions of blind- and conscious sight: Kl€uver, H. (1949). Visual functions after removal of the
Knowing what one can do based on conscious occipital lobes. Journal of Psychology, 11, 23–45.
but not blindsight, or vice versa, would help Moore, T., Rodman, H. R., Repp, A. B., & Gross, C. G.
(1995). Localization of visual stimuli after striate
greatly to zero in on such features. Experimental
cortex damage in monkeys: Parallels with human
evidence comes from a recent study of human blindsight. Proceedings of the National Academy of
blindsight that showed that blind-seen distractors Sciences of the United States of America, 92,
seem more difficult to suppress attentionally than 8215–8218.
Pasik, P., & Pasik, T. (1982). Visual function in monkeys
consciously seen ones (Stoerig 2011). More
after total removal of visual cerebral cortex. Contribu-
comes from Humphrey’s famous bilaterally de- tions to Sensory Physiology, 7, 147–200.
striated monkey Helen who exemplarily demon- Pöppel, E., Held, R., & Frost, D. (1973). Residual visual
strated both how stunningly her visual abilities function after brain wounds involving the central
visual pathways in man. Nature, 243, 295–296.
improved when she went from being tested in her
Stoerig, P. (2011). Task-irrelevant blindsight and the
cage to eventually taking walks in woods and impact of invisible stimuli. Frontiers in Psychology,
meadows, and how her discriminability suffered 2, 66.
when stimuli were matched for salience or when Stoerig, P., & Cowey, A. (1997). Blindsight in man and
monkey. Brain, 120, 535–559.
she was frightened (Humphrey 1974).
Weiskrantz, L. (1986). Blindsight: A case study and its
These three questions are interdependent; implications. Oxford: University Press.
answers to one will help sharpen and refocus
approaches to the others. But there are clearly
more such questions not explicitly posed here.
Those addressing the possibility of improving Blood Banking
blindsight, circumstances under which conscious
sight will recover, and means to further this ▶ Transfusion Medicine
Bodhisattva Ideal 275 B
Description
Blood Components
According to Buddhist tradition, a bodhisattva is
▶ Transfusion Medicine one who has embarked on the path to becoming
a Buddha in the future. Behind the idea of B
following such a path stands a distinction in
Buddhist thought between different types of
Blood Libels fully awakened beings. One such type is the
arhat (Pāli arahant), who has reached the consum-
▶ Transfusion Medicine mation of the early Buddhist soteriological path
to liberation in dependence on having received
the teachings of a Buddha. A Buddha, on the
other hand, is a fully awakened being who has
Blood Transfusion accomplished the goal of complete liberation
without the guidance of another (further distin-
▶ Transfusion Medicine guished into the Pratyekabuddha, who does not
teach others, and a Buddha, who delivers
teachings).
Buddhist tradition holds that, unlike arhats in
Bloodletting the narrow sense of the word, a Buddha manifests
only on rare occasions in the history of the
▶ Transfusion Medicine universe. In the early texts, a Buddha is depicted
as unique, in the sense of being without equal,
and is held invariably to be a male from a high
class. In contrast, any number of arhats can coex-
Bodhi (Sanskrit & Pāli) ist with each other, and an arhat can be of any
gender or social class.
▶ Awakening A bodhisattva is thus one who, instead of aspir-
ing to become an arhat, wishes to reach the unique
position of becoming a Buddha in the future – that
is, at a time when the teachings given by a previous
Bodhisatta [ideal] (Pāli) Buddha have disappeared – thus becoming one
who on his own discovers the truth anew and
▶ Bodhisattva Ideal then teaches it to others.
The term bodhisattva, literally an “awakening
being,” according to modern scholarship, appears
to be a wrong Sanskritization of an original term
that would have been more correctly rendered
Bodhisattva Ideal into Sanskrit as bodhisakta. On this understand-
ing, the term would refer to someone who has
Bhikkhu Anālayo wholly “attached [himself or herself] to awaken-
Center for Buddhist Studies, University of ing,” in the sense of being fully intent on reaching
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany this goal.
The concept of a bodhisattva is already found
in the texts of early Buddhism, where it stands
Related Terms predominantly for the historical Buddha
Gautama during the period in his last life that
Bodhisatta [ideal] (Pāli) preceded his attainment of awakening. Already
B 276 Bodhisattva Ideal
within these early texts, some developments can Dasábhūmika-sūtra, instead proceeds through
be discerned which would eventually have led to what are ten distinct stages (Rahder 1926).
the evolution of the bodhisattva concept into As regards the stages of a bodhisattva’s pro-
becoming an ideal to be emulated by others gress, however, considerable variety in listings
(Anālayo 2010). and interpretations can be found in different
The early stages of the bodhisattva ideal textual strands and at times even within the
appear to have evolved within a context related same scripture.
to ascetic conduct and a forest lifestyle. The aim The path to becoming a Buddha is also held to
of compassionate activity for the sake of others require dedicated practice over a series of life-
seems to be a slightly later element, in spite of its times. This mirrors the belief that the historical
eventual prominence as the defining characteris- Buddha had been preparing himself over innu-
tic of a bodhisattva, who is willing to sacrifice merable past lives – some of which are described
even himself in order to be able to lead others to in the so-called jātaka collections, tales of past
awakening. lives of the Buddha – so as to acquire all the
As a full-fledged ideal, the bodhisattva path qualities required in order to fulfill the role of
differs from the path to awakening undertaken by a Buddha. Given the need to maintain continuity
one who aspires to the goal of arhatship. A disciple of practice over many lives, a bodhisattva at some
of a Buddha, a s´rāvaka, who aims at becoming an point makes a firm resolve to embark on the path
arhat, needs above all to develop the noble eight- to Buddhahood, a resolve that is traditionally
fold path (▶ Truths, Four Noble) and the seven referred to as the bodhisattva vow. An important
factors of awakening – mindfulness, investigation element of the aspiration to reach the awakening
of phenomena, energy, joy, tranquility, concentra- of a Buddha is the ritualized undertaking of
tion, and equanimity. bodhisattva precepts. In due course of time, the
For the bodhisattva who aspires to Buddha- bodhisattva then receives a prediction of his
hood – thus being one who has aroused the future successful achievement of Buddhahood
bodhicitta, the mind (that aspires) to the awaken- from another Buddha.
ing (of a Buddha) – another set of qualities are of The aspiration to become a Buddha in the
central importance. These are the perfections future is a common feature of the various Buddhist
(▶ Pāramitā), standard listings of which com- traditions and, somewhat against common belief,
prise either six or ten qualities that need to be not the sole property of the Mahāyāna traditions.
perfected. Common ground among the two list- For many centuries, the bodhisattva ideal has had
ings can be found in the qualities of generosity, and still has its followers among eminent members
morality, patience, energy, and wisdom. While of the Theravāda tradition () Buddhist schools
the sixfold listing adds the meditative develop- and traditions), lay and monastic alike (Ratnayaka
ment of absorption to the aforementioned five 1985; Samuels 1997; Harvey 2007). What distin-
qualities, the tenfold listing adds instead renunci- guishes the Mahāyāna traditions is an emphasis on
ation, truthfulness, resolution, loving kindness, the bodhisattva path as the chief goal of one’s
and equanimity. aspiration, whereas in the Theravāda tradition
Besides emphasizing different sets of qualities the path to Buddhahood is considered only an
as the medium of progress, another difference alternative – a considerably more demanding
concerns the stages of progress. The aspirant to alternative – to the path to arhatship.
arhatship proceeds through four levels of awak- The term Hı̄nayāna – the “lesser vehicle”
ening: stream entry, once return, nonreturn, and usually contrasted to the Mahāyāna – does in
arhatship (▶ Awakening). These four stages of fact not refer to the Theravāda tradition or to
awakening can in principle be attained within any other living Buddhist tradition but rather
a single lifetime. derives its meaning from the context of certain
The bodhisattva, according to a listing polemical strands found in Mahāyāna scriptures.
in a well-known text by the name of The conceptual backdrop to these strands is
Body 277 B
the notion that the path of the bodhisattva is the
supreme form of practice which leads to a type of Bodhisattvabhūmi
awakening that is superior to the full awakening
attained by the disciple of a Buddha ▶ Pāramitā
(▶ Awakening). B
In sum, the bodhisattva ideal, although not
found in the earliest strata of Buddhist texts, has
played a central role throughout the history of Body
Buddhism and is still a common property of the
different extant Buddhist traditions, motivated by Jennifer L. Baldwin
the wish to combine the freedom of awakening Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago,
with the compassionate aspiration to alleviate the Chicago, IL, USA
suffering of others.
Description
Cross-References
In the opening word of his text, “Theologies of
▶ Empathy the Body: Humanist and Christian,” Benedict
▶ Love Ashley writes, “I exist and live as a body in
a world of bodies” (p. 3). On one hand, Ashley’s
statement seems as intuitively obvious as the sky
References is blue; however, on the other hand, like the color
of the sky which can contain the colors of the
spectrum, Ashley’s confession that he “exist[s]
Primary Sources
Rahder, J. (1926). Dasábhūmika et Bodhisattvabhūmi, and live[s] as a body in a world of bodies” may
chapitres Vihāra et Bhūmi. Paris: Paul Geuthner. require additional thought. The question of the
relationship between the subjective “me” and the
Secondary Sources body has been fodder for philosophical, scien-
Anālayo, Bh. (2010). The genesis of the Bodhisattva ideal. tific, and theological reflection for two millennia.
Hamburg: Hamburg University Press.
The issues of the soul and self are addressed in
Dayal, H. (1932). The bodhisattva doctrine in Buddhist
Sanskrit literature. London: K. Paul. other entries. But what about the body?
Harrison, P. (1987). Who gets to ride in the great vehicle? The body is most generally defined as the
Self-image and identity among the followers of the physical structure and material substance of an
early Mahāyāna. Journal of the International
entity. This definition is a helpful entry into the
Association of Buddhist Studies, 10(1), 67–89.
Harvey, P. (2007). Bodhisattva career in the Theravāda. great variety of ways in which “body” is utilized
In D. Keown et al. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Buddhism in science and religion discourse. “Body” can be
(pp. 83–87). London: Routledge. employed in literal, symbolic, and/or metaphori-
Kawamura, L. S. (Ed.). (1981). The bodhisattva doctrine
cal uses. It can refer to the human body, planetary
in Buddhism. Calgary: Canadian Corporation for
Studies in Religion. bodies, a “body” of literature within a field, or the
Ratnayaka, S. (1985). The bodhisattva ideal of the Thera- “body” of Christ, just to name a few. In the first
vada. Journal of the International Association of two examples, the word “body” refers to the phys-
Buddhist Studies, 8(2), 85–110.
Samuels, J. (1997). The bodhisattva ideal in Theravada
ical structure or material substance of the entity;
Buddhist theory and practice: A reevaluation of the however, in the latter two examples, “body” takes
Bodhisattva-Śrāvaka opposition. Philosophy East and on a more symbolic or metaphorical sense. Within
West, 47(3), 399–415. the sciences, natural and social, bodies are often
Wangchuk, D. (2007). The resolve to become a Buddha,
sites of inquiry and investigation. Bodies are also
a study of the Bodhicitta concept in Indo-Tibetan
Buddhism. Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist tools for engaging in scientific research. We use
Studies. our senses to interact with and gain knowledge
B 278 Body
about all other bodies we encounter during our the scientific understanding of the body as a site
lifetime. We also employ our bodies to communi- of inquiry and investigation as well as an instru-
cate our experiences and insights to others. We are ment in investigation, how is “body” articulated
highly embodied creatures. and utilized in science and religion? It is perhaps
Western philosophical and theological views of not surprising to note that “body” manifests in
the body are highly reflective of the legacy of a variety of ways, depending on the particular
mind-body dualism. Dualism gained popularity crossroad of disciplines and religious traditions.
and notoriety due to the work of Réne Descartes Bodies can be treated as inherently valuable and
(1596–1650); however, it has historical anteced- good, divided and analyzed according to their
ents in the thought of Plato (428–347 BCE) and, in constitutive parts, or viewed as soon-to-be unnec-
a modified form, Augustine (354–430). Dualism essary material limiting the individual’s full
effectively placed a wedge between the body and potential. Bodies can be organic and living or
the mind, soul, or self to the extent that “mind,” inorganic. Bodies can be theological or philo-
“soul,” and “spirit” are often considered antonyms sophical concepts. All of the following types of
of “body.” The mind, soul, and spirit are more bodies are discussed in science and religion liter-
subjective phenomena and have captured the atten- ature. There are three main ways in which science
tion of philosophy and theology, while the body as and religion have addressed body: from within
an objective entity garnered the attention of sci- the mind-body discussion, by focusing on
ence. Consequently, the body has rarely been a specific part of the body (specifically the
attended to with the same precision, attention, and brain), and in conversation with technology.
favor as the mind, soul, or self by Western philos- Each of these approaches primarily, though not
ophy and theology. Fortunately, the body is gaining exclusively, engages the human body.
more attention within philosophy and theology as The mind-body problem and question of men-
a locus of research. Philosophy and theology’s turn tal causation has been a perennial concern for
toward the body has been most pronounced among scholars from a variety of philosophical, scien-
feminist and environmental scholars. tific, and theological disciplines and traditions.
The world’s religious traditions share ambiv- Consequently, the question of the relationship
alence toward the body. In the Bhagavad Gita of between the mind and body is ripe for interdisci-
Hinduism, the body is likened to a garment. plinary attention. Concepts of the soul, immortal-
“Worn-out garments are shed by the body. ity of the soul, reincarnation, and resurrection
Worn-out bodies are shed by the dweller within prompt religious and theological reflections as
the body. New bodies are donned by the dweller, well as involvement in the philosophical ques-
like garments” (Bhagavad Gita II.22). In tion. Nancey Murphy, a theologian/philosopher,
Buddhist thought, the body is considered the and Warren Brown, a psychologist, have spent
site of pleasure and pain that impede one’s path considerable time on the issue and promoted the
to enlightenment; however, enlightenment is idea of a “nonreductive physicalism.” Philip
within the human realm. Therefore, the body Clayton provides a different approach by drawing
can be trained via meditation and discipline to on theories drawn from quantum physics and
approach a state of enlightenment. In the cosmology to the concept of emergence in order
Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity, to negotiate the space between reductive physi-
and Islam – bodies are a part of the created calism and dualism. Although the idea of mind-
order that is declared “good.” Human bodies are body dualism is historically well established, it
also considered to be in a “fallen” and “sinful” remains a fertile ground for thinking about the
state. Consequently, the “goodness” of bodies as body in science and religion.
we encounter them is in question. The second most prevalent way in which sci-
Given the ambivalence toward the body pre- ence and religion address the body is by focusing
sent within each of the major world religions and on one particular part of the body.
Brain Anatomy 279 B
Interdisciplinary research has often focused on At this point, we return to the question “what
the brain as a site of inquiry. The brain is of about the body?” “Body” in science and religion
particular interest due to its unique role in cogni- discourse can take on a plurality of meanings and
tive capacity and identity formation. For many uses depending on the intellectual context.
scholars, the brain is the place in which the mind Human beings do, in fact, “exist and live as B
and the body intersect. Consequently, in recent a body in a world of bodies.” The ways in
decades, there has been an explosion of interdis- which we consider what it means to be a body
ciplinary research utilizing the cognitive sci- in the midst of other bodies, human and
ences, including neuroscience, neuroimagining, nonhuman, are vital areas of inquiry for science
and psychology, to investigate religious phenom- and religion.
ena. For example, Andrew Newberg and Eugene
D’Aquili employ neuroscience to argue that reli-
giosity is rooted in the biology of the brain, while References
James Ashbrook and Carol Rausch Albright show
that neuroscience and religious belief can chal- Ashbrook, J., & Albright, C. R. (1997). The humanizing
brain: Where religion and neuroscience meet.
lenge and enrich each other. The focus on the
Cleveland: Pilgrim.
body employed by each of these interdisciplinary Ashley, B. (1985). Theologies of the body: Humanist and
approaches and those like them is a focus on the Christian. Braintree: National Catholic Bioethics
brain as a part, arguably a unique part, of the Center.
Brown, W., Murphy, N., & Malony, H. N. (Eds.). (1998).
body.
Whatever happened to the soul? Scientific and theo-
Finally, scholarship in science and religion has logical portraits of human nature. Minneapolis:
investigated the ways in which bodies interact Fortress.
with technology and the impact of technology Clayton, P. (2004). Mind and emergence: From quantum
to consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
on the body. This area includes the intersection
Coakley, S. (Ed.). (1997). Religion and the body.
of theological anthropology with biotechnology, New York: Cambridge University Press.
artificial intelligence, and posthumanism. In all Hefner, P. (2003). Technology and human becoming.
three of these areas, philosophical and theologi- Minneapolis: Fortress.
Newberg, A., & D’Aquili, E. (2001). Why god won’t
cal questions center on the body and how the
go away: Brain science and the biology of belief.
body is altered by the use and implementation New York: Ballantine Books.
of technology. Philip Hefner locates humanity’s
spiritual journey in technology. “Everything we
think about religion, everything we think is spir-
itual is rearranged by technology” (Technology Body of Knowledge
and Human Becoming, p. 12). Referring to
Teilhard de Chardin, Hefner says, “For him the ▶ Physics in Protestantism
question can never be first of all ‘what are we
doing with our technology?’ but it must be ‘what
are we becoming with our technology?’” For
those working with artificial intelligence and Brahmā
robotics, the question focuses on “what makes
a human being human?” How one answers the ▶ God and Devil in Buddhism
question of the quintessential attribute of human-
ity influences how one relates to robotics and
artificial intelligence as well as how one opts to
proceed in the posthumanist task of isolating Brain Anatomy
and preserving the human mind while discarding
the body. ▶ Anatomy of the Brain
B 280 Brain and Behavior
References
Brain and Behavior
Wijdicks, E. F., Varelas, P. N., Gronseth, G. S., &
Greer, D. M. (2010). Evidence-based guideline
▶ Neuropsychology
update: determining brain death in adults: report of
the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American
Academy of Neurology. Neurology, 74, 1911–1918.
Brain Building
▶ Brains, Artificial and Computational Brain Imaging
▶ Learning
▶ Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
Brain Death
R€udiger J. Seitz
Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine- Brains, Artificial and Computational
University D€ usseldorf, D€
usseldorf, Germany
Hugo de Garis
Department of Cognitive Science, School of
Brain death describes a medical condition in Information Science and Technology (SIST),
which all brain functions have deceased while Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
the other organs of the body continue to function
normally. On neurological examination the
patients are in coma and all reflexes mediated Related Terms
by their brain stem are lost. Ultimately, the
patients do not breathe spontaneously and remain Artificial minds; Artilects (artificial intellects);
unresponsive (apnoeic) upon an oxygenated Brain building; Computer science
CO2-challenge. The electroencephalogram
reveals a complete absence of electric brain activ- Artificial Brains (ABs), as its name suggests, is
ity in all parts of the brain. On autopsy the entire a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) which
brain is necrotic. This condition occurs in patients attempts to build artificial brains, i.e., engineered
with severe brain damage (e.g., brain trauma, brains. The most common approach is to use
stroke, cerebral hypoxia due to cardiac arrest) modern electronics and often robotics to give
who had undergone vital rescucitation and are the artificial brains bodies to control. Typically,
treated with artificial ventilation on an intensive an artificial brain is hidden in the software of
care unit. In the Western countries legal guide- a computer, so one can only judge the quality of
lines were developed how to identify this condi- the artificial brain’s control by the quality of the
tion and to prove its irreversibility both in adults behaviors of the robot as seen by human
and children. These guidelines include the formal observers.
documentation of the presence of the diagnostic Modern and near future (i.e., within 10 years)
criteria of brain death by two independent physi- electronics is providing a gargantuan number of
cians with an expertise of intensive care medicine transistors on a chip. This number is doubling
at two predefined time points. These standards every year or two, a phenomenon called
are object of continuous evidence-based evolu- “Moore’s Law,” after Gordon Moore, one of the
tion (Wijdicks et al. 2010). The fulfilment of their founders of the microchip company “Intel,”
requirements is the prerequisite for organ dona- noticed the trend and wrote about it in 1965.
tion in transplantation medicine. Moore’s Law has been valid for over 40 years
Brains, Artificial and Computational 281 B
and is thought that it will remain valid for at least of the world’s biggest industries, when useful
another decade (by which time, transistors will be home robots could be controlled by an artificial
the size of atoms.) brain. As a result of this work, this field might
Today’s chips have over a billion transistors. play a major technological, economic, political,
By the year 2020 approximately, computer sys- and even religious role later in the century. B
tems will contain trillions of trillions of compo-
nents, because they will be of molecular scale
(i.e., using “nanotechnology,” or “molecular Self-Identification
scale engineering”). This vast electronic capacity
that is about to explode upon us is making the Science
construction of artificial brains both realistic and There is little doubt that the field of Artificial
practical. Brains is a science. Brain builders are constantly
At the same time, modern neuroscience is testing their hypotheses as to how to build intel-
furnishing detailed knowledge of the micro- ligence into a machine, in the form of artificial
circuitry of the rat brain, providing data on how brains. These hypotheses are then embodied by
each neuron (brain cell) connects to roughly implementing them in (usually) computer sys-
10,000 other neurons in a single “cortical col- tems and robots, to see whether the implemented
umn” that consists of about 10,000 neurons. The reality conforms to the original hypotheses.
rat brain has about 1,000 such columns. Building such an artificial brain would be
The human brain has about a million. The leader a definitive test of humanity’s understanding of
in this work is Henry Markram at EPFL in how the human brain works.
Switzerland [Markram]. He calculates, using
Moore’s Law, that within a decade, he will be Religion
able to obtain similarly detailed knowledge of the The main idea of de Garis (2005) is that this
whole rat brain. It will thus be possible to perform century’s global politics will be dominated by
neuroscience experiments in a computer, a revo- the question whether humanity should build
lutionary concept that is sometimes labeled “artilects” (i.e., artificial intellects, i.e., massively
“e-NS” (i.e., electronic neuroscience). Thus, intelligent machines) or not. The author sees
Moore’s Law and e-NS combined will have rev- humanity dividing into two main ideological
olutionary consequences for humanity as detailed camps, labeled “Cosmists” (who are in favor of
knowledge as to how the human brain works is building artilects) and “Terrans” (who are
incorporated into artificial brains, speeded up opposed).
a million times, and with virtually unlimited The Cosmists would be in favor of building
memory and number of sensors. artilects, because building artilects would be like
As a concrete example of an artificial brain, “building gods.” Artilects would be trillions of
the author uses modern electronics to evolve neu- trillions of times more intelligent than human
ral network modules, each with its own small task beings, they would be immortal, could change
(de Garis 2002). Thousands of these evolved their form in milliseconds, have unlimited mem-
modules are downloaded into a supercomputer ory, go anywhere, do anything, understand
(or even an ordinary PC) and connected up hugely more. They would be gods.
according to the architectures of human “BAs”
(brain architects) to build artificial brains that
control hundreds of behaviors of two legged, Characteristics
two armed robots that can see, walk, grab, talk,
listen, understand (to a moderate degree), remem- Understanding the human brain is one of the
ber, reason, etc. greatest scientific challenges of the twenty-first
The advent of such artifacts, even if only century. The field of artificial brains is distinctive
mildly intelligent, would probably become one for three specific reasons of being (a) politically
B 282 Brains, Artificial and Computational
consequential, (b) scientifically fascinating, and The theist hypothesis is easily refuted by the
(c) economically important. brute fact that the twentieth century was the
Many of the growing number of artificial brain bloodiest in history, with some 200–300 million
researchers feel that they are in a field that is of people being killed for political reasons, e.g.,
great consequence, which is historically similar wars, holocausts, and purges. Presumably many
in prestige level to that enjoyed by the nuclear millions of these people believed in a loving god
physicists in the 1940s and 1950s. Brain builders who obviously did not love them.
believe that in the longer term, the consequences The deist hypothesis however is far more sub-
of their work will end up dominating this stantial, on at least two counts. One is the
century’s global politics. This is not something “anthropic principle” which states that the values
to be sneezed at. It is terribly important. of the constants in the laws of physics are so
The field is also fascinating. Two of science’s fantastically improbably finely tuned (in one
greatest mysteries are the nature of intelligence, (cosmological) case, to one part in 10 to power
and the nature of consciousness. Artificial brain 60) to allow the existence of matter and life,
researchers are usually fascinated by such ques- that the strong suspicion is that the universe was
tions and feel they are probably in the field that “engineered,” implying a designer, i.e., a “deity”.
one day will give definitive answers to such It is possible, however, that future theoretical
questions. physics may discover symmetry principles so
The field will have huge economic conse- severe in their constraints that only one possible
quences. This author has asked many people how universe and laws of physics is possible and our
much money they would be prepared to spend on universe is it. The jury is still out on this question,
a genuinely useful and intelligent home robot. The but any scientifically curious person ought to be
general answer tends to be “less than for a house, open to the idea that the universe is “rigged,”
more than for a car.” Since billions of people “engineered,” “designed”.
would want to buy a useful intelligent home The second count is more directly derived from
robot, we are talking about one of the world’s artificial brains. The idea that an artilect could
biggest industries, worth trillions of euros a year. become trillions of times superior to humans in
intellectual ability makes one wonder what they
would do to pass their (immortal) time. Consider-
Relevance to Science and Religion ing that human beings (e.g., Prof Guth at MIT)
have already created physical theories on how to
The majority of artificial brain researchers are not build baby universes, what could an artilect do?
traditionally religious. They view traditional reli- With its vastly superior intellectual abilities and
gions as superstitions unworthy of their respect. knowledge of how the universe works, perhaps, it
Modern scientific knowledge has effectively would be capable of actually building universes
debased traditional religions and made ideas with all their constituents, including living beings
such as a “prayer” and “life after death,” “mira- similar to ourselves. By definition, such an artilect
cles,” “angels,” “resurrections,” “virgin births” would be a “god,” i.e., a creator. Admittedly, it
seem ignorant and stupid. On the other hand, would not be as “powerful” or omnipotent a “god”
researchers in this field are not averse to religion, as the creator of the preexisting universe that the
provided that it is interpreted in terms of modern artilect was created in (either by inferior artilects
scientific knowledge and critical thinking. For or human beings). The artilect creator of the new
example, many of the author’s colleagues are universe would take as a given, the circumstances
open to “deism” (i.e., the belief in a creator of in which it found itself at its birth. What then
the universe (multiverse)), but sneer at theism created those circumstances, given that they obey
(i.e., deism, plus belief that the creator takes the anthropic principle?
a loving personal interest in the welfare of indi- So, if the artilects made by human beings
vidual human beings). eventually become capable of building universes,
then it is plausible that our universe is the product species dominance (i.e., whether humanity
of some earlier artilect in some earlier universe. should build artilects or not), [BBC], [ABC],
Hence, and this is a major point that the field of [Technocalyps]. In 2011, a movie appeared in
artificial brains can contribute to the field of the USA discussing the issue [Transcendent
“science and religion,” the prospect that Man]. B
humanity’s artilects may become godlike, capa- The major ethical issue is that of “species
ble of building new universes, makes brain dominance.” Should humanity build artilects or
builders much more open to deism, i.e., they not? As described earlier, the Terrans would be
lose their “a-deism” that traditionally was so bitterly opposed to the creation of artilects and, in
common to most scientists. There are good solid the limit, would go to war to stop the Cosmists
scientific reasons to keep an open mind on the (and the Cyborgs, i.e., people who add artilectual
topic of deism. components to their brains to become artilects
themselves). The fundamental ethical principle
upheld by the Terrans is that of “survival of the
Sources of Authority human species.” To Terrans, this principle is
absolutely nonnegotiable.
The research field of Artificial Brains is as author- The Cosmists, on the other hand, would be
itative as any other substantial science. It is how- driven by a sense of awe at the grandeur of what
ever very new, so there has not yet been enough artilects could become, vastly outpacing the
time for the field to establish its own scientific pathetic little human lives we live, snuffed out
journals and conferences. At the time of writing, in a mere 80 years in a universe that is billions of
research papers on artificial brains are scattered years old, living on a tiny planet of one star of
over various specialties (e.g., robotics, AI, elec- a trillion trillion in our universe. The fundamental
tronics, cognitive science, etc., e.g., [Markram], ethical principle driving the Cosmists will be the
[Artificial Development]). powerful impulse to build gods.
The Cosmists will anticipate the hatred and
fear of the Terrans and will be prepared for the
Ethical Principles Terran “first strike” (which the Terrans must do,
if they are not to be utterly outclassed over time
The answer to this question depends on the time by the rise of the artilects and the cyborgs-
frame one is talking about. In the coming few cybernetic organisms, i.e., part machine, part
decades, it is likely that the rise of the intelligent human).
home robot will be considered a wonderful thing Hence the ethical dispute over whether
by humanity, as a liberating force, freeing human humanity should build artilects or not, later this
beings from the “3Ds,” i.e., those jobs that are century, may result in the deaths of billions of
“dull, dirty, dangerous.” Everyone will want one; people. This author considers this scenario the
thus, there will not be much in the way to obstruct most probable and, unfortunately, the most
progress in building artificial brains in the early horrible.
twenty-first century. Ethical constraints against
such progress will be light.
However, longer term is a very different mat- Key Values
ter. Already, thousands of scientists and engi-
neers have formed themselves into internet During the first decades of the twenty-first cen-
interest groups, e.g., [Transhumanists], tury, the values of the brain builders have been to
[Extropians], [Singularity Institute], to debate build artificial brains as intelligent and as useful
the longer-term consequences for humanity, if as they can be. Since the early artificial brains
we decide to build artilects. In 2006, major TV will not be intelligent enough to be a threat to
documentaries appeared devoted to the issue of humanity’s “species dominance,” there will be
B 284 Brains, Artificial and Computational
plenty of incentive to increase the artificial intel- probable that humanity will discover scientifi-
ligence level and usefulness of the home robots, cally the mechanisms that cause death in humans
controlled by artificial brains. As the decades and learn to counter them by reprogramming
pass however, the values of the Cosmists and the DNA.
the Terrans would diverge, and diverge danger-
ously, leading to the ethical dilemma mentioned Reality
above. Brain builders are not on the whole physicists, so
their conception of reality is probably not very
different from the “man in the street’s,” i.e., the
Conceptualization human eye and brain “sees” what is “out there”
(what the philosophers call “naive realism”).
Nature/World To the minority of brain builders who are
The majority of brain builders are materialists, (mathematical) physicists, the concept of reality
metaphysically speaking. Like most neuroscien- is far more subtle. The interpretation of quantum
tists, they take a functionalist attitude to brain mechanics is riddled with philosophical and
building. They accept the idea that artificial intel- conceptual puzzles, on the nature of reality, the
ligence can be put into a machine provided that nature of measurement, of superposition, of
the machine obeys the needed “principles of entanglement, and so forth.
intelligence theory,” which unfortunately today
are only vaguely elaborated. Knowledge
Artificial brains will need to store knowledge and
Human Being use it. AI has long struggled with the problem of
Most brain builders feel that human beings are knowledge representation. How does the brain
molecular machines, subject to the same laws of store knowledge? How does the brain decide
physics and chemistry as anything else. what incoming stimuli are worthy of storage?
There are many questions both philosophical
Life and Death and very practical regarding the nature and use
To brain builders, life is an extremely complex of knowledge in artificial brains.
molecular system that metabolizes, reproduces,
mutates, and evolves. How life started is still Truth
unexplained. Did life come from outer space, or Philosophically speaking, the brain builders’ con-
did it start spontaneously on the earth as soon as cept of truth as applied to an artificial brain
geological conditions were appropriate? controlled robot is how well the robot “survives”
Death is not universal. Bacteria and cells in in its world. If the ideas and models in the artifi-
general are immortal if constantly fed. Reproduc- cial brain allow the robot to manipulate its world
tive cells are immortal because there are elabo- successfully, then those ideas are ‘true’ in some
rate and energetically expensive molecular repair pragmatic, Darwinian sense.
mechanisms that fix deleterious mutations in
germ line (i.e., reproductive) cells. Once sex Perception
was invented and body (or somatic) cells sepa- Perception is a critical concept to brain builders.
rated from reproductive cells, organisms did not In the author’s artificial brain, a substantial
survive long enough (due to accidental death, proportion of the evolved neural net modules
e.g., starving to death, being eaten, burned to that make up the brain are perception modules.
death, disease, injury, etc) to make constant Each one recognizes a particular pattern or fea-
upkeep of the somatic cells worthwhile. ture, e.g., something red, a straight line moving
Since both life and death are molecular left, a shoe, a particular person’s face,
mechanisms, with genetic programs, it is etc. Choosing what is important for an artificial
brain to perceive is an important set of design human brain to have the same conscious experi-
or architectural decisions for that brain. ences as another person? (h) Is the red person
A sees, the same red as person B sees? (i) How
Time does the brain learn? (j) How can answers to the
To a philosopher, the nature of time is as deeply above questions be put into an artificial brain? B
mysterious as the nature of consciousness is to (k) Will human level artificial intelligence ever
a brain builder. To a brain builder, the nature of be achievable without a deep knowledge of how
time is much more pragmatic. The time concept is the human brain works?
used to determine the sequence of events, the con-
currency of two events (so essential for Hebbian
learning and synaptic reinforcement when two Relevant Themes
connected neurons fire simultaneously due to the
two hitherto separated events). Previous events, if As mentioned above, the prospect that
considered important by the artificial brain, are humanity’s artilects may become godlike, capa-
stored for future use. The concept of time for an ble of building new universes, makes brain
artificial brain is as basic as it is for human beings. builders much more open to deism. Traditionally,
most scientists were atheists (and still are in the
Consciousness strict sense, i.e., when distinguishing between a-
One of the deepest mysteries in the whole of theism and a-deism). Acceptance of the possibil-
science, and especially neuroscience and artifi- ity of a creator, a “deity” is much more plausible
cial brains, is the nature of consciousness. The now, less “anti scientific.” In fact, it is science
philosophers talk about the “hard problem,” i.e., itself that has made formerly a-deistic researchers
how will third party objective (external) discov- more open to the possibility that our universe has
eries about the behavior of the human brain ever been built by a vastly superior being, commonly
be able to explain a person’s subjective (internal) known as “god.” The “anthropic principle” com-
feeling of being conscious of something (qualia)? ing from physicists only confirms the reasonable-
It is indeed a deeply puzzling problem. Whatever ness of this openness.
consciousness is, it gets built. Embryos grow into In short, deism (as distinct from theism, which
human babies that are conscious and intelligent. most scientists still dismiss with contempt) is
making a comeback. Deism is consistent with
Rationality/Reason (but not conclusive from) the current scientific
Artificial brains will obviously need to reason if evidence. One should be open to the possibility
they are to be useful. A machine that cannot that a “deity” made our universe.
reason from its past memories will not be very
intelligent. Hence, the nature of logic and types of
logical reasoning are important topics for study Cross-References
when building artificial brains.
Mystery ▶ Automation, Electronic
There are many mysteries remaining in the field ▶ Autonomic Nervous System
of Artificial Brains. Here are some – (a) What is ▶ Complex Systems
intelligence? (b) How is intelligence built? ▶ Cyberethics
(c) What is consciousness? (d) How are memo- ▶ Cyborgs
ries stored in the brain? (e) Can humans with ▶ Dualism
human intelligence build artilects with superior ▶ Emergence, Theories of
intelligence? (f) How does the brain make ▶ Software Engineering
a decision? (g) Will it ever be possible for one ▶ Space and Time
B 286 Broaden-and-Build
References positive emotional states leads to the accrual of

physical, social, intellectual, and psychological
ABC: ABC 20:20 TV documentary : “Last days resources across time.
on Earth”, http://video.google.com/videoplay?
docid¼5674809699745897682
Artificial Development, http://radio.weblogs.com/0105910/
2004/07/15.html
BBC: Horizon TV documentary : “Human V2.0”, http:// Buddha
www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broad-
band/tx/singularity/clash/
de Garis, H., & Korkin, M. (2002). The CAM-brain ▶ Buddha (Historical)
machine (CBM): An FPGA-based hardware tool that ▶ Modernity in Buddhism and in Islam
evolves a 1000 neuron-net circuit module in seconds ▶ Physics in Buddhism
and updates a 75 million neuron artificial brain for
real-time robot control. Neurocomputing, 42(1–4),
pp35–pp68.
de Garis (2002). “Guest editorial: Special issue on evolu-
tionary neural systems”. Neurocomputing, 42,1–8. Buddha (Historical)
de Garis (2005). “The Artilect War : Cosmists vs. terrans :
A bitter controversy concerning whether humanity
should build godlike massively intelligent machines”. Vishvapani Blomfield
ETC. Publications, ISBN 0-88280-154-6. Independent writer and researcher, Cardiff, UK
de Garis (2010). “A survey of the planet’s most significant
artificial brain projects”, to appear in a special issue on
artificial brains. Neurocomputing Journal.
Extropians, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extropianism Related Terms
Markram, http://bluebrain.epfl.ch/page18900.html
Singularity Institute. http://www.singinst.org/ Buddha; Gautama Buddha; Shakyamuni;
Technocalyps : Belgian TV documentary. http://www.
Siddhartha Gautama
thoughtware.tv/videos/watch/2985-Technocalyps-Prepar-
ing-For-The-Singularity
Transcendent Man: An independent US movie documen-
tary : “Transcendent Man” http://en.wikipedia.org/ Description
wiki/Transcendent_Man_(film)
Transhumanists, http://www.transhumanism.org/index.
php/WTA/index/ “Buddha” is a title meaning “the one who has
awakened,” and in the Pali and Sanskrit texts
that comprise the early Buddhist scriptures,
“the Buddha” is a historical individual called
Broaden-and-Build Gautama. In later Buddhism, this individual is
blended with a legendary figure, and eventually,
Sarah A. Schnitker1 and Robert A. Emmons2 he becomes an eternal, archetypal Buddha figure
1
School of Psychology, Fuller Theological called Shakyamuni. The early scriptures are our
Seminary, Pasadena, CA, USA only source of information about the historical
2
Psychology Department, University of Gautama, but they cannot be viewed as
California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA wholly reliable: The contents were reportedly
memorized in the Buddha’s lifetime, then
recited communally, and finally committed to
A theory of positive emotion function developed writing in the first century BCE. Some historians
by Barbara Fredrickson, the broaden-and-build argue that we therefore cannot know if the
theory maintains that positive emotions are evo- Buddha existed at all as an historical individual
lutionarily evolved adaptations that enhance sur- (Penner 2009); but most read the texts critically
vival by expanding the repertoire of behavioral to distinguish the historical Gautama from
options for organisms. The theory posits that the the figure celebrated by Buddhist legend and
expanded cognitive flexibility evident during piety.
Buddha (Historical) 287 B
These texts survive in two main collections. These later accounts of the Buddha’s life also
Those in the Pali language, often known as “the show him growing up in a society dominated by
Pali Canon,” form the main corpus of Theravadin Brahmins and their Vedic religious traditions.
Buddhism, the dominant form of the religion in Sri However, the Discourses represent the Brahmins
Lanka, Thailand, and Burma. Alternative versions as new arrivals from the West and show that the B
of the same texts, known as the Agamas, were set Ganges Valley had its own indigenous religions.
down in Sanskrit and survive in Chinese transla- Popular religion focused on spirit shrines,
tion. Both recensions include three collections: the while the most prominent full-time religious
Discourses (suttas or sutras) which describe practitioners were homeless wanderers called
accounts of the Buddha’s teachings; the Monastic shramanas. Many shramana sects existed, includ-
Code (Vinaya), which recounts both the rules and ing the Jains who survive to this day. Their beliefs
the occasions on which they were formulated; and and practices varied, but most believed in rebirth
analyses of the mind called the Abhidhamma/ and karma (the ethical weighting that determines
Abhidharma. All these texts (as well as the much rebirth) and the need to escape repeated
later scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism) purport to rebirth through some form of liberation or
record the Buddha’s words, but the Discourses – or enlightenment. Shramana practices included
at least their oldest stratum – have the strongest self-mortification and probably meditative
claim as reliable historical records. contemplation.
Most historians tentatively place Gautama’s The Discourses tell us that aged 29 Gautama
birth in c. 480 BCE, (Bechert 1991/1992/1997) experienced profound disillusionment with ordi-
around 100 years later than the traditional date nary life, left home, and became a shramana
used by Theravadin Buddhists: the uncertainty (though his actual age may well have been youn-
reflects the uncertainties of early Indian chronol- ger). Gautama’s aim was to understand and
ogy in general. Gautama was a member of a clan remove the cause of life’s sufferings thereby
called the Shakyans whose territory, called escaping the cycle of death and rebirth. To this
Shakya, was on the northern edge of the end, he practiced meditation, perhaps following
burgeoning civilization of the Central Ganges the traditions recorded in the Hindu Upanishads,
Valley. The major nations of the Ganges civiliza- and undertook self-mortification in the manner of
tion were Magadha, on the southern shore of the the Jains (Mahasaccaka Sutta: Majjhima Nikaya
river, and Kosala, ruled from Shravasti, which 36 (I 246–7)). Finally, he adopted the novel
held suzerainty over Shakya. Gautama was born method of examining his mind and learning to
in Lumbini, which is now in southern Nepal, but guide it. In time, his mastery was so complete that
his mother, Maya, died a week after his birth. he could transform its deepest workings, and
He was brought up in Kapilavastu, by Suddhodana, aged 35 (c.445 BCE), he sat down to meditate
his father, and Maya’s sister Prajapati, who was in the place that is now called Bodh Gaya.
both his aunt and his stepmother. He later said that he achieved the state of Bodhi,
Legendary accounts of the Buddha’s child- which literally means “awakening” but is usually
hood make Suddhodana a king who secluded his translated as “enlightenment.” Henceforth, he
son (who they call Siddhartha) in a sumptuous referred to himself as “the Buddha,” which
palace to shield him from knowledge of suffer- means “the one who has awakened.”
ing. The account in the early sources is sparser The Buddha crystallized his insights in the
and less romantic, and as Shakya was a dependent teaching that all experience arises in dependence
clan republic, Gautama cannot have been on conditions (the teaching of “dependent
a prince. However, he had a comfortable, proba- arising”) (Pathamabodhi Sutta: Udana 1:1
bly aristocratic upbringing. The tradition that (Ud 1)) and can be changed through ethical prac-
he married is strong, though we do not know tice and mental development, especially medita-
the name of his wife, and we also hear of a son tion. This insight implied rejecting belief in
called Rahula. a fixed, unchanging soul or essence to human
B 288 Buddha (Historical)
identity, which his contemporaries called atman, others to share it. He repeatedly emphasized that
and in a divine power at the heart of the universe, his teachings were not what we would call meta-
which some of them called brahman. It also physics, but guidance in how human experience
showed that everything in experience is imper- works and how individuals can change in order to
manent and insubstantial and explained why it is eradicate the sources of suffering and find liber-
unsatisfactory to ordinary human experience. ation. The foundation of his path was ethics
The Buddhist practitioner confronts these truths (shila), and for him, the ethical status of an action
and in realizing them finds a source of creativity depended on the motivation behind it. Unethical
and happiness. or “unskillful” actions, as he called them, are
As the Discourses are not arranged chronolog- those rooted in craving, hatred, and ignorance,
ically, we cannot reconstruct a narrative of the while skillful actions are based in opposite men-
Buddha’s life for the 45 years following his tal states. Unskillful actions have harmful effects
enlightenment. But they do show him traveling in the world and also upon the person who acts.
across the region and sharing his teaching These states condition or shape a person’s future
(the “Dharma”) with all who would listen. Many experience. In this way, the Buddha’s ethical
of those he addressed were fellow shramanas; teaching was tied to a dynamic view of human
indeed, his first teaching was addressed to former experience (and hence psychology) as well as
companions in Sarnath, near the Hindu holy city a system of practices for mental development.
of Varanasi. These men quickly realized his Our knowledge of other Indian meditative tra-
teachings for themselves, but in other cases, ditions is too limited for us to be certain how
his encounters involved engaging with the many much of the Buddha’s teaching drew on
philosophies and creeds the shramanas held. preexisting practice and how much was his own.
He also met and debated with Brahmins The Discourses include a few mentions of non-
(the priests of the Vedic tradition) as well as Buddhist shramana meditators, but they seem to
speaking with ordinary people of all social strata have been relatively few. However, certain key
and professions. Many of these people followed features of his approach contrast with what we do
Gautama’s example by leaving their household know of others. For example, along with ethics,
lives and adopting his version of the shramana the foundation of the Buddha’s path of mental
lifestyle, while others continued in their previous development was the development of mindful
lifestyles as householder disciples. It is also worth awareness (sati/smrti) of all aspects of experi-
noting that the Discourses describe many encoun- ence. By paying careful attention, a practitioner
ters in which the Buddha fails to persuade or learns to become aware of his or her body, feel-
convince the people with whom he speaks. ings, and mental states as well as seeing their
The Kings of Kosala and Magadha, the experience in terms illuminated by the Buddhist
regions’ leading powers, reportedly became teachings.
Gautama’s disciples early in his ministry, and Other distinctive features of the Buddha’s
after several years, he made a base in Shravasti, approach to mental development relate to
Kosala’s capital, where he met frequently with focused concentration. Firstly, he regarded med-
the Koslana King Prasanajit (Skt). Through itative concentration as a natural function of the
teachings and debates, he developed his own mind and did not associate it with metaphysical
soteriological system that included detailed beliefs about atman, brahman, or the origins of
descriptions of the mind, meditation practices, the universe as we find in Brahmanical texts. He
and a detailed path to enlightenment. These called these “speculative views” and argued that
teachings and the encounters that prompted they preempted the meditator’s capacity to see
them are the subject matter of the Discourses. reality directly. Secondly, he emphasized the
The Discourses describe regular sessions in importance of states of progressively intense con-
which the Buddha explained his understanding centration called jhana (Pali) or dhyana (Skt.) and
of reality and the practices that could enable gave detailed instructions on how to enter and
Buddha (Historical) 289 B
progressing through these states. Some non- Buddhist tradition records that many of them
Buddhists seem to have practiced dhyana-based became arahants, attaining a degree of awaken-
meditation, but the Buddha’s teaching that they ing that meant they were assured of full enlight-
are impermanent and the meditator should not enment. Many of these individuals gathered
cling to them was his own. More broadly, followers of their own. The two chief disciples B
Gautama encouraged his students to use a bal- were Shariputra and Maudgalyayana (Skt.), and
anced effort, which was neither too forceful nor they are often depicted in Buddhist iconography
too lax, in developing their minds. Thirdly, the flanking the Buddha himself. The Buddha’s com-
Buddha taught what he called “vipassana” prac- panion for the latter part of his life was his cousin,
tices in which the meditator reflects on an aspect Ananda, who is said to have possessed a powerful
of experience as he described it, such as its imper- memory with which he memorized Gautama’s
manence or insubstantiality, in order to gain teaching.
direct insight into the truth of the description. The community of the Buddha’s followers is
This is the ultimate purpose of Gautama’s medi- called the Sangha (sometimes this term refers
tative system, and the other aspects are means to solely to the monks and nuns). Together, the
achieving it. Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are called the
The movement Gautama started was initially Three Jewels of Buddhism, embodying its essen-
one shramana group among many, probably tial character, and the Discourses include many
known as the Shakyaputras shramanas (Skt: “the accounts of the Buddha’s encounters with people
sons of the Shakyan”). Like the Jain shramana who chose to become his followers by “going for
community, it included both men and women, refuge” to these Three Jewels and then living
and the Buddha affirmed that women could gain according to the values they express.
insight just as men could. The traditional account Both the Discourses and later tradition suggest
relates that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain that the latter years of Gautama’s life were a time
women, but most modern scholars conclude that of difficulty. One tradition speaks of a split with
this is not reliable. The early Shakyaputra com- a group within the Shakyaputra community led
munity was probably relatively informal and by a monk called Devadatta who was probably
unstructured, emphasizing a life of wandering a strict forest renunciate. A second tradition
and forest dwelling as well as periods of commu- describes the mass killing of members of the
nal retreat. However, in time the Shakyaputras Buddha’s Shakyan clan by the King of Kosala.
evolved into a distinctive community with its The Buddha’s final year is described in great
own rules, structures, and monastic centers. It is detail in the longest of the Discourses, called The
uncertain how far this process went in Gautama’s Mahaparinibbana Sutta. It records his journey
own life, but the Discourses record tensions through Magadha, the leading Ganges Valley
between those monks who favored life in kingdom, as it prepared for a war against its
the wilderness and those who favored settled northern neighbors. It then describes the
monasticism. Novice monks and nuns learned to Buddha’s journey northward and depicts a life
recite certain key Discourses meditated of meditation and teaching to groups of house-
according to the Buddha’s instructions and stud- holders and Shakyaputra monks. Finally, he
ied intensively with senior monks before setting arrived in the provincial town of Kusinara and
off on their own. took ill after eating some infected food. There he
Alongside the renunciates were householders died aged 80 in c. 400 BCE.
who supported the monks and nuns, providing The Mahaparinibbana Sutta describes the
them with almsfood and robes. They also prac- elaborate ceremonies and devotional rituals that
ticed the teachings for themselves to some extent, accompanied the Buddha’s funeral followed by
especially those relating to ethical conduct. The the division of his relics and the construction of
community of the Buddha’s disciples seems to ceremonial mounds (stupas) to house them. This
have grown considerably during his lifetime and suggests that even in his lifetime, the Buddha was
B 290 Buddhism
a figure of considerable religious significance for References

a much wider community than his immediate
disciples and that his status as an Enlightened Bechert, H. (Ed.). (1991/1992/1997). The dating of the
historical Buddha, Die Datierung des Historischen
Buddha had a recognized place within Ganges
Buddha (Vol. 3). Gottingen: Vandenhoeck &
culture. Ruprecht.
The Vinaya records that the Buddha’s arahant Penner, H. (2009). Rediscovering the Buddha: Legends of
disciples gathered after his death in a cave outside the Buddha and their interpretation (p. 116). Oxford/
New York: Oxford University Press.
the Magadhan city of Rajagriha for a meeting that
became known as The First Council. There,
Ananda recited the teachings he had memorized
so that others could recite them in their turn, and
a monk called Upali recited the Vinaya. While Buddhism
the traditional account cannot be accepted in all
its details, it seems likely that a meeting of ▶ Abhidharma, Northern
Gautama’s senior disciples did occur shortly ▶ Buddhism in the West
after his death and that this meeting established
a system or recitation and aural transmission that
passed the Discourses and the Vinaya on to sub-
sequent generations. Buddhism in the West
By the end of the Buddha’s life, the
Shakyaputras were probably one of the leading Jørn Borup
shramana groups in the Ganges Valley, and they Department of Culture and Society, ARTS,
seem to have attracted followers from many other Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
parts of Northern India as well. The Buddha
himself seems to have been a respected and influ-
ential figure but perhaps no more than some other Related Terms
shramana gurus. However, in subsequent centu-
ries his teachings were widely recognized as Buddhism; Modern Buddhism; Orientalism;
a powerful and original alternative to both Religious studies; Science in Buddhism
Brahminism and Jainism, and they became
a central part of religious life across India follow- In a broad perspective, Buddhism in the West is
ing the conversion to Buddhism of the Mauryan just another phase in Buddhism’s cultural migra-
Emperor Ashoka (304–232 BCE). tion, spanning more than 2,000 years. It also,
however, constitutes a significant contribution
within this history, sometimes referred to as
Cross-References a whole “New Buddhism,” a “new Buddhist vehi-
cle.” Buddhism in the West comprises different
▶ Anatta types of groups, practices, and ideas related to the
▶ Bodhisattva Ideal religion Buddhism, being geographically limited
▶ Buddhist Canonical Literature to Europe, North America, and in a broader sense
▶ Buddhist Meditation Practices countries outside of its Asian origin (South
▶ God and Devil in Buddhism Africa, Australia, South America). This entry
▶ Impermanence (Buddhist) gives a historical overview of how Buddhism
▶ Karma (Buddhist) became part of the Western religious and cultural
▶ Modernity in Buddhism and in Islam sphere, then discusses definitional and typologi-
▶ Psychology in Buddhism cal challenges, and finally explores the relations
▶ Reality in Buddhism of science and Buddhism in the West.
Buddhism in the West 291 B
Transplanting Buddhism from East to feelings, experiences, mysticism, and origins,
West: A Historical Overview and romantics ascribed such ideals to be quintes-
sential for Indian religions. Especially from the
Alexander the Great’s presence in Northern India latter part of the nineteenth century, Buddhism
was the context for the first meeting of Buddhism became known as both a highly rational and spir- B
and the West. Westerners (Greeks) were men- itual path for literates, intellectuals, poets,
tioned in Buddhist sources (Majjjhima Nikaya scholars, and spiritual seekers. Such “rationaliza-
and Milindapanha), Buddhist Gandhara art was tion” and “spiritualization” were due not only to
highly influenced by Greek art, and the first West- the religion itself, in many ways being of
ern convert to and missionary of the religion a specific kind in the history of religion, but also
(Dharmarakshita, third century BC) was probably to the history of its reception among scholars and
a Greek descendant of the colonialists. Just like practitioners and the cultural and political context
Alexander was never directly mentioned in the of colonization.
Indian classics, his Indian “counterpart,” the first Collecting the parts of hitherto heterogenous
Buddhist king Ashoka, has not been mentioned sources to a whole more or less homogenous
by Greek historians, nor have the Indian stories of religion was possible not the least due to philol-
his missionaries being sent to the Mediterranean ogists and scholars of religion, and when Eugène
area. Burnouf (1801–1852) had his Introduction à
Notwithstanding the possible Buddhist influ- l’Histoire du Buddhisme published in 1844,
ences on early Christianity (especially Gnosti- a new religion was revealed for Western scholars.
cism), speculations of Buddhist monks having English, German, Scandinavian, French,
been to Greece to influence Greek philosophers Russian, and later American (and eventually
and Christian mystics (and Jesus) going to India from all over the world) scholars took up the
to learn from the spiritual depths of the East have, task, and with the Pali Text Society, founded in
especially in esoteric and new age groups, had 1881 by Rhys Davids (1843–1922), Buddhism as
a certain fascination. Fascinated were also some a textualized religion was established and later
of the medieval traders, adventurers, and Chris- categorized as a world religion. The “historical
tian missionaries dealing with a mental landscape Buddha” was identified, texts became canonized,
and a religion far beyond the politically and and different lineages and schools were related in
religiously troublesome Islamic region. Like the a genealogical framework in which social
Far East, Buddhism was to most Europeans Darwinists could reflect evolutionary ideals
mainly an exotic other, if, to the majority, inter- and perennialists could claim Buddhism to
esting at all. express universal depths. Constructionist and
Although having been discovered by intellec- postcolonial scholarship has noted the hegemonic
tuals and missionaries already in the sixteenth contexts of Orientalism, in which such “Western”
century, it was not until the Enlightenment and and Christian ideas were developed. Not only
later Romantic period that a true meeting was the East conquered and its religions
between Buddhism and the West was realized. described, domesticated, and controlled, “Bud-
Rationality, religious criticism, and a search for dhism” was also “invented” under unequal
human sources of truth claims were part of the power relations, and the Protestant bias of doc-
Enlightenment project. Though Indian religions trinal and belief-oriented, anti-ritual, anti-lived
did not get the same recognition as the idealized religion representations has since been revealed
Chinese Confucianism, the same ideals, however, as reductionist and particularist. Early focus on
were transferred also to Buddhism, when it was doctrinal ▶ Theravada Buddhism as being the
discovered in the first half of the nineteenth cen- true and original source of later degenerate
tury. In the later Romantic period, rationalization ▶ Mahāyāna Buddhism/Vajrayāna Buddhism,
was counterbalanced by an idealization of “Lamaism,” and lived “folk Buddhism” until a
B 292 Buddhism in the West
few decades ago was also the implicit template Nyanatiloka, and several of the members of the
for Buddhist and religious studies. late nineteenth-century symbol of nationalist and
Such Westernized projections were also part international Buddhism, The Indian Mahabodhi
of fin de siècle representations of Eastern Society.
religions in popular literature. Edwin Arnold’s Modernity paved the way for international
poetic account of the Buddha, The Light of Asia networks, and especially Dharmapala and the
from 1879, has been published in more than 100 Japanese Zen “missionary” D. T. Suzuki
editions, and later idealizations of Indian philos- (1870–1966) were tremendously influential in
ophy, Zen spirituality, and Buddhist magic and exporting to the West a “Protestant” form of
mystery from the Himalayan region have had spiritual and rational Buddhism. This protestant
enormous influence on popular images of Bud- form of modern Buddhism is opposed to and yet
dhism up to the present. Philosophers have used inspired by Protestantism, such as focus on texts,
Buddhism to think with, and later generations of degradation of rituals, and priesthood status. Not
thinkers, artists, and authors have contributed to least the latter’s relations to the American philos-
representing Buddhism as both an intellectual opher Paul Carus (1852–1919) inspired a modern
and highly spiritual tradition. interpretation of especially Zen Buddhism being
To a certain extent, such Westernized perspec- scientific. Suzuki’s teacher Shaku Sōen
tives can be ascribed also to Buddhism in the (1859–1919) with Dharmapala and the Indian
West as a practice religion, both as underlying Hindu reformer Vivekananda (1863–1902) had
paradigms and expressed concretely through notable success at the Parliament of the World’s
individuals and networks of influential persons. Religions in Chicago 1893, a prestigious arrange-
Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott in 1875 ment itself indicating a rising consciousness of
created the Theosophical Society. Beginning as Eastern religions. While the first European lay
an American group, it soon became an interna- Buddhist groups of the early twentieth century
tional organization, proclaiming the parallels were primarily of Theravadin origin (and
between science, evolution, spirituality, and eso- especially in the British scene based on colonial
teric religions, which they found best represented relations), USA much earlier had relations to
in Buddhism. Importing concepts such as karma Eastern ▶ Mahāyāna Buddhism/Vajrayāna
and reincarnation into their esoteric (primarily Buddhism. Influential Buddhist teachers and mis-
literary) world view, they had a decisive influ- sionaries and a long history of Chinese and
ence on both spiritualist groups (continuing up to Japanese immigrants made both elitist Zen Bud-
present day’s new age and spiritualization) and dhism and East Asian folk Buddhism parts of the
conceptualizations in general of Buddhist and living American Buddhist reality. While Asians
Eastern religions. The Theosophical Society continued gathering in local temples, the first
was influential in the Ceylonese Buddhist revival, Euro-American groups and centers were formed
not least triggered by Blavatsky’s and Olcott’s around Japanese masters and missionaries like
arrival and taking of Buddhist refuge on the Nyogen Senzaki (1876–1958) and Shigetsu
island in 1880 and Olcott’s writing of the Bud- Sasaki (Sōkei an; 1882–1945).
dhist Catechism (still used in Sri Lankan schools The Beat Generation of the 1950s and 1960s
today). Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933) was not only continued the nineteenth century’s liter-
their theosophical “pupil” and later himself ary tradition of “thinking with Buddhism,” it also
became one of the most influential leaders in itself helped spark renewed interests into
postcolonial Buddhist nationalism and moder- Buddhism as a living religion in the West. Post-
nity. Also some of the first Western converts war existentialism and counter culture, hippie
were influenced by or members of theosophical alternative lifestyle and flower power, easier and
societies, such as the British (and first Western) cheaper transportation to the Eastern regions fur-
monk Ananda Metteyya, author Edwin Arnold, ther developed access to Buddhism, and from the
judge Christmas Humphreys, the German monk 1970s onward, a plurality of Buddhist groups of
different schools and lineages were established in of lived religion in a socially engaged, re-
America, Europe, Australia, South Africa, and enchanted, and spiritualized world including
South America. Soka Gakkai, led by sensei meditation and (especially within Tibetan Bud-
Ikeda Daisaku (1928–), has had quite a success dhism) religious rituals. From a focus on primar-
in its spread outside Japan, being the only truly ily (textualized) ▶ Theravada Buddhism, through B
global Japanese Buddhist school. As part of the Zen to Tibetan Buddhism and contemporary
increased interest in spirituality, mindfulness or “mindfulness boom,” singular traditions have
vipassana meditation has been established not kept developing their own identities while also
just as a doctrinal ideal or singular meditation being part of transnational, ecumenical, and
practice but as part of a broader movement itself, global Buddhism. Apart from the practicing
promoted and practiced by individuals such as Buddhists in the West, Buddhism as an inspira-
Sayagyi U Ba Khin (1899–1971) and Satya tion for therapy, psychology, philosophy, popular
Narayan Goenka (1924–). Especially since the culture, consumerism, and management strate-
Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959 and the subse- gies has long lost its monastic attire in the West.
quent diaspora of Tibetans, the perhaps most Monasticism is only for the few, but temple
significant phase of contemporary Buddhism in Buddhism is important for the majority of
the West has been established. Westerners went Buddhists in the West, namely, the immigrants
to the Himalayas meeting Tibetan Buddhism; coming from Asia. Their history goes further
lamas such as Tarthang Tulku (1934–), Chögyam back in the USA, where Asians as the “old immi-
Trungpa (1939–1987), Sogyal Rinpoche (1947–), grants” already in the early nineteenth century
Kalu Rinpoche (1905–1989), and the primary came as working migrants. Like their later (also
symbol of Tibetan and global Buddhism, Dalai European, Australian, and South American)
Lama (Tensin Gyatso, 1935–), came to teach and counterparts, initial expectations of eventually
establish traditions in the West. returning gradually changed into permanent res-
The relevance of Buddhist teachers in all Bud- idence and diasporic consciousness of being in
dhist history has been important. Tibetan lamas; a new cultural settlement in which also religion
Japanese (like Eidō Tai Shimano, Shunryu (and Buddhism) has importance. New immigra-
Suzuki, Taizan Maezuki, Harada Yasutani, tion laws in the US and most European countries
Shodo Harada), Vietnamese (Thich Nhat Hanh), opened up for waves of migrants and refugees
and Korean (Seung Sahn) Zen rōshis; and from Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Laos, and Cambodia,
▶ Theravada Buddhism monks (like Buddhadasa and with their descendants and family
or Sivaraksa) in modern times have been influen- reunification possibilities, the amount of immi-
tial agents of transferring the religion to the West grant Buddhists has many doubled. While still
(and sometimes, through spiritualization, rational- being a minority religion in most Western coun-
ization, and popularization in the West, tries, immigrant Buddhists in all Western coun-
rebounding back to the East). Also Euro-American tries constitute the absolute majority (up to 80 %)
Buddhists like Sangharakshita, Philip Kapleau, of Buddhists. While many threads combine ele-
Robert Aitken, Michael Roach, Jiyū Kennett, ments of the “Euro-American” Buddhist history,
Surya Das, Pema Chodron, Ole Nydahl, Joseph the plural immigrant lines make up a tradition in
Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield many ways being so distinct that it has caused
have taught and interpreted Buddhism for theoretical and conceptual discussion of “the two
a Western audience. Their significance as symbols Buddhisms,” i.e., the spiritually and philosophi-
of spreading the dharma in a new tune is paradig- cally interested Euro-American “convert Bud-
matic for the new “turning of the Buddhist wheel.” dhists” and the immigrant, “ethnic” Buddhists
Seen in retrospect, the history of Buddhism from Asia. Apart from focusing upon historical
in the West has evolved from a primarily and cultural aspects, such reflections also point
literary inspiration of an intellectual elite with directly to (the difficulties of) understanding and
a Protestant bias to a more widespread practice defining Buddhism in the West.
“Two Buddhisms,” “Buddhism,” and What about the children raised as Buddhists, are
“Western Buddhism” they still converts, and how many generations
does it take before immigrants are qualified not
As a dichotomous pair, “the two Buddhisms” has to belong to this category? Soka Gakkai started as
mainly been used in American and European a religion for ethnic Japanese but now almost
contexts to distinguish the Buddhism of those exclusively is for converts, and most convert
with Asian origin as opposed to the “Euro-Amer- Zen Buddhists in Japan are actually the immi-
ican” Buddhism, also termed variously “immigrants (from the West). Some convert Buddhists
grant” or “ethnic” versus “convert” or “white” have taken interest in cultural aspects of Asian
Buddhism. Immigrant or “ethnic” Buddhism is origin, often being more knowledgeable in
generally characterized by focusing on Buddhism Japanese martial arts or Tibetan culture than
as a religion related to the tradition and culture of most Japanese and Tibetans. Some Vietnamese
the origin. Language, rituals, and social and cul- or Thais have been born into Buddhism but have
tural activities at the temples point to ethnicity as actively taken interest in also elements of what
a major identity marker, with gatherings and ser- typically constitutes “convert Buddhism.”
vices expressing typical “cultural religion” with Though also spiritualized and rationalized by
temple engagement primarily related to rites of some intellectuals, especially within Tibetan
passage and major festivals. Merit accumulation, Buddhism in the West, offerings to heavenly
devotion, “folk religiosity” (use of amulets, beings, endless prostrations, belief in cosmic
ancestor worship, divination, etc.) and “other- energies, miracles, or magical power transferred
worldly Buddhism” are as typical to ethnic Bud- from lama to disciple through holy objects or
dhism as a hierarchized gender and monk-lay bodily contact seem not that different from
relationship. Convert or Euro-American Bud- other kinds of traditional Buddhism in Asia. Is
dhism is typically focused on meditation and the main practice, chanting sacred words in front
philosophical readings of classical texts. It is of an altar with a calligraphy scroll in order to
typically individualized, psychologized, and spir- acquire very concrete benefits of a very “modern”
itualized in focusing on a this-worldly, type of Buddhism, Soka Gakkai, in terms of
demythologized world. It is either de-ethnified belief and practice much different from many
in stressing the universal relevance of Buddhism other traditional Japanese kinds of Buddhist
or consciously “Westernizing” it by stressing belief and practice? Though democracy, gender
the need for a more modern, democratic, egali- equality, and egalitarianism are typical aspects of
tarian form of Buddhism (as, for instance, convert Buddhism, the strong commitment to the
Sangharakshita, C. Trungpa, and Ole Nydahl power, virtuosi, and charisma of Buddhist
have advocated for). That contemporary convert masters, lamas, rōshis, senseis, etc., in many
Buddhism to a large extent is a product of earlier ways seems to be identical not only to the worlds
Protestant Buddhism in a few cases is of new religious movements but also to the Asian
consciously acknowledged in Christianizing context. The re-enchantment of the world might
Buddhism (as, for instance, Jiyū Kennett and the be a typical modern construct but often interest-
Order of Buddhist Contemplatives). ingly similar to enchantments of a traditional
That the dichotomous division, ethnic and religious world.
convert, naturally can be criticized for its static Thus, empirical hybridity and terminological
nature is evident, and using two different confusion have questioned the concepts, and
classificatory taxonomies (ethnicity and religious other alternatives such as modern versus tradi-
conversion/engagement) as variables in a dichot- tional or import versus export Buddhism have
omous pair does not make the logic of the been suggested to capture the distinctions and
typology more convincing. What about convert relations between the kinds of Buddhism which,
Buddhists not having ritually converted, some of terminological confusion aside, still do seem in
whom might not even call themselves Buddhists? different degrees to exist in all Western countries.
Geographical origin and ethnicity as the dividing been transplanted to another cultural and
line is central, but not the only one in modern, geographical hemisphere, including both convert
Buddhism. Another is inter- and intrasectarian as and immigrants, and more or less Buddhists.
well as the individual level, both pointing also to
the question perhaps being more relevant for B
Buddhism than for most other religions: what is Science in Buddhism
a Buddhist, what is Buddhism? Rather than using
theological arguments in reaching an essentialist Since its discovery in the West, Buddhism has
(but reductionist) delimitation, it might be more often been related to discourses of science and the
challenging to investigate the discourses and science of religion. Being described as “an atheist
practices used within the diverse traditions, religion,” a “religion without God,” or simply as
using a more pragmatic more or less family spirituality beyond the constraints of religion,
resemblance approach to capture (Western) Buddhism as an object became part of the
Buddhism as a useful concept in the fluid and enlightenment and modernity projects. Enlight-
hybrid spectrum of contemporary individualized enment thinkers and romantics could criticize
religiosity/spirituality. religion and uphold versions of alternative truths
Some are conscious of being Buddhist, are by pointing to philosophical and textual versions
members of Buddhist groups, and might even of Eastern religious traditions (Confucianism,
have ritually taken the Buddhist refuges. Some Vedanta, and later Buddhism) as evidence of
hardcore Buddhists would claim a sharp distinc- their universal truths or placements on top of the
tion between being Buddhist or not and perhaps religious evolutionary ladder. That modernist
between being a true Buddhist (belonging to the Buddhists such as Dharmapala, D. T. Suzuki,
right school, practicing or believing in an orthodox Chöphel, Taixu, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Dalai
way) or not. Others use Buddhist ideas or practices Lama have embraced science; that philosophers
(such as meditation), occasionally go to retreats or like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and
gatherings and might either do dharma (s)hopping, Russell, scientists like Einstein, Bohr, and
have a syncretistic mix of beliefs and practices, Bohm, and psychologists like Fromm, Jung,
and might be reluctant (as Christian, Jew, spiritual and Goleman were inspired by Buddhism; and
seeker, atheist, or simply concept-detached indi- that Western converts often have a general high
vidual) to call themselves Buddhists. level of education contribute to the image of
While believing, practicing, or being to the Buddhism as a rational, intellectual, and even
individual might be categories of determining scientific religion, or “way of life.”
authenticity, at an institutional, inter-, and Whether there is actually a metonymical rela-
intrasectarian level, legitimating tradition and tion between Buddhism and science of course
authority is a matter of representation. Especially depends on the definitions of the concepts and the
in convert Buddhist milieus, personal experience premises with which to operationally compare
and legitimate transmission from former repre- them. Do different contexts of origin, different
sentatives of the religious institution are of methods and overall goals, and different semantic
utmost importance. Claiming the authority and realms make them scientifically and
authenticity of more or less charismatic “West- Buddhistically incommensurable? Such theoreti-
ern,” lamas, rōshis, and masters have often been cal discussions are beyond the scope of this
a disputed topic, resulting in personal and insti- article, but it should, additionally, be stressed that
tutional conflicts, as have disputes of which Bud- the “Buddhism” of “Buddhism and science” com-
dhist groups might belong to “the Buddhist prises only the very minority and elitist discourses
family.” Notwithstanding its fluid and hybrid and assumptions of primarily Western Buddhist
character, Western Buddhism or Buddhism in modernists and that most Western scientists are
the West is a useful umbrella category for the reluctant to accept direct correspondence between
(just as hybrid and fluid) Asian Buddhism, having science and Buddhism (or religion).
Most often, “science” in such contexts means ▶ impermanence or emptiness of all things
the hard sciences and very seldom has a more acknowledges a (postmodern) ontology of
“soft” scientific tradition such as sociology or a fluid world being in concordance with both
interpretative methods within the humanities ecology and modern (quantum) physics.
been related to or adopted by Buddhists as ▶ Evolution, also in its Darwinian sense, is
means of explaining its scientific value. This is broadly accepted, since it does not interfere
due not only to the higher status of a presumably with a religion without creation – though it is
more “objective” science but also to the fact that also represented to be only a relative truth in
critical approaches within the study of religion a cyclic Buddhist cosmology with “many Big
have a tradition of not only interpreting religious Bangs” and a karmic causality going beyond
traditions “in their own languages” and at “face superficial meaningless and coincidental
value.” Interpreting, explaining, and going evolution.
beyond truth claims by also historicizing, 3. Analyzing the person is of utmost importance
culturalizing, and naturalizing them (including to Buddhism, being the religion with the most
assertions of the scientific status of Buddhism) developed and complex analysis of the self.
might not have the same appeal among Buddhists Thus, Buddhist ▶ psychology has long ago
or Buddhist-inclined scientists, but is, however, acknowledged what Western psychologists
a part of the history and study of Buddhism and (and postmodernists) have later incorporated
science as well as Buddhism in the West. In into mainstream theory and templates for also
this light, “scientific Buddhism” is also itself therapeutic practice: the self as an imperma-
part of a theological and ideological discourse, nent, transient, fluid, and hybrid collection of
legitimating and representing authority of interrelated parts. As a means of analyzing,
(parts of) a religious tradition. controlling and transcending the “streams of
The following is a list of elements often used consciousness” has ascribed to Buddhism the
to explain the close relations between (or even emblem “science of mind.”
identity of) Buddhism and science: 4. Just as science, Buddhism is based on empir-
1. Buddhist approaches to epistemology and truth ical investigations of causal relations and
claims are based on a theoretical and philo- “reality as it is.” As opposed to other religions,
sophical basis of critical inquiry. Not accepting truth claims may be transcended in order to get
doctrines or absolutes for granted, there is to “facts,” and as opposed to traditional sci-
a fundamental “hermeneutics of suspicion” in ence, Buddhists claim to go beyond (espe-
critically reflecting upon, exploring, investigat- cially positivist) objectivist and interpretive/
ing, and even deconstructing sources and rep- mediating methods by insisting on subjective
resentations of knowledge. Also classic world experience as the profound epistemological
views (such as the idea of Mount Meru) approach to directly and fully realizing “how
have been either demythologized or simply things are” and the causes and effects of all
discarded as nonscientific by modernist Bud- relations. Meditation (especially Vipassana,
dhists. Buddhist classics, history, and contem- Dzogchen, and Zen) is often claimed to be
porary rational arguments legitimate Buddhism such subjective means of scientific investiga-
as a “godless religion” and question whether it tion, also being in accordance with (the find-
is a religion proper at all. ings of) newer forms of ▶ cognitive science
2. Buddhist ▶ ontology in its demythologized and neurobiology.
version is in accordance with modern physics. 5. ▶ Postmodern and post-essentialist notions of
The underlying idea of the interrelatedness of the dissolved self; of a fluid, relative, and
all beings and things on the one hand relates to decentered world; of relational and situational
a holistic world view (combining person, truth claims; of close interdependence
nature, mind, body, subject, matter, concepts), between subject and object also in scientific
while at the same time the idea of investigations; of constructivist and relativist
Buddhist Canonical Literature 297 B
world views; and of the breakdown of a grand Batchelor, S. (1994). The awakening of the west. The
narrative like the European Enlightenment can encounter of Buddhism and western culture. London/
Berkeley: Aquarian, Harper Collins/Parallax Press.
be legitimately argued from also a Buddhist Baumann, M. (2001). Global Buddhism: Developmental
frame of reference. With a typical dialectic of periods, regional histories, and a new analytical
negation, even science and postmodernity – or perspective. Journal of Global Buddhism, 2, 1–43. B
Buddhism itself – can be transcended, thus Lopez, D. S., Jr. (Ed.). (1995). Curators of the Buddha:
The study of Buddhism under colonialism. Chicago:
both negating and affirming itself. The University of Chicago Press.
The relations between Buddhism and science Lopez, D. S., Jr. (2008). Buddhism and science: A guide
have been institutionalized also academically in for the perplexed. Chicago: The University of Chicago
the West. Buddhism was an important tradition Press.
McMahan, D. L. (2008). The making of Buddhist
influencing the rise of the scientific study of modernism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
religion, and both Asian area studies and Asian Prebish, C. S., & Baumann, M. (Eds.). (2002). Westward
language studies in the West to a certain extent dharma. Berkeley: University of California Press.
include also aspects of Buddhism in their Wallace, A. (Ed.). (2003). Buddhism and science:
Breaking new ground. New York: Columbia
curricula. Separate centers, institutes, research net- University Press.
works, or even universities focusing on Buddhist Williams, D. R., & Queen, C. (Eds.). (1998). American
studies have emerged in the West, primarily in the Buddhism. Methods and findings in recent scholarship.
USA. Also experimental studies within neurosci- Richmond: Curzon.
ence and brain-scanning technology have involved
experienced Buddhists in research projects mea-
suring the impacts of meditation. The Mind and
Life Institute with its dialogue between Buddhists Buddhist Canonical Literature
and scientists is an example of such contemporary
relations, involving also the Dalai Lama, who for Bhikkhu Anālayo
many years has had interest in Western science. Center for Buddhist Studies, University of
Such initiatives and his person itself have sparked Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
further interest in the relations between Buddhism
and science both among Tibetan (scholar) monks
and Western scientists and converts, all contribut- Related Terms
ing to a continuation of the image in the West of
Buddhism as being a modern and contemporary Tipitaka (Pāli); Tripitaka (Sanskrit)
˙ ˙
robust religion.
Description
Cross-References
The coming into being of Buddhist canonical
▶ Mindfulness (Buddhist) literature has its beginning point in what tradition
▶ Modernity in Buddhism and in Islam reckons to be the word of the Buddha. Already
▶ Physics in Buddhism this notion of the Buddha word, Buddhavacana,
▶ Psychology in Buddhism has a certain degree of complexity to it, since
▶ Science in Buddhism from earliest times it has included some dis-
courses spoken by others, such as by disciples
of the Buddha. According to a famous dictum,
References whatever is well said can be reckoned the
Buddha’s word (Morris and Hardy 1885–1900,
App, Urs (2010). The Birth of Orientalism. Oxford:
University of Pensylvania Press.
IV, 164).
Almond, P. C. (1988). The British discovery of Buddhism. Regarding the verification of the authenticity
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. of a particular text, the canonical texts indicate
B 298 Buddhist Canonical Literature
that the central criterion should not be from translation efforts that started shortly after
whom a text purporting to be the word of the the beginning of the Common Era and contin-
Buddha has been received in oral transmission. ued for more than ten centuries. Unlike the
Rather, whatever squares with the remainder of Pāli canon, the Chinese canon preserves scrip-
the texts can be considered authentic (Morris and tures stemming from different Buddhist
Hardy 1885–1900, II, 167). Another famous schools and even multiple translations of sin-
canonical dictum is related to the adoption of gle works, undertaken at different times. The
various vernaculars for the transmission of the undertaking and maintenance of this immense
sacred texts (Oldenberg 1879–1882, II, 139). In translation enterprise appear to have stimu-
sum, these indications convey an impression of lated the invention of printing technologies.
pragmatism and flexibility. • The Tibetan canon, similar in its vastness to
During the early centuries that saw the gradual the Chinese canon, is the product of transla-
coming into being of Buddhist canons, orality tion efforts that began in the eighth century of
was the central mode for the formation and trans- the present era, covering various texts of
mission of texts. Unlike oral literature of an epic Indian provenance. It follows a basic twofold
or entirely narrative type, which involves inno- division into bka’ ’gyur, what tradition
vation and improvisation, Buddhist oral transmis- reckons as the word of the Buddha, and bstan
sion appears to have oriented itself along lines ’gyur, commentaries and treatises, and has in
similar to its Vedic predecessors, which seem to turn been the basis for a Mongolian canon.
have achieved an impressive degree of precision A basic structure of the Buddhist canonical
in the verbatim preservation of texts by oral collections, which has its roots in the early
means. Nevertheless, the natural vicissitudes of attempts to assemble the textual material into
orality have certainly left their impact on Bud- collections for transmission purposes, divides
dhist canonical texts. the material into three parts. These three parts
In the course of time, the transmission of Bud- are referred to as “baskets,” hence the term
dhist canonical texts took place across a range of tipitaka or tripitaka, the “three baskets.” They
˙ ˙
different geographical regions and in a number of comprise:
languages, proceeding from orally transmitted • Vinaya
material via manuscripts, xylographs, and even- • Sūtra
tually print, to modern day digital editions. • Abhidharma
Among Buddhist traditions nowadays there is The basket that from an historical perspective
no generally agreed single canon. Three particu- probably contains the greatest share of early
larly well-known canons can be singled out – material is the second of these, the basket of
respectively preserved in Pāli, Chinese, and discourses, sūtra (Sanskrit) or sutta (Pāli). The
Tibetan – although this means leaving aside the Pāli canon has four collections of such dis-
equally important material preserved in Sanskrit, courses, referred to as nikāyas. These contain
as well as in a number of other languages, such as, discourses that have been placed together on the
for example, Gāndhārı̄ or Khotanese. principles that they respectively are long, of mid-
• The Pāli canon of the Theravāda tradition dle length, share a particular topic, or are
(Buddhist Schools and Traditions), preserved arranged according to a numerical scheme that
in a language closely similar to, but not iden- ranges from 1 to 11.
tical with, the Middle Indic language(s) the The Chinese canon has preserved translations
Buddha and his disciples would have spoken, of similar groups of discourses, referred to as
was according to tradition transmitted from āgamas, although stemming from different Bud-
India to Ceylon by oral means and then com- dhist schools. Besides complete āgama collec-
mitted to writing during the first century BC. tions, the Chinese canon also has partial
• The Chinese canon comprises a vast collection collections and discourses translated individu-
of scriptures that is the final result of ally, that is, on their own. Complete collections
Buddhist Canonical Literature 299 B
comparable to the Pāli Nikāyas or the Chinese a considerable temporal distance from the Bud-
Āgamas are not found in the Tibetan canon, dha’s lifetime, perhaps beginning about the sec-
which only has few translations of individual ond century BC. The Pāli canon contains the
discourses. seven books of the Abhidhamma of the Thera-
Comparison of parallel versions of these dis- vāda tradition, while the Chinese canon has pre- B
courses, as they have been transmitted by various served the Abhidharma of the Sarvāstivāda and
schools and often in different languages, shows other traditions (▶ Abhidharma).
the impact of oral transmission on the texts. In The development of Abhidharma thought is
relation to content, parallel versions exhibit not the only philosophical innovation that had
a number of variations, although these are mostly its impact on Buddhist literature. Another move-
of a minor type that does not affect the basic ment resulted in a vast literature reflecting vari-
meaning. Considerable differences can be found ous aspects of Mahāyāna thought. Although often
in the placement of discourses within the nikāya presenting themselves as “discourses,” sūtras,
or āgama collections, however, clearly reflecting Mahāyāna works stem from a time substantially
the fact that the principles for organizing the texts removed from the historical Buddha, as is the
into units for transmission were applied in differ- case for tantric works.
ent ways. Nevertheless, tradition sees the respective
The first of the three baskets is the Vinaya, canons as the sacred record of the Buddha’s lib-
which takes its origin from the various rules and erating message, whose preservation keeps open
regulations the Buddha is held to have pro- the path to deliverance for those who are willing
nounced for the sake of his monastic disciples. to follow his teachings. The actual study of the
The framework of the Vinaya as a basket appears respective canonical collections, however, has
to have its origin in an attempt to place these rules until recently mainly been the domain of
into a historical context, both by presenting an a monastic elite, whereas later works, often in
account of the Buddha’s mission in general as the vernacular, came to fulfill a canonical func-
well as by providing a narration that purports to tion for the majority of followers of any particular
record under what circumstances a particular rule Buddhist tradition.
came to be promulgated and what type of diffi-
culties led to later amendments.
The Pāli canon has preserved the Vinaya of the Cross-References
Theravāda tradition and the Tibetan canon the
Vinaya of the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition ▶ Bible as Literature
(Buddhist Schools and Traditions). The Chinese
canon contains not only a translation of the
Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, nowadays still observed References
by Chinese monastics, but also translations of
a range of Vinayas of other schools. Primary Sources
Comparison of the different Vinayas shows Morris, R., & Hardy, E. (Eds.). (1885–1900). The
close agreement in regard to the formulation of Anguttara Nikāya (5 vols.). London/Oxford: Pali
Text Society.
the rules for monks, but considerable variation Oldenberg, H. (Ed.). (1879–1882). Vinayapitakam
when it comes to the accompanying stories and (4 vols.). London/Oxford: Pali Text Society. ˙
explanations. This suggests the rules to be the
ancient core around which various stories and Secondary Sources
commentaries accumulated during the prolonged Allon, M. (1997). Style and function: A study of the dom-
period of transmission. inant stylistic features of the prose portions of Pāli
Canonical sutta texts and their mnemonic function.
The third basket contains the teachings of the Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies of
Abhidharma, clearly reflecting developments in the International College for Advanced Buddhist
Buddhist philosophy that took place at Studies.
B 300 Buddhist Causality
Grönbold, G. (1984). Der Buddhistische Kanon: Eine Description

Bibliographie. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
Lancaster, L. R. (1979). Buddhist literature: Its canons,
scribes, and editors. In W. D. O’Flaherty (Ed.), The The approach to the subject of meditation in Bud-
critical study of sacred texts (pp. 215–229). Berkeley: dhist thought can be characterized as thoroughly
Graduate Theological Union. methodical and thus constitutes one of the aspects
Norman, K. R. (1983). Pāli literature, including the that place Buddhism in fairly close vicinity
canonical literature in Prakrit and Sanskrit of all the
Hı̄nayāna schools of Buddhism. Wiesbaden: Otto to scientific thought. The practice of Buddhist
Harrassowitz. meditation and its medical effects have been
€
Oberlies, T. (2003). Ein bibliographischer Uberblick €
uber investigated and studied for several decades, and
die kanonischen Texte der Śrāvakayāna-Schulen des the practice of mindfulness (▶ Mindfulness
Buddhismus (ausgenommen der des Mahāvihāra-
Theravāda). Wiener Zeitschrift f€ ur die Kunde (Buddhist)) in particular has become a prominent
S€udasiens, 47, 37–84. feature in modern health care.
von Hin€uber, O. (1996). A handbook of Pāli literature. The Buddhist traditions have developed a
Berlin: de Gruyter. range of meditation techniques. A comprehen-
€
Yuyama, A. (1979). Systematische Ubersicht u€ber die
Buddhistische Sanskrit Literatur – Vinaya Texte. sive survey of such methods goes beyond the
Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner. aims of this entry, as the theme of Buddhist med-
itation is rather broad, and several aspects of it
receive coverage through other contributions to
this encyclopedia (Chan, Zen). This entry will
therefore focus in particular on two key aspects
Buddhist Causality of mental cultivation in early Buddhist thought:
tranquility and insight.
▶ Relations in Buddhism According to Buddhist meditation theory, the
precondition for the development of tranquility
and insight is the removal of the five hindrances
of sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, rest-
Buddhist Dialectics lessness and worry, and doubt (▶ Hindrances
(Buddhist)). Overcoming these hindrances
▶ Logic in Buddhism depends on having established a foundation in
ethical conduct and developing a sense of inner
contentment.
When the hindrances have been removed, the
Buddhist Doctrine gaining of deeper levels of concentration and
insight comes within reach. The distinction
▶ Education in Buddhism drawn here between concentration and insight is
not necessarily one of meditation methods, but
rather one of complementary qualities. In fact,
a meditation practice that from ancient times
Buddhist Meditation Practices up to modern days has enjoyed particular
popularity – mindfulness of breathing – could in
Bhikkhu Anālayo principle be used for both purposes.
Center for Buddhist Studies, University of Undertaking of mindfulness of breathing
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany requires remaining aware of the presence and
nature of the breath, without attempting to
influence it – unlike the case of breath control in
Related Terms other Indic traditions. When just observing the
breath in this way, attention during meditation
Contemplation; Insight; Mental culture; Tranquility can be given to various phenomena related to
Buddhist Meditation Practices 301 B
the process of breathing. Such a practice would While the development of mental tranquility
stay in the realm of variegated sensory (Sanskrit sámatha, Pāli samatha) is an important
experience and thus be more geared toward the aspect of the Buddhist soteriological enterprise,
development of insight. In contrast, giving tradition holds that on its own concentration
attention to just mentally knowing the presence will not issue in liberation. What is required in B
of the breath would lead to a unitary type of addition to mental tranquility is the development
experience and thus be capable of issuing in of liberating insight (Sanskrit vipasýanā, Pāli
deeper levels of mental tranquility. vipassanā).
Other methods for gaining tranquility of The early textual sources leave it up to the
the mind include cultivating mental attitudes of individual in which way the development of
loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, these two chief qualities of tranquility and insight
and equanimity. Alternatively, certain reflections is undertaken. One type of practitioner may first
can be used as the starting point of practice, such emphasize gaining mental tranquility and then
as recollecting the qualities of the Buddha, his turn to insight, while another may begin with
teaching, and his awakened disciples. Buddhist insight and only subsequently turn to tranquility,
meditation theory also knows of the use of or else someone may develop both in conjunction
meditation objects such as the four elements (Morris and Hardy 1885–1900, II 157).
earth, water, fire, and wind, or colors like blue, Training in liberating insight requires the
yellow, red, and white. Each of these is first bringing into being of seven mental factors
observed externally until the mind is able to singled out for their particular potential for
produce an inner mental image that can then be ripening the mind for the decisive breakthrough
used to deepen concentration. to awakening. These are the seven factors
This brief survey already reflects a considerable of awakening, which comprise mindfulness,
breadth of meditative approaches, and throughout investigation of phenomena, energy, joy,
the history of the Buddhist traditions the visual tranquility, concentration, and equanimity.
component has received emphasis, just as the con- The first of these, mindfulness, serves as the
ceptual and the experiential modes of practice. foundation for the growth of the other factors
Whichever of the above methods (▶ Mindfulness (Buddhist)). With mindfulness
a practitioner may decide to employ, progress in in place, the practice of investigating phenomena
matters of concentration should eventually as they present themselves to the observing prac-
lead to experiencing four levels of absorption titioner gains momentum which leads to energy
(Sanskrit dhyāna, Pāli jhāna). These four absorp- and then to joy, qualities which with maturing
tions are states of refined concentration that are practice find their counterbalance in tranquility
accompanied by intense inner tranquility and and then concentration, leading up to a balanced
happiness, culminating in a mental condition of state of equanimity.
total imperturbability and equipoise with the What is to be apprehended by the meditating
attainment of the fourth absorption. practitioner is the true nature of existence, that is,
When the fourth of these levels of absorption its nature of being conditioned and having three
has been gained, according to Buddhist medita- characteristics. According to these three charac-
tion theory it becomes possible to develop teristics, any aspect of conditioned experience is
various supernatural powers, such as levitation impermanent (▶ Impermanence (Buddhist)),
and telepathy. Alternatively, the same degree of unsatisfactory (▶ Dukkha), and devoid of
concentrative proficiency can be employed to a permanent self (▶ Anattā).
develop four types of mental experiences that Here, the conditioned nature of subjective
transcend matter. These are the concentrative experience is a correlate to its impermanence, in
attainment of the notion of boundless space, that, precisely because something is conditioned,
boundless consciousness, nothingness, and it must be impermanent. Conversely, what is
neither perception nor non-perception. impermanent is certainly a product of conditions.
B 302 Business Life
With this basic understanding in place, the beyond future rebirth in any form. Although with
dynamics of insight proceeds from a thorough the attainment of arahantship, Buddhist medita-
reviewing of the impermanent nature of all tion practice has reached its culmination point;
aspects of experience to the realization that arahants still continue to practice meditation,
what is impermanent cannot yield lasting satis- apparently because for them this constitutes the
faction. With this realization, a growing sense of best way of spending their time.
disenchantment comes about, weaning the
practicing meditator from the innate tendency to
cling and crave. Based on a thorough apprecia- Cross-References
tion of the unsatisfactory nature of all aspects of
experience, the conclusion then dawns on the ▶ Chan
practitioner that what is impermanent and unsat- ▶ Meditation-Research
isfactory does not deserve to be reckoned as one’s ▶ Mindfulness (Buddhist)
self and is not fit to be identified with. Developed ▶ Psychology in Buddhism
in this way, insight into not-self becomes
a prominent feature of meditative realization,
this being the crucial insight in the Buddhist References
soteriological scheme.
Such meditative development of insight is Primary Sources
held to lead to four distinct levels of awakening Morris, R., & Hardy, E. (Eds.). (1885–1900).
The Aṅguttara Nikāya (5 vols). London/Oxford: Pali
(▶ Awakening): stream-entry, once-return,
Text Society.
non-return, and arahantship. The defining feature
of these four levels of awakening is the degree to
Secondary Sources
which the mind has been purified from detrimental Cousins, L. S. (1973). Buddhist Jhāna, its nature and attain-
conditions referred to as fetters, which “fetter” ment according to the Pali sources. Religion, 3, 115–131.
living beings to continued migration in the cycle Cousins, L. S. (1996). The origins of insight meditation.
Buddhist Forum, 4, 35–57.
of rebirths (and re-deaths). A stream-enterer has
Gethin, R. (1992). The Buddhist path to awakening:
eradicated three such fetters – belief in A study of the Bodhi-Pakkhiyā Dhammā. Leiden: Brill.
a permanent self, clinging to rules and obser- Gunaratana, H. (1996). The path of serenity and insight,
vances, as well as doubt – and is assured of an explanation of the Buddhist Jhānas. Delhi: Motilal.
King, W. L. (1992). Theravāda meditation, the Buddhist
reaching final liberation within at most seven
transformation of Yoga. Delhi: Motilal.
lives. In other words, he or she has “entered” the Shankman, R. (2008). The experience of Samādhi, an
“stream” that invariably leads to final deliverance. in-depth exploration of Buddhist meditation. Boston:
The once-returner has diminished, and the Shambala.
Solé-Leris, A. (1992). Tranquillity & insight, an introduc-
non-returner has fully eradicated the two fetters
tion to the oldest form of Buddhist meditation. Kandy:
of sensual lust and ill will. The once-returner will BPS.
thus return only once more to be reborn in the
sensual realm – a designation that in Buddhist
cosmology comprises the human world as well
as lower celestial realms in which refined forms Business Life
of sensual pleasure are still experienced – while
the non-returner will not undergo such a rebirth, ▶ Economic Sociology
being instead destined to rebirth in a higher
heaven beyond the sensual celestial realms.
The arahant has also eradicated the remaining
five fetters of desire for fine-material experi- Business Psychology
ences, desire for immaterial experiences, pride,
restlessness, and ignorance, thereby having gone ▶ Organizational Behavior
C
Cabala means a “successor” or “deputy.” The term has

Koranic warrant, as when God says to David,
▶ Mysticism “We have made thee a khalifa in the land”
(2:30). In this spirit, the earliest caliphs held the
modest title of “successor to the emissary of
God.” Since Muhammad had been “the seal of
Cabalism the prophets” – the final prophet in a line
extending back to Adam – his successors were
▶ Mysticism precluded from announcing further revelations.
Nevertheless, their role was not entirely adminis-
trative and political; they served also as spiritual
leaders of the Umma, or community of believers.
Cabbalism The first four caliphs, beginning with Abu Bakr,
the father-in-law and close friend of the Prophet,
▶ Mysticism and continuing through ‘Umar, who launched
the first waves of conquest beyond Arabia,
and ‘Uthman, traditionally credited with the cod-
ification of the Koran, down to the troubled
Calculation caliphate of ‘Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of
Muhammad – and hence, his only male blood
▶ Arithmetic in Islam relative – represent an idealized golden age for
Sunni Muslims; this was the period of the “rightly
guided caliphs.” Shia Muslims reject this rosy
view; they consider the first three caliphs as little
Caliphate better than usurpers of Ali’s rightful claim to the
office. It says much about this earliest formative
Eric Ormsby phase of the caliphate and the inherent tensions of
The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK succession that all but Abu Bakr died at the hands
of assassins. In 661, the murder of ‘Ali led to the
rise of the Umayyad dynasty. During the ensuing
The institution of the caliphate, the principle form century, the Umayyad caliphs saw themselves
of governance in medieval Islam, had its begin- less as successors to Muhammad than as “God’s
nings upon the death of Prophet Muhammad in caliphs,” and the status and power of the office
632. The Arabic word khalifa (“caliph”) simply swelled considerably. After the Umayyads

C 304 Caliphate
were overthrown by the Abbasids in 749, the The caliphate endured as an institution even as it
caliphate took on even more exalted trappings. fell, increasingly after the tenth century, under the
The Abbasid caliphate endured for five hundred sway of emergent dynasties such as the Shia Buyids
years (750–1258) before being extirpated by the (932–1062) and, more decisively, the Seljuq Turks
Mongols. During its first two centuries, the (1040–1194), whose sultans – originally vassals of
caliphs wielded enormous power. Their functions the caliphs – became de facto rulers of the Abbasid
ranged from the launching of expeditionary realm. The terms “caliph” and “caliphate” contin-
forces, not only against such rival empires as ued to be used on occasion by various rulers, such
Byzantium but against various rebels and as the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt and Syria
malcontents within their territories, to the admin- (1250–1517) or the Ottoman Sultans. The title con-
istration of government appointments, the levy- ferred the legitimacy of succession in a line
ing of taxes, and the supervision of the judiciary extending back to the Prophet himself. In 1922,
and even, in their role as defenders of the faith, to the Ottoman sultanate was abolished, and in 1924,
presiding over the Friday prayer, conducting upon the establishment of the Turkish Republic, the
the pilgrimage, and safeguarding, as well as caliphate itself came to its official end. An idealized
occasionally formulating, articles of dogma. concept of the caliphate continues to resonate for
The office had spiritual prestige as well as polit- militant Muslims, and the call to restore the caliph-
ical authority; the caliph was the “imam” as well ate has become a frequent rallying cry among
as the “teacher” of his subjects, and that prestige jihadists.
endured even after the caliphs themselves had
lost real governing power.
The Abbasid caliphs were assiduous patrons Cross-References
of science, art, and culture; such patronage
▶ Islam: An Overview
became a fixture of caliphal rule, not only
▶ Muhammad, Prophet
among the Abbasids but in rival courts, such as
▶ Philosophy in Islam
those of the Fatimids of Egypt and Syria
▶ Political Theology, Theological Politics
(909–1171), an Ismaili-Shia dynasty, or of the
▶ Political Theory
Spanish Umayyads (756–1031) in the Iberian
Peninsula. Beginning in 754 with the Caliph
al-Mansur, the Abbasids sponsored an ambitious
“translation movement” to bring Greek (and to References
a lesser extent, Indian and Persian) scientific and
Al-Tabari, A. (1985). The crisis of the ‘Abbásid caliphate:
philosophical literature into Arabic. The estab-
The history of al-Tabari (Vol. XXXV, trans: Saliba, G.).
lishment of the Bayt al-Hikma, or “house of Albany: State University of New York Press.
wisdom” in Baghdad, a rich library formed on Arnold, T. (1965). The caliphate (2nd ed.). London:
an earlier Sasanian Persian model, led to the Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Bosworth, C. E. (1996). The New Islamic dynasties:
creation of a vast corpus of learning which was
A chronological and genealogical manual.
continually revised and refined for the next two New York: Columbia University Press.
centuries; in this process, most of the works of Gutas, D. (1998). Greek thought, Arabic culture: The
Aristotle and Plato, as well as of Galen, Ptolemy, Graeco-arabic translation movement in Baghdad and
early ‘Abbasid Society (2d-4th/8th-10th centuries).
and dozens of other ancient thinkers, appeared in
London/New York: Routledge.
Arabic versions. This in turn inspired original Haarmann, U. (Ed.) (2001). Geschichte der arabischen
philosophical, medical, and scientific treatises in Welt (Rev. ed.). Munich: Beck.
Arabic by such outstanding Muslim thinkers as Kennedy, H. (1981). The early Abbasid caliphate:
A political history. London: Croom Helm.
Kindi, Razi, Farabi, and Ibn Sina and such math- Lewis, B. (Ed./trans.) (1974). Islam: From the prophet
ematicians as al-Khwarizmi, Ibn al-Haytham, Muhammad to the capture of Constantinople. Politics
and al-Biruni, among others. and War (Vol. 1). New York: Harper & Row.
Canonical Neurons 305 C
Mérad, A. (2008). Le califat, une autorité pour l’Islam? receptor at the postsynaptic membrane in connec-
Paris: Desclée de Brouwer. tion with a neurotransmitter (first messenger) that
Montgomery Watt, W. (1968). Islamic political thought:
The basic concepts. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University is released at a synapse to the axonal ending of
Press. this neuron. cAMP in turn activates protein
Sourdel, D. (1960–2009). Khalifa. In The encyclopaedia kinase A (PKA).
of Islam (2nd ed., Vol. 4, pp. 937–947). Leiden: As regards short-term memory, PKA leads to a
E.J. Brill.
facilitation of neurotransmitter release from the C
axonal ending of this neuron (sensitization).
As regards long-term memory, PKA in the
nucleus of the same neuron activates CREB
Caloric Tests protein as transcription factor that binds to a
certain DNA sequence and thus increases the
Pedro L. Mangabeira Albernaz transcription of certain CRE genes. Members of
Associação William House de Otologia and the CREB family contain enhancers (CREB1)
Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa Albert and repressors (CREB2) of transcription. Each
Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil one is activated by a protein kinase, the enhancer
by PKA and the repressor by MAPK (mitogen-
activated protein kinase). The actions of both
A functional evaluation of the external semicir- protein kinases depend on the cAMP level. The
cular canals that use water or air to change the CREB1/CREB2 balance then determines
temperature of the canal ampulla. These tests long-term memory associated with synaptic
were perfected and standardized by C.S. Hallpike growth by axonal sprouting at the synapse of
(Hallpike 1955). There are five variants: (1) the that neuron. This allows facilitation of synaptic
bithermal test which is standard performance; transmission to persist (long-term sensitization).
(2) the monothermal test in which a single large
bolus of ice water is given instead of two irriga-
tions with hot and cold; (3) the bilateral irrigation
test in which both sides are irrigated simulta- Canonical Neurons
neously; (4) the balloon test where a water filled
balloon is used rather than water and (5) the ice Giacomo Rizzolatti and Maria Alessandra Umiltà
water caloric test which is used to confirm com- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di
plete loss. Fisiologia, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy
Canonical neurons are a specific class of neurons

cAMP and Memory of the monkey ventral premotor cortex that
discharge during motor act execution and in
Jörg-Peter Ewert response to the presentation of 3-D objects.
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Typically they show congruence between the
Kassel, Schauenburg, Germany motor acts they code (e.g., precision grip) and
the physical properties of the observed object
(e.g.w, small object).
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate, cAMP, is a
second messenger used in intracellular signal
transduction of a neuron (cf. Question-5). Cross-References
Synthesis of cAMP depends on adenylate cyclase
which is activated by a Gs-protein-coupled ▶ Action Control
C 306 Cardiology
centuries with W. Harvey first describing the

Cardiology essentials of the mammalian cardiac function
and circulation in 1628. Arising from this, Cardi-
Marc W. Merx and Malte Kelm ology is firmly grounded as a natural science,
Department of Cardiology, Pneumology and which sees itself as a scientific endeavor with
Angiology, Universityhospital, Heinrich-Heine- the aim to enhance the knowledge about the
University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany organization and function of the human cardio-
vascular system as well as its disease-related
abnormalities. This aim of enhancing knowledge
Related Terms in the fields of cardiovascular function as well as
the fields of diagnosis and treatment of cardio-
Circulatory system; Heart vascular disease is strived for through rigorous
basic research as well as by implementation of
Description clinical trials. The best of the latter are designed
to be randomized, blinded, placebo controlled,
Cardiology is the medical discipline dealing with and externally monitored whenever possible.
the heart, its functions, and its diseases.
During the course of the twentieth century, car-
diovascular disease became more prevalent, espe- Characteristics
cially in the industrialized nations, due to more
sedentary lifestyles and altered diets (industrially Cardiology distinguishes itself from other disci-
refined, fat and sugar rich). In addition, the intro- plines in many ways.
duction of antibiotics toward the middle of the It involves the treatment of cardiovascular
twentieth century curbed the death toll due to disease which has been the most frequent cause
infection, hence extending life expectancy and of death in Europe and other industrial nations for
increasing the likelihood and thus frequency of several decades. Due to advancements in the
cardiovascular disease. These ongoing processes therapeutic developments in Cardiology, this
have led to an ever-increasing number of patients death rate is steadily decreasing.
seeking the attention of cardiologists, a trend The physiological and pathophysiological
expected to carry on well throughout the next sev- processes studied and treated in Cardiology are
eral decades. of a mechanistic nature compared to most other
With the first balloon angioplasty of a coronary areas of medicine. For example, in valvular heart
artery performed by Andreas Gruentzig in Zurich disease, a given heart valve can either be too tight
in 1977 paving the way, Cardiology has been (stenosed), allow a backward flow (regurgitant)
enriched by decidedly interventional treatment or be characterized by a combination (to various
options. Especially the past two decades have degree) of the two phenomena. The mechanical
seen the development of various interventional obstruction or dysfunction can then be treated by
treatment approaches not limited to coronary catheter-based dilatation (valvuloplasty) in the
artery disease but also encompassing structural case of stenosis or by catheter-based adaptation
and valvular heart disease as well as heart rhythm of valve leaflets in the case of regurgitation.
disorders with a major impact on the way With the increasing possibilities of interven-
Cardiology is practiced today (www.escardio.org). tional cardiology the sister-disciplines of Cardi-
ology, namely, Cardiothoracic Surgery and
Self-Identification Cardiovascular Surgery, are merging together in
providing optimal therapy for the individual
Science patient in a fashion and extent unprecedented in
Natural scientists and physiologists have been medicine, thus clearing the vision for new thera-
attracted to the heart and circulatory system for peutic perspectives to the great benefit of patients
Cardiology 307 C
with cardiovascular disease (www.dgkardio.de; l’Aorte, Tome II. Maladies des Coronaires et de
www.heart.org; www.acc.org). lAorte” (Clinical Papers on Diseases of the Heart
and Aorta) by Henri Huchard (1844–1910)
published in Paris in 1899 (Lichtlen 2002).
Relevance to Science and Religion Contemporary textbooks in cardiology have
predominately originated in the USA with
While Cardiology and cardiovascular science are “Braunwald’s Heart Disease” and “Hurst’s The C
very productive fields of science, the interaction Heart” being the two most prominent examples.
with religion has been minimal.
Nevertheless, the heart is important in the
human collective psyche. Even before the time of Ethical Principles
Romeo and Juliet, the heart has been synonymous
with love, a central aspect and theme of a large Cardiology is, as is every discipline in medicine,
number of religions. Furthermore, in the English ethically guided by the oath of Hippocrates, the
language, and other languages, the heart is fre- Greek physician and “founding father” of medi-
quently used to describe emotions (e.g., heartfelt, cine born 460 BC. More recently, this oath has
heavy heart, change of heart, “Herzschmerz”). been revised under the rules of the Declaration of
Helsinki of 1971.
Key Values
Today, the authorities in Cardiology are various
departments and cardiologists whose origins date The key value of Cardiology can be found in
back to William Harvey, who in 1628 first improving a patient’s cardiovascular health sta-
described the circulatory system in mammals. tus. This is frequently achieved in acutely
One of the first prominent cardiologists in clinical life-threatening medical conditions necessitating
medicine was Jean Nicolas Corvisart (1755– permanent (24 h/7 days/365 days a year) avail-
1821) who, after training in Vienna, practiced at ability as well as rapid accessibility of cardiology
the Hospice de la Charité in Paris. His important services (optimally within minutes) for every
publication “Essais sur les maladies et les lesions individual of any given population.
organiques du coeur et des vaisseaux” (Essays on The gratifying value of Cardiology to those
the disease and organic lesions of the heart and practicing this discipline is the fact that the dura-
circulatory system), published in 1818 already tion and the quality of life can be increased sig-
covered pivotal aspects of Cardiology such as nificantly for a large number of patients.
structural heart disease, valvular heart disease,
and heart rhythm disorders with the interesting
omission of coronary artery disease/ischemic Conceptualization
heart disease. One of his successors in Paris,
Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec (1781– Nature/World
1826), took great interest in cardiac auscultation Nature can refer to the physical world including
and is credited with inventing the first dedicated the environment and life in general including
stethoscope (Lichtlen 2002). the personality. Therefore, it could be said that
Among the early authoritative texts in cardi- nature is connected to the heart through the
ology was that of Heinrich von Bamberg (1822– personality.
1888) published in Vienna 1857, “Lehrbuch der
Krankheiten des Herzens” (Textbook of Diseases Human Being
of the Heart). A further important textbook was The human being is a member of any of the races
“Traite Clinique de Malades du Coeur et de of Homo sapiens, living or extinct.
C 308 Cardiology
Life and Death Perception

Life can be described as the property or quality Perception is the awareness and knowledge of
that distinguishes living organisms from any force, influence, or other sensation through
dead organisms and inanimate materials. It is the senses, especially sight and hearing.
considered to be the interval of time between
birth and death. Time
The heart is one of the first organs to assume Time is an interval separating two points on
function within embryonic development with a nonspatial continuum in which events occur in
pulsatile activity discernable as early as day 22 apparently irreversible succession from past
of pregnancy. through present to future. In Cardiology the
On the other side of life’s spectrum, death is measurement of heartbeats per minute is of
frequently equated to the cessation of heart extreme importance. Interestingly, the predom-
beat. While this definition of death is not correct inant heart rhythm observed in humans, so-
medically, it is very widely spread across differ- called sinus rhythm has a normal range in adults
ent cultures and populations and has been factu- at rest between 60 and 90 beats/min. This
ally correct in nearly every case over several implies that in many situations (i.e., whenever
thousand years of humanity except for the last the heart rate is 60 beats/min) the interval
few decades. between two heartbeats equals 1 sec, the inter-
Modern cardiologists often deal with patients national unit of time.
who are resuscitated, thus blurring these seem-
ingly in-permeable boundaries of life. Patients
who have been resuscitated from circulatory/ Relevant Themes
cardiac arrest often describe so-called near death
experiences. These are frequently described to With respect to “Science and Religion” a critical
encompass multiple possible sensations including issue in Cardiology lies in organ transplantation.
detachment from the body, total serenity, and the General ethical questions related to organ pro-
presence of a light. curement and distribution have been addressed
by several organizations such as the World
Reality Health Organization (www.who.int/ethics/en/
Reality is classified as that which exists objec- EB113_14) and the European Commission.
tively and in fact. Most of the world’s religions support organ as
a charitable act with the respective community
Knowledge gaining great benefit. While Jehovah’s Witnesses
Knowledge is the awareness, consciousness, or are frequently assumed to be strictly objecting to
familiarity gained by experience or learning. donation due to their belief against blood trans-
Knowledge that can be produced by an indi- fusion, the latter rather means that all blood must
vidual from memory or intuition without be removed from the organs and tissues before
consultation of external sources (other humans, they could be transplanted.
books or any written form of information, audio Despite this benevolent position of the
or video files) is often referred to as “to know world’s religions toward organ donors, the deci-
by heart.” sion to donate the heart, be it by surviving
relatives or by the donor himself, remains emo-
Truth tionally and spiritually charged compared to
Truth conforms to fact and actuality. It is kidney or lung transplants. Likewise, the recip-
a comprehensive term and in all of its nuances ients frequently describe feeling a special
implies accuracy and honesty. “Veracity is the connection toward the (in most cases)
heart of morality” (Thomas H. Huxley). unknown donor.
Catholic Church and Science 309 C
Cross-References
Categorical Imperative
▶ Biology
▶ Body Sandra Lee Dixon
Department of Religious Studies, University of
References Denver, Denver, CO, USA
C
American College of Cardiology, (http://www.acc.org)
American Heart Association, (http://www.heart.org)
A general and foundational rule for ethical rea-
Deutsche Gesellschaft f€ ur Kardiologie – Herz- und
Kreislaufforschung, (http://www.dgkardio.org) soning formulated by the Prussian philosopher
European Society of Cardiology, (http://www.escardio.org) Immanuel Kant that persons must act in such a
Lichtlen, P. R. (2002). Geschichte der koronaren way that their maxims, or principles of action,
Herzkrankheit. In B. L€uderitz & G. Arnold (Eds.), 75
necessarily conform to a universal standard of
Jahre Deutsche Gesellschaft f€ ur Kardiologie – Herz-
und Kreislaufforschung (pp. 269–306). Berlin/ respect for all other human beings and that they
Heidelberg/New York: Springer. be consistently valid for all persons acting in the
same situation.
Caregiving
▶ Attachment: Theory and Patterns Catholic Church
▶ Physics in Catholicism
Cartesian Conception of the Mind
Karsten R. Stueber
Department of Philosophy, College of the Catholic Church and Science
Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, USA
Job Kozhamthadam SJ
Jnana-DeepaVidyapeeth, De Nobili College,
This term refers to the conception of the mind that Pune, India
originated with René Descartes (1596–1650).
More generally, it refers to a conception of the
mind that gives primacy to the first-person Related Terms
perspective in discussing issues about the nature
of mental states and mental concepts. For a Papal infallibility; Science and catholicism
Cartesian, mental state concepts are, for instance,
defined in regard to experience to which each of
us has access only introspectively. Cartesian The Science-Catholicism Relationship
dualism then refers to the distinction between from Vatican I to Vatican II
the mind as an immaterial, nonphysical concept
and the brain as a physical, measurable entity. All through its history, Roman Catholicism has
managed to come out of serious crisis situations
with considerable success. One of the secrets of
this remarkable resilience can be traced to its
Cartography tradition of convening ecumenical councils
which are very special events wherein bishops
▶ Geography in Islam and other top leaders of the Church from all
C 310 Catholic Church and Science
over the world, under the leadership of the Pope, MPN looked upon this whole universe as
come together to deliberate on critical issues and a gigantic machine governed by the principles
take appropriate steps to deal effectively with and laws of Newtonian mechanics. All living
them. The Catholic Church recognizes 21 ecu- beings, including the human body, were also
menical councils starting from the first one in reduced to complex machines. In its extreme
Nicaea in 325 AD to Vatican II in 1962–1965. form, MPN claimed that all phenomena of our
Of these three are identified as the modern era experience, including thinking, sensing, repro-
councils: the Council of Trent (1545–1563), duction, etc., could be explained mechanistically.
Vatican I (1869–1870), and Vatican II. In what Science could give knowledge that was absolute,
follows, I offer a critical study of the documents certain, exact, and objective. It projected science
of the last two councils from their historical, as the superpower that could accomplish every-
religious, scientific, and philosophical context. thing, rendering God dispensable. Laplace’s
Special effort will be made to discuss critically reply to Napoleon that the God hypothesis was
the impact of sciences in necessitating these unnecessary to explain the functioning of the
councils, shaping their different decrees and dec- universe was a clear demonstration of this atti-
larations, and even guiding many important tude. Scholars like Michael Buckley have traced
aspects of their course. In fact, it is important to the roots of western materialism to this world-
note that these two were the only councils that view. By making the empirically validated scien-
took place after the advent and development of tific knowledge the paradigm of valid knowledge,
modern science and hence had to face the full it began debunking knowledge that could not be
weight of its influence. subjected to empirical testing, particularly reli-
gious knowledge.
The Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Rev-
The First Vatican Council olution was another consequence of scientific
developments that transformed the mode of liv-
Various developments in science and related ing and thinking of humankind mostly from 1750
fields played a crucial role in posing a serious to 1850. It brought about a mechanization of
challenge to the Catholic Church to which it had industry and mass production of commodities.
to respond. Not only individual theories, discov- Socially, it gave rise to a shift from an agrarian
eries, and technological developments, but, even and rural to an industrial and urban society.
more, the worldview shaped by science and the Dependence on erratic nature, and hence on
wide impact it had on various fields of human God and religion, decreased, and reliance on sci-
thinking and living offered a serious challenge to ence and technology increased. Consequently,
traditional Catholicism. Space constraint com- the Church and related activities began moving
pels me to confine discussion to only a few of away from its traditional central place to the
these developments. This discussion is intended periphery. Material prosperity, better knowledge,
to shed light on the key themes related to Vatican and greater independence naturally led to liberal
I, particularly Pius IX’s Syllabus of 1864 and the perspectives and ideologies along with a critical
two principal documents of the Council, both of attitude toward traditional beliefs, values, and
which had as their target a number of “errors” structures. These developments influenced con-
arising from developments in science. siderably the official documents of Vatican I.
The Ghost of the Galileo Episode. Galileo
Developments in Science, Philosophy, and failed to give convincing evidence for his support
Related Areas of heliocentrism at the time of his condemnation
Mechanical Philosophy of Nature. Mechanical in 1633, even at the time of his death in 1642.
Philosophy of Nature (MPN) resulted from the However, it came in the middle of the nineteenth
unprecedented success of science from the century, a few years before Vatican I. First,
seventeenth to the end of the nineteenth century. the Foucault pendulum, a simple device to
demonstrate the daily rotation of the Earth, was Marxism. Karl Marx in mid-nineteenth cen-
invented by Leon Foucault in 1851. Second, the tury mounted a scathing criticism on Christianity,
ingenious observation of stellar parallax, the describing it as “the sigh of the oppressed crea-
observed apparent motion of a star due to ture, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of
the real motion of the Earth, gave evidence for soulless conditions. It is the opium of people.”
the revolution of the Earth around the Sun. This Far from being an answer to human problems, for
controversy had significant bearing on Vatican him, religion was part of the oppressive system. C
I because of the central importance it gave to These ideas also posed a formidable challenge to
Papal Infallibility. Although the Church’s official the Church at the time of Vatican I.
condemnation of heliocentrism did not go Rationalism and Naturalism. Rationalism and
directly against infallibility, for the critics, it con- naturalism were highly influential views in the
siderably weakened the claim of the Church mid-nineteenth century. Rationalism assigned
authorities that they had privileged divine illumi- primacy to reason, reducing divine revelation or
nation concerning truths. any other supernatural source to insignificance.
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Darwin’s the- For naturalism, the natural world of science was
ory of 1859 that the different beings in the uni- all that counted, thereby dispensing with any
verse appeared gradually as a result of a long recourse to the supernatural. The spread of these
and complex evolutionary process questioned two philosophical positions was also a major con-
the traditional teaching of the Church on the cern of Vatican I.
origin of living beings, especially humans, and
it challenged the reliability of scripture, partic- Developments in the World of the
ularly in its literal interpretation. It was Catholic Church
also a very attractive illustration of naturalistic Gallicanism and Febronianism. Gallicanism,
explanation which attempted to dispense with a French ecclesiastical and political doctrine and
any divine role in the creation of life and intel- practice, recognized the Papacy as a divine insti-
ligent beings. tution but stood for curtailing papal influence in
The Enlightenment. The Enlightenment, an the temporal field. Given the complexity and
eighteenth century European philosophico- volatility prevalent in Europe for centuries, it is
cultural movement, was characterized by an clear that this movement was a source of constant
emphasis on reason, especially scientific reason, tension for the Pope as a person and the Papacy as
based on concrete data and logical method, and an institution. Febronianism basically was the
a strong dislike for tradition. While overvaluing German counterpart of Gallicanism.
empirically observable facts, it tended to devalue Ultramontanism. Ultramontanism was the
religious claims based on faith and authority. It opposite of Gallicanism and advocated papal
was very clear that the overall effect of this supremacy and the centralization of the Roman
movement was the gradual unseating of tradi- Curia. The Jesuits, with their fourth vow of spe-
tional religion with its emphasis on faith and the cial loyalty to the Pope, were staunch supporters
spiritual, replacing it with tangible reason and of this view.
practical success. The Papal States and the Challenges of
Positivism. Positivism held that all true knowl- Pius IX. The Papal States were the territories
edge must be based on sense experience and that were under the temporal sovereignty of the
accorded a preeminent place to science and sci- Papacy. They included parts of Italy and Avignon
entific method. The development of positivism Venaissin in France from 756 to 1870. With the
by Auguste Comte, undercutting the importance rise of strong nationalism in Europe, the Pope
of the religious, in the middle of the nineteenth began losing these territories and finally was left
century, just a few years before Vatican I, con- with a small territory of the Vatican City and its
tributed considerably to the devaluation of reli- vicinity. All these developments had a profound
gious faith and dogmas. impact on Pius IX, who began his pontificate in
1846 as a sympathizer with the liberals. However, suspended the council indefinitely on 20 October
the bitter experiences of later years forced him to 1870.
change his attitude. Particularly devastating were The Documents of the First Vatican Council.
the Revolutions of 1848 and their aftermath. This This council approved two dogmatic constitu-
period proved to be one of unprecedented disas- tions: Dei Filius, “On the Catholic Faith,” and
ters for the Pope. He was stripped of his political Pastor aeternus, “On the Church of Christ.” The
powers, forced to flee Rome in disguise, and first talks about the precarious and alarming situ-
became a “prisoner in the Vatican” when he ation caused by the rise of rationalism and natu-
managed to come back in 1850. Although Pope ralism. These false doctrines have led people
Pius IX’s person and reign were matters of seri- to “the abyss of pantheism, materialism, and
ous controversy, even his critics admit that he atheism,” resulting in the destruction of rational
placed the good of the Church before everything nature, denial of any genuine criterion of what is
else. He was convinced that the new trends and right and just. They question the supernatural
developments like rationalism, naturalism, liber- origin and destiny of the Church, the Magiste-
alism, etc., were utterly harmful to the Church rium, and the Teaching Authority of the Church
and humanity. He was determined to fight back and the importance of Holy Scripture and sacred
with all the powers he could muster. The firm, tradition, and reduce religious questions to
strong, and uncompromising steps he took in the a matter of individual judgment. With regard to
ensuing years were to be seen in this complex the source and interpretation of Holy Scripture, it
context. He fought back first by promulgating the affirms the traditional view of direct divine origin
Syllabus of Errors in 1864 and then calling the and the official Church as its only authentic inter-
First Vatican Council in 1869. preter. Reason and faith, it sees as a twofold order
The Syllabus of Errors. The Syllabus of of knowledge, which, though distinct, do not
Errors, which was 12 years in preparation with conflict since both have God as their source.
80 items, could be considered the preface to Matters of faith cannot go against reason because
Vatican I since it provided most of the ideas they are confirmed by miracles and prophesies. It
discussed at the Council. Scholars like T. Tackett affirms the Catholic Church as the sole custodian
think that Pius IX convened Vatican I to obtain of Christian faith, the divinely ordained arbiter of
conciliar confirmation for the Syllabus of Errors. what is right and wrong. Hence, Christians are
The whole thrust of this document can be sum- “forbidden to defend as legitimate conclusions of
marized into two tendencies both of which were science those opinions which are known to be
strongly condemned: the downgrading of God contrary to the doctrine of faith.” Coming to
and the divine and the upgrading of nature and dogmas, it asserts that they are part of the immu-
the natural. Pope Pius IX considered Vatican I as table divine deposit, and hence, their meaning
a decisive step to counter firmly this powerful must be maintained intact.
threatening current. Pastor aeternus, “On the Church of Christ,”
Chronology of the Events of Vatican I. had its focus on the jurisdictional primacy and
According to some scholars, already in 1849, infallibility of the Pope. The major part of this
Luigi Cardinal Lambruschini, a member of the document dwells on the Primacy of Peter and of
Roman Curia, suggested convening a council to the Pope as his successor. It may be noted that
Pius IX. The Pope himself mentioned its possi- although Vatican I is known for its definition of
bility in 1864, but the initial work started only in Papal Infallibility, this point came up strongly
1865. The formal announcement was made in only toward the end of the Council; but once it
1867, and the apostolic letter of convocation came up, it became the epicenter of heated
was given on 29 June 1868. The first session debates. Just before the final vote, more than
started on 8 December 1869. The first voting on 60 members left Rome, and when the final vote
infallibility was on 13 July 1870, and Pius IX was taken, 533 voted for and 2 against.
Since the impact of science on this document The Second Vatican Council
seems to be very limited, we will limit ourselves
to giving the final statement of the dogma of Features of the Council
Papal Infallibility, which says: When the Pope Vatican II was, in many ways, a landmark in the
speaks ex cathedra, in his office as shepherd and history of the Catholic Church. According to the
teacher of all Christians, on doctrines concerning Apostolic Brief, In Spiritu Sancto, “The Second
faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, Vatican Council. . . must be remembered without C
“such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are of doubt among the greatest events of the Church.”
themselves, and not by the consent of the Church, Not only did many new ideas emerge from it, but
irreformable.” also a new approach and a new attitude arose as
a consequence of this largest ever ecumenical
Some Remarks council. As Oscar Cullmann observes, the
The Language of the Texts. The language of the impulses of this council are as effective as its
texts is clear, direct, and absolute, leaving no documents. Many of its novel and revolutionary
room for doubt or misunderstanding, dialogue, ideas and path-breaking approaches are yet to
or compromise. All major assertions are followed become an integral part of the Church’s official
by “anathema sit,” “let him be anathema.” policy and practice.
Today’s democratic and dialogical world may Vatican I and Vatican II. Since Vatican II
find such an approach jarring, particularly in follows serially Vatican I, one is understandably
a religion that considers love and forgiveness its tempted to consider it as a follow-up on Vatican I.
characteristics marks. However, when we con- But a serious reflection on these two councils
sider the nature and purpose of the text, the reveals that they were significantly different.
circumstances in which the whole develop- For instance, Vatican I was very much
ments took place, as given in our detailed back- institution-centered, whereas Vatican II was con-
ground study, this style and tone becomes spicuously people-centered. The primary move
understandable. of Vatican I was principally to conserve and
Science and Vatican I. The impact of devel- confirm, while that of Vatican II was mainly to
opments in science and related fields on Vatican preserve and progress. Vatican I focused on
I is very evident in the documents. Many of the defining certain dogmas to bring clarity and con-
decrees and affirmations of the council are formity, whereas Vatican II focused on updating
targeting scientific ideas and certain ideologies Catholic teaching and heritage to make it more
that emerged from them. Vatican I for the most relevant to the times. With regard to science and
part took a negative, narrow attitude to these technology, Vatican I made very few references,
developments, perceiving them as harmful to mostly to show their negative impact, while Vat-
the Church and humanity. It seems to me that ican II addressed the subject of science and tech-
this situation led scholars like Andrew White nology quite frequently, mostly in a positive tone.
and John Draper at the end of the nineteenth As Giles Routhier points out, many Council
century to the conflict model for the science- Fathers, particularly E.A. Blanchet, Rector of
Catholicism relationship. Although this may, in the Institut Catholique of Paris, and P. Veuillot,
some ways, be true during this period, when we Coadjutor Archbishop of Paris, wanted to give
consider the wider period from the beginning of “positive praise to its great dignity.” Vatican
modern science to the present day, the relation- I was conspicuous in its use of the language of
ship is far more complex. For instance, when condemnation and “anathema sit,” whereas
modern science was in its infancy, the Church Vatican II wanted to use the “medicine of mercy
encouraged and supported it. As we shall see, rather than of severity.”
Vatican II took a positive and collaborative Although the exact causes of this striking turn-
approach toward modern science. around is difficult to pinpoint, it can be shown
that certain developments in science during the Special Features of the Council (2): Greater
period between Vatican I and Vatican II, partic- Sensitivity to the Human Dimension. This council
ularly relativity and quantum theory, and similar was particularly noted for its people-friendly
developments in Catholicism, particularly in vision and approach. It is remarkable that it
scriptural scholarship and interpretation, mis- began with a nontraditional opening “Message
sionary expansion, and wider interaction with to Humanity,” “to all men.” Walter Abbott points
other world religions and cultures, the fruitful out that this is the first time that a council
involvement of many loyal Catholics like addresses itself to all men, not just Catholics. In
Georges Lemaitre in science, played a crucial a personal note the Council Fathers assured all
role in this happy transformation. that they were in solidarity with the people, car-
The Chronology of the Different Events. On rying in their hearts their “hardships, the bodily
25 January 1959, Pope John XXIII announced the and mental distress, the sorrows, longings, and
convening of the Council. On 17 May 1959, the hopes.” Lumen gentium, “Dogmatic Constitution
“Antepreparatory Commission” was appointed of the Church,” often considered “the most
by the Pope. Ten preparatory commissions and imposing achievement of Vatican II,” described
2 secretariats were established on 5 June 1960. the same predicament of contemporary humans:
The council commenced on 11 October 1962 Today, humans are “buffeted between hope and
under Pope John with 2450 members out of the anxiety and pressing one another with questions
possible 2908 and closed on 8 December 1965 about the present course of events, they are bur-
under Pope Paul VI. The council had 4 principal dened down with uneasiness.”
sessions and produced 4 Constitutions, 9 Special Features of the Council (3): The Spirit
Decrees, and 3 Declarations. In addition to of “Aggiornamento.” “Aggiornamento,” making
these, there were also a number of “closing up-to-date, the catchword for the Council,
messages” to special target groups, introduced expressed the goal that the Church must be
by the Pope and read out by cardinals appointed brought up-to-date, must adapt itself to meet the
by the Council. challenges of modern times, particularly due to
Special Features of the Council (1): Emphasis the astounding developments in science and tech-
on the Pastoral Rather than Doctrinal Dimen- nology. Pope John wanted the Church not to be
sion. As the Apostolic Brief, given at the end of intimidated by science but be daring to make use
the council declaring its conclusion, pointed out, of modern ideas, means, and methods, well
the council always bore in mind “the necessities proven for their efficaciousness and accuracy, to
of the present day, above all it sought to meet the expound and explicate the Christian teaching and
pastoral needs.” According to the “opening heritage. Thus, the council would be “a step for-
speech” of Pope John XXIII, the primary purpose ward toward a doctrinal penetration and
of the council was not the discussion of any a formation of consciousness in faithful and per-
particular doctrine but to bring “the modern fect conformity.”
world into contact with the vivifying and peren- Aggiornamento in the theological context
nial energies of the gospel, a world which exalts should not be reduced to an exercise of rephrasing
itself with its conquest in the technical and scien- conventional theological teaching in contempo-
tific fields, but which brings also the conse- rary terminology. The council clearly stated that
quences of a temporal order which some have such “old wine in new skins” simply defeated the
wished to recognize excluding God. This is why purpose because scientific findings had posed
society is earmarked by a great material progress new questions demanding new theological
to which there is not a corresponding advance in investigations.
the moral field.” Thus, the council was intended Special Features of the Council (4):
to remedy the serious mismatch between the A Balanced Approach. At the same time, it must
advances in the world of science and technology be emphasized that this aggiornamento in no way
and in that of religion and morality. meant any break with the fundamental teachings
of the Church. To dispel any doubt on this matter, sentiment was expressed by Pope Paul VI:
Pope John clarified: “The substance of the ancient “From the start the Council has propagated
doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing, and a wave of serenity and of optimism . . . free of
the way in which it is presented is another. And it medieval rigorous and pessimistic understanding
is the latter that must be taken into great consid- of man and his customs.” This openness and
eration with patience if necessary, everything optimism was very conspicuous in the welcom-
being measured in the forms and proportions of ing attitude the council took toward develop- C
a Magisterium which is predominantly pastoral in ments in science and technology, without losing
character.” In fact, he most sincerely hoped that its rootedness in tradition.
“illumined by the light of this Council, the Special Features of the Council (7): The Spirit
Church . . . will become greater in spiritual riches of Partnership and Collaboration. It is remark-
and . . . make men, families and peoples really able to note that the council expressed a very
turn their minds to heavenly things.” Clearly, one close and intimate relationship with the scientific
of the goals of this council was to help contem- community, as was articulated in the “closing
porary humans living in a world dominated by message” of the Council. According to it, since
science and technology to achieve a delicate bal- scientists and the Council Fathers were fellow-
ance between the scientific and the religious, the seekers of truth, their paths “could not fail to
material and the spiritual. cross. Your paths are never foreign to ours.” In
Special Features of the Council (5): A Positive fact, the relationship between the two groups was
and Non-Defensive Attitude. It could be said that one of intimate partnership and close collabora-
Vatican II ushered in a new age in the life and tion, as expressed in the following words: “We
attitude of the Catholic Church. In place of the are friends of your vocation as searchers, com-
spirit of “anathema sit” and condemnation panions in your fatigues, admirers of your suc-
prevailed that of understanding and compassion, cesses and, if necessary, consolers in your
meeting “the needs of the present day by demon- discouragement and your failures.” The Council
strating the validity of her teaching rather than by ardently encouraged them to continue the search
condemnation.” The request of many Council “without tiring and without ever despairing of the
Fathers to reconsider the Galileo case and Pope truth.”
John Paul II’s follow-up on the matter were an
unmistakable testimony of this spirit. Another The Main Ideas of the Council
instance of this new spirit was the public expres- Importance of Science in Contemporary Society.
sion of regret by Pope Paul VI and Athenagoras I, The council correctly emphasized the fact that in
the Patriarch of Constantinople, on 7 December the contemporary world science was fast becom-
1965 for the mutual excommunications pro- ing the foundation of intellectual formation.
nounced by their respective predecessors Pope Lumen gentium says: “Intellectual formation is
Leo IX and Patriarch Cerularius in 1054. ever increasingly based on the mathematical and
Special Features of the Council (6): The Spirit natural sciences and on those dealing with man
of Openness and Optimism. A spirit of optimism himself, while in the practical order the technol-
and positiveness that readily appreciated the good ogy which stems from these sciences takes on
in other religions and systems and a spirit of mounting precedence.” Furthermore, “Technol-
openness to new possibilities, even when they ogy is transforming the face of the earth, and is
looked challenging and demanding, was another already trying to master outer space.” The
hallmark of the Council. As Pope John said: “We advances in the biological and social sciences
feel we must disagree with those prophets of too are equally powerful and effective:
gloom, who are always forecasting disaster, as “Advances in biology, psychology, and the social
though the end of the world were at hand. . .. sciences not only bring men hope of improved
Everything, even human differences, leads to self-knowledge. In conjunction with technical
the greater good of the Church.” A similar methods, they are also helping men to exert direct
influence on the life of social groups.” In short, science education both for Church leaders like
in our contemporary world, intellectual forma- priests and the laity. This point is emphasized in
tion is very much colored and controlled by the “Decree on Priestly Formation” and in the
science and technology. The council was in “Declaration on Christian Education.” In institu-
praise of the methodology of science also. “If tions of higher learning, the Church wants “in
methodical investigation within every branch of a systematic way to have individual branches of
learning is carried out in a genuinely scientific knowledge studied according to their own proper
manner and in accordance with moral norms, it principles and methods, and with due freedom
never truly conflicts with faith. For earthly mat- of scientific investigation.” According to it,
ters and the concerns of faith derive from the “Catholic colleges and universities and their fac-
same God.” It also affirmed “the legitimate ulties should give the maximum support to insti-
autonomy of human culture and especially of tutes which primarily serve the progress of
the sciences.” scientific research.”
Genuine Appreciation of the Achievements of The Impact of Science on Theology.
Science. According to Vatican II, far from being According to the Council, theology is an impor-
the devious devices of the devil, science and tant beneficiary of these scientific developments
technology are a boon to humanity, ordained by because they can “stimulate the mind to a more
divine dispensation. “By divine favour, espe- accurate and penetrating grasp of the faith.
cially in modern times, human genius has pro- For recent studies and findings of science, his-
duced from natural material astonishing tory, and philosophy raise new questions which
inventions in the field of technology.” The influence life and demand new theological
Church gladly welcomes them: “As a Mother, investigations.” Hence, the council urges
the Church welcomes and watches such inven- theology to be in constant touch with develop-
tions with special concern.... Mother Church, to ments in the sciences, “through a sharing of
be sure, recognizes that if these instruments are resources and points of view,” collaborating
rightly used they bring solid nourishment to the “with men well versed in the other sciences,”
human race.” and seeking “a profound understanding of
Science as an Affirmation of Human Dignity – revealed truth without neglecting close contact
Human Partnership in Creation. In a way, sci- with its own times.”
ence is a powerful affirmation of human dignity Science at the Service of the Church’s
and greatness and provides humans with a most Pastoral Mission. The council readily
effective means to collaborate with the Creator in acknowledges and appreciates the positive values
the ongoing plan of creation. “When with the aid accruing from the scientific spirit such as fidelity
of technology man develops the earth . . . he to truth, team spirit, etc., Science and its findings
simultaneously obeys the great Christian com- can be equally beneficial in the area of pastoral
mandment that he place himself at the service of care. The council reminds pastors and other min-
his brother men.” A prudential, judicious engage- isters to make use “in pastoral care . . . the find-
ment in science can elevate humans to a higher ings of the secular sciences, especially of
and more sublime level of moral and intellectual psychology and sociology.” In fact, it wants the
life. “Furthermore, when a man applies himself to faithful to “blend modern science and its theories
the various disciplines . . . of mathematical and with Christian morality and doctrine. Thus their
natural science, he can do very much to elevate religious practice and morality can keep pace
the human family to a more sublime understand- with their scientific knowledge and with an
ing of truth, goodness, and beauty, and to the ever-advancing technology.”
formation of judgments which embody universal Openness to the Dynamic Worldview of
values.” Science. Vatican II in some ways shows an open-
Science Education for Priests and Other ness to the scientific dynamic worldview in which
Leaders. The council emphasizes the need for change is an essential part, particularly in
Gaudium et spes, “Pastoral Constitution on the Conclusion
Church in the Modern World of Today,” where it
says: “The human race has passed from a rather Our brief survey reveals considerable difference
static concept of reality to a more dynamic, evo- between Vatican I and Vatican II in many respects.
lutionary one.” The consequences of this para- Perhaps one of the main reasons for this marked
digm shift are enormous, and the Council, well difference was the attitude each had toward sci-
aware of this fact, observes: “In consequence, ence. For Vatican I, science was a contender to be C
there has arisen a new series of problems, tackled firmly and decisively. For Vatican II, sci-
a series as important as can be, calling for new ence is a partner with whom the Church needs to
efforts of analysis and synthesis.” This sensitivity collaborate in an ongoing search for truth. It seems
to the dynamic worldview of modern science and clear that this spirit will continue as Pope John
this openness to its consequences played a crucial Paul wrote to Fr. George Coyne, SJ, in 1988, the
role in defining the Council’s attitude to science then Director of Vatican Observatory: “The truth
and technology. They can play a pivotal role in of the matter is that the Church and the scientific
fostering a constructive and creative dialogue community will inevitably interact; their options
between Christianity and modern science. do not include isolation.”
Holistic Approach Toward the Divine and
the Human. Vatican II encourages a holistic
approach to the divine and the human, the super- Cross-References
natural and the natural. It looks for “a spiritual
renewal from which will also flow a happy ▶ Christian Cosmology
impulse on behalf of human values such as sci- ▶ Christianity
entific discoveries, technological advances, and ▶ Determinism and Indeterminism
a wider diffusion of knowledge,” indicating ▶ Evolution
a close link between spiritual renewal and scien- ▶ Mechanics
tific activities, an idea reminiscent of the thought ▶ Philosophy of Science
of Teilhard de Chardin. A very positive attitude ▶ Physics in Christianity
toward the world that was created by God who ▶ Quantum Theory
“found it good” can never be alien to the Church ▶ Rationality (Philosophical)
of God. ▶ Science and Religion Dialogue and the
No Excessive Importance of Science. As Pope Interreligious Dialogue
John made very clear, the Church has been
a vigilant and alert observer of scientific devel-
opments, following “step by step the evolution of
peoples, scientific progress, and social evolu- References
tion.” At the same time, it “does not neglect to
admonish men so that, over and above sense – Abbott, W. M. (1967). The documents of Vatican II.
London: Geoffrey Chapman.
perceived things – they may raise their eyes to
Butler, D. C. (1936). The Vatican council (Vols I & II).
God.” It has taken pains to distinguish between Jedin, H., & Dolan, J. (Eds.). (1981). History of the church
“excesses associated with a spirit of scientism Vols 8 & 10. New York: Crossroad.
and the permanently valid achievements of the Komonchak, J. A. (Ed.). (2005). History of Vatican II
(Vol 5). Maryknoll: Orbis
positive sciences over the past few centuries.”
Kozhamthadam, J. (2007). Vatican II on science and tech-
While recognizing the legitimate independence nology. Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia, 63, 609–629.
of the world of science, it always rejects the false Tackett, T. (2012). First Vatican council. Believe reli-
sense of independence, which is taken to mean gious information source web-site. http://mb-soft.
com/believe/txs/firstvc.htm. Accessed 2 February
that “created things do not depend on God, and
2012.
that man can use them without any reference to Tanner, N. P. (2001). The councils of the church. New
their God.” York: Crossroad.
C 318 Catholic Perspectives in Sociology
Catholic theological and philosophical analysis

Catholic Perspectives in Sociology into both the “front” and “back” ends of its over-
all analysis, that is, respectively, into its theoret-
▶ Catholic Sociology ical framework and into a range of possible social
policy suggestions that are consistent with its
cognitive analysis of social life. A Catholic soci-
ology argues both the inevitability and desirabil-
Catholic Social Science ity vis-à-vis, respectively, theory and public
policy, of incorporating elements of, and con-
▶ Catholic Sociology cepts from, normative analysis, especially as
derived from the Catholic social doctrine,
Catholic social thought, and “natural law” analy-
sis. It does so without compromising its cognitive
Catholic Sociology function and mission of arriving at a truthful and
objective depiction of social reality. Examples of
Joseph A. Varacalli such incorporated elements and concepts would
Department of Sociology/Anthropology/Social be the fundamental dignity of the human being
Work, Nassau Community College-S.U.N.Y., made in the image of God; the individual viewed
Center for Catholic Studies, Garden City, ultimately as a spiritual being with a soul and
NY, USA eternal destiny; the individual characterized as
possessing free will and viewed as a responsible
social agent with both duties and rights; a concern
Related Terms for the common good; subsidiarity; solidarity; the
family as the basic cell of civilization; and the
Catholic perspectives in sociology; Catholic compatibility and complementary nature of faith
social science; Faith and reason; Religious and reason. Such an interdependent, three-tiered
sociology conception of a Catholic sociology has developed
slowly, in fits and spurts, over the past century
and a half. This is the result of two processes. The
Description first is an increasing awareness that there are
limits to the useful employment of specialization
A Catholic sociology is a subdiscipline within the in research. The second is an increasing aware-
broader discipline of sociology. It builds on gen- ness of intellectual freedom to socially construct
erally agreed upon insights about the role of basic and modify intellectual perspectives encouraged
sociological considerations in an analysis of in the current “post-modern” culture.
social life (e.g., culture, socialization, groups, A Catholic sociology is consistent with the
social stratification, etc.). It also follows the gen- argument of the Protestant scholar, George
erally accepted canons of social science research Marsden (The Outrageous Idea of Christian
in terms of issues, such as method, evidence, and Scholarship), that Christian ideas can and should
reasoning. Catholic sociology is sociology that be incorporated into academia in a way that does
takes the sociological enterprise seriously, is not violate reasonable, tradition-tested, and
consciously upfront and explicit about its funda- widely accepted philosophical and methodologi-
mental assumptions, and aims to contribute to cal conventions. For Marsden, whether religious
its positive development by enriching the or secular in nature, worldviews “help shape not
internal intellectual exchanges within the general only our overt ways of valuing things, but also
discipline. our priorities. What do we see as important to
At the same time, a Catholic sociology study? What is it about that subject which makes
attempts selectively to incorporate elements of it interesting? What are the questions we ask that
Catholic Sociology 319 C
will organize our interpretations of this topic? recognizable. . .in, through, and under the
What theories do we entertain as relevant to our relative. . . ‘to the absolute through the relative
interpretations? What theories do we rule out?” is our device’” (1958: 196).
(1997: 63). The Catholic sociologist Joseph A. One characteristic of a Catholic sociology is
Varacalli similarly offers a fivefold classificatory a “moderate integration” between the metaphys-
scheme of the impact of values on the social ical, empirical, and social reform realms of anal-
scientific enterprise involving (1) motivation, or ysis. This characteristic generally separates C
in some cases, ideological agenda; (2) choice of a Catholic sociology from more conventional
research project or social problem; (3) selection understandings of the discipline, the latter which
of data as relevant or, conversely, aspects of tend not to address its own metaphysical presup-
social reality ignored; (4) interpretation of data, positions. A Catholic sociology, as such, rejects
involving analytical concepts, definitions, and the argument of Max Weber about the possibility
theoretical frameworks employed; and (5) possi- of “value-free” sociology.
ble social policy recommendations (Varacalli A Catholic sociology would respond to those
2000: 7–8). who advocate Weber’s view that, to the contrary,
Both the formulations of Marsden and the mutually agreed upon goal of objectivity in
Varacalli are consistent with the claim that, social research requires two procedures. The first
while any investigation takes place within is the introduction of a theoretical/conceptual
a given frame, there is a responsibility to dialogue framework derived from, or consistent with, the
with other frames as well as search out and doc- natural law and Catholic social doctrine and
ument whatever is perennial in social life. The thought. The second, methodologically, is the
sentiments of Marsden and Varacalli are consis- conscious juxtaposition of competing frame-
tent with that of Ralph Gallagher, the first presi- works, pace Karl Mannheim (Ideology and
dent of the American Catholic Sociological Utopia), as an aid in reaching a truthful and
Society (founded in 1938), who declared that comprehensive analysis of issues of major ethical
“there is such a thing as a Catholic sociology, import.
for sociology is not, in the full sense of the In his Ideology and Utopia, Mannheim pro-
word, an exact science. The method of investiga- posed that a “socially unattached intelligentsia”
tion, the assembling of data, the conclusions could approximate objectivity in analysis by
drawn depend frequently upon the thought and comparing competing existentially based social
philosophy of the investigator.” Gallagher and historical perspectives in the attempt to weed
quickly added, however, that “. . .certainly we out ideological distortion and structurally based
can learn much from those whose approach is biases. Many scholars, including non-Catholics,
different from ours. They have much to contrib- have concluded that Mannheim’s methodology,
ute in the field of method and research. We have while broadening academic discourse, has not
no intention of becoming advocates of intellec- provided, in and by itself, an escape route from
tual isolation” (quoted in Varacalli 1990: 249). error and a path toward truth. For the Catholic
Following the general direction of the Catholic sociologist, any path toward truth additionally
sociologist of knowledge, Werner Stark (The must acknowledge some metaphysically based
Sociology of Knowledge), a premise of a natural law-like analysis or a phenomenological
Catholic sociology is that the pursuit of truth analysis connecting an absolute realm of eternal
must work its way through culture and society, values with the relativities involved in empirical
accepting and emphasizing those conceptual ele- analysis (Varacalli 2012: 103).
ments and visions of humanity that can justifiably Following the logic of Jacques Maritain in
lay claim to a perennial status, thus separating The Peasant of the Garonne, the metaphysical,
itself from the contingent and utopian. empirical, and social reform levels of analysis in
Stark argues that, through a careful analysis of Catholic sociological research are interdependent
sociohistorical reality, “the absolute is and mutually shaping. For Maritain, “between
C 320 Catholic Sociology
faith and reason, as between grace and nature, the atheistic existentialism in Stanford Lyman’s
there is essential distinction and one sometimes and Marvin Scott’s “sociology of the absurd,” in
tends to lose sight of it. . .But between faith and the behaviorist assumptions underlying a rigorist
reason, as between grace and nature, there is mathematical sociology, and so forth.
no separation. One tends to overlook that The Catholic sociological call for a “moderate
too. . .Things are that way, and so is life; there is integration” does not deny, conversely, the neces-
distinction without separation” (1968: 166–167). sity, inevitability, and desirability of some signif-
That there can and should be a moderate inte- icant degree of disentanglement of social science
gration between the metaphysical, empirical, and from, first, theology; second, philosophy; and,
social policy levels of analysis points to the asser- third, social policy. What the former does argue
tion of a Catholic sociology that the general is that specialization has proceeded too far,
discipline of sociology is itself not fully self- producing sub-universes of meaning that are
contained but only semi-autonomous and compartmentalized and mask inevitable
interdependent. Just why the broader discipline interdependencies, thus doing an injustice to the
of sociology has posited a rigid segregation intellectual requirement to produce comprehen-
between fields of knowledge is an important sive and holistic analyses of life that nonetheless
question that involves many partial answers. are capable of making and acknowledging subtle
Among others, these involve an overreliance on and necessary distinctions between faith and rea-
the positivistic scholarly tradition; the perceived son and metaphysics and empirical reality. Max
need to defend the integrity of sociology vis-à-vis Scheler’s critique, in his Problems of a Sociology
religion, philosophy, and the humanities; and the of Knowledge, of Auguste Comte’s zero-sum
desire of sociologists to capitalize on the status evolutionary movement from myth to philosophy
and material benefits that accompany the “scien- to science (or a positivistic social science) is quite
tific” label. consistent with the Catholic position regarding
There is no doubt that, with few exceptions, the relationship, over time, of those social con-
there is vigorous opposition on the part of the structions based on the absolute to those that
mainstream sociological establishment to any more reflect a relative cultural ethos. For Scheler
sociological connection with a metaphysical (1980), the absolute is ever present throughout
realm. As one of the most accomplished and time and space in the form of an eternally valid
respected sociologists in the history of the disci- hierarchy of values although any specific cultural
pline, Robert Merton, puts it in his critique of the ethos may distort the true ordering of these
work of Max Scheler, any discussion of “abso- values. When this happens, for Scheler (1980:
lutes” is “wholly foreign to empirical inquiry” 13–23), various “disorders of the heart” are pro-
(1957: 472). The response of a Catholic sociolo- duced, that is, pathologies at the level of both
gist to this claim is that all sociologies are tied to society and the individual.
what the sociologist Alvin Gouldner (Enter The Catholic appropriation of sociology sets
Plato) termed basic, foundational, or “domain” itself up in sharp relief from either of the two
assumptions about the nature of reality, society, current and major alternatives in the field, that
and human beings. These domain assumptions is, the ideological and positivistic models as
can be found (to whatever degree, either explic- discussed by the sociologist Peter L. Berger
itly or implicitly) in the Calvinism in the work of (2011). The ideological perspective, which
Talcott Parsons and Robert N. Bellah, the Marx- gained political dominance in the mid-1960s in
ism in the work of C. Wright Mills, the Lutheran the contemporary academy, assumes two things.
heritage in the work of Peter L. Berger, the por- The first is that the political cause of choice is
trayal of the radically “protean” or “plastic” more important than the integrity of the scholarly
nature of the human being in the work of the process. The second is that the reality that the
symbolic interactionist Herbert Blumer or the philosophy and personal values of the researcher
dramaturgical approach of Erving Goffman, in affects the nature of the research process makes
the goal of objectivity an impossible one, bears certain affinities with the thought of
representing nothing more than a clever rational- St. Thomas Aquinas. Likewise, the “debunking”
ization and intellectual tool used by the guardians sociology of the liberal Lutheran sociologist,
of the political status quo. The positivistic Peter L. Berger, shares some affinity with the
model, while arguing for objectivity, tends to thought of St. Augustine. Other sociologies are
view the individual and the individual scholar as harder to reconcile, if the Catholic sociologist
devoid of free will, creativity, and responsibility. affirms the parameters of acceptability as C
Generally, it has fallen into the trap of outlined by the magisterium (or teaching author-
a methodological fetishism encouraged by a ity) of the Catholic Church. Regarding the issue
hyper-specialization focusing on topics of little of prudential application, there can be a broad
or no importance to those concerned with the array (albeit not of an indiscriminate nature) of
construction of a “good society.” The goal of possible social policy recommendations that flow
a “Catholic sociology,” in contrast, is to analyze from the cognitive analysis of a Catholic sociol-
and reconstruct the social order on the basis of ogy. In other words, there are various licit and
sound/right reason and empirical evidence. What legitimately debatable means toward instituting
makes it a “Catholic” sociology is the applica- the common good.
tion, when appropriate, of insights and sensibili- This brings up the reality that there are both
ties developed within the corpus of Catholic “official” and “unofficial” versions of a Catholic
social theory to the existing body of sound social sociology. The former accepts the parameters of
scientific theory, concepts, and methods, and the Church’s teaching authority (or magisterium)
through a thorough public exchange (Varacalli as the field from which its intellectual and
2000: 6–11). normative formulations are chosen. The latter
There are multiple (empirically existing and refuses to do so, arguing, pace the logic of “Christ
theoretically possible) versions of a “Catholic of culture” thinkers like Harvey Cox (The Secular
sociology.” This complexity results from consid- City), that any social construction can be consis-
erations involving intellectual pluralism and pru- tent with a Catholicism undergoing constant,
dential application. Regarding intellectual even radical, and officially unsupervised change.
pluralism, the individual Catholic sociologist In his A Theology of Liberation, for instance,
can make recourse to a variety of theological Gustavo Gutierrez, offered a “Marxist-Catholic”
and philosophical schools of thought, assuming synthesis widely viewed by orthodox Catholic
that the latter can be plausibly judged as existing scholars as reducing the Catholic faith to Marxist
within the broad parameters of a Catholic world- categories of thought along the lines of the gen-
view. Another consideration is that the discipline eral methodological critique offered in two state-
of sociology itself contains many – and in certain ments issued by the Congregation for the
cases, seemingly disparate – theories and schools Propagation of the Faith whose prefect was the
of thought. While none of the major options then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. These state-
within the broader sociological tradition are, in ments are the 1984 Instruction on Certain
and by themselves, consistent with a Catholic Aspects of the ‘Theology of Liberation’ and the
logic, some can claim a closer affinity to Catholic 1986 Instruction on Christian Freedom and
thought than others. For instance, and although Liberation. Also relevant is the document
differing from each other in significant ways, the published by the Congregation for Catholic Edu-
“structural-functionalism” of Talcott Parsons cation in 1989, that is, Guidelines for the Study
with its organic understanding of social institu- and Teaching of the Church’s Social Doctrine in
tional arrangements and its discussion of a “telic” the Formation of Priests. There are currently
system, and the “integral” sociology of the a plethora of unofficial (and mostly implicit)
Russian Orthodox sociologist, Pitirim A. Sorokin, Catholic sociologies accepting concepts and the-
with its linking of the empirical, rational, and ories (e.g., “androgyny” for radical feminists and
other-worldly transcendent realms of analysis, “queer theory” for homosexual activists) which
advocate positions fundamentally at odds with an assumptions of social life, especially from the
official Catholic understanding of human nature nineteenth century forward. These social forces
and the overall magisterial worldview. Many, included ideas derived from the eighteenth cen-
although not all, of these nonmagisterial under- tury Age of the Enlightenment and the rise of
standings derive from a radical, “post-modern” science, structural developments like industriali-
interpretation of “social constructionism” for zation and urbanization, and historical events like
both the discipline of sociology and for the the American and French Revolutions and Il
broader civilization; others derive from the Risorgimento in Italy. The resulting volcanic
acceptance of various visions of life based on changes produced a general divide between
“modern” philosophies whose root assumptions those ascendant sectors strongly progressive and
are incompatible with a Catholic vision (e.g., secular and those defending tradition, the status
Communism, Freudianism, laissez faire quo, and tied to the aristocracy and a defense of
Capitalism). its rigid system of social stratification. For most
It should be stated immediately that the role of of the European founders, the various sociologi-
the Magisterium vis-à-vis a Catholic sociology is cal formulations were viewed as enlightened
subtle. Positively viewed, it is a source of inspi- substitutes for religion, whose function was not
ration regarding insights about human and social merely cognitive but served as functional
existence. It does not enter, as a matter of every- replacements and equivalents for religion. This
day routine, into specific sociological debates. cultural, religious, social, and academic divide
Periodically, it produces statements when schools placed those advocating a reconciliation between
of thought or individual scholars explicitly negate Catholicism and the newly emerging and
fundamental assumptions about the existence of “modern” discipline of sociology in a “no man’s
God, the nature of society, the individual, and land.” Relevant here are the stages of history as
their relationships. discussed by the Catholic historian/sociologist,
The origins of the idea of a Catholic sociology Christopher Dawson. As Edward King notes,
arose concomitant with the development of the “Dawson characterized his sixth and final histor-
general discipline. It developed “negatively,” ical era as that of ‘secularized Christendom and
that is, in reaction to the non-Catholic elements the Age of Revolution’ which spanned from the
influencing the emergence of the discipline eighteenth century to the present. . .(This). . .is
(whether inspired by Auguste Comte, Herbert Christendom with a profound spiritual vacuum
Spencer, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, or liberal at its core, and its history over three centuries
Protestant thinkers). The idea also developed shows the rise of a series of secular prophets
“positively,” that is, originally in “proto”- who sought to fill this vacuum” (2007: 280).
Catholic sociological form, in response to the Nonetheless, there were individual attempts to
developing tradition of social Catholicism make such a negotiation between Catholicism
(Williams 1950). The social apostolates pro- and sociology. Increasingly more articulate
moted by, for instance, Bishop William Emman- Catholic sociological formulations were created
uel von Ketteler (1811–1877) in Germany and by such figures as Christopher Dawson
Edward Henry Cardinal Manning (1808–1892) (1889–1970) in England (and later the United
in England both influenced the content of the States), Frederic LePlay (1806–1882) in France,
social encyclical, Rerum Novarum, in 1891 and Cardinal Joseph Hoffner (1906–1987) in
contained implicit sociological analyses of Germany, and Don Luigi Sturzo (1871–1959) in
civilization. Italy. These individual scholarly attempts were
In Europe, sociology as a general intellectual part of the same social matrix which saw the
perspective developed as a response to the emergence of Catholic social doctrine in the
forces of exaggerated social change that tended form of such encyclicals as Rerum Novarum
to undermine what the social philosopher, (1891) and Quadragesimo Anno (1931). These
Alfred Schutz, termed the “taken-for-granted” attempts tried to address the needs of the “social
question” for the majority mired at the societal Tracy Ellis, American Catholics and the Intellec-
periphery and to provide a Catholic critique and tual Life published in 1956.
alternative to such secular ideologies as capital- Advocates of a Catholic sociology made the
ism, socialism, and Communism. contrary claim that the Council actually affirmed
In the American context, the proto-Catholic the need for Catholics to engage in public dia-
sociologists fought their own two-front war. The logue about what their religion – with its intel-
first front opposed the liberal Protestant Social lectual heritage – had to offer to both the world C
Gospel movement dominant at the turn into the and sociology. In their view, the Council was
twentieth century which focused on establishing incorrectly interpreted as signalizing the obsoles-
“God’s Kingdom here on earth.” After the car- cence of the ideal of distinctive Catholic intellec-
nage of World War I, the second front opposed tual approaches (Varacalli 1990: 250–251). As
the newly emerging heirs to Auguste Comte, in such, the transformation of the American
the form of such positivistic sociologists like Catholic Sociological Society into the Sociology
William Ogburn (1886–1959) and George of Religion in 1970 was viewed an indicator of
Lundberg (1895–1966). Some key early founders the power of assimilation into the mainstream
of a Catholic sociology/social science in the conventions of the secular discipline of sociol-
United States were William J. Kirby ogy, with more than a few of these conventions
(1870–1936), Monsignor Paul Hanly Furfey subject to legitimate criticism from a Catholic
(1896–1992), and Eva J. Ross (1903–1969). intellectual perspective.
The attempt from 1938 to 1970 to institution- However, that same secularization was also an
alize Catholic sociology in the United States indicator of the weak tradition of, general lack of
through the American Catholic Sociological competency in, and lack of enthusiasm for, the
Society failed primarily because of several inter- social science enterprise on the part of the
related reasons. One was a lack of institutional Catholic Church and Catholics in general vis-à-
support from an institutional Church where the vis the more completely secularized and progres-
majority of its scholars felt secure that truth could sive camps within the overall discipline of
be approached almost exclusively through the sociology. For decades after the conclusion of
deductive disciplines of theology and philosophy. the Second Vatican Council, either an overt sec-
Another was the still working-class backgrounds ularization or a more subtle “secularization from
of most Catholics, a reality not amenable to within,” continued to erode any effective inter-
a wide-scale acceptance of the utility of social face between Catholicism and sociology, thus
science perspectives. Another was the desire of attenuating, to the point of utter dormancy, the
young Catholic sociologists and social scientists reality of an official Catholic sociology. This
trained in secular universities to conform to secularizing movement was carried, variously,
the standards of the mainstream and secular by the general processes of assimilation into an
profession. increasingly less religious society and specifi-
Regarding the latter reason, the secularization cally fomented by Catholic progressive elites.
that overtook the A.C.S.S. and many other This trend has now started to be reversed, in
Catholic scholarly organizations in the post- part, a consequence of Pope John Paul II’s “new
Vatican II period involved an interpretation of evangelization.” Also, the importance of social
the significance of the theology of Vatican II science research has increasingly been accepted,
(1962–1966) for Catholic scholarship that in a “taken-for-granted” fashion, by most of the
argued, basically, that the state of existing increasing percentage of formally educated
Catholic scholarship was inferior to the secular Catholics in the contemporary world. As but
scholarship of the time. An important argument one indicator of this, the Society of Catholic
laying the groundwork for this line of thinking Social Scientists was formed in 1992, convening
was the essay of the influential, progressive annual national conferences; publishing
American Catholic historian, Monsignor John a journal, the Catholic Social Science Review;
and instituting a book series on the themes of empirical research, a Catholic sociology defi-
Catholic social thought and the connection nitely leans in the humanistic direction emerging,
between Catholicism and the social science dis- in part, because of its rejection of the inadequa-
ciplines. Most relevant to the discussion of cies of the pseudo-scientism of positivism.
a Catholic sociology is the substantial volume
put together and edited by Stephen R. Sharkey, Religion
Sociology and Catholic Social Teaching: Con- An “official” Catholic sociology is not defined as
temporary Theory and Research (2012). Sharkey a “religion.” A semi-autonomous Catholic soci-
provides a range of contemporary social scien- ology is viewed by its advocates as a licit means
tists from both the S.C.S.S. and the Pontifical to actualizing one’s primary religious, intellec-
Academy of Social Sciences who use their theo- tual, and moral commitments to a Catholic
retical and empirical work to serve both the worldview. However, an “unofficial” Catholic
Church and the broader civilization. In his dis- sociology could be defined as a religion, follow-
cussion, he also notes other contemporary ing what sociologists refer to as a “functional
schools of thought that can serve to foster definition” of religion. So defined, an unofficial
a vivifying exchange between religion and soci- Catholic sociology combines a scholarly analysis
ology (e.g., “personalist critical realism” and of Catholicism and religion with either an ulti-
“integral sociology,” the latter based on the mate interest in promoting autonomy in intellec-
work of Pitirim Sorokin). tual, religious, and moral affairs or in some other
While the S.C.S.S. has made substantial inter- essentially secular philosophy/worldview.
nal progress over its first 20 years, its ultimate
fate is tied to such issues as the general reception
of the idea of specifically Catholic perspectives in Characteristics
scholarship among its membership, the state of
Catholicism within the broader American and A Catholic sociology draws on the distinctive
world civilization, as well as the direction of the insights of human personhood and sociability
internal currents of the sociological profession. inhering in the Catholic intellectual tradition.
Regarding the latter, Sharkey suggests that the Catholic sociology as a subdiscipline is distinc-
prospects of a Catholic sociology are superior in tive in at least several ways. One is the Catholic
the present post-modern society for two interre- conviction that faith and reason are compatible
lated and overlapping reasons. The first is that and mutually supportive. Another is in the
post-modern society is characterized by a greater attempt to systematically relate and demonstrate
self-reflexivity vis-à-vis the immediately preced- interdependencies between normative and cogni-
ing post-traditional, “modern” era. The second is tive analyses, between, more specifically, the
the growing rejection both of positivistic notions realms of metaphysics, empirical research, and
of a “value-free” sociology and overt ideological social policy. Yet another is its attempt to reinte-
scholarship. grate knowledge and produce holistic knowledge
in order to provide analyses of social existence
that are comprehensive, subtle, and complex.
Self-Identification
Science Relevance to Science and Religion

A “Catholic sociology” is a subdiscipline of soci-
ology which itself is an example of a social sci- A Catholic sociology is certainly interested in
ence. Social science perspectives can lean in and can contribute to the scholarly area called
either the scientific or humanistic direction. “Science and Religion.” A Catholic sociology
Without violating the scholarly canons for accepts the idea that the discipline of sociology
has inclusive tendencies, that is, that it can and 40 years after the publication of what is generally
should incorporate the insights of interdisciplin- acknowledged as the first great social encyclical,
ary research. A Catholic sociology also views the Rerum Novarum, issued by Pope Leo XIII in
scientific enterprise as not fully autonomous, that 1891 as a response to the conditions of the work-
is, that scientific activity, while maintaining ing classes as the dysfunctions of the industrial
a legitimate semi-autonomous status that resists revolution in Europe became manifest. Building
any facile reduction to nonscientific consider- on more than 100 years of development within C
ations, is both affected by cultural and social the corpus of Catholic social thought since the
factors and has tremendous consequences for publication of Rerum Novarum, Pope John Paul II
the civilization in which it operates. The actual established the Pontifical Academy of Social
and potential implications of current biotechno- Sciences in Rome in 1994. According to the
logical revolution for civilization highlight the Vatican web site, the Pontifical Academy of
latter claim. Social Sciences was founded “with the aim of
promoting the study and progress of the social
sciences, primarily economics, sociology, law,
Sources of Authority and political science, thus offering the Church
those elements which she can use in the develop-
There are dual sources of authority for the idea of ment of her social doctrine, and. . .(in). . .
a Catholic sociology. The first source comes from reflecting on the application of that doctrine in
the secular mainstream tradition of the discipline contemporary society.” While the Pontifical
of sociology in the form of what has been termed Academy has not addressed yet the specific
“basic sociology,” (James M. Henslin, Essentials issue of to what degree and in what ways the
of Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach, Ninth social sciences can be “Catholicized,” the idea
Edition). This tradition stresses certain funda- that objective social science can contribute to
mental postulates. One would be an emphasis, Catholic social thought and the broader civiliza-
relative to most philosophical and theological tion represents some initial positive movement in
thought, on empirical reality. Another would be the direction of a fruitful exchange between
the goal of objectivity. Another involves the Catholic social thought and the mainstream tra-
requirement that all aspects of the research pro- dition of the discipline.
cess be open for review and accountability and be As of now, however, a deliberate Catholic
conducted under ethical guidelines. sociology exists in more or less restricted circles.
The second source of authority for the Mention should also be made regarding the
subdiscipline is found within the corpus of debatable issue of the degree to which the princi-
Catholic social thought. Given the present influ- ples of a Catholic sociology (e.g., a positive role
ence of both positivistic and ideological thinking, for values in the research process, a concern for
Catholic sources of authority for this human dignity and social justice – as understood
subdiscipline are not widely recognized outside in official Catholic sources – have started to
the sphere of “official” Catholic thinking or that become institutionalized in Catholic colleges
relatively small segment of religious thinkers and universities).
who utilize the sociological discipline in their The widespread “plausibility” of a “Catholic
various religious, intellectual, and policy “apos- sociology” depends on two related issues.
tolates” and “ministries.” The first is the possibility of a revitalization of
The establishment of a “Catholic social sci- Catholicism/Christianity in world civilization
ence” was first called for in official Catholic and within the secular academy. The second,
circles by Pope Pius XI in his important encycli- conversely, involves the issue of whether the
cal, Quadragesimo Anno, #20, (1931). This concurrent debunking of the monopolistic status
important social encyclical was produced and claims of both positivism and of ideological
thinking within secular academic circles will positing of the inevitable interaction of a
continue into the future. There are two questions metaphysical realm with both society and sociol-
here. The first is whether the Catholic intellectual ogy in the form of the natural law or its equivalent
community has the will and ability to develop that helps provide a yardstick in social analysis
more fully a Catholic sociology. The second is allowing one to partially transcend the empirical
whether there might be a change in attitude in reality of relativism. Another value is the positing
social science circles regarding the idea that the of the existence of a supernatural realm which
cognitive and normative claims of traditional rejects the idea that all phenomena in social life
religion can contribute in a positive manner to can be completely and neatly explained. Both the
intellectual discourse. nature of the individual – marked by an essential
freedom and some degree of unpredictability –
and his/her orientation to the transcendent realm
Ethical Principles presuppose that some of social life remains “mys-
terious.” From a Catholic sociological perspec-
There are several distinctive overriding ethical tive, put another way, no finite human agency has
principles which inform Catholic sociology as the ability to understand all of reality in its full-
reflected in the Catholic intellectual tradition ness and complexity. Finally, one of the consti-
and especially within the social encyclicals. The tutive goals of a Catholic sociology, given its
first is to pursue truth, wherever that truth may positing of the ultimate other-worldly destiny of
lead. A second and third is that the subdiscipline human beings, is as an aid to the individual in
serves the interests of the common good and the reaching the beatific vision.
fundamental dignity of the individual, in terms of
the latter’s integral human needs, both spiritual
and material. Conceptualization
In addressing the following issues, it is important

Key Values to preface the respective discussions by noting
that a Catholic sociology affirms the religious/
There are several key values for the subdiscipline transcendent realm, especially as it conceptual-
of a “Catholic sociology.” One is that human ized within the Catholic tradition.
beings are constitutively “cultural and spiritual
creatures,” however modified by an awareness Nature/World
that cultural and spiritual realities are mediated The essence or substance of the created universe,
and affected by (but not reduced to) material including both the supernatural and the social
states of being, historical and personal realities universe, knowledge of which can be studied
and exigencies, and by a human nature that, while objectively through the use of the natural, social,
variegated in its manifold expressions, is essen- and theological intellectual disciplines. From
tially common and unchanging. Another is that a Catholic sociological perspective, any under-
human beings are not merely products of their standing of earthly life, with its promotion of the
“social location.” The power of the human mind essential dignity of the human being, must be
to reflect on the nature, causes, and impact of integrated into a larger transcendent vision
socialization create the grounds for the assign- which understands that the ultimate origins of
ment of responsibility for human thinking and life come from God and that the ultimate destiny
action, however mitigated by such factors as the of the human being is the beatific vision. It is the
nature of one’s inherited and present social envi- social universe as it intersects with the natural
ronment, stage of human development, and state and transcendent realms that is the special pur-
of mental health. Another key value is the view of a Catholic sociology as discussed by,
among others, the early Catholic sociologist, Don defined as real, it is real in its consequences.”
Luigi Sturzo. However, following such scholars as Werner
Stark and Max Scheler, it also considers one of
Human Being its goals the pursuit of truth through a scholarly
The individual, possessing both a body and soul, and discerning analysis of society, the human
and capable of rational thought, voluntary action, being, and the dialectical relationship between
and reaching truth, whose rights and duties derive the two. C
from God through the natural law. Constitutive
components of the human being as depicted by Truth
a Catholic sociology include a foundational spir- Objective factual/cognitive reality in the natural
itual and cultural dimension as well as the oper- universe and objective factual/cognitive and moral/
ation of the “natural law” written into the heart. normative reality in the social universe, reached
through the two complimentary wings of faith and
Life and Death reason. The desire to know the truth is intrinsic to
Viewed in terms of the earthly existence of the the human being. A distinguishing characteristic of
human being, activity which begins at the a Catholic sociology is the goal to identify truth and
moment of conception and terminates with morality in society and social relations.
earthly death. Theologically, the soul continues
in the next life within the spheres of Heaven, Perception
Hell, or temporarily, Purgatory. A Catholic soci- A way of understanding or interpreting. A Catholic
ology, in its social policy aspects, is committed to sociology accepts, but only as a partial truth, that
protecting and promoting the fundamental dig- varying cognitive and normative understandings
nity all human life from the moment of concep- of reality inevitably are generated by the sociolog-
tion through natural death. ical reality of a differential socialization along
a host of variables (e.g., cultural context, socioeco-
Reality nomic class, age, cohort, education, region, occu-
All that exists objectively in the natural and social pation, lifestyle, etc.). These cognitive and
universe, that is, outside the mind of the individ- normative definitions are amenable, to a certain
ual. Regarding social existence, the dictum of the degree, to being documented through conventional
classical sociologist, Emile Durkheim, is rele- sociological research. However, Catholic sociolo-
vant, that is, that “social facts are things.” One gists also affirm a deeper form of knowledge that
focus of a Catholic sociology is the determination comes not from purely empirical data gathering
of which social constructions are consistent with techniques but from the exercise of what the early
the natural law. Catholic sociologist, Monsignor Paul Hanly
Furfey, referred to as “noesis” or the ability of
Knowledge the mind to immediately perceive certain truths
The cognitive understanding of God, the histori- or fundamental essences in the tradition of
cal and social universe, the individual, and their Plato and, derivatively, in the Catholic sociologi-
relationships. Knowledge is acquired through cal work of scholars like Max Scheler and
reason and the senses but is aided and strength- Werner Stark.
ened by revealed truth and the invisible opera-
tions of grace. A Catholic sociology takes from Time
the sociology of knowledge the distinction The sum total of past, present, and future periods
between the “plausibility” and “truthfulness” of of existence. A Catholic sociology simulta-
knowledge claims. Regarding the former, it neously takes into account different secular and
accepts the dictum of the early “Chicago school” religious conceptions of the temporal without
sociologist, W.I. Thomas, that “if something is violating the overall Catholic narrative on the
purpose of meaning of human existence. These the bureaucratic mentality, supposedly based on
include a straightforward understanding of chro- rationality/reason, in the modern world.
nological time; time understood as divided into
cultural, political, and historical categories (e.g., Mystery
the “Age of the Enlightenment”); time viewed The theological, anthropological, and sociologi-
from contrasting traditional and modern perspec- cal reality that no purely human, finite agency can
tives (e.g., the past as eternally present vs. explain the fullness of the natural, social, and
a future open to human calculation and planning); religious universe. The Catholic sociological
and time viewed from a perspective centering on acceptance of a significant role for mystery in
the creation of the universe by God, the historical social affairs lends itself strongly to the human-
reality and salvific mission of Jesus Christ, and istic and “actionist” perspectives within the over-
the future anticipation of God’s plans for civili- all sociological tradition.
zation and humanity.
Consciousness Relevant Themes

A subjective and immediate awareness either of
the external world and transcendent realm or of The utility and logic of the idea of a “Catholic
some intra-subjective mental state. Relatedly, sociology” depends on more than the exercise
individual consciousness/conscience may or may of reason and an examination of historical reality.
not be more or less in line with objective reality/ Accepted here is the premise of the sociology of
truth/morality depending on a combination of cir- knowledge that ideas do not rise or fall (at least in
cumstance, choice, and grace. One tenet of the short run) on the issue of truth. Rather, all
a Catholic sociology is that consciousness/ ideas, whether true/logical/useful (or not), depend
conscience is in a dialectical relationship with the on what sociologist Peter L. Berger has termed
state of the surrounding civilization and one’s a “social base” or “plausibility structure” (The
primary group attachments. One important Sacred Canopy). The plausibility of an idea
Catholic sociological concern involves an analysis depends significantly on unpredictable future his-
of modern consciousness and the question of its torical developments. It is scholarly paradigm
openness to the transcendent realm. (Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Rev-
olutions; Robert W. Friedrich, A Sociology of
Rationality/Reason Sociology) awaiting its moment.
A faculty of the human being to reach or at least
approximate truth, despite the reality of original
Sin and the inevitability of human error. Reason Cross-References
is meant to be assisted by Faith. Faith without
reason produces a fideism which ignores/ ▶ Cognitive Science of Religion
underplays the reasoning capability of the indi- ▶ Critical Realism in Theology and Science
vidual typical of formulations generated by advo- ▶ Ethics/Moral Theology, Roman-Catholic,
cates of the Protestant Reformation. Reason Europe
without faith produces a rationalism which over- ▶ Faith and Belief
extends itself and lends itself to a destructive uto- ▶ History of Ideas (Intellectual History)
pianism typical of advocates of revolutionary ▶ Interreligious Dialogue
thought and action (e.g., French Revolution, Com- ▶ Knowledge, Sociology of
munist revolutions in Russia and, later, China, ▶ Religion, Sociology of
etc.). One important Catholic sociological concern ▶ Science and Religion Dialogue and the
involves an analysis of the dysfunctions associated Interreligious Dialogue
with the increased growth of bureaucracies and ▶ Science and Scientific Knowledge, Sociology of
Causality in Physics 329 C
References
Causality
Berger, P. L. (2011). Adventures of an accidental sociol-
ogist: How to explain the world without becoming
▶ Attribution/Attribution Theory
a bore. Amherst: Prometheus Books.
King, E. (2007). Christopher Dawson (1889–1970).
In M. L. Coulter et al. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of
catholic social thought, social science, and social Causality in Physics C
policy (Vol. I, pp. 276–280). Lanham: Scarecrow
Press.
Maritain, J. (1968). The peasant of the Garonne: an old John R. Albright
layman questions himself about the present time. Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, IL, USA
New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Purdue University Calumet, IN, USA
Marsden, G. (1997). The outrageous idea of Christian
scholarship. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Merton, R. K. (1957). The sociology of knowledge,
Chapter 12. In R. K. Merton (Ed.), Social theory and
social structure (pp. 456–488). Glencoe, Illinois: The Related Terms
Free Press.
Scheler, M. (1980). Problems of a sociology of knowledge.
London: Routledge/Kegan Paul. Causation; Determinism; Fatalism; Predestina-
Sharkey, S. R. (Ed.). (2012). Sociology and catholic social tion; Predictability
teaching: Contemporary theory and research.
Lanham: Scarecrow Press.
Stark, W. (1958). The sociology of knowledge: An essay in
aid of a deeper understanding of the history of ideas. Religious Aspects of Causality
London: Routledge/Kegan Paul.
Varacalli, J. A. (1990). Catholic sociology in Ancient Judaism covers so many centuries that it
America: A comment on the fiftieth anniversary
issue of sociological analysis. International Journal
is not surprising that it does not present a unified
of Politics, Culture, and Society, 4(2), 249–262. picture. The earliest of the literary prophets, such
Winter. as Amos and Hosea (eighth century BCE), clearly
Varacalli, J. A. (2000). Bright promise, failed community: believed that humans have free will, that their
Catholics and the American public order. Lanham:
Lexington Books.
future is not predestined, but it is conditional
Varacalli, J. A. (2012). Beyond the dictatorship of relativ- depending on the behavior of the people. Predic-
ism: Toward a sociology of knowledge, catholic style. tions of doom and destruction are meant to instill
In S. R. Sharkey (Ed.), Sociology and catholic social ethical practices specifically to avert the dire
teaching: Contemporary theory and research
(pp. 91–123). Lanham: Scarecrow Press.
predictions.
Williams, M. J. (1950). Catholic social thought: Its Deuteronomy (seventh century BCE) speaks
approach to contemporary social problems. clearly of a choice between following Torah
New York: The Ronald Press. (law) and disobeying it. A certain element of
causality (but not predestination) is maintained.
The correct choice leads to prosperity and
happiness, but the wrong choice leads to ruin
Catoptrics (Deuteronomy 30:15–20).
Although Jeremiah (early sixth century BCE)
▶ Optics in Islam often sounds as though people have choice, he is
much more predestinarian than his predecessors.
Even his birth is seen as predestined by God, as is
his calling as a prophet. Times were much worse;
Causal Inference the political, military, and economic welfare of
Judah had come close to destruction, and predes-
▶ Attribution/Attribution Theory tination seemed the only explanation: We do not
C 330 Causality in Physics
like it, but God’s plan has something good as an In the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas
outcome. took full advantage of manuscripts previously
Prophets of the exile such as Ezekiel and unknown in the West to understand Aristotle
Second Isaiah (Deutero-Isaiah, chs. 40–55 of and to incorporate his ideas – including those on
canonical Isaiah) were preaching to a powerless causality – into his systematic theology. He used
people. They considered that only God’s will and causality as one category of proof for the exis-
strength could restore the Jews to a measure of tence of God: For every effect, there is a cause;
freedom and ability to practice their inherited but a cause is also an effect; by induction there is
religion. Predestination offered hope. a chain of causality; either it is an infinite regress
During the Persian, Greek, and Roman periods, (absurd), or there is an uncaused cause, a First
a religious fragmentation of Jewish thought was in Cause, called God.
place. Pharisees, for example, believed in predes- In the Reformation period, Martin Luther,
tination; Sadducees opposed it. Early Christianity John Calvin, and Huldrich Zwingli were all
presented a mixture of ideas on the subject. Paul, strongly in favor of causality and predestination.
a former Pharisee, taught predestination. The Luther engaged with Erasmus of Rotterdam
Gospels are not nearly so clear about it. (opposed to predestination) in an exchange of
Ancient Greek philosophy was concerned treatises on predestination; neither one convinced
with causality. From the religious point of view, the other. Confessional documents of the Refor-
the most important figure was Aristotle because mation era appeared among the religious groups
his ideas were adopted by Christians and of Western Europe. In 1530, the Augsburg Con-
Muslims in the Middle Ages, and his categories fession (Lutheran) was written and presented
are still a part of some schools of Christian phi- publicly by Philip Melanchthon. It was very dip-
losophy. Aristotle identifies four types of cause: lomatic about predestination, too much so for
1. Material (causa materialis) Luther. In 1547, the Roman Catholic Church in
2. Efficient (causa efficiens) the Council of Trent adopted similar statements.
3. Formal (causa formalis) In 1562, the Church of England adopted the 39
4. Final (causa finalis) Articles of Religion, of which several deal with
To illustrate these, consider a house, predestination; there too an inclusive spirit
according to Aristotelian notions of causality. prevailed, trying to contain a broad spectrum of
1. Material: the bricks, mortar, wood, glass, etc. opinions in the Church. The Lutherans continued
2. Efficient: the action of the workers who built to argue over predestination until 1575, when
the house. they adopted a Formula of Concord, which was
3. Formal: the blueprint, the design by which the conciliatory toward both sides of the issue.
construction was guided. Calvinists met in 1620 at Dordrecht in the
4. Final: The owner wished to have a pleasant Netherlands (Synod of Dort) and adopted
place to live. a strongly predestinarian statement.
Of these four, only the efficient cause survives By this time, the state churches of Western
in science today. The study of final causes was Europe had taken a stand, and it was in general
considered important in the Middles Ages, but it forbidden that theologians should debate any
was attacked savagely during the Enlightenment, more about predestination. Such strictures have
even though vestiges survive today, often well been largely ignored in America.
disguised.
Disagreement about predestination came to
a focus in the dispute between Augustine (for Causality During the Enlightenment
predestination) and Pelagius (against it). The for-
mer was the clear winner, since he became Saint The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw
Augustine, while one speaks of the Pelagian a great emphasis on rationality and a rejection
heresy. of Aristotelian causal categories except the
efficient cause. God was seen as possibly the First not know how to explain it. Newton and Hume
Cause, but beyond that no divine action was had little choice but to ignore it.
considered as more than superstition. This is
essentially Deism. The action of objects in the
world was considered as if they were mechanisms Alternative Formulation: Fields
driven by rather impersonal forces, much like
cogs in a machine. Political and economic free- The problem of action at a distance is also present C
doms were mostly not valued, and determinism in for magnets and for electrical charges. The best
nature was accepted, with mechanics as the fore- description of the situation was developed by
most branch of science. Michael Faraday, who described magnetic forces
Descartes, Galileo, and Spinoza were intellec- by using a force field. Magnet A sets up
tual leaders, pointing the way toward mechanism a magnetic field in its surrounding space. Magnet
and determinism. Newton and Huygens formu- B interacts locally with A’s field, and we say that
lated mathematical systems for this cause. B experiences a force from A. But Magnet B also
Newton’s laws became the model of enlighten- sets up a field that locally causes a force on A.
ment because they contained the essence of These two forces are equal in magnitude and
a causal and deterministic outlook. opposite in direction, just as Newton’s third law
Newton’s second law, F ¼ ma, force equals requires.
mass times acceleration, takes causal form The field concept works just as well for elec-
because acceleration is the second derivative of trostatic forces and gravitational forces. James
the spatial position of an object. In other words, Maxwell showed how the electric and magnetic
velocity is the rate of change of a coordinate, and fields fit into a set of four interlocking equations.
acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity. Attempts to integrate gravity into the system have
If the position and velocity of an object are failed so far. However, the forces described by
known at a particular time, and if the forces are these fields continue to describe a causal and
known, it becomes possible to calculate the posi- deterministic motion.
tion and the velocity for all subsequent times, and
also to calculate backward in time to learn the
past history of the object. This condition of the Alternative Formulation: Global
knowledge is mathematical determinism. By Theories
the end of the eighteenth century, it was widely
accepted as the way the world works. The idea that it is important to maximize or
David Hume wrote on causality and did not minimize some value goes back to Newton and
repudiate Newton. His writings had a great influ- to Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz, both of whom
ence on Immanuel Kant, who examined every invented calculus to do this. One of Leibniz’s
aspect of causality that was accessible at that disciples, Moreau de Maupertuis, tried to formu-
time (Torretti, ch. 3). Hume added further causal late a quantity that he called “action,” calculated
conditions, most notably the requirements of by adding contributions from all of the space;
sequence and contiguity. Both of these appear to minimizing the action would then give you the
be plain common sense: The cause must precede answer to how the system behaves. For both
the effect, and effects such as telekinesis and personal and professional reasons, Maupertuis
levitation are excluded. Although it is attractive made enemies, one of whom was Voltaire,
to insist on contiguity (objects must touch to whose novel Candide was a biting satire of
cause anything), there is a problem when a force Leibniz, Maupertuis, and their ideas. Voltaire
such as gravity acts across a distance. The sun’s believed that their attempts to maximize or
gravitational attraction keeps the earth in orbit, minimize asserted that we live in the best of
yet the earth and the sun are not contiguous. all possible worlds, an idea he found easy
Newton was aware of this problem, and he did to ridicule.
Although the formulation by Maupertuis was based on the impossibility of predicting outcome
a bit confusing, his scientific endeavors had con- for a sufficiently complicated system. Dice are
siderable merit, as was shown by Leonhard Euler a Newtonian mechanical system, and therefore
and Joseph-Louis Lagrange. By more carefully ought to be predictable, except that (1) the initial
defining the action, Lagrange was able to set up conditions are not properly known, and (2) the
a well-posed problem of minimization, and by calculations are too difficult. So it is better to
using Euler’s calculus of variations, he was able assume an aleatory system and analyze it as such.
to find the minimum. In doing so, he found, With the rise of statistics as a mathematical
Newton’s second law appears. Thus, a global tool to study aleatory systems, there arose
principle of least action – which is not manifestly a problem that needs to be noticed. Sometimes
causal – leads to the same causal equations of two types of events seem to be associated, and
motion that arise from the local theory of statistical tests show that they are correlated. But
Newton, valid point by point. correlation does not prove causality. It could be
Subsequent developments have shown that the that both events are caused by the same prior
global approach can be quite powerful provided cause, and that neither one is the cause of the
that the action is properly defined. The global other. The Latin adage is actually false: post hoc
approach not only can reproduce the results of ergo propter hoc (after this therefore because of
the local one, but it sometimes provides addi- this). It is a fallacy to be avoided.
tional insight and information that theories
based on a single point cannot produce.
Statistical Mechanisms
Pierre Simon de Laplace Physicists such as James Maxwell, Ludwig

Boltzmann, and Josiah Willard Gibbs invented
In the period of the French Revolution and the statistical mechanics to describe a system of
Napoleonic Wars, an important scholar of causal- many particles, each of which moves according
ity was Pierre Simon de Laplace (Gillespie 1997). to the laws of classical mechanics. The motion is
His treatise on celestial mechanism carried causal at root, but by treating the motion as if it
Newton’s mechanics to an impressive level of were random, one can use statistics to describe
understanding of the motions in the solar system. the entire system on the average. The results
In particular, he proved the stability of the solar frequently agree well with observations, espe-
system against small perturbations, and demon- cially for many commonly encountered gases
strated that Newton’s laws were more impressive at room temperature and one atmosphere of
than Newton himself had realized. He articulated pressure.
the idea of Laplacian determinism, which states By the early twentieth century, the satisfaction
that given the initial conditions, you can use with statistical mechanics was badly undermined
Newton’s laws to predict the subsequent motion. by annoying discoveries of which we list three
It is interesting that Laplace, famous in his outstanding examples: (1) Classical statistics
own time for the causality of mechanics, should fails dismally to predict the shape of the electro-
have achieved more lasting fame for his work on magnetic spectrum. Max Planck in 1900 finally
the theory of probability. He was not the first to succeeded in getting agreement with experiment
attack the subject. The Bernoulli family placed by introducing packets of energy, which he called
probability on a good mathematical basis. The quanta, to replace the classical idea that energy
motivation for studying the systematics of multi- can come in whatever size you like. (2) The spe-
ple events, supposedly random and noncausal, cific heat of a solid at very low temperature does
was initially aimed at dice and card games. not follow any rational classical form. Albert
Laplacean probability does not really examine Einstein used Planck’s distribution to improve
whether the randomness is ontological or simply the situation, but there was still measurable
discrepancy. Pieter Debye’s theory went further People still argue about the detailed interpretation
in the direction of quantization to fix things up. of quantum mechanics, but there is broad agree-
(3) The behavior of electrons in a metal is quite ment about the outlines, including indeterminacy.
far from the predictions of classical statistics. How firm is the uncertainty principle? It is
Enrico Fermi in the 1920s used quantum ideas very robust. It follows by airtight logic from the
to gain the needed understanding. basic assumptions of quantum mechanics. If we
wish to deny the uncertainty principle, we have to C
abandon quantum mechanics, and we will be left
Quantum Mechanics with no working theory of molecules, atoms,
nuclei, and subatomic particles. That price
The need for a better theory than classical would be too high.
mechanics was evident by the 1920s, and for As a way to save both quantum mechanics and
reasons beyond the examples listed above from determinism, it has been suggested that there are
statistics. The atomic theory of Niels Bohr, based hidden variables that are deterministic in their
on classical mechanics but with the ad hoc addi- nature, but which can mimic the result predicted
tion of quantized angular momentum, was not by the Schrödinger equation. A definitive test was
a satisfactory answer. There was need for some- performed experimentally by Alain Aspect and
thing new. his coworkers; they found strong evidence
In 1925, Werner Heisenberg pointed toward against hidden variables in favor of conventional
a new theory (quantum mechanics, or QM) by quantum mechanics.
positing that one should use only quantities that
are observable. This start (somewhat misguided)
was good in that it removed the classical Bohr Quantum Mechanics: Evidence Against
orbits from the center of attention. It motivated Causality
Paul Dirac to invent a particular type of
noncommuting algebra that led to better insights. The argument against causality begins with the
In 1926, Erwin Schrödinger constructed his wave uncertainty principle. For a single particle
equation to accomplish the same things that Dirac constrained to move in one dimension, the uncer-
and Heisenberg were doing. Multiple papers tainty principle states that DxDp h/4p where x
appeared that year showing that the three is the position, p is the momentum, and h is
approaches were equivalent. Planck’s constant; the symbol D means “standard
In the summer of 1927, Heisenberg showed that deviation” or uncertainty.
the formalism of quantum mechanics implies the It is permissible in quantum mechanics to nar-
famous principle of uncertainty: The position and row down and refine your knowledge of the posi-
the momentum of an object cannot be known tion coordinate. In doing so, you will thereby lose
simultaneously to arbitrary accuracy. Hence, the information about the momentum. Similarly, you
requirement for classical determinism cannot be can know the momentum to great precision,
satisfied, and the motion can never be fully deter- but you will not know much about where the
mined. At the Solvay Conference in Brussels in particle is.
October of 1927, there was a titanic struggle In classical mechanics, one can construct
between Einstein (determinist) and Bohr (indeter- a two-dimensional space with coordinates x and
minist). Neither was able to shake the other’s firm p. The particle’s initial state is represented by
beliefs (Moore 1966, 163 et seq.). The debate went a point in this space (phase space); its motion,
on for another 8 years before it finally subsided, governed by Newton’s laws, is a curve in phase
mainly because Bohr’s interests had changed space. (Phase space: for a system of N particles,
toward the phenomenology of nuclear physics. the 3N-dimensional space of the coordinates is
With a few exceptions, physicists active today called configuration space. If the 3N components
agree that Bohr was right and Einstein was wrong. of the momenta of these particles are added, the
resulting 6Ndimensional space is called phase the mean life of the excited state. When such
space.) In quantum mechanics, the idea of calculations are performed for atoms, the results
a single point in phase space is without meaning. agree with experiment. For example, of two tran-
The initial state of the particle appears as a cloud sitions, if one is twice as probable as the other, the
of points in phase space in an area at least as big more probable one will appear as a spectral line
as h/4p. The density of the cloud is nonuniform; twice as bright as the other.
its local density is given by the square of the wave
function at that point.
If the problem is generalized to allow motion Quantum Mechanics: Evidence for
in three dimensions, then the three components x, Causality
y, z of the particle’s position will have uncertainty
relations with their respective components of Although the spirit of quantum mechanics is
momentum px, py, pz,. There is no uncertainty probabilistic or aleatory, there are some ways in
relation between, say, x and py. which it describes behavior with certainty.
The energy E of the particle has a conjugate A particle whose wave function is known at
relation with the time t, and so there is the relation a specific time for all points in space will propa-
DEDt h/4p. This relation comes into play gate in space in a very predictable way, as long as
when physicists try to study very short-lived par- external forces are absent. This statement is
ticles. If a particle’s lifetime is so short that the a direct result of the time-dependent Schrödinger
time of its decay is known rather accurately, then equation; it is in a sense the quantum version of
the measurement of the energy will be corre- Newton’s first law of motion.
spondingly inaccurate. Occasionally, one encounters a quantum system
One extreme case is given by resonances in the that is unstable and that has only one decay option.
scattering of pi mesons from protons. The cross In that case, it is perfectly predictable which option
section (a measure of the probability) of the scat- will occur, but it is still not possible to predict the
tering increases rapidly from low energy and precise time when the decay will occur.
peaks when the energy (in the center-of- For many systems that obey quantum statisti-
momentum system) is about 1,240 MeV cal mechanics, the average behavior will be based
(million electron volts). The peak is quite broad, on enough particles so that the uncertainty in the
DE ¼ 120 MeV, corresponding to a time interval motion will be quite small, and the system will be
of 1023 s (seconds). The usual interpretation of deterministic. It is effectively at the classical
such resonances is that they are really particles limit, and the predictive power of Newton’s
with very short lifetimes, and therefore, there is laws will appear.
considerable uncertainty in their mass (energy).
An example of the opposite sort is provided by
a continuous-wave laser, where the photons have Monte Carlo Calculations
a long time interval for their production and
extremely well-defined frequency. An interesting and useful technique for computa-
Another important example of noncausal phe- tion is called Monte Carlo (for the famous gam-
nomena in QM is the case of an electron in an bling center) because it is based on randomness.
excited state of an atom. If the excitation energy One uses random numbers in quantity to simulate
is high enough, there may be several states, something which could perhaps be modeled by an
including the ground state, of lower energy. For analytic calculation, but where the accuracy
one such electron, QM cannot tell you into which achieved in a given amount of computer opera-
state it will make its downward transition, nor can tion is greater for the Monte Carlo method.
it tell exactly when the transition will occur. A simple example would be to calculate
What it can do is to calculate the respective the value of p by using random numbers. Con-
probabilities of the various transitions and also sider a circle of radius equal to unity, centered at
the origin of coordinates. A square is computer could ever produce random numbers.
circumscribed about the circle with 1 < x < +1 The pseudo-random sequence that comes from
as the mathematical definition. Generate random a computer is in fact totally deterministic, but it
numbers in pairs, uniformly distributed between passes certain statistical tests for randomness.
1 and +1; call them x and y. Then calculate Chaotic systems are quite analogous. They are
x2 + y2; if the result is greater than 1, discard it; if governed by the laws of classical mechanics and
less than 1, keep it, and keep track of the total should thereby be deterministic. Yet they exhibit C
number of pairs generated. The fraction of keepers behavior that appears wildly unpredictable.
will be p/4. The more trials you make, the more A simple example is a pendulum with a
accurately will your answer resemble the correct magnet at its end, allowed to swing freely in
one. what is basically two dimensions, the two angles
The simple example of a circle converges to that it takes to specify the instantaneous location
the correct answer slowly enough that one should of the pendulum. Two (or more) additional mag-
really do the calculation some other way. That is nets, placed just below spots where the pendulum
because the example is in essence two dimen- can go, complete the arrangement. If the pendu-
sional; Monte Carlo converges more slowly lum is released and allowed to swing freely, the
than other methods until you encounter a problem motion is surprisingly unpredictable.
with five or more dimensions, and after that, it is Many other examples of chaotic behavior
faster than most other methods. could be listed: (a) Population dynamics in bio-
Monte Carlo is in essence a method of inte- logical systems provides many specific types.
gration, i.e., finding areas, volumes, or (b) The earth’s atmosphere is a chaotic system
hypervolumes. that renders impossible accurate predictions of
A serious question arises in computer calcula- weather more than a few days in advance. (c) If
tions using Monte Carlo. Where does the com- 15 billiard balls are placed in an equilateral trian-
puter get a large supply of random numbers in gular array and then struck with a sixteenth ball
a short time? The customary answer is to use (the cue ball), the resulting motion is quite
a multiplicative congruential method. A suitable unpredictable. The list could be continued.
chosen number is caused to multiply another All these chaotic systems share a few impor-
suitably chosen number many times, and each tant properties: (a) Their motion is inordinately
successive result is the next random number. sensitive to initial conditions. (b) Their equations
These numbers are of course not truly random: of motion contain nonlinearity. (c) They mostly
They are perfectly causal, but the casual observer move in a phase space of three or more dimen-
cannot see the connection. The numbers are sions. (Population dynamics is an exception,
called “pseudo-random.” since it is governed by a nonlinear difference
It happens that there are potentially harmful equation rather than a differential equation).
correlations in pseudo-random numbers from (d) Their time evolution ought to be causal and
multiplicative congruential generators. This fact deterministic, but in practice, it is not.
was discovered by George Marsaglia, who In these nonlinear systems, there is typically
also discovered the cure: Use a different some parameter (or set of parameters) that can be
multiplicative congruential generator to do adjusted, along with the initial conditions. It very
a pseudo-random shuffle of the numbers from often happens that there are regions in phase
the original one. space that correspond to stable and predictable
motion, and likewise, there are regions of phase
space that are characterized by unstable, chaotic
Causality and Chaos behavior. There is a boundary between these two
regions, and it is here that some of the most
It seems illogical that a causal, deterministic interesting phenomena occur (Kauffman 1995,
device such as a properly operating digital Ch. 6). It appears that life itself is
C 336 Causation
a phenomenon associated with the boundary

between order and disorder. Cells
▶ Histology, Cytology
Cross-References
▶ Christian Cosmology
▶ Classical and Quantum Realism Cerebrovascular Diseases
▶ Creator – Co-creator
▶ Deism M. G. Hennerici
▶ Determinism and Indeterminism Department of Neurology, University of
▶ Divine Action Heidelberg, Universit€atsmedizin Mannheim,
▶ Energy in Physics Mannheim, Germany
▶ Free Will
▶ Mechanics
▶ Physics Diseases of the nervous system covered by
▶ Quantum Theory neurology mainly affect the brain, spinal cord,
▶ Statistics and Probability peripheral nerves, and muscles. Different
mechanisms contribute to focal or global brain
lesions which today can be diagnosed based on
References clinical signs and symptoms, the history of
onset, follow-up with progression or recovery
Gillespie, Charles Coulston. (1997). Pierre Simon de and rehabilitation, modern brain imaging, and
Laplace (1749–1827): A life in exact science.
neurophysiological as well as laboratory inves-
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kauffman, Stuart. (1995). At home in the universe: The tigations. Management and emergency or inten-
search for laws of self-organization and complexity. sive care treatment are based on neurobiology,
New York: Oxford University Press. neurophysiology, pathophysiology, and clinical
Moore, Ruth. (1966). Niels Bohr: The man, his science,
and the world they changed. Cambridge, MA: The
study evidence.
MIT Press. Stroke is one of the most frequent diseases
treated by neurologists in industrialized countries
of North America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia.
This disease has been known since the times of
Hippocrates (about 400 B.C.) who already
Causation
observed that many blood vessels connected the
brain – he believed they were filled with air
▶ Causality in Physics
providing the spirit of mankind: He considered
interruptions of this air flow to be responsible for
hemiplegia and convulsions with paralysis of the
right arm and the loss of speech (probably the first
Celebration written account of aphasia) as already described
in his Epidemics. This was confirmed later by
▶ Ritual Galen who attributed apoplexia to an accumula-
tion of phlegm in the arteries once this obstructed
the passage of animal spirits within the ventricles.
However, it took more than 1,500 years until the
Celibacy discovery of the anatomy of the brain from
dissections by Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564)
▶ Biology of Religion and his outstanding artist Jan Stephan Kalkar
Cerebrovascular Diseases 337 C
based on his anatomical observations. His name
continues to be associated with stroke in our days:
Since 2005, the European Stroke Conference annu-
ally honors outstanding contributors to clinical
and/or experimental stroke research with the most
prestigious stroke award available, named Johann
Jacob Wepfer Award (www.eurostroke.eu) C
(Fig. 2).
Despite increasing efforts during subsequent
centuries, it took another 500 years to understand
and acknowledge the importance of cerebrovas-
cular diseases in neurology and medicine: Stroke
is the third leading cause of mortality and the
second one of economic burden worldwide
due to its frequent lack of full recovery and
impact on dependency of its victims.
Only since more than a few decades ago, the
management and prevention of cerebrovascular
diseases became the most challenging task for
Cerebrovascular Diseases, Fig. 1 Thomas Willis
(Wikimedia Italia)
neurologists because of an estimated prevalence
in Europe of nearly 10 million people. World-
wide stroke kills an estimated 5.7 million people
who in their book Fabrica presented outstanding annually, it is a major public health issue and
neuroanatomical diagrams in copper plates and among the leading causes of immobility and
woodcuts. Thomas Willis (1621–1675) (Fig. 1) long-term disability. There are two main types
indeed coined the term neurology taking its root of stroke, the most common is ischemic stroke
neuro from the Greek in his Cerebri Anatome, caused by thromboembolic clots narrowing or
although the structure for which he is still remem- blocking blood vessels (about 80%), followed
bered was actually described earlier by several by hemorrhagic stroke caused by bleeds from
others, such as Gabriel Fallopius (1523–1562), blood vessels in the brain or in the subarachnoid
Johann Vesling (1595–1649), professor of anat- space (about 20%). With increasing age, hemor-
omy and surgery at Padua, and Johann Jacob rhagic stroke becomes more frequent and is esti-
Wepfer (1620–1695), a Swiss physician from mated to grow within the next decade up to 30%.
Schaffhausen, who was affiliated to a convent The onset of stroke is often sudden; however,
where he was able to follow his patients from about one third of the patients present with warn-
disease to autopsy. Actually Wepfer’s vascular ing signs followed by immediate full recovery
anatomy of the brain in his Historiae apoplecticum within minutes or a few hours (so-called TIAs –
described the polygon of arteries at the bottom of transient ischemic attacks). Although TIAs have
the brain already years before Willis. In addition, gained increasing public awareness, they are
he identified the carotids penetrating from the often misinterpreted as benign events although
extra- to the intracranial space forming a segment the immediate risk of permanent stroke after
now known as carotid siphon. His insight into a TIA can be as high as eight- to tenfold within
clinical correlations was also advanced over his a few weeks after the qualifying event in the
time since he reported on the sudden clinical man- presence of active carotid or cardiogenic sources
ifestations secondary to carotid artery blocking as of embolism. It is, therefore, important to seek
well as bleeding into the brain as causes for apo- emergency advice in a specialized stroke center,
plexy and was the first to emphasize the associa- whether or not full recovery of symptoms occurs.
tion of speech disorders with right hemiplegia This new management of stroke has decreased
C 338 Cerebrovascular Diseases
Cerebrovascular Diseases, Fig. 2 Johann Jacob Wepfer award (European Stroke Conference ESC)
mortality significantly. Furthermore, acute treat- neurologists, internists, clinicians, physiothera-

ment of patients early after onset in stroke units pists, speech therapists, etc.
and comprehensive stroke centers has improved However, with increasing age, cardiogenic
the chances for full recovery and independence causes of ischemic stroke have also increased
strikingly, mainly because of early thrombolysis and along with small vessel diseases today
of acute ischemic stroke. Increase in public contribute to more than 50% of stroke etiologies
awareness has advanced general knowledge potentially leading to vascular dementia. Risk
about risk factors, early signs of symptoms, and factors of atherosclerosis such as hypertension,
potential treatment facilities: Time is brain and hyperlipidemia, smoking, diabetes mellitus, and
stroke is an emergency has been coined for health anticoagulation disorders increase with aging but
care strategies and information in the newspa- are already present in younger stroke victims.
pers, television, and advertisements. Conse- People with risk factors for stroke need careful
quently appropriate diagnosis and treatment has control and regular advice with regard to medi-
been disseminated around the world by multiple cation and recommended lifestyle changes. The
professional medical specialties including para- value of physical activity as well as continuous
medics, emergency and general physicians, mental and cognitive activity has only recently
Cerebrovascular Diseases 339 C
been addressed scientifically both in experimen- utmost importance as is the correct interpretation
tal and clinical studies. There is no doubt about of signs of stroke: Complete infarction in the
their effectiveness in stroke prevention and stra- largest territory of the middle cerebral artery
tegic capacity of best aging. Lifestyle changes (MCA) is a life-threatening event and can cause
should be added to modification of risk factors deviation of the head and eyes from the
and urgent action should be taken both for pri- hemiplegic side involving face, arm, and leg,
mary and secondary prevention (of recurrent sometimes along with hemisensory loss and hom- C
stroke after a qualifying event). High blood pres- onymous hemianopia. Dominant hemisphere
sure should be lowered (<130/80–85 mmHg), lesions produce various sorts of speech distur-
and diabetes mellitus be controlled to maintain bances (aphasia) while nondominant hemisphere
HbA1c values below 6.5% levels. People with lesions produce contralateral neglect with dysar-
cholesterol levels >190 mg/dl and cardiovascular thria, sometimes dysphagia and impairment in
disease, including TIAs/stroke, are likely to ben- spatial orientation. It has to be mentioned, how-
efit from cholesterol-lowering regimens as do ever, that occlusions of branches of the MCA can
patients with multiple risk factors, requesting cause quite strange, sometimes misdiagnosed or
statins in many conditions. Smokers can reduce even silent deficits, i.e., non-fluent speech,
their overall risk of cardiovascular mortality and impaired repetition ability, calculation failures,
morbidity considerably by cessation of smoking, body texture abnormalities, position sense distur-
and alcohol intake should be limited to reason- bances, etc. Emotional apathy and constructional
able doses. By the age of 55, healthy people impairment, mutism, abulia, muteness, and
should regularly be controlled for silent cardio- reduced spontaneity may result from branch
vascular disease; in particular, they should occlusions of the anterior cerebral arteries, and
undergo regular noninvasive diagnostic testing memory disturbances, illusions, cortical blind-
in order not to oversee developing diseases such ness, and agitation are characteristic signs
as atrial fibrillation and atherosclerosis. resulting from occluded branches of the posterior
Mechanisms of recovery and rehabilitation are cerebral artery, all sometimes difficult to identify.
by far better understood than 10 or 20 years ago Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)
and offer a spectacular potential for patients with accounts for 10–15% of all strokes and has
focal disturbances of sensori-motor and neuro- a higher mortality rate than ischemic stroke or
psychological deficits. This is of utmost impor- subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Most frequent
tance because neurodegeneration and vascular causes are hypertension, cerebral amyloid
diseases of the brain coincide in the elderly and angiopathy, coagulopathy, vascular anomalies,
cause multiple cognitive problems and changes in tumors, and drugs; however, hypertension is the
personality: Emotional disturbances, depression, greatest modifiable risk factor for ICH.
psychomotor retardation slowing of executive Bleedings into the vessel walls (so-called dis-
cognitive function as well as decline of intellec- sections) and blockage of draining veins and
tual power may all limit people’s independency sinuses are common causes of hemorrhagic stroke
and are among the most feared and disastrous in younger men and women and may be
complications in otherwise healthy aging overlooked both by patients and nonexpert
populations. healthcare people. Once severe ICH has occurred,
Diagnostic instruments have improved and treatment is still limited, unfortunately. This is to
contributed to much better strategies in stroke some extent also true for SAH, mainly caused by
prevention and treatment. Based on clinical aneurysmal bleedings (80%) from ruptured forma-
signs and symptoms, they are prepared to identify tions. In the older literature, saccular aneurysms
sources and degree of brain lesions quickly and are sometimes called “congenital” which is mis-
noninvasively without producing harm to the leading; although a hereditary defect of the vessel
patient in the acute condition. In addition, identi- wall is likely to contribute foremost, aneurysms
fication of subjects at risk for recurrences is of the develop during the course of life, enlarge over
C 340 Ceremony
years to decades until they become symptomatic in

young and middle aged patients. Today they can Chan
be identified in advance by noninvasive vascular/
brain imaging (CTA/MRA). However, it is largely Steffen Döll
unknown why some patients develop aneurysms Japan Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit€at
and others do not. Surgery may be indicated in M€unchen, Munich, Germany
patients with a high risk for bleeding complication
and after SAH in the presence of multiple
aneurysms. Description
In summary, the history of stroke and cerebro-
vascular diseases covers more than 2000 years of The term “Chan” contracts channa, the Chinese
well-known but misunderstood clinical signs and transliteration of Sanskrit dhyāna or meditation/
symptoms. Emergency management, prevention contemplation. Chan denotes a school of Chinese
of first ever and recurrent events has only very Buddhism that, generally speaking, values medi-
recently been achieved. Today we are faced with tative insight over scholastic knowledge. Chan
challenging questions about recovery and reha- denies to be based on scriptural exegesis (as is
bilitation as important mechanisms of brain reor- the case with all the other schools of Buddhism)
ganization and plasticity anticipating healthy and therefore sees itself as a unique – and supe-
aging as well as repair mechanisms after detri- rior – tradition within Buddhism in general. Its
mental lesions. With increasing age of modern key concepts are those of transmission and
populations, neuro- and vascular degeneration of immediacy.
the brain will become a major issue for transla- This entry will present Chan in terms of its
tional research (¼ basic experimental and clinical intradenominational characterization, its hagiog-
research) to prevent people from dementing raphy, its religious practice, and its relevance as
illnesses causing disastrous cognitive decline an object of scholarly analysis.
and loss of intact personality.
Characteristics
Cross-References
Central to Chan’s self-representation is the claim
▶ Dementia that the Buddha transmitted not only teachings as
▶ History pointers toward and mediations of truth but also
awakening itself as immediate realization of
truth. The transmission of awakening is based
References on direct communication between the heart of
European Stroke Conference. www.eurostroke.eu
the Buddha (and/or his successors, the so-called
Fields, W. S., & Lemak N. A. (1989). A history of stroke. Chan patriarchs, chanzu) and the heart of the
New York: Oxford University Press disciple. This process is commonly called
Hennerici, M. G., Kern, R., Szabo, K., & Binder, J. (eds) “using the heart to transmit the heart” (yixin
(2012). Stroke. UK: Oxford University Press
zhuanxin) and crystallized in a lineage of Chan
Mohr, J. P., et al. (Eds.). (2011). Stroke: Pathophysiology,
diagnosis, and management (5th ed.). New York: teachers who took custody of awakening, passing
Churchill Livingstone. it on unaltered through the ages. Thus, every
World Stroke Organisation. www.world-stroke.org/ Chan practitioner, if a part of this enlightened
tradition, has access to the same awakening that
the Buddha himself had experienced.
Ceremony Chan is, in general, critical of what is taken to
be the scholastic profanization of language and
▶ Ritual hesitant to employ discursive and argumentative
Chan 341 C
prose. This is because in light of the importance verbalization, his teachings could not but remain
of heart-to-heart transmission, the communica- at the level of mere approximation, relative in
tion between master and disciple holds soterio- nature, and as such incongruent with the abso-
logical significance that supersedes linguistic luteness of reality. Out of this incongruity, Chan
interpretation or textual analysis. The disciple is derives its founding myth: On one occasion,
urged, not to intellectually understand a certain instead of delivering the expected sermon, the
dogma but to transform her existence precisely by Buddha simply presented a flower to his congre- C
abandoning the intellect’s restrictions. Specific gation. This met with incomprehension in every
communicative models include nonverbal ele- but one case: Kāśyapa, a long-standing disciple
ments (blows, gestures, silence, shouts, etc.) as of the Buddha, smiled in understanding. There-
well as sophisticated verbal strategies (anecdotal upon, the Buddha declared that a transverbal trans-
and poetic quotations, seemingly random inter- mission had taken place and that Kāśyapa was to
jections, pithy remarks, spite, etc.). These are be revered as his successor and the future custo-
used to weaken the student’s rational attachment dian of awakening (Wumenguan 2005, case 6).
to self and world. Having deconstructed rational- Through Kāśyapa, a lineage of transmission
ity as the main impediment to immediacy, the had formed that in its 28th (sometimes also 29th)
student is referred to the ancient patriarchs and generation reached China in the person of the
her present master as objects of mimesis. Awak- Indian monk Bodhidharma around the turn of
ening is, in a manner of speaking, rehearsed the sixth century. When Bodhidharma had spent
mimetically, and at some point, the student 9 years in unbroken and motionless meditation
achieves the same immediate realization of truth inside a cave, he accepted his first disciple
as the Buddha. She is then acknowledged by her (though only after the latter had cut off his own
master as a follower of the Chan tradition and arm below the elbow to prove his determination;
thus a direct successor of the Buddha himself. Wumenguan 2005, case 41). Thus, Bodhidharma
In summary, by traditional account, Chan: came to be regarded as the founding father and
• Establishes neither words nor letters first Chinese patriarch of Chan. His exchange
• Is a separate tradition beyond the teachings with emperor Wu of Liang (r. 502–549) is
• Points directly to the human heart among the most famous of Chan anecdotes.
• Reveals awakening in every practitioner’s Upon their first meeting, the emperor, being an
nature and perfects the Buddha ardent supporter of Buddhism, inquired as to how
many merits his considerable endowments had
earned him. Bodhidharma cut him short: “No
Hagiography merits at all.” When the emperor then asked
about the nature of truth, Bodhidharma again
In keeping with the pivotal role accorded to gave a short-spoken answer: “Everything lies in
authentic transmission, Chan relies heavily on plain view, and nothing sacred is in sight” (Biyanlu
anecdotes that present the ancient masters as 2003, case 1), thereby thoroughly negating the
blueprints of impersonated enlightenment. This possibility to earn merits, rationally explain truth,
tendency resulted in a vast corpus of anecdotal or speculate on the underlying nature of reality.
literature that typically belongs to the “recorded By the Tang dynasty (618–907), a Chan com-
sayings” (yulu) genre. These texts form an inte- munity had begun to grow on Chinese soil that
gral part of Chan’s self-understanding and con- over the years drew more and more followers.
cisely outline its hagiography. Some examples The fifth Chinese patriarch, Hongren, supervised
shall be given below. a congregation of considerable size but was
In the traditional account, the Buddha, having unable to decide on a suitable successor. Having
awakened to the ultimate truth by way of silent called on his advanced students to give expres-
meditation, began his teaching career. But as sion to the profundity of their insight in rhyme, he
his awakening surpassed the limitations of praised his disciple Shenxiu’s work above all
C 342 Chan
others: “The body is the bodhi tree under which early thirteenth century and was made known
the Buddha had his awakening, and the heart is internationally in modern times.
like a bright mirror’s pedestal. Take pains to Nowadays, Chan remains a dynamic, even
always wipe it clean! Let no speck of dust settle vibrant tradition in Taiwan and continues to draw
upon it!” However, Huineng, an illiterate kitchen followers also on the Chinese mainland. It has had
helper, heard about these verses and in reply had major influence on the development of Korean Son,
his own version inscribed on the monastery’s Japanese Zen, and meditative forms of East Asian
walls: “Actually, there is no tree in awakening, Buddhism as received in the Americas and Europe.
and a pedestal has nothing to do with the bright
mirror. Originally, there is not a single thing. So
how could there be any place for dust to settle Practice
upon?” (Liuzu tanjing 2008) Officially, master
Hongren scolded Huineng for his temerity but in In terms of practice, Chan relies heavily on seated
secret revealed him to be the actual inheritor of meditation (zuochan; hence its name). Roughly
the Buddha’s awakening. speaking, two different meditative techniques
Subsequently, a dispute over the patriarchal may be distinguished:
succession arose, and Chan was divided into the • Insight into an Anecdote (kanhua): The master
Northern school of Shenxiu and the Southern presents her disciple with an anecdote or
school of Huineng. As the quotation above indi- a rationally irresolvable dilemmatic question
cates, matters came to a head over the ideological (a so-called gong’an, literally “public notice”)
issue of whether enlightenment was a gradual which forms the basis of meditative practice.
process (the Northern position) or a sudden • Silent Illumination (mozhao): Practice is
breakthrough (the Southern position). Within reduced to silent, objectless sitting meditation;
only a few decades, the gradualist position had prolonged practice produces spontaneous
relegated into other, more speculative and scho- enlightenment.
lastic traditions. Subitism became the only ideo- Beyond these, however, in Chan monasteries –
logical and rhetorical standard for Chan. Even while entertaining close ties to a considerable
today, every existing lineage traces itself back community of lay followers, Chan has developed
to Huineng as sixth patriarch and adheres to the forms of monasticism that have had major impe-
sudden enlightenment approach he advocated. tus on the general development of Buddhist insti-
A series of great masters furthered Chan’s tutions in East Asia – there is also an array of
development in the eighth and ninth centuries rituals that may be employed in varying degrees.
and produced parallel lineages: the so-called These include work around the buildings and
Five Houses (wujia) with distinct “family styles” gardens (zuomu), one-on-one encounters with
(jiafeng). These ranged from metaphysical spec- the master (canchan), question-and-answer ses-
ulation (Caodong faction) to eclectic consider- sions (wendang) during which a student’s doubts
ations about the fundamental unity of Buddhist are addressed or her enlightenment put to the test,
diversity (Fayan/Yunmen factions) and to radical recitation of scriptures (kanjing), teachings and
antinomianism (Linji/Guiyang factions). These interpretative readings by advanced monks (fayu),
diverse readings of what constitutes the Chan and observations on memorial days, prayer, social
tradition dominated the general Buddhist dis- work, etc. If based on the proper Chan-like atti-
course in China well into the Song dynasty period tude, all these are seen as spiritual practices of
(960–1279). Under the guidance of the Five equal value.
Houses, Chan reached its apex. Later Chinese
developments are traditionally regarded as mere Criticism
repetitions at best, deteriorations at worst. In this
mature form Chan was transmitted to Japan While the traditional narrative outlined above
(where it is called Zen) in the late twelfth and remains unbroken in denominational circles,
Chan 343 C
Chan’s self-characterization in terms of authen- a product of subitist rhetoric that attempted
ticity and immediacy has increasingly been chal- to marginalize gradualism and deny its
lenged from philological and historical influence.
perspectives and in academic circles is counted • An analysis of the tenth-century texts has
as a hagiographical and ideological construct. yielded data that the traditional focus on med-
This antitraditional reading of Chan became pos- itative experience and authoritative lineage
sible, above all else, by the discovery of a large had been challenged by scripture-focused C
corpus of Chinese manuscripts dating from the approaches within Chan itself.
fifth to the eleventh centuries in a sealed cave • Ritual has been emphasized as a main, if not
near the Silk Road oasis of Dunhuang (Gansu the major concept in an analysis of Chan prac-
prefecture, western China) in the year 1900. tice, casting doubts over the claim to radical
This corpus included several hitherto unknown iconoclasm and meditational authenticity
Buddhist texts that shed new light on the histor- (cf. Heine & Wright, 2008).
ical development of Chan and resulted in the • Chan’s self-representation has convincingly
acknowledgement that Chan had to be seen not been shown to be a Song era and even later
as a transhistorical absolute but as a phenomenon product that owes much of its present-day
in historical context (cf. especially the ground- popularity to the missionary efforts of Suzuki
breaking studies by Yanagida Seizan (1922– and his epigones.
2006)). In scientific terms, Chan is, far from being Thus, in recent years Chan has come to be
a manifestation of unchanging reality beyond the understood less as a monolith of religious truth
contingencies of time, a relatively late development but as a historically conditioned, highly complex
in the history of Buddhism that draws on a plurality sociopolitical phenomenon. Its critical analysis
of sources for inspiration and legitimation. continues to produce relevant insights into,
While this viewpoint has met with consider- among others, the historical relation between
able resistance from the believers’ side (cf. the state and religion or society and tradition, respec-
dispute between Hu Shi (1891–1962) and Suzuki tively; the role of meditation vis-à-vis ritual in
Daisetsu (1870–1966) in Philosophy East and religious practice; strategic issues centering on
West 3/1 (1953)), the “Golden Age” of Chan the authoritative nature of scripture versus tradi-
iconoclasts during the Tang era has been proved tion; and problems in the transcultural reception
to be a mythological construct. For the sake of of religions and ideas.
securing religious prestige – and actual political
power as well – Song dynasty adherents of Chan
developed a narrative that allowed them to pre-
sent their own tradition as the superior form of Cross-References
Buddhism. In consequence, Song Chan has come
to command scholarly attention (cf. Gregory and ▶ Awakening
Getz 2002; Schl€ utter 2008). At the same time, ▶ Buddha (Historical)
efforts continue to contextualize Tang Chan, ▶ Buddhist Canonical Literature
resulting in the deconstruction of traditional hagi- ▶ Buddhist Meditation Practices
ography (cf. McRae 1986; Faure 1991; Welter ▶ Ritual
2008). To give a few examples:
• Bodhidharma has been disclosed as a pan-
denominational figure that is not only an anti-
nomian Chan master but also incorporates References
ritual aspects as well as scholastic modes of
Takakusu, J., & Watanabe, K., (Eds.). (1924–1932).
argumentation. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō (Vol. 100). Tokyo: Taishō
• The schism between the Northern and the issaikyō kankōkai. Abbreviated as T; references are
Southern school has turned out to be rather by volume, serial number, page, and column.
C 344 Character
Primary Sources Description

Biyanlu, T48.2003:139a–225c (T. Cleary & J. C. Cleary
(Trans.) (1977). The blue cliff record. Boston:
Thermodynamics originated from study of heat
Shambhala).
Liuzu tanjing, T 48.2008:346a-362b, J.R. McRae (Trans.) engines, engines that convert heat to mechanical
(2000). The platform sutra of the sixth patriarch. motion. Prior to the invention and the use of
Translated from the Chinese Tongkao. Berkeley: steam engines (James Watt obtained a patent for
Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research.
his version of the steam engine in 1769), the
Wumenguan, T48. 2005:292a–299c (R. Aitken (Trans.)
(1990). The gateless barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan machines of the eighteenth century were driven
(Mumonkan). San Francisco: North Point Press). by wind, water, and animals: They transformed
one type of motion to another. In contrast, the
Secondary Sources steam engine converted heat to motion: an
Faure, B. (1991). The rhetoric of immediacy: A cultural entirely new way of generating motion, which
critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton
heralded the industrial revolution. Only in the
University Press.
Gregory, P. N., & Getz, D. A., Jr. (Eds.). (2002). Buddhism following century, when the steam engine’s role
in the Sung. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. in transforming society was plainly visible, was
Heine, S., & Wright, D. S. (Eds.). (2008). Zen Ritual: a systematic study of its fundamentals under-
Studies of Zen Buddhist theory in practice. Oxford/
taken. The most significant contribution to this
McRae, J. (1986). The northern school and the formation field came from Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot,
of early Ch’an Buddhism. Honolulu: University of who discovered the fundamental limits to the
Hawai’i Press. efficiency of heat engines that convert heat to
Schl€utter, M. (2008). How Zen became Zen: The dispute
mechanical energy. This line of work eventually
over enlightenment and the formation of Chan
Buddhism in Song-Dynasty China. Honolulu: Univer- led, in the hands of Rudolph Clausius, Lord
sity of Hawai’i Press. Kelvin, and others, to the formulation of the
Welter, A. (2008). The Linji lu and the creation of Chan Second Law of Thermodynamics. This law
orthodoxy. The development of Chan’s records of
established the fundamental irreversibility of nat-
sayings literature. Oxford/New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press. ural processes, or the arrow of time as an objec-
tive reality (http en wikipedia org wiki Entropy
2999).
During the nineteenth century, with the new
Character instruments that were constructed, heat, electric-
ity, and chemical reactions were investigated and
▶ Personality Psychology many new laws governing these phenomena were
formulated. It also became evident, that all these
phenomena were interrelated: Chemical reac-
tions could produce heat (exothermic reactions),
and heat could drive chemical reactions (endo-
Chemical Thermodynamics thermic reactions); so it was with electricity
which could drive “electrochemical” reactions
Dilip Kondepudi and vice versa; heat could generate motion and
Department of Chemistry, Wake Forest motion could generate electricity. While these
University, Salem, NC, USA interconnected processes were being investi-
gated, the idea that there was one quantity, the
energy, that was conserved in all these transfor-
Related Terms mations was born. Many contributed to this con-
cept, most notably, James Prescott Joule,
Energy; Entropy; Gibbs energy; Helmholtz Germain Henry Hess, Julius Robert von Mayer,
energy; Rate of entropy production; Self- and Herman von Helmholtz. This development
organization; Thermodynamics and understanding of the concept of energy and
Chemical Thermodynamics 345 C
its conservation led to the formulation of the First has raised profound questions about our universe,
Law of Thermodynamics, which states that in the arrow of time and the theory of evolution.
every transformation, total energy of all systems In the twenty-first century, thermodynamics
involved must be conserved; transformations in will find new areas, such as sustainable
which the energy is not conserved do not take energy use and economies, to which it will
place in nature – though we can easily conceive contribute.
of them. Heat and Energy. The concept of kinetic and C
The two laws of thermodynamics are the foun- potential energy and the conditions under which
dation of the subject. In the nineteenth century, their sum, the total mechanical energy, is con-
Clausius, Kelvin, Gibbs brought all the contribu- served was well known in the nineteenth century.
tions to the subject into coherent whole and for- This formalism also included the concept of
mulated what is currently called classical mechanical work, which is defined as the product
thermodynamics. As will be shown below, this of force and the displacement of the body upon
formalism made thermodynamics a theory of which the force acted. The unit for measuring
states and has no direct connections to the pro- mechanical energy was the erg. But the nature
cesses that transformed the states. Later, two of heat was still under debate in the nineteenth
other laws were added to the formalism, called century. The caloric theory of heat, which posited
the Zeroth Law and the Third Law. The Zeroth that heat was some sort of fluid, and the amount of
Law states that if system A is in thermal equilib- heat was measured by its effect in raising the
rium with system B, and B is in thermal equilib- temperature of a substance; the unit for the mea-
rium with C, then A must be in thermal suring the amount of heat was called the calorie,
equilibrium with C. The Third Law gives us the a term still in use along with the term “calorime-
means to assign an absolute value to entropy; it try,” the science of measuring heat. On the other
states that as the temperature approaches zero, the hand, the mechanical theory argued that heat was
entropy of a system also approaches zero. a measure of mechanical motion of molecules.
Though these two laws are essential for the com- The experiments of James Prescott Joule
pleteness of the formalism of thermodynamics, established the equivalence between mechanical
their physical consequences are not as far energy and heat energy. With his carefully
reaching as those of the First and Second Laws. designed experiments, and state of the art calo-
During the twentieth century, contributions to rimetry, Joule proved that when mechanical
thermodynamics made by Lars Onsager and Ilya energy is converted to heat, there was an equiva-
Prigogine made thermodynamics a theory of irre- lence: The amount of heat generated was propor-
versible processes (Ji 2012; Kondepudi 2008). It tional to the mechanical energy or work in the
related the production of entropy directly to nat- conversion process, regardless of the means or
ural processes and essentially restated the Second method through which the conversion took place.
Law in terms of processes and gave us a way to This implied that the two quantities, mechanical
relate the rates of production of entropy to the energy and calories, are two measures of the same
rates of processes such as heat flow. The contri- quantity, and that the calorie and the erg were
butions of Ilya Prigogine and his colleagues also measuring the same quantity – just as Celsius and
gave us insight into the dual role of irreversible Fahrenheit measure the same quantity, viz. tem-
processes: as both creators and destroyers of perature. Similarly, the measurement of energy in
order (http en wikipedia org wiki Entropy other processes, such as electromagnetic and
2999; Prigogine 1947). Thermodynamics has chemical energies, can be proven to be equiva-
given us two fundamental quantities, energy and lent. This has led us to the current SI (Systeme
entropy, and two universal laws that govern International) energy unit, which is the Joule. In
them. The universality and practicality of these the currently used of units (Système international
laws make thermodynamics one of the most units), Joule’s experiments established that 1
important branches of human knowledge. And it cal ¼ 4.18 J.
C 346 Chemical Thermodynamics
The First Law of Thermodynamics. The for- now called the neutrino, was predicted on the
mulation of the First Law of Thermodynamics is basis of this law and experiments confirmed the
based on the contributions of many scientists. prediction. Any theory of natural processes that
One of the early contributions came from violates the law of conservation of energy is
Germain Hess, who established the fact that rejected as impossible.
heat released or absorbed during a chemical reac- The Second Law of Thermodynamics. The ori-
tion, called the heat of reaction, depended only on gin of this law can be traced back to 1824, when
the initial and final states of the system, and not Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, a brilliant military
on the manner in which the transformation was engineer, published a remarkable book, “Réflex-
accomplished. This led Hess to the formulation of ions sur la Puissance Motrice du Feu, et sur les
the law of additivity of heats of reaction: The Machines Propres a Développer cette Puissance”
total heat released or absorbed in an overall (“Reflections on the Motive Force of Fire and on
chemical reaction is equal to the sum of the heat the Machines Fitted to Develop that Power”). In it
released or absorbed in the chemical steps that he came to a far-reaching conclusion that even-
constitute the overall reaction. This law enabled tually led to the formulation of the Second Law of
the chemists to assign energy to each chemical Thermodynamics. Carnot analysis showed that
compounds and measure the changes in their while the energy of mechanical motion can all
energy in a chemical transformation. The law of (100 %) be converted to heat, the inverse process,
Hess implies that the total amount of energy, the conversion of heat energy to mechanical
chemical plus heat released or absorbed plus energy, has limitations. Carnot’s work showed
mechanical work (due to changes in the system’s that maximum efficiency of conversion of heat
volume), remains the same during the chemical energy to mechanical energy by a heat engine
reaction. This is the law of conservation of energy depends not on the mechanism of conversion
in the field of chemistry. but only on the temperatures between which it is
Following the work of Joule, Hess, and others, operating. In contemporary formulation of ther-
Julius Robert von Mayer and Herman von modynamics, this upper limit of efficiency is
Helmholtz suggested a universal conservation of expressed as (1Tcold/Thot), in which Tcold and
energy, a quantity conserved in all natural pro- Thot are the temperatures in Kelvin. Tcold and Thot
cesses. This is the First Law of Thermodynamics. are the temperatures between which the heat
Thus, every system could be said to have certain engine operates, i.e., the temperatures between
amount of energy, U. This energy is a state func- which heat flow takes place. Carnot’s observation
tion, i.e., it depends only on the current state of brought to light the fundamental irreversibility in
the system, not on the manner in which that state the conversion of mechanical energy to heat.
was reached. Carnot’s work led Rudolph Clausius to formulate
While it is true that our current understanding the concept of entropy and Second Law of
of the atomic structure of matter reveals that all Thermodynamics, which established the funda-
energy is, in its essence, kinetic and potential, in mental irreversibility of all natural processes.
practice, the measurement of energy is not based Entropy. The irreversibility that Carnot dis-
on this understanding. Indeed, the First Law of covered in his study of heat engines led to the
Thermodynamics can be formulated and could be formulation of the concept of entropy by Rudolph
stated entirely in macroscopic terms, regardless Clausius. The formalism he developed showed
of the structure of matter. It is important to note that entropy is a state function, i.e., an objectively
that the laws of thermodynamics can be stated measurable entropy, S, could be associated with
and verified entirely in macroscopic terms. The every system in equilibrium. The entropy of sys-
First Law of Thermodynamics or the law of contem depends on its current state and not on the
servation of energy is the cornerstone of science. manner in which the state was reached. The
It has withstood countless experimental tests. entropy of a system is independent of its history.
Even the existence of an elementary particle, Like energy, entropy is expressed as a function of
the variables, such as temperature, volume, and an isolated system is not predicted by the second
chemical composition that specify the state of law, but that the processes within the system will
a system. However, in the classical formalism of monotonously increase the entropy until it
Clausius, when a system’s state changes from one reaches its maximum value is its prediction.
equilibrium state to another, the changes in the When the system reaches its maximum entropy,
entropy of a system can only be computed for an it is in a state of equilibrium. Closed systems
idealized reversible process. A reversible pro- exchange energy with their environment in the C
cesses takes place at an infinitesimal rate, such form of heat and mechanical work, but they do
that entire evolution can be reversed returning the not exchange matter. Systems whose temperature
system and the rest of the universe exactly to their and volume are maintained constant also reach
original state. For such a processes, the change in the state of equilibrium. In doing so, they mini-
entropy is: mize a quantity called Helmholtz free energy or
simply Helmholtz energy, denoted by F. If U is
dS ¼ dQ=T (1) the total energy of the system, Helmholtz energy
F ¼ UTS, in which T is the system’s tempera-
in which dQ is the heat exchanged by the system ture and S is its entropy. Similarly, if the pressure
and T is its temperature. Natural processes, how- and temperature of a system are maintained con-
ever, are not reversible and they occur at a finite stant, the systems evolution minimizes a quantity
rate, not at an infinitesimal, rate. For such pro- termed Gibbs free energy or simply Gibbs
cesses, Clausius gave the inequality: energy, denoted by G. The Gibbs energy
G ¼ UTS + PV, in which P is the system’s
dS dQ=T (2) pressure and V its volume. The minimization of
Helmholtz and Gibbs energies are a direct conse-
This inequality implies that the entropy can quence of the second law. Gibbs energy is much
only increase or, in the case of idealized revers- used in chemical thermodynamics and biology.
ible process, remain unchanged, but never Similarly, depending on the constraints on the
decrease. Thus, the statement of the Second system, other quantities reach their minimum
Law: Natural processes increase the entropy of value. Such quantities are sometime referred to
the universe. The formalism gains its power and as thermodynamic potentials. Closed systems
applicability because changes in entropy between may or may not reach equilibrium. For example,
two equilibrium states depend only on the initial if one part of a system is heated while another is
and final states, and not on the manner in which cooled, there will be a continuous flow of heat
the change from the initial to the final state took through the system which keeps it from reaching
place. Thus, the changes in entropy due to irre- a state of equilibrium. The state of equilibrium is
versible processes can be computed using ideal- characterized by uniformity of temperature
ized reversible processes for which we have the throughout the system in which there is no flow
equality (Eq. 1). It is tacitly assumed that any of heat. Open systems are those that exchange
irreversible transformation of state from one both energy and matter with its exterior. Such
equilibrium state to another can also be achieved systems are generally maintained in a
through a reversible process for which dS ¼ dQ/T. nonequilibrium state through the flow of energy
Thermodynamic Systems. To understand the and matter. As will be described below, under
implications of the laws of thermodynamics, it appropriate conditions, such systems spontane-
is convenient to classify systems into isolated, ously make transitions to states that are “orga-
closed, and open systems. Isolated systems do nized” with more structure than equilibrium
not exchange any matter or energy with their systems. Living systems are examples of systems
environment. In such systems, the entropy that maintain their structure through continuous
reaches its maximum possible value. The rate at exchange of matter and energy with their
which entropy will reach its maximum value in environment.
Twentieth Century Thermodynamics Formal- or negative. For instance, in a closed system

ism. Though the wide range of applications and which exchanges heat, deS ¼ dQ/T, depending
usefulness of classical thermodynamics are on whether the system is receiving heat or releas-
beyond any question, its limitations are quite ing heat, deS is positive or negative, respectively.
clear in its formalism. As expressed in equation The second term, diS, relates entropy to irrevers-
(Eq. 1) the change in entropy, dS ¼ dQ/T, can be ible processes. It might be thought as a term that
calculated only for reversible processes. For irre- converts the inequality (Eq. 2) to an equality. It is
versible processes, we only have an inequality: dS expressed in terms of thermodynamic forces, Fk
dQ/T. The formalism does not have a way to and thermodynamic flows Jk (the subscripts iden-
calculate the changes in entropy for an irrevers- tify different forces and corresponding flows).
ible process. So it confines itself to calculating Each irreversible process is associated with
changes in entropy between the “initial” and a thermodynamic force and a thermodynamic
“final” states of a transformation by constructing flow. Thermodynamic forces drive thermody-
a reversible process that connects the same states. namic flows. For example, a gradient of temper-
Consequently, in this formalism, entropy has no ature is the thermodynamic force that drives the
direct link to irreversible processes that produce flow of heat. The change in entropy due to irre-
the entropy that is computed. Classical thermo- versible processes, in a time interval dt, is
dynamics is thus a theory of thermodynamic expressed as:
states; irreversible processes are not a part of
the theory. The processes for which entropy di S ¼ ðFk Jk Þdt 0; or di S=dt ¼ Fk Jk 0 (4)
changes can be computed are idealized, infinitely
slow reversible processes. As a result, the theory That is, the product of a force and flow is the
does not consider rates of changes of thermody- rate at which entropy is produced by that pro-
namic quantities. In short, there is no time in the cesses. When several forces and flows are at
theory. To relate entropy to irreversible pro- work, di,S/dt, the rate of entropy production, is
cesses and convert inequality (Eq. 2) to an the sum of all the force-flow products. In chem-
equality, we need to know how entropy is related ical systems, the thermodynamic force that drives
to irreversible processes that we observe in chemical reactions is called Affinity, a quantity
nature. During the twentieth century, contribu- introduced by De Donder (Kondepudi and
tions made by Onsager, Prigogine, (both Prigogine 1998). In this formalism, the second
received the Nobel Prize for their contributions law is stated as:
to thermodynamics) and others, thermodynam-
ics became a theory that is capable of describing
di S 0: (5)
irreversible processes. The twentieth century
formalism, which we will refer to as modern
thermodynamics, expresses the changes in That is, all irreversible processes increase
entropy of a system, dS, as a sum of two parts entropy. All processes in nature are irreversible
(http en wikipedia org wiki Entropy 2999; Ji and take place at a nonzero, finite rate. Thus, the
2012; Kondepudi 2008; Kondepudi and second law states that every natural process
Prigogine 1998): increases entropy. However, the entropy of
a given system need not increase. In isolated
dS ¼ de S þ di S (3) systems, deS ¼ 0; the changes in entropy are
entirely due to processes within the system, diS,
in which deS is the change in the entropy of the and they are always positive, i.e., the entropy of
system due to the exchange of energy and matter an isolated system can only increase. When the
with its exterior while diS is the change in entropy system reaches equilibrium, diS ¼ 0; there are no
of the system due to irreversible processes that processes taking place in the system. Everything
take place within the system. deS can be positive in the system is static and the temperature is
uniform. In closed and open systems, deS could interpretation of the second law is that when
be positive or negative (sometimes called chemical reactions take place, the entropy
“negentropy” if it is negative) but the entropy increases. When the BZ system is sufficiently
produced by the processes within the system far from equilibrium, however, the concentra-
diS 0, in accordance with the second law. The tions begin to oscillate spontaneously, like an
change in entropy of a system, dS ¼ deS + diS, organized clock. The non-monotonic oscillatory
can be negative if deS is negative and sufficiently change in concentrations is perfectly consistent C
large in magnitude to overcome the positive with the second law because it is the consequence
contribution of diS. This is what happens in of irreversible chemical reactions which increase
living cells whose entropy can decrease. Such the entropy. The same irreversible chemical pro-
a decrease in entropy of a system is not in any cesses lead to both monotonic concentration
way in contradiction with the second law which changes toward static equilibrium state and the
mandates diS 0. dynamic, “organized” oscillatory changes in con-
The Dual Role of Irreversible Processes. centration. They destroy order when close to an
Twentieth century thermodynamics brought to equilibrium state but create order when a system
light an important aspect of nature: self- is far from equilibrium. The realization of the role
organization. The inexorable evolution to equi- of irreversible processes (that dissipate free
librium has often been talked about as evolution energy) while creating ordered states has
toward “disorder.” The association of the concept given rise to the term Dissipative Structures,
of entropy to “disorder” is unfortunate and has led structures we see in nature that are generated
to much confusion. It had misled people to think and maintained by entropy producing dissipative
that the second law implied that a system could processes. This term was coined by Ilya
not spontaneously evolve to an ordered state in Prigogine and represents an important concept
which its entropy decreases. All this changed, in understanding order and disorder in nature
however, when it was discovered in the early (Nicolis and Prigogine 1977). Dissipative struc-
part of twentieth century that when a system is tures are often used synonymously with “self-
far from equilibrium, it can spontaneously organizing chemical reaction diffusion systems”
become ordered. One of the first and much stud- (Nicolis and Prigogine 1977). The Belousov-
ied system is the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) Zhabotinsky reaction is a widely recognized
reaction in which the concentrations of the reac- example of self-organization; the Bernard
tants oscillate periodically like a clock. Under convection cells provide another type of example
other conditions, the same system generates (Ji 2012, p. 17).
propagating chemical concentration waves Thermodynamic Entropy versus Information-
(Nicolis and Prigogine 1977). These and other Theoretic Entropy. The term “entropy” was
systems that were discovered and studied subse- coined by Rudolf Clausius in 1865 as
quently revealed an important aspect of irrevers- a thermodynamic state function. In 1948, upon
ible processes (Nicolis and Prigogine 1977): their the recommendation of von Neumann, Shannon
dual role as both creators and destroyers of order. employed the same term to refer to H,
When a system is close to thermodynamic equi- a mathematical function (later known as the
librium and evolving toward it, irreversible pro- Shannon entropy) that he invented to quantify
cesses tend to reduce order. For example, when the average amount in bits of the information
the BZ system is close to thermodynamic equi- transmitted by a message. It had no connection
librium, the concentrations change monotoni- to the physical entropy that originated in
cally toward their equilibrium value at which Carnot-Clausius formulation of the concept. Fur-
the entire system becomes homogenous and thermore, Shannon’s formalism uses the term
static. This monotonic behavior has been associ- “information” in a very narrow sense. The main
ated with the inexorable increase in entropy, success of Shannon’s concept is in coding theory.
hence the second law. But the correct Shannon’s H is a measure of how much a message
coded in bits can be compressed by appropriately objects (also called particles), both macroscopic
coding it. The association of Shannon’s H with and microscopic, in space and time.
“entropy” is due to similar mathematical expres-
sion used to define the entropy of thermodynamic
system in terms of the micro-states of the system. Relevance to Science and Religion
To overcome terminological confusions and
facilitate logical analysis of the theoretical rela- Since chemical thermodynamics is one of the
tion between the thermodynamic entropy and best established branches of natural sciences, it
information-theoretic entropy, it was suggested should shed important light on the relation
in (Ji 2012, pp. 97–101) that the former be between science and religion. For example, the
referred to as the Boltzmann-Clausius entropy fact that both organisms and abiotic objects such
(designated as SBC) and the latter as the Shannon as rocks and stars are constituted of the same set
entropy (SS) and that SBC be viewed as a subset of of chemical elements and subject to the same set
SS. According to these suggestions, there are of thermodynamic principles (e.g., the First and
many different kinds of SS, of which only SBC is the Second Laws) may have profound conse-
subject to the Second Law of thermodynamics. In quences for the basic tenets of many religions in
contrast, Jaynes and his followers, for example, the world. Although both organisms and abiotic
assert that SS and SBC are identical within pro- systems are built out of the same building blocks,
portionality constant, implying that SS also obeys their properties and behaviors are dramatically
the Second Law of thermodynamics which is different because the way these building blocks
thought to be false. are organized in space and time is different.
Self-identification Sources of Authority
Science The authority of chemical thermodynamics as

Chemical thermodynamics is a subdiscipline of a subdiscipline of thermodynamics derives from
thermodynamics, one of the major branches of the fact that the laws of thermodynamics have
natural sciences which include astronomy, been tested and upheld by experiments without
Newtonian mechanics, optics, electromagnetism, any exception so far, since the late eighteenth
relativity theory, quantum mechanics, and statis- century.
tical mechanics. All these disciples represent
systematic knowledge about the universe that
has been acquired through observations/ Ethical Principles
experimentations, analysis of data utilizing math-
ematical and computational methods, and testing The principle of honesty and objectivity in
logically inferred predictions. accepting the results of experiments as they pre-
sent themselves to us is paramount in all scientific
activities, irrespective of whether or not the
Characteristics experimental data fit our theoretical conjectures.
Chemical thermodynamics is the study of the

changes in heat production or absorption and Key Values
structural organization and disorganization that
result from chemical transformations in macro- The principles and accumulated knowledge of
scopic and microscopic scales. This contrasts, for chemical thermodynamics are essential for scien-
example, with mechanics whose main focus is the tists and engineers to explain and understand their
study of the motions and their causes of material experimental data about material transformations
in and around us, which is a prerequisite for Truth
solving practical problems in industry and bio- A statement or proposition that has been formu-
medical sciences. lated based on logic, experimental data, and daily
life experiences.
Conceptualization Perception
The sum total of the stimuli that enters our con- C
Nature/World sciousness, leading to some registered traces in
It is common among chemical thermodynami- our nervous system.
cists to accept the model of nature and the uni-
verse formulated on the basis of astrophysical Time
observations in the form of the Big Bang theory. A physical parameter that increases unidirection-
ally just as the entropy of an isolated system does.
Human Being
Human being or Homo sapiens is thought to have Consciousness
originated on this planet about 2 million years The property of our nervous system that is aware
ago in Africa and spread around the world thereof its surrounding and its own activity, i.e., self-
after. Analysis of fossils gathered in Africa shows aware.
that Homo sapiens has evolved from the first
living systems that originated on this planet Rationality/Reason
some 3–4 billion years ago through spontaneous The ability of our mind to carry out thought
generation of self-reproducing chemical reac- processes in accordance with a set of logical
tions-diffusion systems, probably driven by ther- rules as well as natural laws.
mal gradient on the earth surface or deep in the
ocean floor. Mystery
Although much has been learned about the laws
Life and Death and principles underlying chemical transforma-
There are now sufficient chemical and computations in abiotic systems, there still remain many
tional evidence to indicate that life could have mysteries in chemical thermodynamics, espe-
originated on this planet from primordial pools of cially when applied to living processes. For
ordinary chemical compounds subject to temper- example, we all know that life cannot exist with-
ature gradient some 3–4 billion years ago. Some out chemical reactions (e.g., eating food) and yet
simple aspects of life, which is astronomically the molecular and submolecular mechanisms that
complex phenomenon, have been and is being couple chemical reactions to even the simplest of
successfully reproduced in laboratories around living processes, e.g., muscle contraction or
the world. active transport, are still poorly understood.
Reality
Chemical thermodynamicists tend to view reality Relevant Themes
as something that exists out there objectively and
independently of the observer and that the regu- With rise of computers that can manipulate digi-
larities embedded in reality can be uncovered tal sequences, the coding of “information” using
through experiments, logical analysis of data, digital sequences has resulted in a growing inter-
and hypothesis testing. est in the concept of information. This has led
some to identify two major theoretical and phil-
Knowledge osophical problems facing contemporary thermo-
A system of organized information that can be dynamics – (a) the relation between entropy and
applied to solving practical problems. information, and (b) the relation between energy
C 352 Child Surgery
and information. The debate on the entropy-

information relation began in 1948 with the Child Surgery
appearance of Shannon’s entropy formula for
the average amount of information carried by Dietrich von Schweinitz
a message, and the discussion of the energy- Pediatric Surgical Clinic, Dr. von Hauner
information relation may be said to have begun Children’s Hospital, University of Munich,
in 1985 when it was postulated that all living Muenchen, Germany
processes are driven by gnergy, defined as the
complementary union of energy and information
(reviewed in Sect. 2.3.2, 4.7 and 4.13 in (Ji Related Terms
2012)). There are scholars who believe that
entropy and information are basically identical. Paediatric surgery; Pediatric surgery; Surgery in
There are equally numerous scientists and philos- childhood
ophers who support the opposite views. These
debates are relevant to the science-religion dis-
courses because science is primarily concerned Description
with energy and matter, while religion has its
own perspectives on the origin of everything in Child surgery deals with all diseases of child-
our Universe including energy, matter, and hood, for which a surgical operation may contrib-
information. ute to therapy. Childhood comprises all humans
from birth to 16 years of age and also includes
fetuses and premature newborns (The European
Cross-References Pediatric Surgeons’ Association; The American
Pediatric Surgical Association; World Federation
▶ Astrophysics of Associations of Pediatric Surgeons). While
▶ Complex Systems child surgery encloses diseases of all organs of
▶ Energy in Physics the body and thus is the historical root of the
▶ Physics discipline ▶ pediatric surgery, the latter nowa-
▶ Time days concentrates in most countries on diseases
of the inner organs and skeletomuscular system
(Ashcraft et al. 2005; Oldham et al. 2005). Espe-
References cially surgery of the heart, the eyes, the ears, and
the brain concerning specialized operations in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy children have recently become subspecialties of
Ji, S. (2012). Molecular theory of the living cell: Concepts, the organ surgery specialties. Because of the rel-
molecular mechanisms, and biomedical applications. ative rarity of many surgical diseases of child-
New York: Springer.
Kondepudi, D. (2008). Introduction to modern thermody-
hood, pediatric surgery is more and more
namics. Chichester: Wiley. concentrated to large children’s hospitals and
Kondepudi, D., & Prigogine, I. (1998). Modern thermo- university clinics.
dynamics: From heat engines to dissipative structures.
Chichester: Wiley.
Nicolis, G., & Prigogine, I. (1977). Self-organization in
non-equilibrium systems. London: Wiley. Self-Identification
Prigogine, I. (1947). Etude thermodynamique des
processus irreversibles. Liege: Desoer. Science
Prigogine, I. (1967). Introduction to thermodynamics of
irreversible processes. New York: Wiley.
Pediatric surgery deals with the treatment as well
Prigogine, I., & Defay, R. (1954). Chemical thermody- as research of diseases of humans during the
namics. London: Longmans. period of growth and differentiation, that is,
Child Surgery 353 C
fetuses to approximately 16 years of age. Characteristics
Important aspects are the normal physiology of
growing organs and tissues, as well as the patho- Pediatric surgery is one specialty of human med-
physiology of abnormal developments and icine. It is distinctive to other medical disciplines
resulting malformations. Furthermore, surgically in that it is concerned with disorders of fetuses,
relevant acquired diseases of childhood caused children, and adolescents with a surgical rele-
by infections and inflammation, trauma and neo- vance, that is, may need a surgical operation. C
plastic (tumor) growth are subject of research and Therefore, the special interest lies on the biology,
treatment in pediatric surgery. diagnosis, and treatment of these diseases and
In research, pediatric surgery is active in malformations.
performing (1) basic biological investigations
and (2) clinical studies. Here, methods and tech-
niques of cellular biology, molecular biology, Relevance to Science and Religion
genetics, physiology, anatomy, physics, chemis-
try, microbiology, biology, mathematics and Because of the many relationships the developing
statistics are applied according to the rules of human individual is bound to and the many influ-
these natural science disciplines. For clinical ences he or she is subject to, pediatric surgery is
research single or multicenter randomized or interested in many scholarly areas. This accounts
nonrandomized patient studies are used for all disciplines of human biology, as far as they
according to the rules of good clinical practice are dealing with the development of humans and
in order to develop evidence-based guidelines for their malformations and diseases, also all special-
treatment (von Schweinitz and Ure 2009). ties concerned with the body, mind, and soul of
In clinical practice, pediatric surgery deals children and adolescents, but also with scholarly
with a broad spectrum of malformations and dis- areas engaged in the living and welfare of fami-
eases (subspecialties in parenthesis): those of the lies, education, sociology, culture, and politics
inner organs of the thorax and the abdomen including national and international conflicts
(pediatric visceral surgery), of the urogenital (i.e., pediatric traumatology and war damages),
system (pediatric urology), traumatic alterations finally ethics and religions.
of the skeletomuscular system (pediatric
traumatology), traumata and malformations of
the spine and the brain (pediatric neurosurgery), Sources of Authority
malformations in the newborn period (neonatal
surgery), and – at this time still mostly experi- Historically, the first authorities in the developing
mental – of the fetus (fetal surgery). For diag- discipline of pediatric surgery were surgeons who
nostics in pediatric surgery, all modern realized that the treatment of children with
techniques of clinical investigation, laboratory, malformations or diseases need specially trained
and radiology are applied modified to the physicians as well as a clinical setting adapted to
needs of children. For treatment, pediatric sur- the needs of children. In the nineteenth century,
gery utilizes all modalities of surgery, drug ther- first departments of pediatric surgery were
apy, physical therapy, and psychology used also established in Boston – USA, Paris – France,
in adults but modified to the needs of the indi- London – UK, Munich – Germany, and other
vidual age of the patients (Ashcraft et al. 2005; European countries. Today, authorities for pedi-
Oldham et al. 2005; von Schweinitz and Ure atric surgery and its subspecialties exist world-
2009). In research and clinical practice, pediat- wide. These usually have published handbooks
ric surgery is a close partner discipline to (some see reference list) and are organized in
all subspecialties of interne child medicine, national and international scientific pediatric
that is, pediatrics. surgical organizations (see reference list).
C 354 Child Surgery
Important periodicals are the Journal of Pediatric the human being the possibility of feeling and
Surgery, the European Journal of Pediatric Sur- abstract thinking, of philosophical and religious
gery, and Pediatric Surgery International. conceptualization. The body as well as the mind
are subject to development from one cell at the
beginning pregnancy.
Ethical Principles
Life and Death
As a medical discipline, Pediatric Surgery Life is the presence of functions of biological
throughout the world acknowledges and is guided systems including reproduction, growth, and dif-
by the Hippocratic Oath and the rules of the ferentiation. Death is the termination and absence
Declaration of Helsinki of 1971. Because fetuses, of such functions.
newborns, and children are not able to give
informed consent as adults, a special concern Reality
for the welfare of the individual patient in clinical Reality is understood as the materialistic world as
practice and research is mandatory for pediatric well as actions and products of minds, which can
surgeons. be sensed by the individual human being.
Knowledge
Key Values Knowledge is the accumulation of experiences,
facts, ideas by biological systems including the
The key values of Pediatric Surgery are: human being as well as by physical systems as
1. The optimal treatment of malformations and books, electronic devices, and others.
acquired diseases of the growing human being
of all age groups, Truth
2. The care of theses patients in the clinical set- Truth is defined as the realities and ideas proven
ting and at their home, by multiple experiences of human beings or laws
3. To undertake research to better understand the of nature, which both are thought to have univer-
causes, pathophysiology, diagnostics, and sal character.
possible treatment of these malformations
and diseases, Perception
4. To teach medical students and physicians all Perception is explained as the conscious sensa-
aspects of this discipline. tions and experiences of all aspects of the physi-
cal world of a human being in dependency of
health and disease, the momentary situation, and
Conceptualization the developmental stage.
Nature/World Time
Nature and its rules and interactions are the basis of Time is a physical category of chronically ongo-
life and thus also of the human body, its organs and ing processes in the material world, which can
tissues, its cells and its development, growth and be perceived by human beings and objectively
differentiation. The world comprises of the mate- measured, implementing aging of biological
rials of all planets and the interspersed space of the systems.
universe as well as all aspects of human mind and
possible other intelligences unknown to us. Consciousness
Consciousness is understood as the status of the
Human Being human mind, which enables the individual to
The human being is a product of nature with perception, mental workup, active reaction, and
a body including a highly developed brain, giving storage of external influences.
Christian Cosmology 355 C
Rationality/Reason
These are thought to be the ability of the human Chiliastic
mind to explain, to deal with, and to react to
perceptions, feelings, and other influences using Hans Schwarz
logical thoughts. This is dependent on metal Institute of Protestant Theology, University of
health status as well as on the stage of mental Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
development during childhood. C
Mystery The term is derived from the Greek chilioi, mean-

Mysteries are perceptions, feelings, and other ing a thousand (years). The idea was widely held
influences, which cannot be explained rationally that one thousand years after Christ, Christ will
by an individual. This is dependent on mental return and a new age will dawn. This led to the
health status and mental development, but expectation of a thousand years’ rule of Christ.
also on experiences, culture, religion, and educa- This idea was secularized by Marx and Engels
tion of an individual and/or group of human and later by the Nazi ideology into a secular
beings. Thousand Years’ Reich. It can also mean the tri-
umphant and overzealous attitude to bring about
paradisiacal conditions through one’s own efforts.
Relevant Themes
The most relevant issues of Pediatric Surgery are

Chinese Psychology of Religion
not only cure from surgical diseases and
malformations of the growing human being, but
▶ Psychology of Religion China/Asia
furthermore the well-being of children in all
aspects of life in order to facilitate their develop-
ment to healthy, mentally intact, and responsible
adults (The European Pediatric Surgeons’ Asso- Chorography
ciation; The American Pediatric Surgical Associ-
ation; World Federation of Associations of ▶ Geography in Islam
Pediatric Surgeons).
Christ Event
References
▶ Divine Action
Ashcraft, K. W., Holcomb, G. W., & Murphy, J. P. (Eds.).
(2005). Pediatric surgery (4th ed.). Philadelphia:
Elsevier Saunders.
Oldham, K. T., Colombani, P. M., Foglia, R. P., &
Skinner, M. A. (Eds.). (2005). Principles and practice Christian Cosmology
of pediatric surgery. Philadelphia: Lippincott
Williams & Wilkins. Anna Ijjas
The American Pediatric Surgical Association. http://
www.eapsa.org.
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
The European Pediatric Surgeons’ Association. http://
www.eupsa.org.
von Schweinitz, D., & Ure, B. (Eds.). (2009). Related Terms
Kinderchirugie – Allgemeine und viszerale Chirurgie
des Kindesalters. Heidelberg: Springer.
World Federation of Associations of Pediatric Surgeons. Big bang cosmology; Creatio continua; Creatio
http://www.wofaps.co.za. ex nihilo; Creation; Multiverse; Natural evil
C 356 Christian Cosmology
Cosmology is the scientific study of the Universe According to the classic understanding of
as a whole, seeking to understand its origin, evo- Genesis 1:1, creatio ex nihilo entails that the
lution, and structure. Until modern times, there Universe had a temporal beginning. However,
was no difference between scientific and reli- following the tradition of Boethius, Anselm, and
gious cosmologies; scientific cosmology was at Aquinas, divine perfection requires that God
the same time religious cosmology. Its major exists outside of time, is timeless. Understanding
concern was to strengthen and unfold the biblical the world as temporal while God as atemporal
idea of creation as depicted in the book of Gene- became one of the major problems for philoso-
sis, by invoking empirical insights about the phers of religion. Hence, some modern theologi-
world. Simultaneously, in introducing God as cal concepts assert that God is genuinely in time
the ultimate cause of natural processes, one even if God created a world ex nihilo (open
could provide an explanation for all empirical theism) or formed an eternally existing “stuff”
facts involved. Many contemporary theologians (process theology).
follow the ancient thought, that is, how to embed
scientific findings the biblical message and the Understanding God as Temporal Cause of the
core Christian doctrines – the product of centu- Universe
ries-old theological reflection based on the first Traditionally, the question if God can be consid-
chapter of Genesis. However, after science ered as the temporal cause of the Universe arose
became decoupled from theology, the compe- in the context of the so-called kalām cosmologi-
tences have been redefined. Given the (methodo- cal argument, which was introduced by medieval
logical) autonomy of science, contemporary Arabic theologians – therefore also the name
Christian cosmology seems to be best understood kalām that was applied to the argumentative the-
as theological reflection about physical cosmolo- ism employed in defense of Islamic orthodoxy
gies in terms of a coherence test, which means, in beginning in the ninth century. More recently, the
reflecting scientific cosmologies, theologians see kalām argument was revived and defended by
it as their task to integrate new scientific insights American philosopher William Lane Craig
into the traditional doctrines of Christianity as (cf. Craig and Smith 1995). The kalām argument
well as to reinterpret (or reformulate) these doc- infers from the existence of the universe to
trines insofar as that is necessary for the integra- God’sexistence by proving that the universe is
tion of scientific theories (cf. Barbour 2000). in need of a temporal cause, in reconciling the
Consequently, while physical cosmology seeks traditional doctrine of creatio ex nihilo with phys-
to understand the origin, evolution, and structure ical cosmology. The question is, thus, if the
of the Universe, Christian cosmology seeks to Universe is in need of a temporal cause?
integrate the results of the scientific endeavor Contemporary proponents of the traditional
into the core Christian doctrines of divine understanding appeal to two different scientific
creation. developments to support the doctrine of creatio
ex nihilo, namely, mathematics of infinity and the
big bang theory. Allegedly, the mathematics of
The Origin of the Universe infinity could provide an a priori argument for
a finite-age universe insofar as a (temporally)
The traditional Christian doctrine – as formu- infinite universe implies the existence of an
lated, for example, by Saint Augustine – states actual infinite. Thereby, an actual infinite repre-
that in the beginning God created the Universe sents a timeless totality that neither decreases nor
out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo), which means, increases in the number of members it contains,
directly or indirectly, everything owes its exis- whereas a potential infinite is a process that
tence to God, or to put it another way, God is the comes closer and closer to infinity but never
ultimate cause of the Universe (cf. Craig and reaches it – a distinction originally introduced
Copan 2004). by Aristotle to resolve Zeno’s paradox
(cf. Bostock 1973). By referring, for example, to goes through repetitive cycles of expansion and
a hotel as an actual infinite which can accommo- contraction; a new big bang occurs when the
date a new guest even if its fully occupied (called antecedent big bang universe reached its end
Hilbert’s Hotel, cf. Gamow 1989), proponents of phase, that is, after it arrived at a completely
the a priori argument from the mathematics of homogeneous, highly dense, and extremely hot
infinity argue that the existence of an actual infi- state (Big Crunch). Another possibility to avoid
nite seems intuitively absurd, which leads them to a temporal beginning provides the theory of infla- C
the conclusion that an absolute infinite cannot tion, first suggested by MIT-physicist Alan Guth
exist. That is to say, with regard to its temporal in 1981. Inflation posits a stage of rapid expan-
extension, the Universe represents a potential but sion in the very early universe, originating in
no actual infinite. However, this a priori argument a quantum vacuum state. Thus in the framework
counts as a fairly week one, mainly because it of inflationary cosmology, the universe does not
seems to tell us more about our cognitive capac- need to have a temporal beginning insofar as the
ities than about reality itself. For it is at least not quantum vacuum might be eternal. While cyclic
evident that things we cannot imagine (or con- universe cosmologies are often considered as too
sider to be an absurdity) cannot exist. If that were speculative, the theory of inflation is widely
the case, general relativity or quantum physics regarded as a necessary complement of standard
should also be regarded as absurdities, which big bang cosmology, filling the explanatory gaps
surely is not the case. In conclusion, mathematics of the latter, the striking large-scale homogeneity
of infinity is not very helpful, insofar as it is of our universe, and the origin of structure. Yet,
impossible to prove by way of a priori consider- even if inflationary theory does not necessarily
ations that the Universe is a potential and not an rule out a temporal beginning insofar as the quan-
actual infinite. tum vacuum state does not need to be eternal, the
In order to reconcile the traditional under- classic interpretation of standard cosmology is
standing of creatio ex nihilo with modern science, not compelling. Indeed, the fact that the field
it is perhaps more promising to appeal to the equations lead to a singularity (when tracked
standard big bang theory (Cf. article on ▶ cos- back in time) could simply mean that general
mology by Kenneth R. Lang in this volume). As relativity does not apply to the epoch before
a matter of fact, the classic interpretation of the inflation, so that we are in need of new physics
fact that the universe (including space-time) to explain that era.
arose out of a singularity, that is, out of an orig- To sum up, if the classic interpretation of
inal state of infinite density and temperature, and standard big bang cosmology turns out to be the
no size (i.e., the universe had a temporal begin- only proper understanding of the theory, the tra-
ning), was mostly welcomed among theologians. ditional understanding of creatio ex nihilo can be
Indeed, the big bang theory suggests that physical considered compatible with science. However,
cosmology directly supports the core theistic until there are serious alternative theories (or
belief in creatio ex nihilo. interpretations), the empirical basis of the creatio
However, the classic interpretation of big bang ex nihilo doctrine (understood in terms of
theory is not fully accepted by all physicists. The a temporal beginning) remains questionable.
possibility that a physical theory could prove that Not only scientists question the assumption of
science has reached its boundaries appears a temporal beginning for the Universe, also theo-
dissatisfying to most physicists. Therefore, vari- logians have their doubts. It has often been
ous alternative theories were developed. Such an argued that a proper interpretation of the Bible
alternative theory, or rather bundle of theories, is does not imply a temporal beginning. Rather, the
the theory of oscillating or cyclic universes as opening verses of Genesis start with depicting
presented by Paul Steinhardt, Neil Turok, or a watery chaos: “The earth was without form
Roger Penrose, stating that our big bang is but and void, and darkness was upon the face of the
one in a series of countless “bangs”: The universe deep and the spirit of God was moving over the
face of the waters.” In fact, church historians truth of the proposition God exists, if God exists
have recently pointed out that the idea of creatio were false, then four exists would be false
ex nihilo was first formulated in the second cen- (Matthew Davidson 1999). In turn, this means
tury, as a response to the Gnosis teaching that that four is a contingent being, that is, dependent
matter is evil. Accordingly, the doctrine of upon the existence of another being (be it contin-
creatio ex nihilo had a twofold aim. Firstly, it gent also or necessary). Another approach to
asserted that God is the source of matter as well understanding necessary and contingent beings
as form against claims that a preexisting matter comes from modal or metaphysical logics.
could limit divine power. Secondly, it asserted Understood as such, a necessary being exists in
God’s transcendence against the idea that the all possible worlds, while there is at least one
world was an emanation of God, made of the possible world in which a contingent being does
divine substance and sharing its characteristics. not exist.
Indeed, the interpretation of creatio ex nihilo in By applying this distinction, proponents of the
terms of a temporal beginning was first elabo- metaphysical argument believe to have shown
rated by Augustine and cannot, therefore, be that even if the Universe has no temporal begin-
regarded important for the self-definition of the ning, it is contingent and thus depends on some-
early church. Particularly, scientist-theologians thing else. Here an additional premise is assumed,
Ian Barbour and John Polkinghorne argued however, according to which a contingent being
against conceiving of God as a temporal cause always has a cause of its existence – this assump-
of the Universe (Barbour 2000 and Polkinghorne tion is usually called the principle of sufficient
2006). They hold that such a view rests upon reason. In fact, it is this principle that calls for
a theological misunderstanding of Genesis a necessary being to be the ultimate cause of the
that – sooner or later – becomes entangled in Universe. The final goal of the argument is then to
contradictions with science. Instead, they empha- show that this necessary being can only be God.
sized that we should think of divine creation as To sum up, if it turns out that standard big
a “fundamental and enduring relationship” bang theory implies a temporal beginning of the
between the faithful God and the world (creatio Universe, the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo can be
continua). As a proper interpretation of Genesis considered valid in its classic interpretation; on
1:1, they suggested to conceive of God, the the other hand, regardless whether science pre-
Creator, as the nontemporal or metaphysical dicts a temporal beginning of the Universe, God
cause of the Universe (Cf. article on ▶ divine can be considered as the ultimate metaphysical
creativity by Gloria Shaab and the article on (or nontemporal) cause of the Universe, respon-
▶ creator – co-creator by Barbara Ann Strassberg sible for its origin and for sustaining it (as under-
in this volume). stood in terms of creatio continua). However,
compatibility does not imply exclusivity. That is
God as Metaphysical Cause of the Universe to say, the scientific picture clearly allows for
The common strategy to argue for God as the both a theistic explanation and a naturalistic
metaphysical cause of the Universe operates by interpretation.
distinguishing different kinds of modality, con-
tingency, and necessity.
That God is conceived of as a necessary being The Evolution and Structure of the
is known as the sovereignty-aseity intuition Universe
(Plantinga 1980, Davidson 1999). Thereby, the
idea is the following: Necessarily, x depends on y The more philosophical question whether God
for its existence iff y were not to exist, neither can be conceived of as the ultimate cause of the
would x. In other words, if the number four Universe is closely related to the problem of
depends on God for its existence, then the truth explaining the evolution and structure of the
of four exists depends counterfactually on the Universe. Suppose that an ultimate metaphysical
cause (which might be a necessary being) is linked with the conditions here on Earth, in par-
needed to count for the existence of the Universe. ticular with human life. If the Creator wanted
However, whether this ultimate cause is indeed intelligent life to evolve somewhere in the
God as God is understood in classical theism, Universe – so the argument runs – the Creator
depends on whether the Universe as it is can be had to establish the laws such that they allow for
ascribed to a morally perfect, omniscient, and the evolution of intelligent life. That means, the
omnipotent being. Furthermore, according to structure of the entire Universe has to reflect the C
Immanuel Kant, it is not evident that the neces- possibility of intelligent life – even if intelligent
sary being (ens necessarium) is the absolute (or life can factually evolve only within a tiny frac-
mostly real) being (ens realissimum). Nor can the tion of the entire Universe.
biblical account of divine creation be reduced to In order to strengthen this somewhat bold idea
the belief that God is the ultimate cause of the and to harmonize it with current scientific
Universe (Cf. further article on ▶ divine action). insights, theologians usually refer to the fact of
In fact, to reinforce naturalistic interpretations fine-tuning, that is, that both the mathematical
of big bang cosmology, it has often been claimed form of the laws and the values or constellation
that, though the Universe could be contingent, of the fundamental parameters which together
God cannot be considered its ultimate cause, characterize the structure and evolution of the
insofar as characteristic features of the Universe Universe are such that even minimal deviations
are incompatible with the Christian image of from the observed values would have led to mas-
a faithful God. In this context, particularly the sive changes in the physical evolution, possibly
problem of evil (cf. further article ▶ evil, prob- ruling out the emergence of intelligent life.
lem of, by Thomas Anderberg in this volume) has Consider, for example, the mass ratio between
been often cited as an argument against divine proton and neutron: Although their mass differ-
creation – whether in terms of creatio ex nihilo or ence is only 1.29 MeV (0.14 %), which is
in terms of creatio continua. vanishingly small, it is nevertheless bigger than
the tiny mass of the electron (1/1,836 of the
The Fine-Tuning Argument proton mass). However, if the electron were
Contemporary cosmologists study the laws more massive than the mass difference between
governing the entire Universe and hence focus proton and neutron, free neutrons would be stable
(primarily) on physical laws describing the struc- and could not decay into a proton-electron-
ture and evolution of the Universe. While so antineutrino triple. As a consequence, most of
doing, they assume the cosmological principle. the protons and electrons in the early Universe
Usually, the cosmological principle says that, would have combined to form neutrons and neu-
“viewed on a sufficiently large scale, the proper- trinos. In such a universe, only neutron stars
ties of the Universe are the same for all could have emerged, the emergence of atoms or
observers” (Keel 2007). This implies that the other chemical elements would not have been
Universe is homogeneous and isotropic, which possible, not to mention the emergence of life.
means, despite its immense size, the same natural If instead of changing the mass ratios, we would
laws apply everywhere in the Universe. change the electromagnetic into gravitational
The cosmological principle is regarded empir- force strength ratio of 1,036 by reducing it to,
ically extremely well confirmed – the most strik- for example, 1,033, the consequence would be
ing evidence comes, again, from the impressing that only a short-lived miniature universe could
homogeneity of the cosmic microwave radiation exist. Hence, there would simply be no time for
we already discussed above as empirical evi- biological evolution. The probability that we find
dence for an expanding universe. In several even a few fundamental parameters having the
theological reflections, it is – unsurprisingly – observed ratio to one another, which is necessary
precisely the cosmological principle by way of for our very existence, appears to be extremely
which the characteristic traits of the Universe are small, and the totality of them together vastly
more so; according to calculations of physicist appear more promising: To solve the fine-tuning
Lee Smolin, the probability is about one chance problem, scientists have questioned the apparent
in 10229. Recognizing this remarkable coinci- uniqueness of our Universe by referring to quan-
dence, scientists in the 1960s suggested that it tum many-worlds or inflationary multiverse sce-
should be considered a physical phenomenon narios. If our Universe – so the argument runs – is
(or explanatory pattern) sui generis, which but one among infinitely many other universes, it
became known as the anthropic principle (Tipler seems hardly surprising that in one of these uni-
and Barrow 1988). This principle is based on verses the observed constellation is realized. For
observations that the laws of nature and parame- the sake of argument, let us suppose that there are
ters of the Universe necessarily take on values indeed infinitely many universes. What would the
consistent with the conditions for life on Earth. existence of such a bundle of universes mean for
For theological considerations, the point of Christian Cosmology? Consider the following
anthropic reasoning lies in the post hoc character two cases: (1) All universes in the multiverse
of the argumentation, reducing cosmic fine- are described by the same Theory of Everything
tuning to the existence of intelligent life. Even (2) The universes in the multiverse can be grouped
though it is not supposed to be an implication of into bundles, which are described by different
the scientific argument, in facing the extremely theories of everything, respectively. In the first
small probability of the observed constellation, case, the problem of fine-tuning is only shifted,
anthropic reasoning seems nevertheless to suggest insofar as the question still remains open why the
a teleological interpretation (cf. Leslie 1989). If multiverse is described by the given Theory of
the Universe has expected us from the very begin- Everything, characterized by certain fundamental
ning, assuming the existence of a divine creator parameters and a certain mathematical form. In the
appears fairly plausible. By reverse conclusion, second case, the fine-tuning argument can be
the anthropic principle might present an empirical regarded resolved only if all mathematically pos-
argument for the existence of God. Moreover, it sible forms are realized. This, however, entails the
has the potential to refute another empirical argu- extension of physical reality over tremendous
ment against the existence of God, namely, the dimensions, while the only motivation for this is
atheistic claim according to which the Darwinian a purely metaphysical one, to provide a naturalistic
explanation of the origin and evolution of life on interpretation of cosmic fine-tuning.
Earth in terms of random mutations and natural All in all, there is a price to pay when the
selection makes the creation hypothesis obsolete. theistic interpretation of cosmic fine-tuning
In order for evolutionary processes to occur, the should be replaced by way of multiverse theories,
observed fine-tuned parameters, initial conditions, and in face of the ontological curiosity multiverse
and natural laws are needed. This, in turn, brings theories entail, it is in the final analysis left to the
God back into play. philosophical or theological preferences if one
asserts the theological or the naturalistic alterna-
Objections tive. Yet, being merely metaphysical assump-
However, the anthropic principle has been tions, multiverse theories cannot be considered
largely criticized. The argument is that none of as a serious objection to a theistic or Christian
the finely tuned phenomena require human life or interpretation of cosmic fine-tuning. Further-
some other sort of carbon-based life. Rather, it is more, if our Universe is not the best of all possible
said, any form of intelligent life would do worlds (which seems quite likely), it is even
(Stenger 2011). In response to criticism, the plausible to claim that God created all universes
anthropic principle has recently been redefined above a certain axiological threshold than to
in the argument from fine-tuning. assume that God created only our Universe
However, the only scientific alternative while neglecting to create any better ones. That
approach to explaining fine-tuning does not is to say, it seems possible that neither just one
Christian Epistemology 361 C
universe exists solitarily nor all possible uni- ▶ Divine Action
verses exist simultaneously, but God created ▶ Divine Creativity
a subset of all logically possible universes, ▶ Evil, Problem of
whether interconnected, whether causally inert.
Clearly, advancing the possibility of creating
a world that is a multiverse, the most important References
question is why God chose the actual world, why C
God preferred one possible world to an enormous Barbour, I. (2000). When science meets religion:
Enemies, strangers, or partners? New York:
number of others. In other words, for a multiverse
HarperCollins.
theory to be successful, it is necessary to identify Bostock, D. (1973). Aristotle, zeno, and the potential
world-good-making properties, that is, condi- infinite. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society,
tions for a world to be worthy of creating. Indeed, 73(1973), 37–51.
Craig, W. L., & Copan, P. (2004). Creation out of nothing:
developing a comprehensive theory of theistic
A biblical, philosophical, and scientific exploration.
multiverse is today an emerging research field Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.
in both theology and philosophy of religion Craig, W. L., & Smith, Q. (1995). Theism, atheism,
(Kraay 2012). In the near future, we can hope and big bang cosmology. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
for interesting results.
Davidson, M. (1999). A demonstration against theistic
activism. Religious Studies, 35, 277–290.
Gamow, G. (1989). One two three infinity: Facts and
Concluding Remarks speculations of science. New York: Dover.
Keel, W. C. (2007). The road to galaxy formation.
Heidelberg: Springer-Praxis.
Christian Cosmology has always been conceived Kraay, K. J. (2012). The theistic multiverse: Problems and
of as the endeavor to reconcile the biblical mes- prospects. In Y. Nagasawa (Ed.), Scientific approaches
sage of creation with the actual scientific insights to the philosophy of religion (pp. 143–162). Palgrave
MacMillan: Houndsmills.
concerning the origin, structure, and evolution of
Leslie, J. (1989). Universes. London/New York:
the entire Universe. Understood as theological Routledge.
reflection about physical cosmologies from Plantinga, A. (1980). The nature of necessity. Clarendon:
a Christian point of view, Christian cosmology Oxford University Press.
Polkinghorne, J. (2006). Science and creation: The
is not about direct inference from facts about the
search for understanding. West Conshohocken:
world to knowledge of ultimate reality but can be TempletonPress.
a powerful tool to harmonize the biblical idea of Stenger, V. (2011). The fallacy of fine-tuning: Why the
creation with contemporary culture. Therefore, universe is not designed for us. New York:
PrometheusBooks.
promoting the dialogue between scientific and
Tipler, F. J., & Barrow, J. D. (1988). The anthropic
Christian cosmologies appears inevitable to cosmological principle. Oxford: Oxford University
make the biblical message understandable in Press.
modern societies. At the same time, Christian
belief can provide an overall context for scien-
tific cosmologies, demonstrating that the
mutual interaction of science and religion can Christian Education
indeed arrive at a comprehensive and coherent
worldview. ▶ Religious Education, Protestant
Cross-References
Christian Epistemology
▶ Cosmology
▶ Creator – Co-creator ▶ Epistemology, Reformed
C 362 Christian Ethics
in metaethics. The distinction between normative

Christian Ethics ethics and metaethics should serve us well as we
consider a variety of approaches and topics
Kevin Jung within Christian ethics.
School of Divinity, Wake Forest University,
Winston Salem, NC, USA Normative Issues in Christian Ethics
Ethics is commonly defined as the knowledge of
right and wrong (as well as good and bad).
Description This short definition, though insufficient to capture
all areas of ethics, highlights something important
Christian ethics is an enormously rich and diverse in ordinary moral reasoning: standards of moral
field of study that investigates a wide range of judgments. We human beings make moral
ethical topics and issues using moral resources judgments about the actions and characters of
often drawn from but not necessarily limited to moral agents, which are implicitly or explicitly
the Christian tradition. As a critical reflection on based on certain moral standards. Though
Christian morality, Christian ethics seeks to answer normative ethics has become a highly specialized
hard questions about the sources and criteria of field within analytic moral philosophy, ethical
moral knowledge as well as the normative claims discourse involving moral standards still
made by Christian morality in response to various largely draws upon the traditional normative
ethical issues and problems. Despite the fact that theories: psychological egoism, ethical egoism,
the phrase “Christian morality” may seem to sug- deontologism, consequentialism, and ▶ virtue
gest otherwise, all Christians of course do not hold ethics. Our question in this section is whether
the same moral views; the Christian moral tradition Christian theologians and ethicists ever appeal to
is more like a huge repository of many divergent the moral standards proposed by these normative
ideas, beliefs, and practices born out of distinct theories.
Christian communities than a monolithic system. The short answer to this question is clearly,
Thus, it should be of no surprise that there are “yes.” From Christian love ethics to ▶ liberation
a number of ways in which the study of Christian theology and from just war theory to biomedical
ethics is done and can be done. So how should we ethics, the kinds of moral judgments commonly
attempt to canvass this vast field in a limited space? made in Christian ethics cannot avoid using
For our purposes, I suggest that we make use moral norms. Let me illustrate this by focusing
of some conceptual distinctions often used by on the debate over moral norms from the 1960s to
moral philosophers in order to clarify and outline 1980s, during which Christian ethics in Europe
some of the important ideas and schools of and North America was deeply engaged with the
Christian ethics. criteria of moral norms. Ethical issues such as
We can begin by noting a distinction between contraception, abortion, and euthanasia often
first-order accounts and second-order accounts of dominated Christian ethical discourse. Interests
moral reasoning. The former, typically referred to in such issues were not accidental; this era saw an
as normative ethics, raises questions about the unprecedented technological development in
content of ethical claims, such as the standards medicine that engendered ethical questions
of moral judgments and the rules of moral about certain reproductive and medical practices,
obligation. The latter, often known as metaethics, and the debates about these questions eventually
is concerned with the status and nature of ethical became a part of the contemporary social and
claims. Metaethics seeks, among other things, to political landscape.
answer questions about the nature of moral If there was one book in Christian ethics that
knowledge and truth as well as the metaphysical created a firestorm during this era of social and
status of moral properties. Later in Part two, I will cultural upheaval, it was Joseph Fletcher’s Situ-
discuss only some of the epistemological issues ation Ethics. In this book, Fletcher argued that
Christian Ethics 363 C
there are no moral absolutes except love (Fletcher to consequentialism, calling its harmful effects the
1966). The basic idea was first the claim that the “wastelands of relativism.” Like Fletcher, Ramsey
only legitimate criterion for judging the moral viewed Christian love as central to Christian moral-
status of an action is whether it can be justified ity; however, these thinkers could not be farther
by love, that is, the New Testament notion of from one another in terms of how they understood
▶ agape, and second, the assertion that love jus- the normative meaning of Christian love. For
tifies the means to any given end. Alarmed by the Ramsey, Christian love, which is grounded in the C
denial of moral absolutes and moral laxity in the righteousness of God and Jesus’ teaching about the
wider culture and in the church, the Roman Cath- Kingdom of God, has a covenantal character.
olic Church began to confront these questions According to him, Christian love signifies disinter-
head-on. In his papal encyclical letter Humanae ested love for one’s neighbor in obedience to the
Vitae, published in 1968, Pope Paul VI made it sovereign rule of God. For Ramsey, the point of
clear that direct sterilization, artificial contracep- Christian moral life is not to maximize happiness
tion, and abortion (with the exception of thera- for oneself or others but to value each human for his
peutic abortion) are illicit. Paul VI’s views on or her own sake as the image of God. His ethics is
these matters would be reaffirmed later by Pope also noteworthy because it regards moral rules as
John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. What is specifiable or revisable in light of certain moral
important for our purposes is that they all facts relevant to moral cases. On this view, since
insisted, based on their interpretation of natural they impose actual rather than prima facie moral
law and church tradition, that there are certain duties, alleged exceptions to moral rules are not
acts that are intrinsically evil by virtue of the really exceptions, but instead should be considered
material means they used, and regardless of the further specifications of moral rules (Ramsey
agent’s intentions or the consequences of the act. 1968).
This view is often called “absolute, exceptionless All this clearly indicates that various positions
moral norms” and it created a controversy not among Christian thinkers involve normative ethical
only among Catholic moral theologians but also theories. On closer examination, Fletcher’s situa-
among Protestant ethicists. Proportionalists, tion ethics is a form of act-utilitarianism (or act-
a group of Catholic moral theologians such as agapism) which uses the principle of utility as the
Peter Knauer, Joseph Fuchs, Louis Janssens, only criterion of morality. In contrast, the official
Richard McCormick, and Bruno Sch€ uller, instead teachings of the Catholic Church advocate a rigid
argued that the morality of an act cannot be deter- deontologism that allows no exception to moral
mined without considering carefully the final end rules. Catholic proportionalists, however, disagree
or the intention of the agent (finis operantis) and with this official position by offering a version of
the end of the act (finis operis). Briefly, their view rule-utilitarianism that holds to the primacy of
is that we may permit the evil effect of our act moral rules in promoting the utility of an action.
only if (1) this result is not intended in itself (i.e., Ramsey’s Protestant ethics offers a moderate
the end is indirect) and (2) it is justified by deontologism that recognizes the possibility that
a commensurate reason (i.e., it is proportionate prima facie moral duties can be overridden by
to the morally acceptable intention of the agent other actual moral duties.
within the totality of his act). In contrast, those Ironically, the fierce debate about moral norms
who hold the absolutist position have accused helped other Christian thinkers to shift their focus
proportionalists of being consequentialists who onto a different kind of moral standards: virtue
hold that one may do evil in order that good (Hauerwas 1981; Porter 1995). Since 1980s, there
may come. has been a movement against rule-oriented ethics
We should also note a Protestant ethicist who and toward character-oriented ethics. Virtue ethics,
was particularly interested in the debate about of course, is not uniquely a contemporary phenom-
moral norms. Paul Ramsey, a well-known ethicist enon; it is traceable to, among others, the ethics of
in the twentieth century, was vehemently opposed Aristotle and Aquinas. Yet, the recent resurgence of
virtue ethics is not accidental. On the one hand, it is Though there are plenty of people who believe that
a critical reaction to modern individualism and the the Bible gives us unambiguous moral truths, it is
Enlightenment morality that emphasized the role of an undeniable historical fact that, since the early
reason in moral judgment. On the other hand, it is church, the correct interpretation of the Bible has
also an effort to reclaim the distinct moral ethos of been highly disputed. Christian theologians have
the Christian community. long been aware of the difficulty of using the
Bible as a moral guide. To mention only a few,
Epistemological Issues in Christian Ethics St. Clement introduced allegorical method of
From the early church to the contemporary church, biblical interpretation in order to avoid literal inter-
there have been various claims to religious and pretations of the Bible. St. Augustine rationalized
moral knowledge. Disagreement between Christian the idea of just war by appealing to the love of one’s
communities makes these claims appear problem- neighbor. St. Aquinas explained self-defense as
atic; what a particular Christian community pur- a natural right for all, and did so in the face of
ports to be a true belief is not always the same as a long-standing church tradition on the contrary.
what another Christian community holds to be true. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that
Unfortunately, differences in beliefs between many contemporary Christian ethicists caution
distinct Christian communities have often led to against attempts to declare the Bible as the ulti-
social oppression and even political persecution, mate authority for Christian ethics or to equate
as seen during the Radical Reformation, the biblical ethics with Christian ethics. For example,
30 Years War, the English Reformation, and the arguing that there are many sources of moral
American Puritan struggle for religious freedom. reflection for Christians, H. Richard Niebuhr has
Sometimes, change of moral beliefs has occurred said that his ethics is “bible-informed,” and not
within the same religious community as a result of “bible-centered” (Niebuhr 1963). Niebuhr’s posi-
such periods of oppression. Consider the history tion is just an instance of the more general con-
of Christian attitudes toward usury, slavery, and temporary move deviating from the use of
women’s suffrage; in these examples, we see a scriptures as infallible proof of Christian
long-standing church tradition changing its course moral claims.
after a long and difficult period of social, political,
and religious transformation. Tradition or Community
All this should raise a question about how true Christians often appeal to their tradition or com-
moral beliefs in a given Christian community can munity as the grounds for justifying their moral
be held justifiedly. Can those who claim to possess beliefs. Historically, the Roman Catholic
knowledge give sufficient grounds for holding their Church has long held that it is the apostolic tra-
beliefs to be true? Have Christians or Christian dition of the church that gives authority to scrip-
communities tried to offer such grounds for ture. In his famous debate with Martin Luther, for
justification? In the following, we will consider instance, John Eck renewed the Catholic doctrine
some commonly cited sources of evidence in of the authority of tradition over against that of
Christian ethics. Scripture. In his view, it is the church that
had created Scripture and established its cannon,
Scripture and thus, the church has proper authority over
Christians have long depended upon the Bible for Scripture.
moral guidance, and have done so for a good rea- In recent years, however, there has been
son: the Bible has been believed to be or to contain a wider appeal to the Christian community as
the Word of God and, thus, is thought to possess the grounds for justifying moral beliefs. One
normative authority for the Christian moral life. Of important source of influence, in this regard, has
course, assuming that this is true, we can raise an been a particular version of Wittgensteinian
additional question of whether the biblical text is philosophy, according to which truth is not
really a good evidential basis for moral knowledge. a property that a statement has when it
Christian Ethics 365 C
corresponds to reality, but rather is merely Experience
a function of language. George Lindbeck, Ever since Latin American liberation theology
known as a representative of the Yale School of came to the fore in 1960s, there has been
“narrative” theology, along with Hans Frei, made a plethora of new ethical theories that make the
it his theological thesis that Christian truth claims particular experience of a certain group of
should not be understood as propositions that can Christians their centerpiece: black liberation the-
be known as true or false outside of one’s partic- ology and ethics, feminist ethics, womanist C
ular linguistic community or as expressions of ethics, Asian liberation theology, postcolonial
individual religious experience, but rather should theology, Latino/Latina ethics, and so on. In this
be viewed as referring to the world only as regard, these theologies and ethics employ an
described by the users of a particular linguistic inductive approach to moral knowledge, deriving
community (Frei 1974; Lindbeck 1984). the latter from experience. Despite many differ-
Lindbeck held that since the meaning of ences among these theologies and ethics, there is
a linguistic statement is a function of its use, the one important commonality. In a way, they are all
truth of any given statement is explainable in distant relatives of the nineteenth century’s lib-
terms of the linguistic rules accepted and eral theology, which made human experience the
employed by the statement’s users. most important source of doing theology. In any
Another source of influence is the rejection of such experience-based Christian ethics, the expe-
universal, objective morality based on rience of a particular group becomes both the
foundationalist ▶ epistemology. Some Christian source and the criterion of moral knowledge.
thinkers complain that Christian ethics has lost its Another similarity among these theologies
distinct message in the liberal state by trying and ethics is that they all seek liberation as their
to make the Christian narrative more palatable goal. To put this in a simplistic manner, Latin
and intelligible to those who are not Christians American liberation theology, for instance,
and by adopting the public moral language of the focuses on the liberation of the poor and those
liberal state. Stanley Hauerwas and John who are politically and economically oppressed
Milbank, for instance, claim that because all in Latin America; feminist ethics seeks to eman-
morality is particular to historical, social, and cipate women from patriarchy and gender-based
societal practices there is no such thing as inequality; womanist ethics seeks to liberate
a universal morality. According to them, there black women from their oppressive social, cul-
is no Archimedean point of view from which we tural, and economic systems. However, there is
can judge the moral beliefs of a particular society a widely shared view among contemporary liber-
other than our own. What this means is that no ationists that all who are oppressed are connected
one outside of the Christian community has with each other not only through their shared
the authority or ability to judge the truth of suffering but also the oppressive systems them-
Christian convictions. They submit that only the selves. In this regard, there is a growing tendency
Christian community can furnish the principal among various groups of liberationists to collab-
criterion for justifying Christian beliefs, and orate and join the resistance movement. One such
hold that the intelligibility of theology and example is an alliance between feminists and
ethics derives only from the practices of the environmentalists, both of whom are interested
church. in addressing the degradation of nature, which
Critics of such contextualist theory of justifi- many feminists believe mirrors the oppression
cation point out that this kind of Christian ethics of women. Thus, ecofeminists argue that the lib-
is a sectarian theology that divorces the Christian eration of women can also lead to the liberation of
community from the wider world (Gustafson nature and vice versa (Ruether 2005). Needless to
1985). They also argue that it is a form of moral say, there are many divergent views among lib-
relativism since the truth of moral beliefs is made erationists, and this makes a fair assessment of
relative to particular societies. their ethics very difficult. Having said this, there
are two main difficulties with experience-based (e.g., Audi and Shafer-Landau) claim that some
ethics. First, they are prone to identity-dependent basic moral truths are knowable through reason
ethical and political discourse where members of upon due reflection. They explain that this moral
certain social, cultural, or religious groups are knowledge is supervenient upon natural facts
often overly sensitive to external criticisms by without the former being reducible to the latter.
appeal to their shared experiences, and second, Is Christian ethics compatible with intuitionism?
their attempts to justify values such as equality If we consider reason to be an integral part of
and individual liberty may be self-defeating, Christian morality and if we take revelation to be
since they also deny the very existence of univer- an additional resource to reason, it may be possi-
sal human values based on shared human ble for Christian ethics to accept intuitionism.
experience. More importantly, Christian ethics can still draw
upon other sources of Christian morality but also
Reason insist that reason plays a critical role in justifying
Historically speaking, reason has held a venera- Christian moral beliefs.
ble position in Christian ethics. Many early
church fathers tried to defend the Christian faith
in the time of persecution, emphasizing the har- Cross-References
mony of reason and faith. In the Middle Ages,
Aquinas continued this emphasis by synthesizing ▶ Agape
reason and revelation in his twofold theory of ▶ Deontology
happiness. Bishop Butler, John Wesley, and ▶ Epistemology
Jonathan Edwards all acknowledged that there ▶ Liberation, Theology of
is an important place for reason and for natural ▶ Metaphysics
morality derived from reason. Most significantly, ▶ Virtue Ethics
the Catholic moral law tradition has long consid-
ered reason to be a reliable, though not perfect,
guide to basic moral knowledge. According to References
this tradition, God imprinted natural law on rea-
Fletcher, J. F. (1966). Situation ethics: The new morality.
son so that basic moral truths can be known to
Philadelphia: Westminster Press.
rational people upon due reflection. Frei, H. W. (1974). The eclipse of biblical narrative: A study
Though reason has been one of the major in eighteenth and nineteenth century hermeneutics.
sources of Christian ethics, interest in the study New Haven: Yale University Press.
Gustafson, J. M. (1985). The sectarian temptation: Reflec-
of reason as the source or criterion of moral knowl-
tions on theology, church, and the university. Proceed-
edge has waned significantly in the recent decades. ings of the Catholic Theological Society, 40, 83–94.
This is in large part due to the wide influence of Hauerwas, S. (1981). A community of character: Toward
postmodernism in the field. Briefly, postmodern- a constructive Christian social ethic. Notre Dame:
University of Notre Dame Press.
ism is a school of thought that seeks to critique the
Lindbeck, G. A. (1984). The nature of doctrine: Religion and
notion of universal reason and the objectivity of theology in a postliberal age. Louisville: Westminster
knowledge. In particular, postmodern ethics has John Knox Press.
strongly assailed any appeal to universal morality Niebuhr, H. R. (1963). The responsible self: An essay in
Christian moral philosophy. New York: Harper & Row.
and the rule of law based in reason.
Porter, J. (1995). Moral action and Christian ethics.
Can reason, contrary to the claims of the post- Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
modernists, furnish basic moral knowledge? In Ramsey, P. (1968). The case of the curious exception. In
contemporary analytic moral philosophy, moder- G. H. Outka, P. Ramsey, & F. S. Carney (Eds.), Norm
and context in Christian ethics. New York: Scribner.
ate intuitionism (distinguished from the classic
Ruether, R. R. (2005). Integrating ecofeminism, globali-
intuitionism of Sidgwick and Moore) is zation, and world religions. Lanham: Rowman &
gaining new momentum. Moderate intuitionists Littlefield.
Christian Existentialism 367 C
the social structure changed from having been
Christian Existentialism a rigidly hierarchical one to a relatively
horizontal one. In its turn, this implied firstly
Pia Søltoft that social identities were unusually fluid and
Department of Systematic Theology, Faculty of secondly that there was a proliferation of nor-
Theology, University of Copenhagen, malizing institutions which produced pseudo-
Copenhagen K, Denmark individuals. Hence, it became more and more C
Kierkegaard Library, Søren Kierkegaard difficult to find one’s identity. One of
Research Centre, Copenhagen K, Denmark Kierkegaard’s greatest concerns was “how to
become a Christian in Christendom.” His con-
cern about identity with a focus on Christian
Related Terms identity is why he is regarded not only as the
father of existentialism but also as a Christian
Kierkegaardianism existentialist.
One of the major works done within Christian
Perhaps the main representative for Christian existentialism is Begrebet Angest (The Concept
existentialism is the Danish philosopher and of Anxiety) (1844), in which he makes a revision
theologian Søren Aaby Kierkegaard, of the traditional doctrine of original sin going
(1813–1855) whose thinking had a broad but back to St. Augustine. He emphasizes that sin
prominent influence on systematic theology, con- always enters the world through the concrete sin
tinental philosophy, literature, and arts. Within of the single individual, whereby sin must not be
dogmatics, his thoughts have renewed and understood as a hereditary deformity of human
inspired both Christology (Karl Barth and Rudolf nature. In this work, he starts with analyzing the
Bultmann) and Harmatiology (Paul Tillich, first anxiety experienced by human beings,
Christof Gestrich, and Wolfhart Pannenberg). namely, Adam’s anxiety related to whether he
Also, his view upon ethics and philosophy of should or should not eat from God’s tree of
religion has been innovative and of consider- knowledge. The act that he did eat from the tree
able importance in the process of rethinking of knowledge became known as the original sin.
Christianity on postmodern premises. That he suffered from anxiety has also to do
Kierkegaard’s status as founding father of exis- with Adam having a free will, the will to obey
tentialism is well known and recognized as is God (staying away from “that” tree) or not, to
his concrete influence on Martin Heidegger, sin or not. According to Kierkegaard then, anxi-
Gabriel Marcel, Jean Paul Sartre, and Albert ety preceding sin is the presupposition for
Camus. Also, dialogical philosophy has been hereditary sin. However, anxiety also has the
inspired by Kierkegaard’s view on subjectivity power to save individuals because it informs
and its relational nature, and Franz Rosenzweig, them of their choices, self-awareness, and
Martin Buber and Emmanuel Lévinas have personal responsibility. Anxiety is the bridge
through a critical dialog continued the inspira- between unself-consciousness and self-
tional path following from Kierkegaard’s rela- consciousness.
tional thoughts. Many authors, play writers, In Philosophiske Smuler eller En Smule
poets, and other artists from all over the world Philosophie (Philosophical Fragments) (1844),
have also been inspired or bewitched by the Kierkegaard writes under the pseudonym
Kierkegaardian universe. Johannes Climacus and sharpens the understand-
At that time, Denmark changed from having ing of faith and Christianity. He takes his point of
been a feudal society into a capitalist society. departure in Socrates, who presupposes that
Many people moved from the rural areas into human beings posit the truth within themselves
the cities, which among other things caused that and therefore they can reach it in an immanent
C 368 Christian Faith
way. As an alternative to this understanding, In Sygdommen til Døden, En christelig

Climacus claims that Christianity presupposes psychologisk Udvikling till Opvækkelse. (The
that human beings are in sin by their own guilt Sickness unto Death, A Christian psychological
and therefore it is not possible for them to relate exposition for edification and awakening)
to the truth by themselves but only through (1849) by anti-Climacus, the exposition of sin
a transcendent power. From this thought stems from The Concept of Anxiety is continued, and
the understanding of God as the absolute here Kierkegaard analyzes key concepts like
paradox. despair and offence as constitutive for true
Kierkegaard’s doctrine of the absolute para- Christianity.
dox is fully developed in Afsluttende
uvidenskabelig Efterskrift til de philosophiske
Smuler (Concluding Unscientific Postscript) Cross-References
(1846). In addition, this work is written under
his pseudonym Climacus. The paradox is a key ▶ Christianity
concept in Kierkegaard’s attempt to interpret ▶ Concept of God in Contemporary Philosophy
Christianity as a contradictory unity of time and of Religion
eternity, which defies discursive understanding. ▶ Existentialism
The Christian paradox consists in the fact that the ▶ Love (Affective, Sexual)
eternal truth is a paradox: the infinite God has ▶ Love (Alterity, Relationship)
become a finite human being at a certain point ▶ Names of God
in history and as such has suffered death on
the cross.
This is also shown in the doctrine of the stages References
as a theory about the relation between the three
spheres of existence: the aesthetic, the ethical, Cappelørn, N. J., & Deuser, H. (Eds.). (1996). Kierke-
gaard studies, yearbook 1996. Berlin, New York:
and the religious. In the religious stage, the ethi-
Walter de Gruyter.
cal commitment is combined with faith in Cappelørn, N. J., & Stewart, J. (Eds.). (1997). Kierke-
a personal God (religiousness A), who not only gaard studies, monograph series. Berlin, New York:
demands obedience but also forgives human Walter de Gruyter.
Cappelørn, N. J., Garff, J., Hansen, A. M., & Kondrup, J.
beings their disobedience, their sin, in Christ
(Eds.). (1996). Søren kierkegaard skrifter. Copenha-
(religiousness B, or the paradoxical religious- gen: GAD.
ness). The transition to religiousness B happens Hong, H. V. & Hong, E. H. (Eds.). (1998/2009).
by a leap of faith. Kierkegaard’s Writings, XXIII: The Moment and
Late Writings. Søren Kierkegaard. Jersey: Princeton
In the authorship after 1846, Kierkegaard rad-
University Press.
icalizes his understanding of Christianity and Kierkegaardiana (Vol. 1–23). Copenhagen: C. A. Reitzels
stresses that suffering, martyrdom, and imitation Forlag, 1955-. Here you will also find a full biography
are essential signs of true Christianity. from 1953 to 2004.
Kirmmse, B. H. & Söderquist, B. K. (Trans., Eds.). (2007).
Kjerlighedens Gjerninger, Nogle christelige
Kierkegaard’s journals and notebooks. New Jersey:
Overveielser i Talers Form (Works of Love, Princeton University Press.
Some Christian Reflections in the Form of Perkins, R. L. (Ed.). (1983). International Kierkegaard
Discourses) (1847) analyzes the relation between commentary. Macon: Mercer University Press.
human love and neighbor love and represents
Kierkegaard’s contribution to Christian ethics. It
is in Works of Love that the radicalization of
Christianity and the critique of “Christendom,” Christian Faith
the notion of Christianity as a cultural artifact,
are visible. ▶ Revelation
Christian Healing Cultures 369 C
The life work of Hildegard von Bingen is
Christian Healing Cultures generally regarded as the high point of cloister
medicine. Her nine-volume “Physica” comprises
Florian Mildenberger descriptions of the effects of about 500 medicinal
Europa University Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder, plants, foodstuffs, elements, metals, and stones. It
Frankfurt/Oder, Germany can be assumed that she had advisors assisting her
in writing her books. Bingen describes how herbs C
are to be boiled up, smoked, and applied in pow-
Related Terms der form. Centuries of experience with monastic
and folk medicine are summed up here and
Christianity supplemented with therapeutic suggestions.
The cloister medicine of the High Middle
Ages relied primarily on dietetics as a means of
Description preventing illnesses or of rapidly restoring
health by intervening to maintain the humoral
The rise of Christianity in Late Antiquity until its pathological balance of humors, or body fluids.
establishment as state religion of the Roman To this end, various poisons, phytotherapeutic
Empire led to a change in the societal status of medicines, or foodstuffs were employed;
various professions, including of physicians. their power was supposed to be revealed solely
Doctors lost their relatively independent position, to knowing and believing Christians and to be
since quotations from the Old and New Testa- effective solely in the latter’s hands. Dosages
ments indicated that God the Father and his son varied greatly, depending on the region and the
Jesus appeared as physicians and the medical art traditions of ancient writings. To recognize dis-
had to subordinate itself to Christian premises eases and prepare the medication therapy, monks
(Ex. 32.39; Lk. 5.31; Mk. 2.17). and nuns used the diagnostic method of uroscopy.
From the sixth to the twelfth century, cloister Taking the pulse played only a subordinate role
medicine was the most important form of profes- (in contrast to Arabic medicine). If the therapeu-
sional medical practice. It had already been cod- tic measures taken did not seem to help, the
ified in the “Institutiones” of the Benedictine medieval physician shifted to isolating the patient
monk Cassiodorus around 560, and in the follow- while continuing comprehensive pastoral care. In
ing centuries, other monastic orders and the this way, it was possible to contain leprosy, for
increase in the supply of resources (pharmacies, example.
monastery gardens, collections of lore) expanded In the course of the High Middle Ages, the
it. The Benedictines regarded medicine as part of proponents of cloister medicine lost their domi-
lived faith. The initiative to establish and main- nant position in the treatment of disease with the
tain medical facilities was the purview of the development of worldly educational institutions,
local heads of the Church; there were no defined the greater spread of physicians with private prac-
medical curricula and qualifying tests. The med- tices in the flourishing cities, and the develop-
ical knowledge of Antiquity was passed down in ment of folk-medicine networks. But, with their
the Mediterranean region by Isidor de Sevilla and religiously argued concepts based on the ancient
others, and in the following centuries, Irish and doctrine of the humors, all the healing profes-
Scottish monks on missionary journeys spread sions had great difficulties treating the plague,
this knowledge throughout the Occident, often or Black Death, after 1348. This failure of med-
in the form of copies or interpretations of the icine led to intellectual unrest in occidental
“Corpus Hippocraticum” and texts from Late society.
Antiquity. Research done by Arab physicians In the following centuries, there was a gradual
also influenced Western Christian medicine. movement, repeatedly interrupted and influenced
C 370 Christian Healing Cultures
by reverse tendencies, to break with the founda- Europe. The question of scientific validity did not
tions of medieval healing arts. Anatomical inves- arise in this period. After the loss of this position
tigations spread in the early modern period, the in the nineteenth century, explicitly, Christian
Reformation ended the dominance of cloister doctors have regarded themselves as belonging
medicine for good, and the institution of state to conventional medical culture but claim to be
control instruments for the supervision of public the sole representatives of special ethical
health limited the Church’s influence in the field principles.
of medicine.
Discoveries in physics, chemistry, anatomy, Religion
and geography increasingly made it difficult to The basis for these actors’ work is the Christian
explain disease in terms of divine influence. religion. They regard themselves as agents of the
There was a final unfolding of Christian healing divine will.
cultures in the period of idealism, in which the
invocation of the healing vital powers harmo-
nized with the idea of a comprehensive system Characteristics
of dietetics and an appeal to humoral pathological
approaches that integrated the discoveries of the While clergy are primarily concerned with the
natural sciences since 1750. The discovery of the welfare of people’s souls in the afterlife or
law of the preservation of energy, the develop- beyond, representatives of the healing cultures
ment of inorganic chemistry, cell pathology, and are mainly engaged for health in this world.
bacteriology, as well as the spread of Charles They thus function both as a marginal organiza-
Darwin’s theories lastingly destroyed Christian tion and as a special complex within an increas-
healing cultures’ theoretical foundations and ingly secularized Christian world.
attempts to explain the behavior of the human
organism. In the decades after 1880, Christian
physicians reoriented themselves toward issues Relevance to Science and Religion
of medical ethics. They thereby adhere to static,
unchanging moral principles, for example, plac- The representatives of the healing cultures regard
ing the right and duty to live above all secular themselves as an integral component of the Chris-
considerations. They can, but need not, have tian world, and they are recognized as such not
a rejecting attitude toward Darwin’s theory of only by their hierarchical superiors but also by
evolution. This is true also of the clergy who some vehement opponents of Christianity. In
appeared as forerunners of modern complemen- missionary regions, they are especially often the
tary medicine, for example, the hydrotherapist targets of terrorist attacks.
Sebastian Kneipp and the “clay pastor” Emanuel
Felke, who combined naturopathy and homeopa-
thy. Homeopathy itself entails belief in divine Sources of Authority
curing power and can thus be regarded as located
on the margins of Christian healing cultures. They derive their authority from two sources:
first, their success in treating patients and second,
their membership in the clergy of the Churches.
Self-identification
Science Ethical Principles/Key Values

The adherents of Christian healing cultures were
for centuries the sole practitioners of natural sci- The fundamental principle of Christian healing
entific, medical, and transcendental research in cultures is the orientation toward a Christian
Christianity 371 C
worldview. This means that one sees oneself as
the agent of the divine will and that the only Christianity
ethical guidance one accepts is the Bible, divine
revelation, and the doctrines of salient Church Lluis Oviedo
scholars (for example, popes). Pontifical University Antonianum, Roma, Italy
C
Description
Conceptualization
Christianity is, from a historic point of view,
The same conditions for action, regulations, and a religion born from the life, preaching, and des-
considerations are valid as for all actors of the tiny of Jesus, called “the Christ” by His followers.
Christian Churches. The attitude toward death The collected memories about that man gave rise
has a special role: adherents of Christian healing to a growing network of communities in the first
cultures stand in a dilemma in this regard. On the century A.D., forming what has been designed
one hand, they see it as their duty to preserve life; ever as since “the Church.” This institution has
on the other hand, reverence for the divine indi- fixed doctrines, codes, and ritual practices that
rectly obligates them not to interfere in its work- constitute a tradition going back over 20 centu-
ings. Here, individual case decisions dominate, ries, and diversifying into many expressions or
for example, in questions of life-extending mea- “denominations.”
sures, abortion, and whether to regard brain death Scholars have pointed to a broader sense of
as the end of life. Standards on these questions are “Christianity” beyond the institutional bound-
not unified in either Protestant or Catholic com- aries of the churches and their creeds and even
munities of faith. beyond the limits of organized religion. It reflects
rather an “idea” or understanding of reality, based
on concepts such as “▶ incarnation” – the conti-
nuity between the divine, human, and immanent
References reality; “redemption” – the assumption that evil
can be overcome through repentance, sacrifice,
Deininger, R. (1998). Kultur und Kult in der Medizin.
Eine medizinhistorische Betrachtung, Stuttgart: regeneration, and radical love. This is a rather
G. Fischer. cultural program that influences our way of
Jankrift, K.-P. (2003). Krankheit und Heilkunde seeing human nature, society, and the whole of
im Mittelalter. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche
reality. Obviously, this second sense of the word
Buchgesellschaft.
Lauter, W. (Hg.). (1998). Hildgard von Bingen. presupposes a tradition too, even if it feels less
Internationale wissenschaftliche Bibliographie. bound to doctrinal constraints or to institutional
Mainz: Gesellschaft f€
ur rheinische Kirchengeschichte. duties.
Niedermeyer, A. (1953). Compendium der Pastoralmedizin.
Concerning developments, it is worthy to take
Wien: Maudrich Publishing.
Schipperges, H. (1965). Zur Tradition des “christus into account the following: denominalization,
medicus” im fr€uhen Christentum und in der €altesten modernization, secularization, and revival.
Heilkunde. Arzt und Christ, 11, 11–20. “Denominalization” refers to the steady frag-
mentation of Christian churches into ever smaller
communities, trying to adapt to social, cultural,
and ethnic niches, resulting in an extensive
pluralism of expressions. As a result of this frag-
Christian Theology mentation process, seen primarily in the
Americas, the “internal competition” between
▶ Constructive Theology denominations has increased, dynamizing most
C 372 Christianity
of the churches in many areas. This competition Characteristics

contrasts with religious entities living in a regime
of monopoly, such as the state religions of Reflecting about the most distinctive traits of
Europe. However, the fragmentation process Christianity, the following can be proposed: the
has at the same time brought confusion resulting idea of ▶ incarnation, of redemption, of commu-
in too many contrasts, endangering any nity, and of the human. The “incarnated God” is
ecumenical attempt or sense of communal perhaps one of the most exclusive doctrines
belonging. among developed religions; even if it finds roots
“Modernization” can be considered together and similarities in many other religious tradi-
with “rationalization” as forms of adaptation to tions, the most far reaching has been this faith:
modern times and societies. Christianity – in its stating that God becomes man, and hence the
many expressions – has attempted to renew itself divine becomes worldly, breaking the usual
assuming formats that try to be more fitting in separation between transcendence and imma-
advanced societies. This process has been nence. The idea of a “suffering God” to redeem
pioneered by the so-called ▶ “liberal” theology or liberate humankind is also unique. Christianity
and churches but is characteristic of many proclaims that God incarnated suffers an atro-
denominations struggling to survive in cultural cious death to rescue humans from ▶ evil and
environments radically different from those that ▶ death. Even if this is an archetype of the reli-
existed in their historical beginning and long gious mind, Christian faith has brought this
tradition. Many strategies have been tried. Not motive to its latest consequences. The idea of
every attempt has shown equal effectiveness. community or church is intrinsic and distinctive
“▶ Secularization” is closely linked with to Christian faith and praxis, which encourages
modernization since it refers to both: the process the formation of social units, presided over by the
of assimilation of Christian communities to their law of mutual ▶ love, forgiveness, and engage-
modern, secular entourage, discharging part of ment. The Christian ▶ anthropology assumes
their own “religious burden;” and the negative a particular format, describing human beings as
effect of an increasingly secular society that “images of God” fallen into sin and self-
erodes the influence of churches and lowers the destructive tendencies but rescued by grace to
levels of commitment of their faithful. This live a new life in faith and love. Such
development is threatening the continuity of a distinctive anthropology is the base of Christian
many Christian entities in Western countries; it view of human dignity, rights, and respect.
is indeed the religious tradition most affected by Christianity is clearly distinctive among other
such a disruptive tendency. This circumstance religious traditions. This distinction probably
has caused many scholars to think that Christian- works in a clearer way with some of them and
ity is intrinsically a “secularizing” religion or is less with others. Christianity, for an instance, is
worldly driven by its own structure and identity. very close to ▶ Judaism; indeed, it shares a good
“Revival” goes against the former tendency. deal of its sacred texts and values; some of its
It describes movements that, in a cyclical way, ritual practices have been inspired by Jewish
have since the ninetieth century brought ▶ rituals, and the boundaries between both reli-
constant impulses of enthusiastic missionary gions sometimes become fuzzy. The distinction
engagement, revitalizing entire churches or big is clearly sharper regarding Eastern religions, like
sectors of them. Over the last few decades, there Hinduism and ▶ Buddhism; there is often
have been several waves of revival, most at a completely different worldview, anthropology,
the hands of Evangelicals and Pentecostals, and values system. Often in recent times, the
bringing a deep transformation of Christianity in distance has prompted greater interest in these
many regions of the world, beyond the local Eastern religions, while at the same time the
traditions that have been present for many proximity has sometimes nourished misunder-
centuries. standing and hostility.
Christianity 373 C
Relevance to Science and Religion influence small, even at the level of teaching or
formation of leaders. The expectation is that
Christianity is one of the religious traditions more a greater awareness of the risks born from ignor-
involved in the area of “science and religion.” ing the challenge. The opportunities involved in
Just looking at the data of specialized societies this dialogue may prompt a deeper engagement
membership, scholarly papers, and books, there is from theologians and pastors to an adequate
an overwhelming majority of Christians among Christian message to a cultural environment mas- C
the practitioners of that subdiscipline. However, sively influenced by science.
some nuances seem pertinent at this point. Not all
Christian churches are involved in a similar way
in that endeavor, indeed rather a minority of Sources of Authority
them. And only some of their theologians have
shown interest on this field. Some historical The most important source of authority for all
developments need to be recalled. Christian Christian churches is the Bible, which is never-
thought was very committed to contemporary theless interpreted in various ways, in a spectrum
expressions of reason and science during middle that goes from more fundamentalist to more flex-
ages. At some point in the ulterior history, ible forms of understanding the sacred text; these
a deepening differentiation began to grow distinctive positions correspond with the identi-
between the realms of theology and sciences. ties and styles of different Christian denomina-
Even if many scientific developments up until tions. Indeed for those more “Evangelicals,” the
modern times were delivered by clergymen and Bible becomes the only authority to be taken into
very committed Christians, the growing tendency account. What makes the Bible authoritative is its
has been a rising independence between both character of being “revealed” by God, in the sense
realms, and even a mutual ignorance and of transmitting God’s will and message for human-
discredit. Some Christian branches have been ity; no other text shares this unique characteristic.
more interested in scientific progress, especially Other Christian churches stress the value of
the liberal ones, while those more orthodox or traditions codified in dogmas or corpus of
traditional usually found themselves suspicious doctrines and the authority of the so-called Big
about the scientific milieu and progress. Tradition, including the most recognized masters
The current situation is heir of the split of the ancient and medieval church; this is more
experienced during the last century and reflecting present in some traditional churches, like Catholic,
two different mentalities: one more engaging Eastern Orthodox, and, to some extent, the Angli-
with their own culture, society, and time; and can Communion. Other sources of authority
other marking more its distinction, sometimes depend on the structure and organization of the
reacting to contemporary developments, and churches. Every church has its distinctive author-
proclaiming the self-sufficiency of faith before ities, like the Pope and councils for Catholics, the
the perceived threat of competing ideas or world- bishops for many traditional churches, or pastors
views. At the present, some churches stress more in others. Theologians usually keep some author-
than others the importance of engaging in ity but almost always only in the academic field.
a serious dialogue between faith and reason that Indeed, there is a clear correlation between type of
obviously includes the sciences. It happens that authority – more or less centralized – and the unity
most revivalist Christian expressions often – if or cohesion of a church.
not always – refuse to go into a mutually engag- The question of authority is today closely
ing relationship with science. linked to choices about the most effective way to
It is not easy to assess the implications that preserve a church’s own identity and to adapt to
“science and religion” as a living steady dialogue changing times. Decisions need to be made after
have in the real life of Christian churches. Prob- the perceived need to cope with different aims: to
ably the reach of this effort is rather short and its keep unity – and to be able to diversify – to be
C 374 Christianity
faithful to tradition, and to be open to dialogue need to struggle. The value of love has been
with contemporary reason. From the tensions already exposed. Probably other values rank
between the extremes and the search for balance, high in this tradition as well, like the disposition
different strategies and ecclesial forms arise. to ▶ conversion or changing one’s mind and life
in the pursuit of ▶ truth and salvation. However,
trying to become more concrete and essential, the
Ethical Principles highest value for Christians would be to feel
God’s presence and love, which explains the
The main ethical principle for Christians is the interest and passion of mystics, a special branch
commandment of ▶ love. This is however a too of very committed Christians, as a way to better
broad stance to become meaningful. Indeed, the express this superior value.
Christian idea of love has gone through many
discussions and knows a certain degree of plural-
ism. Some consensus has been reached resorting Relevant Themes
to philological analysis: love expresses at least
three different attitudes: renouncement of self for There are several questions that clearly interfere
the benefit of others (▶ agape), emotional attrac- in the relationship between Christian faith and
tion and engagement (eros), and friendship that science and that need to be taken into account:
implies mutuality (philia). Christian love repre- • Cosmological issues, especially concerning the
sents some pluralism of expressions, or would try origin of the universe, are important because
to keep some balance between these three dimen- creationists are indeed a branch of Christian
sions, even if the first one has seemed for an entire fundamentalists, and they are clashing vehe-
modern tradition the most pertinent or specific to mently with evolutionists and scientific views
Christian identity. In any case, love is proposed in in general, endangering a peaceful dialogue
radical terms in the canonical Christian texts and with science. There is nevertheless a main-
experiences: as a disposition to sacrifice one’s stream of Christians who take for granted a
own life for God and for others or as complete compatibility of the Christian doctrine describ-
forgiveness and love even to one’s enemies. ing God as creator and provident, and the sci-
entific view of reality. There is furthermore
a sometimes diverging way to understand
Key Values time, the possibility of God’s action, and the
limits of the real, including the limits of sci-
The key values of this tradition are in tune with ence. These are points of contention but not of
the described ethical principles. However, broad- exclusion preventing a fruitful interaction.
ening the presentation, it could be stated that the • Anthropological issues are important because
key values are those of ▶ faith, ▶ hope, and few religious traditions are committed to
▶ love. Briefly, faith refers to an attitude of com- a view of human beings exalting their
plete trust in God that invites one to follow His dignity, freedom, and spiritual dimension, as
will as expressed in His revealed texts; this is Christianity does. Such a view has been ren-
a more of a behavioral than a cognitive disposi- dered less plausible after the rise of more
tion since faith not only assumes a code of beliefs scientific anthropologies. This poses problems
but also a way of living. Hope is born from faith of mutual understanding and criticism since it
and expresses a conviction that God will accom- tries to debunk some of the Christian tradi-
plish His promises and will deliver His blessing tional insights. Secular humanists have often
and will provide a good life to everybody who led the censure against reductive views of
follows the Gospel. Hope is lived even if appar- human beings born by scientific develop-
ently those without faith or far from divine comments; Christians are probably more akin to
mandments are better off, while many believers this humanist position.
Classical and Quantum Realism 375 C
• Social issues are important because the Ratzinger, J. (1969). Introduction to Christianity. London:
Christian view of society is tailored after Search Press.
Richard Niebuhr, H. (1951). Christ and culture.
ideals of “God’s Kingdom” expressing New York: Harper.
a growing fraternity, while the models derived Stark, R. (1996). The rise of Christianity: A sociologist
from social sciences – especially economics reconsiders history. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univer-
and political science – often conflict with the sity Press.
Wogaman, J. (1993). Philip, Christian ethics: A historical
expected Christian idea of human organiza- introduction. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John
C
tions and social links, giving rise to divergent Knox Press.
paths of social progress.
Mainstream Christianity aims at offering a
positive contribution for the progress of human-
kind; however, sometimes its way to understand Christology
what is better for humans contrasts with what other
voices deem as better. In the end, a dialogue is ▶ Incarnation
necessary that can be built on different models and
values, not just on issues of detail.
Chronic Pain
Cross-References
▶ Pain Medicine
▶ Agape
▶ Anthropology
▶ Buddhism
▶ Christian Healing Cultures Church
▶ Conversion
▶ Death ▶ Ecclesiology
▶ Evil ▶ Religious Education Theory, Roman-Catholic,
▶ Faith Southern Europe
▶ Hope
▶ Incarnation
▶ Judaism
▶ Liberal Theology Circulatory System
▶ Love
▶ Messianic Judaism ▶ Cardiology
▶ Rite
▶ Secularization
▶ Truth
Classical and Quantum Realism
Jens Hebor
References Department of Education, Philosophy and
Religious Studies, University of Southern
Martin, D. (2011). The future of Christianity: Reflections
on violence and democracy, religion and Denmark, Odense, Denmark
secularisation. Farnham: Ashgate.
McGrath, A. E. (1997). An introduction to Christianity.
Oxford: Blackwell.
Rahner, K. (1978). Foundations of Christian faith: An
Related Terms
introduction to the idea of Christianity. London:
Darton, Longman and Todd. Classical physics; Quantum physics; Realism
C 376 Classical and Quantum Realism
Introduction we also tend to demand that this account is under-

standable. Conversely, we often say that if
Fundamental physics deals with some of the most a theory is not understandable it cannot be
general, abstract, and basic concepts in our view accepted as a realistic description of reality. The
of the world such as space, time, mass, energy, alternative would be to admit that the human
interaction, or causality. The revolutionary mind cannot understand reality – which most
changes in fundamental physics have challenged physicists and philosophers would regard as an
our usual concepts and view of the world leading admission of a defeat in the scientific enterprise.
to a prompt philosophical rethinking of some of Now, these broad concepts of realism and
our basic presuppositions in the description intelligibility are actually full of pitfalls, as we
of nature or even a fundamental reorientation shall see later. For now we may just record the
with regard to our cognitive or ontological posi- fact that the main concerns about quantum
tions in relation to the world. The emergence of mechanics are that it is (a) not realistic and/or
quantum theory is a paradigmatic example of (b) not intelligible or, in brief, that it does not
such revolutionary change. provide a realistic understanding of the quantum-
The elementary, nonrelativistic quantum world.
mechanics is without any doubt the most widely
discussed and controversial theory in modern
physics. It is routinely considered to be the empir- Intelligibility and Realism
ically most successful theory of twentieth
century physics and, at the same time, to be There is no doubt that quantum mechanics is
incomprehensible, mystifying, or intrinsically non-intuitive in so far as it is both (a) non-
anti-realistic. Its relativistic generalizations in pictorable (non-visualizable) and (b) radically
the form of quantum field theories provide contra-intuitive or “strange” in the broader
the conceptual framework which is at the basis sense of being very different from everything
of the so-called standard model in modern parti- we are accustomed to – both ordinary common
cle physics, that is, the fundamental theory of sense experience and classical physics. The diffi-
elementary particles and basic forces in the culty, however, is in deciding what exactly to
universe. However, quantum field theory inherits make out of this. First, it is difficult to give an
all of the strangeness of quantum mechanics and absolute sense to the notion of strangeness
adds some of its own. This is why most of the or contra-intuitiveness (b), for things are
discussions have been focused on elementary either strange or not strange relative to our
quantum mechanics. Here the problems may be expectations – formed from earlier experience –
seen clearer and, furthermore, it is often thought or theories, and if we systematically rejected
that we have to get a proper understanding of everything which seemed counterintuitive in the
elementary quantum mechanics first, before we light of established knowledge, then we would
can hope to disentangle the open issues in quan- never discover anything really new (non-
tum field theory (Cushing 1988). Euclidean geometries, theories of relativity, the
Two of the main issues of quantum mechanics heliocentric world-picture, Darwinian evolution,
are the questions about realism and intelligibility, etc.). Intuitiveness in the narrower sense of
that is, (a) Can the theory be seen as an objective pictorability (a) appears to be more absolute – at
description of an independent physical reality? least if it is released from the vague notions of
and (b) Is the theory physically understandable, mental imagery and defined in terms of the
that is, does it provide us with an understanding possibility of a comprehensive model in space
of the physical world? Certainly these issues are and time – but it is still unclear if this is really
connected in the sense that, in so far as we are necessary for intelligibility: Aren’t there a lot of
realists about the physical world and want our things which we may claim to understand
theories to give a realistic account of the world, but which are not picturable in this sense?
And, even so, it is not at all clear why reality up with questions of ontology. When it is said that
should conform to this standard. Our ordinary quantum mechanics is intrinsically anti-realistic
experience unfolds continuously in space and just because it does not exemplify universal
time and so does the world according to classical value-definiteness like classical physics, quan-
physics, but it would be a sheer prejudice or tum mechanics is actually measured by the
anthropomorphism to suppose that the micro- standards of classical physics, by criteria of
world has to conform to such conceptual struc- reality borrowed from the ontological framework C
ture. Therefore, we should be aware of uncriti- of classical physics. In this sense, it is actually
cally identifying or even defining intelligibility in just a complaint that quantum mechanics is not
terms of criteria borrowed from ordinary experi- like classical physics. Gibbins refers to this
ence or classical physics. And furthermore, we highly widespread attitude when he says: “Real-
should be even more careful of using such ism in the philosophy of quantum mechanics
established or accustomed notions of intelligibil- means the idea that quantum systems are really
ity as criteria for realism. like classical particles” (Gibbins 1987, p. ix).
As for realism, it is important to recognize that In exactly the same way, the arguments that
realism is a transitive concept. You cannot just be quantum mechanics is necessarily anti-realistic
a realist full stop, that is, a realist about nothing in just because it is intrinsically probabilistic, or
particular. The realistic stance is always about just because it contains discontinuities in the
something X (which may be God, platonic time-development (measurement collapse), or
ideas, the physical world, moral values, or just because it does not give us a spatiotemporal
whatever) where X is the ontological content of picture of the quantum world are implicitly using
the realism in question. In this sense, the formal criteria of reality which stem from classical phys-
scheme for realism is (1) X exists objectively, ical experience and which are at home only in the
that is, independently of our minds and knowl- classical physical world-picture or ontology.
edge (metaphysical realism) and (2) we have or The same, of course, goes for the general attitude
may obtain knowledge of X (epistemological that quantum mechanics must be false or mean-
realism). ingless as it is “strange” or “weird” in the broader
Actually, standard accounts of the so-called sense that it is contra-intuitive in terms of our
scientific realism are variations on this scheme: ordinary experience or classical physics.
We are scientific realists in so far as we (1) take We should clearly separate questions about
scientific theories as true or false accounts of the realism from questions about ontology, that is,
objective world (metaphysical component) and questions about the particular nature and struc-
(2) take sufficiently well-confirmed, explanatory, ture of physical reality. Every fundamental
successful, etc., scientific theories as true physical theory contains a physical ontology
(approximately true, valid in a given domain and very different physical theories may contain
or the like) theories of the objective world very different physical ontologies, which may
(epistemological component) (Ladyman 2007, involve different conceptions of intelligibility
p. 335f; Chakravartty 2007, Chap 1). Such defi- and even different criteria of what counts as
nitions are, as they should be, quite neutral with a realistic description. We are not just physical
regard to which theories actually are true or realists or not (at least unless one is simply deny-
should be accepted as true, that is, they are quite ing the very existence of the physical world), but
neutral with regard to what actually the world is realists concerning some particular physical
like and what kind of entities and structures our theory(ies) or other and therefore about what
best theories are going to introduce in our scien- this theory(ies) says(say) about the world, and
tific world-picture. hence about some particular physical ontology.
Nonetheless, in the quantum-discussions the As all known physical theories are ascribing
concept of realism is handled with much less care states to physical systems, lay down dynamical
in so far as questions of realism are often mixed laws for the time-evolution of the states, establish
connections between states and observables classical physics of which classical particle and
(alias physical quantities), and eventually intro- field theories are just variants, and which sets
duce fundamental physical constants, we may say classical physics apart from quantum physics –
that full-fledged realism concerning physical and so actually justifies the contrast classical
theory T involves something as follows: versus quantum physics. This ontological struc-
(R) (a) Realism about the kind of physical ture is such a deep-seated, well-integrated con-
systems described by T (i.e., entity- ceptual framework, involving its own criteria of
realism) objectivity, completeness, intelligibility, and
(b) Realism about the state-descriptions reality, that the acceptance of this conceptual
and dynamical laws of T (i.e., physi- framework may be defined as a particular kind
cal state-realism and nomic realism) of realism, namely, a realism concerning classi-
(c) Realism about observables which are cal ontology or, briefly, classical realism. As this
well defined on the state of the physi- ontology is presumably more familiar to most
cal system concerned, including the people than is quantum ontology, this entry has
values, if any, of such observables been presented very briefly (for details cf. (Hebor
(realism about observables or 2005, Chap. 3)). It could be formally described by
quantities means of the following:
(d) Realism about any fundamental con-
stants figuring in T (universal Basic Classical Ontological Structure
constant realism) (1) Classical state-observable structure:
In this sense, physical realism may be said to (a) Every state S of a classical physical sys-
be realism concerning a particular physical tem is a real function of (in principle) observ-
ontology, namely, the ontological structure able physical quantities (called state
obtained by concretely completing items (a–d) variables or observables) os and is
for a particular physical theory or set of theories. represented by real numbers: Sðos1 ; :::; osn Þ;
In terms of such a scheme one may be a realist (b) The state Sðos1 ; :::; osn Þ uniquely deter-
about different physical theories and so about mines the value of every other observable
quite different physical ontologies. No particular os 2
= fos gpertaining to the system in state S,
physical theory or associated physical ontology so actually (the values of) all observables o
can be said to define what physical realism is. pertaining to a system are functions of the
small set of state observables oðos Þ.
(2) Value-definiteness: Every observable in
Classical Realism classical physics has (at all times) a definite
value, namely a real number, for every phys-
Classical physics is fundamentally classical ical system for which it is defined at all.
mechanics and classical field theory which, of (3) Space-time character of observables: Classi-
course, are quite different theories associated cal observables are defined in space-time,
with different physical ontologies, namely, that is, every observable ok is a function that
a classical particle ontology and a classical field essentially includes space and time in its
ontology. If classical particles or classical elec- domain of definition: ok ¼ f(a, b, . . ., r, t),
tromagnetic fields are put under items (a), (b), where a, b, . . . may be other physical
etc., in the scheme (R), realisms will be obtained quantities, themselves being observables, r a
for the different ontologies of classical particle position vector, and t time.
mechanics and classical electromagnetism (4) Non-quantum postulate (continuity): The
(Hebor 2005, p. 39). Nonetheless, and this being state observables os and hence the states are
the important point here, there is an underlying continuous functions of time, and classical
ontological deep structure common to all of physics allows continuity of fundamental
physical interactions, that is, there is no limit Consequences for Classical Physical
to the gradually turning off an interaction: for Epistemology
any positive e the physical action (Energy (8) Classical description: Observed and
Time or Momentum Length) may be less unobserved systems are described in exactly
than e. the same way. That is (a) observed systems are
Comment: This excludes any Planck-like con- (ideally) described as if they were unobserved
stant like h. and (b) unobserved systems are described as if C
(5) Classical non-superposition of states: (a) At continually observed. In brief: observation or
any time t a classical system is in a definite measurement does not figure at all as an essen-
state (by (1) and (2)); (b) no state S is tial (non-eliminable) factor in theoretical
a superposition of states S1 and S2 such that description. This means more particularly
any observable oS belonging to S is not sim- (a) No measurement problem: Any measure-
ply a function oS ¼ f ðoS1 ; oS2 Þ of observables ment-interaction is continuous and may
belonging to S1 and S2 and hence value- be neglected or controlled so that the
definite. observed system may be described as if
(6) Separability: Any classical state for the measurement-interaction actually
a composite system is separable, that is, it was nil (Ideal of detached observer).
may at any time t be thought of as composed (b) Visualizability: Unobserved systems are
of independently existing, spatially coordi- described as if they were subjected to
nated, physically well-defined sub-states optimal, idealized observation (a God’s
pertaining to (a) the constituent subsystems eye-view of the world).
and hence (by (3)) to (b) every spatial domain Comment: (8b) should not be understood in the
or location of the composite system in sense of mental imagery (mental images of four-
question. dimensional curved space-time or even dr/dt
Comment: Note that this does not mention inter- cannot be formed in classical physics) but rather
actions between physical (sub)systems and so is in the sense of a comprehensive, continuous
not a locality principle. Principles of general geometrical picture in space and time. In this
locality (no actions-at-a-distance) or relativistic sense (a) classical states are visualizable in as
locality (no super-luminal interactions) hold in much as systems and observables are embedded
both classical and quantum physics. However, in a comprehensive spatial model and (b) classi-
separability means that any correlations between cal processes are visualizable in the sense that
observables pertaining to distant systems have to any time-evolution is seen as a continuous
be by way of present causal interactions or com- sequence of states in time.
mon causes. Comment: In this regard, classical physics is in
(7) Classical determinism: The specification of fact much more tied to observational categories
state at any time t0 uniquely determines than is quantum mechanics. As classical states
(by way of dynamical laws which may be are functions of value-definite observables the
represented as differential equations: world is actually described as if continuously
Hamilton’s equations, Maxwell’s equations, observed by an omnipresent, detached observer.
etc.) the state of the system at any other time (9) Classical completeness: A complete descrip-
t (for an isolated system). Any lack of knowl- tion of the state of a physical system must by
edge of future states (predictability) is purely way of the state-observables (implicitly)
epistemic, not ontological, and this also goes specify the values of all observables
for the so-called chaotic systems. pertaining to the system.
Comment: By (1) this means that all observables Comment: Any lack of value-definiteness in the
for the system at t are determined by the state description is, thus, a sure sign of the incomplete-
at t0. ness of the description.
(10) Classical objectivity: A physical description product H (state space, Hilbert space).
D of a physical system S is objective in so (b) Observables (dynamical physical quanti-
far as D represents S as it is in itself, that is, ties) A, B, . . . are represented by generally
the nature and state of S as it is or would be non-commuting linear self-adjoint operators
independent of the description D, including ^ B,
A, ^ . . . acting on vectors in H, each defining
any experiments or measurements that may a spectrum of definite eigenvalues {a1, a2,. . .},
underlie D. {b1, b2, . . .} and an associated set of eigenvec-
(11) Classical realism: Physical systems (a) exist tors {jai i}, {jbi i}. . . satisfying eigenvalue
objectively, that is, independently of any equations A^jai i ¼ ai jai i, B^jbi i ¼ bi jbi i. . .,
(physical) description and of any conscious- such that each set of eigenvectors {jai i},
ness, and (b) they always exist objectively {jbi i}. . . provides complete, though (gener-
in definite classical states and hence also (c) ally) different, eigenbases for the state space,
are objectively characterized by definite that is, every state vector in H may be
values for every observable pertaining to expressed as linear combinations of state
the system. Furthermore, (d) universal vectors for the various operators jci ¼
P P
constants, if any (like c in relativity), are han j cijan i ¼ hbn j cijbn i ¼ ::: ¼ the
integral parts of the state-description and so n n
have objective existence. same state vector in different representations.

Comment: These are just (a–d) in the general Comment: For convenience (1) considers only the
scheme (R). It should be clear that the traits discrete case. For operators with continuous
specific to classical physics are contained in eigenvalue spectra the sums must be replaced
items (b) and (c), that is, the classical structure by integrals. The fact that jci represents individ-
for states and observables, namely, (1) and ual systems is what separates quantum realism
(2) above. from statistical ensemble interpretations, and
This classical realism (11) with its associated that it does so completely is what separates it
ontology (1–6) and epistemology (7–10) is from hidden variables theories (see below). It
largely a quantitative refinement and extension should further be noticed that neither the abstract
of our ordinary empirical common sense with state vectors nor the operators by themselves
regard to our macroscopic environment. Hence, provide any physical information. The state-
this kind of conceptual structure seems to be observable structure of quantum mechanics is
deeply ingrained in our instinctive way of an integrated vector-operator structure.
seeing the physical world. Quantum mechanics, (2) Value-indefiniteness: In a quantum state jci,
however, presents quite another conceptual struc- there are generally no definite values for any
ture if seen as a realist description of physical of the physical observables, the exception
reality. being when jci is an eigenstate for observ-
^ Furthermore there
able A (eigenvector for A).
are never definite values for all observables
Quantum Realism pertaining to the systems in question, there
being no common eigenbases for non-
commuting operators, A^B^ BÂ^ ¼ iC, ^ so
Quantum realism could be formally described by
means of the following: that jci being an eigenstate for A^ entails
jcigenerally not being an eigenstate for B^
Basic Quantum Ontological Structure but rather a superposition of such states
P
(1) Nonclassical state-observable structure: (a) jc i ¼ hbn j cijbn i, and vice versa. For
Every (pure) state of an individual quantum canonically conjugate observables like posi-
system is completely represented by tion and momentum there are no common
a normalized vector (state vector) jci in eigenstates at all, the commutator being
a complex, linear vector space with inner Q^P^ P^Q^ ¼ ih and resulting in the famous
P P
Heisenberg relations Dqi Dpi h=2. What Thus, jci ¼ hqn j cijqn i¼ hpn j ci
n n
the vector-operator structure does allow,
jpn i ¼ . . . ; which means that jci at the
however, are definite values when jci is an
^ A^jai i ¼ ai jai i, specification same time may be in a superposition of posi-
eigenstate of A,
tion eigenstates jqi i and momentum
of the possible values for observable
^ eigenstates jpi i with neither position nor
A (spectrum of eigenvalues for A),
momentum definite. C
probabilities for getting result ai in
Comment: The superposition principle in itself
a measurement of A on a system in state
entails value-indefiniteness, and in contrast to
jci, Pðai jjciÞ ¼ jhai j cij2 (Born-rule) and some interpretations of the Heisenberg-relations,
expectation values h Ai ¼ hcjA^jci. it is clear that this kind of value-indefiniteness is
Comment: The universality of definite values in not a result of measurement-disturbances. The
classical physics is, thus, replaced by largely value-indefiniteness here is ontological – the sys-
probabilistic magnitudes. It is, however, crucial tem simply has not definite values for position
that the theory does provide non-probabilistic and momentum – if you accept the reality of
information by way of eigenvalue spectra and quantum states. Such superpositions cannot be
actual eigenvalues too. Any statistical test of described in classical language and it is important
expectation values and transition probabilities to be aware of attempts to do so in popular and
has to be done in terms of actual and not just semi-popular expositions.
possible values for observables. Hence, the (6) Non-separability or entanglement: Quantum
importance of the measurement collapse into states for composite systems which have
eigenstates for the measured observable. interacted in the past generally are not sepa-
(3) Non-space-time character of observables: rable, that is (for a two-particle system), the
Corresponding to the general value- state for the composite system jCi12 cannot
indefiniteness, quantum operators are defined be expressed asEa product of single-particle
on state-space and not physical space-time. states, jci i1 cj , but instead has to be
(4) Quantum postulate (discontinuity): Quantum 2
expressed as a sum (integral)
P E such
over
mechanics is based on the fundamental product-states:jCi12 ¼ aij jci i1 cj . In
constant h with the dimension of action ij
such entangled or non-separable
2
states
(Energy Time ¼ Momentum Length). (a) there is a well-defined quantum state for
The finite value of h entails a fundamental the whole system but individual states for the
discontinuity in all quantum interactions component systems are not defined at all,
(even though eventually hidden by the super- which (b) shows itself in the fact that there
position principle as in quantum entangle- are correlations between the results of
ment, see below). the possible measurements on the two
Comment: The discontinuity does not show up in particles – correlations which are quite inde-
the continuous time-development of the pendent of the distance.
Schrödinger equation for an isolated system, but Comment: It is worth noticing that non-
reveals itself with a vengeance in the measure- separability is just a consequence of the superpo-
ment collapse. sition principle for many-particle systems in that
(5) Quantum superposition of states: It follows the entangled states are simply superpositions of
from the very vector structure of quantum different product-states for the component sys-
mechanics that a (normalized) linear combi- tems involved. The existence of non-separable
nation of two different states is a new state two-particle states lay at the root of the original
(superposition principle), and it follows from version of the EPR-paradox (Einstein et al. 1935)
the completeness of eigenbases that any state and has, in general, been a subject of extensive
may be expanded as a linear combination discussions on the foundations and interpretation
of any operator from the same state space. of quantum mechanics. The simple example
1
of the spin-½ singlet state jCi12 ¼ 2 =2 indeterministic feature in so far as for non-

jþi1 ji2 ji1 jþi2 shows the essential fea- eigenstates the theory only gives probabili-
tures. Regardless of the distance between the ties for different results within the spectrum
two particles and regardless of the spin direction of possible results (the Born-rule).
chosen to measure, opposite values are always to Comment: Whether this is of any relevance for
be obtained (perfect anti-correlation) as long as human freedom is at best unclear. It is not clear
the measurement is done along the same direction that the human brain operates by measurement-
on both particles. And if different measurement- like collapses on quantum-level, and beyond that
directions are chosen for the two particles, stron- it is not clear that human freedom can be identi-
ger correlations may be obtained than that is fied with pure chance.
possible if the particles were in separable states,
which is the content of Bell’s inequality (Bell Consequences for Quantum Physical
1964; Auletta 2000, Chap. 34f.). The existence Epistemology
of such strong quantum-correlations has since (8) Quantum description: Unobserved systems
been amply confirmed experimentally, but this are represented by abstract state vectors, and
result unfortunately is often summed up in the state vectors are not observables. Observed
statement that local realistic theories are ruled systems are described by the result of opera-
out – that is, if realism is maintained the correla- tors acting on state vectors. Definite values
tions can be accounted for only by introducing for observables are generally obtained at the
non-local (superluminal) interactions between cost of non-eliminable interactions with the
the particles – and that quantum mechanics is system, resulting in discontinuous collapse of
nonrealistic. Actually Bell’s theorem follows the state vector. This leads more particularly
from the twin assumptions of separability and to the following:
locality so what is called “realism” here is not (a) Measurement problem: The question of
realism but the separability assumption in classi- what is necessary and sufficient for
cal physics (Hebor 2005, Chap. 5). This is a clear collapse, and where the boundary between
instance of the fallacy of confusing physical real- quantum superpositions and the definite-
ism with the specific assumptions in classical ness of macroscopic bodies is, is an
ontology, that is, with classical realism. Further, unsolved problem (Auletta, pt. IV). It is
non-separability should not be confused with sometimes inferred from this that we
non-locality, for in as much as the component should deny the existence of state-collapse
systems have no individual states it has no sense and try to apply the superposition princi-
to speak of interactions between the systems. ple even to macroscopic bodies (Non-
Beyond this it can be proved that non-separability collapse theories, see below). Another
cannot be used for any kind of superluminal com- response, however, is to say that the
munication (Auletta 2000, p. 633f.). domain of the superposition principle is
(7) Quantum determinism and indeterminism: what is at present not known and thus,
The time-development of state vectors for something to be investigated rather than
isolated systems, the so-called unitary time- just replacing the lack of knowledge by
evolution as given by the time-dependent extrapolations (Primas 1983; Hebor 2005,
Schrödinger equation, H^jci ¼ ih @@t j ci
, is Chap. 6).
as deterministic as any classical dynamical (b) Non-visualizability: The description of
law (being given by a first-order differential unobserved systems by state vectors
equation). The state vector, however, gener- means that the quantum world is radically
ally does not contain values for the observ- non-visualizable. From a quantum realist
ables (and never for all, cf. (2)), and obtaining point of view, however, jci has to be
these by measurement introduces the regarded as a symbolic (not picturable)
representation of the intrinsically are theoretically, not just practically, non-
non-visualizable quantum state but, notice, eliminable when we are investigating a physical
still a representation of something real. system. Taking the theory seriously, thus, means to
(9) Quantum completeness: A complete descrip- accept the interactions as part and parcel of the
tion of the state of a quantum system S means phenomena to be investigated and integrated in
that the state is represented by a non- the very description of the phenomena. So objec-
degenerate state vector, that is, when there tivity here rather means including, not excluding, C
is only one state vector corresponding to any the interactions in the description (Bohr 1949). In
possible eigenvalue resulting from measure- this sense, quantum mechanics may be seen as
ment on S. Or more formally, jci is complete a theory of interactions rather than as a theory of
if jci is defined in a state space spanned independent, interaction-free substances.
by eigenvectors of a maximal set of (11) Quantum realism: Physical systems (a) exist
commuting operators M ¼ A; ^ B;
^ C;^ ::: objectively, that is, independently of any
Max
corresponding to observables defined for S, (physical) description and of any conscious-
maximality of M just meaning that the addi- ness, and (b) they always exist objectively
tion of any single operator to M results in in definite quantum states (exception: sub-
a non-commuting set of operators. systems in entangled states, but pure states
Comment: Equivalent to this is the statement that exist for the whole system). Therefore,
all observables are fully represented by self- (c) definite values never exist for all observ-
adjoint operators. The hidden variables of hidden ables but at best for a set of observables
variable theories (see below), on the other hand, corresponding to a maximal set of commut-
are exactly physical variables which are not ing operators. (d) h lays at the basis of the
represented by self-adjoint operators so that the whole conceptual structure and so the quan-
state vector is not seen as a complete representa- tum of action has objective existence.
tion of the physical state in hidden variables Comment: This again is a concrete implementa-
theories (Bohm and Hiley 1993; Auletta 2000 tion of scheme (R) but of course in terms of quite
Chap. 32). So the quantum realist assertion of another physical ontology than is classical real-
the essential completeness of quantum mechanics ism. The specific features again are contained in
is the denial of hidden variables, not the statement items (b) and (c) corresponding to the radical
that physics is completed. nonclassical state-observable structure in quan-
(10) Quantum objectivity: In quantum physics, tum mechanics, namely, (1) and (2) above.
no interaction-free observation or description
(by way of at least preparation) is possible
according to the very nature of the theory. An Outlook and Alternatives
objective description accordingly includes
the interaction of the system with all other Of course, it might be tempting to try avoiding
systems in so far as these systems are part of this kind of quantum realism. However, there is
the quantum-description (by way of entan- no easy way out if one wants to be true to what the
glement) and with the whole measurement experiments say.
setup: contextuality of quantum measure- It might be tempting to try denying that quan-
ment (Bohr 1949). This holds for the descrip- tum mechanics deals with individual systems
tion of states and for the measurement of and opt for a statistical ensemble theory. Then,
observables, respectively. of course, the strange features like value-
Comment: This is again very different from what indefiniteness, superposition, and entanglement
objectivity means in classical physics. From are just properties of ensembles and not the indi-
a quantum realist perspective, however, the physi- vidual systems. But this does not account for the
cal world is governed by h (cf. (4)) and interactions 2-slit experiment and other experiments which
may be made on individual systems (at a time). In emergence of definite values in the classical
general, ensemble theories are either quite unclear domain (Schlosshauer 2007) and the attempt to
with regard to the individual systems, or they have simply accept the unrestricted superposition prin-
to say that there are differences between individual ciple for macroscopic bodies, including ourselves
systems in the same quantum state and in that case, and our measurement devices, as in the different
they just degenerate to hidden variable theories variants of the Many-world theories are certainly
without explicit specification of the hidden vari- not less bizarre than is standard quantum mechan-
ables (Home and Whitaker 1992). ics. (For the many faces of Many-worlds cf.
It might be tempting to try denying that quan- (Barrett 1999), and for some of the technical
tum mechanics gives a complete description of problems cf. (Jaeger 2009, p. 139f)).
the individual systems and so opt for the exis- Then of course, realism may itself be given up,
tence of hidden variables, that is, variables not but this seems just to give up trying to understand
represented by operators and so not part of the the physical world at all. In short, it is difficult not
quantum description of states. There are, to admit that the micro-world has very strange
however, several no-go theorems severely features from a human perspective.
constraining the nature of such hidden variables, As for connections to religion there have
showing that they have to be both nonlocal certainly been attempts to solve the quantum
(allowing superluminal causal interactions) and perplexities by introducing God and divine inter-
contextual (values of different observables not vention (Baggott 2004, p. 257f.), but most people
being independent of each other). Hence, the would see this as a clear instance of obscurum per
advertised intelligibility typically disappears on obscurium, and the same goes for the several
closer inspection (Auletta 2000, Chap. 32; Cush- attempts of invoking eastern wisdom here
ing et al. 1995). The most popular variant, (Stenger 1995, Chap. 1). A more promising link
Bohmian mechanics, may look plausible as long might be to see the micro-world as a great
as the focus is on the nice drawings of continuous “other,” trying to tell us something very impor-
particle tracks (Bohm and Hiley 1993, pp. 33, 53, tant and strange about the world and our place in
76), but such particle tracks are brought in at the it – in a nonpictorial language that we must strug-
expense of a multidimensional, nonlocal “guid- gle to understand.
ing field” which has all the features of a pure
ghost field. It carries no energy, has no sources,
but nonetheless instantaneously and distance- References
independently guides the particles without being
acted on by the particles, and it is only defined in Auletta, G. (2000). Foundations and interpretation of
quantum mechanics. Singapore: World Scientific.
an N-dimensional configuration space (N >> 3).
Baggott, J. (2004). Beyond measure: Modern physics,
Nevertheless, it has to be assumed real if the philosophy, and the meaning of quantum theory
Bohmian theory is to be understood at all realis- (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
tically (Holland 1993, pp. 278–279). If a realist Barrett, J. (1999). The quantum mechanics of minds and
worlds. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
understanding of the guiding field is given up,
Bell, J. S. (1964). On the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen para-
a realist understanding of Bohm’s theory is dox, Chap. 2. In J. S. Bell (Ed.), Speakable and
given up – and if so, why bother with the hidden unspeakable in quantum mechanics. Cambridge: Cam-
variables? bridge University Press, 1989.
Bohm, D., & Hiley, B. (1993). The undivided universe.
It might be tempting to try giving up the London: Routledge.
assumption of measurement collapse and so to Bohr, N. (1949). Discussion with Einstein on epistemolog-
try applying standard quantum mechanics to ical problems in atomic physics. In Schilpp, P. (ed.),
macroscopic bodies and measurement devices Albert Einstein: Philosopher-scientist (pp. 199–241).
La Salle (711): Cambridge University Press.
(so-called Non-collapse theories). However, the
Chakravartty, A. (2007). A metaphysics for scientific real-
so-called Decoherence theories actually do not ism: Knowing the unobservable. Cambridge:
solve the problem of accounting for the Cambridge University Press.
Classics 385 C
Cushing, J. (1988). Foundational problems in and meth-
odological lessons from quantum field theory, Chap. 2. Classical Studies
In H. Brown & R. Harré (Eds.), Philosophical founda-
tions of quantum field theory. Oxford: Clarendon.
Cushing, J. (1994). Quantum mechanics. Historical con- ▶ Classics
tingency and the Copenhagen hegemony. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Cushing, J., Fine, A., & Goldstein, S. (Eds.). (1995).
Bohmian mechanics and quantum theory. Dordrecht:
C
Kluwer. Classics
Einstein, A., Podolsky, B., & Rosen, N. (1935). Can
quantum-mechanical description of physical reality Deborah Vause
be considered complete? Physical Review, 47,
777–780. Department of English and Humanities, York
Gibbins, P. (1987). Particles and paradoxes. Cambridge/ College of Pennsylvania, York, PA, USA
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hebor, J. (2005). The standard conception as genuine
quantum realism. Odense: University Press of South-
ern Denmark. Related Terms
Holland, P. (1993). The quantum theory of motion.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Classical philology; Classical studies
Home, D., & Whitaker, A. (1992). Ensemble interpreta-
tions of quantum mechanics: A modern perspective.
Physics Reports, 210, 223–317.
Jaeger, G. (2009). Entanglement, information, and Description
the interpretation of quantum mechanics. Berlin/
Heidelberg: Springer. In contemporary academia, Classics is an
Ladyman, J. (2007). Ontological, epistemological, and
methodological positions. In T. Kuipers (Ed.), Philoso- umbrella term that refers to an interdisciplinary
phy of science: Focal issues, handbook of the philosophy field of study, unified by its focus on the world of
of science (pp. 303–376). Amsterdam: Elsevier. ancient Greece and Rome from prehistory to late
Primas, H. (1983). Chemistry, quantum mechanics and antiquity. And because the Greco-Roman culture
reductionism. Berlin/New York: Springer.
Schlosshauer, M. (2007). Decoherence and the quantum- had such a far-reaching sphere of influence
to-classical transition. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer. through trade and conquest, study of any of the
Stenger, V. (1995). The unconscious quantum. Amherst: early Mediterranean civilizations, such as that of
Prometheus Books. Persia, Egypt, Israel, and so on, might also be
considered as fitting under the Classics umbrella.
Within this broad field, a wide range of disci-
plines intersect: anthropology, history, archaeol-
Classical Mechanics
ogy, philology, literature, art, linguistics, and many
others. Each discipline employs its own methodol-
▶ Mechanics
ogy and perspective even though the evidence
being studied from one discipline to another
remains the same – artifacts such as manuscripts,
Classical Philology inscriptions, works of art, architecture, and other
material remains of these ancient cultures. Suc-
▶ Classics cessful scholarship in the field almost always
requires knowledge of ancient languages and liter-
atures, particularly classical Greek and Latin.
Study of the Classics has long been
Classical Physics intertwined with the concept of education in the
Western tradition and so has been seen as study-
▶ Classical and Quantum Realism ing the origins of Western culture. In fact, it could
▶ Energy in Physics be considered the oldest of the academic
C 386 Classics
disciplines, being the forerunner of the modern include the study of objects of art, politics, reli-
▶ Humanities. The concept of the Classics began gion, archaeology, and myriad other facets of
with the ancient Greeks and Romans themselves, classical civilization.
who educated their future citizens by having stu- The etymology of the term Classics explains
dents imitate great works of literature. This prac- why this field of study has been so valued in the
tice was intended to teach rhetoric, grammar, past as well as why its influence appears to be
ethics, aesthetics, and the best elements of culture currently declining. In its original usage, classic
from one generation to the next. Classical scholars indicated socioeconomic status. The classici were
began compiling lists of the works worthy of being the ancient Romans in the top socioeconomic clas-
imitated and discussing criteria for the assessment ses, the opposite of the proletarii, who were in the
of such works. Although such lists varied from one lowest. Then, in the second century C.E., the
individual to another, the practice developed into Roman author Aulus Gellius applied the judgment
the concept of the canon, the “standard” works of of classic to literature, distinguishing a scriptor
literature, history, and philosophy identified as classicus, a writer of high quality, from a scriptor
being those with which any educated person proletarius, or a writer of common quality (Sandys
would be familiar. Even though the individual 1988, p. 200). For Gellius, the determining feature
works identified as canonical changed, belief in of a scriptor classicus was that it provided a model
the value of a classical canon to provide an educa- worthy of being followed, and his terminology
tional foundation persisted. implied a connection to the highest level of socio-
This concept of the classical canon influenced economic status. Studying the canon, studying the
Western European education for centuries, long “best” works, was a practice of the upper class, and
after the time when the classical languages of the judgment of the works included in the canon,
Latin and Greek ceased common usage. In the the “best” works to study, arose from the values of
Middle Ages, a formal education began when the upper class.
children first learned Latin through the imitation And to identify something as a classic today
of selected classical works of literature, history, still attaches the connotation of having a valued
and philosophy. Then, institutions of higher social status. In the postmodern, international
learning used a Christianized canon to teach rhe- world of the early twenty-first century, such
toric, grammar, and logic, the foundation neces- value is increasingly questioned rather than
sary for any advanced study. With the spread of merely accepted as it was in previous genera-
humanism during the Renaissance, knowledge of tions. Thus study of the Classics is increasingly
classical texts expanded beyond medieval becoming marginalized. Classical Latin and
Christian boundaries, and application of classical Greek are no longer widely taught in public
concepts appeared in everyday life, including school systems. The once-mandatory classical
education. So classical authors and their concepts canon has been replaced with canons reflecting
of a literary canon shaped the educational prac- the modern nationalism of individual countries.
tices of the European Renaissance. Study of the Classicists today face the challenge of justifying
classical canon of texts, along with the classical the value of their work in the modern world, an
Latin and Greek languages, remained the foun- ironic situation at a time when new technologies
dation of Western European education until the and archaeological discoveries are exponentially
rise of the modern university system. increasing their knowledge of the ancient world.
By the nineteenth century, the new discoveries
and the development of new methodologies that
accompanied the creation of modern academic Self-Identification
disciplines had remodeled the Western tradition
of education. It had also expanded the definition Science
of the field of Classics beyond studying classical The Classics is defined by subject matter and
languages and a specific canon of literature to purpose of understanding classical Greek and
Classics 387 C
Roman civilization. It is possible, though, for an science and religion. In addition, study of the
individual topic being researched with the empir- Classics reveals the differences between the
ical methodology of a science to fall within the perspectives of the ancient and modern worlds.
Classics paradigm if the subject matter and pur- The basic conceptual category of “science” as it
pose of the research are appropriate. is understood in modern times was not used
in the classical era, even though many of the
Religion subject areas and methodologies now consid- C
Religion may be a discipline of study contained ered to belong to “science” were being devel-
within the Classics paradigm. Understanding oped and explored during that time. Perception
the various religious practices and beliefs of of the conceptual divide between the ancient
the classical era helps Classics scholars under- and modern worlds allows an intellectual dis-
stand the literary and philosophical texts of that tancing from modern assumptions and so
time. In addition, scholars interested in the mod- encourages a critical examination of modern
ern discipline of religion frequently find knowl- understanding.
edge of the Classics essential because that era
shaped the development of the world’s major
religions – Islam, Judaism, and Christianity – Sources of Authority
as well as some of the less widely practiced
religions. The most authoritative source in the study of the
Classics is primary source material. Because
such a vast period of time exists between the
Characteristics modern and the classical world, scholars must
rely first on the only objective information avail-
Study of the modern Classics is distinct among able, primary source material, rather than relying
other disciplines because its existence relies on on prior interpretations of that information to
the interaction between a variety of disciplines in build knowledge.
order to understand the ancient civilizations of Another type of authoritative source is found
Greece and Rome. Its focus on understanding the in the classical canon; the selection of Greek and
past is similar to several other individual disci- Latin works judged to possess the most merit and
plines. History concerns itself with cause and so considered to have been influential in shaping
effect as it attempts to reconstruct the order of Western culture. The fact that the canon is
human events. Anthropology studies the beliefs, primary source material selected to reflect a
practices, and cultures of living human beings particular set of values can make it problematic
while archaeology studies human culture by to use in understanding the classical world
examining the material remains of human beings. because every era has identified its own canon.
Philology is the study of language and literature. Careful attention must be given to who has made
The Classics relies on all of these disciplines as it the judgments about the works included. For
focuses on creating as complete an understanding example, relying on fifteenth century selections
as possible of the culture of a specific time period to understand life in first century Rome must be
and geographic location. suspect. And yet if the canonical decisions being
examined were made in the first century, then
they reflect significant insights into the values of
Relevance to Science and Religion that time. The canon is usually more relevant to
understanding recent eras than classical ones
Study of the Classics is relevant to “Science and because it gives insights into how a particular
Religion” because it reveals the philosophical time period interpreted the classical authors
and/or historical foundation for contemporary and objects of art judged to be worthy of study
Western concepts and practices in both in that time.
C 388 Cleverness
Ethical Principles perspective. So identifying a single definition

for each term is not possible.
The ethical principle guiding study in the Classics
is remaining as true as possible to the primary
source material. Knowledge of a broad range of Relevant Themes
source material – archaeological evidence, objects
of art, literary/philosophical/historical texts – is No other issues/themes/concepts are critical to
essential as well to ensure understanding the a discussion of Science and Religion.
source within the context of its own time period.
This also necessitates knowledge of a range of
interacting disciplines and methodologies, such Cross-References
as literature with skills in textual analysis, philol-
ogy with skills in translation, philosophy with ▶ Christianity
knowledge of philosophical argument, archaeol- ▶ Humanities
ogy with the use of statistics, and so on. ▶ Monism
▶ Monotheism
▶ Religion, History of
Key Values ▶ Soul
Study of the Classics demands respect for the

culture of classical Greece and Rome, as well as References
the belief that this culture is relevant to present
and future civilization. This relevance might Calder, W. M., & Kramer, D. J. (1992). An introductory
bibliography to the history of classical scholarship
come from the direct influence and/or knowledge
chiefly in the XIXth and XXth centuries. Hildesheim:
of classical traditions and values in the present Olms.
culture or it might come from the interaction of Pfeiffer, R. (1968). History of classical scholarship from
previous historical eras with the classical culture. the beginnings to the end of the Hellenistic Age.
Clarendon Press: Oxford. Reissued 1998.
In addition, Classics scholars work directly with Pfeiffer, R. (1976). History of classical scholarship from
primary materials from the classical era, so direct 1300 to 1850. Oxford: Clarendon. Reissued 1999.
knowledge of the ancient languages and cultures Platnauer, M. (1968). Fifty years (& twelve) of classical
is important. New discoveries are regular, and so scholarship. New York: Barnes & Noble.
Sandys, J. E. (1988). A history of classical scholarship.
the field is constantly growing. Finally, because
Bristol: Thoemmes Press.
the Classics is an interdisciplinary field, the con- The Classical Association (2011). http://www.
stant interaction between disciplines requires classicalassociation.org/
openness and responsiveness to a variety of Von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, U. (1982). History of
classical scholarship. London: Duckworth.
methodologies and conclusions of a range of
perspectives.
Conceptualization Cleverness
Because the Classics exists at the intersection of a ▶ Intelligence

variety of disciplines, defining these terms
depends on the individual perspective being
applied at any specific time. For example, in one
context, a term might carry the meaning used Clinical Genetics
during the classical era, while in another context,
the term might carry a modern disciplinary ▶ Medical Genetics
Clinical Neurophysiology 389 C
magnetic counterpart of the EEG called magne-
Clinical Health Psychology toencephalography (MEG).
Particularly in Scandinavian countries (but now
▶ Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology also in UK, Italy, Spain, and many other countries)
CN progressively became a discipline of its own,
being treated as a separate entity from Neurology
even if in several countries it is still regarded as C
Clinical Microbiology part of neurological specialty (i.e., Germany).
Modern EEG aims at clinical evaluation of
▶ Medical Microbiology epileptic syndromes, sleep disturbances,
comatous states (with the impelling discrimina-
tion between a “brain death” and “brain vegeta-
tive” conditions, a prerequisite for organs
Clinical Neurophysiology donation); MEG is mainly employed in neurosci-
entific research and in presurgical localization of
Paolo M. Rossini high-risk brain centers (i.e., language) for drug-
Catholic University, Policlinic A. Gemelli, resistant epilepsy undergoing neurosurgical pro-
Rome, Italy cedures; EMG and ENG help in diagnosing
peripheral nerves and muscles disease, while
TMS helps in evaluating brain excitability and
Description corticospinal fibers conductivity in multiple scle-
rosis and spinal cord diseases, as well as in fol-
Today clinical neurophysiology (CN) is mainly lowing up brain plastic reorganization following
devoted to diagnosis and objective measures for a traumatic or vascular (i.e., stroke) lesion.
the clinical syndromes caused by diseases affect-
ing the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves
(electroneurography, ENG), and skeletal muscles Self-Identification
(electromyography, EMG). History of modern
CN is usually dated back to the discovery of the Science
electroencephalogram (EEG) and its clinical CN has followed the track of basic research in
applications by the German scientist Hans Berger neurophysiology as a natural science. It sees itself
(1873–1941) between 1920 and 1930. Immedi- as a scientific instrument to enhance knowledge
ately before and after World War II, neurophys- about the pathophysiology of the human ▶ ner-
iological techniques devoted to the study of vous system and the related musculature. In
muscle fibers and peripheral nerves by Lord a clinical context, it has been progressively used
Adrian in UK and Fritz Buchtal in Denmark as an extension and refinement of the neurologi-
enlarged the scenario of modern clinical neuro- cal examination, being able to provide objective
physiology. More recently (from mid-1970s), measurements as well as to unveil abnormalities
techniques able to capture selective brain and in a preclinical state (i.e., before a neurological
spinal cord signals in response to specific stimuli, disease is provoking symptoms). Correlations
as well as able to identify brain responses to between electrophysiological abnormalities and
cognitive tasks were acquired under the heading structural damage were developed in decades
of stimulus-related and event-related evoked following the introduction of computerized
potentials. Since the 1980s, techniques for non- tomography and of magnetic resonance imaging
invasive electric and magnetic transcranial brain of the brain allowing to test in vivo the presence,
stimulation have been introduced. During the nature, and extension of the lesion.
same year, Sam Williamson & Collaborators In line with neurology, CN applies the scien-
introduced modern sensors to capture the tific methods of the natural sciences for clinical
C 390 Clinical Neurophysiology
and basic research as well as for diagnostic pro- connected with the damaged area, even if they
cedures. For instance, CN definitely established are structurally healthy. This is an important con-
a causative relationship with the generalized or cept which helps understanding how CN can
localized presence of transient paroxysms in the nicely integrate techniques which only evaluate
EEG like spikes, spike-and-waves, and alpha brain structure and not function.
depression and various types of epilepsies, and
to understand that sleep is not a simple and con-
tinuous state, but is the result of a complex pat- Relevance to Science and Religion
tern of micro-states which develop according to
a well-defined hierarchy during the hours sepa- CN is sometimes touching areas relevant to
rating falling asleep from awakenings. a religious view of life, particularly when it is
More recently, neurophysiological parameters employed to find out a “sign of death” to define
were integrated with information from tech- the end of life of a living person. The most uni-
niques investigating brain function by measuring versally accepted instrumental parameters for
local blood flow and metabolism (i.e., oxygen “brain death” definition are nowadays the com-
and glucose consumption) as well as production plete lack of any EEG activity and the absence of
of neurotransmitters as in functional MRI and pos- any vital sign from the brain stem (an area con-
itron emission tomography (PET). International trolling autonomic life including heart rate, res-
CN is governed since 1949 by the International piration, blood pressure, etc.).
Federation of CN (IFCN) to which more than
50 national societies are affiliated. IFCN – on its Sources of Authority
own – is divided into geographical chapters (i.e.,
European, Latino-American). IFCN has a scien- Since its beginning, CN has been quite close to
tific journal with an about 60-year long tradition, human basic physiology on one side and to clin-
originally entitled Electroencephalography & ical neurology on the other. Along the neurophys-
Clinical Neurophysiology and recently renamed iological tradition, there are a number of Nobel
Clinical Neurophysiology. Prizes (i.e., Adrian for neuronal excitation mech-
anisms), excellent physiologists (i.e., Moruzzi &
Magoun for sleep mechanisms), and outstanding
Characteristics clinicians (i.e., Gastaut for epilepsy). More
recently, Guidelines & Recommendations regu-
CN is mainly dealing with function of brain, larly published by IFCN, Handbooks of CN,
spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and muscles as and – most important – the official organ of the
reflected by their electromagnetic spontaneous Federation the journal Clinical Neurophysiology
or stimulus-related activities. Moreover, CN represent a first line of authoritative information
aims to establish a strong relationship between and sources of references for doctors and techni-
clinical symptoms on one side and the topogra- cians working in the field of CN
phy of lesion on the other. Symptoms – broadly Along the history of this specialty, the group
speaking – include movement deficits, abnormal- of Pisa (Giuseppe Moruzzi) was the frontline
ities in sensory perception/processing, cognitive world place for the study of sleep mechanisms,
abnormalities (i.e., memory disturbances). Neu- the team of Marseille (Henry Gastaut) was
rophysiological recordings in the presence of a center of excellence for epilepsy in the 1950s
such symptoms (particularly when they are and 1960s, the University of London was
transient) help in identifying which is the neural a reference place for Evoked Potentials (Martin
network affected. In fact, once a lesion has been Halliday who recently disappeared), the research
established, it can produce symptoms due to the group in Iowa City (Jun Kimura) was following
neural tissue directly damaged, but also from the the pioneering studies of Buchtal in Copenhagen
indirect effects at distance in all the relays on electromyography and reflexes.
Clinical Neurophysiology 391 C
Ethical Principles Life and Death
Life is conceptualized as the presence of brain
As for every medical discipline, CN follows the activity as measurable via EEG and evoked
rules of the “Hippocratic Oath,” i.e., a set of potentials recordings, particularly for those sig-
ethical principles for the medical community nals originating from the brain stem. Lack of such
regarding the care and treatment of patients activity for a prolonged period of time (i.e., 6 or
which were developed by the ancient Greek phy- 12 h according to different national legislations) C
sician Hippocrates, and the more recent lines of leads to the definition of “▶ brain death.”
the Declaration of Helsinki of 1971 which is a set
of ethical principles for the medical community Reality
regarding studies with human beings. The decla- Reality is considered the physical world (exter-
ration was developed by the World Medical nal, outside the body, and internal to the body,
Association, as well as of the Good Medical i.e., visceral activity) in direct contact with the
Practice as requested by the European Union. nervous system through senses.
Knowledge
Key Values Learning and knowledge is now seen as
a complex mechanism of transient (minutes or
Along the vein of the “mother discipline” of hours) or prolonged (months and years) modifi-
neurology the key values of CN is helping to cations of synaptic contacts and neuronal wiring
diagnose and treat properly symptoms and defi- leading to storage of physical, educational, and
cits due to ▶ nervous system and muscles dis- emotional experiences. This is based on cellular
eases, finally ending in physical, mental, and mechanisms named after the Nobel Prize Eric
cognitive/behavioral impairments. Kandel, Long-Term Potentiation and Depres-
sion (together with the genetic and proteic
and biochemical changes combined to them)
Conceptualization and can be represented as a dynamic process
(probably consolidated by certain function of
Nature/World night sleep) continuously evolving from birth
The field of such conceptualization is – for CN – to death.
restricted to the human being which is
approached within the frame of the types and Truth
patterns of electromagnetic activities that the liv- Truth is conceptualized as the scientific validity
ing brain, spinal cord, nerves, and muscles are of a theory which has usually a midlife of
producing throughout life (including maturation 5–10 years, with the exception of some
and aging). The “world” is only conceptualized basic concepts including those for cellular
either as a micro-environment (namely the one excitability.
within or around the individual neuronal cell and
its prolongations and contacts) or as a macro- Perception
environment, that is, the physical space within Perception can be conscious, preconscious, and
which the patient is living. unconscious; modern techniques of CN (partic-
ularly event-related potentials) help in classify-
Human Being ing. Perception is usually linked to one of the
As previously stated, all the basic and highly five senses or – more frequently – is an amalgam
sophisticated functions of the nervous systems of multisensory and emotional matrix which
and muscles are conceptualized within a frame makes perception an exquisitely individualized
taking into account their electromagnetic experience, still within the frame of a
counterpart. general world.
C 392 Clinical Psychology
Time Description
Time is a brain category aiming to classify mod-
ifications in the physical world (external and From a historical point of view, clinical psychol-
internal) as well as the human feelings related or ogy is a relatively young discipline that devel-
combined to such changes. oped out of medicine, psychiatry, and philosophy
at the end of the nineteenth century. Broadly
Consciousness speaking, it applies knowledge about psycholog-
Consciousness is the ability to voluntarily perceive, ical processes to the understanding, assessment,
classify, and eventually react to any physical stim- prevention, and treatment of psychological dis-
ulus in the outside or inside world. Different types tress of individuals (children, adolescents, and
and levels of consciousness can be defined either in adults), couples, families, and groups. Its
normal (i.e., awake, drowsy, and sleeping states) or history has been dominated by four major
in pathological situations which affect transiently, theoretical approaches: (a) psychoanalytic/
acutely or progressively and steadily consciousness psychodynamic, (b) learning/cognitive-behav-
(i.e., epileptic attack, dementia, light or deep coma, ioral, (c) humanistic/experiential, and (d) family
vegetative comatous state, etc.). and systems (Hersen and Gross 2008).
Although each of these four approaches
Relevant Themes encompasses a broad array of evolving theories
and clinical applications, they each have
Critical points within these concepts include the a number of specific assumptions and foci that
definition of the conceptualization of the SELF distinguish them from the other theoretical
both in normal situations (i.e., in the newborn) approaches. The psychoanalytic approach,
and in brain diseases which steadily (i.e., in which originated in the work of Freud, mainly
severe retardation, dementia, etc.) or transiently focuses on the role of psychological conflict, the
(i.e., epileptic attack, post-traumatic amnesia, importance of unconscious factors, and the com-
transient global amnesia) affect the ability for plex ways early development influences psycho-
sensory processing/classification, problem solv- logical functioning across the life span. The
ing, and decision taking. learning/cognitive-behavioral approach focuses
primarily on learning processes and how these
give rise to cognitive-affective schemas that
Clinical Psychology influence our perceptions and behavior. Human-
istic/experiential approaches center on an under-
Patrick Luyten standing of the whole person and the self-
Department of Psychology, Center for Research actualizing tendencies and potentialities within
in Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic each person. Family and systems approaches
Psychology, University of Leuven, focus on the complex interactional processes
Leuven, Belgium within couples and families and how these deter-
Research Department of Clinical, Educational, mine the functioning of the individual, couple,
and Health Psychology, University College and family.
London, London, UK Within each of these approaches, interven-
Center for the Psychology of Religion, Free tions have been developed that are still widely
University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands practiced today and that have been the subject of
systematic treatment evaluation in both con-
Related Terms trolled and naturalistic research (Lambert 2004).
This includes, for example, long-term and brief
Counseling psychology; Mental disease/disorder psychoanalytic psychotherapy (psychoanalytic
treatment; Psychiatry; Psychopathology; approach); (cognitive-) behavioral, dialectical,
Psychotherapy and more recently mindfulness-based therapy
Clinical Psychology 393 C
(learning/cognitive-behavioral approach); client- theoretical approaches. Hence, each of the
centered, gestalt, and humanistic therapy major theoretical approaches is based on partly
(humanistic tradition); and family and couple incommensurable assumptions about human
therapy (family/systems tradition). The continu- nature, normal and disrupted development, and
ing influence of these four theoretical approaches the aims and nature of prevention and treatment
is also exemplified by the fact that major figures strategies. Thus, currently, “assimilative
within these approaches are among the integrationism” (Messer 1986), which means C
most famous and most cited psychologists, that concepts, hypotheses, and therapeutic tech-
including Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson niques borrowed from other theoretical orienta-
(psychoanalytic tradition), Burrhus F. Skinner tions are assimilated in a theoretically
and Hans J. Eysenck (learning psychology), meaningful way in an existing theoretical frame-
Carl Rogers (humanistic/experiential tradition), work, predominates. A truly integrative theoreti-
and Gregory Bateson and Paul Watzlawick cal framework, therefore, is unlikely to emerge in
(family/systems theory). the near future.
The last decades have witnessed clear integra- In addition, clinical psychology has made
tive trends among these major theoretical major contributions in the areas of assessment
approaches both in research and practice of both normal and disrupted psychological
(Lambert 2004). For instance, many practitioners capacities and processes (e.g., intelligence, per-
use insights, methods, and techniques from these sonality, neuropsychology, and psychopathol-
various approaches in their clinical work. In this ogy) and the classification of psychiatric
context, at least two forms of integration have disorders (Hersen 2008). More recently, the
been distinguished. First, there are clear trends field has witnessed an important shift from
toward technical integration, with practitioners a focus on psychopathology and its treatment to
from various orientations incorporating tech- the prevention of psychopathology and behav-
niques used in other theoretical approaches. Sec- ioral problems and distress more generally
ond, there are increasing signs of theoretical (Lambert 2004). The fields of behavioral medicine
integration with the aim of developing more and health psychology in particular have emerged
encompassing and overarching theories about as a strong force within clinical psychology, which
normal and disrupted psychological develop- has resulted in a substantial broadening of the
ment. Both these trends have resulted in integra- scope of clinical psychology, encompassing so-
tive “waves” within each tradition. Within the called positive psychology (the scientific study of
psychoanalytic tradition, for instance, there has happiness and well-being), and interventions
been more attention to experiential, cognitive and aimed at ameliorating quality of life and well-
behavioral aspects in human functioning, which being in patients confronted with somatic disease
also has led to the development of shorter, more and other health problems.
focused treatments. Within the cognitive- The future of the field of clinical psychology is
behavioral tradition, in turn, there has been difficult to predict as many scientific and
a growing openness for more dynamic, interper- extrascientific factors influence its course. As
sonal, developmental, and experiential issues. noted, integrative trends are likely to continue,
Within the experiential and family/systems tradi- but it seems highly unlikely that the field will
tions in particular, ideas and techniques from reach a consensus soon with regard to the classi-
both the psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioral fication, assessment, and prevention/treatment
tradition have been widely incorporated. of psychological problems, as major differences
Yet, integration between the various remain between the various theoretical
approaches continues to be hampered by various approaches with respect to their views of human
factors, not in the least because each of these nature and, ultimately, their worldview. Other
major approaches has in part developed in reac- factors that are likely to determine the future of
tion to (perceived) shortcomings of the other the field include the increasing influence and
pressure of managed care and economic consid- reality. Therefore, within this tradition, science is
erations (e.g., concerning the cost-effectiveness not only valued as a way of gaining knowledge
of psychotherapy) as well as the growing dia- but also provides a model for treatment.
logue and integration with the neurosciences. Historically, psychodynamic, experiential,
Finally, the rapidly expanding fields of behav- and family/systems approaches, although gener-
ioral medicine and health psychology, with psy- ally acknowledging the importance of science,
chologists being involved in increasingly broader tend to emphasize equally and sometimes per-
domains, including the prevention of both phys- haps more the importance of intuition and per-
ical and mental disease, are likely to transform sonal factors and qualities. Within these
clinical psychology as it exists today. The assim- approaches, clinical psychology (and psychother-
ilation and integration of these influences are apy in particular) is seen not only as a science but
major challenges for the future of clinical also as an art. Or, perhaps better, it is seen as
psychology. a profession that not only involves and is based in
scientific knowledge but also necessitates spe-
cific personal qualities (such as empathy and
Self-identification psychological mindedness) as well as a personal
growth process that involves learning from expe-
Science rience. Thus, for example, we see the emphasis in
Although clinical psychology self-identifies as these approaches on extended and, to a certain
a science, based on the rigorous empirical scru- extent, lifelong supervision and even personal
tiny of its theoretical assumptions, techniques, therapy.
and methods (Kazdin 2003), there are important Although there is growing consensus in the
differences in this regard among the four major field that clinical psychology is not a “pure sci-
theoretical approaches. Without any doubt, the ence,” differences in opinion about the role and
learning/cognitive-behavioral tradition identifies importance of the “science” versus “art” issue
most strongly with the view of clinical psychol- remain. These differences continue to lead to
ogy as a science. This tradition has been the heated debate.
strongest advocate of the so-called scientist-
practitioner model, which stresses that practi- Religion
tioners should rigorously train in and apply The relationship between (clinical) psychology
scientific findings in the prevention and treatment and religion has been a troubled one ever since
of psychological problems. Thus, the learning/ Freud’s claim, in his seminal work The Future of
cognitive-behavioral tradition has strongly an Illusion, that religion is an expression of infan-
emphasized the value of the scientific model, as tile needs, a “childhood neurosis” (Freud 1927,
is also exemplified in the emphasis on the sys- p. 53), relegating religion and religious experi-
tematic evaluation of interventions, use of ences more generally to the realm of illusion.
evidence-based techniques and methods, and, This led psychoanalysts and subsequent clinical
perhaps even more importantly, the view that psychologists more generally to regard religion
the scientific model also provides a model for with suspicion and even disdain and associate
the prevention and treatment of psychological religion with infantile longings for protection,
problems. Indeed, although some current models omnipotence, and omniscience. This negative
tend to adopt a somewhat different view, the attitude was further reinforced by Freud’s
cognitive-behavioral approach started from the assertion that “The religions of mankind must
assumption that patient and therapist should be classed among the mass delusions”
become involved in a so-called collaborative (Freud 1930, p. 81). Similarly, Albert Ellis
empiricist stance attempting to identify and then (1960), one of the founding fathers of learning/
falsify particular beliefs and assumptions about cognitive-behavioral tradition, saw religion as
a set of irrational assumptions from which indi- Christian elements such as prayer and biblical
viduals had to be liberated. exegesis or Eastern practices such as yoga and
In recent years, a more positive and even rec- meditation with traditional forms of counseling
onciliatory attitude toward religion has devel- and psychotherapy to the development of
oped within clinical psychology. While religious/spiritually inspired forms of psycho-
psychologists and psychiatrists continue to be therapy. Findings that religion and spirituality
far less religious than their clients, most psychol- are often positive for both physical and mental C
ogists and psychiatrists have a positive attitude health, and that integrating religious/spiritual ele-
toward religious issues in clients. This is further ments is associated with better treatment out-
exemplified by a more positive attitude and come, especially among religious clients, have
acceptance of religiosity and religious experi- further promoted these developments. Yet, criti-
ences as well as spirituality. This growing open- cism remains, arguing that clinical psychology as
ness is also the result of a shift in what is currently a science should remain neutral with regard to
conceived of as religion, specifically, a shift away religious issues and should not strive to promote
from traditional, organized religion that is religious or spiritual beliefs.
focused on the truth of religious beliefs, toward
a more personal interpretation and experience of
religion. Likewise, in psychoanalysis, there has Characteristics
been a growing appreciation of the realm of illu-
sion. This can be traced back at least to Because of its focus on both normal and disrupted
Winnicott’s (1953) work, particularly his work human development, clinical psychology has
on the importance of transitional space. Simi- close ties with neighboring sciences and
larly, within the cognitive-behavioral tradition, approaches, most notably psychiatry and other
Eastern spiritual practices are increasingly incor- social sciences (e.g., sociology, philosophy,
porated and integrated in so-called mindfulness- anthropology) and, to some extent, also religious
based and acceptance and commitment-based and spiritual worldviews (Lambert 2004). Its
treatments (Hayes et al. 2003). Moreover, the strong focus on the importance and role of psy-
shift within religion and religiosity to a greater chological processes in explaining normal and
emphasis on personal experience, rather than an disrupted human development distinguishes clin-
emphasis on organized religion and the endorse- ical psychology from neighboring scientific
ment of particular beliefs, has also fostered the approaches such as psychiatry (which focuses
dialogue with humanistic and experiential more on biological factors) or sociology (which
approaches within clinical psychology that focuses primarily on social factors). Yet, given
always have had a greater openness toward spir- our increasing knowledge of interactions among
itual issues and experiences. This is further psychosocial and biological factors, the bound-
reinforced by the growing role of qualitative aries between these various scientific disciplines
approaches to research, often inspired by con- are increasingly becoming blurred. The future is
structivism and critical theory, that focus much likely to witness the emergence of a more inte-
more on personal, intimate experiences and how grative science of human behavior.
these are shaped in part by cultural forces, includ- The focus on psychological factors distin-
ing religion and spirituality. guishes clinical psychology from religious and
Finally, the growing dialogue between reli- spiritual traditions as it studies the role of
gion and clinical psychology is also exemplified psychological factors within religion/spirituality
by the emergence of a so-called spiritual strategy, but does not attempt to explain (or explain
promoting the integration of religion and/or spir- away) religion and spirituality as such nor
ituality and psychotherapy. These proposals have does it attempt to offer a consistent worldview
ranged from the integration of traditional (“Weltanschauung”).
Relevance to Science and Religion and continues to influence the field. Also, the
scientific method, particularly the strong dedica-
Clinical psychology has always had a vivid inter- tion to quantitative research and statistics from
est in the science-religion debate. In some a neopositivistic perspective, is an important
respects, (clinical) psychology originated from source of authority (Kazdin 2003). More
what was conceived as a need for emancipation recently, the importance of qualitative methods
from religious views and explanations, particu- and narrative and constructivist approaches is
larly concerning so-called abnormal behavior, increasingly recognized. These lead to more rel-
replacing religious explanations with psycholog- ativistic, constructivistic view of scientific
ical explanations of these phenomena. For knowledge rather than the neopositivist corre-
instance, behaviors that were seen as an expres- spondence view of the relationship between sci-
sion of possession by evil forces such as the devil entific knowledge and reality that dominated
or the result of sinful behavior were explained in much of clinical psychology in the past.
psychological terms (e.g., projection, wish fulfill- Authoritative journals, evidenced by their
ment). Moreover, psychological explanations high impact factor, include Annual Review of
were invoked to explain the origin of religious/ Clinical Psychology, Clinical Psychology
spiritual explanations and religion/spirituality Review, Development and Psychopathology,
itself. As noted, Freud’s theories about religion Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,
as reflecting the human need for certainty and Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of
control over the forces of nature (Freud 1927, Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of
1930) and Ellis’s views of religious belief as Abnormal Child Psychology, Neuropsychology
a set of irrational attitudes that provide a false Review, and Psychological Medicine.
sense of control and purpose in life (Ellis 1960)
are cases in point. In general, historically, clinical Ethical Principles
psychology has been very critical of religious/
spiritual beliefs, largely reducing them to psycho- Despite obvious differences in the worldview and
logical needs for certainty, control, and purpose view of human nature underlying the different
in life. Yet, paradoxically, there have always theoretical approaches within clinical psychol-
been more favorable views of religion within ogy, there has been a remarkable agreement on
clinical psychology, particularly within humanis- the basic ethical principles guiding the discipline
tic approaches. Finally, clinical psychology has across these theoretical approaches. The Ameri-
largely abandoned attempts to explain the origins can Psychological Association Ethical Principles
of religion; it currently focuses mainly on the role and Code of Conduct, for instance, specifies the
of psychological processes in religion and reli- following ethical principles that are largely
gious behavior rather than attempting to explain shared by all clinical psychologists: (a) benefi-
religion as such. cence and nonmaleficence, (b) fidelity and
responsibility, (c) integrity, (d) justice, and
(e) respect for people’s rights and dignity. More-
Sources of Authority over, as a profession, clinical psychology has
invested much effort in the development, dissemi-
Major sources of authority include seminal fig- nation, and use of ethical guidelines in the conduct
ures that have played a key role in the develop- of research and the practice of clinical psychology.
ment of clinical psychology, many of which are
still among the most highly cited psychologists,
including Sigmund Freud, Burrhus F. Skinner, Key Values
Hans J. Eysenck, Ivan Pavlov, Carl Rogers, Paul
Watzlawick, and Aaron Beck, to name only In agreement with its ethical principles, these
a few. Their influence can still be felt nowadays include respect and openness for the person’s
rights and dignity (e.g., concerning gender orien- Clinical psychology has documented how com-
tation, spiritual/religious beliefs, values), trust, ing to terms with issues such as mortality and
integrity, and the attainment of a satisfying bal- death characterizes the human condition and
ance between autonomy (e.g., individuation) and may lead to considerable distress (e.g., narcissistic
relatedness (e.g., the capacity to attach to others denial of mortality by vigorously pursuing power
in meaningful ways), enabling individuals a and status, feelings of depression). The psychoan-
greater sense of internal freedom and satisfaction alyst Erik Erikson was among the first to concep- C
with life. In this context, clinical psychology tualize this process of coming to terms with life and
generally promotes a benevolent neutrality death. He pointed out that unsuccessfully working
toward religious/spiritual issues, leaving it to the through these issues can lead to despair, whereas
individual whether he or she wants to pursue or coming to terms with them is associated with feel-
not a spiritual/religious path in life. ings of integrity, i.e., the sense that one’s life has
had a meaning and that one has contributed not
only to one’s own life but also to the life of signif-
Conceptualization icant others such as a partner, children, and society
more generally. Such integrity also involves the
Nature/World acceptance of death as an inevitable part of life.
Nature and world are not only or merely concep-
tualized as preexisting, biological realities but Reality
also partly as sociocultural and psychological Within clinical psychology, various conceptions
constructions. of reality coexist. They range from a correspon-
dence view of reality (i.e., that science discovers
Human Being reality and truth and thus assumes that scientific
The major theoretical approaches have had very knowledge corresponds to reality) to views that
different concepts of what it is to be a human see reality as a construction based on meaning-
being. From a traditional psychoanalytic point making processes. There are different positions
of view, human beings are seen as intrinsically between these two extreme poles. Within this
characterized by conflicts between desires, context, the various theoretical approaches
wishes, and impulses on the one hand and the within clinical psychology have been influenced
exigencies of external reality, initially by different philosophical schools of thought.
represented by attachment figures which are However, they have rarely made explicit their
increasingly internalized, on the other. Learning own assumptions with regard to the nature of
and cognitive-behavioral approaches see human reality and its relationship to the science of clin-
beings primarily in terms of experience- ical psychology, despite the obvious importance
expectant information processing systems. of such issues (e.g., with regard to the nature of
Humanistic/experiential approaches primarily intelligence, the distinction between “normality”
conceptualize human beings in terms of and psychopathology, or “abnormal” sexuality).
self-actualizing potentialities. Family/systems Although several movements, including anti-
approaches, finally, consider human being’s role psychiatry and feminism, have questioned many
and position within broader systems, such as the assumptions of clinical psychology about reality,
couple, family, and society, emphasizing less the currently these issues seem to have disappeared
individuality of the person, but seeing persons as into the background even though they occasion-
influenced by and playing a role in complex ally reemerge.
dynamics and laws involved in systems.
Knowledge
Life and Death Clinical psychology sees knowledge as the result
Life and death are considered to be fundamental of a complex learning process in which both trial
coordinates that human beings have to confront. and error and insight play a considerable role.
Although some approaches have tended to con- example, appears to spontaneously disappear
sider knowledge and its application in isolation, with the passing of time in many depressed indi-
developmental clinical psychology has clearly viduals. Similarly, the process of mourning takes
shown that knowledge first and foremost time. Related to this, clinical psychology has also
develops in an interpersonal matrix and thus is pointed to a distinction between objective and
intimately tied to the development of social cog- subjective time, i.e., time as it is experienced by
nition and interpersonal relationships (Fonagy individuals. Subjective time can be influenced by
et al. 2007). many factors, such as mood and fatigue. For
example, depressed individuals often experience
Truth a slowing of time to the extent that some feel
As in any science, clinical psychology has been “frozen in time.” Likewise, psychotic disorders
dominated by a search for truth based on may seriously disturb the experience of time. As
a correspondence versus consensus view of the most psychological capacities, the capacity to
relationship between scientific knowledge and experience time and to envision oneself in the
reality/truth. Also, the major therapeutic past, present, and future develops across the life
approaches derived within clinical psychology span, and several psychological disturbances may
all include to a considerable degree a search for perturb this capacity.
truth. In this respect, searching for truth is either
conceived as a search for truth in the sense of Consciousness
reconstructing one’s past and factors that have The role of consciousness has been a matter of
influenced one’s life course as they have really great debate within clinical psychology. Whereas
happened (“historical truth”) or what is true for some, such as the early behaviorists, considered
the individual regardless of historical truth consciousness as a mere epiphenomenon with
(“narrative truth”) (Spence 1982) or a combina- little or no influence on behavior, other traditions,
tion of these two positions. such as the phenomenological and humanistic,
considered consciousness to be a central causa-
Perception tive factor in explaining human behavior. Still
Clinical psychology has contributed in important other traditions, such as the psychoanalytic
ways to our understanding of perception as approach, saw consciousness as only a small,
influenced by expectations which in turn are the though not negligible, aspect of human psycho-
result of experiences and interactions that have logical functioning, putting the priority on uncon-
been internalized over time as internal working scious psychological processes. Currently, there
models or cognitive-affective schemas. Although is an emerging consensus not only that many
on the positive side, these schemas bring order to psychological processes that determine behavior
our perception of reality, make reality more pre- are unconscious (i.e., happen outside the individ-
dictable, and thus prevent the individual from ual’s awareness) but also that consciousness and
being overwhelmed by information, they also particularly the ability to reflect on one’s own
have the potential to bias or distort our perception internal mental states (mentalization) are equally
in important ways. important determinants of behavior. Also, emerg-
ing is consensus that the capacity for reflective
Time functioning may play a key role in distinguishing
Time is an important concept within clinical psy- human beings from nonhuman primates and other
chology. Almost every psychological process or animals (Fonagy et al. 2007).
capacity develops over time and is constantly
subject to change across time (e.g., memory, per- Rationality/Reason
sonality, intelligence). Moreover, several psy- Congruent with the different emphasis on science
chological processes seem to be intimately in the major theoretical approaches, the different
related to time. An episode of depression, for traditions in clinical psychology show clear
Clock Gene 399 C
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Cross-References Clock Gene

▶ Cognitive Psychology
Jörg-Peter Ewert
▶ Conditioning and Learning
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of
▶ Consciousness
Kassel, Schauenburg, Germany
▶ Developmental Psychology
▶ Medical Psychology
▶ Personality Psychology
▶ Psychiatry in America It is suggested that clock genes are involved in
▶ Psychiatry in Europe autoregulatory transcription/translation-based
▶ Psychology of Religion feedback loops which turn these genes on and
▶ Religious Coping off in a circadian cycle of about 24 h.
C 400 Cognition
The mammalian per genes are rhythmically

expressed and their proteins PER are found Cognitive Ethology
within “clock cells” of the suprachiasmatic
nucleus, SCN, the central circadian pacemaker ▶ Animal Theology and Ethics
in mammals. The SCN, located in the ventral
anterior hypothalamus, obtains retinal input and
drives the rhythmic secretion of the hormone
melatonin in the pineal gland. This hormone Cognitive Neuroscience
communicates the circadian timekeeper’s infor-
mation to various parts of the body. Mammalian ▶ Biological Psychology
photoreceptors, too, contain the circadian pace-
maker. However, findings suggest that PER1 pro-
teins play roles in the retina different from those
established in the SCN.
Cognitive Niche
▶ Externalism and Internalism
Cognition
Cognitive Processes
▶ Cognitive Science Psychology
▶ Theoretical Psychology
Cognitive Processing
Cognition and Culture
▶ Intelligence
▶ Cognitive Science of Religion
Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive
Jason S. Nomi, Anthony J. Ryals and Anne M.
▶ Neuropsychology Cleary
Department of Psychology, Colorado State
University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Cognitive Anthropology
Related Terms
▶ Cognitive Science Psychology
Cognition; Cognitive processes
Cognitive Developmental Description

Psychology
Cognitive psychology is concerned with the sci-
▶ Cognitive Science Psychology entific study of the mind. As a branch of
Cognitive Psychology 401 C
experimental psychology, cognitive psychology developed, tested, and modified or discarded
utilizes experimentation to study such topics as accordingly.
attention, memory, perception, language, and A classic issue in cognitive psychology con-
reasoning. The term “cognitive psychology” cerns visual imagery: Do people form images in
was first introduced by Ulric Neisser in his 1967 their minds that are pictorial analogs to their real-
book, Cognitive Psychology. At the time, cogni- world counterparts? Shepherd and Metzler’s
tive psychology partly arose as an alternative to (1971) now-classic study of mental rotation C
behaviorism, which had denied that internal men- examined this by presenting participants with
tal states can be studied scientifically. Because three-dimensional shapes on a screen. Sometimes
mental processes are not themselves directly the shape on the right was different from the
observable, behaviorism focused strictly on shape on the left. Other times, the shape on the
stimulus–response associations, without theoret- right was identical to the shape on the left and
ical consideration of the mental processes that merely rotated somewhat from the position on the
occur in between. Unlike the behaviorists, cogni- left. Participants’ task was to determine if a given
tive psychologists assume that mental processes pair of shapes was identical (and just rotated
can (and should) be studied scientifically. differently in space) or different. The hypothesis
Several factors contributed to the emergence was that participants perform the task by forming
of cognitive psychology as a discipline. Among a mental image of the two shapes, then mentally
them was World War II’s contribution to the rotating one of the shapes until it reaches the
military need for understanding cognitive pro- same position as the other to determine if they
cesses. Another contributing factor was the are the same. In support of this idea, when the two
advent of the computer, which provided a useful items were identical, participants’ reaction times
metaphor for theorizing about mental processes to press a button indicating so increased linearly
at several levels, including the notion of repre- with the degrees of rotation from the left figure to
sentation, information processing, and the dis- the right. In short, the more a shape needed rotat-
tinction between hardware and software. ing to match its neighbor’s position, the longer it
Cognitive psychologists often use a factory took people to recognize that the two were iden-
example to illustrate what cognitive psycholo- tical. This is a good example of manipulating
gists do. The example is as follows: One is what goes into the system, examining what
observing a factory, trying to determine what comes out of the system, and making inferences
goes on inside. Trucks deliver supplies at one about what must be going in within the system.
end, while different trucks pick up finished prod- Recent developments in cognitive psychology
ucts at the other. The only method available for are many. It is a rapidly growing field with many
determining what goes on in the factory is to domains of research (e.g., attention, memory,
manipulate the shipment of supplies then care- language) and many real-life applications for
fully observe what comes out at the other end. The the research within each domain, many of which
mind can be viewed in a similar fashion. Cogni- can affect public policy. For example, research
tive psychologists want to know what goes on on divided attention using driving simulators has
inside of it, but cannot actually see its inner suggested that talking on cell phones significantly
activities. They can, however, examine what reduces driver’s braking time, leading to greater
goes in and what comes out and can experimen- risk on the road. Research on memory has
tally manipulate what goes in, examining what suggested that, in educational settings, what stu-
comes out, to test hypotheses about what occurs dents “feel” is the best and worst way for them to
inside. Cognitive psychologists, therefore, are learn is often the opposite of what actually leads
very concerned with experimentation and theory. to the best learning. Research on language has
Experiments are conducted to examine cognitive suggested that phonics may indeed be the best
processes, and theories of those processes are method of teaching schoolchildren to read.
C 402 Cognitive Psychology
Self-identification religion insofar as many religions have notions

about “mind,” cognitive psychology has largely
Science left debates about the source of the mind to
Because it relies on the scientific method, cogni- philosophers of mind. Whereas philosophers
tive psychology has always self-identified as debate about such issues as whether reductive
a science. One common misconception regarding physicalism, non-reductive physicalism, or other
psychology is that it is either not a science at all or approaches are better conceptualizations of the
a “soft science” when compared to more tradi- mind cognitive psychologists instead focus on
tional disciplines like chemistry or physics. Cog- testable hypotheses about specific cognitive pro-
nitive psychologists argue that it is in fact a “hard cesses, theories that are falsifiable, and empirical
science,” as it not only involves experimentation data generated through experimentation. The
and hypothesis testing, but it also involves math- interest is more in discovering how specific men-
ematical modeling of cognitive processes as well. tal processes work than in determining their
source. While most cognitive psychologists tend
to assume that mental processes are the result of
Characteristics neurological processes, it is entirely possible for
a cognitive psychologist to be agnostic regarding
Cognitive psychology can be distinguished from the source of mental processes. Take the factory
other fields of psychology (such as industrial/ example or the mental rotation study described in
organization psychology, social psychology, clin- response to section “Description”: In both cases,
ical psychology, or counseling psychology) by its one can theorize about how a process works and
subject matter (i.e., the internal workings of the can design experiments to test hypotheses about
mind) and its methodology (i.e., the scientific how that process works, all without speculating
method) together. Specifically, cognitive psychol- on the origin of the process or where exactly it is
ogy is the only area of psychology that focuses on taking place (i.e., who is working in the factory,
the scientific study of the mind. It can also be whether it is people or robots on the assembly
differentiated from some areas of psychology by lines, or in which particular room a given process
its emphasis on experimental methodology (as takes place).
opposed to survey research, for instance). Outside of mainstream cognitive psychology,
A closely related field is ▶ cognitive neurosci- there is a growing domain of research examining
ence. Cognitive psychology differs from cogni- the nature of religious beliefs and subjective
tive neuroscience in that it focuses more on how reports of religious experiences. This relatively
cognitive processes work than on their neural new area has its roots in social psychology and
underpinnings. Take, for example, the mental greatly overlaps with evolutionary psychology.
rotation study described above. There, the As with evolutionary psychology, cognitive psy-
researchers examined a question regarding how chology does not focus on the religious validity of
a process worked without concern for the neural an individual’s belief or experience (as in the
source of the process. Still, many cognitive psy- philosophy of religion) but, rather, is interested
chologists are also cognitive neuroscientists, and in exploring the nature of the beliefs and experi-
most cognitive psychology textbooks include at ences themselves as well as in individual differ-
least some cognitive neuroscience and reference ences in such beliefs and experiences.
to neural underpinnings.
As a science, cognitive psychology has its roots
Though cognitive psychology’s subject matter – in the dialectic process described by George
the mind – might seem somewhat relevant to Hegel (Sternberg 1999), whereby the route to
discovering truth is assumed to start with a thesis, Psychological Bulletin, and Psychological
followed by an antithesis to that idea. Eventually, Review. What all of these sources (textbooks
a synthesis that maintains only the best elements and peer-reviewed journals) have in common is
of both emerges. The idea is that, through the that they contain contributions written by experts
constant challenge of existing ideas, ideas are in the field.
continually modified or replaced in ways that
take a field one step closer to the truth. The C
logic is not unlike that behind US court systems Ethical Principles
or US governmental processes; in all of these
cases, from the pitting of opposing forces against The ethical principles that guide this discipline
one another comes a better approximation of the are the same as in other areas of science (i.e.,
truth than from one side alone. This is the logic honesty and integrity in conducting research and
used in cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychol- reporting results), with the addition of ethical
ogy as a field does not make appeals to authority guidelines aimed at protecting the human partic-
alone for obtaining information. Within cognitive ipants on which research in cognitive psychology
psychology, ideas must stand the test of scrutiny depends. The American Psychological Associa-
over time. In principle, all ideas are subject to tion currently lists five general principles that all
scrutiny, even those of established researchers psychologists, including cognitive psychologists,
who are considered experts. Therefore, while are expected to follow in their research. The first
there are top-tier journals and widely respected principle concerns beneficence and non-
researchers and widely respected institutional maleficence, which is an obligation to strive for
programs, appeals are not to authority alone. providing benefits from research and minimizing
One must make a case for any claim using logic harm as a result of it. The second principle
in conjunction with empirical data, and once involves fidelity and responsibility. This is an
a case is made, it is subject to critical evaluation obligation to uphold professional and ethical
by peers within the field. This scrutiny happens behavior at all times, which includes taking
both in the peer-review process and in the fact responsibility for one’s actions and minimizing
that published material is immediately scruti- conflicts of interest. The third principle involves
nized by other scientists. integrity, which is an obligation to conduct
For accurate information on the current state research in an open, careful, and honest manner
of the field for novices, introductory and in search of scientific truth. The fourth principle
advanced (Sternberg 1999) cognitive psychology involves justice. One aspect of justice in psychol-
textbooks are usually good sources. These ogy involves seeking to distribute research bene-
sources usually provide some historical context fits fairly to all. The second aspect of justice
as well as a lot of the now-classic studies in the involves the responsibility of knowing the limits
field. For those with more experience in the field, of one’s own knowledge in the hopes of minimiz-
journals such as Trends in Cognitive Sciences, ing abuses of power that may result from
Current Directions in Psychological Science, overstating such knowledge. The final ethical
Psychological Science, Psychonomic Bulletin & principle involved in psychology involves
Review, Cognitive Psychology, Journal of Exper- respect for people’s rights and dignity. This
imental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cog- includes being sensitive of the needs of special
nition, Journal of Experimental Psychology: populations.
Human Perception & Performance, Journal of Cognitive psychologists working within
Memory and Language, and Memory & Cogni- academic institutions are generally required to
tion are great sources of the latest research in follow guidelines set by an institutional review
cognitive psychology. Other top journals that fre- board (IRB) and to have all research proposals
quently include cognitive psychology articles are approved by this board before collecting data.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Cognitive researchers who use animal models
are bound by additional ethical guidelines for the is between objective and subjective reality, as
humane treatment of animals. cognitive psychology relies on objective methods
of investigation, yet often studies aspects of peo-
ple’s subjective realities using these objective
Key Values methods. For example, whether people can form
visual images in their minds when thinking is
The key values of cognitive psychology include a question about a person’s subjective reality
critical thinking and critical evaluation of that is examined using objective means (such as
ideas, honesty, integrity, logical coherence of by measuring reaction time in different experi-
ideas, tightly controlled and well-designed mental conditions, as in the mental rotation study
experiments, and replication of experimental described in response to section “Description”
findings. above).
What has research in cognitive psychology
suggested about subjective reality? One over-
Conceptualization arching finding is that past experiences affect
the way that reality is experienced by a person.
Nature/World Existing knowledge affects the way that incom-
In line with other areas of science, nature and the ing information is perceived, as shown by the
world can be viewed as operating according to effects of context on perception, such as in the
the laws of physics, with humans and other bio- tendency to think that one hears a sound that is
logical organisms having come to be through actually missing but would be predicted by the
evolution. surrounding context (as when a phoneme is
spliced from a word and replaced with a cough).
Human Being Existing knowledge also influences what external
Cognitive psychology’s view of the concept of information a person will attend to, as shown by
“human being” is generally the same as that taken findings indicating a bias to detect items in
in evolutionary psychology: A human being is the a scene that are personally or contextually rele-
subspecies of Homo sapiens known as Homo vant. Existing knowledge also affects how expe-
sapiens sapiens. riences are remembered, as shown by findings
suggesting that people remember passages about
Life and Death famous people differently than identical passages
Cognitive psychology as a field does not really about non-famous people (existing knowledge
concern itself with issues of the origins of life or about the famous people gets incorporated into
of the matter of death. Perhaps only to the extent the memories for what the passages about them
that evolutionary psychology is relevant to cog- said). Finally, existing knowledge also affects
nitive psychology (as in the proposed adaptive- decision-making and reasoning as shown by the
ness of certain cognitive processes) is the notion many documented ▶ biases and heuristics that
of death relevant. people use, such as the “confirmation bias” and
the “availability heuristic.”
Reality
There are two ways in which the notion of reality Knowledge
is relevant to cognitive psychology. First, George There are two ways of viewing knowledge that
Hegel’s dialectic approach is relevant here, as the are relevant to cognitive psychology: First,
idea that reality can come to be understood human knowledge is itself subject matter for
through a process of continually pitting of oppos- study in cognitive psychology; second, as in any
ing ideas against each other is prevalent in cog- field, knowledge is relevant to becoming an
nitive psychology. Second, a relevant distinction expert at cognitive psychology.
Knowledge as a Subject of Investigation. With is necessary in order to make progress toward
regard to the investigation of knowledge itself, discovering the truth.
a review of theories of knowledge representation
and acquisition would go beyond the scope of this Perception
chapter. There are many theories of knowledge Like knowledge, cognitive psychology considers
representation and knowledge acquisition in cog- perception itself a domain of research. Perception
nitive psychology. These are continually going is not the external stimulus itself but, rather, the C
through the dialectic process, without any clear experience of the observer in response to that
sole winners as far as how knowledge is stimulus. Perception is understood to be complex,
represented and acquired. Many good candidate involving both bottom-up processes (i.e., sensory
theories exist, and scientists continue to investi- information coming into the system) and top-
gate these. That said, a person’s knowledge is down processes (i.e., existing knowledge and
thought to reflect the external world that he or memories exerting a role). Top-down effects are
she has experienced. As such, knowledge can shown by the fact that the context in which
be correct or incorrect in terms of truthfulness; a stimulus is presented affects how it is perceived.
stereotype representations are a good example. For example, when the first phoneme is spliced
Particular word representations in the from a recording of a person speaking a word that
knowledge base reflect exposure to that language ends in the sound *eel, participants will tend to
over time, as do other representations relevant perceive the sound “meal” if it is placed within
to language (such as the syntactic aspects of the context “The *eel was on the table.” They will
language). Also, particular associations in tend to perceive the sound “heel” if it is placed
memory (such as between bread and butter or within the context “The *eel was on the shoe,”
between thunder and lightning) reflect exposure and they will tend to perceive “peel” if it is placed
to the repeated cooccurrence of these things within the context of “The *eel was on the
over time. orange.”
Knowledge as Expertise in a Field. With Because knowledge itself (as well as the par-
regard to the second conception of knowledge – ticular subset of knowledge that is most active at
knowledge as it applies to becoming an expert in any given moment) will vary from person to
the field of cognitive psychology – a cognitive person, it follows that perception in any given
psychologist must have a good grasp of the prin- situation could vary from person to person as
ciples of experimental design and data analysis well. For example, if people are played the song
and of current theory and theoretical issues. “Another One Bites the Dust” in reverse, they are
Much research in cognitive psychology is more likely to claim to hear the words “I like to
domain-specific; therefore, researchers generally smoke marijuana” when told beforehand that the
become experts in a particular domain of cogni- reverse piece might contain references to mari-
tive psychology (such as memory or language or juana than when told nothing beforehand. What
attention). Becoming an expert requires knowl- is perceived from the reversed music is related
edge of the literature and the history within the to the knowledge that has been activated
domain as well as knowledge of the current issues beforehand.
and controversies within the domain.
Time
Truth Time is relevant to cognitive psychology in two
As mentioned in response to section “Sources of ways: (1) Time is an important measurement tool
Authority”, George Hegel’s notion of the dialec- in cognitive psychology, and (2) the subjective
tic process is perhaps most relevant to cognitive perception of time and the seemingly uniquely
psychology’s quest for truth about the nature of human ability to escape from the present moment
cognitive processes. A culture of open skepticism are topics of interest to cognitive psychologists.
A basic tenet of cognitive psychology is that necessarily follow objective indices of time. For
mental events take time. Therefore, one of the example, one recent study showed that wearing
ways in which mental processes are studied prism glasses that distorted visual spatial percep-
objectively is by examining their time course, or tion appeared to distort time perception as well,
how quickly they can be carried out. Measuring suggesting that space and time representations
reaction time across different experimental con- are intimately tied in the mind. As another exam-
ditions is therefore a common method in cogni- ple, a different study showed that perceptions of
tive psychology. This was the method used in the time varied as a function of expertise in a relevant
mental rotation study described in response to domain, with domain experts perceiving slower
section “Description”, where it was shown that durations of domain-relevant stimuli than domain
reaction time to indicate that two shapes were novices. This suggests that existing knowledge
identical increased linearly as the degree to not only affects perception of visual and auditory
which the second shape was rotated from the stimuli (as described in response above under
position of the first increased. Another common “perception” and “reality”), but it also affects
method in cognitive psychology that involves perceptions of time (or perceptions of the dura-
time is the response-signal (or signal-lag) proce- tion of an occurrence).
dure. In this method, the researcher varies the
amount of time that a participant has to make Consciousness
a response to a stimulus. On some trials, there is At the broadest level, though many cognitive
more time allowed; on others, there is less. The psychologists might argue that consciousness is
goal is usually to determine when in time an emergent property of activity occurring in the
a process begins to emerge. For example, if brain, many leave the specifics of debating about
some of the trials in question were items that the source of consciousness to philosophers of
were seen earlier in the experiment (“old” mind. Still, many cognitive psychologists discuss
items) while others were new items, above- the nature of consciousness, and a review of
chance old-new discrimination might not begin these discussions would go beyond the scope of
to emerge until 300 ms or so. That is, on trials this chapter.
where fewer than 300 ms are given to make In cognitive psychology, consciousness typi-
a response, old-new discrimination is at chance- cally refers to the extent to which an individual is
performance levels. At time lags beyond aware of a stimulus or mental process and the
approximately 300 ms, significant old-new dis- extent to which a mental process is under an
crimination can be seen, suggesting that the pro- individual’s self-control. For instance, cognitive
cess requires approximately 300 ms to occur. psychologists often make the distinction between
Some processes require less time poststimulus conscious, controlled processes, and automatic
to occur; others require more time. processes. An automatic process is one that hap-
Also related to time in cognitive psychology is pens very quickly in response to a stimulus. Its
people’s subjective experience of time. Relevant mechanisms tend to circumvent one’s own
here are the notions of mental time travel and the awareness and intentional control, perhaps
subjective perception of time. Some argue that because it happens too quickly. One is generally
one unique feature of humans is their ability to aware of the outcome of an automatic process but
mentally travel through time, a term that Endel not the process itself that produced that outcome.
Tulving termed chronesthesia. Humans can both An example is letter perception. Once a letter
think about the past and anticipate the future; appears on a screen, it is automatically perceived
memory plays a major role in this ability. Some- by a person fluent in that written language. It
what related to the notion of mental time travel is happens rapidly and seemingly “just happens,”
the notion of subjective time perception. as the person cannot explain how it happens. The
Research suggests that human subjective percep- process itself is not open to introspection in that
tions of time can be relative; that is, they do not way. The process is also not under the person’s
willful control, as the person cannot stop the The issue of subliminal perception, however, is
process for letter perception once the stimulus controversial.
has initiated it: It comes to completion automat-
ically; the person perceives the letter. In contrast, Rationality/Reason
a conscious, controlled process is slower (e.g., Rationality and reason are also themselves a topic
requires more time to be carried to completion) of study within cognitive psychology. Two
and tends to occur within a person’s span of domains in particular are relevant to rationality C
awareness. It also tends to be under the person’s and reason: (1) executive function and
intentional control, meaning that the process is (2) decision-making.
not automatically carried to completion once ini- Executive Function. Related to the notion of
tiated by a stimulus, but can be stopped willfully. rationality and reason, executive function is the
An example is attempting to recall an episode term used to describe the set of processes
from earlier in the week in response to involved in controlling other cognitive processes.
a question. This takes more time than perceiving For example, in order to perform many high-level
a letter on the screen, and a person can generally tasks, one must selectively attend to certain
introspect on what he or she is doing during the pieces of information while preventing irrelevant
attempt at recalling; furthermore, the person can pieces of information from coming to mind. To
stop the act of attempting to recall at any point in do so, one may need to activate certain processes
the process. while suppressing others. Much evidence points
Consciousness in cognitive psychology can toward a correlation between executive function
also refer to the idea that one’s thought and and general fluid intelligence, which is the ability
behavior can be influenced by stimuli or memo- to problem solve or think creatively. In addition,
ries that occur outside of his or her own aware- evidence from cognitive neuroscience suggests
ness. For example, the phenomenon known as a role of the prefrontal cortex in executive
implicit memory is the finding that people can function.
exhibit memory for information when tested Decision-Making. While many studies in the
indirectly, even when they appear to show no area of decision-making have focused on irratio-
explicit memory when memory is tested nal behavior (i.e., findings suggesting that
directly. For example, even when a person fails humans often ignore basic statistical rules,
to recall the word “POLICE” from an earlier instead relying on heuristics or biases), there has
study list, he or she will show an increased been a recent interest in examining cases where
probability of responding to the word stem people behave rationally. For example, people
POL____ with the word “POLICE” relative to can sometimes override their emotions in favor
if the word “POLICE” had not appeared in the of a rational response. For instance, susceptibility
earlier list. This suggests that a memory for to framing effects has been shown to involve the
a prior episode can be present in one’s mind amygdala (responsible for emotion), while the
and able to exert an influence on his or her ability to resist framing effects has been shown
thought and behavior, even though the person to involve the frontal lobes. Interestingly, just as
cannot consciously bring to mind the memory research in cognitive neuroscience has shown
itself, or in this case, the reason why the word a relationship between frontal lobe function and
popped into mind. executive function, this research suggests a role
A related issue is the controversial issue of of the frontal lobes in making rational decisions.
subliminal perception, which is the idea that stim-
uli that are presented below the threshold of con- Mystery
scious awareness (such as stimuli that are masked Mystery is not a term that is generally used in
and presented too rapidly to be identified) can cognitive psychology. There are topics that are
still affect people’s behavior even though they not yet well understood, but because the field
were unaware of the occurrence of these stimuli. concerns itself with ideas that can be empirically
C 408 Cognitive Science
tested, the focus tends to be on testable hypothe- from religion itself, even though the topic
ses. Thus, rather than calling something a mys- of researching subjective religious experience
tery and leaving it at that, a cognitive may seem tangentially related to religion itself.
psychologist will develop a hypothesis and aim
to test it in the lab. If an idea is not something that
can be investigated scientifically, it is generally Cross-References
not considered relevant to cognitive psychology.
▶ Clinical Psychology
▶ Counseling Psychology USA/Europe
Relevant Themes ▶ Evolutionary Psychology
▶ Philosophy of Religion
Though the investigation of religious experience ▶ Social Psychology
has largely remained outside the realm of main- ▶ Theory of Mind
stream cognitive psychology, its related field of
cognitive neuroscience has begun to see some
exploration of the neural substrates of subjective References
religious experiences. For example, some have
induced subjective religious experiences in the Shepard, R. N. & Metzler, J. (1971). Mental rotation of
three-dimensional objects. Science, 171, 701–703.
laboratory by applying strong magnetic fields to
Sternberg, R. J. (1999). The nature of cognition.
certain parts of the brain using ▶ transcranial Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
magnetic stimulation (TMS). Others have noted
a link between specific brain activity (in the tem-
poral lobe) and subjective religious experience
based on data from individuals with a specific Cognitive Science
type of epilepsy. Importantly, however, such
studies do not actually cross over from being Gregory Peterson
science to being religion, as they merely examine Department of Philosophy and Religion, South
subjective states of awareness without addressing Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA
the religious validity of the experiences. In other
words, regardless of any particular research find-
ing regarding religious experiences, it will A term used to refer to those disciplines involved
remain possible for one to remain completely in the study of mind and thought, usually under-
agnostic regarding whether that religious experi- stood to include the fields of cognitive psychol-
ence involves divine inspiration or is simply the ogy, cognitive neuroscience, psycholinguistics,
result of a particular neural state that produces branches of artificial intelligence, cognitive
a feeling that is labeled a religious experience (in ethology (also referred to as animal psychology),
the same way that a particular neural state might and philosophy of mind. Related fields include
produce a feeling that is labeled a tip-of-the- anthropology, evolutionary biology, primatol-
tongue state). No research finding on religious ogy, and behavioral economics. The roots of cog-
states will ever prove or disprove those religious nitive science are generally understood to
tenets that require faith. Thus, it will remain coincide with the maturing of theories of compu-
possible for one who is faithful to remain faithful tation and the development of digital computers
in the face of research findings on the neural in the 1940s and 1950s.
substrates of religious experience. It will also
remain possible for the nonbeliever to continue
to assume no need for a belief in the supernatural. Cross-References
In this way, scientific research on subjective reli-
gious experience will always remain separable ▶ Cognitive Science of Religion
Cognitive Science of Religion 409 C
generally. These conceptual and empirical devel-
Cognitive Science of Religion opments led to several important books published
in the early 1990s using a cognitive approach to
Justin L. Barrett the study of religion, specifically by Lawson and
Thrive Center for Human Development, McCauley (1990), Guthrie (1993), Pascal Boyer
Graduate School of Psychology, Fuller (1994), and Harvey Whitehouse (1995). Experi-
Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, USA mental and other empirical testing of theories in C
the area and attempts to connect isolated projects
began in the 1990s, birthing the subfield. These
Related Terms cognitive approaches came to be known as Cog-
nitive Science of Religion in 2000 (Barrett 2000)
Cognition and Culture; Cognitive Science; because of a review article in Trends in Cognitive
Evolutionary Psychology; Psychology Sciences by Justin Barrett.
Description Self-identification
Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) is a field CSR self-identifies as a science but still relies
that attempts to explain causally the recurrence of heavily upon insights from humanities disci-
religious beliefs and practices, and the role they plines such as philosophy and religious studies.
play in social and political arrangements by CSR justifies its identification as a science by the
appealing to the underlying mental structures fact that it employs standard scientific assump-
and dynamics that make people generally recep- tions and methodological frameworks. Cognitive
tive to certain ideas and actions. CSR lies at the scientists of religion attempt to generate empiri-
intersection of the cognitive sciences (especially cally falsifiable hypotheses that may be tested
cognitive, developmental, and evolutionary psy- through experimentation or other controlled
chology), religious studies, and anthropology. forms of investigation including survey, inter-
Though the field is very young, cognitive sci- view, and semantic analyses of texts. Sources of
entific approaches to the study of religion find data must be objectively observable, e.g., partic-
their roots in the 1970s. Dissatisfied with ipation in religious rites, individual reaction
a perceived paucity of crossculturally useful times to computer-presented displays, answers
causal theories of religious phenomena, and on questionnaires, and verbal responses. Cogni-
drawing inspiration from Chomskian linguistics, tive scientists of religion adopt a methodological
early researchers in the area such as E. Thomas naturalism perspective, seeking strictly natural
Lawson and Robert McCauley began considering mechanisms for the phenomena under consider-
whether ordinary human cognition provides ations, foregoing alleged supernatural causes. As
something analogous to a “universal grammar” with other areas of cognitive science, not all
of religious ritual. In parallel, advances in schema cognitive scientists of religion are scientists or
theory from cognitive psychology and the role conduct scientific research.
schemata play in shaping perception informed
Stewart Guthrie’s decidedly cognitive resuscita-
tion of the “anthropomorphism” theory of reli- Characteristics
gion. In the 1980s, breakthroughs from
developmental psychology concerning the CSR is related to and overlaps with Psychology
early-developing (and apparently pre-cultural) of Religion, but the two fields have different
mental structures in babies were appropriated by emphases. Psychology of Religion, like other
Dan Sperber in continuing to develop a cognitive areas in psychology, tends to take individual
scientific approach to cultural phenomena thought and behavior as the primary unit of
C 410 Cognitive Science of Religion
analysis. In contrast, CSR attempts to explain theoretical analysis. Consequently, as in the nat-
general patterns across individuals. For instance, ural sciences, the most valued authoritative
a psychologist of religion may be interested in sources in this discipline are recent refereed jour-
why a given individual is an enthusiastic theist, nal articles rather than classic texts or pronounce-
whereas cognitive scientists of religion are more ments of prestigious individuals. The most
concerned with why theism is generally prevalent important journal in the field is the Journal of
across cultures. Compared with Psychology of Cognition and Culture. Nevertheless, as com-
Religion, CSR places a greater emphasis on pared with neighboring sciences (such as cogni-
explaining why people (generally) are religious tive psychology), books by field leaders carry
and why types of religious belief and practice are greater weight, and well-developed theoretical
crossculturally recurrent, and shows little con- constructs have been widely appropriated before
cern for the psychological consequences of refereed articles offering empirical evidence in
religion. their support have appeared.
CSR is sometimes conflated with another
neighboring area, evolutionary studies of reli-
gion. While CSR draws heavily upon insights Ethical Principles
from evolutionary psychology and behavioral
ecology, studies in CSR need not be evolutionary In general, CSR scholarship is governed by stan-
(and evolutionary studies are frequently not cog- dard scholarly ethical principles requiring hon-
nitive). Cognitive explanations of religious phe- esty in reporting and not claiming credit for
nomena, which characterize CSR, appeal to another’s work. Observational data from human
mental structures and processes as informing or subjects are to be collected either through public
constraining the range of ideas or actions likely to observation or, if not in public, with the consent
be recurrent in a population. Evolutionary of those being observed. The gathering of data
accounts may complement these cognitive ones through interviewing or other forms of nonobser-
by providing explanations for why the particular vational interaction with participants is regulated
mental structures have arisen as they have. in the same way as all psychological research.
For a recent discussion of CSR’s distinctive
features, see Barrett (2007).
Key Values
Relevance to Science and Religion As a field scientifically studying religion, CSR

values even-handed neutrality when treating var-
CSR is directly and decidedly a science and reli- ious worldviews. While this ideal is difficult to
gion area. It uses scientific methods to study the live up to, CSR scholars are quick to call each
causes for religious belief and practice. An area other out for practicing stealth theology, anti-
of dispute is what bearing naturalistic explana- theology, or favoring certain religions over
tions of religion from CSR have upon justifica- others. Cognitive scientists of religion have
tion and warrant of religious beliefs. inherited a skeptical stance toward commonsense
assumptions from their psychologist colleagues.
Conceptualization
Cognitive scientists of religion generally view
their scholarship as gradually and collectively Nature/World
accumulating knowledge through controlled In CSR, nature (as in “human nature”) typically
empirical investigation supplemented by refers to those features of human thought and
Cognitive Science of Religion 411 C
behavior that are cross-culturally recurrent and Life and Death
do not tend to depend heavily upon any specific Cognitive scientists of religion are not concerned
environmental conditions – be they physical, eco- with the origins of life generally, but do
logical, or social. Language use, walking, and consider folk conceptions of life, death, and the
regarding other humans as having minds are all afterlife.
seen as paradigmatically natural human prac-
tices, part of human nature. This broad sense of Reality, Knowledge, Truth, Perception C
“nature” accepts environmental conditions as These four concepts are interrelated in CSR. CSR
inextricable factors contributing to human generally adopts the view that there is a real
thought and behavior and includes environmental world that human cognitive systems normally
regularities as part of the natural condition for perceive and understand reliably. For the sake
humans. of processing efficiency or utility, human concep-
Another sense of “nature” or “natural” used tual systems may, however, lead to errors in
in CSR concerns the fluency or automaticity of accurately discerning reality. Scientific methods
thought or behavior. Those capacities that and reason are seen as methods for overcoming
require little conscious effort or deliberation this inaccuracy and discerning truth about the
are said to be more natural than those that world. Perception is the principal process through
require more effort. With much practice, which humans come to know reality through the
other processing fluency may occur as in many senses. Knowledge amounts to accurate beliefs
forms of expertise. For experts, a specific kind about the world.
of information processing may become
“natural.” Time
Both senses of what is part of human nature The concept of historical time is not important in
and what is natural can be used in a relative CSR. Cognitive faculties are assumed not to have
manner. That is, different attributes, ideas, or changed meaningfully through history. When
practices may be said to be more or less natural. considering origins of religious thought, how-
Language use is more natural (in both senses) ever, considerations of prehistory and evolution-
than algebra. Religious thought, according to ary pressures in ancestral conditions lead to
CSR, is more natural in the first sense (and for a longer-scale view of time.
most people in the second sense as well) than
scientific reasoning. That something is judged to Consciousness
be part of human nature or not or relatively nat- CSR has not been concerned with philosophical
ural does not constitute a value judgment. questions concerning consciousness. Cognitive
The concept world does not feature promi- scientists of religion tend to use fairly common-
nently in CSR, but could indicate the external sense understanding of consciousness, often
environment of humans (as in “the world in labeling “conscious” only those processes of
which Tibetan monks live”) or the general which one has either awareness or which one
entirety of humanity (as in “religion is practiced can verbalize. Nonconscious cognitive processes
around the world”). are seen as a major source of information and
constraint on the emergence of recurrent ideas
Human Being or cultural practices.
In CSR, human beings are to be studied as mem-
bers of a particular species, Homo sapiens. How Rationality/Reason
human beings compare with other animals in As in psychology, CSR focuses on how people
terms of cognitive capacities and ability to think and reason rather than whether they are
develop cumulative culture (as in religious tradi- rational or the nature of rationality. Reason is
tions) is an area of contention. viewed as a consciously accessible, reflective
C 412 Cognitive Science Psychology
cognitive activity that is less tightly constrained

that nonconscious thought. Cognitive Science Psychology
Mystery Justin L. Barrett

Cognitive science of religion resists classifying Thrive Center for Human Development,
phenomena as mystery. Instead, it attempts to Graduate School of Psychology, Fuller
dissect mysteries into empirically tractable Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, USA
problems.
Related Terms
Relevant Themes
Cognition; Cognitive anthropology; Cognitive
Recurrence developmental psychology; Cognitive science
Cognitive scientists of religion often write about of religion; Evolutionary psychology; Experi-
the recurrence of cognitive capacities and of mental psychology; Psychology
ideas, behaviors, and forms of cultural expres-
sion. Recurrence refers to appearance across indi-
viduals. A recurrent cognitive capacity is fluency Description
in processing human faces. Religion is said to be
a recurrent form of cultural expression in that it Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary science of
appears across individuals and cultural groups the mind – particularly, but not exclusively, the
but is not, strictly speaking, universal. CSR human mind. One major disciplinary contributor is
aims to account for recurrence of religious phe- psychology. The subfields of psychology that
nomena by appeal to recurrent cognitive contribute most to cognitive science are cognitive
capacities. psychology, cognitive developmental psychology,
evolutionary psychology, social cognition, and
psycholinguistics. Cognitive psychology,
Cross-References a designation attributable to Ulric Neisser’s 1967
book of that title, is concerned with the structures
▶ Cognitive Science Psychology and dynamics of (human) information-processing
▶ Psychology of Religion systems including attention, concepts and catego-
rization, language structure and use, memory,
thinking and reasoning, and sensation and percep-
tion (Neisser 1967). (Cognitive psychology should
References be distinguished from therapeutic forms of
psychological study and practice that include the
Barrett, J. L. (2000). Exploring the natural foundations of label “cognitive,” particularly cognitive therapy
religion. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 29–34.
and cognitive-behavioral therapy.) Rather than
Barrett, J. L. (2007). Cognitive science of religion: What is
it and why is it? Religion Compass, 1(6), 768–786. having a different content focus, cognitive devel-
Boyer, P. (1994). The naturalness of religious ideas. opmental psychology concerns how these mental
A cognitive theory of religion. Berkeley: University structures and dynamics are acquired and if and
of California Press.
Guthrie, S. E. (1993). Faces in the clouds: A new theory of
how they change over the course of the life span.
religion. New York: Oxford University Press. Particular attention has focused on early childhood
Lawson, E. T., & McCauley, R. N. (1990). Rethinking and how children come to understand the world
religion: Connecting cognition and culture. around them and learn to act upon it. Similarly,
evolutionary psychology brings a particular
Whitehouse, H. (1995). Inside the cult: Religious innova-
tion and transmission in Papua New Guinea. Oxford: perspective to the study of cognition rather than
Clarendon. primarily representing a content area. As applied
Cognitive Science Psychology 413 C
to the study of cognition, evolutionary psychology that human minds are naturally formless, blank
attempts to explain why certain mental structures slates indiscriminately waiting for the environ-
might have evolved to solve information- ment to write anything upon them. Early experi-
processing problems as opposed to others and ments demonstrated that people and animals are
how the cognitive architecture of Homo sapiens biased to create some associations over others
sapiens might differ from that of ancestral homi- (such as fear of snakes as opposed to daisies) and
nids and other animals and why (Buss 2007). that human working memory (what can be held in C
Psychologists taking an evolutionary perspective conscious attention at once) is limited to approxi-
will sometimes study the minds and behaviors of mately seven (plus or minus two) chunks of infor-
nonhuman species. Social cognition is a focus of mation. These experiments demonstrate that it is
social psychology on social thought, how humans possible to examine the architecture of the human
form and use social categories (such as roles, races, mind and how it might be naturally biased or
groups, and relations), and how different cognitive restricted in the way it processes information.
capacities are activated by and, in turn, shape social The findings also suggest that in the background
interaction. On the one hand, psycholinguistics is of interindividual and intergroup differences in
the subfield of psychology concerned with how thought and behavior might be species-wide
cognitive architecture enables the acquisition and psychological generalities.
use of language and how the language faculty then The broadening of psychology by the cogni-
helps explain the range of linguistic expression tive revolution has enabled psychology to explore
observed around the world (Chomsky 1968). fruitfully many areas of human thought and
On the other hand, psycholinguistics concerns behavior. Exciting topics beginning to receive
how language use impacts other cognitive capaci- considerable attention over recent decades
ties such as concept formation, reasoning, creativ- include creativity, moral and normative reason-
ity, and perception. Because of its focus on one ing, social intelligence and related areas such as
particular cognitive capacity that gives rise to perspective taking and empathy, and applications
a particular form of cultural expression, psycholin- to nonlinguistic forms of cultural expression such
guistics is often treated as a distinct discipline as art and aesthetics, music, and religion. Essen-
rather than a subfield of psychology. tially, any area of thought is now considered
The genesis of the contemporary cognitive amenable to psychological investigation.
emphases in psychology may be traced to the so-
called cognitive revolution that started in the late
1940s and gathered momentum in the 1950s and Self-identification
1960s. For approximately the first half of the
twentieth century, scientific psychology was dom- Psychology self-identifies as a science and often
inated by behaviorism, a school of thought self-consciously so. Because of the cultural
championed by John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner, prominence of the therapeutic side of psychol-
wherein the only legitimate psychological science ogy, psychologists active in the scientific side of
was the study of human behavior as it was shaped the field sometimes refer to their work as
by environmental contingencies. Mental states “psychological science” or, if appropriate,
were considered irrelevant and thus entirely “cognitive science.” This scientific face of psy-
ignored. This behaviorist focus assumed that chology justifies its identification as a science by
within the range of normal biological develop- the fact that it employs standard scientific
ment, the only factors that affected human behav- assumptions and methodological frameworks.
ior and led to differences in dispositions, Psychologists attempt to generate empirically fal-
expression, and so forth were environmental. The sifiable hypotheses that may be tested through
cognitive revolution rejected both the idea that experimentation or other controlled forms of
minds and mental states could not be studied investigation. Sources of data must be objectively
scientifically and the radical empiricist assumption observable behaviors such as reaction times to
computer-presented displays, answers on ques- activities of individuals (usually humans).

tionnaires, eye gaze direction, verbal reactions, Further, unlike conventional anthropology, lin-
pulse rate, or blood flow to parts of the brain. guistics, philosophy, and much computer science,
These data enable inferences to mental states, psychology places heavy emphasis on what can
structures, and dynamics. Though psychologists be learned through experimental methods, as
may use qualitative data to contextualize and described above.
amplify their studies, studies based on quantita- Like other contributors to cognitive science,
tive data are the gold standard. however, psychologists see the mind as
Like all natural sciences, psychology relies a computer – that is, as a machine that is capable
heavily upon experimental methods, but because of processing information. The principles of
ethical and practical constraints limit the amount computation that go into creating computers are
of experimental control that psychologists can therefore used to understand how the mind works.
exercise over their subjects (particularly human
subjects, also called “participants”), psycholo-
gists use statistics to control for those factors Relevance to Science and Religion
they cannot manipulate. For instance, when
studying memory for lists of words, From its inception, modern psychology has con-
a psychologist could experimentally manipulate tributed to the scientific study of religion. Psychol-
whether the words are presented orally or visu- ogists have investigated religious experience,
ally, but only statistically control for the age, sex/ origins of religious beliefs and practices, forma-
gender, or nationality of the subjects. tion of individuals’ god images, religious develop-
Behind all of these scientific methods, ment and conversion, and how religiosity impacts
psychology presumes methodological naturalism. social attitudes, morality, and psychological
That is, psychologists generally search out strictly adjustment – to name just a few representative
natural mechanisms for the phenomena under con- areas. Questions such as whether religious partic-
siderations, foregoing alleged supernatural causes, ipation is good or bad for individuals, whether
even in the case of psychology of religion. religion is the result of psychopathology, and
what emotional or relational functions religions
serve are all decidedly psychological questions.
Characteristics This subfield of psychology called psychology of
religion can claim more than 100 years of history,
Psychology is further distinctive among the though its decidedly cognitive expression, such as
so-called social sciences in that it generally that manifested in the area called cognitive science
takes a single individual as its unit of analysis. of religion, did not begin to emerge until the end of
Ultimately, psychologists are interested in the twentieth century (Lawson and McCauley
explaining individual thought, beliefs, and 1990; Barrett 2004).
behavior; groups, such as those based on age,
gender, nationality, etc., are only relevant insofar
as placing individuals into them can help explain Sources of Authority
variability. Consequently, psychologists often
take the perspective known as methodological As with scientists generally, psychologists view
individualism, which implies that the origin and their scholarship as gradually and collectively
development of social institutions can – and accumulating knowledge through controlled
should – be explained in terms of the summation empirical investigation supplemented by theoret-
of the actions of individuals. ical analysis. Consequently, the most valued
Psychology is generally distinguished from authoritative sources in this discipline are recent
the other contributors to cognitive science by its refereed journal articles rather than classic texts
reliance on data gathered from the behavioral or pronouncements of prestigious individuals.
Journal articles receive their authority by the that leads to questioning assumptions. This skep-
assumption that they have been carefully scruti- ticism motivates the investigation of issues
nized for methodological rigor and theoretical that would otherwise be taken for granted.
importance by experts in the field who are often For example, most people believe that parental
blind to the identity of the authors and their insti- influence is the strongest determinant of
tutional affiliation. The ideal empirical journal children’s religious or political orientation, that
article in the field is written in such a way that playing violent video games causes adolescents C
critical readers could replicate the protocol and to become more violent, and that their preference
analyses for themselves. The truth of psycholog- for one object or face over another is not
ical claims is meant to be based upon broadly influenced by familiarity, but, in most cases,
accepted principles of accurate scientific investi- these beliefs are not based on data. Psychologists
gation and sound statistical reasoning and see it as their objective to provide such data,
logic. Scientific psychologists are suspicious of whether it confirms or disconfirms the commonly
arguments from authority, of the use of anecdotes held belief.
as evidence, and of rhetorical flourish. Partly to In addition to this questioning approach, psy-
reduce the influence of the latter on the way chologists aim to avoid injecting their prejudices
arguments are perceived, most psychological into the scientific process. It is good psychologi-
journals require that all submissions conform to cal practice to test an explanation that one
the stylistic principles dictated by the American believes to be correct against other, alternative
Psychological Association (i.e., APA style) explanations, even when the original explanation
(American Psychological Association 2009). appears adequate to account for the phenomenon
at hand.
Ethical Principles
Conceptualization
Today, psychologists have to comply with ethical
guidelines provided by professional associations Nature/World
or university-wide boards (e.g., the Institutional In psychology, nature can have several mean-
Review Board system in the USA) that restrict the ings. As psychologists explore human thought
kinds of studies that are permitted on the basis of and behavior, they often consider whether mental
whether participation is likely to involve any ill structures, behavioral patterns, or even neural
consequences and ensure that participants’ architecture are best understood as a consequence
responses are anonymous and confidential, unless of nurture – the contingent factors in a given
the research question requires otherwise. Most human’s environment – or nature. Nature, in
professional journals in psychology require that this context, typically refers to human biological
any data presented be obtained in accordance to endowment including genetics. Contemporary
ethical guidelines. Many psychological studies, psychologists know full well that the theoretical
however, use deception or misinformation in constructs of nature and nurture are never
order to obtain data that would otherwise be disentangled in the real world. Even solidly bio-
impossible to gather. In all studies, but particu- logical drives, such as for food, that might appear
larly in those that involve deceptions, participants paradigmatic cases of natural features of humans
are thoroughly debriefed after participation. are impacted by environmental (nurture) factors
from biochemical environments in which human
bodies develop and function to the variable envi-
Key Values ronmental conditions that channel these drives
into specific behaviors.
Among the fundamental values to which most Nature (as in “human nature”) may also refer
psychologists subscribe is a healthy skepticism to those features of human thought and behavior
that are cross-culturally recurrent and do not tend In this context, “the world” can be synonymous
to depend heavily upon any specific environmen- with nurture and antonymous of nature.
tal conditions – physical, ecological, or social.
For instance, upright, bipedal walking is Human Being
a human universal (barring developmental disor- For the psychological scientist, human beings are
ders or environmental insults) that is not depen- to be studied as natural objects, members of
dent upon special environmental or social a particular species. Thus, the psychological
conditions. As such, walking is part of human study of humans and that of animals (which
nature and might be termed “natural.” Similarly, often falls under the scope of cognitive ethology
though spoken languages vary across cultures, or behavioral ecology) are assumed to require the
the ability to use spoken language is cross- same methodological tools. How human beings
culturally recurrent, appearing to only require differ from other animals is an ongoing area of
general human biological endowment plus ordi- contention with some psychologists emphasizing
nary human environmental conditions. Thus, what appear to be radically different sets of
spoken language, too, is part of human nature. capacities that humans possess as compared
This broader sense of “nature” accepts environ- with other species (such generation of language
mental conditions as inextricable factors contrib- and ability to abstractly and reflectively reason).
uting to human thought and behavior and Others emphasize the continuity of humans
includes environmental regularities as part of with other animals, suggesting that human beings
the natural condition for humans. differ from other animals primarily in degree
A third sense of “nature” or “natural” used in of cognitive capacity (such as intelligence,
psychology concerns the fluency of information conscious reflection, self-awareness, ability to
processing or automaticity of behavior. Those use symbols and tools, and so forth).
capacities for thought and behavior that require
little conscious effort or deliberation are said to Life and Death
be more natural than those that require more Psychologists are not concerned with the origins of
effort. To illustrate, from birth, people readily life generally. They typically consider individual
and automatically discriminate human faces in life to begin with birth, but developmental psy-
their environments and (barring developmental chologists sometimes use conception as the start-
disorders or environmental insults) continue to point for life especially when studying neonates
show fine-grained facial discrimination through- that might have been born at different lengths of
out life. The ease with which humans process gestation. Psychologists generally see death as the
information about human faces is evidence of endpoint of human development. Psychologists
its relative naturalness. With much practice, may, however, study conceptions of life, living
other processing fluency may occur as in many things, and death and what happens after it.
forms of expertise. Chess masters, for instance,
can automatically process relative positions Reality, Knowledge, Truth, Perception
of chess pieces much faster and easier than nov- These four concepts are interrelated in modern
ices. For these experts, this specific kind of psychology. Generally, psychological science
information processing has become “natural.” rests on realist epistemological foundations.
The concept world does not feature promi- Psychologists typically assume that human cog-
nently in psychology. “The world” could refer nitive systems are such that they normally pro-
to the entire human population as when saying duce accurate knowledge about reality. They see
that a highly recurrent human trait is common perception as the principal process through which
“everywhere in the world.” “The world” could humans come to know reality through the senses.
also be used to indicate the external environment Though generally reliable, perception is not
of humans as when psychologists talk about how thought by psychologists to be error-free; on the
people try to understand the world they live in. contrary, much research in psychology describes
the biases that affect perception and the resulting are framed; and to follow others’ behavior rather
disconnect between mistaken perception and than assessing its appropriateness and utility.
reality or what is false and what is true. Similarly,
conceptual biases and heuristics may lead to dis- Mystery
tortions regarding what is true and real (Gilovich Scientific psychology attempts to eliminate
1991). Psychologists regard scientific methods mystery whenever possible, recasting mysterious
and reason as tools for overcoming error and phenomena as psychological problems that might C
discerning truth. be addressed empirically.
Time
The concept of historical time is not important to Relevant Themes
psychologists. Psychological faculties are not
assumed to have changed in significant ways Perception
through history. If, however, time is taken to Cognitive psychology and related areas of cogni-
mean duration, it becomes relevant to psychology. tive science in part concern how people process
Reaction time, for example, is a commonly used information about their environment (or about
indirect measure of the nature and complexity of their internal sensations) in order to understand
cognitive processing. what it is they are experiencing – the process of
perception. Inasmuch as religious experiences
Consciousness require the representation and interpretation of
Philosophers are more concerned than psycholo- either external or internal stimuli, the study
gists with the task of tracing the borders of the of religious experience may be impacted by psy-
conscious and unconscious. Psychologists tend to chological understandings of perception generally.
use fairly commonsense understanding of these
terms, often labeling “conscious” only those pro- Information Learning
cesses of which one has either awareness or One subarea of psychological science is how
which one can verbalize. For example, studies people acquire ideas and information – both from
that involve priming, whereby a stimulus is perceptual data and from communication.
shown to affect a response even when one has The dynamics of how ideas can be effectively
no awareness of it doing so, are often taken to be shared bears upon religious education and com-
showing unconscious influences on behavior. munication. Further, when considering religious
thought or practice, generally we are considering
Rationality/Reason culturally shared thoughts or practices. The
Psychologists generally focus on how people do dynamics of how ideas are transmitted, and
think and reason rather than whether they are whether our cognitive systems are more or less
rational or the nature of rationality. Nevertheless, receptive to certain kinds of information learning
psychologists do frequently contrast formal over others, may importantly shape which ideas
models of rational thought with actual practice. spread widely and become adopted as religious
For instance, the work of a number of cognitive (Boyer 2001). Applying such a cognitive perspec-
psychologists, including Nobel Prize winner tive to the study of religion is a major emphasis of
Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, has the area known as cognitive science of religion.
shown that humans do not always make decisions
in accordance to rational economic principles,
such as that of utility maximization (Kahneman
and Tversky 1979). For example, people have
References
often been shown to use heuristics, or rules of American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication
thumb, rather than rational analysis; to be manual of the American Psychological Association
influenced by irrelevant aspects of how problems (6th ed.). APA: Washington, DC.
C 418 Cognitive Therapy (CT)
Barrett, J. L. (2004). Why would anyone believe in God. of truth), coherentism is an account of what it is for
Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira. a proposition to be true. In this sense, coherentism
Boyer, P. (2001). Religion explained: The evolutionary
origins of religious thought. New York: Basic Books. is the theory that a proposition is true when it
Buss, D. (2007). Evolutionary psychology: The new science coheres with a system of beliefs. As an epistemic
of the mind (3rd ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon. position (the coherence theory of justification),
Chomsky, N. (1968). Language and mind. New York: coherentism is a theory of what it is for
Harcourt, Brace & World.
Gilovich, T. (1991). How we know what isn’t so: The a proposition to be justified. Coherentism in this
fallibility of human reason in everyday life. sense is the view that one is justified in believing
New York: Free Press. a proposition when it coheres with a system of
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An beliefs. The two types of coherentism are often
analysis of decisions under risk. Econometrica, 47,
313–327. closely related since epistemic coherentism can be
Lawson, E. T., & McCauley, R. N. (1990). Rethinking used to argue for a coherence theory of truth.
religion: Connecting cognition and culture.
Neisser, U. (1967). Cognitive psychology. New York:
Appleton. Epistemic Coherentism
Epistemic coherentism is the view that

a proposition is justified by coherence with
Cognitive Therapy (CT) a system of beliefs (i.e., propositions held to be
true), each of which is also justified by coherence
Jason Slone with other beliefs in a system. In some versions of
Tiffin University, Tiffin, OH, USA epistemic coherentism, justified beliefs cohere
with the beliefs of some individual. In other ver-
sions, beliefs are justified by coherence with the
Cognitive therapy seeks to help patients over- beliefs of some community. Notable defenses of
come mental difficulties by identifying and epistemic coherentism include BonJour (1985),
changing dysfunctional thinking, behavior, and Lehrer (1974) and Lehrer (2000). For a discus-
emotional responses. sion see Kvanvig (2011).
One can be an epistemic coherentist about all
propositions or only propositions in certain clas-
ses. A partial epistemic coherentist could hold,
Coherentism for example, that religious beliefs are justified
by coherence with other religious beliefs (of
James O. Young some individual or community) without adopting
Department of Philosophy, University of a global coherentist account of how beliefs in
Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada general are justified. For a discussion of
coherentism and religious belief see Plantigna
(1986). Similarly, one can be an epistemic
Related Terms coherentist about moral beliefs without being
a coherentist about other sorts of beliefs.
Epistemology; Truth Coherentism about moral beliefs is related to
Rawls’s view that a moral belief is justified
when it stands in “wide reflective equilibrium”
Description with other moral beliefs (Rawls 1971).
According to epistemic coherentism, justifica-
Coherentism comes in alethic and epistemic ver- tion is the result of a relationship among beliefs.
sions. As an alethic doctrine (the coherence theory This relationship may be described as mutual
Coherentism 419 C
inferential support. One belief in a system world). A similar position was adopted by Quine.
receives deductive or inductive inferential See Quine (1960) and Quine and Ullian (1970).
support from other beliefs and is consequently Some epistemologists have developed theo-
justified. These other beliefs can be inferred ries that are designed to combine features of
from still other beliefs and are justified. Eventu- foundationalism and coherentism. See, for exam-
ally, all beliefs are supported by the others in ple, the foundherentism of Haack (1993). Haack
a system. believes that a satisfactory epistemology must C
Epistemic coherentism is motivated by have a place for the justification of empirical
a rejection of both foundationalism and skepti- beliefs by experience (as does experiential
cism. Epistemic coherentists believe that propo- foundationalism). She also holds that justification
sitions can be justified, and consequently they often takes the form of beliefs mutually
reject skepticism. At the same time they reject supporting each other.
foundationalism. Foundationalism is the view
that beliefs can be identified which do not require
justification because they are self-evident. These Alethic Coherentism
propositions are the foundation on which all other
justified beliefs rest, that is, all other propositions The coherence theory of truth provides an
are justified by reference to foundational alternative to the correspondence theory of
propositions. In modern epistemology, the foun- truth, the pragmatic theory of truth, and the var-
dational beliefs have usually been thought to be ious deflationary theories of truth. Coherentism
beliefs about current experience. Coherentists in this sense is, like the correspondence and
believe that all propositions are in need of justi- pragmatic theories of truth and unlike deflation-
fication. In particular, they hold that beliefs about ary theories, a substantive theory of truth. As
what is currently observed are in need of a substantive, non-deflationary theory of truth,
justification. alethic coherentism states that truth is a property
Contemporary epistemic coherentism emerged of propositions. In particular, it is the property of
as a result of two failures of logical empiricism. being true when it stands in the relation of coher-
The first was the failure of the logical empiricists ence to a system of beliefs.
to identify a class of observation (or “protocol”) Several accounts can be given of system of
sentences (propositions) that are not in need of beliefs with which true propositions cohere. On
justification. Neurath (1983) held that any propo- one account, true propositions are those which
sition, even an observation sentence, can be cohere with some actual system of beliefs. On
rejected on the grounds that it is inconsistent another account, true propositions cohere with
with other propositions that are held to be true. some ideal system of beliefs. This ideal system
The second was the failure of logical empiricists to could be the system of beliefs adopted, at some
show how all propositions, including universal ideal limit of inquiry, by being with the cognitive
generalizations (which are common in science) capacities of humans. Alternatively, the ideal
and propositions about the past and future, can be system could be that of a being or beings with
justified by appeal to foundational beliefs about greater cognitive capacities than humans. In par-
what is currently observed. Neurath used his ticular, the ideal system of beliefs could be that of
image of rebuilding a ship while it is at sea to an omniscient being, that is, God.
illustrate his view that the justification of any Two sorts of consideration have led philoso-
belief is provided by other beliefs. Any belief can phers to adopt a coherence theory of truth. In the
be part of the ship (i.e., the system of beliefs) or first instance, some philosophers have been
excluded from it, so long as adjustments are made attracted to alethic coherentism by metaphysical
elsewhere in the ship that enables it to remain considerations. A correspondence theory of truth
afloat (i.e., it enables people to navigate the depends on a distinction between beliefs
C 420 Coherentism
(i.e., propositions held to be true) and what makes ensues. For this sort of argument see Young
beliefs true. Certain forms of idealism suggest (1995). In that the coherence theory of truth
that only beliefs exist. This leads to the view links the concept of truth to the concept of what
that truth must be the result of a relationship can be justified (or warrantedly assertable), and
among beliefs. Walker (1989) attributes alethic coherentism has an epistemic conception
a coherence theory of truth to Spinoza, Kant, of truth.
Fichte, and Hegel. Some British Idealists adopted The relation of coherence, as employed in the
alethic coherentism in the last years of the nine- coherence theory of truth, is closely related to the
teenth century and the first decades of the twen- relation of coherence employed by epistemic
tieth. See, for example, F.H. Bradley (1914). coherentism. That is, according to the alethic
Epistemological considerations have also coherentist, a proposition coheres with a system
motivated philosophers to adopt a coherence the- of beliefs (and is true) when the proposition can
ory of truth. Blanshard (1939) believed that be deductively or inductively inferred from
a coherence theory of truth follows from beliefs in the system.
a coherence theory of justification. He takes Once the coherence theory of truth is stated in
epistemic coherentism to be correct and the these terms, it becomes vulnerable to two stan-
coherence of a proposition with a system of dard objections. The first of these may be called
beliefs to be a reliable test of its truth. However, the specification problem, which can be traced to
Blanshard suggests, if truth consists in correspon- Russell (1907). The specification problem
dence to reality, there is no reason for coherence challenges the alethic coherentist to specify the
with a system of beliefs to be a reliable test of system of beliefs with which true propositions
truth. He concludes that the truth of a proposition cohere without presupposing a non-coherentist
consists in its coherence with a system of beliefs. conception of truth. Initially the problem is that
Rescher (1973) holds that this argument only there is any number of equally consistent sets of
succeeds if coherence with a system of beliefs is propositions. Many propositions will cohere with
an infallible test of truth (which he denies). one of these systems without being true. For
Otherwise, a belief could be justified but not true. example, the proposition that Alice slew the Jab-
The alethic coherentist needs to provide an berwocky coheres with a possible set of proposi-
argument for believing that a proposition is true tions, but is not true. The alethic coherentist can
when it is justified by coherence with a system of respond that the system of propositions with
beliefs. Anti-realism of the sort defended by which true propositions cohere is a set of
Dummett (1978) can be used to defend the con- propositions which is believed. If coherentist
clusion that truth is to be identified with what is adopts this position, the specification problem
justified (or warrantedly assertable, as Dummett reemerges in another form. Walker (1989) argues
says). This argument would start from the pre- that the proposition that some set of propositions
mise that the meaning of a proposition consists its is the one that is believed can only be true
truth conditions. Suppose then, for the sort of because, as a matter of fact, people believe it.
reasons Dummett advances, that the meaning of But then there is a proposition (namely, the prop-
any proposition consists in the conditions under osition that a specified set of propositions is
which it is warrantedly assertable (or justified). It believed) which is true because of a relation to
follows that the truth conditions of any proposi- matter of fact, not as a result of a relation among
tion are the conditions under which it is justified. propositions. This is contrary to the coherence
If the conditions under which a proposition is theory of truth.
justified are the conditions under which it coheres The second standard objection to the coher-
with a system of beliefs, and the conditions under ence theory of truth may be called the transcen-
which a proposition is true are the conditions dence problem. According to this objection, truth
under which it is justified, alethic coherentism transcends what coheres with any system of
Collective Action 421 C
beliefs. This position can be motivated by con- ▶ Philosophy of Language
sidering examples of propositions which are ▶ Positivism/Neopositivism
apparently true but which do not cohere with ▶ Truth
any actual system of beliefs. Consider the propo-
sition that there is an even number of stars in the
universe. Either it or its negation, by the law of
excluded middle, is true. Nevertheless, neither References C
the proposition nor its negation coheres with
Blanshard, B. (1939). The Nature of Thought. London:
any system of beliefs. Proponents of the transcen- G. Allen and Unwin.
dence problem conclude that a proposition can be BonJour, L. (1985). The structure of empirical knowledge.
true even though it does not cohere with a system Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bradley, F. H. (1914). Essays on truth and reality. Oxford:
of beliefs.
Clarendon.
Some versions of alethic coherentism are Dummett, M. (1978). Truth and other enigmas. London:
immune to the transcendence problem. If truth Duckworth.
is coherence with the beliefs of an omniscient Haack, S. (1993). Evidence and inquiry. Oxford:
Blackwell.
being, the objection fails since every truth
Kvanvig, J. (2011). Coherentist theories of epistemic jus-
coheres with the set of beliefs of an omniscient tification. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclo-
being. However, some versions of alethic pedia of philosophy (summer 2011 Ed.). Stanford, CA:
coherentism hold that the truth of a proposition Stanford University. http://plato.stanford.edu/
archives/sum2011/entries/justep-coherence
consists in coherence with a system of beliefs
Lehrer, K. (1974). Knowledge. Oxford: Clarendon.
which finite knowers hold or could hold. These Lehrer, K. (2000). Theory of knowledge (2nd ed.). Boul-
versions of the theory must cope with the tran- der: Westview.
scendence problem. Alethic coherentists can Neurath, O. (1983). In R. S. Cohen & M. Neurath (Eds.),
Philosophical papers 1913–46. Dordrecht/Boston:
defend their position against the transcendence
D. Reidel.
objection by maintaining that the objection begs Plantigna, A. (1986). Coherentism and the evidentialist
the question. Those who present the objection objection to theistic belief. In W. Wainwright & R.
assume that it is possible that some proposition Audi (Eds.), Rationality, religious belief, and moral
commitment (pp. 109–138). Ithaca: Cornell University
be true even though it does not cohere with any
Press.
set of beliefs. This is precisely what advocates of Quine, W. V. O. (1960). Word and object. Cambridge,
the coherence theory of truth deny. Coherence MA: MIT Press.
theorists have arguments for believing that truth Quine, W. V. O., & Ullian, J. S. (1970). The Web of belief.
New York: Random House.
cannot transcend what coheres with some set of
Rawls, J. (1971). A theory of justice. Cambridge, MA:
beliefs. Their opponents need to take issue with Harvard University Press.
these arguments rather than simply assert that Rescher, N. (1973). The coherence theory of truth.
truth can transcend what coheres with Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Russell, B. (1907). On the nature of truth. Proceedings of
a specified system.
the Aristotelian Society, 7, 228–249.
Both epistemic and alethic coherentism con- Walker, R. C. S. (1989). The coherence theory of truth:
tinue to find defenders among contemporary phi- Realism, anti-realism, idealism. London/New York:
losophers. Epistemic coherentism is more widely Routledge.
Young, J. O. (1995). Global-anti-realism. Aldershot:
held, but the coherence theory of truth also has
Avebury.
advocates.
Cross-References
Collective Action
▶ Epistemology
▶ Metaphysics ▶ Collective Behavior
C 422 Collective Behavior
Collective Behavior is a fascinating social

Collective Behavior phenomenon that cannot be restricted to
a specific type of social, political, psychological,
Emanuela C. Del Re economic process or behavior, because it is
University “Niccolò Cusano” of Rome, wider, multifaceted, and inclusive. Concisely,
Rome, Italy the concept of Collective Behavior can be defined
as a response to problematic situations and
circumstances.
Related Terms The studies on Collective Behavior focus on
the motivations, the modalities, and the dynamics
Collective action; Collective interests; Crowd; that characterize the evolution of this response,
Social movements and refer to the spontaneous manifestation of
behavioral patterns as well as to organized social
movements. Among all these modalities, there
Description are riots, lynching, responses to natural disasters,
panic, rumors, revolutions, and rebellions, a very
(1) A complex concept. (2) Theories. (3) Analyt- wide range of situations and responses, that ren-
ical approaches. (4) Social Movements. der Collective Behavior a term that covers a field
(5) Dynamics. (6) Future perspectives. without definite borders. While this constitutes its
limits on the one hand, it is also a resource and an
A Complex Concept ongoing challenge on the other, because it leads
Collective Behavior, unlike other concepts in to continuous redefinition and update.
social science, is very wide, complex, and diffi- The concept of Collective Behavior has
cult to define. It includes different behaviors, changed and adjusted to the evolution of society,
structures, processes, and contexts. Many because being related to social rules and expec-
areas of sociology and psychology, as well as tations, when these change, it also changes.
economics and political science, involve the Moreover, the concept has broadened, because
study of Collective Behavior, often restricting the advancements in technology and its diffused
the focus to particular types of it such as use, make Collective Behavior more incisive – it
religious, political, deviant behavior, and can even acquire a global dimension through
others. social networks, for instance- and varied in its
The concept of Collective Behavior does not forms. Research on Collective Behavior has also
define a group of social phenomena which can be changed and broadened, giving new impulse to
objectively verifiable, but can be intended as its conceptualization – for instance on the crucial
a reference to understand different sociological issue of what makes it different from other forms
orientations, which sometimes converge, and of group behavior – because there are new meth-
sometimes contrast. odologies which allow a wider gathering of data,
Originally called “mob behavior” or “mass interdisciplinary approaches, equal application of
hysteria,” Collective Behavior was believed to both qualitative and quantitative methods, recog-
occur when people lose their ability to reason, nizing the fundamental contribution of both.
and become temporarily insane. The perception Collective Behavior’s great interest lies in its
of Collective Behavior has changed, and high cultural value, as it can explain important
researchers today are aware of the fact that it social phenomena, and because of its high con-
concerns many types of social events which crete and practical value; studies on the dynamics
include fads and rumors, millennial movements, of Collective Behavior can help prevent unrest,
social movements, miracles and religious and violence; it can also help to plan and suggest
sightings, and other occurrences, not necessarily strategies as to prevent and to react to natural
related to violence or brutality. disasters and human security consequences.
Collective Behavior 423 C
Theories During this time, in the United States, the
Gustave Le Bon in The Crowd: A study of the behaviorist theories became very successful,
Popular Mind (1895) can be considered the initi- with a consequent growing need to study social
ator of the studies on Collective Behavior, as the phenomena with a more concrete and less theo-
earliest formulations of this concept are to be retic approach. The first result of this new trend is
found in crowd psychology. He affirms that the that the issues related to these fields of studies
crowd is a reality sui generis, which “forms became fragmented into different fields, which C
a single mind and is subjected to the law of the advance in parallel, among which emerged the
mental unity of the crowds” sustaining that all new sociological field that will eventually be
individual responses are lost in crowds. His the- recognized as Collective Behavior.
ory is known as “Contagion Theory,” and is The Chicago School distances itself from the
based on the idea that episodes of violence are rigid stimulus–response mechanism, stressing
driven by animal-like instincts that spread instead the mutual influence and the continuous
through a “maddening crowd” like an infection. exchange between individual and social environ-
Le Bon has strongly influenced Sigmund ment. Robert Park, along with Ernest Burgess
Freud, who in Mass Psychology and the analysis redefines the “Contagion Theory.” In Introduc-
of the Ego (1921), integrates his theory with the tion to the Science of Sociology (1921), Park uses
idea that suggestibility does not constitute an the expression “Collective Behavior” for the first
explication in itself, but needs instead to be time. Collective Behavior is defined as the
explained. He also affirms that the role of the behavior of individuals under the influence of
leader within the crowd, and the relationship a common impulse, which is the result of social
between the followers and the leader must not interaction. Social unrest, sects, social contagion,
be underestimated, as he thinks Le Bon does. mass movements, propaganda, fashion, and
Freud explains group participation by applying crowd mind are defined as Collective Behavior.
psychoanalytic theories of the instinct-object This theory has constituted the main reference for
relationships in the individual and of the decades, as the studies on this concept are few
primal horde. and have been carried out by almost exclusively
The post First World War period inspired those who studied under Park. Amongst them,
many European theorists at that time, as the res- Herbert Blumer (1951) has studied social pro-
toration of peace had not produced a climate of cesses and events saying that they do not reflect
social and political serenity. The events occurred an existing social structure but emerge in
in Russia, with the Bolshevik Revolution, for a spontaneous way. He has developed the theory
instance, reinforced the workers’ movement, but of the “acting crowd,” that is an excited group
at the same time increased the fear of a potential animated by a common goal. Blumer identifies
affirmation of socialism in the rest of Europe. In five steps that turn a group of individuals into an
the 1930s, many social movements of different acting crowd: social unrest, exciting event, mill-
orientations emerged, eventually leading to the ing, common object of attention, and common
advent of totalitarian regimes. The crowds impulses.
became “organized masses”. The studies follow In the 1950s, a process starts that will lead in
the evolution of these historical events, and focus the following decades to a progressive reinterpre-
on the explanation of the instinct that guides the tation of these kinds of social phenomena, con-
masses and influences the situation in Europe. sidering them less abnormal, not all motivated by
Studies, such as The revolt of the Masses by irrational, violent, or hysterical behavior. The
José Ortega y Gasset (1930), The Mass Psychol- process has contributed to individuate and under-
ogy of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich (1933), and line the similarities between collective and insti-
The rape of the Masses by Serghej Ciacotin tutionalized behaviors. The “Contagion Theory”
(1938), express this profound need of understand- could not explain mild expressions of Collective
ing the new social reality. Behavior and events, such as those related to
fashion, for instance. New theories and interpre- between social behaviors within the same con-
tations were needed. ceptual and theoretical structure.
Within the interactionist tradition – as in The categories defined by nineteenth century
Collective Behavior, a study by R. H. Turner theorists, who identify different aspects of
and L. M. Killian (1957) – great importance is Collective Behavior (crowd is a type of group;
given to social typing and to the way in which panic is an individual psychological state; etc.)
role models are created and diffused in society. have shown that the field of Collective Behavior
Turner and Killian elaborate the concept of is difficult to define because it pertains to differ-
“Emergent Norm Perspective,” which is ent fields and subjects that find convergences
a process: When people find themselves in only by chance or tradition. According to Marx
a new and unknown situation, they must create and McAdam (1994), the theorists of the twenti-
new norms to adjust to the situation. The process eth century have perpetuated very similar
is rational and logical, and explains that once approaches in a rather uncritical way, not distanc-
everyone recognizes which behavior is appropri- ing themselves much from the original theories,
ate to the situation, they adopt the behavior. Nev- with little innovation. In this way, the field can be
ertheless, not all behaviors within a Collective seen as a residual category which is used to fill
Behavior episode are the same. Turner and gaps in social analysis when an event cannot be
Killian elaborate a classification schema in studied as social structure or other. Marx and
which participants are placed according to the McAdam suggest that the “Social Movement”
motivations at the basis of their decision to take theory has moved too far in the direction of the
part in a collective event: They could be insecure, “Collective Action” theory and too far away from
ego-involved, concerned, curious spectators, or the “Collective Behavior” theory.
exploiters. Each of these motivations is neither It is interesting to note also that there are
irrational nor insane. Whichever category the differences between the European and the
participant belongs to, his/her behavior will be American approaches to Collective Behavior,
rational as long as the individual will remain in although the following general definitions must
that situation. not be intended as definite categories. Post sec-
Neil Smelser has offered another sociological ond World War American sociology has been
approach in Theory of Collective Behaviour dominated mainly by functionalism (the concept
(1963). His “value-added schema” suggests that of “institution,” “integration,” “socialization”)
the determinants of Collective Behavior are and therefore, the concept of Collective
given by a sequence of events and elements: Behavior – linked to that of “social movements” –
structural conduciveness; structural strain; has been introduced and acquired only with
growth and the spread of a generalized belief; the emergence of the protests and organized
precipitating factors; mobilization of the partici- movements which developed in the 1960s in the
pants for action; operation of social control. The United States: the student movement, the Civil
latter, Smelser sustains, is particularly important Rights movement, the protests against the
because it determines the duration and the sever- Vietnam war, and others. The fact that these
ity of the episode of Collective Behavior. Smelser movements were characterized by the refusal of
defines Collective Behavior as “a mobilization on dominant values, and often recurred to violence,
the basis of a belief which redefines social action” indicated, somehow unpredictably, that the
(Smelser 1963: 8) and views it as episodes of mechanisms of social and cultural integration
group behavior that relieve some social strain. were weak and not responding to the new
Since the end of the 1970s, sociologists have demands and needs.
tried to overcome the distinction between con- Europe, on the contrary, has been influenced
ventional behavior and Collective Behavior, strongly by a Marxist interpretation of society
aiming to identify convergences and divergences according to which the social organization is
based on a conflict or on a relationship of Analytical Approaches
subordination. There are various analytical approaches to Col-
In the United States, Collective Behavior is lective Behavior, which derive from the concep-
interpreted as marginal and as the result of tual frameworks of the protection of interests,
malfunctioning social integration mechanisms; reform movements, and social movements.
in Europe, the Marxist interpretation tends to The first approach is related to the individual
focus the analysis on opposite Collective Behav- self-interest. A traditional assumption in eco- C
iors, which end up by depicting a dramatic image nomic models of human behavior is that people
of history. behave exclusively in accord with their own self-
The different interpretations of the concept of interest. However, there is a growing apprecia-
Collective Behavior all share the idea that they tion that people are inherently social creatures,
are the expression of general dissatisfaction and that people often intrinsically care about the
regarding a purely liberal vision of social life, welfare not only of each other as individuals but
which reduces society merely to market interac- also of the groups to which they belong.
tions. In fact, the specific feature of a market, The main analytical question regards how the
above all when its mechanisms are not altered protection of individual interests can lead to
by coalitions, is that it favors a rational quest for Collective Behavior. The answer can be found
individual interest. An “open” society would then in the famous free-rider paradox by Olson
be made entirely by individual stories, which (1965: 2): “(. . .) the individual in any large
could only be linked in statistical groupings. group with a common interest will reap only
Stratification in these open societies can be rele- a minute share of the gains from whatever sacri-
vant; nevertheless, it does not necessarily mean fices the individual makes to achieve this com-
that individuals who belong to the same stratum mon interest. Since any gain goes to everyone in
would be able to organize Collective Behaviors. the group, those who contribute nothing to the
It is more probable, however, that they will share effort will get just as much as those who made
similar or common behaviors with regard to opin- a contribution (. . .) large groups, at least if they
ions, consumerism trends, and social mobility. are composed of rational individuals, will not act
This is the principle at the basis of opinion in their group interest.” Olson has observed, being
polls, which explains why they are largely dif- a prominent representative of methodological
fused in western societies: They are considered individualism, that if individual interest is well
able to propose a reliable model of individualized understood, it must lead individuals to nonparti-
behaviors, which are then statistically catego- cipation, rather than to participation in collective
rized according to preferences. action. It would be more rational to let others take
All this suggests that there can be Collective the responsibility and the costs of collective action
Behavior only in societies which are not entirely (for instance, a demonstration, a strike) and then
open, or, as most theorists affirm, societies which profit from the result without any involvement.
are dominated by power, therefore operating Olson affirms that particularly in labor unions,
according to the logic of domination. this leads to the creation of very small negotiation
Two opposite positions emerge from the stud- units because this allows each individual to better
ies: On the one hand, the most liberal interpreta- understand which interest there would be in taking
tion, and the theory called “Methodological part in a collective action.
Individualism,” underlines the limits of all the How do interest groups and collective actions
attempts to analyze Collective Behavior; on the develop? Olson finds the roots of this social phe-
other hand, all those who refer to Collective nomenon in the moment in history in which the
Behavior agree that a merely utilitarian and indi- unions and the mass political parties were formed
vidualistic analysis of social behavior is not in Europe at the end of the nineteenth century.
sufficient. Robert Michels, in his writings, explains this
clearly when he affirms that mass actions develop individual behavior based on the conformity to
because they favor their leaders. Any political dominant norms which have been interiorized. In
system evolves into an oligarchy that regulates this sense, the most important Collective Behav-
all big organizations, even when they are defined iors are conformist, for instance, movements that
as democratic, because they function in the inter- are inspired by the dominant values in a given
est of what is often defined as their techno- society.
structure. Nevertheless, the leaders do not act as Protest movements are present in all demo-
individuals on a market. They are positioned cratic states. They denounce injustice, the
within a more circumscribed and organized nonrecognition of the right of expression and
world, the world of political leaders, in which action of specific groups. It is in fact the concept
they develop a power strategy which must assure of “minority” that in the United States has given
the leader him/herself, that his strategy will con- the most help to groups which were able to mobi-
vince his/her own supporters to believe it is spe- lize in the name of universal principles, of human
cifically intended to favor their needs. This is why rights. Modernization movements, for instance,
they recur to symbolic discourse and actions are inspired by the idea of a natural evolution of
aimed at reassuring their supporters, although history that requires that societies constantly
this might not be coherent with their actual reconsider the principles and the institutions on
behaviors. which they are based. These movements imply
This introduces the “Resource Mobilization” that reforms are believed to be possible and even
theory, which opposes the utilitarian approach by probable. Otherwise, the mobilization loses its
underlining the limits of interpreting Collective sense and violence can spread. Peace movements,
Behavior as only aimed at the protection of inter- civil rights movements, and many others have
ests. This theory focuses on the ability of any achieved important goals in fostering reforms.
social movement organization to successfully Reforms and the diffusion of democracy have
manage and acquire resources that could be con- been the central theme of the social-democratic
stituted by anything that could favor or hinder the regimes in Europe and of the British Laborism.
success of the movement (votes, media coverage The British are the first to have elaborated the
and other). Leaders’ actions show that between concept of industrial democracy and of social
the demands of individuals and the responses, pact, allowing for great collective agreements
there are power relations, which means that it is on social issues, in line with the shared principles
not possible to oppose individual interests to the in the political society.
collective character of action: The goods the It must be underlined that power relations,
individual is aiming at are not on the market but however, cannot explain all social collective
depend upon the power centers, whether govern- reactions systematically, as the affirmation of
ments or enterprises. Very few social actors are the dictatorships in the twentieth century and its
able to fulfill their goals without forming alli- ruinous consequences demonstrate. Collective
ances or coalitions and orient their victory toward Behavior can be in fact strongly influenced by
more symbolic than material gains. This kind of leaders who are gifted by an undefinable cha-
analysis is very relevant, in particular when risma, as Weber defines it, which legitimates
applied to specific issues such as labor unions their power. These leaders are able to persuade
activities. vast masses of people with a political discourse
Another approach is inspired by the hypothe- whose content – either in favor or against the
sis developed by functionalist sociologists mass – is disguised in a highly symbolic narrative
based on the fact that they see the formation of that renders individuals acritical and inclined to
Collective Behavior as the expression of be convinced.
malfunctioning institutional mechanisms. Col- Some of questions that these phenomena raise
lective Behavior would then be the opposite of are still to be answered.
Social Movements analytical tool – as those Collective Behaviors
Another analytical approach to Collective Behav- that question, through a social conflict, the way
ior is constituted by social movements. They are in which a given society makes use of its
defined as an organized effort by a significant resources and its cultural model. In this way,
number of people to change (or resist change in) social movements in connection with Collective
some major aspects of society. Behavior seem to privilege the conflict aspect, in
While social movements are considered a direct connection with the concepts of protection C
form of Collective Behavior by many researchers, of interests and interaction between individuals.
others affirm that they must be distinguished from This analytical approach to Collective Behav-
it, because social movements are organized and ior is quite demanding as it implies that there
structured, while Collective Behavior is random exists an underlying central conflict in a given
and chaotic. Nevertheless, they have become an society. Many studies have in fact stressed the
important field of study on itself. existence of a fundamental conflict behind the
The Collective Behavior theories above men- apparent variety of social behaviors, proposing
tioned can be applied to the analysis of social new forms of class division and class conflict.
movements. Social movements are organized, The approaches to Collective Behavior above
are able to produce changes in society and to mentioned are not equally relevant. According to
last for a long period of time. In The Politics of Alain Touraine, as he writes in Le retour de
Mass Society (1959), Kornhauser sustains that l’acteur (1984), the concept of social movements
social movements attract individuals who are is to be put at the highest level. This level, that he
socially isolated and perceive themselves as calls historicité, is also the most difficult to reach,
socially insignificant. Social movements give as it constitutes the social realization of the great
a sense of meaning to individuals, which cultural patterns through which a society builds
renders them more social than political. The up its relations with its environment. On the con-
“Mass Society” theory of Kornhauser suggests trary, interest conflicts must be positioned at the
that social movements mobilize more easily peo- level of the social organization and also at the
ple with weak social ties, and are led by individ- level of what sociologists call “organizations.”
uals who pursue their own social interest. Reform movements must be positioned between
The analysis of social movements has also the two levels, together with institutions and
inspired the “Relative Deprivation” theory political mechanisms, which produce a range of
which is based on the assumption that social mediations able to lead social power relations to
movements form when a group of people feels forms of professional or technical organizations.
deprived of what they think is their right to have. Social movements, the highest level of
Denton Morrison in Some Notes Toward Theory Collective Behavior, can be formed only when
of Relative Deprivation, Social Movements and the two other types of Collective Behavior –
Social Change (1978) has applied this concept, protection of interests and reform movements –
originally elaborated by Stouffer in Studies in which are positioned at social organization or at
social psychology in World War II (1949). political level have been overcome. It is very
Morrison argues that when people are dissatis- important to take into account in the analysis
fied, believe to have a right to their goals, and that social behaviors must be identified and posi-
believe that they will not be able to do so through tioned at the right level of the social reality
conventional means, they will form a social in which they act. The analysis of Collective
movement to achieve those goals. The sense of Behavior through the social movements approach
unjust deprivation is a strong motivation. offers the advantage, by which it allows to stress
Although the term “social movements” is this diversity, while often utilitarian analysis tends
widely used in sociology, it would be better to refuse the existence of other types of Collective
defined in this context – to be used as an Behavior and thus refuses other kinds of analysis.
Dynamics among individuals determines the pattern of

All social behaviors are based on common mean- emergent groups. Forms of dialectical interaction
ings and shared imagery, which allow for include competition and cooperation, as well as
a collective definition of a situation. Individuals a number of behaviors that are contingent upon
or groups decide to support new and disjunctive the behavior of their peers. They imitate those
behavior in situations that are inherently unsta- behaviors or differentiate from them. Imitation is
ble, where there is an element of choice, some very important in diffusing innovation within
novelty, a crisis, attrition, conflict, competitive- a community, which is then assimilated. The
ness which create a problem. These situations choice between imitation and differentiation is
allow the development of Collective Behavior, often dynamic and depends upon the situation,
which is dependent upon the feelings and experi- and as with cooperation and competition, it
ences of the participants. implies elements of both, imitation and differen-
Choice implies the existence of alternatives tiation. The base motivations in the choice of the
and the opportunity to select them freely, but individual to take part in Collective Behavior or
does not provide generally accepted criteria on not are also related to the fact that the individual
which the selection can be based. does not need to predict group level outcomes, as
Novelty is created by situations that have not successful groups can emerge from individuals
been experienced before by the participants. who are strongly motivated by self-interest.
Crisis emerges in extraordinary situations, and Current research focusing on modeling Col-
in emergencies, which create new demands that lective Behavior aims at systematizing the devel-
constitute a test for organized groups or favors the opment of more effective ways not only to predict
creation of new ones. Attrition develops in the but to control collective outcomes. Even without
presence of a difficulty that weakens the collec- instituting physical or abstract barriers, it may be
tive effort. Competitiveness emerges when possible to indirectly control Collective Behavior
a rewarding structure – that could favor individ- with substantial efficacy. According to this view,
ual rather than collective solutions – influences Collective Behavior is more controllable than the
a cooperative solution. Regarding conflict, it behavior of isolated individuals because of the
implies a power relation of dominion, with strong influences among the individuals’ behav-
a party trying to impose a claim, while its legiti- ior. This concept is at the basis of a new approach
macy is challenged by another party. that intends to support effective collective orga-
In all these situations, imagery and meaning nization, with the aim of allowing the formation
lose their collective dimension and can be of self-organized patterns rather than dictating
questioned. In many problematic situations, dif- high level structures in a system of top-down
ferent elements are present at the same time, each control. As Goldstone and Gureckis sustain
with its own dynamic which produces an episode (2009: 418): “this conceptualization of design
definable as Collective Behavior. planning as facilitating self-organization rather
One hypothesis is that groups of people create than dictating final form may have an important
emergent patterns that have integrity of their moral for social systems in general.”
own, and as a consequence that there are strong
individual differences across different groups. Future Perspectives
Although it is possible to draw many conver- There has been in recent years a renewed interest
gences in the general patterns formed by people, in Collective Behavior, the reasons being many.
it is important to stress the critical dimensions of First of all, the fact that there have been interest-
variations. ing developments in the formal modeling of
The first element to analyze is the primary Collective Behavior, which are playing an impor-
motivation of individuals. Given that individuals tant role in sociology – as Macy and Willer
are not only moved by self-interest, but can care (2002) and Cipriani (2005) stress – as well as in
for the more general welfare, the interaction economics, psychology, and anthropology, has
increased interest in Collective Behavior. Second powerfully imposed themselves, through the
of all, research can now count on new empirical new media and other forms of participation, in
tools that have changed the way scientists the social arena. The changes in society put
approach the issue of Collective Behavior, as Collective Behavior at the center of the analysis,
regards dynamics and patterns. They can now even replacing institutions, which are relegated to
be measured and analyzed in new ways. For a specific position.
instance, the internet, mobile phones, specific Never before have Collective Behaviors been C
software, and others allow the observation of as fascinating, dynamic social phenomena as they
large groups of people, and the formation of are today.
collective dynamics within them. Technology is
playing a significant role in research as it allows
the recording of the evolution of collective deci-
Cross-References
sion-making moments away, as in the Arab
▶ Empathy
Spring where the web played a crucial role.
▶ Emotion
Data can be gathered online from blogs, social
networks, and others. Third of all, globalization ▶ Popular Culture and the Mass Media,
Sociology of
has played a significant role, as it implies more
▶ Ritual
and more connectedness, with consequent phe-
nomena such as de-territorialization and others, ▶ Social Psychology
▶ Violence
among which, for example, the World Wide
Web, that has been the object of many studies
on nonlinear group dynamics. References
These innovations seem to promise that
Collective Behavior, in a world of collective Blumer, H. (1951). Collective behavior. In A. M. Lee
ambitions, will be studied and observed more (Ed.), New outline of the principles of sociology
(pp. 167–222). New York: Barnes & Noble.
and more.
Cipriani, R. (2005). La formazione delle rappresentazioni
How Collective Behaviors will develop is dif- collettive. In Macioti (a cura di), Introduzione alla
ficult to predict, although some elements of the sociologia (pp. 315–337). Milano: McGraw-Hill.
recent changes can be identified. First of all, Goldstone, R. L., & Gureckis, T. M. (2009). Collective
behavior. Topics in Cognitive Science, 1, 412–438.
Collective Behaviors are less directed to the
doi:10.1111/j.1756-8765.2009.01038.x.
political and cultural centers of power and are Kornhauser, W. (1959). The politics of mass society.
more focused on the defense of the autonomous New York: Free Press.
actions of the actors, either in relation with the Macy, M. W., & Willer, R. (2002). From factors to actors:
Computational sociology and agent-based modeling.
others, in relation to central powers, or in relation
Annual Review of Sociology, 28, 143–166.
to external challenges and risks. Collective Marx, G. T., & McAdam, D. (1994). Collective behavior
Actions in this sense require that the participation and social movements: Process and structure. Engle-
of their members is more responsible and indi- wood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Morrison, D. E. (1978). Some notes toward theory on
vidualized. Second of all, Collective Behaviors
relative deprivation, social movements, and social
mobilize their actors completely, at all levels, change. In L. E. Genevie (Ed.), Collective behavior
with the consequence that there is a passage and social movements (pp. 202–209). Itasca: Peacock.
from actions increasingly instrumental to actions Olson, M. (1965). The logic of collective action: Public
goods and the theory of groups. Cambridge: Harvard
which are also increasingly demonstrative. University Press.
Collective Behaviors are now so pervasive Park, R. E. (1921). Introduction to the science of sociol-
that they appeal to private life, to aspects such ogy. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
as personality and culture, and not only to insti- Smelser, N. J. (1963). Theory of collective behavior.
Glencoe: Free Press.
tutionalized forms of political life.
Touraine, A. (1984). Le retour de l’acteur. Paris: Fayard.
The actors and their relations have become the Turner, R. H., & Killian, L. M. (1957). Collective behav-
most important elements of analysis, having ior. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
C 430 Collective Interests
A permutation of a collection of items is a

Collective Interests listing of the items in one possible order. For
example, consider a team of three students
▶ Collective Behavior named Cindy, Allen, and Betty. The number of
permutations of this collection is 3! = 3 2 1
= 6. In other words, there are three ways to select
the first name; two ways to select the second
Colonization name, and then only one name remains. The
general formula is n! = n (n–1) (n–2) . . .
▶ Latino Studies 3 2 1.
A combination is a collection of items where
order does not matter. For example, suppose a
student team consists of the same three people
Combinatorial Explosion named above. The number of meetings that a
team can hold, where a meeting must have at
Linda Sherrell least two members attending, is 3C 3 + 3C 2 or 1 +
Department of Computer Science, 3 = 4 meetings. In other words, there are two kinds
The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA of meetings: 1) everyone attends and 2) two people
attend, that is, one person is not present.
The general formula for a combination
A combinatorial explosion is a condition where follows:
the numbers involved in a problem rapidly
increase until they are either unmanageable or n Ck ¼ n!=½k!ðn kÞ!:
cannot be computed within our lifetimes.
For example, suppose that we have a team of
n members, and we want to find the total number
of possible meetings that can be held, assuming
that we need two or more members to hold a Commodification of Religion
meeting. For example, if there are 3 members
in the team, only 4 types of meetings can Alexander Darius Ornella
occur; however, for 5 members, the number Department of Humanities/Religion, University
increases rapidly to 1013, and it is actually of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom
about 11 million billion or 11 quadrillion pos-
sible types of meetings among a team with
50 members. Commodification of religion refers to religious
symbols becoming commodities, objects of
consumption readily available in the “supermar-
ket of religion,” in economic life, and the media
Combinatorics landscape. It is a process of recontextualization of
religious symbols, language, and ideas from their
Linda Sherrell original religious context to the media and
Department of Computer Science, The consumer culture. In this process, religious
University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA symbols become commodities, objects of
consumption readily available in the “supermar-
ket of religion” and the media landscape. The
Combinatorics is a subdiscipline of mathematics. commodification of religion works on several
Basic topics in combinatorics are permutations levels. The two most obvious are the (often
and combinations. commercial) offers of blessings, prayers, etc.,
Comparative Neuroscience 431 C
through the purchase of religious artifacts, books, zoology. Most basic mechanisms and structures
figures, etc. The second important – and at work in nervous systems have been first
obvious – level is the attachment of religious described in invertebrate and lower vertebrate
values through a religious aesthetic to consumer animals like earthworms, squids, snails, horse-
products. Often, the commodification of religion shoe crabs, crayfish, and rays. Considering the
is related to a loss of power to shape religious limitations of experimental work on humans, the
practices. medical neurosciences (neurology) have always C
had an interest in animal work as well (FENS).
Modern Comparative Neuroscience has
amply shown that there is a wealth of fascinating
Communication adaptations of animal nervous and sensory sys-
tems to their specific needs. These often are very
▶ Speech different from our human needs. On the other
hand, it also has been learned that the same
basic principles have been at work since early
evolutionary times and that brain functions, pre-
Communities viously associated with the human brain only, do
have parallels and precursors even in the so-
▶ Ecological Psychology called lower animals (Prete 2004).
A particular feature of Comparative Neurosci-
ence like that of the Neurosciences in general is
its openness for other disciplines such as genet-
Comparative Neuroscience ics, informatics, physics, mathematics, chemis-
try, engineering, psychology, and others which
Friedrich G. Barth has been a major source of its success and is also
Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Life evident from its diversification into numerous
Sciences, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria subdisciplines.
Description Self-Identification
Comparative Neuroscience studies the nervous Comparative Neuroscience is part of the natural
and sensory systems of animals widely differing sciences, applying a rigorous experimental
in regard to their position in the phylogenetic approach to test the validity of hypotheses and
system and ranging from those at the basis of their likelihood of being correct or wrong. Its
metazoan evolution (coelenterates) to those subdisciplines differ in regard to the methods/
most highly developed (vertebrates) (Bullock technologies they apply. These include neuro-
and Horridge 1965). Taking evolution for anatomy, neuroethology, neurogenetics, cyto-
granted, Comparative Neuroscience is inter- chemistry, electrophysiology, mathematical
ested in the structures and general principles modeling, and others. Clearly, Comparative
underlying nervous processes and functions Neuroscience is not a religion.
throughout the animal kingdom (Kandel et al.
2012). It is likewise interested in the particular-
ities and diversity of animal species and taxa Characteristics
adapted to vastly differing life styles and
habitats. Comparative Neuroscience has a basic interest in
Comparative Neuroscience is devoted to basic the diversity and in the adaptations of nervous
research and has always been a domain of and sensory systems of particular animals and
C 432 Comparative Neuroscience
animal groups living in different habitats and Ethical Principles

showing different behavior and lifestyle. Obvi-
ously, then, it is closely related and associated The ethical principles are those of any natural
with zoology. Apart from its interest in the science. There are guidelines published by vari-
diversity per se, Comparative Neuroscience ous agencies for proper scientific conduct mainly
uses its knowledge of this diversity in search aiming toward the prevention of scientific fraud.
of overarching principles (Journal of Compara- Importantly, in Comparative Neuroscience, ani-
tive Neurology; Journal of Comparative Physi- mal care is a serious issue and in many countries
ology A). there are strict regulations regarding the use of
animals for experiments.

Key Values
The discourse between “Science” and “Religion”
has been dominated on the religion/humanities The key value is the gain of knowledge and
side by the belief in an explicitly unique position understanding of structures and functions in ner-
of man in nature. Along these lines of thought the vous and sensory systems, their evolution, adapt-
insistence on the uniqueness of the properties of ability, and role in behavior. In view of the
the human brain has been prevailing. While the evolution of life and the many commonalities in
human brain indeed is likely to be the most com- all nervous systems, Comparative Neuroscience
plex of all brains, modern Comparative Neuro- also contributes substantially to the understand-
science has amply demonstrated that so-called ing of the human nervous system and senses,
simple central nervous systems are capable of to cognitive processes, and their pathologic
amazingly complex operations and there are jus- conditions.
tified doubts as to whether there are really any
unique features of the human brain not found (not
even in a more simple form) in animals. A huge Conceptualization
amount of evidence has accumulated demonstrat-
ing how far even small-brained animals like flies Nature/World
and bees or a cephalopod mollusk are from being These terms have been defined in many different
simple reflex machines and showing that their ways. From the point of view of a natural science,
sensory and nervous systems represent their the shortest definition is, the material world and
worlds in a surprisingly complex and rich way. its phenomena, or the natural physical world,
As a consequence Comparative Neuroscience including abiotic and biotic nature and of
strongly suggests the importance of a less anthro- course man.
pocentric attitude than hitherto often seen on the
side of the humanities. Human Being
Human beings are biological beings and the prod-
uct of evolution like all other animals. Speech
Sources of Authority and abstract thinking are particularly well devel-
oped but not basically unique capacities of the
The most important sources of authority are inter- human brain.
nationally recognized, peer-reviewed scientific
journals, books, and review articles summarizing Life and Death
previously published original results, which have Life evolved from simple abiotic origins about
gone through a process of rigorous evaluation three billions of years ago and now manifests
by experts in the corresponding fields of itself in organisms as diverse as bacteria, plants,
specialization. fungi, and animals (which include the
Comparative Neuroscience 433 C
vertebrates, mammalians, and man). Life follows evidence for access to knowledge without aware-
the laws of physics and chemistry and depends on ness. This finding asks for a revision of the
physical and chemical processes. It always has an assumption that perception and consciousness of
important historical aspect to be considered perception are always inseparable. From the
(ontogenetic and phylogenetic development/ viewpoint of Comparative Neuroscience, infor-
evolution). The question what life is must be mation on the inside and outside world is
considered a metaphysical question and not a necessary condition for the existence of all C
within the scope of Comparative Neuroscience. living beings. Not surprisingly then we find sen-
Like other biological disciplines Comparative sory mechanisms of high refinement already in
Neuroscience studies the structure of living bacteria and unicellular protozoans, that is, in
organisms and what they do, how they do it, and organisms without any neurons and nervous
what the prerequisites and conditions for their systems.
existence are. Death is the cessation of the func- There is a rich diversity of sense organs and of
tions typical of living organisms (acquisition and sensory capabilities in the animal kingdom
assimilation of energy, metabolism, locomotion, including many which are superior and alien to
etc.) and the recycling of the elements they are our own human experiences. Sense organs are
made of into a global ecological system. Death is often called the windows of the brain to the out-
a condition for the process of evolution. side world. Likewise, they are the interfaces
between an organism’s environment and its
Reality behavior. However, these windows (and the
Reality is the physical world around us including processing/integration of the data provided by
the rules governing it. Comparative Neurosci- them) are all highly specialized, selective, and
ence as a subdiscipline of biology acknowledges far from being fully transparent. Sensory systems
the existence of a real world independent of our rather provide the individual with information on
experience in which all life evolved and to which small fractions of the physical world only, which
living organisms had to adapt in a way favoring are the biologically relevant ones (serving
fitness, which is their survival and reproduction. fitness). Man is no exception to this. Our brain
is actively involved in constructing perceptions
Knowledge not only on the basis of actual sensory data but
Like in all other natural sciences, knowledge in also on the basis of inherited concepts like time
Comparative Neuroscience is supposed to have and space (constructed during developmental
an objective quality and be valid by virtue of the stages), individual experience, memory, atten-
repeatability of experimental research results. tion, intentions, etc., to which consciousness
Assuming that hypotheses can be disproved and and introspection have no access. In other
falsified but never and entirely proved, much of words, what is perceived is not raw sensory data
the knowledge accumulated by science has to be but abstractions from these.
considered preliminary and subject to change. The sensory worlds of animals and man are
highly filtered and species-specific “biological”
Truth worlds. Clearly, a particular feature of humans is
Truth is not a concept or subject in Comparative their ability to enormously expand their sensory
Neuroscience where facts and rules of reality are range by the development and application of
the main interest. Saying that something is true in sophisticated instruments and scientific inquiry.
Comparative Neuroscience would point to the
agreement with fact and reality. Time
The concept of time is most important in biology
Perception and thus also in Comparative Neuroscience. Liv-
Perception and consciousness unfortunately have ing organisms are never static but characterized
often been conflated. Modern research provided by their dynamics – by a permanent change
C 434 Comparative Neuroscience
through time from individual development logically valid way forever. Like all science,
(ontogeny), adolescence, adulthood, aging, and Comparative Neuroscience has turned lots of
death. Likewise, evolution cannot be thought “mysteries” into marvels. The question of how
without the time axis. minds with deep insights into the nature of matter
From a more neuroscientific point of view, and life and abstract mathematics could evolve
time is of prime importance in the way informa- from lifeless and mindless beginnings will still
tion is handled by neurons and nervous systems. keep Comparative Neuroscience busy for a long
One example is the modulation of nervous signal time to come.
(action potential) frequency serving as an ubiq-
uitous code in all nervous systems. Another
example is the temporal synchronization of the Relevant Themes
oscillatory activity of spatially separated assem-
blies of neurons in the mammalian brain and its Comparative Neuroscience has revealed many
assumed involvement in the coordination needed achievements of animal brains hitherto attributed
for higher cognitive functions. Memory as a road to humans exclusively. For the Science-Religion
into the past (both conscious and unconscious), debate it seems appropriate to look upon
imprinting and action plans as a prospect of the mankind as one among many parts forming
future are central issues in the neurosciences as a complexly ordered world where a less anthro-
well and intrinsically a function of time. pocentric, more rational, systems-oriented atti-
tude in regard to what we are and are entitled to
Consciousness do is more appropriate than naı̈ve and devastative
See also under “Perception.” Consciousness is arrogance.
a concept not well/fully understood in terms of
Comparative Neuroscience and not even in terms
of research on the human brain and of psychol- Cross-References
ogy. Its function is not clear yet. We are not aware
of most operations of the brain and central ner- ▶ Anthropomorphism
vous system. This not only refers to the simple ▶ Bioinformatics, Computational
and automatic operations but also to complex ▶ Cognitive Neuroscience
cognitive operations. Unconscious perception is ▶ Consciousness
a topic receiving increasing attention. ▶ Evolution
▶ Neuroethology
Rationality/Reason ▶ Neuroscience
Rationality and reason are foundations of the ▶ Perception
natural sciences and thus of Comparative Neuro-
science as well. The most important tool on
which rationality and the increase and under- References
standing are based in the natural sciences is the
experiment. Bullock, T. H., Horridge, G. A. (1965) Structure and
function in the nervous systems of invertebrates
Mystery (Vols. I & II). San Francisco/London: W. H. Freeman.
FENS, Federation of European Neuroscience Societies.
Mystery refers to something secret or http://www.fens.org.
unexplainable and beyond the reach of human Journal of Comparative Neurology. J Wiley, ISSN 0021-
comprehension. In Comparative Neuroscience, 9967.
there is a lot still to be explained. However, this Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology,
sensory, neural and behavioral physiology. Springer-
is not equivalent to saying that there are mysteries Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg ISSN print edition 0340-
which are unsolvable in principle and will not 7594; Journal’s website www.springer.com/journal/
be explainable in a rational, reasonable, and 00359.
Competitive Coherence 435 C
Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J. H., & Jessell, T. M. (2012). work together efficiently and harmoniously, and
Principles of neural science (5th ed.). New York: the generation of a coherent sequence of cell
McGraw-Hill.
Prete, F. R. (Ed.). (2004). Complex worlds from simpler states. Contradiction and incoherence are
nervous systems. Cambridge, MA/London: The punished since a cell that simultaneously induces
MIT Press. the expression of genes for growth at high tem-
perature and at low temperature is likely to be
out-competed by rival cells that induce each set C
of genes only when needed. A cell that proceeded
Comparisons from one cell state to another very different one
(without good environmental reason) would be
▶ Cross-Cultural Psychology wasting precious resources. A strong selective
pressure, therefore, exists to generate active sets
of constituents to provide both coherent cell
states and a coherent sequence of such states.
Compatibilism and Incompatibilism We have proposed that competitive coherence is
responsible for generating these active sets
▶ Determinism and Indeterminism (Norris and Norris 1998). This concept is based
on the way a system must maintain both the
continuity of the composition of its active set
via a Next process and the coherence of this active
Competitive Coherence set (with respect to the inside and outside world)
via a Now process. In one in silico implementa-
Victor Norris tion of this concept, the state of a system at time
Department of Biology, University of Rouen, n + 1 is determined by a competition between the
Mont Saint Aignan, France Next process, which is based on its state at time n,
and the Now process, which is based on the
developing n + 1 state itself (Norris et al. 2012).
Biological systems on all scales are confronted In the case of amateur football, consider the
with the challenge of obtaining a future state that problem of selecting the team (the active set)
is coherent with environmental conditions and each week from a larger group of potential
with previous states. These states are created by players. A Next process might be the tendency
the active functioning of a set of constituents of for someone who plays this week to be someone
the system. This active set is selected from the who plays next week (it is, for example, easier to
larger set available to the system. Many social arrange shared travel with those already present).
organizations are constrained by the need to rec- A Now process might be the coherence of the
oncile coherence with their present environment team with respect to itself (the team must have
and coherence with their past environments. To a goalkeeper, defenders, and attackers) and with
grow and survive, research laboratories, for respect to its opponents (who might be particu-
example, have to select an active set of workers larly brutal). As the new team is being chosen,
in response to new discoveries and to new the Next process gives way in importance to
funding initiatives but must reconcile this selec- the Now process. Competitive coherence also
tion with the research history of the laboratory operates at the higher level of the football
and, in particular, with its skills, experience, and league itself: a Next process results in teams
interests. To grow and survive, bacteria must also that are in the league in one season being likely
select an active set of macromolecules in to be in it the next season, while a Now process
response to external and internal conditions. results in a coherent league with teams of the
Such responses entail both the generation of same level dispersed over a certain geographical
a coherent cell state, in which the cell’s contents region.
C 436 Competitive Coherence
In the case of bacterial organization, The result is the selection of this site (plus the
competitive coherence selects a particular molecule that binds to it) as a determinant of the
hyperstructure (Norris et al. 1999) within cell’s response to a particular environment. More
a bacterium (such hyperstructures include multi- specifically, consider, for example, that (1) this
macromolecule assemblies responsible for ribo- binding site is for a particular phospholipid with
some synthesis, chemotaxis, sugar metabolism, long, saturated acyl chains and (2) the proteins
etc.); a Next process allows those genes that are with this site bind to the phospholipid to form
already expressed as part of a hyperstructure to a domain in which they are juxtaposed and in
help determine which genes are expressed next in which their activities complement one another.
a hyperstructure; a Now process then allows There might then be a selection for this binding
those genes that are starting to be expressed site in other complementary proteins. In the lan-
together in a hyperstructure to recruit related guage of competitive coherence, binding to this
genes to the hyperstructure. Competitive coher- phospholipid would become a type of connectiv-
ence also operates at the higher level of the bac- ity to determine membership of an active set, and
terial cell itself such that the state of a cell at any this active set would take on the physical form of
one time corresponds to the set of hyperstructures a proteolipid domain responsible for a particular
present within it. A new cell state is the result of function. Hence, emergence in the context of
(1) a Next process whereby the current active set competitive coherence can be understood in
of hyperstructures in the cell determines the next terms of a new criterion for membership of the
active set and (2) a Now process whereby the active set.
developing set of hyperstructures progressively Competitive coherence is a scale-free concept
recruits, maintains, or dismisses hyperstructures. that is thought to operate at levels ranging from
Competition between these two processes macromolecular assemblies to social groups. The
ensures a sequence of sets of hyperstructures nature of the Next and Now processes varies with
(cell states) that optimize growth and/or survival. the level. At the level of bacteria, these processes
Emergent properties resist attempts to predict take the form of site-binding, DNA supercoiling,
or deduce them (Van Regenmortel 2004). In the transcription factors, ion condensation, etc. At
framework of competitive coherence, emergence the level of human groups, these processes
is related to the selection of the subset of constit- include the mafia and status quo pressures that
uents that are active together (Norris et al. 2005). are familiar to us all. Could competitive coher-
Suppose each constituent has a large number of ence operate at higher levels still? And if it were
characteristics (as in the case of macromolecules, to operate, what form would the Now and Next
such as mRNA and proteins, which contain processes take and what would be the conse-
a large number of sites that can bind water, ions, quences? One exotic candidate is subjective
molecules, and other macromolecules). As pro- experience, the role of which remains controver-
teins are being chosen via competitive coherence sial. A role for subjective experience in Now and
to work together, suppose that the first ones to be Next processes at the level of ecosystems might
chosen just happen to contain a binding site to the be of general interest. Indeed, such a role would
same molecule. Suppose that, in some environ- underpin speculations that our world itself is
ments, this combination of proteins proves use- “conscious” (Norris 1998).
ful. Suppose too that this molecule becomes
available, perhaps for the first time. The presence
of this binding site could then become an impor- Cross-References
tant factor in the coherence process which dom-
inates the choice of the rest of the proteins to ▶ Artificial Intelligence, General
work together in the active set. In other words, ▶ Biological Hierarchies
the environment acts via the coherence process ▶ Biology, Theoretical
to lend importance to one out of many sites. ▶ Brains, Artificial and Computational
Complex Systems 437 C
▶ Cognitive Psychology grants the existence of a (countable) mathemati-
▶ Competitive Coherence cal structure realizing whatever the theory
▶ Complex Systems describes. Actual completeness and other key
▶ Computational Memories model theoretical properties of first-order logic
▶ Computer Science in Human Learning like compactness, and the Löwenheim-Skolem
▶ Conditioning and Learning theorem (shown originally by Löwenheim 1915)
▶ Emergence, Theories of follow immediately. Uncountable versions of C
▶ Hyperstructures these results were obtained independently by
A. Malcev (1941), A. Robinson (1948), and
L. Henkin (1949). Their fruitfulness and the fact
References that these results failed for higher-order logics
determined the primacy of first-order logic in
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sciousness. In S. Hameroff, A. Kaszniak, & A. Scott
(Eds.), Toward a science of consciousness II: The
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Computer science; Dynamical system
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(Eds.), Modelling and simulation of biological pro-
cesses in the context of genomics (pp. 123–132). A dynamical system is characterized by its ele-
Evry, France: Genopole. ments and the time-depending development
of their states. A dynamical system is
called complex if many (more than two) elements
interact in causal feedback loops generating
Completeness unstable states, chaos, or other kinds of attractors.
The states can refer to moving planets, molecules
Xavier Caicedo in a gas, gene expressions of proteins in cells,
Department of Mathematics, Universidad de los excitation of neurons in a neural net, nutrition of
Andes, Bogotá, Colombia populations in an ecological system, or products
in a market system (Mainzer 2007). The dynamics
of a system, that is, the change of system states
Gödel completeness theorem claims that formal depending on time, is mathematically described,
deduction in first-order logic coincides with for example, by differential equations. A conser-
semantic consequence. It may be taken as prov- vative (Hamiltonian) system, for example, an ideal
ing the purely analytical character of (first-order) pendulum, is determined by the reversibility of
universal truths and the possibility of reaching time direction and conservation of energy. Dissi-
them in a purely mechanical way. It bears also pative systems, for example, a real pendulum with
on the existence of non-self contradictory friction, are irreversible.
objects. Its original form says that the formal In classical physics, the dynamics of
consistency of a (countable) first-order theory a system is considered a continuous process.
C 438 Complex Systems
But, continuity is only a mathematical idealiza- assumption to be right for linear and conserva-
tion. Actually, a scientist has single observations tive systems.
or measurements at discrete-time points, which In systems theory, the complete information
are chosen equidistant or defined by other mea- about a dynamical system at a certain time is
surement devices. In discrete processes, there are determined by its state at that time. The state of
finite differences between the measured states a complex system is usually determined by
and no infinitely small differences (differentials) more than two quantities. Then, a higher
which are assumed in a continuous process. dimensional phase space is needed to study the
Thus, discrete processes are mathematically dynamics of a system. The phase space of
described by difference equations or data given a system contains the complete information of
in time series. its past, present, and future behavior from all
Random events (e.g., Brownian motion initial conditions. From a methodological point
in a fluid, mutation in evolution, innovations of view, time series and phase spaces are impor-
in economy) are represented by additional fluctu- tant instruments to study systems dynamics. At
ation terms. Classical stochastic processes, for the end of the nineteenth century, H. Poincaré
example, the billions of unknown molecular (1892) discovered that celestial mechanics is
states in a fluid, are defined by time-depending not a completely computable clockwork, even if
differential equations with distribution functions it is considered as a deterministic and conserva-
of probabilistic states (Scott 2005). In quantum tive system. The mutual gravitational interactions
systems of elementary particles, the dynamics of of more than two celestial bodies (“Many-bodies-
quantum states is defined by Schrödinger’s equa- problem”) can be represented by causal feedback
tion with observables (e.g., position and momen- loops corresponding to nonlinear and non-
tum of a particle) depending on Heisenberg’s integrable equations with instabilities and irreg-
principle of uncertainty, which allows only prob- ularities. In a strict dynamical sense, the degree
abilistic forecasts of future states. of complexity depends on the degree of
Historically, during the centuries of classical nonlinearity of a dynamical system (Mainzer
physics, the universe was considered a determin- 2005). According to the Laplacean view, similar
istic and conservative system. The astronomer causes effectively determine similar effects.
and mathematician P.S. Laplace (1814), for Thus, in the phase space, trajectories that start
example, assumed the total computability and close to each other also remain close to each
predictability of nature if all natural laws and other during time evolution. By contrast, dynam-
initial states of celestial bodies are well known. ical systems with deterministic chaos exhibit an
The Laplacean spirit expressed the belief of exponential dependence on initial conditions for
philosophers in determinism and computability bounded orbits: the separation of trajectories with
of the world during the eighteenth and nineteenth close initial states may increase exponentially.
centuries. Thus, tiny deviations of initial data may lead
Laplace was right about linear and conserva- to exponentially increasing computational efforts
tive dynamical systems. In general, a linear for future data limiting long-term predictions,
relation means that the rate of change in although the dynamics is in principle uniquely
a system is proportional to its cause: Small determined. This is known as the “butterfly
changes cause small effects while large changes effect”: initial, small, and local causes may soon
cause large effects. Changes of a dynamical lead to unpredictable, large, and global effects.
system can be modeled in one dimension by According to the famous KAM-Theorem of
changing values of a time-depending quantity A.N. Kolmogorov (1954), V.I. Arnold (1963),
along the time axis (time series). Mathematically, and J. K. Moser (1967), trajectories in the phase
linear equations are completely computable. This space of classical mechanics are neither
is the deeper reason for Laplace’s philosophical completely regular, nor completely irregular,
Complex Systems 439 C
but depend sensitively on the chosen initial orbits. A famous example is the chaotic attractor
conditions. of a Lorenz system simulating the chaotic
Dynamical systems can be classified on the development of weather caused by local
basis of the effects of the dynamics on a region events, which cannot be forecast in the long run
of the phase space (Haken 1993). A conservative (butterfly effect).
system is defined by the fact that, during time Measurements are often contaminated by
evolution, the volume of a region remains con- unwanted noise that must be separated from the C
stant, although its shape may be transformed. In signals of specific interest. Further on, in order
a dissipative system, dynamics causes a volume to forecast the behavior of a system, the develop-
contraction. ment of its future states must be reconstructed in
An attractor is a region of a phase space into a corresponding phase space from a finite
which all trajectories departing from a certain sequence of measurements. Thus, time series
set of initial conditions, the so-called basin of analysis is an immense challenge in different
attraction, will converge. There are different fields of research from, for example, climatic
kinds of attractors. The simplest class of data in meteorology, ECG-signals in cardiology,
attractors contains the fixed points. In this case, and EEG-data in brain research to economic data
all trajectories of adjacent regions converge to of economics and finance. Beyond the patterns of
a point unchanged by the dynamics of the system. dynamical attractors, randomness of data must be
An example is a dissipative harmonic oscillator classified by statistical distribution functions
with friction: the oscillating system is gradually (Nakamura 1997).
slowed down by frictional forces and finally Typical phenomena of our world, such as
come to a rest at an equilibrium point. weather, climate, the economy, and daily life,
Conservative harmonic oscillators without are much too complex for a simple deterministic
friction belong to the second class of attractors description to exist. Even if there is no doubt
with limit cycles, which can be classified as being about the deterministic evolution of, for example,
periodic or quasiperiodic. A periodic orbit is the atmosphere, the current state whose
a closed trajectory into which all trajectories knowledge would be needed for a deterministic
departing from an adjacent region converge. For prediction, contains too many variables in order
some simple dynamical system with only two to be measurable with sufficient accuracy. Hence,
degrees of freedom and continuous time, our knowledge does not usually suffice for
the only possible attractors are fixed points or a deterministic model. Instead, very often
periodic limit cycles. An example is a Van der a stochastic approach is more situated. Ignoring
Pol oscillator modeling a simple vacuum tube the unobservable details of a complex system, we
oscillator circuit. accept a lack of knowledge. Depending on the
In continuous systems with a phase space of unobserved details, the observable part may
dimension n > 2, more complex attractors are evolve in different ways. However, if we assume
possible. Dynamical systems with quasiperiodic a given probability distribution for the
limit cycles show a time evolution, which can be unobserved details, then the different evolutions
decomposed into different periodic parts without of the observables also appear with specific
a unique periodic regime. The corresponding probabilities. Thus, the lack of knowledge about
time series consist of periodic parts of oscillation the system prevents us from deterministic
without a common structure. Nevertheless, predictions, but allows us to assign probabilities
closely starting trajectories remain close to each to the different possible future states. It is the task
other during time evolution. The third class con- of a time series analysis to extract the necessary
tains dynamical systems with chaotic attractors information from past data.
which are non-periodic, with an exponential Complex models contain nonlinear feedback,
dependence on initial conditions for bounded and the solutions to these are usually obtained by
C 440 Computational Biology
numerical methods. Statistical complex models References

are data driven and try to fit a given set of data
using various distribution functions. There are Haken, H., & Mikhailov, A. (Eds.). (1993). Interdisciplin-
ary approaches to nonlinear complex systems.
also hybrids, coupling dynamic and statistical
New York: Springer.
aspects, including deterministic and stochastic Mainzer, K. (2005). Symmetry and complexity. The spirit
elements. Simulations are often based on and beauty of nonlinear science. Singapore: World
computer programs, connecting input and output Scientific.
Mainzer, K. (2007). Thinking in complexity. The compu-
in nonlinear ways. In this case, models are
tational dynamics of matter, mind, and mankind
calibrated by training the programs, in order (5th ed.). Springer: New York.
to minimize the error between output and given Mandelbrot, B. B. (1997). Fractals and scaling in finance.
test data. Discontinuity, concentration, risk. New York:
Springer.
In the simplest case of statistical distribution
Nakamura, E. R. (Ed.). (1997). Complexity and diversity.
functions, a Gaussian distribution has exponen- Tokyo: Springer.
tial tails situated symmetrically to the far left and Scott, A. (Ed.). (2005). Encyclopedia of nonlinear
right of the peak value. Extreme events (e.g., science. New York: Routledge.
disasters, pandemics, floods) occur in the tails of
the probability distributions. Contrary to the
Gaussian distribution, probabilistic functions
p(x) of heavy tails with extreme fluctuations are Computational Biology
mathematically characterized by power laws, for
example, p(x) xa with a > 0. Power laws ▶ Bioinformatics, Computational
possess scale invariance corresponding to the (at
least statistical) self-similarity of their time
series of data (Mandelbrot 1997). Mathemati-
cally, this property can be expressed as p- Computational Chemistry
(bx) ¼ bap(x) meaning that the change of
variable x to bx results in a scaling factor inde- ▶ Molecular Modeling
pendent of x while the shape of distribution p is ▶ Quantum Chemistry
conserved. So, power laws represent scale-free
complex systems. The Gutenberg-Richter size
distribution of earthquakes is a typical example
of natural sciences. Historically, Pareto’s distri- Computational Complexity
bution law of wealth was the first power law in
the social sciences with a fraction of people pre- Gómez González Daniel
sumably several times wealthier than the mass of Universidad Complutense De Madrid, Madrid,
a nation. Spain
Related Terms
Cross-References
Algorithmic complexity; Program complexity
▶ Algorithms, Computer
▶ Applied Mathematics (Mathematical Physics, Computational complexity theory is a
Discrete Mathematics, Operations Research) subdiscipline of computer science and mathemat-
▶ Emergence, Theories of ics that tries to classify computational problems
▶ Mathematics, Modern and mathematical problems according to their
▶ Quantum Theory difficulty. In this context, a computational
Computational Memories 441 C
problem or mathematical problem is understood to cores (1940s), to tape drives (1950s–1970s), to
be a task that could be amenable to being solved by magnetic disks (1980s), to optical disks (1990s),
a computer (which means that the problem can be to ▶ artificial neural networks (1990s–2000s).
stated by a set of mathematical instructions). The most recent developments have been the
exploration of information retrieval from memo-
ries conceived and implemented in entirely dif-
Cross-References ferent ways. Hopfield memories, which are C
specialized artificial neural networks focused on
▶ Algorithms, Computer pattern recognition and memory (Hopfield 1982)
exhibit retrieval and error-correcting capabilities
resembling characteristics of human memory and
suggesting a plausible explanation of how these
Computational Memories characteristics might be working inside the
human brain. Associative memories and Baum
Andrew J. Neel and Max H. Garzon memories further model human memory recall
Department of Computer Science, by using synthetic Deoxyribonucleic Acid
The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA (DNA) to implement associative recall akin to
recall in human memory. The motivation for
DNA is the real feasibility of creating a compu-
Related Terms tational memory which simultaneously stores and
processes data. Such computational memories
Biologically based computers; Computer memo- are believed capable of solving problems consid-
ries; Electronic memories; Magnetic storage ered extraordinarily difficult using conventional
solutions which separate data storage and data
processing. Computational memories were dem-
Description onstrated by Adleman (1994) when he used DNA
to solve the Hamiltonian path problem using
A computational memory is any device that allows DNA as both processors and storage. As a result
for storage of data for later retrieval. Flash disks of his work, it was believed that computational
are common examples today. Like its counterparts memories could be used to solve even routine
in biology, the quality of a memory is measured by tasks easily. The application of DNA as a com-
its capacity (how much data it holds), speed (how putational memory for routine tasks has since
quickly data is recalled), reliability (how long data shifted toward the use of DNA for special-
is retrieved with a consistent result), and meaning- purpose nanodevices for specific applications.
fulness (the correctness or relevance of retrieved Both the original and new visions still require
information.) memory systems for DNA computers capable
Memory is frequently assumed to be equiva- of either sophisticated processing capabilities,
lent with random access memory (RAM) in mod- such as self-assembly of DNA into useful molec-
ern computers. However, memories definition ular structures (Seeman 1999; Winfree et al.
more properly includes RAM as well as 1998), or capable of storing, in principle,
CDROMs, DVDs, floppy disks, USB drives, large amounts of data (order of terabytes) for
ZIP Drives, hard disks, and other types of con- information retrieval (Baum 1995). Neel
ventional storage. That said, the definition of (2007) explored the issues and ultimately dem-
memory is also broad enough to include storage onstrated a process for semantic retrieval from
devices as simple as an abacus which uses beads memories with speeds, reliability, and scalability
to store information. In the past 50 years, com- exceeding the best conventional counterparts of
puter systems have moved from ferromagnetic the time.
C 442 Computational Memories
Self-identification to determine how to get the most useful informa-

tion from massive data stores. Beyond the
Science conventional computer, medical doctors, neurol-
The science of computational memories is the ogists, psychologists, and chemists may get
study of how to build devices that store data for involved in understanding how the human brain
later retrieval, how to store data, and how to later works to recall data and transform it into infor-
retrieve that data in some useful and effective mation. Chemists and biologists must participate
way. This discipline uses scientific methods to to help understand how the DNA stores and
study every aspect and example of storage and retrieves information to form a human body.
retrieval available to us. For example, artificial Computer scientist must take ideas and models
neural networks have shown how the brain from each discipline to glue them together in
encodes information in the networks of relatively ways that improve computer memories. There-
simply but massively parallel neuron-like units fore, computer scientists very uniquely support
for later recognition and retrieval in a content- other fields in producing new results while simul-
addressable way. Likewise, DNA is a natural taneously consuming much of the product of
memory that can be used to build a human body that work.
by decoding instructions stored in base chemical
chains into complex mechanical, computational,
and chemical systems. In the same way, memory Relevance to Science and Religion
technologies developed for stand-alone com-
puters have been studied to help understand how Scholarly areas of science and religion study their
large distributed computer systems could be particular discipline in order to produce new data
built. These studies have led to new ways of and new information. Many of these disciplines
thinking about text searches, image matching, have centuries of work behind them. Conse-
automated question-answering, and other prob- quently, each discipline is in urgent need of mem-
lems. They have also enabled us to amass an ories capable of storing the full suite of data for
immeasurable amount of data in a highly distrib- that discipline and enabling quality retrieval and
uted system called the Internet for recall from analyses of that data when properly queried. The
anywhere in the world. use of computer memory in just the past 50 years
alone have enabled incredible advancements in
many existing fields and have even enabled new
Characteristics fields (such as bioinformatics, social computing,
eCommerce) by allowing data to be stored for
The study of memories is unique because it fre- later and widespread use.
quently interfaces with a broad range of other
disciplines before tying the result of that study
into advancements in memory systems. For Sources of Authority
example, today’s computer systems require elec-
trical engineers to build the computer circuits for The primary authorities in computational memo-
a random access memory or hard drive. These ries are archives of scientific reports (proceedings
same memories require specialists to determine and journal articles, technical conferences)
the best materials to use in each part. Again, these describing and analyzing them in the scientific
same systems require advanced mathematics to literature. Such papers are rigorously studied,
help detect errors, to identify the fastest method challenged, and cross-validated by peer experts,
of memory recall, and to catalog massive and ultimately replicated if they do hold advance-
amounts of data. Library scientists study methods ments over existing solutions, before they are
of keeping records of the data stored in memories. accepted as valid, implemented, and/or taught in
Linguists and language specialists are necessary a scholarly setting.
Computational Memories 443 C
Ethical Principles content, music, pictures, etc., and stored in vast
quantity for later intelligent retrieval with the
The general ethical principles are those stan- expectation of reliable and human-relevant
dards in science. They include giving credit recall from the memory. Data is increasingly
where it is due, respect for others’ intellectual consume by a wider variety of actors such as
property, while advancing the well-being of robots, household appliances, and special pur-
individuals and society at large. Because pose. These machines are endowed with some C
advances by the discipline usually make possi- degree of intelligence and are capable of
ble actions by humans that were previously assisting humans in performing tasks or
impossible (e.g., the accumulation of informa- substituting for humans for some tasks while
tion about millions of people under the control maintaining similar results (e.g., IBM’s Watson
of a few individuals in social website reposito- and DeepBlue). Deep Blue is a supercomputer
ries or genomic databanks), it has been neces- constructed by IBM to play the game of chess by
sary to develop what some consider a unique comparing the moves of the opponent, the cur-
type of ethics studies, so-called cyber-ethics rent state of the game, and a very large memory,
(see ▶ Cyberethics). Many important ethical sufficiently well to compete with the best human
notions (such as privacy, intellectual property, chess players.
digital identity, and legal regulations) are being
transformed as a result. Life and Death
In the world of “memory”, the life of data begins
when the data is created or introduced into the
Key Values memory and death occurs when it is removed
from the memory. Although the concepts of life
The key values are speed, reliability, capacity, and death of data do not appear to be related to the
data density, and meaningful results in memory ordinary meaning of the terms, data within a
systems. memory can represent a living person. Therefore,
a tight interconnection may be assumed to exist
between the referent of the data (e.g., a person)
Conceptualization and its data. Therefore, the data may indicate that
a person is not legal deceased until well after the
Nature/World person has physically expired. Further, the
The world is the sum of data and the devices that data about a deceased person can live well
store the data (sometimes called cyberspace, the beyond the person.
Internet, the web, etc.).
Reality
Human Being The reality of a memory system amounts to the
In the world of memories, human beings are set of data stored and the information that can be
actors that bring life and death to the world by retrieved from the memory. Reality, thus,
creating data, consuming or interacting with excludes data that is actually stored but cannot
data through using it applications, tools, appli- be retrieved and data that is stored with errors.
ances, instruments, etc., and destroying data by Consequently, “reality” is defined strictly by the
removing it from the world. In addition to flesh- accessible data whether true or complete. For
and-blood homo sapiens, robots, household example, cyberspace is an online memory in
appliances, and software should also be consid- which an individual can assume a number of
ered “actors”. The semantic web is a good personalities, or can present himself to be a very
example of a memory (world) where informa- different person than he or she is in the physical
tion is frequently created or destroyed by the world by simply creating or altering data in the
flesh-and-blood actors in the form of news, web memory.
C 444 Computational Memories
Knowledge measure of quality in order to better understand

Knowledge is the new information that can be the capabilities of some computational memories
learned by studying or mining the data stored by comparison of the memories to human
in a computer’s memory. It may also refer to capabilities.
the technical knowledge necessary to build
computational memory systems, including com- Rationality/Reason
putational models, analyses, manufacturing pro- Rationality is the “why” behind the retrieval
tocols, and quality control. choices of memory systems. Thus, rationality in
a machine ordinarily reflects the rationality
Truth placed in the computer memories by its designers
Truth is the data actually stored inside the mem- and programmers. However, new generations of
ory. Therefore, it may or may not be complete or computer memories might be regarded as becom-
correspond to any facts in the real world. ing increasingly “rational” because of their
advanced capabilities to combine data from dis-
Perception parate sources, mine the resulting memory to
Data is often represented differently in memories extract correlations and feasible conclusions,
than how humans consume it. Perception is, and present results which are frequently far
therefore, the conversion of information from from evident, or even credible, to rational
how it is stored in memory to a consumable for- humans confronted with the result.
mat. This perception (of a famous person, for
example) may thus be quite different from that
obtained by actual interaction with the reference Relevant Themes
(the actual person) in the data.
The key issues for memories today are data
Time encoding, semantic (human-like) retrieval of
Time is generally limited to the moment of crea- information from memory, memory structures
tion, the last modification, or the time of deletion that make processing easier, and density of stor-
of the data within the memory. The measure of age. As mentioned before, it is conceivable that
time is usually taken from a computer system’s computational memories may be produced in the
internal clock. This clock is digital (i.e., only near future that exhibit features that closely
records discrete time events) and may or may resemble human memories, and even exceed
not be accurate enough to the human notion of their capability. IBM’s Watson is a pioneering
time. example.
Consciousness
Computational memories do not usually appear Cross-References
to be capable of consciousness in the way humans
do. However, some may argue that some compu- ▶ Biology, Theoretical
tational memories may exhibit some characteris- ▶ Computer Science in Human Learning
tics of consciousness (e.g., when purchasing an ▶ Intelligence
airline ticket, the system may inquire about a car ▶ Memory
or a hotel reservation in the semantic web). Thus, ▶ Semantics
the “consciousness” of a computational memory
is probably best thought of as the means
(programs and software) by which the memory References
decides what data is best to retrieve and in what
order it should be retrieved. Alternatively, some Adleman, L. M. (1994). Molecular computation of solu-
in the field use the term “consciousness” as a tions to combinatorial problems. Science, 266, 1021.
Computer Science 445 C
Baum, E. (1995). Building an associative memory vastly programmers to decide which language to choose
larger than the brain. Science, 268, 583–585. based on the type of program they are developing.
Hopfield, J. J. (1982). Neural networks and physical sys-
tems with emergent collective computational abilities. Even though most programs are written in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of abstract human-readable languages, the code is
the USA, 79(8), 2554–2558. still converted via a compiler or interpreter to a
Neel, A. J. (2007). Memory systems for DNA computers. binary format that a computer can execute.
(Doctoral dissertation). The University of Memphis.
Seeman, N. C. (1999). DNA engineering and its applica-
C
tion to nanotechnology. Trends in Biotechnology, 17,
437–443.
Winfree, E., Liu, F., Wenzler, L. A., & Seeman, N. C. Computer Memories
(1998). Design and self-assembly of two dimensional
DNA crystals. Nature, 394, 539–544.
▶ Computational Memories
Computer Algorithms
Computer Programs
Computer Ethics Computer Quantum

▶ Cyberethics
▶ Quantum Computing
Computer Language Computer Science
Nathan Koenig ▶ Affective/emotional Computing

Interaction Lab, Computer Science Department, ▶ Algorithms, computer
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, ▶ Artificial Intelligence, General
CA, USA ▶ Automation, Electronic
▶ Brains, Artificial and Computational
▶ Complex Systems
Every modern computer is a binary system, and ▶ Computational Memories
the very first computers were programmed ▶ Computer Science in Human Learning
directly in binary. However, binary is not intui- ▶ Cyberethics
tive for humans, and it can be very difficult and ▶ Cyborgs
time consuming to write and debug. As a result, ▶ Games, Computer
more abstract and human friendly computer ▶ Information Security
languages were developed. The first of these ▶ Intelligence, Swarm
languages was assembly, and it allowed a ▶ Quantum Computing
programmer to use character-based commands ▶ Robot Emotions
to program a computer. More languages were ▶ Robot Programming
developed, and today a programmer has a wide ▶ Robot Societies
array of languages to choose from. Each language ▶ Robotics and Religion
has good and bad points, and it is up to the ▶ Software Engineering
C 446 Computer Science Education
courses, college enrollments in computer science

Computer Science Education saw drastic declines nationwide from 2002
through 2007. Even though this trend seems to
▶ Computer Science in Human Learning be ending due to student interest in technology
such as cell phones and iPods, the last year for the
AB exam was in 2009.
Some of the recent changes in computer
Computer Science in Human science education directly reflect declining
Learning enrollments. For example, because many middle-
and high school students spend much of their
Linda Sherrell leisure time playing computer games, several
Department of Computer Science, The researchers developed curriculum materials
University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA targeting this interest. One of the most successful
projects was the development of the software
Alice (http://www.alice.org), which is offered
Related Terms freely by Carnegie Mellon University. Alice,
which has been used in both high school and
Computer science; Computer science education college settings, allows students to create 3D
environments while learning ▶ basic program-
ming concepts. A more recent version called
Description Storytelling Alice was designed especially for
middle-school girls. Another notable tool for
Computer science (CS) education encompasses young students has been AgentSheets (http://
the teaching of computation from kindergarten www.agentsheets.com), which is best described
through graduate school. To help prepare high as 2D game-authoring and simulation software.
school students who want to study computer sci- An interesting note about AgentSheets is that it
ence in college, many schools offer advanced has been used by middle-school students as well
placement (AP) courses in computer science. as NASA astronauts to build simulations. One
Students enrolled in these courses are then eligi- of the most successful projects involving
ble to take corresponding exams offered by the AgentSheets was Tri-P-LETS (Three P Learning
Educational Testing Service (ETS). If their Environment for Teachers and Students). In this
scores are high enough, universities may grant project, funded by the National Science Founda-
the students college credit for one or more tion (NSF), the investigators and graduate stu-
courses. For example, the Computer Science dents created curriculum modules to enhance
A exam currently corresponds to a first-semester the first- and second-year programming classes
college course in object-oriented programming, in public high schools in the Memphis area.
where students learn problem-solving skills such A variety of simulations were assigned to stu-
as abstraction and ▶ algorithm development and dents in order for the students to appreciate the
are introduced to basic abstract data types. An breadth of the field and the types of courses that
abstract data type (ADT) is a built-in or they would encounter if they selected CS as
userdefined type (kind of information) where a major. For example, simulations were used to
the data has an associated collection of opera- teach ▶ combinatorics (Sherrell et al. 2005), cel-
tions. Meanwhile, the Computer Science AB lular automata (a theoretical computer where the
exam requires a knowledge of all the topics on world is represented as an infinite grid of cells. A
the A exam plus a more advanced coverage of cell has an associated state (alive or dead) and a
data structures (e.g., binary search trees, which set of rules associated with it), (Thomas et al.
require ▶ recursion). Although the AP College 2006), the hydrology life cycle, and DNA
Board provides materials for computer science sequences. In addition, students followed an
Computer Science in Human Learning 447 C
adapted ▶ waterfall model with incremental cod- (Communications of the ACM) celebrated its
ing and testing. Students were provided templates 50th anniversary in 2008, whereas computer sci-
especially designed for AgentSheets projects in ence education journals and associations are
order to storyboard their simulation, record its much younger.
requirements, document the logic, and track
bugs (faults). Students were especially apprecia-
tive of the need for process when they designed Relevance to Science and Religion C
large games and competed in the annual Univer-
sity of Memphis Programming Challenge, For the majority of computer science educators,
a competition where high school students work there is little interest in “science and religion.”
in teams for 6–7 weeks to develop an educational However, for those teaching artificial intelli-
or adventure game. gence, questions such as the following are of
There is an interesting, ongoing debate in interest: How do mammals, insects, birds, and
computer science education concerning how one other members of the animal kingdom learn?
should teach the first programming course. In Are there things about how animals learn that
other words, should the instructor emphasize we can use to help us construct robots?
basic control structures and algorithm develop-
ment or should he/she immediately introduce the
concepts of a class and an object, which are Sources of Authority
required in object-oriented programming lan-
guages? The controversy reflects the two major Conference and journal articles are the major
pedagogical viewpoints known as objects-late sources of authority for this discipline/
versus objects-first. A popular objects-first subdiscipline. The two most respected
approach appears in the textbooks authored by conferences for computer science education are
the creators of the interactive development envi- sponsored by the Special Interest Group on Com-
ronment BlueJ (http://www.bluej.org). However, puter Science Education (SIGCSE) of the ACM.
some instructors prefer a declarative language These conferences are SIGCSE: Technical
(e.g., a functional programming language such Symposium on Computer Science Education and
as Scheme) or a scripting language as the first ITiCSE: Innovations and Technology in
language. Computer Science Education.
Furthermore, the Computing Sciences
Accreditation Board (CSAB) determines if
Self-Identification existing undergraduate programs meet a set of
standards. Even if CS departments do not seek
Science accreditation, they may still refer to the CSAB
This discipline/subdiscipline self-identifies itself standards to assess their programs. Another
as a science. Computer science educators make source of authority is Computing Curricula. The
observations and collect data to better understand individuals who compose these guidelines for
how students learn. undergraduate programs are prominent individ-
uals from industry and academia.
Characteristics
Ethical Principles
Computer science education differs from the
other disciplines/subdisciplines in that it is There are ten directives in the IEEE Code of
relatively new. For example, the Association for Ethics (2006), whereas the ACM Code (1992)
Computing Machinery celebrated its 60th lists eight general imperatives. Those principles
anniversary in 2007, and its associated journal that are most similar are the following: Members
C 448 Computer Science in Human Learning
of these organizations should think of society and of a project through requirements, design, imple-
the public when making their decisions; be mentation, coding, postdelivery maintenance,
honest; not discriminate against people of other and finally retirement (death). Testing and
races, gender, disability, income, or age; and give documentation are a part of each phase.
credit to other individuals for their contributions.
Reality
Reality refers to living or nonliving items that
Key Values actually exist. Computer scientists are interested
in “virtual reality” systems. These systems are
In both codes, specific professional responsibili- simulations of imaginary worlds.
ties appear. By following these responsibilities,
a member has accepted the values of the profes- Knowledge
sion. An example value from the ACM Code is Knowledge is information gained through study
that members should strive to achieve the highest and reasoning. This term appears in the names of
quality in their work. Note that the ACM Code two important subdisciplines of computer science
lists eight professional values, six leadership education, namely, knowledge management and
values, and, finally, two imperatives that have to knowledge engineering.
do with compliance to the code. Similar to the
ACM imperatives, the last imperative of the Truth
IEEE Code states that members should support Truth is a fact that has been proven or, in other
each other in following its established code words, the opposite of a falsehood. Computer
of ethics. science educators teach “truth” tables in the intro-
ductory computer science class to help students to
reason logically.
Conceptualization
Perception
Nature/World Perception is an individual’s interpretation of
The nature of computer science education is to a situation or a concept by the use of his/her
teach computational thinking (Wing 2006) to all senses. This term is also associated with the dis-
human beings in the world. cipline of neural networks.
Human Being Time

The discipline of computer science education Computer science educators define time in
considers a human being to be a member of the relation to the period measured in seconds,
human race or, in other words, a person (living minutes, days, and so forth that an activity
or dead). However, the discipline of artificial requires to be completed. They are especially
intelligence is interested in what determines interested in the “run-time” of various
a human being (see the answer to Question 4 algorithms.
above).
Consciousness
Life and Death Consciousness is an awareness of a problem
Life is the beginning of existence for members of or concept. Artificial consciousness is a
the plant or animal kingdoms, whereas death is subdiscipline of artificial intelligence.
the ending of this existence. However, the disci-
pline of software engineering considers the con- Rationality/Reason
cept of life as the time that a software application Rationality is the ability to make a decision,
is viable. In other words, the traditional software whereas reason is the action of considering alter-
development “life” cycle begins with the vision natives. Rationality is related to logic.
Concept of God in Contemporary Philosophy of Religion 449 C
Mystery
Mystery is an occurrence or phenomenon with no Computer Security
logical explanation.
▶ Information Security
Relevant Themes
C
The IEEE Computer Society and the Association
Computer Software
for Computing Machinery sponsored an interim
report in December 2008 to the Computing Cur-
ricula Report of 2001. The 14 knowledge areas
are still Discrete Structures, Human-Computer
Interaction, Programming Fundamentals, Computerization
Graphics and Visual Computing, Algorithms
and Complexity, Intelligent Systems, Architec- ▶ Automation, Electronic
ture and Organization, Information Management,
Operating Systems, Social and Professional
Issues, Net-Centric Computing, Software Engi-
neering, Programming Languages, and Compu-
Computing Machinery
tational Science. Feedback from industry
included the need for an increased emphasis in
▶ Automation, Electronic
security, quality issues, software engineering
▶ Electronic circuits in Computers
principles and techniques, and the reengineering
of large, undocumented code (ACM 2008).
References Computing Quantum
ACM Code of Ethics (1992). See http://www.acm.org/ ▶ Quantum Computing

about/code-of-ethics. Accessed 29 May 2012.
AgentSheets. http://www.agentsheets.com. Accessed 29
May 2012.
Alice. See http://www.alice.org. Accessed 29 May 2012.
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) & IEEE Concentration
Computer Society (IEEE-CS). (2008) Computer Sci-
ence Curriculum: An Interim Revision of 2001. See
http://www.acm.org/education/education/curricula-
▶ Attention
recommendations?searchterm=Computing+Curricula+
2008. Accessed 29 May 2012.
BlueJ – The interactive Java environment. See http://
www.bluej.org. Accessed 29 May 2012.
IEEE Code of Ethics (2006). See http://www.ieee.org/ Concept of God in Contemporary
about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html. Accessed 29 Philosophy of Religion
May 2012.
Sherrell, L. B., Robertson, J. J., & Sellers, T. W. (2005).
Karin Johannesson
Using software simulations as an aide in teaching
combinatorics to high school students. Journal of Department of Theology, Uppsala University,
Computing Sciences in Colleges, 20(6), 108–117. Uppsala, Sweden
Thomas, A. P., Sherrell, L. B., & Greer, J. B. (2006). Using
software simulations to teach automata. The Journal of
Computing Sciences in Colleges, 21(5), 170–176.
Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communi- According to some definitions, the phenomenon
cations of the ACM, 49(3), 33–35. of ▶ religion is characterized by the belief that
C 450 Concept of God in Contemporary Philosophy of Religion
there is a God or several gods. Belief in the approach since this approach takes advantage of
existence of God or gods is, according to such insights reached within the other three traditions
definitions, the distinctive feature of religion. as well as recent developments within the philos-
Such definitions underline the importance of the ophy of science. However, many philosophers of
concept of God within the phenomena that we religion still prefer to work within the tradition of
call religions. The concept of God plays a central metaphysical philosophy of religion.
role – perhaps the central role – within a religious
tradition. Therefore, philosophers of religion take
an interest in analyzing the concept of God and its Metaphysical Philosophy of Religion
use in different religious traditions.
What one understands to be a philosophical According to Filosofilexikonet, an often-used
problem in relation to the concept of God partly Swedish dictionary of philosophical terminology,
depends on what philosophical tradition one the term “metaphysical philosophy of religion”
belongs to. Philosophical reflection on the con- can denote the traditional form of philosophy of
cept of God, engaged in by contemporary philos- religion that devotes itself to a philosophical
ophers of religion, can be described in relation to investigation into questions touching upon the
the various philosophical traditions that influence existence and properties of God. Metaphysical
this work since those traditions impact on the philosophy of religion can relate to religion in
formulation of philosophical problems relating a positive way or it can facilitate a critical eval-
to the concept of God as well as on the philosoph- uation of religion and religious belief in general
ical analysis of them. Philosophers of religion (Filosofilexikonet 1988, p. 468).
working within different philosophical traditions When Philip Quinn defines philosophy of reli-
discern different philosophical problems when gion in The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy,
reflecting on the concept of God and our different he defines it as metaphysical philosophy of reli-
ways of using that concept. They do not always gion. Quinn writes that philosophy of religion is
agree on what problems are genuine philosophi- the subfield of philosophy devoted to the study of
cal problems worth working on, nor do they religious truth claims, primarily the most impor-
always agree on what a fruitful approach to tant of these claims, namely, the truth claims of
those problems might mean. the theistic traditions that concern the existence,
In this chapter, I will highlight the concept of nature, and activities of God. Quinn states that the
God in contemporary philosophy of religion by focal point in philosophy of religion is what has
focusing on how philosophers of religion within been described by philosophers as the theistic
four different philosophical traditions use and concept of God. It is the coherence of this concept
analyze the concept of God in their philosophical and the possible existence of an entity denoted by
work. The four philosophical traditions that I will this concept that interests the philosopher of reli-
focus on are discussed under the following head- gion, he argues (Quinn 1995, p. 607).
ings: Metaphysical Philosophy of Religion, Witt- Metaphysical philosophers of religion develop
gensteinian Philosophy of Religion, Feminist and analyze different arguments for or against
Philosophy of Religion, and A Non-metaphysical God’s existence. These arguments almost exclu-
Realist Approach to the Philosophy of Religion. sively concern the theistic traditions. It is mainly
These four philosophical traditions are part of God as God is understood within Christianity,
contemporary philosophy of religion relating to Judaism, and Islam that is of interest to the meta-
the analytical philosophical tradition. I choose to physical philosopher of religion. Within these
focus on the analytical tradition since it is nor- theistic traditions, God is, according to the meta-
mally in relation to this tradition that philosoph- physical philosopher of religion, understood in
ical questions concerning religions and the a similar way. Within the theistic traditions,
sciences are posed and treated. Personally, God is understood to possess certain great-
I recommend the non-metaphysical realist making properties such as omnipotence,
omniscience, perfect goodness, and necessary related to her interest in questions concerning
existence. It is the task of the metaphysical phi- God’s existence and nature. The metaphysical
losopher of religion to investigate whether or not philosopher of religion maintains that if the the-
such a being may be believed to exist by analyz- istic concept of God is not coherent, we know at
ing arguments for or against God’s existence. least that a being such as the God described by the
Some metaphysical philosophers of religion theist cannot exist. Either such a God does not
are atheists. They maintain that there is no God exist or if God exists, God does not have all the C
and argue for this position. Other metaphysical properties ascribed to God by the theist.
philosophers of religion are believers belonging This understanding of God’s existence
to some religious tradition, in most cases the characterizes the interest that the metaphysical
Christian tradition. They argue for the existence philosopher of religion takes in the coherence of
of the God they believe in. Metaphysical philos- the concept of God and in the possibility of
ophers of religion often relate to scientific arguing for or against God’s existence by using
research results when they argue for or against present-day scientific research results. It also
God’s existence. For example, they may reflect characterizes the approach that the metaphysical
on whether Darwinian evolutionary theory is philosopher of religion takes to religious plural-
incompatible with the belief in a creator God or ism. If two different truth claims concerning God,
if quantum mechanics can be used in order to made within two different religious traditions,
show that it is likely that there is a creator God disagree with each other, the metaphysical phi-
behind the Big Bang. losopher of religion concludes that both truth
Metaphysical philosophers of religion under- claims cannot be true. At least one of them has
stand the concept of God as referring to an object to be false.
or entity that, if God exists, exists independently This approach to religious pluralism suggests
of us human beings in our common reality. Both that questions concerning what religious tradition
sciences and religions make truth claims about contains the correct truth claims will be in the
the same reality, our common reality, according foreground. The Christian God is described as the
to the metaphysical philosopher of religion. This only God and as Trinitarian. This means,
means that religious truth claims cannot be true according to the metaphysical philosopher of reli-
unless they cohere with scientific truth claims gion, that if the Christian God exists, the Hindu
known to be true. Therefore, one important task goddess Kali cannot exist and the Muslim under-
for the metaphysical philosopher of religion is to standing of God as non-Trinitarian must be
investigate whether religious truth claims made wrong.
within a certain religious tradition can be said to The way in which the metaphysical philoso-
be in accordance with present-day scientific pher of religion understands God’s existence
research results. characterizes her understanding of and her work
One influential metaphysical philosopher of on the concept of God. Her understanding of
religion is Richard Swinburne (born in 1934). God’s existence can be described in relation to
He explains the interest that the metaphysical the ongoing debates on ▶ realism in the field.
philosopher of religion takes in the concept of Metaphysical philosophy of religion often pre-
God by stating that by “God” a theist understands supposes the philosophical position that Hilary
something like a bodiless person who is eternal, Putnam names metaphysical realism, a position
free, all-powerful, all-knowing, perfectly good, that I will return to when describing the non-
the proper object of human worship and obedi- metaphysical realist approach to the philosophy
ence, and the creator and sustainer of the universe of religion.
(Swinburne 1993, p. 1). The metaphysical philos- Putnam describes metaphysical realism as
opher of religion investigates whether or not this comprising three central theses (Putnam 1981,
understanding of God is coherent. Her interest in p. 49). Firstly, the metaphysical realist presup-
the coherence of the theistic concept of God is poses that reality consists of some fixed totality of
mind-independent objects that constitutes reality- work in the ways that the metaphysical philoso-
in-itself. She believes that there may be objects or pher of religion assumes that they work.
states of affairs in reality-in-itself which we can- Wittgensteinian philosophers of religion want to
not experience or describe. Secondly, the meta- set us free from the misunderstandings on which
physical realist presupposes that we might they believe metaphysical philosophy of religion
imagine there to be only one true and complete to be built. In doing so, they set a different phil-
description of reality. This is so because the osophical agenda.
metaphysical realist believes in a God’s-eye When John Hyman describes Wittgen-
point of view, an externalist perspective in rela- steinianism in A Companion to Philosophy of
tion to us humans and to our possibilities of Religion, he emphasizes that the philosophy of
experiencing, knowing, or stating what things the later Wittgenstein is centered on the insight
are really like in reality-in-itself. Thirdly, the that the meaning of a word is its use in the lan-
metaphysical realist thinks that we speak the guage. Words can be used for an indefinitely
truth insofar as our utterances correspond in broad and heterogeneous range of purposes. The
some way to the states of affairs in reality-in- task of philosophy is not, according to the later
itself. Different metaphysical realists describe Wittgenstein, logical analysis but the description
this correspondence in different ways, but what of what Wittgenstein names different language
they all agree on is that it is entirely possible that games. Since speech and writing are part and
we do not know, and cannot know, that a true parcel of human activities which take place and
utterance is in fact true. “The most important have significance only in the context of what
consequence of metaphysical realism,” Putnam Wittgenstein names different forms of life, the
summarizes, “is that truth is supposed to be rad- question of what an expression in a language
ically non-epistemic” (Putnam 1978, p. 125). The means can only be answered by considering it in
metaphysical realist presupposes that what is true its context and by asking how it is used. The
is independent of our abilities to find out whether philosopher’s task is to describe our network of
it is true. What is true is not, according to the concepts, what Wittgenstein calls grammar, in
metaphysical realist, determined by us, from order to free us from the misunderstandings
an internal linguistic perspective, but rather by concerning the use of our words that give rise to
reality-in-itself, from an external perspective. confusion and philosophical problems. The phi-
This metaphysical realist position is losopher should remind us of what we already
questioned by philosophers of religion working know by knowing the use of our language: the
within philosophical traditions other than meta- proper use of our words according to the grammar
physical philosophy of religion. I will, in turn, which rules the language game in question in
describe three such alternative traditions. Two of a certain form of life (Hyman 1997, pp.153–156).
them are influential within contemporary philos- Wittgensteinian philosophers of religion
ophy of religion, and the third one is my own describe the grammar ruling different language
preferred approach. games in contexts that we understand as religious
contexts, as religious forms of life. What this
means is not obvious; therefore, Wittgensteinian
Wittgensteinian Philosophy of Religion philosophers of religion also have to explain and
defend their Wittgensteinian approach. How do
Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion is inspired we draw the line between one form of life or one
by Ludwig Wittgenstein’s later philosophy. language game and another? Is Hindu faith
Wittgensteinian philosophers of religion believe one form of life or several forms of life? Can
that metaphysical philosophy of religion is an Christian prayer be understood as a language
expression of a huge misunderstanding. Reli- game or should we understand Christian thanks-
gious language and religious truth claims do not giving as one language game and Christian
prayers for forgiveness as another language these confusions concern our use of the concept
game? The answer that Wittgensteinian philoso- of God. We tend, as the metaphysical philosopher
phers of religion tend to give to this kind of of religion, to understand the concept of God as
question is that how we draw the line depends a concept referring to an object or an entity that
on what confusion the philosopher tries to free us we may or may not believe exists in a reality
from. Sometimes we can do away with our con- independent of us. To avoid this confusion, we
fusion by understanding Christian prayer as must look to the forms of life in which talk of C
a language game, and sometimes we understand God has a role to see what application the notion
Christian thanksgiving as one language game and of the independently real has there. This means that
Christian prayers for forgiveness as another instead of asking how or if we can speak of God,
language game. we must begin by noting that we do speak of God
One prominent Wittgensteinian philosopher (Phillips 1988, p. 264). There are many religious
of religion is D.Z. Phillips (1934–2006). He forms of life and religious language games within
argues that metaphysical philosophy of religion which people do speak of God. It is the philoso-
is built on conceptual confusions. These misun- pher’s task to describe the grammar ruling the use
derstandings give rise to metaphysics. They make of the concept of God within these contexts.
us draw the mistaken conclusion that religious Philosophers criticizing the Wittgensteinian
faith is a theory involving the thesis that there philosophers of religion present them with the
exists an entity that we name “God” or several following choice: either the word “God” refers
entities that we name “gods” and that it is the to an object or it is a metaphorical use of lan-
philosopher’s task to argue for or against this guage. The Wittgensteinian philosophers of reli-
theory or this thesis. Religious faith is not gion deny that the word “God” refers to an object.
a theory, according to Phillips, and it is not the They also deny that the word “God” is a meta-
philosopher’s task to argue for or against the phorical use of language. They reject this simple
metaphysical claims that the metaphysical choice. This is because they believe that no one
philosopher of religion circles around. Instead, account of what “agreement with reality” amounts
Phillips argues, it is the philosopher’s task to to can be given since the meaning of what agree-
free us from the conceptual confusions that give ment with reality comes to is itself determined by
rise to metaphysical philosophy of religion the language games we play and the forms of life
(Cf. Phillips 1988, pp. 195, 201, 209, 308). they enter into (Phillips 1988, pp. 55, 206, 317).
Phillips underlines that the philosopher’s Phillips argues that by studying the grammar
aim is not to persuade people to believe but to ruling the use of the concept of God, we will
understand the character of their beliefs. The come to understand that the God in whom reli-
philosopher, it might be said, is the guardian of gious believers believe is one of whom it makes
grammar. The theologian, by contrast, is the no sense to say that he may or may not exist. The
guardian of faith, the one interested in defending dispute between belief and unbelief is, according
his or her faith in order to gain new followers. The to Phillips, not one in which evidence and prob-
difficulty that Wittgenstein’s work presents to the abilities are weighed within a common system.
metaphysical philosopher of religion is that it Instead, the gap between what the believer wants
stands outside the apologetic context. This might to say and what the unbeliever denies is
be difficult to appreciate if philosophy itself is a grammatical gap. To reject religion, or to
conceived of as a way to assess religious belief come to God, is not to reject or embrace
pro and contra (Phillips 1988, pp. xvi–xvii, a hypothesis within a common way of looking
113, 238). at things but, rather, to reject or embrace a whole
In philosophy, we are not testing theories, way of looking at things. Within the religious
according to the Wittgensteinian philosopher of way of looking at things, it is not meaningful,
religion, but struggling with confusions. Some of according to Philips, to say either that God may
exist or that God may not exist. Within the reli- Feminist Philosophy of Religion
gious way of looking at things, God is not an
object or entity that may or may not exist. If, When Grace Jantzen describes ▶ feminist philos-
per impossible, any object were said to corre- ophy of religion in Companion Encyclopedia of
spond to the word “God,” one thing would be Theology, she stresses that feminist philosophers
certain: that object would not be God (Phillips of religion pay attention to the fact that God, as
1988, pp. 11–12, 80, 321). God is described within the theistic traditions, is
Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion very often understood to be a male person since
stresses the difference between religious belief the properties ascribed to God often is understood
and science. Religious faith and scientific as “masculinist” (Coakley 1997, pp. 601–606).
hypotheses belong to different forms of life, and Also, believers tend to refer to God by using male
it is important not to confuse or blend language personal pronouns. When philosophers of reli-
games from these different contexts with each gion summarize the most important properties
other. If, for example, the religious believer or that, according to them, are incorporated within
scientist tries to argue for or against God’s exis- the theistic concept of God, their lists very sel-
tence by using scientific results, a conceptual dom include the property of being male even
confusion is at hand. It is the philosopher’s task though philosophers of religion also tend to
to deliver us from this conceptual confusion by refer to God by using male personal pronouns.
reminding us that the grammar ruling our use of Is the use of male pronouns just an innocent
the concept of God states that belief in God is not linguistic practice with no severe consequences
a scientific hypothesis that we may argue for or or is it the tip of an iceberg that ought to attract
against. To understand religious faith in such our attention not only to the male personal pro-
a way is to misunderstand it, according to the nouns used when referring to God but to the
Wittgensteinian philosopher of religion. whole cluster of properties incorporated in the
When it comes to religious pluralism, the theistic concept of God?
Wittgensteinian philosopher of religion empha- Feminist philosophers of religion maintain
sizes that in asking whether or not believers that not only the use of male personal pronouns
within different religious contexts mean the when referring to God but the whole theistic
same when using the concept of God, we can concept of God ought to be analyzed from
get confused by thinking that speaking about a feminist philosophical perspective. The great-
God has anything in common with referring to making properties that philosophers of religion
the same object. The philosopher should not treat summarize in their lists describing the theistic
religious pluralism as a question concerning concept of God often include properties that we
which religious theory, if any, might be the cor- associate with male gender. Being powerful and
rect one. Instead, the philosopher of religion all-knowing are properties that dominating males
should describe the grammar ruling different lan- who suppress women find valuable and therefore
guage games within different religious contexts ascribe to God. Likewise, being without a body
without judging those language games and with- and being detached from the world are usually
out suggesting how they may be adjusted in order understood to be properties of the male gender,
to accord with some other language game within while women are traditionally thought to be cor-
another religious context. This means, among poreal and to have feelings of attachment. Femi-
other things, that it is not the philosopher’s task nist philosophers of religion therefore argue that
to help religious people belonging to different the whole theistic concept of God that dominates
religious contexts to come to an agreement influential religious traditions as well as main-
concerning what core beliefs they ought to accept stream philosophy of religion must be investi-
but to help them understand the character of their gated from a feminist philosophical perspective.
own beliefs as well as that of others. The detached interest in the logical coherence of
the theistic concept of God, characteristic of relation to our values in order to avoid descrip-
metaphysical philosophy of religion, must be tions of the world which are formulated by
questioned in the light of the more pressing issues oppressors and which lead to further oppression.
concerning the oppressive consequences of this This emphasis on the interrelation between
concept. our descriptions of the world, our values, and
In her work on feminist philosophy of religion, our standpoint in the world is something that the
Pamela Sue Anderson takes an interest in episte- feminist philosopher of religion shares with the C
mological questions (Anderson 1988). In doing philosopher of religion who chooses a non-
so, she poses the question: Whose philosophy is metaphysical realist approach.
the philosophy of religion? Within the philoso-
phy of religion, what feminists call the “generic
male” (i.e., the privileged male subject posing as A Non-metaphysical Realist Approach to
a sexless individual of universal instantiation) has the Philosophy of Religion
become the norm (Coakley 1997, p. 601). This,
they argue, characterizes the problems that phi- The philosopher of religion who chooses a non-
losophers of religion formulate and choose to metaphysical realist approach concurs with pre-
work on, the strategies they understand to be sent-day philosophy of science in assuming that
acceptable within a philosophical discipline and we can state things only if what we say is related
the solutions that they recommend. The ideal to some idea about the circumstances under
reflecting, arguing, and knowing subject that pro- which we would be able, as human beings, to
duces sound philosophy of religion is a male justify that statement. It must be possible for
subject. other people to discern this idea by studying the
By taking an interest in epistemological ques- linguistic behavior in the speech community to
tions, feminist philosophers of religion draw which we as speakers belong. This does not mean
attention to interrelations between our descrip- that the individual speaker must be able to for-
tions of the way the world is, our values, and mulate an opinion about the circumstances under
our standpoint in the world. The fact that philos- which we would be able to justify her statement.
ophy of religion is usually approached from It is the philosophical observer of the speech
a male perspective, a perspective that highly behavior in the speech community that must be
values what we humans understand to be male able to do that. Nor does it mean that, at present,
properties, inevitably affects the description of we humans can actually, in practice, justify the
the world that the philosopher of religion presup- statement in question. Perhaps only some future
poses in posing his problems and arguing for his expert will be able to do that. However, it does
solutions. There is no neutral description of the mean that sentences cannot be statements unless
world, the feminist philosopher of religion they are connected to some idea about the cir-
argues. There is no God’s-eye point of view that cumstances under which we would be able to
we can strive for or imagine. We human beings justify the sentence in question. For example,
are always situated in time and space. When we the metaphysical realist belief that there exists
describe the world, we do so from some perspec- a reality-in-itself cannot be stated because we
tive. As human beings, we live on earth by having cannot per definition justify the existence
a certain body, located within a specific context, of such a reality. If the existence of a reality-
with certain values and certain linguistic assets. in-itself could be confirmed by us humans, it
Our standpoint characterizes the description of would not be a reality-in-itself. It would be
the world that we formulate. Our description of a reality understood from a human perspective,
the world, in turn, has consequences for how we a reality described by humans using
live our lives and how we treat each other. We certain linguistic devices and shown to exist
have to evaluate our descriptions of the world in by human beings presupposing certain
epistemological values. This means that, This non-metaphysical realist reinterpretation

according to the philosopher of religion who of the three theses does not regard reality as
chooses a non-metaphysical realist approach, a reality-in-itself but rather as a reality that
the metaphysical realism that is presupposed relates to what we humans can state, what we
within metaphysical philosophy of religion can experience, and what we consider to be
is a philosophically untenable position sufficiently good conditions for justification. In
(Johhannesson 2007, p. 245). this sense, it is a reality described, not from
By assuming that the only utterances that can a God’s-eye point of view but from a human-
be statements are utterances related to some idea eyes point of view. Just as the feminist philoso-
concerning sufficiently good conditions for justi- pher of religion, the philosopher of religion who
fication, we can conclude that we humans are able chooses a non-metaphysical realist approach
to interpret all speech behavior that can be con- stresses the interdependence between our linguis-
sidered human language. This is so because it tic resources (that determine what statements we
will always be possible to discern the ideas are able to formulate), our values (including the
concerning justification that give our statements epistemological values that decide what we
their content by studying the linguistic behavior understand to be sufficiently good conditions
within a speech community. When we know for the justification of a certain statement), our
under what circumstances a speaker would standpoint in the world, and our descriptions
make a certain statement, we can interpret that of reality.
statement by stating its content using our own It should be emphasized that it is hardly likely
conceptual resources. The fact that different that we humans will ever be in such complete
human speech communities using different con- agreement about what objects we can rightly state
ceptual recourses will be inter-interpretable gives exist or what constitutes sufficiently good condi-
rise to a non-metaphysical realist position. Non- tions for justification that we will be able to
metaphysical realism is a philosophically tenable formulate the one and only true and complete
point of departure for the philosophy of religion. description of reality. This description of reality,
What this means can be explained by returning to and its consequent delimitation of the totality of
Putnam and the three theses he ascribes to the mind-independent objects, is a hypothetical
metaphysical realist. notion; however, unlike the metaphysical
It is possible for us to understand all three realist conception of a reality-in-itself, it is
theses attributed to the metaphysical realist in a hypothetical notion that it is possible for us to
a non-metaphysical realist way. The world can understand since it refers to a reality with which
be conceived of as consisting of that totality of we interact.
mind-independent objects which we, with the The fact that the metaphysical realist and the
help of our conceptual resources, can rightly non-metaphysical realist embrace the same three
state exists. The fact that we can rightly state that theses should not lead us to ignore the differences
a specific object exists could mean that we think between these two perspectives. One important
that, given sufficiently good conditions for the difference is that the non-metaphysical realist,
justification of such a statement, we would claim just like the Wittgensteinian philosopher of reli-
that this statement is an expression of correct lin- gion, will have to maintain that all philosophical
guistic behavior. This means that we conceive of reflection has to be done in connection to some
this statement as true, as corresponding to reality. existing speech community whose linguistic
The one and only true description of reality could behavior the philosopher studies. This is so
consist of all the statements about what does or because if the philosopher of religion does not
does not exist which we would conceive of as study the linguistic behavior of some existing
corresponding to reality if sufficiently good condi- speech community, she will not be able to state
tions for justifying each statement were realized under what circumstances the statements that she
(Johhannesson 2007, pp. 232–233). focuses on could be considered justified, and
Conceptions of Truth 457 C
therefore, she will not be able to understand what ▶ Natural Theology
they mean. ▶ Ontology
It is important to note that the philosopher of ▶ Philosophy of Religion
religion who chooses a non-metaphysical realist ▶ Realisms in Philosophy of Religion
approach can work with the questions concerning ▶ Science and Religion Dialogue and the
God’s existence that have become the trademark Interreligious Dialogue
of metaphysical philosophy of religion even if ▶ Theism, Classical C
this work will be done in a different way. Before
starting to discuss whether or not God exists, the
philosopher of religion who chooses a non- References
metaphysical realist approach must clarify the
meaning of the claim that God exists or the Anderson, P. S. (1998). A feminist philosophy of religion.
The rationality and myths of religious belief. Oxford:
claim that God does not exist by stating some
Blackwell.
idea about the circumstances under which we Coakley, S. (1997). Feminism. In P. L. Quinn &
would be justified in making one of those state- C. Taliaferro (Eds.), A companion to philosophy of
ments. This idea about conditions for justification religion. Oxford: Blackwell.
Filosofilexikonet. (1988). “religionsfilosofi”, Filosofer och
must be explained in relation to the linguistic
filosofiska begrepp från A till Ö. Stockholm: Forum.
behavior in some existing speech community. Hyman, J. (1997). Wittgensteinianism. In P. L. Quinn &
The fact that the philosopher of religion will C. Taliaferro (Eds.), A companion to philosophy of
have to treat questions concerning the concept religion (pp. 150–157). Oxford: Blackwell.
Jantzen, G. (1995). Feminism in the philosophy of reli-
of God or God’s existence in relation to some
gion. In P. Byrne & L. Houlden (Eds.), Companion
actually existing speech community will have encyclopedia of theology (pp. 490–508). London:
consequences for the philosophical agenda. Routledge.
Some of the questions traditionally treated in Johhannesson, K. (2007). God pro nobis. On non-
metaphysical realism and the philosophy of religion
philosophy of religion are rarely triggered by
(pp. 232–233, 245). Leuven: Peeters.
existing speech communities outside the philo- Phillips, D. Z. (1988). Faith after foundationalism
sophical discourse. The philosopher of religion (pp. xvi–xvii, 11–12, 55, 80, 113,195, 201, 206, 209,
who chooses a non-metaphysical realist approach 238, 264, 308, 317, 321). London: Routledge.
Putnam, H. (1978). Meaning and the moral sciences.
might therefore find that other questions than the
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
ones traditionally treated in the philosophy of Putnam, H. (1981). Reason, truth and history (p. 49).
religion are more interesting to study simply Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
because some existing and influential speech Quinn, P. L. (1995). Philosophy of religion. In Audi
Robert (Ed.), The Cambridge dictionary of philosophy
community gives rise to them. This might mean
(pp. 607–611). Cambridge: Cambridge University
that philosophers of religion become more inter- Press.
ested in non-Christian religious traditions which Swinburne, R. (1993). The coherence of theism, (Rev. ed.,
gain influence in present-day society. It may also p. 1), Oxford: Clarendon Press.
mean that the relation between religions and
the sciences is seen from a different angle than
the one given by metaphysical philosophy of
religion. Concept of Truth
▶ Truth
Cross-References
▶ Critical Realism in Theology and Science

▶ Faith and Belief Conceptions of Truth
▶ Feminist Philosophy of Religion
▶ Meaning, the Concept of ▶ Truth
C 458 Condensed Matter Physics
Ionic crystals are made of positive and nega-

Condensed Matter Physics tive ions – i.e., atoms having some excess or lack
of electrons which makes them behave as electri-
Minko Balkanski cally charged objects. The ions are kept together
Université Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris VI, by the Coulomb attraction between ions of oppo-
Paris, France site sign stronger than the Coulomb repulsion
between ions of the same sign. The ionic bond
is resulting from the electrostatic interaction
Related Terms between ions of opposite sign. The NaCl struc-
ture is an example of an ionic crystal structure.
Condensed matter physics; Semiconductor Covalent crystals are made of neutral atoms
physics held together by the so-called covalent bond,
electron pair, or homopolar bond. For example,
in the molecule H2, the hydrogen atoms share the
Description two electrons via covalent bonding. The covalent
bond is as strong as the ionic bond and has strong
According to the temperature of the system, mat- directional properties – its strength depends on
ter can be found in three different states: gas, the angular relation between the atoms in
liquid, and solid. Gas is the state where the indi- a molecule. The covalent bond is usually formed
vidual constituents are free to move. In liquid from two electrons – one from each atom partic-
state, the constituents are bound and their motion ipating in the bond. The two atoms can be from
is restricted. In the solid state of matter, the con- different chemical elements but should have
stituents occupy fixed positions. Solids can exist comparable electronegativity – a chemical prop-
in the crystalline or amorphous form. In the crys- erty describing the ability of an atom to attract
talline form, the atoms or ions are arranged in electrons. The electronegativity of an atom
a periodic array, i.e., there is a long-range order in depends on its atomic weight, and the distance
the system. In the amorphous form, there is no forms its valence (most external) electrons that
long-range order. reside in relation to the positively charged
nucleus. The higher is the electronegativity, the
Solid-State Crystals larger is the degree of attraction of the electrons
Crystals are formed by the infinite regular repe- toward the atom.
tition in space of identical building blocks. The Crystals of inert gases. The inert gases form
elementary building blocks are atoms or groups the simplest crystals. The crystals are transparent
of atoms. In the simplest crystals such as copper, insulators and are weakly bound with low melting
gold, silver, and alkali metals, the structural unit temperature. The outermost electronic shells of
consists of a single atom. More generally, the the atoms are completely filled. In the crystal, the
structural units consist of several atoms or mole- inert gas atoms are packed together as closely as
cules. The structure of all crystals is described in possible. The typical crystal structures are all
terms of single periodic lattice, with a group of cubic close-packed. The inert gas crystals are
atoms attached to each lattice point or situated in held together by van der Waals-London interac-
each elementary parallelepiped. This group of tions. This interaction is due to the fact that the
atoms is called the basis. The basis is repeated electrical charge distribution on the atom is not
in space to form the crystal: crystal rigid. The electrons are in motion around the
structure ¼ lattice + basis. A typical example of nucleus even in the lowest electronic state, and
a simple crystal structures is the structure of at any instant of time, there is a nonvanishing
sodium chloride – NaCl. The fundamental type electric dipole moment from the motion. An
of its lattice is face-centered cubic; the basis instantaneous dipole moment of one atom pro-
consists of one Na atom and one Cl atom. duces an electric field at the center of the second
Condensed Matter Physics 459 C
at some distance R of the first atom. The field will Electronic Energy Bands To understand the
induce an instantaneous dipole moment on the basic properties of semiconductors, it is neces-
second atom. These two dipole moments will sary to refer to the quantum concept of energy
interact. This interaction is known as the van bands. For the free atoms, the energy levels are
der Waals interaction, London interaction, or single quantum (or discrete) states. When the
induced dipole-dipole interaction. It is the princi- atoms are brought together in a crystal, the quan-
pal attractive interaction in crystals of inert gases. tum rules do not allow for the atomic energy C
Metal crystals. The main characteristic of levels of the individual atoms to overlap and
metal crystals is a high electrical conductivity. coincide. Thus, the individual atomic energy
A large number of electrons in a metal are free to levels degenerate and form energy bands. In
move around, usually one or two per atom. The a periodic lattice of a crystal, the electrons move
electrons available to move about are called con- freely as if the ions are instantaneously at rest.
duction electrons. In some metals, the interaction The eigenstates of an electron moving in the
of the conduction electrons with the ion core periodic potential of a crystal are the so-called
makes a large contribution to the binding energy. Bloch states. The energy of the Bloch states can-
Alkali metal crystals may be considered as an not take all possible values but are restricted to
array of positive charges embedded in a sea of certain allowed regions or bands separated from
negative charges. In the transition metals, there one another by forbidden regions or band gaps.
may be additional binding from inner electron In a pure semiconductor without defects and at
shells. Transition metals have large d-electron the absolute temperature scale zero, 0 K, certain
shells and are characterized by high binding ener- bands are completely full of electrons and the
gies, caused in part by covalent binding and in remaining bands are completely empty. This
part by van der Waals interaction of the cores. situation corresponds to an insulator. If the tem-
Hydrogen-bonded crystals. A hydrogen bond perature of the crystal is raised, electrons will be
is formed when two nonhydrogen atoms attract excited from filled bands to empty bands, leading
a hydrogen atom. The hydrogen bond is rather to partial occupancy of these bands. Under these
ionic in character; being formed only between conditions, the crystal becomes a semiconductor
the most electronegative atoms F – fluorine, with a conductivity which increases rapidly with
O – oxygen, and N – nitrogen. increasing temperature as more and more elec-
trons are excited in the empty bands.
Semiconductor Crystals There is a gap between the top edge of the
A semiconductor is neither a good insulator nor highest filled band and the bottom edge of the
a very good conductor of electrical current. lowest empty band. This gap is called fundamen-
tal gap. The electrons in the highest filled bands
Introduction are valence electrons, and the bands they occupy
Composition of Semiconductors Some of the are the valence bands. The bands that are empty
most important semiconductor elements are sili- at 0 K are conduction bands. When an electron is
con and germanium which are part of group IV of promoted from the valence band to the conduc-
the periodic table of elements. Various forms of tion band, it becomes a conduction electron. The
carbon also can be semiconductors. Other ele- lack of the electron in the valence band is called
ments with semiconductor properties are sele- hole. The holes which are left in the valence band
nium and tellurium of group VI. The list of are positively charged. Therefore, electrons in the
binary semiconductor compounds is very large. conduction band are negative electric charge car-
It includes the compounds formed from group III riers and the holes in the valence band are posi-
and group V elements, from group II and group tive charge carriers.
IV elements, and from group IV and group VI
elements. There are also many ternary and Amorphous Semiconductors In amorphous
organic semiconductor compounds. semiconductors, the atoms do not form
a periodic array, but are disordered. Nevertheless, Silicon doped with P is known as n-type Si
a sufficient short-range order remains so that the because the electric current carriers provided by
electronic energy properties retain their basic P are negatively charged electrons in the conduc-
features. Band edges however are smeared out, tion band.
and band gaps are no longer clearly defined. Let us now consider an impurity from group
States which are moved into what had been the III of the periodic table such as boron (B), which
forbidden gap may now have a distinctively can also enter Si substitutionally. Boron contains
localized character. Amorphous semiconductor three electrons behind closed shells and therefore
alloys are frequently used in applications. In par- lacks one electron needed to form electron-pair
ticular, amorphous Si-Ge alloys are useful in bonds with the nearest neighboring Si atoms. The
solar cells in view of the possibility to maximize missing electron on the B atom can be regarded as
performance by varying the composition. a hole. At sufficient low temperature, the hole
a-Si:H (hydrogenated amorphous silicon) is bounds to the B atom. At high temperature, one
one of the most common amorphous semicon- electron from a far away electron-pair bond can
ductors. A silicon lattice is tetrahedrally bonded transfer to the B atom and, together with the other
(a tetrahedron is a geometrical figure composed three electrons, form four electron-pair bonds
of four triangular faces, three of which meet at between the B atom and the four nearest neighbor
each of its four vertices). Creating disorder in the Si atoms. The hole is thereby transferred from the
silicon lattice causes relaxation of the require- B atom to the far away electron-pair bonds and is
ment for fourfold coordination of the nearest no longer bound to the B atom. The B atom in this
neighbors and produces the so-called dangling process has become negatively charged. Boron is
bonds – a type of bond that occurs when an referred to as an acceptor impurity because it
atom is missing a neighbor to which it would be accepts electrons from elsewhere in the crystal.
able to bind. These bonds need to be saturated and Si doped with B is known as p-type Si because the
combine easily with monovalent atoms such as electric current carriers provided by B are posi-
H to yield a-Si:H. tively charged holes.
Impurity Effects Introduction of impurities in Impurity Bands Impurity effects can be created
a semiconductor may have drastic effects on its and controlled by doping semiconductor crystals
properties and, in particular, on its electronic with appropriate foreign atoms in a way similar to
properties. Impurities can provide additional car- the one that was described above. Such impurities
riers such as conduction electrons or valence or dopants introduce newly allowed electronic
holes, and scattering centers, which perturbs the energy levels within the band gap. These energy
motion of the freely moving carriers. levels are close to the conduction band for n-type
If a group V element such as P is added to and close to the valance band for the p-type semi-
a group IV semiconductor like Si, it may enter conductors. At sufficiently high concentration,
substitutionally into the crystal by replacing Si neighboring atoms are sufficiently close to pro-
atoms in the silicon diamond structure. Phospho- duce sufficient perturbation of the impurity
rus contains five electrons behind closed shells of levels. The energy levels broaden out into
which four can be paired up with electrons on a band called impurity band.
four neighboring Si atoms to form four electron-
pair bonds. The fifth electron is bound to the Lattice Vibrations An important source of
P+ ion at sufficiently low temperature, but is deviation from the periodicity in a crystal is the
thermally exited to the conduction band at higher displacement of an atom from its equilibrium
temperatures and contributes to the conductivity. position. These deviations arise naturally from
Phosphorous is called donor impurity because the thermal energy of the atom. If the crystal is
it donates electrons to the conduction band. in a stable configuration, the displacement of an
atom leads to a force that tends to restore the atom piezoelectricity and can be explained by the com-
to its equilibrium position. However, the kinetic positional asymmetry of the basic structural ele-
energy of the atom causes it to overshoot the ments of the crystals (only crystals without center
latter. As a result, the atom vibrates about its of inversion can exhibit it). The semiconductors
equilibrium position. The forces of interaction of the zinc blende structure, such as GaAs, and of
between atoms couple the atomic vibration the wurtzite structure, such as CdS, exhibit
together, giving rise to lattice vibrations. When piezoelectricity. C
an atom of the pure crystal is substitutionally
replaced by an impurity atom, the mass of the Ferroelectricity A ferroelectric crystal exhibits
atom and the force constants coupling it to its an electric dipole moment even in the absence of
neighbors are changed and a localized vibrational an external electric field. In the ferroelectric state,
mode arises in which the amplitude of vibration is the center of the positive charge of the crystal
large at the impurity site and decreases exponen- does not coincide with the center of negative
tially going away from the site. charge. The variation of polarization as a function
of the electric field for the ferroelectric state
Semiconductor Properties represents a typical loop called hysteresis loop.
Electrical Properties The electrical resistivity The crystal in a normal dielectric state usually
of semiconductors generally decreases strongly does not show a perceptible hysteresis when the
with increasing temperature, whereas the resis- electric field is increased and reversed slowly.
tivity of a metal generally increases weakly with Ferroelectricity usually disappears above a
increasing temperature. In fact, solid materials certain temperature called transition temperature,
are usually classified into three categories based and above the transition, the crystal is said to be
on their electrical resistivity: insulators when the in a paraelectric state.
resistivity is very high, metals when the resistiv- The ferroelectric crystals are said to be of
ity is very low, and semiconductors for which the order-disorder type when the transition is asso-
resistivity is intermediate and is highly dependent ciated with the ordering of ions, or of displacive
on the temperature. The temperature depen- type when the transition is associated with the
dences of the resistivities of metals and semicon- displacement of a whole sublattice of ions of
ductors are quite different. For metals, the one type relative to another sublattice. All
temperature dependence is rather weak and the crystals in a ferroelectric state are also
resistivity increases with increasing temperature. piezoelectric. A stress applied to the crystal will
For semiconductors, the opposite is typically the change the electric polarization, and similarly, an
case. The temperature dependence is rather electric field applied to the crystal will cause the
strong, and the resistivity decreases with increas- crystal to be strained.
ing temperature.
Transport Properties Transport properties such
Dielectric Properties Certain crystals exhibit as electrical conductivity play a critical role in the
a dipole moment in the presence of an electric application of semiconductors to electronic
field E. The polarization P in such crystals is devices. A system of free carriers in an energy
defined as the dipole moment per unit volume of band can be considered as a gas of noninteracting
a crystal cell. The dielectric susceptibility of an charged particles. When an external force is
isotropic or cubic medium is defined as w ¼ P/E. applied, the carriers are displaced under the influ-
ence of the field and an electrical current results.
Piezoelectric Effects Some crystals have the The external force may be due to an electric field
property that if the crystal is strained, an electric producing electric conduction current, to a
dipole moment and an associated electric concentration gradient giving rise to diffusion cur-
field develop. This phenomenon is called rent, or to a thermal gradient leading to a heat
current associated with thermal conductivity. In which separates domains magnetized in different
the absence of an external force, the charge directions is called a Bloch well.
carriers execute the random Brownian motion Compounds in which some ions have
resulting from collisions due to the interaction of a moment antiparallel to other ions are consid-
carriers with impurities, lattice vibrations, and ered as ferrimagnetic. Many ferrimagnets are
other perturbations of the periodic potential. Dur- poor conductors of electricity, a quality which is
ing collision, the carrier may undergo a sharp exploited in device applications. There exists also
change in direction, but between collisions, its an antiferromagnet order in which the spins in
motion is essentially rectilinear and characterized a single plane are parallel, but adjacent planes are
by its mean free speed. antiparallel. In an antiferromagnet, the spins are
ordered in antiparallel arrangement with zero net
Magnetic Properties The magnetic moment of moment at temperatures below the so-called Néel
a free atom has three principal sources: the spin temperature TN. An antiferromagnet is a special
with which electrons are endowed, their orbital case of ferrimagnet for which both sublattices
angular momentum, and the change in orbital have equal saturation magnetization.
momentum induced by the applied magnetic
field. The magnetization M of a semiconductor Superconductivity The electrical resistivity of
material is defined as the magnetic moment per many solid materials, metals and alloys, and
unit volume. The magnetic susceptibility per unit some particular compounds drops suddenly to
volume is defined as w ¼ M/B, where B is the zero when the specimen is cooled to sufficiently
macroscopic magnetic field intensity. Substances low temperature. At a critical temperature Tc, the
with a negative magnetic susceptibility are called specimen undergoes a phase transition from
diamagnetic. Substances with a positive suscep- a state of normal electrical resistivity to
tibility are called paramagnetic. A positive con- a superconducting state.
tribution to w can be found in lattice defects The magnetic properties exhibited by
possessing an odd number of electrons, as the a superconductor are as dramatic as their electri-
total spin of the system cannot be zero. Electronic cal properties. When a specimen is placed in
paramagnetism is found also in metals and in free a magnetic field and cooled through the transition
atoms and ions with partly filled inner shell. temperature for superconductivity, the magnetic
A ferromagnet has a spontaneous magnetic flux usually present is ejected from the specimen.
moment even at zero applied magnetic field. This is called the Meissner effect.
A spontaneous moment means that electron
spins and magnetic moments are arranged in Optical Properties of Semiconductors The
a regular manner. The temperature above which optical properties of matter are associated with
the spontaneous magnetization vanishes is called the absorption, dispersion, and scattering of elec-
the Curie temperature Tc. The Curie temperature tromagnetic radiation. All these processes are
separates the disordered paramagnetic phase relatively complex optical phenomena when con-
(at T > Tc) from the ordered ferromagnetic sidered within the context of condensed matter
phase (at T < Tc). At temperatures below the physics and in semiconductor physics in particu-
Curie point, the electronic magnetic moments of lar. The nature of optical absorption and scatter-
a ferromagnet are all lined up when regarded on ing could be somewhat intuitively understood.
a microscopic scale. Yet, looking at a specimen However, this is not so with dispersion which
as a whole, the magnetic moment may be much describes optical material effects associated
less than the saturation moment. To explain this with the fact that in a semiconductor (the same
behavior, Weiss assumed that actual specimens as in any other type of material), the different
are composed by a number of small regions spectral components of an optical pulse propa-
called domains, within each of which the local gate with different speeds. The absorption, dis-
magnetization is saturated. The transition layer persion, and scattering of electromagnetic
radiation arise as a result of the perturbation of by Cr3+ impurities. The blue color of sapphire is
the material system by the electromagnetic field. due to Ti3+ ions present as impurity in Al2O3.
The perturbation can involve the electronic state
or the vibrational state or both and leads to tran- Semiconductor Structures and Lasers
sitions between the states. The phenomena pro- P-N Junction in Semiconductors The p-n
duced by this perturbation include infrared junction represents the interface between two
intrinsic interband absorption, free carrier regions, one of which is p type and the other C
absorption, lattice vibration absorption, Raman n type. On both sides of the interface, electrons
scattering, and electron Raman scattering. Light and holes diffuse and recombine, leaving
absorption leads to photoconductivity with appli- uncompensated charged ions that constitute
cations as photodetectors and photovoltaic effect a space charge region or depletion layer. From
as solar cells. the region of positive ions on the n-type side
In the process of optical absorption, light is toward the region of negative ions on the p-type
absorbed by crystals to create electron-hole side exists a built-in electric field. The charge
pairs. When the energy of the absorbed photon density is positive on the n-type side and negative
is close to the energy gap, but just below, the on the p-type side. The simplest semiconductor
electron-hole pairs remain bound by Coulomb device is the p-n junction which is used as recti-
interaction. This initial bound state is called exci- fier. It also serves as the basis of the transistor
ton; it may move through the crystal transporting which has important applications as amplifier.
excitation energy but not charge. Interacting with
phonons or impurities, the exciton may be disso- Heterostructures A heterostructure consists
ciated, giving free electrons and holes. For pho- of two different semiconductors in intimate
tons with energies greater than the energy gap, contact. A heterojunction is a heterostructure
electrons from the valence band are excited with semiconductors of different types.
directly into the conduction band, giving A modulation-doped heterostructure involves
free electrons and holes which may move two semiconductors, one highly doped on one
independently. side and one intrinsic on the other side of the
Photoconductivity is another phenomenon interface. A very thin layer of conduction elec-
which is related to both the optical and the electrons can be created which constitutes a two-
trical properties of semiconductors. In general, it dimensional electron gas (2DEG). The electron
is associated with the increase of the electrical energies in a 2DEG form electronic subbands
conductivity of an insulating crystal caused by which arise from the confinement of the electrons
radiation incident on the crystal. The direct effect in the direction normal to the junction interface.
of light illumination is to increase the number of A square-quantum well is formed by placing
mobile charge carriers in the crystal, giving rise a thin layer of small-gap semiconductor between
to the manifestation of electrical current two thick layers of large-gap semiconductor.
phenomena. Coupling together larger and larger number of
The color presented by a crystal is usually the quantum wells leads to the creation of
color of light transmitted through the crystal. a superlattice with an allowed band of energy
A perfect diamond is clear because there is no levels.
light absorption in the crystal. Cadmium sulfide
with an energy gap of 2.42 eV absorbs the blue Semiconductor Lasers Crystals can be used as
region of the spectrum and is therefore yellow light amplifiers and as sources of coherent radia-
orange. Silicon has a metallic luster because the tion – lasers. The laser action is explained by the
band gap of 1.14 eV is below the visible region of intrinsic optical properties of the crystal. The
energy. Ruby is a dark-red gem; sapphire is a blue interband optical absorption leads to the produc-
gem. Both are impure crystals of Al2O3 which is tion of free carriers in the conduction and valence
colorless when pure. The color of ruby is caused bands. These free carriers constituting excited
C 464 Conditional Relations
states have relatively short lifetime and tend to

recombine with emission of photons. This pro- Conditioning Classical and
cess is called radiative recombination or sponta- Instrumental
neous light emission. The frequency of the
emitted light corresponds to the band gap energy. Michael Domjan
A system in an excited state is stimulated by the Department of Psychology, A8000, University of
radiation field to emit a photon and drop to Texas, Austin, TX, USA
a lower energy state. The rate of stimulated emis-
sion is proportional to the energy density of the
radiation, whereas the rate of spontaneous emis- A specific procedure that is intended to produce a
sion is not. The term laser is an acronym for light learning effect. Conditioning procedures are
amplification by the stimulated emission of radi- typically categorized as involving either instru-
ation. Laser action is conditioned by population mental conditioning or Pavlovian conditioning
inversion. (classical conditioning). Instrumental condition-
A semiconductor p-n junction is a convenient ing then is a conditioning procedure in which the
system for establishing population inversion of probability of a behavioral response is altered by
energy levels. At a p-n semiconductor junction, the presentation of pleasant (reinforcing) or
the stimulated emission of radiation occurs from unpleasant (punishing) event shortly after the
the radiation emitted when electrons recombine response. If the response results in a pleasant
with holes. The pumping action is provided by outcome, it becomes more likely in the future; if
the DC voltage. The diode wafer provides its own the response results in an unpleasant outcome, it
electromagnetic cavity, for the reflectivity at the becomes less likely in the future.
crystal-air interface is high.
Cross-References
Cross-References
▶ Conditioning and Learning
▶ Condensed Matter Physics
References Conditioning and Learning

Balkanski, M., & Wallis, R. F. (2000). Semiconductor Michael Domjan
physics and applications. Oxford: Oxford University
Department of Psychology, A8000, University of
Press.
Kittel, C. (2004). Introduction to solid state physics Texas, Austin, TX, USA
(8th ed.). New York: Willey.
Related Terms
Conditional Relations Animal learning; Associative learning
▶ Relations in Buddhism
Description
Conditioning and learning is devoted to the study

Conditionality of the mechanisms of learning, primarily at the
behavioral level of investigation. The focus is on
▶ Relations in Buddhism observable actions and responses of human and
Conditioning and Learning 465 C
other animal species in response to specific stim- and elicited by a stimulus (a tone) that was ini-
uli and how these actions are altered by experi- tially ineffective by pairing that stimulus with an
ence or learning (Bouton 2007). Learning is an effective triggering event (food). Pavlov devoted
enduring change in the mechanisms of behavior the latter part of his life to the empirical study of
that results from prior experience with specific conditioned behavior because he viewed such
stimuli or training procedures. Behavioral investigations as informative about how the
changes that are not long lasting, such as those brain and nervous system work. Thus, Pavlov C
caused by fatigue or a change in motivation, are regarded his studies of conditioning to be an
excluded from the domain of learning because investigation of the functions of the nervous
they do not satisfy the criterion of being long system.
lasting. Behavioral changes that are the result of Pavlov’s interest in using conditioning to
physical maturation are excluded from the uncover how the nervous system works has its
domain of learning because they do not require counterpart in contemporary investigations of the
special training procedures. neurobiology of learning. Great advances in
The field of conditioning and learning has the neurosciences now permit scientists to study
deep roots in psychology. The field dates back the mechanisms of learning not only at the level
to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centu- of behavior but also at the level of neural circuits
ries and was stimulated by three separate lines of and neurotransmitter system, as well as at the
inquiry. The first of these originated with Darwin cellular, molecular, and genetic levels (Rudy
and concerned the evolution of intelligence 2008).
(Boakes 1984). Before being able to comment The third major impetus for studies of condi-
on the evolution of intelligence, Darwin and his tioning and learning originated with efforts in the
colleagues had to define what constituted intelli- early part of the twentieth century to develop
gent behavior in nonhuman animals. They pro- animal models that would facilitate investigation
posed that the defining feature of intelligent of specific features of human behavior that could
behavior was flexibility or the ability to alter not be studied with as great experimental control
behavior as a consequence of experience. Thus, and precision with human participants. Early
intelligence was defined in terms of the ability to efforts involved developing animal models of
learn. This definition of intelligence provided anxiety and neurosis. Animal models continue
great impetus for studies of learning in various to be used to study love and attachment, depres-
animal species. sion and helplessness, impulsivity, stress and
The evolution of intelligence remains an coping, and various aspects of drug tolerance
active area of investigation in contemporary psy- and addiction (Carroll and Overmier 2001).
chology and behavioral ecology. The topic is now
referred to as “comparative cognition” because
the focus is on comparing cognition and learning Self-identification
in various animal species, including Homo sapi-
ens. Topics considered include episodic memory, Science
directed forgetting, spatial navigation, perceptual Conditioning and learning is an empirical, data-
and abstract concept learning, serial pattern based discipline that employs the methods of
learning, tool use, and language learning (Zentall experimental science. The use of experimental
and Wasserman 2012). methods is required by the definition of learning.
The second source of interest in conditioning Learning is said to result from prior experience
and learning stemmed from an interest in under- with specific stimuli or training procedures. Prov-
standing the functions of the nervous system. ing that a behavioral change is an instance of
This line of inquiry dates back to the work of learning requires identifying specific prior expe-
Ivan Pavlov, who discovered that a reflex riences that are responsible for or constitute the
response (salivation) could become conditioned cause of the behavior change. Identifying such
C 466 Conditioning and Learning
causal mechanisms can only be accomplished The empirical foundations of conditioning and
with experimental methods. learning are based on measurements and record-
The typical learning experiment involves one ings of how often and how fast certain responses
group of participants that is exposed to the spe- occur. Introspection and self-reported feelings,
cific training procedure that is the focus of the insights, and thoughts are outside the domain of
investigation. Changes in the behavior of this this field of inquiry.
group are then compared to that of a control Another distinctive feature of the field is that it
group that is treated in a similar fashion but employs experimental techniques that involve
does not receive the relevant training procedure. manipulations of prior experience. This is often
Because learning is inferred from a comparison done in highly controlled laboratory settings.
of the experimental and control groups, infer-
ences about learning often critically depend on
the design of the control procedure. The reliance Relevance to Science and Religion
on experimental methods has made the study of
conditioning and learning primarily a laboratory Investigators of conditioning and learning do not
enterprise (Domjan 2010). Other empirical meth- consider their area highly relevant to the topic of
odologies (nonintrusive field observations or cor- “Science and Religion.” The experiential aspects
relational techniques) often do not permit of religion, as documented by introspective self-
concluding that a behavior change is specifically reports, are outside the scope of conditioning and
due to learning rather than something else. Hence learning. Aspects of religiosity that require com-
the study of conditioning and learning has devel- plex linguistic competence (beliefs and belief
oped as an experimental discipline. Theories that systems) are also outside the usual domain
are formulated to characterize conditioning are of conditioning, as conditioning is typically
closely related to the experimental data, and often concerned with the rate and probability of occur-
require testing conditioning procedures against rence of simple behavioral and visceral
specially designed control procedures. responses. Conditioning and learning may pro-
vide some insights into the acquisition and main-
tenance of religious behavior, such as prayer
Characteristics habits. However, few scientists in this area have
addressed that topic.
Conditioning and learning is distinctive in that it
is concerned not only with human behavior but
also the evolution of that behavior (Papini 2008). Sources of Authority
Hence, the discipline deals with rules of learning
and principles of behavior modification that exist The primary sources of authority in the field of
across a range of species including mammals and conditioning and learning are the scientists who
birds. The focus is on behavioral and emotional make the most important and extensive empirical
responses and processes. and theoretical contributions to the field. Occa-
The area deals with those aspects of human sionally, a small body of empirical work or
behavior that are not mediated by language and a novel theory will propel someone into
do not require high level linguistic competence. a position of authority, but typically a more
These features of human behavior are readily extensive body of novel empirical and theoretical
observable in children before they learn language work is required. The institutional authorities are
but are not lost as people gain linguistic compe- editors of scholarly journals and officers in pro-
tence. The domain of conditioning and learning fessional societies. However, they typically reach
includes procedural and implicit learning that those positions of authority because of the
operate in the absence of conscious awareness strength of their prior empirical and theoretical
or control (Squire 2004). contributions.
The discipline is self-regulating through peer interact with other animal species. Studies of
review and peer participation in governance. conditioning and learning have made major con-
Journal editors are typically selected by tributions to the improvement of educational
a committee of experts in the field. An editor’s technologies and approaches to helping individ-
decision to accept an empirical or theoretical uals with developmental disabilities. Studies of
report for publication is usually based on the conditioning and learning have also contributed
outcome of reviews by other scientists in the to the development of cognitive behavioral ther- C
discipline who are experts in the topic addressed apy, which is the dominant therapeutic approach
by the manuscript. Officers in professional orga- in psychotherapy today. For example, this area of
nizations are usually nominated and elected by research has led to the improvement of treatment
members of the organization, who are generally procedures for fears, phobias, and drug abuse
peers with shared scientific interests. (Craske et al. 2006).
Ethical Principles Conceptualization
The ethical principles in the discipline are those Nature/World

of the ethical conduct of science and the ethical This discipline conceptualizes “nature” and the
treatment of participants in experiments. These “world” in the same manner as the biological
ethical principles are passed down through an sciences in general. The relevant domain of the
apprenticeship process during graduate training field consists of measurable behavioral and phys-
that leads to a Ph.D. degree in the field. The iological responses. The “world” in which these
ethical principles are also codified by profes- responses reside includes all of the environmen-
sional organizations such as the American tal, evolutionary, genetic, epigenetic, and neuro-
Psychological Association and the Animal Behav- biological processes that mediate behavioral and
ior Society. In addition, there are regulations pro- physiological responses. Thus, the “world” of
mulgated by government agencies in the United conditioning and learning is that of modern
States and other countries for the ethical treatment biology.
of both human and nonhuman participants in
experiments involving conditioning and learning. Human Being
The discipline considers “human beings” as those
individuals who are members of the species
Key Values Homo sapiens and uses the term “human being”
only in that sense.
The key values of conditioning and learning are
those of the scientific method. Investigators are Life and Death
careful to focus on empirical, observable evi- The discipline accepts common biological defi-
dence. They make sure that their reasoning nitions of “life” and “death.” The definition of
proceeds in a clearly spelled-out logical fashion; “life” and “death” is not a topic of debate or
their inferences are closely rooted in empirical consideration in the field. The assumption is that
data; and their claims are empirically verified. life is necessary for organisms to learn and that
The discipline is committed to better understand- learning does not occur once the organism has
ing of the mechanisms of behavior, both of died. The field has not specifically considered
human and nonhuman animals. Although the when life begins. However, it is widely accepted
focus is on intellectual inquiry, there is an under- that the beginning of an individual life precedes
lying assumption that an empirically based sci- birth. In addition, it is now well established that
ence of behavior will also enable people to with mammalian species, conditioning and learn-
improve how they treat each other and how they ing can take place before birth, in utero.
Reality Perception
For scientists in conditioning and learning, reality Perception refers to the psychological impact of
is that which can be observed and measured. an environmental stimulus. Perception depends
“Reality” in conditioning and learning is similar on the physical characteristics of the stimulus, but
to what is “reality” for the biological sciences. those physical parameters are not directly
mapped onto “perception” and subsequent
Knowledge action. Hence, the organism’s response typically
For scientists in conditioning and learning, does not track changes in the physical stimulus in
knowledge is the body of information that has any simple and direct fashion.
(and can be) assembled based on careful empiri- How an organism perceives a stimulus mini-
cal studies of behavior and its modification by mally depends on how effectively the physical
past experience. Empirical studies are invariably energy of the stimulus activates relevant sense
guided by formal or informal theory and con- organs. That transduction of physical energy into
cepts. Therefore, those theoretical organizing neural impulses is outside the domain of condi-
concepts and terms are included in the knowledge tioning and learning. However, conditioning and
base of the field. learning is concerned with a number of other
important determinants of perception. These
Truth include the motivational state of the organism. In
What is considered to be the “Truth” in the field a state of fear, for example, a number of species
of conditioning and learning is obtained through are more likely to attend to auditory cues than
empirical study and verification. Findings that are visual cues, whereas in a state of hunger they are
reliably obtained across repetitions of an experi- more likely to attend to visual cues than auditory
ment are considered to be “true.” Interpretations cues. Another important factor concerns the nature
or theoretical concepts that are consistent with of the response the organism is required to make.
those empirical facts are considered to be “well When making directional responses (going right
supported” or “strongly verified.” Only in the vs. left), mammals and birds are more likely to pay
face of overwhelming empirical data do such attention to where a sound originates rather than
theoretical concepts or formulations cross the what it sounds like. In contrast, when deciding to
threshold to be considered “true.” Furthermore, initiate action or not (a go/no-go discrimination),
even if a theoretical concept has achieved such they are more likely to pay attention to the quali-
strong and wide-spread acceptance, it is under- tative features of the sound.
stood that the concept represents “truth” only as The perception and categorization of stimuli
long as a more compelling explanation has not also depend a great deal on prior conditioning
been formulated. Thus, there are no absolute and learning. For example, in the absence of
truths in the area beyond empirical facts, and it specific training, someone may categorize all
is understood and expected that our conceptual- shades of red as being simply “red.” However,
izations of conditioning and learning will after extensive training in art or interior decora-
evolve and change as additional and better tion, one is likely to be able to make very fine
experiments and ideas are explored. One does distinctions among various shades of red that
not expect the facts about conditioning and previously seemed pretty much the same. Condi-
learning to change, but concepts and theories tioning and learning can substantially modify
that serve to organize the facts are likely to how we perceive stimuli. This type of learning
evolve. Furthermore, this progressive evolution allows us to detect the sounds of a
of how conditioning and learning is conceptu- malfunctioning car engine and make finer dis-
alized is expected to be an unending process. tinctions between the performance of one out-
The goal is better characterization and understanding figure skater and another. Expert
standing of conditioning and learning, with no perception in reading, music, sports, radiology,
a priori endpoint in mind. and numerous other arenas all depends on
learning. What an expert sees or hears is very temporal intervals determine what is learned, not
different from the perceptions of a novice. whether learning occurs. More specifically, it
appears that organisms learn not only whether
Time two events go together but exactly when one
Time is difficult to define because it is not an event occurs in relation to the other (Amundson
observable entity but rather refers to what hap- and Miller 2008).
pens between one event and a subsequent one. Many investigators in conditioning and learn- C
Time is a widely used concept in the field of ing are also studying how organisms tell time and
conditioning and learning. The definition of how behavior comes under temporal control.
learning itself incorporates the concept of time, This line of research frequently employs labora-
since learning is concerned with how experience tory rats and pigeons and is called “interval
at one point in an organism’s life influences its timing.” Two types of behavioral tasks are
behavior at a subsequent time point. Learning is employed in these experiments. One approach
said to have taken place if a training experience involves studying how organisms produce time
changes an organism’s behavior over a fairly intervals (e.g., learn to respond when 120 s is
extended period (day, week, or year). In addition, over). Another approach involves studying how
time plays a major role in many aspects of condi- organisms estimate time intervals (e.g., deciding
tioning procedures. These include the interval which of two stimuli is the longer one). Research
between training sessions (usually a day or more), on animal timing is highly quantitative and
the interval between successive trials (usually sev- involves testing precise mathematical models.
eral minutes), and the interval between events There are basically two categories of timing
within a trial (usually on the order of seconds). models. One category of models employs
Learning is typically more effective with longer pacemaker/accumulator mechanisms. The alter-
intervals between trials and between sessions. native models employ oscillator systems to pro-
Within-trial temporal intervals that are impor- vide temporal cues.
tant depend on the nature of the conditioning pro-
cedure. In instrumental conditioning a critical Consciousness
temporal interval is the interval between the Consciousness is very difficult to study within the
instrumental response and the subsequent rein- domain of conditioning and learning. Three
forcer or “reward.” Instrumental learning is major components of consciousness have to be
impeded by delaying the reinforcer after the considered. First, and most prominent in common
response is made. Temporal intervals are also parlance, is the experiential component of con-
important in schedules of reinforcement in instru- sciousness or feelings of awareness. The experi-
mental conditioning. ential component of consciousness is outside the
Pavlovian conditioning involves the associa- domain of conditioning and learning since it is
tion of two events, conditioned and uncondi- dependent on introspection. The second compo-
tioned stimuli (e.g., a light and food). The nent of consciousness is verbal reports of con-
duration of the conditioned stimulus has a major scious experience. Since verbal reports are
effect on what is learned, as does the interval behaviors that are shaped by conditioning and
between the onset of the conditioned stimulus learning, they can be examined and analyzed by
and the onset of the unconditioned stimulus. behavior theorists. The behavioral analysis of
Another critical factor is whether there is verbal behavior has been prominently pursued
a temporal gap between the conditioned and by B. F. Skinner and others working in the Skin-
unconditioned stimuli. Traditional conceptions nerian tradition. This approach can tell us a great
assumed that these temporal intervals determined deal about learning variables that control verbal
the extent to which the conditioned and uncondi- reports of consciousness but it cannot inform us
tioned stimuli could become associated. How- about the relationship of those verbal reports to
ever, contemporary research indicates that these the experiential component of consciousness.
The third component of consciousness Mystery

involves identifying the underlying neural mech- The field of conditioning and learning does not
anisms and neural systems that mediate con- concern itself with mystery.
sciousness. Since conscious experience is most
unambiguously identified in human subjects, the
neural systems that mediate consciousness are Relevant Themes
best identified in studies with people using tech-
niques such as functional magnetic resonance Given the emphasis of conditioning and learning
imaging (fMRI). However, the success of such on the acquisition of behavioral and emotional
an effort depends entirely on developing a valid responses, the field may contribute to discussion
psychological measure of human consciousness. and investigation of how religious practices and
In principle, given such a measure, one might be experiences are learned. Three forms of learning
able to identify the brain areas and neural circuits seem especially relevant: instrumental condition-
involved in consciousness using fMRI studies ing, Pavlovian conditioning, and habituation/
with people. More analytic studies of those sensitization. Instrumental conditioning refers to
brain mechanisms can then be conducted with situations in which a specific response is
laboratory animals. Scientists pursuing this strat- increased or decreased by the consequences of
egy have focused on trace conditioning as an that response. Positive consequences (e.g.,
animal model of consciousness. Trace condi- praise) increase the future probability of the
tioning experiments examine the strength of response and negative consequences (e.g., repri-
association between two stimuli (a conditioned mands) decrease it. Pavlovian conditioning
and an unconditioned stimulus) when these involves the association of two events, with the
stimuli are presented with a brief gap (a second result that the first stimulus comes to elicit
or so) between them. Studies of trace condition- responses relevant to the second. Pavlovian con-
ing in laboratory animals cannot model either ditioning is especially relevant to the learning of
the experiential or the verbal components of emotional responses. Habituation and sensitiza-
consciousness. Furthermore, even if trace con- tion are produced by repetitions of an event or
ditioning activates brain areas and neural cir- stimulus. Depending on the intensity of the stim-
cuits that are similar to those identified by ulus and its rate of repetition, responses to the
human fMRI studies of consciousness, one has stimulus may decrease (become habituated) or
to make the added assumption that these brain increase (become sensitized).
areas cannot mediate trace conditioning without One obvious area in which instrumental con-
conscious awareness. That assumption is proba- ditioning is involved is in the early religions
bly impossible to prove. Thus, modern neurosci- training of children. Responses involved in pre-
ence approaches to the study of consciousness in paring for and attending religious services are
animal preparations have severe conceptual shaped and encouraged by instrumental rein-
limitations. forcement provided by teachers, parents, and
members of the clergy. Other behavioral
Rationality/Reason responses involved in religious activities (such
The field of conditioning and learning accepts as standing, kneeling, reciting prayers at the
conventional scientific approaches to what is con- appropriate times) are also learned and encour-
sidered rational or reasonable. The field employs aged by instrumental reinforcement (praise), and,
conventional practices of scientific reasoning and inappropriate behavior is discouraged by
employs conventional rules of scientific infer- reprimands.
ence in deriving conclusions from empirical evi- Whereas behavioral responses are established
dence. The characterization of what constitutes by instrumental conditioning, Pavlovian condi-
rationality and reason is outside the scope of tioning is involved in the learning or acquisition
the field. of emotional aspects of religious experience.
Conformons 471 C
These emotions come to be elicited by cues ▶ Religiosity
related to religious practices. Religious training ▶ Ritual
and religious practice typically occurs in ▶ Social Psychology
a distinctive context (place of worship), in the
presence of specific individuals (religious
leaders, teachers, or fellow worshipers), and References
with distinctive auditory cues (sacred music or C
chants), all of which can come to elicit distinctive Amundson, J. C., & Miller, R. R. (2008). CS-US temporal
relations in blocking. Learning & Behavior, 36, 92–103.
emotions through Pavlovian associations with
Boakes, R. A. (1984). From Darwin to behaviourism.
more emotion-arousing aspects of religious Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
activity. Bouton, M. E. (2007). Learning and behavior:
The phenomena of habituation and sensitiza- A contemporary synthesis. Sunderland: Sinauer.
Carroll, M. E., & Overmier, J. B. (Eds.). (2001). Animal
tion are highly relevant because religious practice
research and human health. Washington, DC:
often involves repeated exposure to the same American Psychological Association.
stimuli, such as prayers, chants, and the sights Craske, M. G., Hermans, D., & Vansteenwegen, D. (Eds.).
and sounds of the place of worship. Emotional (2006). Fear and learning. Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.
and behavioral responses to these repeated stim-
Domjan, M. (2010). Principles of learning and behavior
uli can change with experience through the pro- (6th ed.). Belmont: Cengage.
cesses of habituation and sensitization. Depending Papini, M. R. (2008). Comparative psychology (2nd ed.).
on the intensity of the stimulus and the frequency London: Taylor Francis.
Rudy, J. W. (2008). The neurobiology of learning and
and timing of its repetitions, reactivity to these
memory. Sunderland: Sinauer.
cues can either decrease (showing habituation) or Squire, L. R. (2004). Memory systems of the brain: A brief
increase (showing sensitization). Decreases in history and current perspective. Neurobiology of
reactivity result in attenuated arousal and may be Learning and Memory, 82, 171–177.
Zentall, T. R., & Wasserman, E. A. (2012). The Oxford
interpreted as being “at peace,” whereas increases
handbook of comparative cognition. New York:
in reactivity result in increased arousal and may be Oxford University Press.
interpreted as “fervor.”
In the natural flow of human activities, instru-
mental conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning, and
habituation/sensitization do not operate in isola-
Conformons
tion of one another but occur at the same time,
sometimes in an interactive fashion, to determine
Sungchul Ji
how human behavior is shaped by learning and
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology,
prior experience. It is important to note, however,
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers
that the details of how these learning principles
University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
contribute to religious practice and religious
experience have yet to be carefully examined or
empirically verified.
The term “conformon” was coined by combining
two stems, “conform-” indicating “conforma-
tions” (i.e., deformable structures) of biopoly-
Cross-References
mers and “-on” meaning a mobile, discrete
material entity. Conformons are defined as fol-
lows (Ji 2012, p. 235):
▶ Comparative Neuroscience Conformons are sequence-specific conformational
strains of biopolymers that carry mechanical
▶ Conditioning Classical and Instrumental energy and genetic information necessary and suf-
▶ Learning ficient to effectuate any goal-oriented movement of
▶ Memory biopolymers inside the cell.
C 472 Conformons
The first experimental evidence for the during a muscle contraction cycle, the free
conformon was obtained in the form of ATP- energy of ATP hydrolysis is transiently stored
induced supercoiling of circular DNA double in the myosin head as conformational strains or
helix in bacteria observed under electron micro- conformons (Ji 2012, see Fig. 11.33d). The most
scope in the mid-1960s (Stryer 1995). The idea recent and direct experimental evidence for the
that biological properties of enzymes (also called conformon concept was provided by Uchihashi
molecular machines) may depend on the mechan- et al. (2011) and Junge and Műller (2011).
ical (i.e., conformational) energy stored in Using the high-speed atomic force microscopy,
enzymes was first proposed by R. Lumry and these investigators were able to visualize the
others in the 1950s and 1960s (Lumry and propagation of the conformational waves (i.e.,
Gregory 1986). conformons) of the b subunits of the isolated F1
Cells are examples of self-organizing chemi- ATPase stator ring. Therefore, it appears that
cal reaction-diffusion systems that have evolved the conformon concept has now been experi-
to perform (or have been selected because of their mentally verified four decades after it was
ability to perform) myriads of goal-directed (i.e., proposed.
purposive or teleonomic) motions in space and The living cell can be represented as a system
time. The goal-directed molecular motions of molecular machines (e.g., myosin, kinesin,
inside the living cell are carried out by biopoly- dynein, dynamin, RNA polymerase, DNA poly-
mers acting as molecular machines (Alberts merase, topoisomerases, and ion pumps) that are
1998), and each molecular machine is postulated organized in space and time in various combina-
to be driven by conformons. Conformons are tions in order to carry out cell functions
to molecular machines what batteries and demanded by a given environmental condition.
mechanisms are to toys. Conformons can be gen- The organization of molecular motions inside the
erated from the binding energy of ligands as in cell is a form of work requiring the dissipation of
the Circe effect of Jencks (Jencks 1975) or from free energy supplied by chemical reactions. It is
the free energy of chemical reactions as in the proposed in Ji (2012, Chap. 8) that the mecha-
case of stress-induced duplex destabilizations nism of coupling chemical reactions to the orga-
(SIDDSs) in supercoiled DNA characterized by nized molecular motions in the living cell, i.e.,
Benham (1996) using statistical mechanical life, is catalyzed by molecular machines obeying
language. the generalized Franck-Condon principle
The molecular mechanism of muscle con- imported from quantum mechanics, leading to
traction proposed in 1974, based on the the following scheme:
conformon concept (Ji 1974), has been
1
supported by the experimental data obtained CHEMICAL REACTIONS !
from the single-molecule measurements of 2
myosin moving along the actin filament in the Conformons ! LIFE
presence of ATP. Single-molecule experiments
were made possible because of the development where Process 1 is governed by the generalized
of the optical tweezers and the total internal Franck-Condon principle (Ji 2012, Sect. 2.2.3)
reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. and Process 2 by the principles of biological
Employing these methods, biophysicists during evolution reviewed in Ji (2012, Chap. 14).
the past decade have been able to measure Conformons are the molecular objects that
simultaneously both the translational move- embody not only energy but also information
ment of the myosin head (which has the ATPase necessary and sufficient for driving goal-directed
activity) along actin filament and the hydrolysis molecular motions of the cell and, hence, can be
of ATP that powers the myosin movement. The viewed as the fundamental particles of life. That
single-molecule experimental data of Ishii and is, conformons can be viewed as the mediators of
Yanagida (2007) clearly demonstrate that, a new force in nature called the cell force in
Consciousness (Buddhist) 473 C
analogy to the gluons mediating the strong force
in atomic nuclei (Ji 2012, pp. 444–448). Consciousness
▶ Science and Kabbalah

Cross-References ▶ Self
▶ Self, From a Psychological Perspective
▶ Biology, Theoretical C
▶ Biosemiotics
▶ Cardiology
▶ Chemical Thermodynamics Consciousness (Buddhist)
▶ Energy in Physics
▶ Molecular Modeling Bhikkhu Anālayo
▶ Quantum Theory Center for Buddhist Studies, University of
▶ Semiotics Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
References Related Terms
Alberts, B. (1998). The cell as a collection of protein vijñāna (Sanskrit); viññāna (Pāli)
machines: Preparing the next generation of molecular ˙
biologists. Cell, 92, 291–294.
Benham, C. J. (1996). Duplex destabilization in
supercoiled DNA is predicted to occur at specific tran- Description
scriptional regulatory regions. Journal of Molecular
Biology, 255, 425–434.
The nature of the mind and its functions are
Ishii, Y., & Yanagida, T. (2007). How single molecule
detection measures the dynamics of life. HFSP Jour- a central concern of Buddhist thought. In fact, in
nal, 1(1), 15–29. a way, early Buddhism could perhaps be consid-
Jencks, W. (1975). Binding energy, specificity, and enzy- ered as marking the beginning point of the study
mic catalysis: The Circe effect. Advances in Enzymol-
ogy, 43, 219–410.
of the mind in the history of mankind. The ana-
Ji, S. (1974). A general theory of ATP synthesis and lytical attitude adopted toward the mind places
utilization. Annals of the New York Academy of Sci- Buddhism at an interim point between science
ences, 227, 211–226. and religions, in as much as, although clearly
Ji, S. (2012). Molecular theory of the living cell: Concepts,
having a soteriological orientation, the Buddhist
molecular mechanisms, and biomecdical applications.
New York: Springer. http://www.conformon.net. concern with the mind and its functions
Junge, W., & Műller, D. J. (2011). Seeing a molecular shows considerable affinity with scientific
motor at work. Science, 333, 704–705. methodology.
Lumry, R., & Gregory, R. B. (1986). Free-energy man-
The primary role of the mind in Buddhist
agement in protein reactions: Concepts, complica-
tions, and compensation. In G. R. Welch (Ed.), The thought finds its expression in two stanzas that
fluctuating enzymes (pp. 1–190). New York: Wiley. open a collection of canonical poetry, according
Stryer, L. (1995). Biochemistry (3rd ed., p. 795). to which the mind is the forerunner of all things
New York: W. H. Freeman.
(von Hin€uber and Norman 1994, Stanza 1–2).
Uchihashi, T., et al. (2011). High-speed atomic force
microscopy reveals rotary catalysis of Rotorless According to a canonical discourse, the whole
F1-ATPase. Science, 333, 755–758. world is led along by mind, which is the one
thing that has everything else under its control
(Feer 1884–1898, I 39).
The early Buddhist perspective in regard to
Connectivity any manifestations of the mind is that, while its
existence as a process is never put in question, the
▶ Magnetoencephalography (MEG) notion that an unchanging substance or self
C 474 Consciousness (Buddhist)
can be found anywhere in the mind, or apart from or near (Trenckner and Chalmers 1888–1896,
it, is dismissed as mistaken. What is commonly III 17).
referred to as the “mind,” should according In a series of similes that illustrate the nature
to Buddhist thought be understood as of each of these five aggregates, consciousness
a conditioned and impermanent process of mental finds illustration in the example of a magic
events. From a Buddhist perspective, this mental show (Feer 1884–1898, III 142). By thoroughly
flux is all that is required to account for scrutinizing the tricks of a magician, a keen
personal continuity during life and throughout observer would find no substance in them. In the
the series of rebirths from one life to another, same way, on close inspection, consciousness
for the margin of personal freedom to take turns out to be devoid of an enduring substance.
decisions amidst a complex set of conditionings Besides its role in the context of the scheme of
of the mind, and for the karmic retribution the five aggregates, consciousness stands in
that arises in dependence on the ethical quality third position within the 12-link standard repre-
of the decisions that have earlier been taken. sentation of the dependent arising of duhkha or
˙
The complexity of the Buddhist analysis dukkha – a term whose meaning ranges from
of mental phenomena finds its reflection in the barely noticeable dissatisfaction to outright
use of different terms to refer to the mind as suffering as inherent features of human existence
a phenomenon. Besides “consciousness,” vijñāna (▶ Dukkha).
(Sanskrit) or viññāna (Pāli), other terms of According to the traditional interpretation of
˙
frequent occurrence are citta and manas. the 12 links of dependent arising (▶ Dependent
Although at times these three terms occur Arising), consciousness represents what is
together as synonyms (Carpenter and Rhys reborn. In other words, consciousness is what
Davids 1890–1911, I 21), taken on their own, descends into the mother’s womb at conception
each of them conveys a slightly different nuance. (Carpenter and Rhys Davids 1890–1911, II 63).
Citta stands for the mind as the center of sub- From an early Buddhist perspective, however,
jective experience, in particular in the sense of it would be wrong to believe that the same con-
signifying the activity of the will and what could sciousness passes away and is then reborn
perhaps best be gathered under the term emotion. (Trenckner and Chalmers 1888–1896, I 256).
Manas represents mind as a mode of action Instead, rebirth takes place by way of the stream
distinct from verbal and bodily action and as the of consciousness (Carpenter and Rhys Davids
sixth of the senses, where – besides the five phys- 1890–1911, III 105), a changing process that
ical senses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body – it is considered to be devoid of an abiding perma-
covers the activity of thought and reflection. nent entity.
Vijñāna or viññāna refers to being conscious Being included in the series of links of depen-
˙
by way of the senses. The same term also stands dent arising, consciousness is evidently consid-
for the stream of consciousness that continues ered a conditioned phenomenon, dependently
during a single life and through subsequent arisen in a way that is comparable to fire that
rebirths. depends on its fuel (Trenckner and Chalmers
Consciousness is also part of an analysis of the 1888–1896, I 259). Although arising in depen-
individual into five so-called aggregates. While dence on the senses and their objects, conscious-
the first of these five aggregates corresponds to ness is not considered the automatic product of
the physical body, the remaining four represent the existence of a sense and its correspondent
different aspects of the mind. Besides conscious- object. Besides sense and object, there needs to
ness, these are feeling, perception, and volitional be the factor of engagement between these for
reactions. As an aggregate, consciousness consciousness to manifest (Trenckner and
comprises past, present, and future instances of Chalmers 1888–1896, I 190).
being conscious, be these internal or external, As a dependently arisen phenomenon,
gross or subtle, inferior or superior, and far consciousness lacks the property of intrinsic
Consciousness (Buddhist) 475 C
independence that apparently was part of some retribution, without needing to introduce addi-
ancient Indian conceptions of a self. From tional concepts for this purpose.
a Buddhist perspective, consciousness is rather Concern with the mind in early Buddhism is
impermanent, unsatisfactory, and not-self. above all pragmatic, in the sense of focusing on
Contemplating the nature of consciousness in what is related to the task of liberating the mind
this way will free the practitioner from appropri- from defilements. It is only with later develop-
ating consciousness as “mine” or identifying with ments of Buddhist thought that attempts were C
it as “I” or “myself.” made to develop a more exhaustive description
With later phases of Buddhist thought, the of the mind in all its possible modes, functions,
analysis of the mind becomes more detailed, and manifestations.
and a range of mental states and mental factors
are identified. As part of this development, the
impermanent nature of the mind is given Cross-References
increased emphasis, leading to the theory of
momentariness. This somewhat radical concep- ▶ Consciousness, the Problem of
tion of the impermanent nature of the mind ▶ Experience
(▶ Impermanence (Buddhist)), according to ▶ Theory of Mind
which each mind moment disappears as soon as
it has appeared, appears to have stimulated fur-
ther developments attempting to account for References
mental continuity.
In the southern Buddhist tradition, this was Primary Sources
achieved through the concept of the subliminal Carpenter, J. E., & Rhys Davids, T. W. (Eds.).
(1890–1911). The Dı̄gha Nikāya (3 vols). London/
consciousness, called bhavaṅga. With some of
Oxford: Pali Text Society.
the northern Buddhist traditions, the concept of Feer, L. (Ed.). (1884–1898). The Samyutta Nikāya (5 vols).
a store consciousness, ālaya-vijñāna, appears to London/Oxford: Pali Text Society.
fulfill a similar purpose. This store consciousness Trenckner, V., & Chalmers, R. (Eds.). (1888–1896). The
Majjhima Nikāya (3 vols). London/Oxford: Pali Text
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to be “mind only.”
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tains a middle position in this respect. According Oriental and African Studies.
to this middle position, even though the mind is Hamilton, S. (1996). Identity and experience, the consti-
tution of the human being according to early
considered to be of prime importance, reality is
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thus merely that by which an actually existing Buddhism, a philosophical investigation. Asian
world is experienced, any aspect of which is Philosophy, 3(1), 29–41.
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conditioned, impermanent, and without any abid- ˙
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C 476 Consciousness, the Problem of
physics and will be explained in terms of scien-

Consciousness, the Problem of tific theory. A minority of thinkers object and
insist that the problem of consciousness is so
Harald Walach radically different from all material phenomena
Institute for Information Biology, School of that it will never submit to a physicalist solution.
Social Sciences & Samueli, The University of And fewer still support a worldview that posits
Northampton, Northampton, UK matter is ultimately derived from consciousness,
Europa-universit€at Viadrina, Institut f€
ur so-called ▶ idealism or an idealist-monist view.
transkulturelle Gesundheitswissenschaften, Trying to explain consciousness as some phe-
Franfurt (Oder), Germany nomenon derived from matter means engaging
in some form of reductionism.
Consciousness is an obvious reality for us, and

yet the most mysterious thing. It is primary given Reductionism
to us. We know what it feels like to be conscious:
we know that we know. We are aware of There are various types of reductionism. They
a perception of pain or joy. We consciously can be classified into two main types: ontological
enjoy a particular color, or a certain wine. We and methodological reductionism, depending on
know how to distinguish between our dream whether we mean that phenomena, processes, or
states and waking states. In states of lucid dream- events can be exhaustively explained by other
ing, some people are consciously aware of the phenomena, processes, or events or not. Hence,
fact that they are now dreaming. However, our a scientific or causal reductionist view may be
culture will have us believe that all that matters, classified as ontological or methodological
really, is matter, because we can measure, engi- reductionism. However, reductive materialism
neer, and manipulate it, to our well-being and and eliminative reductionism are tokens of
also to the detriment of ourselves and others. ontological reductionism. Ontological reduction-
Yet, what is indeed the first presupposed and ism has the purpose of providing an exhaustive
given reality is always consciousness, the con- explanation of some phenomenon, process, or
scious I that reflects, perceives, thinks, negates, event (the explanandum) in terms of another
suffers pain and joy, desires and can let go of phenomenon, process, or event (the explanans).
desires, is angry and can forgive, loves and Accordingly, something x is explained in terms of
hates, has goals and dreams out of which it con- nothing but y. In such a view, consciousness can
structs new insights, invents new solutions for be exhaustively explained in terms of neural
problems, or has new ideas about old questions. activity. Also, x explains the occurrence of y
The problem is how to explain human conscious- and is the real nature of y (reductive materialism).
ness in relation to the human brain. While this In other words, the brain explains the occurrence
dualist stance – a conscious I vis-à-vis a totally of consciousness, and hence, the brain is the real
different material reality – is still defended, nature of consciousness. Finally, some unknown x
because it is our natural starting point and emi- of the past has successfully been explained in
nent thinkers like Plato, Plotinus, Saint terms of nothing but y. From this, it follows that
Augustine, or René Descartes have built upon it, some unknown x will be explained in terms of
contemporary scholars and scientists defend nothing but y in the future (Runehov 2007).
some sort of materialism (Metzinger 1995, Methodological reductionism has various
2000). This is the doctrine that all mental phe- meanings: (1) every explanation ought to be
nomena are somehow derived from material real- continually reduced to the simplest possible
ity. Often, such materialist monist positions are explanation; (2) a research strategy for analyzing
also called physicalist, because they insist on the objects of study, such as cells, in terms of their
fact that ultimately all phenomena boil down to parts, like macromolecules, as well as for
Consciousness, the Problem of 477 C
applying successful theories in one area, such as cleft, which in turn will trigger a change in mem-
Darwinian evolution, to other areas, such as soci- brane permeability at the other side and so trans-
ology or religion; and (3) it may aim to reduce mit the stimulus. Over time, we will see the
a whole to a specific set of parts for a scientific neuron depolarizing in spikes of electrical activ-
purpose without claiming that this is a complete ity with a certain frequency. Nowhere in the brain
explanation. Methodological reductionism implies do we see any of the richness of our subjective
that something x is explained in terms of y but x is experience. All we see is confusing patterns C
not reducible to y. Hence, there is no claim for of electrical activities and release of different
exhaustiveness. classes of neurotransmitters, often even released
by the very same neuron. Thus, the simple
equation “brain activity is conscious activity” is
Types of Materialism and Physicalism seriously challenged (Searle 1992).
Advocates of eliminative materialism, for
Materialism is the theory that everything that example, Patricia Churchland (1986), argue that
exists is material. According to Michael even though consciousness is a complex issue, as
Lockwood, materialism consists of everything an entity it is simply a misconception due to
that occupies or takes place in space and whose ignorance. Similar to our ancestors’ assuming
existence is ultimately constituted by the proper- the gods are angry when a flash of lightning
ties and relations, actions, and interactions of struck and thus hypostasizing the “wrath of the
particles and fields or whatever basic entities gods” into a real entity, we are ignorant about
physics deals with (Lockwood 1989). what consciousness is and hence speak about it as
if it were some extramaterial reality. Once we
know this, our understanding, our language, and
Materialist/Physicalist Theories of the our concepts will change. “The wrath of the
Relationship Between the Brain and gods” used to be a metaphorical way of speaking
Consciousness about a reality that was somewhat diffuse and not
known, but it was not about a real entity since
The first theory is known as identity theory (ID). “the wrath of the gods” does not exist. Similarly,
Identity theorists maintain mental states and consciousness is a metaphorical way of speaking
processes, both conscious and unconscious, are about something we do not understand yet, and
identical to brain states and processes. The identity once we do, this way of speaking will gradually
theory of mind holds that mental processes just are become obsolete and disappear. The problem with
brain processes, not merely correlated with brain such a view is that there is no logical relation
processes. A weaker variant of this theory is the between what happened in the past and what will
token identity theory, which implies mind-brain happen in the future. Also, while “the wrath of
identities can occur only on the level of individual the gods” is a concept quite far from subjective
(token) events (Davidson and Davidson 1980). experience, the conscious I is the subject of expe-
However, we know by now that the brain uses rience, and hence, the parallelism of the argument
always the same physiological principle. Inputs, is ill founded. Also, promises of future achieve-
whether from the senses or from brain activity ments are a bit like promises of the future paradise:
itself, create an excitation in a neuron whose it has more to do with religion than with science.
membrane, if adequately stimulated, will depo- Eliminative materialism has some similarity
larize, allowing an exchange of ions with the with epiphenomenalism, the view that conscious-
surrounding fluid, generating an electrical activ- ness is just some by-product of physiological
ity along its own membrane. This leads to the activity of the brain, which is not really impor-
rapid depolarization of the membrane at the axo- tant. The primary function of the heart, for
nal end of the neuron which will result in the instance, is pumping blood. As it happens, this
release of transmitter substances into the synaptic pumping also produces different other
phenomena, such as the heartbeat which can be Our conscious experience does seem to have
heard or blood pressure which can be measured. causal and functional independence and hence
But both of them are secondary to the real func- reacts back on its physical substrate, the brain.
tion of the heart. They are indicator of the heart’s There seems to be a mutual causation going on.
operation, but they do not have any substantive Advocates of the principle of supervenience
reality in and of themselves, let alone without the argue that consciousness is dependent on brain
heart’s activity. When the heart stops, the beat activity, similarly to blood pressure being depen-
stops and blood pressure drops to zero. Similarly dent on the heartbeat; however, unlike blood pres-
with the brain, consciousness is a by-product of sure, consciousness is a functional property of the
neuronal, computational, and cognitive activity. brain that has causal relevance for the brain and at
It is quite conceivable that the brain could do its least some causal independence. Consciousness is
job also without them, but as it happens, conscious- supervenient on brain activity in the sense that it
ness ensues out of the brain’s activity. But neither has its own causal laws and partial independence.
has it a decisive role to play nor does it influence Theorists who favor nonreductionist material-
the physiology of the brain (Dennett 1991). ism/physicalism and who want to give mental
events causal capacities often adopt the principle
of emergence.
Nonreductionist Materialist/Physicalist They point to the fact that complex systems
Theories of the Relationship Between generate new functional properties, or rather,
the Brain and Consciousness such new functional properties arise out of the
complexity of their structure and are not reduc-
Supervenience and emergence are perhaps ible to neither of these structures. The traditional
the two best-known nonreductive materialist/ example is that water emerges out of the combi-
physicalist theories used today. nation of oxygen and hydrogen atoms. However,
Supervenience states that there is a difference again there are a variety of tokens of the principle
at the physical state level for every difference at of emergence: part-whole emergence implies that
the mental state level and the changes at the the whole is always bigger than its parts. Strong
physical level of the brain cause the changes at emergence or ontological emergence argues for
the mental level. In its weaker form, the principle independent causal powers of the emergent prop-
of supervenience holds that even though mental erty, and weak emergence holds that the emer-
states depend on physical states, they are not gent property follows the fundamental causal
reducible to them. Hence, nonreductive material- processes of physics (van Gulick 2001).
ists/physicalists argue for some independence of Emergent properties have their own partial
mental life over and above the material/physical independence and create their own new struc-
once it has been brought about. For practical tures. Life is such an example. If amino acids
purposes, it is important to establish whether and lipids, ions, and other proteins are self-
consciousness, as a reality purportedly derived organized in structures like cells and cell organ-
from brain activity, has an independent, causally elles, life emerges. Those cells replicate and
relevant activity of its own. Immunity, for hence can create their own structures; they
instance, also is the result of a complex interac- become sensitive in that they move toward areas
tion of a dense network of cells and specific that contain food and shun away from places that
molecules and produces a constant reinstantiation threaten them; they also start creating environ-
of the integrity of the organism vis-à-vis multiple ments favorable to their survival. Similarly, it is
threats. Yet “immunity” does not have any func- argued, once a system becomes really complex,
tional independence. Our everyday experience like the brain that can process and calculate enor-
however tells us that consciousness has indepen- mous amounts of information and process huge
dent causality. For example, if we are conscious numbers of interrelations of its elements, it is
of a wish, we can execute it most of the times. bound to develop a new system property,
consciousness. Once emerged, it starts operating • For this to happen, it is necessary for the
according to its own newly emerged laws. With system to represent not only the outside
consciousness, several other phenomena arise world but also its own states toward itself.
that have not been there previously: for instance, • This representation of the system’s internal
some freedom of choice between alternatives, states is what we call self-consciousness or
creative problem solving, and creativity in ego-consciousness.
general; art and the appreciation of beauty; From this, it follows, it is argued, that con- C
morals and ethics; and finally also religion. sciousness is not something independent with
a subsistence of its own, but a virtual representa-
tion of the system that shuts down together with
Functionalism or Connectionism its system.
Counterarguments come from different
Many involved in the study of ▶ artificial intelli- sources, and there are plenty of them. Thomas
gence (AI) believe that computers can be just as Nagel pointed out that by looking at any biolog-
complex as physiological brains and will sooner ical system from the outside, we cannot under-
or later produce consciousness as an emergent stand how it feels to be this system. We will never
property. Although such a system can be know what it is like to be a bat (Nagel 1974) or
realized by any structure and any material, such like our friend or colleague because we cannot
an artificial neural network would probably be share their internal viewpoint. Our biological
built out of silicon chips. Because of the binary system does not allow us to experience what it
gating of information and the logical linkage of is like to be flying in darkness on an echolot
such gating to multiple other binary elements, system, having the environment represented by
the storage of previous information and making auditory clicks, beeps, and sounds of varying
it available for comparison and other activities, ultrasound pitch and intensity. For the same rea-
and finally learning and self-modification of son, we would not know what it is like for our
the system, such artificial systems are already friend to see the very same picture in a gallery.
in some sense similar to the human brain. Nagel’s argument concerns the philosophical
Computerized neuronal networks simulate an problem of ▶ qualia, the specific subjective
anatomically simplified abstracted version of inside view of the experiential reality germane
physiological neuronal activity. However, so to consciousness. Another famous argument has
far computers have not displayed signs of been advanced by Jackson. Suppose you have
consciousness. a neuroscientist, Mary, who has learned all there
Connectionists or functionalists argue that is to learn about the brain and its workings and
• The brain is a system that has biologically mechanisms and even the concept of color but
grown to represent reality within a window does not have the experience thereof because she
of biological adaptation to the organism. has lived all her life in a colorless, gray-shaded
• This representation can be conceptualized as environment. Suppose now, after all this learn-
a series of computational operations which the ing, Mary is suddenly able to see color. She will
neurons enact. then have learned something she did not know
• Once this representational architecture of before, namely, the experience of color. This
the brain becomes complex enough, it can would mean there is now something in her mind
produce consciousness. that she could not have had through all the knowl-
• At some point in evolution, consciousness was edge of the brain seen from the outside, namely,
useful because it helps the organism to set up the experience of color. This obviously means
a virtual reality in which actions and their that the conscious experience is something dif-
consequences can be played through without ferent from the physical makeup that sustains it.
any of the lethal consequences that such Yet, another challenge derives from Chalmers
actions might have in reality. (1996). He puts forward the thought experiment
that it is possible to conceive of beings who have classical states. We do not know which state or
the very same makeup as ours, the same physiol- states the system is in before measurement or
ogy, do the same things, cannot be distinguished observation takes place. Not knowing which
from the outside and by physiological tests from state or states the system is in before measure-
us, but do not have conscious experience, ment is what Niels Bohr meant when he said that
so-called zombies. The very fact that such nothing exists unless observed.
zombies are conceivable who do not share our If we now imagine a more complex system,
conscious experience, everything else being where different particles belong to one system
equal, means, according to Chalmers, that the and thereby have to be described as one, we can
conscious experience itself, our qualia or our see that the whole system has a certain joint
“what it is like to feel and experience something,” probability of displaying a combination of
cannot be equated to our physical makeup. values. This joint state is prescribed by physical
To illustrate his objection to the suggestion conservation laws, for instance, the fact that all
that a machine could possess cognitive capacity spins have to add up to zero. If now one of the
similar to a person, John Searle put forward the elements of the system is measured, this means
Chinese room thought experiment: suppose in that instantaneously the other element is also
a room is some operator that has a set of instruc- collapsing into an according state. Entanglement
tions how to respond to questions written down in means that such values of measurements of
Chinese. All he does is hand out answer cards, a multielement quantum system are correlated.
also written in Chinese, without having a clue If one element is measured, the other element
about what he is doing. The person at the other exhibits an according value instantaneously, no
side of the room will always receive correct and matter how distant in time or space it is. It is not
understandable answers, because he or she speaks defined which value will be seen. But once
Chinese. But the operator does not. It would a certain value is seen in one measurement, the
be equally silly to say the operator understands other measurement is known. Such an entangled
Chinese as it would be to say a computer has system which can take on two values has been
consciousness. That it is possible to simulate called a quantum bit or qbit. It has properties
the human neural system does not mean that similar to a classical bit and hence can be used
a computer neural network is equal to the to encode information bitwise. But by virtue of
human neural system. Roger Penrose has pointed the entangled state it is in and by the potential
out that humans can solve mathematical puzzles entanglement with other qbits, the potential com-
and problems that cannot necessarily be solved putational power is infinitely greater. It has been
by computers, for instance, some geometrical shown theoretically that computers built out of
problems (Penrose 1994). such elements, i.e., quantum computers, can
solve mathematical problems that cannot be
solved by serially operating, classical computers,
Quantum Models of Consciousness such as factorization problems of large prime
numbers. Thereby, quantum computers seem to
Some suggest that the brain might be a computer resemble the working of the human mind much
but a quantum computer, operating on quantum better than classical computers. Phenomenologi-
entanglement. Quantum physics (mechanics) cally speaking, when we think about something,
describes quantum systems in terms of probabil- solve problems, or are on the brink of having an
ity, which means that we can only specify, e.g., idea, our mind “feels” like it would be soaring
a probable location of the particle. The basic in a potential space to then “collapse” onto
characteristic of quantum mechanics is that a concrete solution or idea. Thus, the metaphor
whenever we measure and/or observe a physical of a quantum computer seems to be more ade-
system, the system collapses to one of its possible quate for the operation of the human mind.
The technical problem to solve is how to contain completely new and qualitatively and categori-
and preserve entanglement. This is a property of cally different, such as consciousness, emerges.
isolated quantum systems that has to be shielded Furthermore, a counterargument is that the brain
from the environment, thermally and magneti- is “too wet and too noisy” to be able to maintain
cally. For every interaction of a system with the quantum processes.
environment leads to a decay of entanglement, Some adopt the weak or generalized quantum
the so-called decoherence. Hence, the technical theory in order to solve the problem. This axiom- C
realization of a quantum computer will depend on atic framework assumes that systems other than
engineering entanglement to a preservation state quantum systems proper can be described by
that it can be used at will (Mahler et al. 2002). a similar theoretical structure. Consequently,
Is it feasible to look at our brain as a potential entanglement would be a property of real quan-
quantum computer? Those in favor of such a view tum systems as well as of other systems that obey
refer to the uniqueness of the human nervous similar formal requirements. It has been shown
system. Human neurons are built around fila- that at least some aspects of the visual system can
ments of skeleton called microtubules. These be modeled along those lines (Atmanspacher
are hollow structures, built of certain proteins et al. 2004). One can also conceptualize the pro-
that come in helical orderings. Those proteins cess of conscious awareness as a quantum mea-
can be seen as little qbit-like switches, as the surement process. If this is done, the quantum
dimension of these molecules is such that they Zeno effect comes into play, i.e., if a quantum
fall within the area where quantum mechanical system is measured, it displays one of its potential
laws have to be applied. The whole structure of states in the measurement process. Which one is
microtubules forms a dense network, covering measured is random. If the measurement process
the whole brain, as they are the skeleton of all is repeated rapidly, then the probability of
neurons. The size of those hollow resonators obtaining the very same measurement value as
might be such that they could sustain quantum measured previously approaches. That means if
states via so-called long-range coherence. The we measure a quantum system very often and
basic idea is that even at very low energy, if the repeatedly, we raise the probability of obtaining
structure and size of a system are correct, it can always the same value to certainty. Similarly, if
couple to certain frequencies of electromagnetic we attend to a conscious content phenomenolog-
radiation by virtue of a resonance effect. This can ically speaking, the probability of keeping it
then lead to coherent states, similar to standing before our mind’s eye becomes certainty.
waves that can be produced through coherent However, this does not imply that conscious-
excitations of resonant media across a whole sys- ness operates like a quantum system. Rather, it
tem. The theory then maintains that the brain implies that quantum theory might be applicable
might be a system that can collapse quantum to other systems as well, among others, the
mechanical potential states and, by virtue of human brain.
coherent excitation and/or entanglement as In order to understand how the world, includ-
a process, can bring the whole system into a ing the brain, works, we have to, ultimately,
definite state. The moment of collapse of such apply quantum theory. Quantum mechanics
a quantum potential into a definite state, exerted presupposes an implicit dualism between
through some poorly understood mechanism a conscious measurement, the decision and act
called quantum gravity, is then supposed to be of what to measure, and the measured physical
a moment where consciousness arises or is being system itself. A reductionist physicalist approach
produced by this collapse (for further details, see to explain consciousness is only possible as long
the discussion in Atmanspacher 2006). as one remains on a classical Newtonian level
Although intriguing from a speculative point of description, which, strictly speaking, is not
of view, this model also supposes that something appropriate to explain consciousness.
Culture of Consciousness our brains through changes of consciousness

related to changes in our culture and environ-
There are a few other intriguing observations ment. It might still be unclear how cultural and
which lead some to considering consciousness environmental influences on our consciousness
in its own right. Let us subsume those observa- will affect our brains and ultimately human
tions under the heading Culture of Conscious- capacities. But it is clear that how our brain
ness. Meditation techniques have been handed functions cannot be seen separately from how
down in all cultures. They differ widely in their our consciousness operates, and our conscious-
concretizations. But they have some very simple ness seems to have a clear and definite reverber-
basic strategies in common. They all teach tech- ation on the physical substrate, our brain. Jean
niques of focusing attention, at least initially, in Gebser’s idea of an integral consciousness
order to concentrate the mind. This then alters the suggests that ultimately, a new culture of con-
current state of consciousness to a less scattered, sciousness that will extend the faculties of our
more focused, and more mindful state. In such current state of consciousness might emerge.
a state, one is intensely focused on one act or
process such as when solving a problem. Being A Potential Way Forward and Some
in such a state also enables one to keep a variety Open Questions
of contents in the present awareness, and it can Thus, at least from a pragmatic point of view,
be directed inward to understanding the present a dualist phenomenology seems to be necessary
contents of our mind better. In any case, it alters to deal adequately with consciousness. However, it
the quality of our consciousness. need not feed into ontological dualism. Rather, one
Shamanic rituals have been documented in could opt for a transcendent monist type of ontol-
cave paintings that can be dated back to at least ogy in which neither matter nor mind is primary
the Middle Paleolithic period of the Stone Age, but is derived phenomenological realities that are
i.e., 300,000 to 30,000 years ago. Rituals typi- both ultimately caused by a unitary, underlying
cally involve intense concentration. The argu- reality. Mind and brain might be complementary
ment goes that when our ancestors tamed the similarly to particle and wave representing light. It
fire, campfire rituals were held, which allowed denotes two descriptions of one and the same thing
youngsters to participate in an implicit training of that are maximally incompatible but both neces-
attention. As a consequence, parts of our brain sary for a complete description. In that sense,
that are involved in modulating emotions, in mental and physical descriptions are necessary
memory formation, in empathy, and ultimately and irreducible to understanding the human
also in language formation and reasoning become being. This would entail a monist ontology with
more activated. Hence, the basic capacity and a dualist phenomenology.
ensuing practice of focusing attention might Still, we are left with the problem that some
have been at the cradle of human culture and of claim that consciousness can survive death or that
the human mind as we know it (Rossano 2007). people who have been physically dead and resus-
Thus, consciousness as a capacity can feed citated sometimes report veridical information
back on the purported substrate, the brain, to received while their brain was physiologically
change the very substrate and, as an effect, also inactive. It is these phenomena that have contrib-
change its own makeup. Consciousness, then, is uted to the feeling that apart from individual ego-
not only a result and product of the brain, but the consciousness, there is a spiritual side to the
brain structure is also a product of a culture of person that has been termed soul and is supposed
consciousness. Similarly, as our ancestors started to be different. Often such metaphysical notions
to shape the architecture of the brain through have been merged with a dualist stance of the
rituals, community processes, and other ways of mind-body problem. It might be more useful to
altering consciousness, as in meditation or ritual- disentangle the problems at this point and note
istic practices, we are changing, even assaulting that this question of a potential transindividual
Constructive Theology 483 C
consciousness or soul has not received adequate
attention. Materialist and reductionist thinkers Consequentialism
would of course state that these questions have
become obsolete with our modern views and ▶ Utilitarianism
a scientific approach. Those who focus on phe-
nomena point to the fact that the modern theories
ignore such phenomena. Perhaps, it is necessary C
to document the purported phenomena well Conservation
before they can be used for scientific argument
and keep theorizing open ended for the ▶ Divine Action
time being.
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MIT Press. Christian theology; Dogmatic theology; System-
Nagel, T. (1974). What is it like to be a bat? Philosophical atic theology
Review, 83, 435–450.
Penrose, R. (1994). Shadows of the mind. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. The term “constructive theology” is often used
Rossano, M. J. (2007). Did meditating make us human? synonymously with the terms Christian theology,
Cambridge Archeological Journal, 17, 47–58. systematic theology, or dogmatic theology and
Runehov, A. L. C. (2007). Sacred or neural: The potential
connotes an understanding of theology as
of neuroscience to explain religious experience.
Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. a discourse that is both constructed and engaged
Searle, J. R. (1992). The rediscovery of the mind. in ongoing construction. Constructive theology
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. is, therefore, a discourse that is always in process
van Gulick, R. (2001). Reduction, emergence and other
recent options on the mind/body problem.
and open to interaction with other forms of
A philosophical overview. Journal of Consciousness knowledge, including knowledge produced in
Studies, 8, 1–34. the social and natural sciences.
C 484 Constructive Theology
One of the differences between constructive theology better than any definitions that individ-
and systematic theology is that the latter seeks to uals might give. The theological orientation of
develop a system, based on philosophical the Workgroup on Constructive Theology has
approaches or particular themes or insights, morphed from an initial commitment to theolog-
which provides a comprehensive framework for ical liberalism and critical modernism in the
theological topics. Constructive theology, on the 1970s and 1980s (Hodgson and King 1982)
other hand, rejects closed systematic frameworks to engagements with liberation traditions and
in favor of more open ended reflections. One postmodernism in the 1990s (Chopp and Taylor
of the differences between constructive and 1994). Since that time, the workgroup, which is
dogmatic theology is that the latter often currently made up of a diverse group of about
focuses on doctrines and concepts with little 60 theologians working in the United States,
attention to matters of everyday life and experi- has grown increasingly complex in its theologi-
ence. Constructive theology, in contrast, links cal orientation. In one of its most recent text-
doctrines and concepts with particular expres- books, it has developed a new concern for
sions of life. traditional theological roots and developments,
The term constructive theology is relatively as awareness of these roots is weakening in
new. It has been in use since the 1980s. There the academy and with students (Jones and
are several prominent professorships in theology Lakeland 2005).
in the United States, which have adopted the The large variety of theological perspectives
term, including professorships in constructive of the Workgroup on Constructive Theology
theology at Drew University and the United today includes liberals, postliberals, and libera-
Seminary of the Twin Cities, occupied by tionists; feminist, Latino/a, African American,
Catherine Keller and Eleazar S. Fernandez, and neo-orthodox, and process theologians; histori-
the Wendland-Cook Professorship in construc- cists, pragmatists, and cultural theorists;
tive theology at Perkins School of Theology, postmodernists of Derridean and Marxist varie-
Southern Methodist University, occupied by ties; and postcolonial theologians (Jones and
Joerg Rieger. Lakeland 2005, 5). For an example of workgroup
While the term constructive theology has members engaging postcolonial methods and
become a constant in contemporary theological topics, see the volume Empire and the Christian
discourse, it still rarely occurs in theological Tradition (Kwok, Compier, and Rieger 2007).
dictionaries. One exception is the Evangelical The publisher of choice of many theologians
Dictionary of Theology, which defines the term identifying with the methods of constructive
in relation to the development of a particular theology has been Fortress Press.
workgroup on the topic of constructive theology, In one of its most recent collaborative
said to be concerned with “clarifying how the publications – the fourth in a series of textbooks
church can meet and shape the actual world produced over 35 years – the members of the
with a Christian message freed from bondage to Workgroup on Constructive Theology note “that
arcane models of vertical transcendence.” religious beliefs have the power to tear down
The Evangelical Dictionary accuses constructive cities as well as build up nations, that theology
theology of unwittingly deconstructing and has the capacity to save lives as well as to
demolishing biblical faith, implying that biblical take them.” In short, “theology really is
faith is only supported by more conservative a life-and-death endeavor” (Jones and Lakeland
theological models (Elwell 1984, 269, 271). 2005, 1). This is the most crucial concern of
Although the agenda of the so-called contemporary constructive theology; any
Workgroup on Constructive Theology has engagement with other forms of knowledge,
changed over the years, the workgroup still including the knowledge produced by the sci-
exists, and its theological production over ences, needs to be seen in terms of this life-and-
the past four decades helps define constructive death endeavor.
Constructive Theology 485 C
Other constructive theologians have expressed constructed nature of all theology and a commit-
the task of constructive theology in the following ment to the ongoing constructive task of theolog-
ways: ical work. It takes seriously the insight that all
Catherine Keller notes that “faith is not settled reflection and thought, theological and otherwise,
belief but living process. It is the very edge and are related to life and that there is no escape. This
opening of life in process. To live is to step is true also for beliefs and faith. As the theolo-
with trust into the next moment: into the gians of the Workgroup on Constructive Theol- C
unpredictable” (Keller 2008, xii). The alterna- ogy have put it: “Beliefs are. . .profoundly
tive, rejected by constructive theology, is shaping not only how we perceive our world but
a belief in God that assumes that it has it all also how we engage and respond to it” (Jones and
figured out. The task of constructive theology in Lakeland 2005, 13). At the same time, our beliefs
this account is to deal with faith as a dynamic are also shaped by our perceptions and engage-
entity and to liberate it from the misunderstand- ments of the world.
ing that it can ever be fixed and static. Critics of constructive theology worry
According to David Jensen, another professor that emphasizing the constructed nature and
of constructive theology at Austin Presbyterian the constructive task of theology will lead to
Theological Seminary, uniformity of theological theological relativism. Yet relativism is not the
details is not the goal of constructive theology. In necessary result of an appreciation for the rela-
an edited volume on the doctrine of the Holy tivity of faith, belief, and theological reflection.
Spirit, Jensen identifies the “bedrock of convic- On the contrary, overlooking the relativity of
tion” of progressive theology in the following faith, belief, and theological reflection often
way: “As the Spirit gives life, we are to seek life results in approaches that universalize relative
amid the forces and spirits that threaten life in our positions. While it has often been taken for
day” (Jensen 2008, xvii). Because constructive granted, for instance, that the theologies pro-
theology engages life, it finds itself in opposition duced by white male Europeans or Americans
to all that endangers life. are universal, we are beginning to understand
Constructive theology is, therefore, never that these theologies are also relative, as they
a merely descriptive endeavor. It is an effort to are produced in particular places and times by
understand and construct theology in the present, particular individuals and groups. Similar
imagining what life-giving faith might look like. insights apply to the work of scientists as well
While the term constructive theology is often (Harding 2008).
used in relation to progressive theology in the Understanding how faith, belief, and theolog-
United States, since 1995 a Journal of Construc- ical reflections are always responses to particular
tive Theology is being published in South Africa challenges of life and to particular experiences of
by the Centre for Constructive Theology at the God is a first step toward the formation of com-
School of Religion and Theology (SORAT) at the mon concerns and denominators that bring
University of Kwazulu Natal. The contributions together different approaches (Rieger 2001).
published in this journal bring together classical More specifically, examining faith, belief, and
theological issues and the struggles of everyday theological reflection in the midst of the
life, including social tensions affecting South struggles of life that affect us all, albeit in
African society and other matters of public con- different ways, allows for the development of
cern, like the AIDS crisis. The subtitle of the constructive theologies that acknowledge
journal is “Gender, Religion and Theology in relativity but do not end up in relativism.
Africa,” and the editors are Professors Isabel Postcolonial theologies, for instance, are con-
Apawo Phiri and Sarojini Nadar of the University structive theologies that have developed particu-
of Kwazulu Natal. lar ways of dealing with relativities imposed by
Constructive theology in all this different con- the powers that be while bringing together the
texts is characterized by a concern for the concerns and life experiences of the many who
C 486 Constructivism
have experienced the effects of these powers in

their own bodies. Constructivism
Taking seriously the constructed nature and
the constructive task, at the core of the definition ▶ Social Construction in Psychology
of constructive theology, can open up new possi-
bilities not only for the work of theology but also
for collaborative projects that combine insights
from theology and the social and natural sciences. Constructivism (Philosophy of Mind)
In the process, these disciplines can develop
a new sense for the contingencies of everyday Dominikus Kraschl
life, which does not neglect the big questions of Katholisch-Theologische Fakult€at W€urzburg,
truth but locates truth in particular contexts. Universit€at W€urzburg, W€urzburg, Bayern,
Germany
Cross-References
Related Terms
▶ Critical and Cultural Theory
▶ Liberal Theology (Epistemological) Antirealism; Idealism
▶ Postliberal Theology
▶ Pragmatism (Theological Interpretations)
▶ Process Theology Description
▶ Relativity
▶ Systematic Theology The collective term “constructivism” (from Lat.
▶ Theology of Liberation construere: to construct) covers all theories of
cognition, which particularly emphasize the
active contribution of the subject in the process
References of cognicizing. Thus, “constructivism” is used to
group together various epistemological views
Chopp, R. S., & Taylor, M. L. (Eds.). (1994). in philosophy, psychology, sociology, theory of
Reconstructing christian theology. Minneapolis: For-
sciences, etc., which maintain that cognition or
tress Press.
Elwell, W. A. (Ed.). (1984). Evangelical dictionary of knowledge is not, or not so much, passively
theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House. received, but actively built up and constructed.
Harding, S. (2008). Sciences from below: Feminisms, Beyond this general characterization, several
postcolonialities, and modernities. Durham: Duke
basic types of constructivism can be distinguished,
University Press.
Hodgson, P. C., & King, R. H. (Eds.). (1982). Christian namely, Radical Constructivism, moderate
theology: An introduction to its traditions and tasks. constructivism, global and regional constructiv-
Philadelphia: Fortress Press. ism, and cultural and naturalistic constructivism.
Jensen, D. H. (2008). The lord and giver of life: Perspec-
tives in constructive pneumatology. Westminster: John
Knox Press. Radical and Moderate Constructivism
Jones, S., & Lakeland, P. (Eds.). (2005). Constructive Radical constructivist views reject cognition as
theology: A contemporary approach to classical being sufficiently determined by the external
themes. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Keller, C. (2008). On the mystery: Discerning God in
world, independent of the mind, so that warranted
process. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. or justified beliefs about the world can be
Kwok, P. L., Compier, D., & Rieger, J. (2007). Empire and achieved. However, radical constructivists
the Christian tradition: New readings of classical usually do not deny the existence of an external
theologians. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
world like ontological antirealists do. Rather they
Rieger, J. (2001). God and the excluded: Visions and
blindspots in contemporary theology. Minneapolis: deny that anything definitive can be known
Fortress Press. about it, which is a view more in line with an
Constructivism (Philosophy of Mind) 487 C
epistemological antirealist view. Moderate do not lead beyond perceptions, but just to these
constructivist views acknowledge the active role again, we cannot know whether there exists
of construction in our belief-building processes, a world independent of our perceptions and what
but also hold on to the possibility of it would be like. Kant argued that the schemes
cognitive relevant feedback from reality, in of ordering which constitute human cognition
terms of falsification or validation. According (i.e. “categories” such as substance, relation,
to this view, the accurate recognition and causality, etc., and the “a priori forms of intui- C
description of objective facts and contexts is, tion,” i.e., time and space) are located in the
at least in principle, possible, even though cognicizing subject rather than in the external
human knowledge remains conjectural and world. For that reason, empirical knowledge
provisional. does not reflect the world as it is in itself, but
only the way it appears to us, i.e., the “world of
Global and Regional Constructivism appearances.”
In addition, global and regional types of con- In the recent history of philosophy, attempts
structivism can be discerned. Many philoso- made to give a new foundation to mathematics,
phers or scientists are not generally in view of the foundational crisis of mathemat-
constructivists, but hold constructivist views ics, have been labeled as “constructivism.” For
with regard to particular regions of reality or intuitionists (L. E. Brouwer, A. Heyting)
subject matters under discussion, such as, for and subsequent constructivists (P. Lorenzen,
instance, moral or aesthetic properties, mathe- K. Lorenz), mathematical objects are only con-
matical objects, natural kinds or species and, in sidered to exist if it is possible to specify an
principle, anything. effective procedure for constructing them. In
contrast, indirect proofs of existence are rejected
Cultural and Naturalistic Constructivism as being inadequate.
Finally, there are cultural and naturalistic versions In the second half of the twentieth century,
of constructivism. While cultural variants of within epistemology and the theory of science,
constructivism maintain that cognition is mainly two schools have emerged which are explicitly
a sociocultural product (see the note to T. S. Kuhn referred to as “constructivism”: Erlanger con-
below), naturalistic variants put emphasis on the structivism and Radical Constructivism.
evolutionary, biological, or neurological condi-
tions and foundations of human cognition.
Erlanger Constructivism
Brief History
Constructivism has a long history, which can be The Erlanger school of constructivism pursues
traced back to medieval nominalism and ancient a program of developing a “reasonable
skepticism. However, constructivist views have language” – especially a language of science – in
become more influential only since the seven- a methodical and noncircular way. This concept
teenth and eighteenth centuries, when British was introduced by W. Kamlah and P. Lorenzen
empiricism, and subsequently German idealism, with their formative work “Logische Prop€adeutik”
emerged. Particularly D. Hume and I. Kant are to (1967) and later continued by K. Lorenz,
be mentioned as influential precursors to and pio- J. Mittelstraß, and others. Some representatives
neers of contemporary constructivism. According confine themselves to (re-)constructing the
to Hume, all “ideas” held in the human mind, of language of science, while regarding our everyday
any level of complexity, can be derived from language and lifeworld (“Lebenswelt”) as being
simple “impressions,” i.e., mental reconstructions an inescapable starting point or “prescientific
of sense perceptions, which we interconnect in a priori.” Others, however, hold our daily practice
a habitual way. Moreover, since, according to of language to be both capable of and in need of
Hume, all we have are perceptions and inferences justification.
C 488 Constructivism (Philosophy of Mind)
Radical Constructivism primarily motivated by an alleged lack of plausi-

Radical Constructivism can be characterized as bility on the part of realistic alternatives.
a global and naturalistic version of constructivism. This eventually leads to the question of whether
Its most well-known representatives (H. Maturana, constructivist views of cognition can offer an
F. Varela, H. v. Förster, E. v. Glasersfeld) reject overall more plausible explanation of our
direct realistic as well as representational views of experience than alternative theories. This issue,
cognition and support that stance with philosoph- however, may vary drastically across different
ical arguments as well as with evolutionary, subject areas and remains an ongoing discussion.
neuroscientific, and biological findings. The Constructivist considerations play an impor-
resulting antirealistic attitude leads radical tant role in the philosophy of religion and in
constructivists to a merely instrumentalist view religious studies. The formation and develop-
of cognicizing, according to which our everyday ment of religious traditions owe themselves to
as well as our scientific cognition does not reveal complex processes of sociocultural construction
what the external world is like (so that we would (as well as criticism), which are explored and
“know that”), but what is viable, i.e., “fitting” to reconstructed by the history, psychology,
our experience, and benefits our survival in some and sociology of religion and other subdisciplines
way (so that we have “know-how”). Representa- of religious studies. In principle, constructivist
tives of Radical Constructivism within neurosci- considerations may serve to criticize as well as
ences (G. Roth et al.) do not regard reality as to justify religious beliefs and practices. In
a construction of the “I,” but rather the individual the context of functional explanations, for
“I” as an evolutionary useful, even though illusion- instance, religious beliefs and practices were
ary, construction of the brain. seen to be a product of socioeconomic conditions
(K. Marx), infantile illusions or projections
Discussion and Impact of Constructivism (S. Freud), or society-stabilizing mechanisms
While Radical Constructivism has numerous (E. Durkheim). However, defenders of religion
followers among biologists, psychologists, can also rely on constructivist considerations.
sociologists, and educationalists it has few sup- When it comes to the problem of diverging or
porters among philosophers and is regarded as competing truth claims among different religious
controversial by them. Radical Constructivism traditions, to name only one example, religious
requires a consequent departure from any kind pluralists (J. Hick, P. Knitter et al.) argue that
of (e.g., critical or scientific) realism, which religious beliefs and concepts can be understood
we usually take for granted in our everyday life in terms of an experience of a transcendent and
and often also in the practice of science. This ultimate reality, in itself incomprehensible,
departure, however, is not easy to maintain, which is perceived and conceptualized differ-
since radical constructivists cannot easily do ently within various religious traditions. How-
without statements about how things really are, ever, the above mentioned explanations, as
for instance, when they argue for an antirealistic well as many other explanations of religious
view of cognition against the realists. Hence, phenomena, often have very little support from
they should not rely on findings of the empirical empirical data.
sciences, for if these findings should give support
to Radical Constructivism, they would require
a realistic interpretation. Apart from that, it Cross-References
is not easy to see which kind of philosophical
arguments in fact support Radical Constructivism ▶ Constructive Theology
successfully. Thus, constructivist views of ▶ Epistemology
cognition, whether radical or moderate, global ▶ Pluralism (Religious)
or regional, cultural or naturalistic, seem to be ▶ Social Constructivism
Constructivism in Buddhism 489 C
References self-organization. In this theory, cognition, mind,
truth, and consciousness are no longer seen as
Glasersfeld, E. (1995). Radical constructivism. A way of something absolute, but emerge out of the flow
knowing and learning. London: The Falmer Press.
of material and energy in a process of constant
Goodman, S. (1978). Ways of worldmaking. Indianapolis:
Hackett. becoming. The basic assumptions of this
Kamlah, W., & Lorenzen, P. (1967). Logische Prop€ adeutik approach (Maturana and Varela 1987) are as
oder Vorschule des vern€ unftigen Redens; engl. (1984): follows: C
Logical propaedeutic. Pre-school of reasonable
1. Cognition is conceptualized as an embodied
discourse. Lanham: University Press of America.
Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions process that is based on the fact that organisms
(2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kuhn are intertwined with their environments
argued that paradigm shifts within science often are through their actions and perceptions. Each
not motivated by successful attempts at falsification or
individual organism actively produces its
other forms of scientific progress, but triggered by
social revolutions within scientific communities. own reality in the act of perception. “Every
Lorenzen, P. (1969). Einf€ uhrung in die operative Logik act of knowing brings forth a world.”
und Mathematik (2nd ed.). Berlin: Springer. (Maturana and Varela 1987: 26) There are as
Manturana, H., & Varela, F. (1992). The tree of knowledge:
many realities as there are different organisms.
The biological roots of human understanding. Boston:
Shambhala Publications. 2. An organism’s actions determine what it
Roth, G. (1997). Das Gehirn und sein Wirklichkeit. perceives. Perception shapes cognition and is
Kognitive Neurobiologie und ihre philosophischen encoded into the neurological structures of
Konsequenzen. Franktfurt a. M: Suhrkamp.
living organisms. In turn, their cognitive struc-
Schmidt, S. (1987). Der Diskurs des Radikalen Konstruk-
tivismus. Frankfurt a. M: Suhrkamp. ture shapes their actions. This self-referential
Schmidt, S. (1992). Kognition und Gesellschaft. Der circle of perception and action configures
Diskurs des Radikalen Konstruktivismus (2nd ed.). reality as in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Frankfurt a. M: Suhrkamp.
3. Different organisms link their behavior, lead-
ing to a qualitatively new form of behavior,
i.e., the production of signs that coordinate
behavior. The ability to use these signs in
Constructivism in Buddhism isolation from their immediate contexts results
in the development of a new domain of action-
Werner Vogd language. Words elicit words. Communica-
Department of Sociology, University tion elicits communication. Thus, along with
Witten/Herdecke, Witten, Germany language, the mind also develops primarily
from the process of forming social connec-
tions between organisms.
Related Terms In “languaging,” constructs such as the “I,”
“self,” “meaning,” “sense,” and “nonsense”
Enactivism and Buddhism; Neurobiological evolve. The associated human condition has an
constructivism and insight meditation inherent risk of deep alienation and the suffering
that goes with it. The alienation results from the
fact that the praxes of perception and action
Description become disconnected from the social and bodily
origins on which they depend. This gives rise to
Following recent developments in cybernetics an implicit ethical dimension. Love thus appears
and general systems theory (Ashby 1956; to be neither an abstract concept nor simply
Foerster 1981), in the 1980s an independent the- a form of sexual desire. Rather, it now appears
ory of biological epistemology was developed as the basic emotion that makes humans human.
in the cognitive sciences under the paradigm of In the words of Maturana and Varela:
C 490 Constructivism in Buddhism
What biology shows us is that the uniqueness of a scientific approach to the study of cognitive
being human lies exclusively in a social structural processes. Using this approach it is possible to
coupling that occurs through languaging, generat-
ing (a) the regularities proper to the human social relate controlled self-observation of awareness
dynamics, for example, individual identity and processes to the spatiotemporal patterns of
self-consciousness, and (b) the recursive social neuronal dynamics in a productive way (Petitot
human dynamics that entails a reflection enabling et al. 1999).
us to see that as human beings we have only the
world which we create with others – whether we Now, for the first time, a research program has
like them or not. Biology shows us that we can been developed that, in contrast to the research on
expand our cognitive domain. This arises through meditation carried out in the 1970s and 1980s,
a novel experience brought forth through reason- adheres to the true goals of Buddhist insight
ing, through the encounter with a stranger, or, more
directly, through the expression of a biological practice – i.e., the transformation of the self
interpersonal congruence that lets us see the other through self-knowledge. In almost all forms of
person and open up for him room for existence Buddhist meditation, mental concentration
beside us. This act is called love, or, if we prefer (samadhi) is not an end in itself, but simply
a milder expression, the acceptance of the other
person beside us in our daily living. This is the a means to gaining insight into the changeable
biological foundation of social phenomena: with- and therefore essenceless nature of the self (Lutz
out love, without acceptance of others living beside et al. 2007).
us, there is no social process and, therefore, no
humanness. (Maturana and Varela 1987: 246)
At the end of the 1980s, an interdisciplinary Self-identification

group of scientists working with Varela et al.
(1991) began to investigate to what extent Science
the epistemology and ethics of neurobiological Although some researchers of this school practice
constructivism and the concept of embodied or have practiced Buddhist meditation them-
cognition show parallels with Buddhism. selves, they see themselves mainly as scientists
Buddhist teachings, and in particular the who are serious about complying with the high
early Buddhist system of Theravada Buddhism, standards of scientific practice and reflection.
is also a self-referential epistemological system. Theories and concepts must stand the test of
In this view, it is also the perceiver himself critical discussion. Hypotheses derived from
who creates the conditions of his perceiving them must be expressed in a way that allows
and knowing, in his acts of perceiving and know- empirical falsification.
ing. In contrast to most of the Western epistemo-
logical systems, which have focused on the Religion
search for something invariate or constant, be it All forms of communication are considered to be
an immortal soul, a universal physical constant, biologically and socially constructed and must
or an absolute truth, here reality becomes some- therefore be seen as relative to an observer. This
thing dynamic that organizes itself in a process of kind of stance stands in fundamental contrast to
constant arising and passing away, a mental and all religious dogma that claims to be able to make
physical flow. Reality, perception, and mind statements about the Absolute. However, in
develop in a creative process of continuous its epistemological reflections, neurobiological
embodiment. constructivism is faced with problems of
A highly fruitful new research domain that form that are related to those encountered in
has become known as “neurophenomenology” mysticism. Like mystic reflection, it comes up
has developed out of the meeting between against the problem that it must assume the
neurobiological constructivism and Buddhist unity of a difference, but cannot observe this
insight practices. This new domain is learning to unity with the senses or describe it through the
take first-person methodologies seriously as medium of language.
Characteristics with Buddhism, the best authorities are teachers
who follow a tradition that places the emphasis
A new branch of research has emerged which is more on the practice of meditation than on theo-
linked to the name Thomas Metzinger and based retical issues.
on the perspective of analytical philosophy of
mind, which also has a certain affinity with
Buddhist insight practices. Here again we find Ethical Principles C
the notion that the I or self is an illusion (“nobody
ever had or was a self,” Metzinger 2004). The main principles and values are academic and
However, in contrast to the view presented here, intellectual integrity and the attempt to embed the
this model has shortcomings that prevent it from results of neuroscientific research and cognitive
satisfactorily integrating the phenomenological science in an overarching ethical framework.
perspective of conscious experiencing into
research.
There are also well-founded approaches Conceptualization
that bring together Buddhist insight
practice and Western cognitive science in psy- Nature/World
chology (e.g., Shapiro 1980) and neurology The world and nature are seen as the horizon of
(c.f. Austin’s (1999) excellent book). However, operationally closed cognitive systems. This
in terms of first-person methodologies, these horizon must be presupposed but can never be
approaches are not as well developed and theo- reached. Meaning can only refer to meaning.
retically consistent as that presented in this entry. Epistemically there is no access to the world
outside of the limits of meaning set by one’s
own cognitions. These limits can be expanded
Relevance to Science and Religion by training (e.g., by Buddhist meditation).
Dialogue with leaders of Buddhist schools is Human Being

actively sought. However, a strict logical differ- Human beings are conceived of as biological,
entiation is made between scientific and religious physical, and social phenomena. These three
descriptions (see, e.g., Varela and Engel 1998). spheres are seen as inextricably linked. Since
social praxes are seen as being embodied in the
body and brain, this inevitably results in
Sources of Authority an implicit ethical dimension. The human
mind – and therefore also happiness and unhap-
The research network of the neurobiological piness – is created by a person’s own insight
constructivists sees its foundations as being in practice. Love and compassion, understood as
the first and second generations of cybernetics, the feeling of permitting others to be worthy
which rendered it possible to give formal descrip- and accepted alongside oneself, thus appear
tions of recursive systems (Norbert Wiener, as a biologically inherent human potential for
William Ross Ashby, Gregory Bateson, Heinz self-transcendence.
von Foerster, etc.). The main authority on the
phenomenological perspective is Edmund Life and Death
Husserl, who developed and carried out In both neurobiological constructivism and
a program of scientifically based phenomenol- the early Buddhist scriptures, the process of
ogy. Among the neuroscientists we must mention becoming and thus also the process of becoming
all those who have continued to develop the conscious are described as a circular psychoso-
paradigm of connectivism. For the dialogue matic process. The inescapable consequence for
the process of becoming is that the actions of an conditionings that enable systems to cope
organism determine what it perceives. The mode with the world in their own specific ways in
of perception shapes the potential of future cog- accordance with the action tendencies that arise.
nition. Both are inscribed in the neurological
structure of the perceiving organism and Truth
influence its future being and experiencing. Truth is a sense operation of the social sphere
The Buddhist teachings describe this produced by communication in which knowledge
process as the law of dependent arising is labeled with the values “true” or “false.” The
(paticca-samuppāda). The mind determines possibility of an absolute, final truth is thus
the body; the body determines the mind. excluded for the domain of language.
Sense-based consciousness (viññana) gives rise Neurobiological constructivists must also
to the sensations (vedanā) in the body. The confront the circularity of their reasoning,
sensations produce a reaction (aversion or desire) which becomes a problem when the observer is
that is in accordance with earlier conditioning integrated. Attempts by the traditional epistemol-
of the mind (saññā), with meanings being ogies to clarify the role of the observer led to the
attributed to the sensations. This reaction has paradox of the subject-object problem. All
a corresponding effect (sankhāra). As a result of attempts of a subject to make itself an object are
this effect, a new sense-based consciousness doomed to failure, since the object is now in fact
arises. In sankhāra, the process of the mind the subject and the explanation thus collapses
“forming” and “being formed” is embodied. into either a paradox or a tautology. What
In a continuous process of becoming, mind mate- remains, in the final analysis, is only the subject’s
rializes itself and is manifested as a physical attempt to substantiate itself. However, to do so it
structure (nāma-rūpa). The physical body with would have to be able to step outside of itself – to
its cognitive capacities and its environment thus assume an objective position – which is impossi-
appears as the embodiment of past mind-body ble, since the world can only be observed within
reaction patterns and at the same time creates the world.
the conditions for the future process of the mind. Although those who support this position con-
The Buddhist concept of rebirth assumes sider it to be science, scientific theory-building in
that this process does not cease at death, but is the domain of constructivist epistemology can
perpetuated via a never-ending chain of further no longer be justified using a general “Logic of
subsequent life forms. At the current state of the Scientific Discovery” (Karl. R. Popper). Even
art, neurobiological constructivism does not have if this had not already been clear before, the
any evidence for reincarnation. Its descriptions foundational theories developed by the mathema-
thus refer only to the cognitive nexus of the tician Gödel show that if a logical system
mind-body processes of a single biological, attempts to prove itself, this must inevitably
human individual. result in contradictions. However, since science
is obviously empirically successful even without
Reality demonstrating its logical consistency, the ques-
Reality is nothing other than the operation of tion of its justification must be turned round. How
operationally closed systems in the space of the does science still manage to generate its subject
present. However, reality cannot be accessed matter and truths – and answers to the question as
directly by observation or communication, but to its own means of gaining insight – if they are
can only be described or deduced in retrospect. no longer justifiable by transcendental reasoning
(Kant) or logic? The answer to this question is
Knowledge revealed by the instruction “observe the
Knowledge is a sphere of sense operations observer” or, for science as a system, “how sys-
produced by communication in which models of tems form due to the observation of observations”
reality develop. These models or programs are (Luhmann 1998, my translation). Thus, circular
justifications are now admissible, which are an However, the secret of consciousness has there-
important innovation in comparison to classical fore still not yet been revealed. The supporters of
epistemology. As in “naturalized epistemology” this research tradition generally assume that
(Willard V.O. Quine), it is now accepted that consciousness cannot be conceived of as an
assumptions regarding the premises of knowing entity located within the brain. Rather, it is
can themselves be influenced by empirical assumed that consciousness must be understood
research. The principles and premises of the as a process and is not therefore to be found at C
research itself can therefore be conditioned by a distinct location (cf. Cosmelli and Thompson
the social praxis of research. We thus arrive at 2010). Here consciousness is seen neither as
an eigen theory of the process of knowing that has a thing nor as a “something,” but as an emergent
the task of explaining how insight develops out phenomenon which arises out of a relational
of itself and finally renders self-understanding dynamic that generates itself. This position is
possible. The result is an epistemology in which consistent with Buddhist teachings, according to
the traditional subject-object distinction becomes which beyond the law of dependent arising
secondary, the focus shifting instead to the pro- (paticca-samuppāda), there is no substrate of
cess of the development of cognition and insight. a soul or essential personality.
The question is now no longer “What is the
observer?” but “How does the observer arise?” Rationality/Reason
The experiencing subject and the objects of In both neurobiological constructivism and
perception and knowledge are therefore now no Buddhism, human rationality is seen as
longer considered to be something substantial or a precondition for being able to know oneself.
absolute, but appear to create each other in Nonhuman animals do not have the capacity to
a dynamic process of emerging observation. reflect upon their own process of self-knowledge.
The task of a complete eigen theory of
knowledge is to show, consistently with our Mystery
empirical experience, how the process of gaining The epistemologies of the Buddhist teachings and
insight into a reality creates a reality in which radical constructivism have two implications
self-understanding is possible. which distinguish these two systems radically
from most other philosophical or religious
Perception systems:
Perception is understood as a process in which an 1. In neither of these systems of thought, there is
organism or system permits itself to be perturbed a fully explicated absolute truth or an explicit
and provoked into action by the environment in meaning to our experience. All attempts
accordance with its own cognitive structures and to determine a truth with absolute validity
reaction patterns. are rejected by these two systems as an
illusion. Maturana and Varela speak of the
Time nonteleological nature of all biological forms,
Cognitive systems are time-based systems which and the Buddhist teachings repeatedly empha-
generate certain rhythms and therefore their own size the essenceless and lack of substance of all
system times through their own operations. The our sensory and cognitive processes.
present appears not as a point but as an extended 2. There is an unexpected depth dimension to
structure within physical time (cf. Varela 1999). groundlessness, the nonrational basis of our
being. An implicit order is revealed in human
Consciousness existence that is beyond all external prescripts
Neurophenomenological studies have demon- and rules. The biology of incarnation
strated that there are structural parallels contains an ethical dimension, according to
between the dynamics of neuronal processes which love is recognized as the implicit basis
and the change in the contents of consciousness. of human praxis. In Buddhist teachings,
the spiritual dimension of human existence and discontent and also feelings such as guilt and
is realized as loving kindness (mettā) and alienation arise. When we are attached to these
compassionate love. states, the gap between being and experiencing
For neurobiological constructivism, the mys- increases. Openness toward others (the Mitwelt)
tery of life is manifested implicitly in our know- is eclipsed by our aspirations to the confirmation
ing how we know. One can transcend one’s own of our concepts. Our actions are simply guided by
being by understanding on a deep level that mind the egocentric motives of the fantasy worlds of
is not to be conceived of as different from the our “egos.” In the Buddhist view, the solution to
relational matrix actualized through one’s own this dilemma lies in “destroying the ego,” the
life praxis. interfering factor that prevents us from being
In contrast, the goal of the Buddhist teachings in contact with reality. The separation between
is to completely overcome human suffering as subject and object falls away, and action and
expressed in the “four noble truths” (catvāri perception are once more in harmony. The ethics
āryasatyāni): the truth of suffering (dukkha), the are implicit in the living of this unity. They are
truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end lived in the awareness that all phenomena exist
of suffering, and the truth of the path that frees us only in relation to other phenomena. In Buddhist
from suffering. On a superficial level, the truth terminology the three “sublime attitudes”
of suffering appears to be the overcoming of (brahma-vihāra) are termed mettā, muditā, and
uncertain social conditions, illness, death, karunā, which can be roughly translated as loving
etc. However, in the Buddhist doctrine, the truth kindness, empathetic joy, and compassion.
of suffering has another, deeper dimension, Here the knower becomes aware of the relativity
which only becomes evident in the deep experi- of his/her own reality and beliefs. The idea of an
ence of anattā (not self), the experience of the inherent and independent soul is replaced
essencelessness of all phenomena. In anattā we by insight into the relational dynamics of
find that all attempts to introduce some kind of one’s own consciousness. At this level the
meaning inevitably find their antithesis in the meditative practices of self-awareness are no
reality of impermanence – i.e., finally in longer seen as a withdrawal from responsibility
death. Only in the experience of anicca toward the world, but lead to a new openness to
(impermanence), the inconstancy of all being, the Mitwelt.
does the ethical dimension of the Buddhist With the attainment of nibbāna (in Sanskrit
teachings become comprehensible. Since our “nirvana”), the Buddhist teachings assume
strivings cannot have a final goal – since any that there is experience that is beyond dependent
goal would unavoidably dissolve in the absolute co-arising. In the Dhammapada we read, for
certainty of death – the ethical gain of any action instance
must lie in itself. All actions must be perfect,
A monk with his mind at peace,
without any vestige of a transcendental expecta- going into an empty dwelling,
tion or a meaning beyond the lived reality. The clearly seeing the Dhamma [law of nature] aright:
author of the action must become completely at his delight is more than human.
one with his experience. Any vestiges of a desire However it is,
however it is he touches
for something that is not being lived can never be the arising-and-passing of aggregates:
fulfilled, nor can lingering aversion to what he gains rapture and joy:
has been lived be discharged. The past is that, for those who know it,
gone forever. is deathless,
the Deathless.
Only in the conceptual vacuum of the (Dhammapada 373/374, Translation: Venerable
“ego-self” (attā) does the claim to having had Thanissaro)
a life other than the one that has been lived
appear. It is out of this discrepancy that all the Since according to Buddhist doctrine, the
neurotic constructs of bitterness, disappointment, experience of nibbāna lies beyond both the
Contemplation 495 C
five senses and all conceptual ideas, it cannot References
be captured in scientific terminology. Thus, the
reality of nibbāna cannot be scientifically proven, Ashby, W. R. (1956). An introduction to cybernetics.
New York: Wiley.
and thus, it cannot be confused with the states of
Austin, J. H. (1999). Zen and the brain. Cambridge, MA/
deep contemplation experienced by meditators, London: MIT Press.
which are now demonstrable using the imaging Cosmelli, D., & Thompson, E. (2010). Embodiment or
procedures of modern neuroscience. envatment? Reflections on the bodily basis for con- C
sciousness. In J. Steward, O. Gapenne, & E. di Paolo
(Eds.), Enaction: Towards a new paradigm for cogni-
tive science (pp. S. 361–S. 386). Cambridge, MA: MIT
Relevant Themes Press.
Foerster, H. V. (1981). Observing systems: Selected
papers of Heinz von Foerster. Seaside: Intersystems
Comparison of neurobiological constructivism
Publications.
and Buddhist doctrine has proved fruitful in Luhmann, N. (1998). Die Wissenschaft der Gesellschaft.
many ways. Also for those who would wish to Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
view Buddhism as a religion, the Buddhist teach- Lutz, A., Dunne, J. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2007). Medita-
tion and the neuroscience of consciousness: An intro-
ings can, to some extent, be seen as compatible
duction. In P. D. Zelazo, M. Moscovitch, & E.
with the neuroscientific worldview. The Thompson (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of con-
doctrine of the nonexistence of the soul is highly sciousness (pp. S. 499–S. 551). New York: Cambridge
consistent with several positions within the phi- University Press.
Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (1987). The tree of
losophy of mind and the cognitive sciences. Bud-
knowledge: The biological roots of human understand-
dhism would seem to be an interesting dialogue ing. Boston: Shambhala.
partner precisely because it can help not only to Metzinger, T. (2004). Being no one. The self-model theory
develop a new ethical position that is far from of subjectivity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Petitot, J., Varela, F. J., & Pachoud, B. (1999). Naturaliz-
nihilistic but also to create hopeful basis in our
ing phenomenology: Issues in contemporary phenom-
lifeworlds that might help us to become recon- enology and cognitive science. Stanford: Stanford
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merely an epistemic misconception. To quote Shapiro, D. H. (1980). Meditation. Self-regulating strategy
and altered state of consciousness. New York: Aldine.
Francisco Varela:
Varela, F. J. (1999). The specious present:
At very least, the journey of Buddhism to A neurophenomenology of time consciousness. In J.
the West provides some of the resources we Petitot, F. J. Varela, & B. Pachoud (Eds.), Naturalizing
need to pursue consistently our own cultural and phenomenology: Issues in contemporary phenomenol-
ogy and cognitive science (pp. S. 266–S. 314).
scientific premises to the point where we no
Stanford: Stanford University Press.
longer need and desire foundations and so can Varela, F. J., & Engel, J. (1998). Sleeping, dreaming, and
take up the further tasks of building and dying: An exploration of consciousness with the Dalai
dwelling in worlds without ground (Varela et al. Lama. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
Varela, F. J., Thompson, E., & Rosch, E. (1991). The
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embodied mind. Cognitive science and human experi-
ence. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Cross-References
▶ Buddhist Meditation Practices

Consummation
▶ Consciousness
▶ Eschatology
▶ Cybernetics
▶ Emergence, Theories of
▶ Neuroscience
▶ Phenomenology Contemplation
▶ Psychology in Buddhism
▶ Science in Buddhism ▶ Buddhist Meditation Practices
C 496 Contemplative
Contemplative Control Theory (Cybernetics)
Andrea Hollingsworth Matilde Santos

Department of Religion and Philosophy, Berry Department of Computer Architecture and
College, Mount Berry, GA, USA Automatic Control, Computer Science Faculty,
Facultad de Informática, Universidad
Complutense De Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Of or related to contemplation – that is, the act of
focusing one’s attention upon something in a
thoughtful, purposeful, and sustained manner. In Related Terms
Christian traditions contemplation, often involves
intentional reflection upon one’s own inner expe- Automation; Control theory; Cybernetics;
riences for the purposes of gaining a more pro- Man-machine; Regulation
found understanding of the self, the world, and
God. Other rituals of devotion often accompany
Christian contemplation; examples include prayer, Description
chanting, the reading of scripture, and specific
body positions such as bowing on one’s knees. Control theory is an interdisciplinary branch of
engineering and mathematics that deals with the
behavior of dynamical systems. When one or
more output variables of a system need to follow
Contemplative Neuroscience a certain desired reference over time, a controller
manipulates the inputs to a system to obtain the
▶ Meditation-Research desired effect on the output of the system
(▶ Action Control).
Cybernetics is closely related to control theory
and systems theory. It is the interdisciplinary
Contemporary Biology study of the structure of regulatory systems. The
term “cybernetics” was coined in 1948 by
▶ Biology American mathematician Norbert Wiener
(1894–1964) from Gk. kybernetes “steersman”
perhaps based on 1830s French cybernétique
“the art of governing” (Wiener 1948). Both of
Context
them became a discipline of their own right in the
middle of the twentieth century. Today, control
▶ Ecological Psychology
theory and cybernetics are developing automatic
devices applicable to physical and social systems.
Departments and subjects on those topics are
Control nowadays in most of the universities.
▶ Automation, Electronic
Self-Identification
Science
Control Theory Although control systems of various types date
back to antiquity, a more formal analysis of the
▶ Control Theory (Cybernetics) field began with a dynamics analysis of the
Control Theory (Cybernetics) 497 C
centrifugal governor, conducted by the physicist as separate disciplines are artificial intelligence,
James Clerk Maxwell in 1868. This generated neural networks, systems theory, and chaos
a flurry of interest in the topic. But it could be theory, but the boundaries between those and
said that the paradigm of control theory and cyber- cybernetics proper are not precise.
netics are self-identified as scientific disciplines
since the early middle of the twentieth century.
Contemporary cybernetics began as an inter- Relevance to Science and Religion C
disciplinary study connecting the fields of control
systems, electrical network theory, mechanical Control theory sees itself as a scientific endeavor
engineering, logic modeling, evolutionary with the aim to enhance the knowledge about
biology, and neuroscience (▶ Neuroscience) in where action by the system causes some change
the 1940s. Early work sought to define and in its environment and that change is fed to
apply principles by which systems may be con- the system via information (feedback) that causes
trolled. More recent work has attempted to under- the system to adapt to these new conditions:
stand how systems describe themselves, control The system’s changes affect its behavior. In that
themselves, and organize themselves. The ideas broad sense, there is some growing interest in
were soon related to biology. This branch of explaining human behavior from a mechanistic
science concerned not only with control systems point of view (Mechanism) but the possible reli-
in electronic and mechanical devices but with its gious implications are weak.
extension to useful comparisons and application Although there is a link between cybernetics,
to man-made and biological systems. culture, and human behavior, very little work in
cybernetics has centered on the application of this
Religion theory to human behavior. Instead, it has focused
Cybernetics explores theories of self-reference to on technological advances in electronic and
understand such phenomena as autonomy, iden- mechanical engineering.
tity, and purpose, and emphasizes with some
human and social concerns. In fact, some cyber-
neticians seek to create a more humane world, Sources of Authority
while others seek merely to understand how peo-
ple and their environment have coevolved. As a branch of the engineering closely related to
other empirical sciences, control theory finds the
sources of authority in empirical data, repeatable
Characteristics experiments, and publication in peer-reviewed
papers and textbooks. Their authority is
Cybernetics is distinguished from other self-derived by the peer-review process and
disciplines such as physics or chemistry because from the underlying assumption of engineering
it treats not things but ways of behaving. It does that empirical data are the most reliable means
not ask “what is this thing?” or “why does it of proving any statement about the behavior of
behave like that?” but “what does it do?” and any system.
“what can it do?” Because numerous systems in As a second source of authority, there have
the living, social, and technological world may be been many good researchers who have influenced
understood in this way, cybernetics cuts across the establishment of these theories. Besides, there
many traditional disciplinary boundaries. are many national and international scientific
The concepts which cyberneticians develop thus organizations such as The Cybernetics Society
form a metadisciplinary language through which of the UK (2012) or The American Society for
we may better understand and modify our world. Cybernetics (2012). In addition to those societies,
Related recent developments (often referred to there are many scientific fora for addressing spe-
as sciences of complexity) that are distinguished cific research topics such as the IEEE Systems,
C 498 Control Theory (Cybernetics)
Man and Cybernetics Society (2012), IFAC, Control theory can model and analyze some of
etc. These organizations run their regular these processes.
scientific meetings and in the majority have
their own scientific journals. These organizations Life and Death
show increasing numbers of members. Life is a dynamic process of a complex system,
let us say human or any other kind of organic
being. Death occurs when that process stops.
Ethical Principles
Reality
On the one hand, control theory places emphasis Reality is considered the physical world around
on how the behavior of complex system is us that humans can observe and measure.
influenced by those very systems, trying
to describe and explain it in a (mathematical) Knowledge
analytical way (▶ Complex Systems). It brings The results of the scientific study of any process,
together theories and studies on communication in accordance with the feedback information that
and control not only in machines but in living takes place in any regulation system.
organisms. From this point of view, there can be
ethical implications that can be derived from the Truth
consequences of human actions, taking human The rules that so far explain the dynamic behavior
being as complex systems. of the processes.
On the other hand, disciplines that involve
scientific research demand experiments that Perception
should be repeated and confirmed/refuted The observations and measurements of any prop-
without making any harmful impact on humans erty or parameter that takes place in the universe.
and environment. For a person to sense environmental changes
there must be some reference point in his think-
ing, sensing, or perception which is addressed
Key Values and then compared with some newer sensory
information.
Control theory and cybernetics have developed
a concern for how a wide range of processes, Time
including those involving people and Time is the fundamental dimensions of reality
work. Another key value of control is that of that makes a process change dynamically.
regulation, using feedback information from the Control theory aims to explain the changes in
system itself, in order to reach or acquire time of the behavior of a system.
a desired behavior.
Consciousness
There is not any conceptualization of this term
Conceptualization from the control theory point of view.
Nature/World Rationality/Reason
Nature entertains all dynamic processes in There is not any conceptualization of this term
the observable environment, including the from the control theory point of view.
interdependence relations between them.
Mystery
Human Being There is not any conceptualization of this term
The human being is considered as a complex from the control theory point of view. Even if this
system with many regulation processes. discipline could acknowledge in principle a place
Conversation Analysis 499 C
for mystery, it means something that could IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society. (2012).
be potentially understood applying adequate http://isye.gatech.edu/ieee-smc/. Accessed 2012.
Wiener, N. (1948). Cybernetics, or control and communi-
scientific knowledge. cation in the animal and the machine. New York:
Wiley.
Wiener, N. (1954). The human use of human beings:
Relevant Themes Cybernetics and society. New York: Da Capo Press.
C
With the development of new techniques,
especially those that come from the artificial
intelligence paradigm (▶ Artificial Intelligence, Conversation Analysis
General), the control has evolved. From classical
or conventional control to intelligent controllers, Angela Cora Garcia
leaving behind the so-called modern control, this Department of Sociology, Department of Global
new approach tries to emulate intelligent func- Studies, Bentley University, Waltham, MA, USA
tionalities of living beings. Ethical questions
about the limits to science and technology arise
from those advances. Critical issues such as intel- Related Terms
ligent machines, if machines will be able to repro-
duce the crucial capacities of human being, or if Critical discourse analysis; Discourse analysis;
these intelligent devices will be able to think are Discursive psychology
posed. So far, it has been proved that automatic
control means machines that learn, but how far While there are no exact synonyms for conversa-
will this go? tion analysis, some scholars are working in
Besides, another ethical implication is that closely related traditions such as discourse anal-
theoretically, every living system has some influ- ysis or discursive psychology. The term conver-
ence on every other system in large or small sation analysis originally was developed to apply
ways. to the ethnomethodological study of talk in inter-
Finally, Wiener popularized the social impli- action initially developed by Harvey Sacks
cations of cybernetics drawing analogies between (1992) and others, and which grew out of the
automatic systems and human institutions in ethnomethodological perspective developed by
his book The Human Use of Human Beings: Harold Garfinkel (1967). The term conversation
Cybernetics and Society (Wiener 1954). analysis has since come to be used by some
others studying interaction from non-
ethnomethodological frameworks as well. This
Cross-References terminological ambiguity does cause some con-
fusion when searching for research in the area of
▶ Action Control conversation analysis and determining which
▶ Artificial Intelligence, General research is ethnomethodological conversation
▶ Complex Systems analysis and which has its roots in other
▶ Neuroscience perspectives.
Description
References
Conversation analysis is a qualitative approach to
American Society for Cybernetics. (2012). http://asc-
cybernetics.org/. Accessed 2012.
the study of talk in interaction which developed
Cybernetics Society of UK. (2012). http://cybsoc.org. out of the ethnomethodological perspective orig-
Accessed 2012. inated by Harold Garfinkel (1967). The goal of
C 500 Conversation Analysis
conversation analysis is to discover how partici- interpretation of what that action means in the
pants create social order and social organization context it occurs within.
through talk in interaction. Harvey Sacks (1984, Sacks (1984) notes that ethnomethodology is
1992) decided to study talk because it was a form a “natural observational science.” By studying
of social behavior that could be audio or video the methods and procedures people use to create
recorded, thus allowing for repeated direct obser- interactions, we can develop a “grammar” of
vation of how participants acted and responded to social action that explains the rules of
the actions of others. While early research in constructing interactions in a wide range of set-
conversation analysis primarily focused on infor- tings and contexts. Sacks (1992) argues that inter-
mal conversations between acquainted persons action is orderly because people use shared
(referred to as “ordinary” conversation), it has methods for constructing their actions (see also
developed and expanded over recent decades to Heritage 1987).
include studies of talk in a wide range of institu- The Sacks et al. (1974) analysis of turn taking
tional and organizational settings, including talk in ordinary conversation described arguably the
in legal, medical, educational, political, and busi- most important organizing principles of face-to-
ness contexts. face interaction – how participants in an interac-
While what people are talking about, the tion accomplish and coordinate the exchange of
“subject matter” of talk, is typically of interest turns at talk. Many researchers consider the turn-
both to the participants and to social scientists, for taking system of ordinary conversation a basic set
conversation analysts the subject matter of an of organizing procedures which are then adjusted
interaction cannot be separated from an under- to form all of the other types of interactions.
standing of the procedures used to create the Adjacency pairs are two turn sequences (such as
interaction. Participants display their understand- questions and answers or invitations and their
ing of the interaction via their actions, and use acceptance or rejection) which enable partici-
their knowledge of the shared procedures used to pants to influence actions beyond their own
create and organize talk in interaction to interpret turn and which can be combined in a variety of
the actions of others. The sequential context of ways to produce more complex actions. In addi-
utterances (the words spoken in a turn at talk) is tion, routine mechanisms for “repair” of prob-
critically important for this interpretive process. lems in talk are available to participants
The context includes the immediately prior utter- (Jefferson 1974), enabling them to restore mutual
ance as well as earlier parts of the interaction. understanding and coordination of talk when it
According to Garfinkel (1967), human action has has broken down.
the property of reflexivity; the interaction that is Conversation analytic studies are almost
produced is also the mechanism through which always based on naturally occurring interactions
participants create their social roles and the insti- because the goal is to study what people actually
tutional context they are interacting within do rather than artificial reconstructions or simu-
(Heritage 1984). lations of interaction. Conversation analysis
Sacks (1992) advised conversation analysts to involves the detailed analysis of audio or video
ask “why that now” when trying to understand recordings which are transcribed using a unique
a particular segment of talk. Human action occurs system developed by Gail Jefferson (1984). This
in real time, in specific instances and occasions. transcription system preserves the details of the
In short, action is situated action, not decontex- talk and how it was produced (including timing,
tualized action. Thus when we examine human simultaneous speech, repetitions, intonation, vol-
action, we discover that it is impossible to speak ume, and idiosyncratic pronunciations, among
about “cause and effect” relationships between other characteristics). Heritage (1987) notes that
actions because the relationship between human social action works not in spite of but because of
action is not deterministic, and people decide its details. Nonverbal behaviors, such as facial
how to respond to actions based on an expressions and gaze direction, and the use of
Conversation Analysis 501 C
settings and artifacts (e.g., documents, tools, or approach to the analysis of collections of data. He
technology), are also critical components of collected about 500 examples of telephone call
human action. Conversation analysts take these openings. At first glance, the called party’s
behaviors into account, either using a system for “hello” when they pick up the phone looks like
transcribing such behaviors onto the transcript or the beginning of the conversation, and it also
viewing the videotape and noting such behaviors looks like a greeting. But Schegloff noticed that
as relevant for the analysis. the called person’s “hello” lets the caller know C
Conversation analysts believe that discoveries that they have the phone at their ear and are now
can be best made by direct observation of social available for interaction. This “hello” is therefore
action rather than through a priori theory devel- the second turn in the interaction, not the first, and
opment and hypothesis testing. Sacks’ (1984) is an answer to the summons (the ringing of the
argument is that as scientists, we are limited in phone), rather than a greeting. Schegloff was able
terms of what we can hypothesize by what we can to discover this phenomenon by observing
imagine. However, social life is much more com- a “deviant case” in which the phone rang and
plex than we could imagine, so a deductive someone picked it up but did not speak. After
hypothesis-generation approach will not effec- a brief pause, the caller (instead of the person
tively lead us toward knowledge about how par- called) said “hello” in an attempt to elicit
ticipants construct their actions in everyday life. a response from the called party. Schegloff
Instead, we use direct observation as a basis for (1979) concluded that if the called person does
theorizing (Heritage 1987). By observing human not speak, the caller can speak first and use their
behavior directly, we can develop accurate theo- turn at talk to repair the absence of the called
ries about how people coordinate their actions party’s response. What is important here is that
and create intersubjective understanding. Schegloff was not making a statistical argument
Social scientific research that relies on (e.g., in 499 out of 500 calls, the called person
a positivist approach uses theory building and speaks first), but an analytical argument which
testing via a deductive process involving the incorporated all 500 excerpts, even the so-called
creation of hypotheses about the social world. deviant case. The deviant case in which the caller
Typically, statistical techniques are used to spoke first still displayed an orientation to the rule
test hypotheses; these techniques rely on system- that the called party should speak first. Conver-
atically derived samples from the population of sation analysts also sometimes use the single case
interest. However, conversation analysts are not method. Single case analysis involves applying
making statistical arguments about the relation- current conversation analytic knowledge to the
ships between variables they are studying actual understanding and explication of a single
behavior. Whether and how a given action is instance of interaction, often one which is prob-
related to a subsequent action depends on its use lematic in nature. A single case analysis can be an
in the local context and is visible through direct effective diagnostic technique to discover the
observation of the interaction itself and of partic- source of communication problems in specific
ipants’ responses to that action. Because of this, situations, to find ways of avoiding or repairing
the data sets used in conversation analytic these types of problems. For example, Whalen
research are described as “collections” rather et al. (1988) analyze an emergency call to the
than samples. police in which the caller became embroiled in
Conversation analysts collect examples of, an argument with the call taker which prevented
observe closely, and attempt to categorize or them from successfully completing the business
describe conversational events in a way that of the call (sending an ambulance).
makes their social organization (the procedures In sum, while ethnomethodology and conver-
used to create them) visible. For example, sation analysis are very different from traditional
Schegloff’s (1979) paper on telephone call open- sociology, they are profoundly sociological in
ings is generally held up as an example of an ideal their purpose and the subject matter of their
C 502 Conversion
research. The extensive use of conversation ana- ethnomethodology (pp. 23–78). New York: Irvington
lytic methods to study talk in workplace interac- Press.
Whalen, J., Zimmerman, D. H., & Whalen, M. (1988).
tions and other organizational and professional When words fail: A single case analysis. Social Prob-
settings has produced research with direct appli- lems, 35(4), 335–362.
cability to the improvement of the work done in
those settings (see Heritage and Clayman 2010
for examples).
Conversion
Cross-References
Jakub Cigán
▶ Collective Behavior Department for the Study of Religions, Faculty of
▶ Constructivism (Philosophy of Mind) Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
▶ Knowledge, Sociology of
▶ Narrative Psychology
▶ Natural Language Processing Related Terms
▶ Organizational Behavior
▶ Phenomenology Religious affiliation; Religious commitment
▶ Philosophy of Language
▶ Psycholinguistics
▶ Social Psychology Description
Conversion is surely one the most intriguing and

controversial issues in social sciences and
References humanities still resisting universal definition or
theory. Already in 1908, George Jackson had
Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in ethnomethodology. Engle-
wood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. clearly stated that conversion resists all “stan-
Heritage, J. (1984). Garfinkel and ethnomethodology. dardization” (Snow-Machalek 1984). Eighty
Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. years later, Thomas Robbins noted exactly the
Heritage, J. (1987). Ethnomethodology. In A. Giddens &
same by saying that conversion studies consist
J. Turner (Eds.), Social theory today (pp. 224–272).
Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. “of multiple confusions related to divergent pre-
Heritage, J., & Clayman, S. E. (2010). Talk in action: mises, conceptual frameworks, nomenclature and
Interactions, identities, and institutions. Chichester: behavioural referents have employed by
Wiley-Blackwell.
Jefferson, G. (1974). Error correction as an interactional
researchers” (Robbins 1988). The current situa-
resource. Language in Society, 13(2), 181–199. tion is not much different as there are no
Jefferson, G. (1984). Transcript notation. In J. M. systematic programs of methodologically sophis-
Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social ticated research on conversion (Hood et al. 2009).
action: Studies in conversation analysis (pp. ix–xvi).
One could say that conversion is simply
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Sacks, H. (1984). Notes on methodology. In J. M. a religious change, but in what sense religious,
Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social and what is the subject of the change? Conversion
action: Studies in conversation analysis (pp. 21–27). studies have no disciplinary autonomy. Conver-
Sacks, H. (1992). Lectures in conversation. Oxford: Basil
sion studies are represented by a bundle of vari-
Blackwell. ous methods and approaches grouped under
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). ambivalent concept of conversion depending on
A simplest systematics for the organization of turn- authors’ varied philosophical and theoretical
taking for conversation. Language, 50, 696–735.
Schegloff, E. A. (1979). Identification and recognition
affiliations and concerns. We, scholars of reli-
in telephone conversation openings. In gion, need to pay attention to what way we con-
G. Psathas (Ed.), Everyday language: Studies in ceptualize conversion into assumptions we adopt
Conversion 503 C
and methods we use and in what ways our theo- was now held as a category of religion and reli-
ries reflect our own intuition cultural pattern, and gious experience. This is most apparent in early
sociopolitical intention. As the term conversion is psychological conversion studies, but also present
not a universal concept, it is hard to expect in conversion studies in general.
a theory free from the term’s own history, cultural
origins, and usages in particular religious and
sociocultural contexts. Also as an analytic tool, Early Psychological Conversion Studies C
conversion is often hardly useful in empirical
research. Scholars engage conversion solely in The first scientific psychology paper dealing
a retrospective manner, and theories and models with conversion was published in 1896 by
are often based on converts’ first-hand reports. James Henry Leuba, shortly followed by others
(William James, Edwin Diller Starbuck,
Granville Stanley Hall). There was a strong
Changing the Conversion Concept connection between early psychological theoriz-
ing about conversion and Protestant theology
The Latin word “convertere” (to revolve, turn linked to (1) uncritical adoption of theological
around) connected with Greek words “strepho” terms and concepts which were treated as sci-
and “epistrepho” or “metanoia” from the New entific, (2) overemphasizing the essential nature
Testament, refers to a positive state or process of of religious experience (conversion) as the heart
committing oneself to new community, beliefs, of religion and its sole positive outcome, (3) sep-
and rituals in Judeo-Christian context (Flinn arating conversion from other social
1999). In the European Middle Ages, conversion and cultural aspects of human life leading to a
was predominantly related to the religious intensi- broadly criticized sui generis approach
fication of one’s piety and religiousness in and phenomenology of religion, and
a context of a monastic life, or to conversion of (4) overestimating the solely private character
Jews and Muslims to Christianity. After the spread of religious experience and giving preference to
of Protestantism and distortion of medieval Church introspection. The sui generis approach holds
universality, conversion gained more individual that religion (and religious experience) has its
character and became associated with a self- own inherent essence and cannot be reduced to
authenticating, intense, “newborn” experience anything else. Since religion is a wholly differ-
gauranteeing personal and collective religious ent and unique phenomenon neglected from the
revival leading to a switch to a christian denomi- cultural and social reality, it deserves its own
nation and distinguishing one as a “real Christian.” category, different research methods, and under-
Classical conversion forms of Christian Protestant standing. James privileged religious experience
life fully emerged after European Christian denom- over the other constituents of religion (group,
inations flourished in American colonies, empha- doctrine, or practice) and considered conversion
sizing a personal experience of God’s saving grace. as universal, one of the most genuine and
In spite of many ways of using this term in various authentic religious experiences. In his view,
Christian streams, conversion as a sudden and dra- conversion is a matter of adolescent psychol-
matic religious change leading the individual to a ogy, an event of self-unification that was always
Christian community of believers has been pre- highly positive for the subject. This focus on the
served. Constructing conversion in religious stud- positive relationship between the conversion
ies is primarily a Christian, or more precisely, and mental and physical health, self-esteem,
Protestant heritage. It was only later that conver- and well-being is characteristic of psychological
sion was discovered in religions under the disput- conversion study till present-day. Conversion is
able label of “world religions,” like Buddhism or by definition a positive change, and there is
Islam. What was previously held about Christianity little interest among scholars in the negative
as unique and dramatically different from others religious change.
C 504 Conversion
Sociological Conversion Studies The Way We Talk About Conversion
After a period of domination psychology in con- Despite significant theoretical shifts, conversion
version studies followed by a short silence soci- as a radical transformation of identity or orien-
ology came into play. This was caused by the tation has been preserved by a distinguishing
emergence of a very popular but scientifically between profound, permanent change and less
useless and fallacious brainwashing models serious, noncomplex, and reversible alternations
(Robert Jay Lifton, Edgar Schein) and new reli- (Arthur Nock, David Gordon). These dichoto-
gious movements (NRMs). Sociology with its mies enable a differentiation between many
gradual-vanishing-of-religion paradigm was sur- types of religious changes, but they are not
prised and fascinated by NRMs’ broad social able to tell us how much change one needs for
impact. This brought new issues into conversion to take place. They define
the spotlight. Sociological conversion research what conversion is not in more detail than
was predominantly focused on religion and what it is. Some authors (David Snow, Richard
▶ socialization processes (Jeffrey Hadden, Machalek, James Beckford) stressed the need
Theodore Long), deprivation (strain) theories for certain empirical indicators of conversion
(Rodney Stark, William S. Bainbridge), and social and criticized scholars’ uncritical reliance on
nonconformity issues (John Lofland). Broadly converts’ stories, thus ignoring the situational
used drift models (John Lofland, Rodney Stark, context of these linguistic expressions, since
James Downtown), which assumed a step-by-step converts’ verbal accounts are always retrospec-
conversion process gradually fulfilled by active tive and there is no way to study conversion
individual, showed that there is nothing special “live.” Resulting models and theories are “ideal
about conversion. It definitely lost its solely indi- typical natural histories” of a particular reli-
vidual psychological character based on a univer- gious group and its adherents, not causal models
sal religious experience category, and it started to of the conversion process. A neophyte tries to
be treated primarily as a social process related to establish herself as full-blown member; she
group membership, commitment, ideological affil- learns how to express and talk about her own
iations, or recruitment efforts of crucial impor- experiences in accordance with the movement’s
tance to established social networks. The rationale (Snow-Machalek 1983). This reflects
universal Jamesian “core experience” behind cul- the narrative approach to religious experience in
turally conditioned expressions was being chal- sociology (David Yamane) and conversion
lenged. Facing various non-Christian religious studies (Peter L. Stromberg).
movements, conversion failed to maintain its
homogenous nature based on the Pauline model
and lost its “once and for all” character. These Current Approaches to Conversion
facts quite seriously damaged the perennial
assumptions about conversion, mainly its auton- In psychological conversion studies, psychoanalyt-
omy and distinctive religious nature. On the other ical approaches were established (Chana Ulmann),
hand, conversion seemed to be an issue too com- ▶ meaning-system analysis, which refers to the
plicated to assign to an unstable category of mem- analysis of interactive set of person’s cognitive,
bership (Arthur Greil, David Rudy), and “drift affective, behavioral, and motivational elements
models” were valid only in the specific religious (self-perception and identity life purposes, attitudes
historical contexts of particular religious and values, concepts, attributes, goals, sensitivities,
movements. Later on, scholars’ concern shifted ultimate concerns, etc.) that are undergoing change
from conversion-as-membership to conversion- in the process of conversion (or spiritual transfor-
as-identity and discourse change (Richard mation) (Raymond Paloutzian), ▶ attachment
Travisano, R. Kenneth Jones). theory (Lee Kirkpatrick, Phillip Shaver), and
Conversion 505 C
▶ attributional theory of religion (Bernard Spilka, purpose of life. In method and theory debates, a
Kenneth Pargament, Phillip Shaver, Ann Taves). theological-friendly approach is usually linked to
Margit Warburg, inspired by the methods from refusing any kind of reductionism or naturalistic
history, deals with the possibility of obtaining approach, preserving the phenomenological nature
sociological data from converts’ narratives of conversion and preferring first-person methodol-
(Warburg 2008). The way we look at conversion ogies. Conversion concepts narrow our focus on
today is influenced mainly by sociological social “world religions” with a systematic doctrine to C
psychology and the cognitive science of religion adopt and unified practices to follow in conversion
(Illka Pysi€ainen, Fabrice Clément). process, even though this is not the case of most
religions. The dynamics of the conversion concept
in “science and religion” can be also seen as a result
Conversion in “Science and Religion” of the term’s transition between two distinctive
meta-representational contexts.
Conversion is undoubtedly a doctrinal construct of
Protestant theology, and as such, it was introduced
to social sciences. Before any scientific study of Cross-References
religion was established, conversion was studied in
the area of missionary studies and practical ▶ Christianity
theology. Nowadays, scientific findings about ▶ Emotion
conversion are being used in missiology, and ▶ Faith and Belief
missionaries graduated in anthropology often ▶ Memory
participate in conversion studies (Paul Hiebert) ▶ Phenomenology
(Rambo 2003). Theology still occupies an impor- ▶ Psychology of Religion
tant place not only in understanding and shaping of ▶ Religion, Sociology of
conversion experience, but also in its explanation. ▶ Religious Experiences
The development which went from conceptualizing ▶ Self, From a Psychological Perspective
conversion as a sui generis religious experience to ▶ Social Psychology
its subsequent challenging by cultural pluralism
thanks to NRMs and non-Christian religions,
ended in “the linguistic turn,” which gradually References
disrupted the term’s autonomy. Since there is no
religious organ or brain region (as neurotheology Flinn, F. K. (1999). “Conversion: up from evangelicalism
or the pentecostal and charismatic experience.” In:
holds), or special social or psychological process
Lamb, C., & Bryant, M. D. (Eds.). Religious conver-
equivalent to conversion, there are many ways of sion, contemporary practices and controversies. (pp.
studying and defining it, and a general theory of 51–72). London/New york:Cassell.
conversion is unlikely to emerge. The only Hood, R. W., Hill, P. C., & Spilka, B. (2009). The
psychology of religion: An empirical approach.
exception is the holistic model of Lewis Rambo
(207–208). New York: Guilford Press.
who attempts to include everything from later Rambo, L. (1993). Understanding religious conversion.
psychological and drift models and creates New Haven: Yale University Press.
a universal theory (Rambo 1993). Behind attempts Rambo, L. (2003). “Anthropology and the study of
Conversion”. In: Buckser, A., & Glacier, S. D.
to uniformly conceptualize conversion as
(Eds.). The Anthropology of Religious Conversion.
a homogenous phenomenon at its core, despite (pp. 211–222). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
heterogeneous features on the surface, there is still Robbins, T. (1988). Cults, converts and charisma: the
a metaphysical presumption about its autonomous sociology of new religious movements. (p. 64). Lon-
don: Sage Publications.
nature. Conversion is studied non-theologically, Snow, D. A., & Machalek, R. (1983). “The Convert as a
although there are often background theological Social Type”. In: Collins, R. (Ed.). Sociological
assumptions about the human condition and Theory. (pp. 259–289). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
C 506 Cooperative Game Theory
Snow, D. A., & Machalek, R. (1984). The sociology of strategies that are directed at resolving or manag-
conversion. Annual Review of Sociology, 10, 167–190. ing the problem, emotion-focused strategies that
Warburg, M. (2008). Theorizing conversion: Can we use
conversion accounts as sources to actual past are directed toward regulating emotional
processes? In E. Barker (Ed.), The centrality of reli- responses, and meaning-making strategies that
gion in social life. Essays in honour of James A. Beck- focus on incorporating stressors within existing
ford (pp. 131–143). Aldershot/Burlington: Ashgate. worldviews and/or altering worldviews to
accommodate new perspectives. Strategies in all
three types of coping may be behavioral or cog-
nitive. Coping typically occurs within a social
Cooperative Game Theory context. Individuals may directly access social
support, either for tangible help in managing the
Gómez González Daniel problem, assistance in emotional regulation, or
Universidad Complutense De Madrid, Madrid, for general advice, or engage in dyadic coping.
Spain The outcome of individuals’ coping efforts
affects not only their own well-being but also
that of others, generally in the immediate
Game theory is divided into two branches called social context, but sometimes in the larger socio-
the noncooperative and cooperative. The cultural arena.
main difference between these two issues is
how it formalized the communication or
interdependence among the players. In coopera-
tive theory, it is usually assumed that there is no Coping, Psychology of
communication among players and the mathe-
matical model describes only the output that Carolyn M. Aldwin and Michael R. Levenson
results when the players come together in differ- Program in Human Development & Family
ent roles. Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis,
In the noncooperative theory, it is assumed OR, USA
that there is communication between players,
and one of the main aims is how to allocate the
benefits or loss of the group among its members. Related Terms
Defense mechanisms; Problem-solving;

Self-regulation
Coping
Carolyn M. Aldwin and Michael R. Levenson Definition

Program in Human Development & Family
Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Religions coping is a multifaceted construct
OR, USA reflecting a variety of ways of bringing one’s
religious life to bear on stressful experience. It
typically includes strategies such as prayer and/or
Coping refers to the processes by which individ- meditation, relying on God, and reading religious
uals attempt to manage stressful situations and texts for guidance. In general, religious coping is
their attendant negative emotions. Currently, often adaptive and can lead to preservation of
there is no consensus as to how many types of physical and emotional health, and a greater
coping strategies exist, but in general there are sense of self-efficacy. However, it is possible to
three overarching types: problem-focused distinguish helpful from harmful kinds of
Coping, Psychology of 507 C
religious coping. Pargament argues that the most reappraisal. The latter is sometimes referred to
important difference between them may be that in as meaning making. But there are many other
helpful religious coping, there is an experience of strategies currently under investigation, includ-
collaboration with the transcendent or divine to ing religious coping and providing social support
cope, whereas in harmful religious coping, to others, as well as other strategies that may be
“anger at God” or a feeling that one is being addressed to specific problems. Other researchers
punished predominates. distinguish between emotional expression and C
emotional processing (i.e., what am I feeling
and why?).
Coping: A Brief History Two recent developments are noteworthy. The
first is the recognition that coping does not occur
Coping is a discipline that grew out of psycho- in a psychological vacuum – rather, most coping
analysis and its study of defense mechanisms. takes place in a social context. Dyadic coping
However, psychoanalysis focused solely on refers to joint efforts to manage problems that
unconscious strategies that people use to ward pairs of individuals – generally couples – make,
off anxiety and neglected conscious, purposive usually with chronic stressors such as serious
strategies that individuals use to modify their illness. Again, there is currently no consensus as
environments, their responses to the environ- to what dyadic coping entails. Some researchers
ment, and their internal emotional states. Early identify four broad categories, ranging from non-
studies of coping styles focused on trait-like per- involvement, to the provision of emotional or
ceptual processes, such as attending to the prob- instrumental support, to collaborative efforts,
lem (approach or monitoring) or avoiding the and to domination or control by one of the part-
problem (avoidance or blunting). These were ners. Others refer to relationship-focused coping,
assumed to be characteristic ways of dealing which consists of empathic coping – recognizing
with all problems. However, researchers such as the other’s needs and adjusting one’s responses
Richard Lazarus questioned how consistent indi- accordingly – and compromising. In other words,
viduals were across situations and argued that chronic stressors impact both members of the
coping consisted of conscious choices that indi- dyad, and partners make decisions as to what
viduals made in the face of environmental extent and how they are involved with each
demands. Thus, coping processes consist of other’s problems. Further, the relationship in the
efforts that individuals make to manage context of the stressor must be managed as well.
a specific problem and the attendant negative The second major trend is to broaden the range
emotions. Not all coping researchers agree that of coping from dealing with an immediate, spe-
all coping is voluntary and refer to involuntary cific situation to dealing with potential problems.
actions such as crying or swearing. Yet others This includes proactive strategies to prevent or
argue that these are immediate emotional mitigate the occurrence of a stressor in the rela-
responses that should be distinguished from cop- tively near future, such as studying for an upcom-
ing efforts. ing examination, and anticipatory coping, which
There is currently no consensus as to exactly is the accumulation of resources to prevent
how many coping strategies there are. Most future problems, such as going to college to get
researchers acknowledge two broad overarching a better job.
strategies – problem-focused and emotion-
focused coping – but within these broad catego-
ries, there are many finer-grained distinctions. Self-identification
Most researchers acknowledge common strate-
gies such as escape/avoidance, withdrawal, seek- The purpose of coping is to buffer the adverse
ing support, substance use, and cognitive effects of stress. After several decades of
C 508 Coping, Psychology of
research, most scientists acknowledge that stress questionnaires about their personality, attitudes,
can have adverse psychological and physiologi- values, and behaviors; they can be observed in
cal consequences, including mental illness and various settings; or they can be interviewed.
disruptions in homeostasis at the cellular and Studies of coping processes, however, ask indi-
system levels, which can lead to chronic illnesses. viduals to do something rather different. They are
However, there are clearly individual differences asked about their thoughts, behaviors, and inter-
in the effects of stress, which can be attributed to nal emotional processes in very specific, stressful
many factors, including physical or psychologi- episodes. In our experience, this task is difficult
cal hardiness, social support, and coping strate- for many people. When asked, “How did you
gies. Thus, coping has measurable impacts on cope with this situation?” respondents, especially
health and well-being. The recognition that cop- men, typically say, “Well, I solved the problem.”
ing strategies can be learned – and unlearned – Extensive interviewing experience led us to the
provides ample opportunity for interventions to necessity of having to ask first what emotions
teach individuals new strategies to cope with the they were experiencing and then to ask how
challenges that they face. they coped with their emotions. Indeed, individ-
Decades of research in coping have not led to uals often do somewhat better using coping
simple answers. It is fairly easy to identify types checklists, which allow them to recognize cogni-
of coping that have adverse effects, or which tions and behaviors that may not emerge sponta-
worsen the problem, such as substance use, rumi- neously in coping interviews. Thus, asking
nation, or wishful thinking. However, the positive individuals to introspect about specific stressful
effects of coping are often highly contextual. In episodes is a unique and difficult methodological
other words, the study of coping is complicated problem for coping. This has led some
by the fact that there are no “silver bullets” – researchers to doubt whether individuals can ade-
strategies that have positive outcomes regardless quately report on their internal processes, espe-
of context. This is further complicated by indi- cially retrospectively. Instead, they propose that
vidual differences in coping preferences. For experience sampling methods, in which individ-
example, some individuals may prefer to cope uals are beeped at random intervals during the
by ignoring the problem as much as possible (or day and asked to report on their immediate expe-
feasible). Forcing them to engage in information rience, are a more valid way of tapping internal
seeking or other problem-focused strategies may processes. However, others have suggested
result in a worsening of their situation. Thus, that well-crafted questionnaires and interviews
coping interventions may need to be tailored not can elicit valid coping responses, even
only to individual situations but also to individ- retrospectively.
uals’ preferences. Further, researchers are begin- Another source of distinction is the emphasis
ning to understand that coping may have different on appraisal processes. In order for individuals to
short- and long-term outcomes. For example, cope, they must first appraise the situation as
fully engaging in a difficult problem, such as a harm or threat, loss, or a challenge, or simply
bereavement, may create additional distress in as an annoyance. This approach emphasized that
short-term outcomes but result in better long- adaptation is a function of both the person and the
term outcomes. environment, as appraisal is influenced by both
personal and contextual factors. This allows the
scientific study and recognition of the importance
Coping as a Distinct Discipline of subjectivity for adaptation. Stressfulness does
not derive strictly from situational characteristics
As a discipline, psychology typically uses four but rather is a balance between environmental
methodologies: individuals participate in con- demands and individual resources. Rather than
trolled experiments; they answer general dismissing subjectivity as a confounding factor
or “noise” in the system, coping research recog- Moos. Lazarus and Folkman also were the first to
nizes the central importance of appraisal to adap- define coping as adaptive, or responsive to situa-
tive processes. tional demands, and purposive, not simply reac-
tive to those demands. Coping actively reflects
the pursuit of individual goals within stressful
Relevance of Coping to Religion situations. James Coyne, Anita DeLongis,
Stephen Hobfoll, David Mechanic, and Leonard C
Religious issues are increasingly incorporated in Pearlin extended the recognition of the influence
coping research. While early researchers ignored of social situations on the coping process. Impor-
the use of religion in coping, its widespread prev- tantly, Pearlin (1989) argued that coping was
alence forced the field to consider the effects of often tied to specific social roles and suggested
religious coping, such as prayer and reliance on that the most efficacious coping was that which
God or a higher level of being. In general, reli- constrained the stressor to a specific role domain
gious coping is associated with better mental and did not allow it to spread across domains.
health, although its effects on physical health Carolyn Aldwin (2007), Nancy Eisenberg, Gisela
are not as clear. However, there are different Labouvie-Vief, and Ellen Skinner examined cop-
types of religious coping, and not all are benefi- ing as a reflecting and influencing developmental
cial. If individuals become passive, or perceive process. Crystal Park (2010) and Howard Tennen
their travails as an indication that God has have focused attention specifically on the impor-
deserted them, then they may have increased tance of meaning making, while Kenneth
distress and even poorer outcomes such as Pargament developed a measure of religious cop-
increased mortality. However, the study of reli- ing. Alex Zautra (2003), Peter Vitaliano, and
gious coping is still in its infancy. We do not as Tracey Revenson provided new insights on how
yet understand the situations in which individuals people cope with illnesses, most notably chronic
use religious coping, its effect in different situa- illnesses such as arthritis and cancer. Shelley
tions, and the similarity and differences in reli- Taylor (Aspinwall and Taylor 1997) and Lisa
gious coping across different religions. Aspinwall proposed proactive and anticipatory
coping, which are ways of avoiding or mitigating
the effects of stress before they occur. Methodo-
Sources of Authority logically, Charles Carver and Michael Scheier
(Carver et al. 1989) developed the most widely
There are several key figures in coping research. used coping scale, Annette Stanton developed an
Given the vast expanse of the field (over 70,000 improved measure of emotion-focused coping,
published studies), not all important scholars can and Arthur Stone pioneered the use of experience
be recognized here, and we apologize to those sampling in coping research. Manfred Diehl
whom we may have inadvertently omitted. As (1998) and Cindy Berg have proposed a new
mentioned earlier, the study of coping has its focus on everyday problem-solving as another
roots in psychoanalysis, and Anna Freud (1966) way of examining adaptation in late life and
was the most instrumental in identifying have developed measures to further this line of
different types of defense mechanisms, while research.
George Vaillant (1977) organized them into
a developmental hierarchy. Richard Lazarus
(Lazarus and Folkman 1984) promulgated the Ethical Principles
importance of cognitive appraisal in the coping
process, and he and his colleagues, notably Susan Two basic ethical principles guide coping
Folkman, developed one of the first coping research. First, the types of stressors people
scales, based partially on the work by Rudolph often experience are far more severe than can be
C 510 Coping, Psychology of
replicated in a laboratory setting. Thus, in order organisms have developed multiple and some-
to understand how individuals cope with major what redundant systems to protect themselves.
stressors, researchers must conduct their studies In many ways, humans are the most stress
in a field setting. These include studies with resistant of the creatures on earth. As Rene
patients with serious illnesses, with people who Dubos stated, humans’ greatest advantage – adapt-
have experienced natural disasters, with soldiers ability – is also our greatest disadvantage.
who have experienced combat, and with those Humans have devised means to tolerate stressful
experiencing divorce, death of a loved one, or conditions which would result in the death of
other serious family distress. most other creatures, but doing so can come at
The second principle is an understanding that serious costs, such as creating major chronic ill-
having individuals recount serious stressors can nesses and much unhappiness at the individual
be extremely stressful in itself. For example, ask- level, strain at the sociocultural level, and, one
ing veterans to recount trauma experiences or rape could argue, at times environmental degradation,
victims to recall their attacks can evoke episodes as we strip the earth of resources to support mas-
of posttraumatic stress. Thus, research conducting sive populations and to maintain the infrastruc-
retrospective studies of major stressors should ture that permits humans to live all over the
have clinicians for referrals in case their respon- planet, including in extreme environments.
dents experience serious stress responses. A major focus of humans coping with stress is
what some would call meaning making. From
a spiritual point of view, which posits the inherent
Key Values meaningfulness of life, a more appropriate term
might be meaning finding, also known as
The key value of stress research is ultimately to ▶ discernment in some religious communities.
reduce distress and to promote mental and phys- If ▶ life is inherently meaningful, then ▶ death
ical health. Stress is ubiquitous; all individuals is also inherently meaningful. Individuals’ under-
will experience major stressors at some point (or standing of the meaning of death affects how they
at many points) in the course of their lives. The cope. For those who believe in an afterlife, either
major assumption is that the ability to cope with reincarnation or some higher level of existence,
stress and to mobilize existing resources can pro- how one copes with stress (temptation, suffering)
tect individuals’ mental and physical health or affects who or what they will become in the next
enhance their well-being in the face of inevitable life. For those who believe that the present life is
physical decline. unique, death can provide meaning to life. Under-
standing that life is limited can encourage individ-
uals to make the most of the life that they do have
Major Conceptualizations and to focus more on the positive aspects of stress-
ful situations than to dwell on the negative aspects.
Stress is a ubiquitous part of the world, and In the process model of stress and coping, the
▶ nature has developed means of protecting key element is appraisal, or the meaning an indi-
organisms against stress. Every living being, vidual derives from the experience. Appraisal
from single-cell organisms to mammals, shares represents a transaction between what an individ-
certain stress protection mechanisms, such as ual brings to the situation and the characteristics
heat-shock proteins that protect and repair dam- of the situation. Thus, it would not be too great
aged genes, as well as direct dismantling of cells a stretch to say that this approaches a nondual
which are too damaged to repair. According to model of reality and ▶ consciousness. In other
theories of hormesis, cells and organisms that words, experience and ▶ perception are central,
have been stressed but which recover may display and there is a continuity of experience that ren-
greater resilience to future stressors. Protection ders the boundaries between the self and the rest
against the effects of stress is so important that of the world provisional – an understanding that
one’s appraisal of the situation is not “objective” action in the world. Once again, the stress and
but embraces subjectivity. coping process paradigm can be seen as quite
From a developmental perspective, an individ- usefully synthesizing apparent opposites.
ual’s knowledge base is built up through experi- If there is a mystery in coping, it is that, from
ences, many of which are stressful. In these conflict between self and world, the nonduality of
situations, individuals often must increase their self and other can be experienced and can provide
knowledge not only of the situation but of them- the key to coping. As Henry Bayman remarked, C
selves as well. We must be able to evaluate our “whatever you do, you do to yourself.” This can
strengths and weaknesses, and according to be a most practical mystery.
stress-related growth theory, our assumptions
about the world and our place in it can become
more apparent. An increase in knowledge can be Cross-References
accompanied by a decrease in stress. Either one
now has sufficient resources to meet challenges, ▶ Action Control
or one can gain perspective through which one ▶ Affective/Emotional Computing
recognizes that many, if not most problems, are ▶ Emotion
self-limiting and, in the grand scheme of things, ▶ Ethics
not terribly important – in short, reflecting the ▶ Free Will
saying attributed to Jesus: “The ▶ truth will set ▶ Freedom
you free” (John 8:31–32). ▶ Personality Psychology
The relationship between ▶ time and the stress ▶ Plasticity
and coping process is complex. On the one hand, ▶ Psychology of Religion
stress and coping processes play out over time,
but they can also alter one’s perception of time.
For example, in highly stressful situations, time
References
can appear to slow down tremendously, as when
Aldwin, C. M. (2007). Stress, coping, and development:
soldiers report that they watched a bullet coming An integrated perspective (2nd ed.). New York:
toward them. In situations characterized by too Guilford.
little stimulation, time appears to expand and Aspinwall, L., & Taylor, S. (1997). A stick in time: Self-
regulation and pro-active coping. Psychological
slow down, while in those characterized by
Bulletin, 121, 417–436.
overstimulation, time can appear to mysteriously Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., & Weintraub, J. K. (1989).
speed up. In other words, stress can alter the Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based
perception of time, often quite dramatically. approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychol-
ogy, 56, 267–283.
Jung said there was no conflict without
Diehl, M. (1998). Everyday competence in later life: Cur-
▶ consciousness. Inverting this, one could say rent status and future directions. The Gerontologist,
that stress may be the birth of consciousness. In 38, 422–433.
other words, awareness derives from the original Freud, A. (1966). The ego and the mechanisms of defense
(rev. ed.). New York: International Universities Press.
stress of encountering the world. The ethos
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal,
of Western approaches to coping focuses on and coping. New York: Springer.
▶ rationality and reason – in other words, one Park, C. L. (2010). Making sense of the meaning litera-
“should” use problem-focused coping to analyze ture: An integrative review of meaning making and its
effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psycho-
the situation, devise a plan of action, and carry it logical Bulletin, 136(2), 257–301.
out to solve the problem. However, coping Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of
research has shown repeatedly that emotion- stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 30,
and problem-focused coping are tightly 241–256.
Vaillant, G. (1977). Adaptation to life: How the best and
intertwined and almost always co-occur. Emo-
the brightest came of age. Boston: Little Brown.
tions can provide the motivation for coping, and Zautra, A. J. (2003). Emotions, stress, and health.
internal regulation is a sine qua non for effective New York: Oxford University Press.
C 512 Correspondence Hypothesis
in every direction, away from us and each other,

Correspondence Hypothesis at speeds that increase with their distance; the
discovery of the cosmic microwave background
Pehr Granqvist radiation, with its thermal black body spectrum
Department of Psychology, Stockholm and extraordinary isotropy of one part in 10,000;
University, Stockholm, Sweden and the observed abundance of hydrogen, by far
the most abundant element in the observed
Universe, and helium, the second-most abundant
The idea that religiosity in the case of secure element. All of these observations are best
attachment develops from (a) generalized, explained by the Big Bang cosmological theory,
positive representations of self and other (IWM in which the expanding Universe arose from an
aspect), and (b) partial adoption of a sensitive exceptionally hot and dense state about 14 billion
caregiver’s religion (social aspect). years ago. The background radiation is
interpreted as the relic of the dense, hot radiation
that preceded the formation of matter; the radia-
tion has now cooled to just 2.7 K. Nucleosynthe-
Cosmography sis during the first three minutes of the Big Bang
accounts for the formation of hydrogen and most
▶ Geography in Islam of the cosmic helium, as well as deuterium and
lithium. A key conclusion of modern cosmology
is that the observable Universe has a history, and
that we can trace its evolution from the Big Bang
Cosmology to the present by looking back into time when the
radiation from distant objects was emitted.
Kenneth R. Lang Recent developments in observational cosmol-
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts ogy include evidence that the Universe contains
University, Medford, MA, USA substantial amounts of invisible dark matter,
which might amount to up to 25% of the mass
of the Universe. The presence of this unseen
Related Terms material is inferred from observations of visible
galaxies, but there is no current consensus about
Astronomy its detailed properties. Observational cosmolo-
gists are also probing the large-scale, three-
dimensional distribution of galaxies using
Description redshift surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey. Wherever they look, in whatever direc-
Cosmology is the study of the origin, evolution, tion and near or far, they find walls, chains, and
fate, composition, and large-scale structure of the filaments of galaxies of up to a billion light-years
Universe as a whole, as a complete entity in its across, together with seemingly empty places
totality. Contained within cosmology is cosmog- known as voids, of about 100 million light-years
ony, which deals with the origin and evolution of in diameter. Observations of supernovae in
the contents of the Universe, such as black holes, distant galaxies indicate that the expanding
stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and quasars. Universe is accelerating or speeding up as it
Astronomers provide data for observational cos- flies apart, rather than slowing down, pushed
mology, which deals with the large-scale proper- apart by some mysterious dark energy. Instru-
ties of the observable Universe. Important ments aboard the Wilkinson Microwave Anisot-
astronomical constraints to modern cosmology ropy Probe satellite have been used to detect
are the discovery that the galaxies are receding temperature fluctuations, or ripples, in the
Cosmology 513 C
angular distribution of the background radiation, space-time. Some cosmologists say that we will
providing constraints to cosmological models never have direct observational evidence for what
and investigations of how the first stars and gal- happened before the Big Bang, which may have
axies formed. Theoretical cosmologists use obliterated any evidence of previous space, time,
mathematical equations to describe models of or matter. So cosmological speculations about
the expanding Universe, usually incorporating how the observable Universe came into being,
Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, with or and where everything came from, bear no more C
without an adjustable cosmological constant that authority than most of the world religions whose
counteracts gravity and affects the rate at which creation myths explain the beginnings of the
the Universe expands. The models usually Universe and life. For most of history, cosmology
include the cosmological principle, which states has indeed been part of mankind’s religious rather
that on the largest scales the observable Universe than scientific view. This has not kept some theo-
is isotropic and homogeneous, so that it looks the retical cosmologists from proposing an ultimate
same at any location and there is no preferred theory that will eventually explain why the
place in the Universe. Recent cosmological Universe exists, even invoking a God particle or
models use studies of supernovae, galaxy clus- stating that they may eventually know the mind of
ters, and the background radiation to put con- God, but such a final theory has not been found
straints on dark matter, dark energy, and the despite more than half a century of trying.
cosmological constant.
Characteristics
Self-identification
Observational cosmology is a non-experimental
Science science in that celestial bodies cannot be taken
Observational cosmology self-identifies as apart or manipulated by controlled experiments
a science that measures the large-scale physical in terrestrial laboratories, and cosmological
properties of the observable Universe in its hypothesis can only be verified by passive obser-
entirety. It usually assumes that celestial bodies vations. Some theoretical cosmologists develop
obey identical physical laws to those on Earth, models that have little or no definitive observa-
such as the laws of universal gravitation and the tional tests.
General Theory of Relativity. Some theoretical
cosmologists use these laws to explain cosmolog-
ical observations, and they can design future Relevance to Science and Religion
observational tests of their theories. Other theo-
retical cosmologists are preoccupied with the Modern cosmology is most likely incapable of
mathematical equations and related cosmological answering some basic cosmological questions,
models, sometimes with little regard for observa- which are addressed by religions and lie outside
tional cosmology. the domain of direct scientific inquiry. These
include the origin, fate, and purpose of the Uni-
Religion verse. In Saint Augustine’s interpretation of the
The origin of the Universe is one topic in which book of Genesis in the Bible, for example, the
modern cosmology and religion overlap. The Big Universe was brought into being in a less than
Bang cosmology provides a good account of the fully formed state but gifted with the capacities to
evolution of the Universe since about 14 billion transform itself from unformed matter into a truly
years ago, but no cosmologist knows for certain marvelous array of physical structures and life
what happened before that. Their equations break forms. In 1951, Pope Pius XII endorsed what we
down at that first moment, blowing up into infin- now call the Big Bang cosmology, arguing that it
ities of density, temperature, and the curvature of demonstrated that the Universe had a beginning
C 514 Cosmology
in time and proved the existence of God, the phenomena, either perceptible with contempo-
Creator, and the Buddhists have long taught that rary astronomical telescopes or currently unseen
the Cosmos we live in is only one of an infinite and potentially observable with future instru-
number, and that the Universe never begins or ments. Some theoretical cosmologists have
ends, but endures. suggested that our observable world is just one
of multiple Universes that can never be observed,
but this is essentially a nonscientific proposal
Sources of Authority somewhat like a similar Buddhist one.
The ultimate source of authority in cosmology is Human Being

peer review using known physical laws, mathe- Cosmology does not normally consider either
matical calculations, and verifiable predictions of human beings or the pains and pleasures of
observational consequences. Any cosmological human life, which are thought to be outside the
explanation of celestial phenomena ought to be domain of cosmological inquiry. Cosmologists
tested through decisive, new observations that do determine the contents and structure of the
show that the explanation is true or false, right Universe, and by extension humanity’s place in
or wrong. Nevertheless, some theoretical cosmol- it. The Earth and Sun, for example, lie in the
ogists are not particularly interested in observa- outskirts of a perfectly normal galaxy, no differ-
tional constraints to their models, claiming ent from billions of other galaxies all participat-
authority in the equations and models themselves. ing in the expanding Universe that has no
observable center or edge.

Cosmologists adopt the discoveries of astrono-
Cosmologists are skeptical, taught to question mers and astrophysicists, who have shown that
any discovery and to test it by peer review, and our planet and everything on it are composed of
they are trained to employ personal detachment elements synthesized either in the nuclear cruci-
and uncompromising honesty. bles of stars that exploded into space before the
Earth and Sun formed or before that during the
first moments of the Big Bang that gave rise to
Key Values the expanding Universe. Despite our ability to
pry living things apart, identifying their atomic,
The key values of cosmology are the physical chemical, and molecular constituents, which can
explanations of the origin, evolution, fate, com- often be found outside Earth, no one has discov-
position, and large-scale structure of the Universe ered the spark of life, showing how inanimate
as a whole, as a complete entity in its totality. matter could have been transformed into
a living thing, either on our planet or elsewhere.
Astrophysicists forecast that life on Earth will not
Conceptualization last forever, and that the entire human race is
scheduled for extinction in a few billion years
Nature/World when the brightening Sun will vaporize the
Cosmologists regard nature as equivalent to the Earth’s oceans.
physical world outside Earth, although the natu-
ral terrestrial world is used as a foundation for Reality
physical laws thought to be applicable throughout To most cosmologists, the real Universe consists
the Universe. Nature is supposed to include both of the currently observable one, but they often
known and unknown cosmic objects and believe in a yet undiscovered, invisible reality
Cosmology 515 C
that lies beyond the visible one and includes all soon thereafter when the first stars and galaxies
that exists. Some cosmologists are immersed in were formed. No cosmologist knows for certain
a paper world of theories that describe their real- what happened before the Big Bang, and time
ity, but some astronomers would say that their might have even begun with this creative event.
perspective has become blurred by mathematical
equations and is disconnected from the real, Consciousness
observable Universe. To a cosmologist, consciousness is the mental C
awareness of the surrounding Universe, involv-
Knowledge ing the perception of its large-scale properties
Cosmologists regard knowledge of the Universe that might be explained by known physical laws.
as a cumulative, ongoing process of the discovery
and explanation of its large-scale ingredients and Rationality/Reason
their collective behavior. A cosmological concept is normally termed ratio-
nal if it uses accepted physical laws and can be
Truth decisively tested by significant observations.
Most cosmologists believe in an objective, scien- Some cosmologists regard any mathematical
tific truth verifiable by decisive observations and extrapolation of existing physical laws as
significant tests. Others hold that cosmological rational.
models and related mathematics can also provide
true descriptions of the Universe. Mystery
The entire Universe is regarded as a great hidden
Perception mystery awaiting discovery and understanding,
Observational cosmologists use new technology and its known constituents may also have myste-
and novel telescopes to extend the capacity of rious aspects that remain to be examined and
their physical senses, thereby perceiving, becom- understood. The ultimate origin of the Universe
ing aware of, and eventually understanding remains shrouded in mystery, as do the properties
otherwise invisible physical properties of the of dark matter and the mysterious dark energy.
large-scale Universe. These perceptions are repeat-
able, and can be obtained by anyone using the same
or similar instruments. Some cosmologists regard Relevant Themes
mathematical extrapolations of existing physical
laws as another method of perception. There are many critical, unanswered questions
about the Universe that lie outside the domain
Time of cosmology, and are concerns of religion.
Because light travels at a finite speed, astrono- They include the origin and fate of the Universe
mers look back into time when observing distant and life within it, and the purpose of either one of
objects. Powerful telescopes are therefore used as them. No cosmologist knows for certain what
time machines to see objects as they were in the happened before the Big Bang, or how the
past, when their light was first emitted. The gen- observable Universe came into being, and they
eral conclusion is that everything in the observ- do not know if life originated from inanimate
able Universe is changing, arising in one form, matter, or exactly what might have provided the
evolving into other ones, and eventually passing spark of life on Earth. And owing to the recent
away to be replaced by something else. Observa- discoveries of dark matter and dark energy,
tional cosmologists are, for example, now tracing which we know almost nothing about, the even-
the history of the expanding Universe back to the tual fate of the observable Universe remains
first moments of the Big Bang, when fluctuations unknown, despite the fact that distant galaxies
were imprinted in the background radiation and are now accelerating into invisibility.
C 516 Cosmology in the Jewish Culture
Cross-References
Counseling Psychology USA/Europe
▶ Astronomy
▶ Astrophysics Andrea G. Gurney
▶ Landscape Department of Psychology, Westmont College,
▶ Physics in Christianity Santa Barbara, CA, USA
▶ Physics in Judaism
▶ Physics in Protestantism
▶ Science in Buddhism Related Terms
▶ Space
▶ Space and Time Guidance; Mental health; Prevention psychother-
▶ Time apy; Therapy
Description
References
Counseling psychology is the study and applica-
Lang, K. R. (1999). Astrophysical formulae volume II. tion of psychology for the purpose of promoting
Space, time, mass and cosmology. New York:
well-being, alleviating psychological distress,
Springer.
Lang, K. R. (2006). Parting the cosmic veil. New York: and resolving crises in individuals, families, and
Springer. groups. A central aspect of counseling psychol-
ogy is the therapeutic relationship between a
mental health professional and a client, and facil-
itation of personal and interpersonal growth in
various areas (emotional, social, vocational)
Cosmology in the Jewish Culture throughout the life span. Although counseling
psychology has been closely linked with clinical
▶ Astronomy in Judaism psychology, subtle differences exist between
these subdisciplines; counseling psychology
tends to focus on less severe ▶ psychopathology,
and counseling psychologists are more likely to
Cosmos theoretically assume a humanistic perspective
when working with clients.
Norbert M. Samuelson Counseling psychology’s humanistic orienta-
School of Historical, Philosophical, and tion dates back to Carl Rogers’ publication of
Religious Studies, Arizona State University, Counseling and Psychotherapy in 1942, which
Tempe, AZ, USA stimulated the development of counseling from
a nonpsychoanalytic and nonmedical perspec-
tive. Although the history of counseling psychol-
The universe seen as a whole, often as a universal ogy has been divided into seven distinct periods
living entity. from 1908 to 1984, it was in 1943 that APA
Division 17 was formed and named the Division
of Counseling and Guidance (although discrep-
ancies occurred in following years regarding the
name) (Whiteley 1999). In 1953, the name of
Counseling Psychology APA Division 17 was changed to Division of
Counseling Psychology (and later that year the
▶ Clinical Psychology birth of the Journal of Counseling Psychology
Counseling Psychology USA/Europe 517 C
was announced – with the first edition being psychopathology, whereas clinical psychologists
in Feb 1954). work with individuals with severe mental ill-
In the past 20 years, counseling psychology nesses and tend to be more medically oriented,
has continued to emerge as a unique focusing on treatment of disease. At the roots of
subdiscipline, with greater focus on viewing counseling psychology is a focus on prevention
people and their behavior within a sociocultural (as opposed to intervention), and of growing
context, influenced by variables of gender, eth- importance are issues of social justice and multi- C
nicity, sexual orientation, age, and culture. culturalism. Additionally, counseling psycholo-
Recently, there has been increasing methodolog- gists are trained in a wide variety of basic
ical diversity and sophistication in the field, as therapeutic skills and are considered to be gener-
well as an emphasis on multiculturalism and alists (i.e., incorporating vocational and career
health psychology. counseling, developmental issues, ▶ positive
psychology, etc.).
Self-Identification
Science
From its origins, psychology has identified as Science and religion have often been compart-
a science; psychological science is the study of mentalized and seen as two distinct entities. The
mind, brain, and behavior, and counseling psy- field of psychology is no exception to this, as
chology is one of the subdisciplines within this there has been historical antagonism between
broader study. Counseling psychology attempts religion and psychoanalytic branches of psycho-
to explain and investigate human behavior; it is therapy (Gurney and Rogers 2007). Recently,
the science of the personal, the subjective, and the however, clinicians and scholars in the field of
individual. Counseling psychologists strive to counseling psychology have realized that many
make sense of the mind and examine human clients do not divide their faith from their behav-
behavior as the raw data for testing theories and ior, work, or relationships, but rather view it as
hypotheses about how the mind works. Since the deeply connected to who they are, recognizing
German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt opened the that their lives have divine significance
first psychological laboratory in 1879, the field of (Pargament and Mahoney 2005). Studies provide
psychology has continued to utilize the scientific evidence to the sanctification of sex, body per-
method to learn about the relationship between ceptions, and behavioral health patterns,
the mind, brain, and behavior. Empirical methods acknowledging the interwovenness between ordi-
are increasingly emphasized in the field of nary and extraordinary in the counseling room
counseling psychology, and efficacious interven- (Mahoney et al. 2005; Murray-Swank et al.
tions are derived from evidence-based studies 2005). A growing number of studies indicate a
that employ systematic, objective methods of connection between health and faith/religion;
observation (Gazzaniga and Heatherton 2006). religious adults, for example, report more adap-
tive strategies for coping with life stresses,
enhanced feelings of self-efficacy, and a stronger
Characteristics sense of social support than nonreligious adults
(Loewenthal 1995). Given counseling psycholo-
Historically, counseling psychology has been gists seek to work with clients from a humanistic
closely linked to the subdiscipline of clinical and holistic perspective, taking into account indi-
psychology. The main difference has been per- vidual strengths and resources, there are increas-
spective. Counseling psychology assumes ing connections between counseling psychology
a humanistic theoretical approach and focuses and religion, particularly in regard to ways in
on healthy individuals and less severe which faith enters the counseling room.
C 518 Counseling Psychology USA/Europe
Sources of Authority a holistic mind-body-environment approach with

a focus on prevention (Howard 1992).
The notion of counseling psychology from a
nonpsychoanalytic perspective arguably dates
back to Carl Rogers’ publication of Counseling Conceptualization
and Psychotherapy in 1942 and the formation of
American Psychological Association’s (APA) Nature/World
Division of Counseling and Guidance Nature is conceptualized as biological and phys-
(Division 17) in 1943. It was, however, during iological component of life. Inherited traits, abil-
the Boulder Conference in 1949 that the unique ities, and capabilities are considered to be part of
perspective of the professional practice of human being’s nature, that is, our genetic
counseling psychology developed; the theme of “wiring.”
prevention was underscored and a contextual
approach was emphasized throughout this con- Human Being
ference. This was further articulated at the 1987 Humans are biological beings with complex and
Georgia conference on the Future of Counseling adaptive brains and minds that enable unique
Psychology (Hage 2003). Thus, a preventative, behaviors, such as moral reasoning, decision-
social-developmental, contextual, and health- making, language, creativity, and cognition.
based framework emerged as the roots for These unique capabilities and behaviors distin-
counseling psychology. guish humans from the rest of the animal kingdom.
Additionally, the Journal of Counseling
Psychology, originally published in 1953 (the Life and Death
same year that APA Division 17 changed to the Life is considered to be the presence of biological
Division of Counseling Psychology), is consid- and physiological functions that lead to psycho-
ered to be a grounding source for the discipline of logical activity. Debate remains among counsel-
counseling psychology. ing psychologists about when life begins, within
or outside of the womb. Death is defined as the
cessation of biological and physiological work-
Ethical Principles ings of the mind and central nervous system.
Counseling psychologists adhere to the ethical Reality

standards established by the American Psycho- Psychological scientists define reality as observ-
logical Association as well as the American able aspects of one’s environment that involve
Counseling Association. Counseling psycholo- sensation and perception. Sensation is the sense
gists who work in K-12 school settings also organs’ detection of external stimulus, and per-
adhere to the ethical standards purported by the ception is the internal representation of the
American School Counselor Association. brain’s processing of external stimulus. Among
counseling psychologists, perception is often
emphasized; in other words, it is important to
Key Values understand a client’s subjective experience of
reality in order to effectively promote well-
At the core of the identity of counseling psychol- being. Mental disorders such as schizophrenia
ogy is an appreciation of the individual, the sub- may distort reality.
jective, and the agentic and the desire to promote
growth and development. Toward that end, the Knowledge
counseling psychologist strives to increase cli- Knowledge is the accumulation of information
ents’ coping skills, foster an awareness of societal related to the world that is gained and acquired.
barriers to ▶ self-actualization, and advocate for There are both objective (agreed upon and
Counseling Psychology USA/Europe 519 C
irrefutable) and subjective aspects of knowledge. certain mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, a
Knowledge is used to guide our daily actions, thought disorder, or dementia.
solve problems, and make decisions.
Mystery
Truth Despite the objectivity of the scientific method,
According to an objectivist view, truth is concep- counseling psychologists acknowledge that
tualized as the objective reality that underlies humans – their mind, body, and behavior – will C
facts. Constructivists, however, define truth as not be completely understood; the subject matter
an individual and subjective construal of reality. to be studied in this subdiscipline is far too com-
A constructivist way of knowing and understand- plex. There will always be a level of mystery, of
ing has gained credence in the field of counseling that which is still unknown, in the field of
psychology. counseling psychology.
Perception
Perception is the processing, organizing, and Relevant Themes
interpreting of sensory signals that results in an
internal representation of an external stimulus. Given the focus on the personal and agentic in
The human mind actively constructs representa- counseling psychology, it is imperative to
tions of the world and uses those perceptions to acknowledge – moreover, openly address – client
guide actions. belief systems in therapy. For some individuals,
religion is salient to counseling, as it is central to
Time their worldview formation, personality, and
Time is an objective measurement used to behavior. Yet, a gap continues to exist between
sequence events and categorize change in the “science and religion” engagement as counseling
world. Human perception of time can be variable psychologists tend to compartmentalize the
and subjective, and psychoactive drugs can objective, science-based “natural” from the tran-
impair one’s perception of time. scendent “supernatural.”
Consciousness
Consciousness is defined as subjective, moment- Cross-References
by-moment experiences – an awareness that indi-
viduals have of their actions and motivations ▶ Clinical Psychology
behind their behavior. Contents (or objects) of ▶ Narrative Psychology
consciousness are differentiated from levels of ▶ Personhood and Scientific Methodology
consciousness (sleep and wakefulness). ▶ Phenomenology
▶ Positive Psychology
Rationality/Reason ▶ Psychiatry in America
Human beings employ reason to determine if
information or a conclusion is true and, conse-
quently, understand reason as authority. There References
are two types of reasoning, deductive and induc-
Gazzaniga, M. S., & Heatherton, T. F. (2006). Psycholog-
tive reasoning. In deductive reasoning, an indi- ical science (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton.
vidual reasons from the general to specific, using Gurney, A. G., & Rogers, S. A. (2007). Object relations
a rule to determine if a conclusion follows logi- and spirituality: revisiting a clinical dialogue. Journal
cally from the rule; with inductive reasoning, an of Clinical Psychology, 63(10), 1–17.
Hage, S. M. (2003). Reaffirming the unique identity
individual utilizes specific examples to determine
of counseling psychology: opting for the “road less
if a general principle is valid (Gazzaniga and traveled by”. The Counseling Psychologist, 31(5),
Heatherton 2006). Reasoning can be impaired in 555–563.
C 520 CPU
Howard, G. S. (1992). Behold our creation! What counsel-

ing psychology has become and might yet become. Creation in Judaism
Journal of Counseling Psychology, 39(4), 419–442.
Loewenthal, K. M. (1995). Mental health and religion.
London: Chapman Hall. Norbert M. Samuelson
Mahoney, A., Carels, R. A., Pargament, K. I., Wachholtz, A., School of Historical, Philosophical, and
Leeper, L. E., Kaplar, M., & Frutchey, R. (2005). Religious Studies, Arizona State University,
The sanctification of the body and behavioral health
patterns of college students. International Journal for Tempe, AZ, USA
the Psychology of Religion, 15, 221–238.
Murray-Swank, N., Pargament, K. I., & Mahoney, A.
(2005). At the crossroads of sexuality and spirituality: Related Terms
the sanctification of sex by college students. Interna-
tional Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15,
199–220. Creation and science in Judaism; Jewish science
Pargament, K. I., & Mahoney, A. (2005). Sacred matters: and creation; Views of creation in the Jewish
sanctification as a vital topic for the psychology of culture
religion. International Journal for the Psychology of
Religion, 15, 179–198.
Whiteley, J. M. (1999). The paradigms of counseling Rabbinic tradition makes three central claims
psychology. The Counseling Psychologist, 27(1), about God. He creates the world, reveals his
14–31. teaching, and redeems the world. Creation
names the content of the opening chapters of the
Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Scriptures about
the origin of everything. Redemption names the
CPU content of sermons reported in the various books
of the prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures about
▶ Electronic Circuits in Computers the end of everything. Revelation is the means by
which God communicates to all of humanity
through the Jewish people the doctrines of crea-
tion and redemption. It is generally accepted in
Creatio Continua all forms of Judaism that the Hebrew Scriptures
are a record of revelation. All meanings of all
▶ Christian Cosmology three concepts are interrelated and constantly
▶ Divine Creativity changing through Jewish speculative writings
about Kabbalah and natural philosophy. Of the
three the doctrine whose meaning is most closely
tied to the intellectual history of the sciences is
Creatio Ex Nihilo creation, for it is the only one of the three that has
its own distinct scientific discipline – physical
▶ Christian Cosmology cosmogony, which deals with the origins of the
▶ Divine Creativity cosmos. Creation is in fact discussed in a variety
of biblical texts (notably Ex 40:12–25,
Ps 74:12–17; 104:1–35, and Job 26:7–14;
38:4–30:30), but the most thorough or detailed
Creation presentation occurs in Gen 1:1–2:3. This text
divides itself into a series of distinct sets of
▶ Christian Cosmology events each of which it calls “day” or “day and
▶ Creationism night.” Each day describes a layer of the universe,
▶ Divine Action which, taken together, is the seven layered reality
▶ Science and Kabbalah that the text calls “the sky (shamayim) and
▶ Time the earth.”
Creation in Judaism 521 C
At the base of reality is the layer of the directed at the earth. He tells the waters to collect
universe before divine intervention. At this level together into one place and names the region of
there exist (presumably from eternity) a “deep” waters “seas” (yamim) and the region of earth
(tehom), darkness, the earth surrounded by “dry land” (yabashah). Then he tells the earth to
waters, something called “tohu and vohu” (often sprout forth plants. Day 3 is the transition
translated as what is “null and void”), and between the divine ordering of the space of the
a divine wind (ruah elohim). On day 1, God universe (whose last division is between land and C
begins his action by declaring orders to the seas) and the divine generation of the inhabitants
pre-world existent objects. Each day marks of that space (whose first production is the plants
a specific commandment, the obedience to that stand at the base of what we would recognize
which at the end of the process initiates our as the food chain of all life).
physical and living worlds. God’s first command On day 4, God commands into existence the
is for there to be a substance, “light” (which is the stars (Me-orot, literally lighters, i.e., things made
only one God actually makes) by which he of light) that occupy the sky, whose two purposes
divides the region of darkness infested with in the universe are (1) to differentiate years, days,
light into two separate regions of space, and festivals, and seasons, and (2) to give light to the
names them “day” (viz., the distinct region of universe. On day 5, God commands the waters
light) and “night” (viz., the distinct region of to produce diverse kinds of living (nefesh)
darkness). The rotation from any fixed point at swarming things as well as create large sea-
the center of the universe allows a continuous monsters (teninim) and all (other) living animals
repetition of day and night. Each cycle is called (chayah) that creep and swarm in the waters, as
a “day,” and the layers of creation are seven. well as every kind of bird (literally “winged fly-
The unit of seven complete days is called the ing thing”). Then God blesses them. (“Blessing”
week. Creation’s last day is called “the Sabbath.” is one of at least six things that God does that
Day 1 produces the basic separation into count as creating; the other five are making, pro-
distinct periods of days and nights. Day 2 ducing, saying, separating, and naming).
produces the sky above the earth. These two On day 6, God commands and makes every
most general regions of the space of the universe living domestic and wild animal as well as every-
are themselves kept separate by a universal ring thing that creeps (rather than swarms) on land
called a “raqiyyah.” In Genesis 1:6ff this divider (rather than in the waters). Finally, he creates
is called what is commonly translated into “the human” (ha-adam) as male and female, and
English as “a firmament” but really means some- implies that all the other (lower) members of the
thing that can be stretched out. God acts on this created chain of being (from plants to animals)
second day by speaking to and making the exist for him/her as food. (Arguably Judaism has
raqiyyah, and then dividing it into two distinct a strong moral emphasis on ways to eat because
rings of space, which he named “sky” of its priestly origins).
(shammayim). At this point, the earth appears as Finally, God completes his creation of the
a ring at the center of the universe, whose central world on day 7 with the creation of the day of
hole and surrounding external are called rest (Shabbat). On it he ceases from all of his
“waters,” so that within the central region of the work (melachah) which he made and rests
space of the earth, there are the “lower waters” (shabat).
below a ring of earth above which is the “higher For all of the rabbis in all of the subsequent
waters.” This action completes God’s creation of periods, whatever this narrative truly means is the
the regions of space in the universe. What follows full description of the origin of the universe.
is the creation of the “living things” both on and The problem is what it means. In general, as
in the universe. theologians will say in the nineteenth century,
On day 3, God performs two distinct set of God has two books of revealed nature – science,
acts. One is directed at the waters and the other is the book of nature itself, and revelation, the
C 522 Creation and Science in Judaism
revealed word of God – and in neither book is the References

discernment of the true meaning apparent or sim-
ple. As nature hides its secrets, so do the Levinson, J. D. (1988). Creation and the persistence of
evil: The Jewish drama of divine omnipotence.
Scriptures. Hence, everything depends on how
San Francisco: Harper and Row.
the key terms in the narrative are interpreted, Matt, D. C. (2001). God & the big bank: Discovering
and their meaning is not obvious. In general, the harmony between science and spirituality.
interpretations that different rabbis gave to these Woodstock: Jewish Lights.
Moore, G. F. (1927). Judaism in the first centuries of the
terms varied with the kind of world and life views
Christian Era. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
they held, which themselves are greatly Press.
influenced by the science of their day. Hence, Novak, D., & Samuelson, N. M. (Eds.). (1986). Creation
during the period of the early rabbis, Hellenistic and the end of days: Judaism and scientific cosmology.
Lanham: University Press of America.
Stoic themes are discernible, as are Aristotelian
Samuelson, N. M. (1994). Judaism and the doctrine of
and Platonic cosmology in the interpretations of creation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
the medieval rabbinic commentaries, as are Wolfson, H. A. (1929). Crescas’ critique of Aristotle:
physicalist reductive interpretations in modern Problems of Aristotle’s physics in Jewish and Arabic
philosophy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
commentaries. What remains constant is the list
Press.
of problematic terms. Here is a list of questions:
What are “the deep,” “tohu and vohu,” and the
“divine wind”? What is a “day”? Is it a period of
time or a spatial division? What is the “light”
Creation and Science in Judaism
created on the first day, how does it differ from
the lights of the stars created on the fourth day,
▶ Creation in Judaism
and where is the original light now? What is
a “raqiyyah”? In what does it consist and
how does it function to separate the earth
from the sky? What is life (nefesh chayah)?
What is a “human” and what does it mean that Creationism
he was created male and female? Finally, how do
“work” (melachah) and “rest” differ and Gregory W. Dawes
how does that difference affect Jewish worship Department of Philosophy, University of Otago,
on the seventh day? Note that on any of the Dunedin, New Zealand
ways that the rabbis interpret these creation
texts, their meaning integrates physical accounts
with judgments about both moral and liturgical Related Terms
purpose.
Creation; Evolution; Science and religion
Cross-References The term “creationism” needs to be carefully

defined. The historic Christian creeds speak of
▶ Astronomy in Judaism God as “creator of heaven and earth.” The
▶ Judaism: An Overview Hebrew Bible also begins by referring to God’s
▶ Kabbalah in Judaism act of creation, and the Qur’an speaks of God as
▶ Natural Sciences in Judaism creator, in terms that echo the biblical account
▶ Philosophy in Judaism (e.g., Qur’an 7:54). So if we define a “creationist”
▶ Physics in Judaism as one who believes that God is the creator of
▶ Redemption in Judaism everything that exists, then all orthodox
▶ Revelation in Judaism Christians, Jews, and Muslims are creationists.
▶ Theology in Judaism For the purpose of this entry, however, the term
Creationism 523 C
“creationist” will be used more narrowly. have had ancestors, was widely rejected until
A creationist, in this sense, holds that belief in well into the nineteenth century. To this extent,
God’s creative activity is incompatible with an modern creationism is the revival of an ancient
entirely natural explanation of the origins of the view. But modern creationism differs from this
universe and of human beings. While some crea- ancient view in at least one respect. Before the
tionists merely assert their belief in a divine cre- seventeenth century, existing bodies of secular
ative act, others offer arguments for their view. knowledge could be more or less easily fitted C
They insist, for instance, that the proposed natural into a biblical framework. The intellectual revo-
explanations on offer – such as a naturalistic “Big lutions of the seventeenth century broke that
Bang” cosmology or Darwin’s theory of evolu- framework apart, so that today’s creationists
tion by natural selection – are inadequate. More find themselves opposing what most scientists
generally, they insist that no account of origins regard as well-established theories.
that does not make reference to divine activity
can be regarded as satisfactory.
The creationist view, so defined, is more Science and Religion
widely held than many non-creationists realize.
A 1991 Gallup poll in the United States reported With regard to science and religion, creationists
that 47% of Americans believed that “God cre- are among those reject what Stephen Jay Gould
ated man pretty much in his present form at one described as the NOMA thesis: the idea that sci-
time within the last 10,000 years.” By 2005, the ence and religion represent “non-overlapping
figure had risen to 53%, while nearly two-thirds magisteria,” distinct teaching authorities which
agreed that creationist account of origins should cannot come into conflict (Gould 1997).
be taught alongside evolution in public schools. A popular version of the NOMA view holds that
Nor is its impact restricted to the United States, as science deals with matters of fact, while religion
some critics fondly imagine: it has become deals with issues of value. Creationists also reject
a global phenomenon and has spread beyond the the idea that scriptural statements regarding cre-
boundaries of Christianity. Even in apparently ation should be interpreted in a purely metaphor-
secular and skeptical European countries such ical manner or in so general a fashion as to avoid
as Switzerland and Germany, “young-earth” any conflict with proposed natural explanations.
creationists – those who believe the earth to be With regard to the origin of species, for example,
less than 15,000 years old – represent about 20% creationists reject the position known as “theistic
of the population. Among Asian countries, Korea evolutionism” (a version of which is known as
now has a flourishing and influential creationist “evolutionary creationism”). Theistic evolution-
movement. While modern creationism has ists accept that evolution by natural selection can
Christian origins, by the late twentieth century explain the complexity and diversity of living
it had also spread to Islam (particularly in organisms, but insist that God was guiding this
Turkey) and among orthodox Jews worldwide. process. In defending this view, they often appeal
In the history of religious thought, the crea- to the traditional distinction between “primary”
tionist view is both traditional and novel. It is and “secondary” causes: the idea that even
traditional in that before the seventeenth century a natural process can be providentially guided.
most Jews, Christians, and Muslims did assume Creationists, however, reject such reconciling
that the world had its origins in a miraculous strategies.
divine act. Jews and Christians, whose Bible Many atheists, it should be noted, also reject
offer the elements of a universal chronology, the NOMA thesis. They take their stand on the
further assumed that this creative act had side of science and reject competing religious
occurred about 4000 BCE. The idea that the claims. Creationists, by way of contrast, take
earth may be enormously older than the biblical their stand on the side of religion and reject
chronology suggests, or that Adam and Eve may competing scientific claims. Nonetheless, most
C 524 Creationism
modern creationists do not consider themselves distance themselves, even when they are held on
to be rejecting science as such. Indeed, they often religious grounds – one can distinguish four posi-
claim that they are offering a reformed or revised tions within the creationist camp. The first dis-
form of science, sometimes called “creation sci- tinction to be made is that between old-earth
ence.” Opponents of creationism sometimes sug- creationism (OEC) and young-earth creationism
gest that this is merely a way of avoiding the (YEC), the latter being the most widespread form
implications of a constitutional separation of of contemporary creationism. Intelligent design
church and state, since it enables creationists to theory (ID) may be regarded as a third category:
claim a place for their views, as science, in the In some respects, it resembles a traditional OEC,
public school curriculum. However, many but it has other, distinctive features. A final form
creationists do believe their position to be of creationism exists on the cusp between crea-
“scientific,” in the sense of defensible by refer- tionism and theistic evolutionism. It accepts nat-
ence to observation and experiment. Whether ural explanations of the origins of the human
they are correct in this belief is, of course, another body but insists that the human soul was directly
question (see Evaluation). created by God. I shall refer to this last position as
If creationists consider their position to be a “divine animation” theory (DA).
scientifically defensible, how do they explain
the fact that so many scientists disagree? Most Old-Earth Creationism
commonly, creationists argue that the modern Old-earth creationism is characterized by the
scientific consensus represents faulty science, belief that although the earth and human beings
based on false or at least unwarranted assump- have their origins in miraculous divine acts of
tions. Some of these assumptions have to do with creation, the earth is significantly older than
the particular methods used by scientists. Young- a strict adherence to the biblical chronology
earth creationists argue, for example, that the would allow. By the end of the nineteenth cen-
practice of radiocarbon dating rests on tury, this had become the dominant view among
unwarranted assumptions regarding the amount both believing scientists and Christian theolo-
of carbon dioxide in the oceans and atmosphere gians. Beginning with the work of geologist
and the rate of formation and decay of radiocar- James Hutton (1726–1797), whose natural his-
bon atoms. Other allegedly false or unwarranted tory notoriously found “no vestige of a begin-
assumptions are more philosophical in nature. ning, no prospect of an end,” and continuing
Intelligent design supporters, for instance, argue with that of Charles Lyell (1797–1875), the idea
that contemporary science is distorted by its com- of the “antiquity of the earth” was increasingly
mitment to a “methodological naturalism,” which accepted. The most common response of both
rules out a priori all reference to divine agency Christian scientists and theologians was to accept
(Johnson 1995: 105). It follows that creationists this new knowledge and reinterpret Scripture to
do not generally claim to be against science as avoid any conflict with it.
such; what they oppose is what they claim to be The old-earth creationist attitude was, per-
a crippled or distorted form of science. haps, first clearly expressed in a letter of the
astronomer and philosopher of science John
Herschel to Lyell in 1836: “Time! Time!
Varieties of Creationism Time!—we must not impugn the Scripture Chro-
nology, but we must interpret it in accordance
Despite their shared opposition to exclusively with whatever shall appear on fair enquiry to be
natural explanations, modern creationists hold the truth for there cannot be two truths” (Cannon
to a variety of positions regarding the origins of 1961, 308). By the beginning of the twentieth
the earth and of human beings. Leaving aside century, the attitude was widely shared. Even
extreme positions such as flat-earthism and William Bell Riley (1861–1947), one of the first
geocentrism – from which creationists generally self-styled “fundamentalists” and a staunch
Creationism 525 C
opponent of evolution, rejected the idea that process that leads to the formation of entirely
Christians must believe the earth to be only new types of plants and animals. It insists that
6,000 years old, holding that “the plain statement the basic kinds of plants and animals were created
of Genesis . . . leaves latitude for millions and by a series of divine creative acts, although some
even billions of years” (Larson 1997, 223). variation among these kinds may then have
Some of the nineteenth- and early twentieth- occurred by way of natural selection. Despite
century scientists who accepted the antiquity of conceding the possibility of “microevolution”, C
the earth had no interest in reconciling their view this view remains a form of creationism, as
of creation with the biblical account. An example defined above. It denies the possibility of an
would be Louis Agassiz (1807–1873), whose entirely natural explanation of human origins.
view of creation was, from a Christian perspec-
tive, highly unorthodox. But among those scien- Young-Earth Creationism
tists and religious thinkers who did attempt Young-earth creationists, by way of contrast,
a reconciliation, various strategies could be insist on a more or less strict adherence to the
employed. The best known were the “gap” theory biblical chronology and what they regard as the
and the “day-age” theory. The former held that literal sense of the biblical record. The implica-
a great expanse of time – enough to accommodate tions of biblical chronology are not, of course,
the geologists’ findings – lay between the creative immediately evident, so their estimates of the age
event told of in the first verse of Genesis and that of the earth vary. But it is safe to say that no
spoken of in the rest of the biblical account. The young-earth creationist holds the earth to be
latter held that each “day” of the 6-day Genesis more than 15,000 years old. Nor do they agree
account represented, not a 24-h day, but a long about precisely how God is supposed to have
period of earth history. A third view – the acted. They have offered, for instance,
“pictorial-day” theory – held that the creation of a bewildering diversity of accounts of the biblical
the world was revealed (rather than brought flood, which is thought to have been caused by
about) in six days. the eruption of a subterranean abyss, caves in
What this means is that old-earth creationists mountains, oceanic tides caused by comets, rain
were (and are) often rather vague about the from a comet, realignment of the earth’s center,
details of God’s creative act. On the eve of the depression of the abyss by the ocean floor, collapse
of a vapor canopy, collapse of an icy asteroid on
publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species in earth’s surface, eruption of supergeysers from the
1859, most naturalists still believed the origin of earth’s core, collapse of a ring of icy particles, [or
species to be supernatural. But if asked for the] tilting of the earth’s axis by bombardment of
details, many of them “would plead ignorance asteroids with subsequent displacement of its
oceans. (Young 1987, 31)
of the means and affirm only the fact” (Gillespie
1979, 21). Those who did speculate about the So it would be wrong to regard even YEC as
manner in which God created the earth came up a single “theory.” Nor should YEC be regarded as
with a bewildering variety of schemes. The only a simple continuation of premodern beliefs. It
thing that united them was the conviction that does resemble what most Jews and Christians
creation involved miraculous divine acts, what- believed before the seventeenth century, but by
ever form those acts may have taken. the late nineteenth century the young-earth view
The old-earth creationist position finds expres- had been largely abandoned, at least by educated
sion today in what is sometimes called “progres- Christians. It follows that YEC is not a simple
sive creationism.” This holds that while the earth continuation of the ancient position; it is a recent
is indeed ancient, and its various forms of life revival of it, in a more assertive form and
have appeared only gradually, they have done so a different intellectual context. That revival
by a series of divine creative acts. In particular, began with the work of the Seventh-day Advent-
progressive creationism denies the possibility ist thinker, George McCready Price
of “macroevolution,” in the sense of a natural (1870–1963). Early Adventists had held to
C 526 Creationism
a literal reading of the biblical creation story, sold more than a quarter of a million copies. In
which was supported by the visions of their foun- support of their belief in an actual, worldwide
der, Ellen Gould White (1827–1915), and flood, its authors engage in detailed biblical exe-
reinforced by their beliefs regarding the gesis as well as a careful analysis of the geolog-
Sabbath. Price follows them in this respect but ical and fossil evidence in the light of that
sets out to revive the idea that Noah’s flood had exegesis. This extends, for example, to
played a key role in the formation of the geolog- a calculation of the gross tonnage of Noah’s Ark
ical and fossil record. Indeed, he argues that only (13,960 t) and speculation regarding the ways in
a catastrophic event such as biblical deluge could which so many animals might have been cared
explain that record. for in so confined a space.
Price was no means the first to hold to
a “catastrophist” view of earth’s history, nor Intelligent Design Theory
was he the first to attribute geological phenomena The most recent incarnation of the creationist
to the power of water. At a time when there was position is known as “intelligent design” theory
still little reason to question the biblical narrative, (ID). While there can be no doubt about its reli-
“diluvialist” thinkers such as Thomas Burnet gious motivations, ID differs from earlier forms
(1635–1715) had speculated about the origins of of modern creationism in avoiding explicit refer-
the waters of the flood and their role in forming ence to the Bible or even the identity of its intel-
the surface of the earth. In the late eighteenth ligent designer. “Inferences to design,” its
century, the “neptunist” geology of Abraham proponents argue, “do not require that we have
Gottlob Werner (1749–1817) had suggested that a candidate for the role of designer” (Behe 1996,
the earth was originally covered with water, from 196). This strategy, it should be noted, is
which rocks had formed by a process of precipi- condemned by many young-earth creationists,
tation. Although defenders of the biblical account who regard it as a kind of cowardly equivocation,
often embraced this view, on account of its appar- as well as by ID’s opponents, who regard it as
ent resemblance to the biblical story, the origins another subtle attempt to smuggle religion into
of neptunism owed little to biblical authority. It public institutions in the guise of science. Such
was, in origins, a secular theory. criticisms, it should be noted, are often ad
It follows that Price’s “flood geology” was hominem: they attack the character of the pro-
very different from Werner’s neptunism. Price ponents of ID rather than their arguments, a fact
did present it as a proposal for the reform of that is not uncharacteristic of the contemporary
geology: he believed it to be the best available debate.
explanation of the geological phenomena. But he ID’s most influential thinkers are Michael
never denied that its primary inspiration was bib- Behe (b. 1952) and William Dembski (b. 1960).
lical. Indeed with some philosophical insight, he In Chap. 6 of the Origin of Species, Darwin had
insisted that the origin of an idea is irrelevant to written: “If it could be demonstrated that any
its assessment as an explanatory hypothesis. If complex organ existed, which could not possibly
a hypothesis explains the phenomena, it should have been formed by numerous, successive,
not be condemned merely because its origin lies slight modifications, my theory would absolutely
in a particular set of religious beliefs. break down.” In Darwin’s Black Box, Behe takes
While the revival of YEC began with Price, it up the challenge, offering an argument that he
gained momentum with the publication of The believes to demonstrate the insufficiency of nat-
Genesis Flood, a work coauthored by an evan- ural selection. In particular, he argues that many
gelical biblical scholar, John C. Whitcomb biological structures exhibit “irreducible com-
(b. 1924) and engineer Henry Morris plexity” (Behe 1996, 39). They are systems
(1918–2006). First published in 1961, this book whose various parts are so related to one another
has become a creationist best seller. In 50 years, it that the removal of any one of them would make
has been reprinted more than 29 times and has the system inoperable. (Behe’s analogy is that of
Creationism 527 C
a simple mousetrap, where the removal of any souls as having been “immediately created by
one of its parts would make it unable to catch God” (John Paul II et al. 1997: 383). That
mice.) His prime example of an irreducibly com- human souls are immediately created by God is
plex biological structure is the bacterial flagel- itself a traditional Catholic position: It is found,
lum, which acts as a kind of rotary propeller. for instance, in the work of Thomas Aquinas
Because, he argues, such a system could not (1225–1274). Indeed, it was in reference to such
have been formed by “numerous, successive, a view that the term “creationism” was first used. C
slight modifications,” it demonstrates the inade- So while in one sense the Pope’s position can be
quacy of Darwin’s theory. regarded as a form of theistic evolutionism, it is,
William Dembski’s views are less easily sum- perhaps, better regarded as a kind of “divine
marized, but they have to do with the likelihood animation” theory.
that a system exhibiting what he calls “specified What relation has the Pope’s view to the sci-
complexity” would emerge “by chance.” entific theory of evolution? There are those who
Dembski’s not unreasonable assumption is that believe it to be scientifically irrelevant. Gould,
we should reject any hypothesis if, given that for example, regards it as an example of his
hypothesis, the fact to be explained (the NOMA principle, which leaves the science intact.
explanandum) would be exceedingly unlikely. In a similar way, Michael Ruse suggests that “if
How unlikely? Dembski introduces the idea of you want evolution plus souls, that is your option,
a “universal probability bound” (Dembski and if you want evolution less souls, that is also
2002, 22), which he sets at 1 in 10150. He calcu- your option, Either way, evolution is untouched”
lates this figure generously by multiplying an (John Paul II et al. 1996, 394). But it is not clear
estimate of the number of elementary particles that the Pope’s view is so harmless. Insofar as it
in the universe (1080) by the maximum number of concerns human beings, evolutionary theory has
changes which could occur each second (1045) by never limited itself to an explanation of the ori-
the age of the universe in seconds (which he gins of the human body. Charles Darwin believed
estimates very generously as 1025). The actual that natural selection could explain not merely
figures are somewhat arbitrary, but this hardly our emotional life but also the origins of such
matters. They indicate the degree of unlikelihood key human characteristics as the moral sense.
that would render a hypothesis worthy of rejec- Indeed in The Descent of Man (Chap. 4), he
tion. Dembski’s second move is more controver- rejects the idea that our moral sense is somehow
sial. It is to argue that the likelihood that a system implanted by God, seeing it as an outgrowth of
exhibiting specified complexity should emerge those social instincts that are found in many
by means of any natural process falls below this animals.
bound. If this were true, then, Dembski argues, all Is Darwin’s view consistent with the Pope’s
that remains is “design.” position? Apparently not, for however one may
regard the powers of the soul (or the powers to
Divine Animation Theory which the soul gives rise), the moral sense is
It is sometimes suggested that the Catholic surely one of them. So it seems that a Catholic
Church has distanced itself from creationism by thinker would be forbidden from following
accepting the theory of evolution by natural Darwin this far. What has happened here is that
selection. Attention is drawn, in this context, to the Pope has made evolutionary theory theologi-
Pope John Paul II’s 1997 claim that Darwin’s cally acceptable at the cost of limiting its scope.
proposal was to be regarded as “more than The direct creation of the human soul by God
a hypothesis” (plus qu’une hypothèse). But in may not be a miracle, in David Hume’s sense of
fact the only human evolution the Pope was pre- “a violation of a law of nature.” Indeed it occurs
pared to accept is that of the human body. Repeat- in a regular and law-like manner, following the
ing a claim made by his predecessor, Pius XII in conception of each human being. But it is an
1950, he insisted that we must regard human event that cannot be explained without reference
C 528 Creationism
to divine action. (Only God could bring about this evolution, suggesting that it claims biological
change.) If one defines creationism as the view organisms to have arisen “by chance.” While
that belief in God’s creative activity is incompat- this does seem incredible, it is also a misrepre-
ible with an entirely natural explanation of the sentation of Darwin’s central idea. The variations
origins of the universe and human beings, then on which natural selection operates may arise
the Catholic Church’s position must also be from processes that are apparently or even irre-
regarded as a form of creationism. ducibly random. But this does not mean they are
“random” in the sense that all outcomes are
equally likely. Even processes that are
Evaluation unpredictable at the level of individual events
can be governed by probabilistic laws. In any
While some forms of creationism describe them- case, the process by which variations are selected
selves as “scientific” (indeed as “creation sci- is far from random. It is constrained in a variety
ence” or “flood geology”), there is little doubt of ways, not least by environmental pressures.
that what they take to be science is decisively The ID argument that some biological struc-
shaped by a prior commitment to religious tures are “irreducibly complex” is more subtle.
authority. Young-earth creationists in particular But it overlooks the possibility that a structure
follow a policy that is succinctly summarized in that was initially merely advantageous (and
the subtitle of Whitcomb and Morris’s book: “the therefore not necessary at all) might later become
biblical record and its scientific implications.” It essential. As H. Allen Orr writes,
takes as its starting point an interpretation of the some part (A) initially does some job (and not very
biblical text that is as literal as possible, and well, perhaps). Another part (B) later gets added
accepts only that evidence which is consistent because it helps A. This new part isn’t essential, it
with what the scriptures say. Whitcomb and merely improves things. But later on, A (or some-
thing else) may change in such a way that B now
Morris freely admit that this is what they are becomes indispensable. This process continues as
doing, but justify their reliance on religious pre- further parts get folded into the system. And at the
suppositions by arguing that secular science is end of the day, many parts may all be required.
equally dependent on dogmatic presuppositions, (Orr 1997)
albeit of a different kind. Intelligent design theory When sea-creatures first developed lungs,
(ID) is less obviously shaped by a commitment to their new organs were merely advantageous.
scriptural authority, but it would be fair to say But once their descendents became thoroughly
that few scientists who are not already committed terrestrial, lungs became essential. If processes
to a conservative religious position find its argu- of this kind lay behind the development of the
ments as all convincing. There are secular critics bacterial flagellum, it is not “irreducibly com-
of the neo-Darwinian synthesis, but few of these plex” at all.
have been convinced by the ID claim that the
evidence demands belief in a designer.
Theological Challenges
Scientific Criticisms Whatever one makes of their science, creationists
Not only are creationist beliefs based on religious do raise some serious theological questions. Even
presuppositions, they also face severe criticism if something like the theory of evolution by nat-
on scientific grounds. Indeed attempts to refute ural selection is compatible with classical theism,
creationism date from the very beginnings of the in the sense that both could be true, an evolution-
YEC movement, when in 1925 the German geol- ary view of human origins offers some challenges
ogist and Catholic priest, Stephan Richarz, to the believer. Firstly, it undercuts what was
published a detailed rebuttal of Price’s argu- once a very popular form of argument for the
ments. Contemporary critics point out that crea- existence of God, the argument from the com-
tionists appear to misunderstand the theory of plexity and adaptation of living organisms.
Creationism 529 C
As Darwin wrote in his autobiography, “the old Scripture must be reinterpreted (McMullin
argument of design in nature . . . fails, now that 1998, 294). By way of contrast, a second princi-
the law of natural selection has been discovered” ple, the principle of the priority of scripture,
(Darwin 1958, 87). Secondly, even if it is possi- states that when rational enquiry leads to some-
ble that God created the diversity of living beings thing less than certainty, the authority of the
by way of natural selection, we can still ask if this literal sense of scripture is to be preferred
is how we would expect an omnipotent and (McMullin 1998, 295). Nor are these merely C
benevolent deity to act. One might argue that ancient principles. They were employed by the
the wastefulness and apparent cruelty of the pro- church authorities during the trial of Galileo and
cess is evidence against the existence of the God invoked by Pope Pius XI in 1950 when
in whom Jews, Christians, and Muslims profess condemning polygenism (the view that the
to believe. human race had more than one origin). It is true
With regard to the relation between religion that neither Pius nor his successors advocated
and science, creationists are sometimes accused a literal interpretation of the 6 days of creation.
of a “god of the gaps” theology, in which divine But one can understand why those who hold to
action is posited in order to fill an explanatory a strong view of biblical authority might be reluc-
lacuna in our existing scientific theories. In doing tant to abandon what they see as the plain sense of
so, it is said, they offer hostages to fortune, since God’s word in favor of a “mere” human theory, no
science may come to offer natural explanations matter how well supported that theory may be.
that supplant the theological ones. But it is not
clear what force this criticism has. After all, the Cross-References
challenge faced by the theistic evolutionist is
that of explanatory redundancy. If “secondary ▶ Creation in Judaism
causes” can do all the explanatory work, why ▶ Evil, Problem of
bother talking about divine action? The problem ▶ Evolution
was already recognized by Aquinas in his Summa ▶ God of the Gaps
theologiae (1a, qu.2, art. 3, obj. 2), who, of ▶ Intelligent Design
course, formulated his arguments for God’s exis- ▶ Natural Selection
tence in response. It follows that it is not enough ▶ Naturalism, Ontological and Methodological
to assert the compatibility of evolution with the ▶ Soul
doctrine of creation; one must give some reason
to speak about divine action in the first place.
Young-earth creationists also pose very References
sharply the question of scriptural authority.
Many theistic evolutionists regard Darwinism as Behe, M. (1996). Darwin’s black box: The biochemical
incompatible with a literal reading of Genesis challenge to evolution. New York: The Free Press.
1–3, but reconcile their science and their religion Cannon, W. F. (1961). The impact of uniformitarianism:
Two letters from John Herschel to Charles Lyell,
by reinterpreting the biblical account of the cre- 1836–37. Proceedings of the American Philosophical
ation. But is such a reinterpretation justified? Society, 105, 301–314.
A traditional Christian view of biblical authority, Darwin, C., (1958). The autobiography of Charles
dating back to St Augustine (354–430 CE), offers Darwin, 1899–1882. N. Barlow (Ed.). Collins:
London.
principles for settling apparent conflicts between Dembski, W. A. (2002). No free lunch: Why specified
divine revelation and secular knowledge. The complexity cannot be purchased without intelligence.
first of these, which we may call the principle of Langham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
the priority of demonstration, holds that where Gillespie, N. C. (1979). Charles Darwin and the
problem of creation. Chicago, IL: University of
enquiry based on natural principles leads to Chicago Press.
a conclusion that both conflicts with a literal Gould, S. J. (1997). Nonoverlapping magisteria. Natural
reading of Scripture and cannot be doubted, History, 106(March), 16–22.
C 530 Creative Nonfiction
John Paul II, et al. (1997). The pope’s message on evolu- A few institutions, within the last decade, have
tion and four commentaries. The Quarterly Review of also been offering a Ph.D. program for creative
Biology, 72(4), 375–406.
Johnson, P. (1995). Reason in the balance: The case writing, but it is the exception.
against naturalism in science, law, and education. In general, creative writing courses range from
Downers Grove: InterVarsity. online to full-time to bimonthly meetings with
Larson, E. J. (1997). Summer for the gods: The scopes trial advisors. The latter has proven particularly suc-
and America’s continuing debate over science and
religion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. cessful because of the freedom it provides for
McMullin, E. (1998). Galileo on science and scripture. In students with full-time jobs and families. It also
P. Machamer (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to forfeits the expense of campus living.
Galileo (pp. 271–347). Cambridge: Cambridge Increasingly, universities and colleges have
University Press.
Orr, H. A. (1997). Darwin v. intelligent design (again). been extending their programs into summer
Boston Review. http://bosttonreview.net/BR21.6/orr. workshops that are usually held in tourist desti-
html#6R. nations. This allows a participant to feel as if they
Young, D. A. (1987). Scripture in the hands of geologists. are on vacation, but also focused on his or her
Westminster Theological Journal, 49(1–34), 257–304.
particular writing discipline such as poetry,
fiction, and creative nonfiction. The workshops
usually include authors of some reputation work-
ing and living with the participants.
Creative Nonfiction The academic study of creative writing does
not belong specifically to the fields of science or
▶ Creative Writing religion, but both studies are an integral and often
inspirational part of the creative writing process.
While it is too numerous to list the influences of
science and religion upon certain works of crea-
Creative Writing tive writing, the impact extends well beyond the
genre canons of science fiction and Christian or
Erik Raschke spiritual fiction.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands In the last four decades, the amount of creative
writing programs in the United States has
increased from 37 to 822 while, conversely, the
Related Terms overall sales of books have been steadily decreas-
ing. There have been various theories as to this
Creative nonfiction; Fiction; Narrative nonfic- cause including the loss of the independent book-
tion; Poetry; Screenwriting; Television writing seller, to cable television, to video games.
The first serious creative writing program is
attributed to the Iowa Writers Workshop, set up
Description after World War II as an attraction for those
entering the university on the G.I. Bill. While
The creative writing program is generally divided establishing itself as a regional school, the Iowa
into either a Masters of Arts or a Masters of Fine Writers workshop also included writers from
Arts. While either program offers various crea- China, South Korea, England, and other coun-
tive writing courses and workshops, the latter is tries. Many of the other programs that began in
generally weighted toward almost all writing the south, and most recently, in the Western
while the former includes the academia of litera- States, have focused on a more traditional region-
ture. Many creative writing programs, especially alism, incorporating local voices more often than
in the United States, prefer a Bachelors degree in international ones.
either literature or creative writing before enter- Within the last 10 years, institutions of higher
ing their program, but it is not always mandatory. education have become even more specific in
Creative Writing 531 C
their focus. For example, The University of Creative writing programs such as the one at
Oregon’s MFA program encourages the “act of Brown University have sought to discover new
writing,” the University of Florida to hopes to ways to connect the age of technology to fiction
“produce good writers,” and the University of while others have worked to bring the sentence into
Wyoming on students to get “real-life” writing its most evolved state, a way to convey a myriad of
skills (Kathryn Houghton 2006). Many others thoughts, feelings, etc., in a wholly peripheral man-
have begun to offer a cross-disciplinary curricu- ner. In doing so, argue writers such as Tom Wolfe, C
lum between creative writing, screen writing, the story itself has been lost to the author’s inten-
poetry, creative nonfiction, and television sive self-reflection and self-consciousness.
writing.
There has always been a certain level of con- Religion
troversy over the effectiveness of creative writing Religion and spirituality are a fundamental part
programs. As mentioned before, with book sales of the western narrative and the writing process
either stagnant or decreasing, the wide-scale loss itself.
of traditional bookstores, a rapidly declining
readership, and an increase of other media such
as video games, films, and internet, the prolifer- Characteristics
ation of creative writing programs have been
called into question. Is the creative writing John Barth in the New York Times article
program still relevant or is it simply a way for Writing: Can it Be Taught? wrote that before
educational institutions to make money? While creative writing programs writers “authors have
many writers and academics have publicly acquired their authority in four main ways – first
denounced the intellectual merit of such programs, by paying a certain sort of attention to the expe-
others have come out in strong support. The New rience of life as well as merely undergoing it;
Journalist Tom Wolfe has called creative writing second, by paying a certain sort of attention to
programs “swamps” where “mosquitoes breed” the works of their great and less great predeces-
while the novelist M.J. Hyland claimed “that sors in the medium of the written language, as
a good teacher, and a good course, can speed up well as merely reading them; third, by practicing
the apprenticeship of a talented writer, and give that medium themselves, usually a lot; and forth,
him good company” (Hyland 2009). by offering their apprentice work for discussion
and criticism by one or several of their impas-
sioned peers, or by some experienced hand, or by
Self-Identification both.” While all four of these examples are still in
play, John Barth, a long-time teacher of creative
Science writing, believed that the writing programs in
New forms of writing are currently being devel- higher education provided a competitive and
oped and improved upon including; graphic inspirational atmosphere in which aspiring
novels, interactive storytelling, and hyperfiction authors could work productively with peers and
(online, hyperlinked), to name a few, all in mentors. While he did not endorse all programs
attempt to develop a new vehicle for fiction as or teachers, he did say that finding the right place,
well as to deliver a story succinctly and still for the right writer could indeed make
aesthetically. While there is still quite a bit of a difference. He adds: “Either way, the thing
experimental fiction, in terms of style, realism, gets learned, all right, and it gets learned, where
the most common style of writing today has, to it does, because it got studied, practiced, and
borrow Woods’ description, “flattened out” with reacted to, in or out of school.”
overuse (James Wood 2008). Realism, Woods According to a slightly more cynical Louis
adds, is probably one of the least realistic styles, Menand, creative writing programs “are designed
if such a statement can be made. on the theory that students who have never
C 532 Creative Writing
published a poem can teach other students who In Joseph Heller’s Portrait of an Artist As An
have never published a poem how to write Old Man, the narrator, Eugene Pota, a writer who
a publishable poem” (Louis Menand 2009). is mostly known for a single book he wrote many
Menand himself studied poetry at a writing pro- years previous (closely based on Heller’s Catch-
gram and while he claims he’s never published 22) gives a lecture at a southern university to
a poem, and admits that: “I stopped writing poetry creative writing students in which he details the
after I graduated, and I never published a poem – unhappy lives and tragic endings of so many
which places me with the majority of people who writers. “What then, are the reasons, I have to
have take a creative-writing class. . .” he is, how- wonder, that make the biographical information
ever, a regular writer at the New Yorker and has of so many of them a body of literature of
written several well-received books of nonfiction. despair?” He warns parents that if their children
want to become an author that they “must spring
into action to save that child. Stop it – if you can.”
Relevance to Science and Religion (Joseph Heller 2000). But in the end, Pota knows
that few of the students will listen to his plea.
Science and religion has always preoccupied the Writing as a career is rarely glamorous, often
writer’s mind and many creative writing programs destructive, rarely satisfying, but those willing
today are beginning to incorporate a core- to enroll in a creative writing program seem to
curriculum into the B.A. undergraduate study of be growing every year as do the amount of novels
writing, seeing that the understanding of science being written, he says.
and religion is essential in creating authors who While the very definition of an author comes
have a broader understanding of the world than from “authority,” many writers today focus on the
simply the specific skills of creative writing. vulnerability of the authorial voice, the loss of
Science and religion are also two major genres readership, and the lack of analysis of the modern
of fiction as well. world. Many authors consciously deconstruct their
own authority by connecting personal life choices
to the subject in which they are writing upon. J.M.
Sources of Authority Coetzee’s novel Diary of a Bad Year has three
voices speaking concurrently. First the authors
While there seems to be little question that jour- written political views, second the authors conver-
nalism, visual art, and music have a respectable sations with his neighbors and friends, and thirdly
place in educational institutions, creative writing the neighbors and friends view of J.M. Coetzee.
is still often viewed as a solitary activity requiring By the end of the novel, the author’s “authority”
more will than skill. But most writers agree that has all but been compromised.
the craftsmanship behind story and novel writing
requires more than an understanding of writing or
literature. A story or a novel is the complex Ethical Principles
interplay between voice, character, setting, and
words, more specifically the right words. Under- Creative writing seeks to understand what the
standing the effect of one’s writing upon an audi- ethics of a certain society are, why they have
ence is difficult under solitary conditions and that been created, and how they affect the human
is where the workshop, an examination of a piece character.
by other readers and writers, comes into play. The
creative writing program has supplanted the artist
colony in terms of giving the writer interaction Key Values
and dialogue between artists entrance for begin-
ning as well as allowed writers to work closely The key values of creative writing vary from
with more established writers. author to author, lending authenticity to the voice.
Creator – Co-creator 533 C
Conceptualization John Barth. (1985, June 16). Writing: Can it be taught?
The New York Times.
Joseph Heller (2000). Portrait of an artist as an old man.
Nature/World New York: Simon and Schuster.
Creative writing would broadly define “nature/ Kathryn Houghton. (2006). MFA programs in creative
world” as a setting or an environment that influ- writing. Professional Writing Resources. www.
ences the outcomes of certain choices made by msu.edu
Louis Menand. (2009, June 8). Show or tell. The
certain characters. New Yorker.
C
Human
The human and his or her experience is the
essence of creative writing.
Creativity
Life and Death
Life and death are simply a mirror for an author’s ▶ Imagination
audience to put the mortality of the characters
into perspective.
Reality Creator – Co-creator

Since a writer’s life is to make the unbelievable
believable, reality becomes a distant, unattainable Barbara Ann Strassberg
goal. Reality in fiction is only as real as a reflection Aurora University, Aurora, IL, USA
and the surface upon which it appears.
Knowledge Philip Hefner, a contemporary Lutheran theolo-

In good creative writing knowledge is always gian, focuses on human agency in the postmodern
ambiguous. world and on the relationship between science
and religion. His theology is hermeneutical,
Truth showing that the tradition can be interpreted in
Truth in creative writing is only linked to the constructive ways in any situation as long as
strength of the author’s voice. religious ideas, doctrines, and dogmas are treated
as proposals and not apodictic statements. It
Perception offers new ways of thinking about God and
The narrator’s point-of-view is the only Creation in relation to technology, especially as
perception. applied to medical practice.
Hefner’s ▶ theology focuses on the human
Time being embedded in nature, society, and culture.
Time is linked exclusively to the setting and vice Its religious roots are in the Lutheran Evangelical
versa. tradition, but modified by a focus more typical of
eastern religions. Its theological roots go back to
Consciousness Teilhard de Chardin and Ralph Wendell Burhoe,
Once again, consciousness is linked almost but also include elements of process theology (the
exclusively to the narrator. evolutionary process of human becoming), fem-
inist theology (holistic approach), eco-theology
(environmental concerns) and, above all, post-
modern theology. The emphasis is on the
References
processuality of creation; management of para-
Hyland, M. J. (2009). Twitter (June 8th 2009). doxes; interrelations and interdependency of all
James Wood. (2008). How fiction works. New York: FSG. systems; systemic feedbacks that inform and
C 534 Creator – Co-creator
modify the evolutionary process; plurality, activity grounded in the functioning of our
complexity, and contingency of occurrences; minds is our most important activity. Our activi-
decentrality of creation; ultimate purpose of ties and their outcomes (e.g., cloning, genetic
wholeness; importance of community and poli- engineering, creating transhumans) become con-
tics; and, importance of human agency and sistent with nature and, thus, with God’s Crea-
ethics, as expressed by human moral competence tion. Through imagination, humans create the
and readiness for accountability. The evolution- future, and whatever they create are natural,
ary perspective is grounded in the natural and “quintessential human acts” (Hefner 1998).
social sciences. When it is applied to theology, Hefner asks: What is this biocultural human
it allows to interpret the creation as a process of being created for? What forms can this symbol
evolution, in which humans actively participate take? What is the significance of cloning as rev-
as agents of changes. elation of the human situation? Is genetic engi-
Hefner has contributed to the evolution of neering now an integral element in human
Christian theology mainly through his interpreta- nature? Is this ability now a defining mark of
tion of the changing relationship between religion what it means for us to be human? If we consider
and science, through his work devoted to human life to be sacred, can genetic alteration be
the metaphoric and symbolic concept of the cre- included in our concepts of the sacred? (Hefner
ated co-creator (Hefner 1993), and the applica- 2007)
tion of that concept to the interpretation of nature, Hefner further claims that society, as an out-
human nature, society, and culture. Religion and come of the evolutionary process, should be con-
science are the foci of his work, but other com- sidered by theology informed by social sciences.
ponents of culture, such as symbols, rituals, The survival of societies depends on what is
myths, poetry, art, technology, and medical prac- being done to the techno-earth – the ecosystem
tice, help support his claims about the origins and transformed by technology. Nature technolo-
nature of the co-creator, and the mechanisms and gized by humans allows technological civiliza-
direction of the co-creator’s evolution, and his or tions to emerge. It comprises social systems that
her participation in the processes of evolution of interact with the ecosystem transformed by the
nature. created co-creator.
Nature is seen as God’s greatest project. Culture is also an extremely important out-
Everything that exists, including humans, socie- come of the evolutionary process in Hefner’s
ties, and cultures, is natural and a part of creation. theology. “Culture is where it happens” – he
Therefore, theology must focus on nature and claims. Societies create cultures and cultures
become informed by natural sciences. Questions shape societies. But above all, the work of the
such as What does it mean for nature to be part of created co-creator happens in culture. That work
God’s image, and Christ’s redemption need to be is guided by values, myths, narratives, symbols
addressed? If nature cannot proceed adequately and rituals, and the politics of symbols and rituals
without enhancement by human decisions, by that shape the praxis for the support of the earth.
what values should those decisions be guided? Among the many elements of culture, Hefner
Hefner coined the concept of created co-cre- selects religion and science for a more detailed
ator in the 1980s to refer to the human being as scrutiny.
created by God but also shaped by the genetic Hefner starts with a dialogical model of the
makeup and culture that have emerged in the interaction between theology and science, but
ongoing process of nature’s evolution. Since evolves toward a model of the wholeness of reli-
human genetic and cultural makeup keeps chang- gion-and-science, as one compound noun,
ing, being a human actually means participating a symbol of the human quest for meaning. He
in a process of becoming human. The human wants the yoking of science and religion to be
purpose is to contribute to the wholesomeness translated into policies and practices that contrib-
of natural processes, and the meaning-creating ute to human welfare and the good of the planet
Creator – Co-creator 535 C
(Hefner 2005, 2008a, c). He switches from interpretation, such boundaries have been artifi-
a focus on theoretical science to one on scientif- cially constructed and imposed, although there is
ically informed technology, as well as medical continuity between nature, humans, society, cul-
and technological practice. Science and religion ture, and technology. Cyborgs and transhumans
are contextualized by social institutions and are simply the newest outcomes of the process of
intertwined with all other elements of culture nature’s evolution. Thus, Hefner asks: How can
before they manifest themselves in the complex our traditional ideas of God, creation, and nature C
human experience. Myths that societies create be reformulated, so as to be able to interpret
and tell are one example of an important factor cyborg/created co-creator? What shape can
influencing both religion and science as if from moral theology take so as to speak of and to
the outside at any point in time. According to a cyborg/created co-creator? Where is the bound-
Hefner, much work has been done to illustrate ary between healing and improvement or
how natural and social sciences inform theology, enhancement? What is our improvement or
but much less has been done to show how theo- enhancement for? Finally, in his most current
logical interpretations of religion may inform writings, Hefner devotes a lot of attention to
natural or social sciences. Even less has been medical technology and claims that the central
done to define the role of religion for science issue is “the insistence that our original nature,
and technology (Hefner 2008b). Therefore, he received in conception and birth, is open to alter-
suggests that religion can play a reflective, defen- ation at our own hands” (Hefner 2008d). He asks:
sive, practical-moral, and spiritual role. This Toward what project does our intentionality aim?
leads him to ask such questions as: What differ- How far can we extend the right to be healed?
ence would the fuller expression of religion make How do we approach the issue of justice in this
to science-religion interaction? What is the realm? Hefner’s theology is evolutionary,
source of creativity and power from which visionary, flexible, and adaptable to the future,
a self-generating nature emerges, beginning continuously imagined, and constructed by the
with the Big Bang and the Primal Soup, and co-creator.
continuing in our time with the self-conscious
human techno-creator? How should we address
the question of accountability for the co- Cross-References
creation? Why is it important to recognize the
mythic undercurrent in scientific and technologi- ▶ Bioethics in Christianity
cal endeavor? ▶ Christian Ethics
▶ Technology, according to Hefner (2003a), is ▶ Cyberethics
embodied science. It is not only full of religious ▶ Divine Action
meaning, but it is a sacred space where God ▶ Evolutionary Theology
engages us in a creative confrontation. Technol- ▶ Process Theology
ogy combined with engineering creates the tech- ▶ Science and Religion Dialogue and the
nological civilization, which makes us dependent Interreligious Dialogue
on technology in utterly new ways. Now we
are capable of constructing cyborgs and
transhumans, that is, technologically enhanced
References
and genetically engineered humans whose mental
and physical abilities and aptitudes have been Hefner, P. (1993). The human factor: Evolution, culture,
altered by our will (Hefner 2003b, 2008d). religion. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
These new forms of life break down the bound- Hefner, P. (1998). Cloning: As quintessential human act.
Chicago Center for Religion and Science. www.usao.
aries between nature and humans, culture and
edu/facshaferi/HEFNER2.HTML
nature, humans and animals, nature and technol- Hefner, P. (2003a). Technology and human becoming.
ogy, physical and nonphysical. In Hefner’s Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
C 536 Credition, the Process of Belief
Hefner, P. (2003b). The created co-creator meets cyborg. between “fides et ratio” (Plantinga and
Paper presented at a meeting on Star Island. July 7. Woltersdorff 1983; Helm 1999). Philosophers of
Hefner, P. (2005).Zygon at 40: The times, they are
a’changing – or not?. From the Editor. www. religion have come to make a distinction between
zygonjournal.org/40.html. faith and belief (Swineburne 2005; Smith 1998;
Hefner, P. (2007). Genetic frontiers: Challenges for Kenny 1992; Sessions 1994; Mitchell 1994) [see
humanity and our religious traditions. March. Zygon, article on “▶ Faith and Belief” by Taede Smedes
42(1), 183–191.
Hefner, P. (2008a). Religion and science.In C., Philip in this encyclopedia]. But, indeed, many of the
(Ed.), The Oxford handbook of religion and science current academic discussions concerned with the
(pp. 562–578). Oxford: Oxford University Press. character of believing attempt to ignore the reli-
Hefner, P. (2008b). Embodied science: Recentering religious fixation (Stich 1996; Boyer 2002, 2003).
gion-and-science. Paper presented at the Annual Meet-
ing of the American Academy of Religion in Chicago, This reveals a problematic trace in the European
November 3. history of mind which is characterized as prefer-
Hefner, P. (2008c). Religion-and-science as spiritual quest ring a far too exclusive fixation on religion and
for meaning. Kitchener Ontario: Pandora Press. neglecting “religiosity” as a highly relevant
Hefner, P. (2008d). The challenge of transhumanism:
A Christian theological perspective. A paper presented anthropological approach to understand human
at Arizona State. April 14. beings and their behavior [see article on
“▶ Religiosity” by Hans-Ferdinand Angel in
this encyclopedia].
As a theoretical construct, the concept of
Credition, the Process of Belief credition focuses on the process character, that
is, on what happens “while someone is believ-
Hans-Ferdinand Angel ing,” rather than on the relationship between
Faculty of Catholic Theology, Karl-Franzens belief and knowledge or “fides et ratio.”
University, Graz, Austria Creditions are related to cognition and emotions
to which they stand in a finely tuned balance.
Hence they are connected with empathy, percep-
Related Terms tion, action control, memory, and the self-
concept. Creditions are conceived as mental
Process of believing processes which are thought to have an important
impact on (the control of) human behavior.
The term “credition” is a neologism, which is Neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies
conceived in analogy to emotion and cognition have shown that belief processes involve brain
and denotes the process of believing as it appears areas known to be involved in emotion-related
in religious as well as in nonreligious contexts and cognitive processing. But there is
(Angel et al. 2006). In common understanding a discrepancy between the increasing interest in
believing is mainly related to religion. That is empirical research and the lack of coherent ter-
the case especially in the Western – and partly minology and conceptualization which might be
the Slavic and Middle Eastern – sphere, where the bridged by the concept of credition (Seitz and
notion of religion is usually associated with the Angel 2012). The term credition can be con-
so-called Abrahamitic religions (Judaism, ceived on the one hand as a psychological con-
Christianity, and Islam). In the Western tradition, cept (Angel 2011), and on the other hand it can
an explicit or implicit focus on the concept of also be held up as a philosophical concept, more
religion frequently has prevailed since earlier precisely, as one of the philosophies of mind or
philosophical debates. For instance, scholars even of philosophies of mind in process (Angel
have reflected the relation between religion and 2012). Accordingly, questions like those of
science (Gutting 1983; Brooke 1991), between degrees of belief (Huber and Schmidt-
belief and knowledge (Polkinghorne 1998), or Petri 2009), the role of (subdoxastic) will
Credition, the Process of Belief 537 C
(resp. volition), intention, desire, passion, or jus- or excluded into someone’s bab-configuration. If
tification and morality can be raised. someone does not trust the quality of drinkable
Processes of believing, one the one side, are water offered in a glass, the qualification “drink-
results of attitudes. One the other hand, they able” might become a “bab.” It is due to the
influence them as well as they influence our enclosure function whether this “bab” will be
actions. Creditions as mental processes are con- enclosed into the bab-configuration of the agent.
ceptualized at the interface of perception and If it is to enclose then the action will be directed C
action. They may be understood as a kind of toward “drinking,” and if it is not to enclose it is
operator, which is involved in the manifold pro- unlikely that the water will be consumed. Nota-
cesses between a perception-related input and an bly, it is not presupposed, that all processes of
action-related output. Subjective appraisal plays believing reach consciousness (Wegner 2002;
a dominant role for valuation of internal and Teske 2007). In order to accommodate sublimi-
external events as well as in subjective control nal processes (or even subliminal persuasion)
of action (Seitz et al. 2009). Its driving forces are “nonconscious babs” were designated as blobs
part of processes which are commonly ascribed to which, nevertheless, are effective by influencing
religious or secular beliefs. affects, motivation as well as actions. The
Creditions are proposed to be characterized by nonconscious existence of an exaggerated
four interdependent biopsychological functions: hygienic “worriedness” (concern) might function
the enclosure function, the converter function, as blob in a bab-configuration. As a result its
the stabilizing function, and the modulator influence onto the enclosure process will lead to
function (Angel 2011). Recent neuroimaging the exclusion of the bab “drinkable” – with fur-
and neurophysiological evidences suggest that ther result, that the agent will refuse to drink
the model of creditions may be justifiable from the offered water. Furthermore bab-blob-
a neurophysiological point of view in as much as configurations are characterized by babs/bobs of
certain cerebral processes appear to be compati- different “mightiness” (e.g., mini-babs or mega-
ble with the concept of creditions. Specifically, babs), which means that in a bab-blob-
cognition-based perspective taking and emotion- configuration of identical propositions big differ-
based perspective taking engage different closely ences might exist according to the “mightiness”
adjacent, but functionally different nodes within of the enclosed babs/blobs. As every single bab
large-scale cerebral circuits involving the medial (and blob) is not fully conceived without its (gen-
frontal cortex” (Seitz and Angel 2012). erally changeable) emotional loading also the
interrelations between the babs/blobs within
a bab-blob-configuration are not to be understood
Function of Credition without affects and emotions, and their relation
might be expressed in terms of statistics.
1. The enclosure function 2. The converter function
This function is a cognitive process constituting The second function of creditions is activated
or modifying “bab-configurations,” which can be when bab-configurations are transformed in
understood as emotionally shaped propositions, action. For example, when in a given bab-
such as vague ideas, confirmed knowledge, configuration of an agent exists the bab “cats are
values, moral claims, and intuitions. In this divine animals,” then in case of a fire, the agent
sense, bab-configurations are those subsets of will be prepared to rescue the cat from the fire
mind-sets, which are activated when a process first. This preparation process is interdependent
of believing starts. Any vague or doubtful (acous- with several systems, as for instance the predic-
tical, optic, olfactory, sensual) perception of an tive system which provides the individual with
external or even of an internal event can be information about the feasibility of deployable
understood as a “bab,” which may be included actions and, in consequence, modulates the
C 538 Credition, the Process of Belief
preparation of actions (Delevoye-Turrell et al. by actual bodily states as stress, loss of trust,
2010). The impulses coming from the bab- arches and pains, sadness, or sexual arousal. It is
configuration will not provoke single acts: rather, an intriguing perspective in which way emotions
the converter function is preliminary to the con- and appraisal influence the modulation of
crete act sketching out a space of action. The term creditions. In addition: It may be discussed
space of action is introduced to mark a middle whether the modulator function should be
stage between motivation (cats are divine ani- regarded more as a general principle that influ-
mals) and action (rescue the cat). Creditions sup- ences the three other functions in a specific mode.
port via the converter function the preparation of Since creditions are purely mental processes,
actions by reducing the number of choices and they will follow their specific courses indepen-
abbreviating the time of decision-making. This dently from outside influences, which, neverthe-
transformation is complex and all the problems less, will influence the contents of these
discussed in theory of mind might be relevant for processes. This kind of learning is not specific
this concept. to religious beliefs, but might in a comparable
3. The stabilizer function way also occur in secular belief processes such
While the enclosure process has the function to as in faiths or in social or moral convictions.
produce bab-configurations, the stabilizer pro- Therefore, creditions play a role not only in
cess has the function to maintain them. The sta- interreligious dialogues, but also in politics,
bilizer function calms the bab-configurations, economy, education, human rights, minority
which are continuously modified by new experi- protection, or anti-discrimination. They are rel-
ences of the subject, and reduces the volatility of evant to understand the diversity of man on the
irritating impulses, which are sent by the enclo- one side and similarity on the other. As
sure process to the converter function. Therefore, a process-orientated approach to faith, to trust,
the stabilization of bab-configurations is an inev- and to belief the concept of credition may inte-
itable precondition for consistent “spaces of grate divergent philosophical, psychological,
action.” The stabilizer function brings creditions neurophysiological, and other conceptual
into touch with attitudes and mind-sets. Many aspects. It can be used as a starting point for
complex challenges of everyday life, as for further interdisciplinary research questions and
instance decision-making, planning, or (re-) be fruitful for the discussions described above as
building of trust, are only possible on the basis for many others.
of a coherently shaped space of action. Most
likely these functions are implemented on differ-
ent stabilized neural circuits. Cross-References
4. The modulator function
This function of credition highlights in a specific ▶ Biology of Religion
way the differences of individuals and the differ- ▶ Cognitive Psychology
ences of situations, in which a creditive process ▶ Cognitive Science of Religion
can occur. Obviously, creditions are interrelated ▶ Cognitive Science Psychology
with the individual’s body, his or her memory, ▶ Emotion
gender, health, disability, or psychic integrity. ▶ Faith and Belief
They are bound to the individual state of cogni- ▶ Neuroimaging
tive and/or emotional development, be it con- ▶ Neuropsychology
scious or nonconscious. When regarding the ▶ Philosophy of Mind
modulation function on the levels of cells, for ▶ Philosophy of Religion
example, we might see the influence of neural ▶ Psychology of Religion
synchronizing processes. On the other hand, the ▶ Religiosity
course of creditive processes might be modulated ▶ Theory of Mind
Criminology 539 C
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Angel, H.-F., et al. (2006). Religiosit€
at. Anthropologische, Teske, J. A. (2007). Bindings of the will: The neuropsy-
theologische und sozialwissenschaftliche Kl€ arungen. chology of subdoxastic faith. In W. B. Dress,
Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, W. GmbH. H. Meisinger, & T. A. Smedes (Eds.), Humanity,
Angel, H.-F. (2011). Ist das Konzept der Creditionen f€ ur World and God – understanding and actions (SSTH,
die Religionspsychologie brauchbar? Wege zum Studies in science and theology, Vol. 11, pp. 27–44).
Lund: Lund University.
Menschen, 63, 4–26. German Version of: “Can the
Wegner, D. M. (2002). The illusion of conscious will.
C
concept of creditions be applicable to Psychology of
Religion? Paper held on the Congress of the Interna- Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
tional Association for the Psychology of Religion,
Vienna, 2009.
Angel, H.-F. (2013). Der Glaubensfaktor. Wie Creditionen
unseren Alltag steuern, Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche
Buchgesellschaft. Criminology
Boyer, P. (2002). Religion explained. The evolutionary
origins of religious thought. New York: Basic Books.
Boyer, P. (2003). Religious thought and behaviour as Patricia E. Erickson
by-products of brain function. Trends in Cognitive Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and
Science, 7(3), 119–124. Criminal Justice, Canisius College OM-016 C,
Brooke, J. H. (1991). Science and religion. Some histori-
Buffalo, NY, USA
cal perspectives. Cambridge University Press.
Delevoye-Turrell, Y., Bartolo, A., & Coello, Y. (2010).
Motor representation and the perception of space: per-
ceptual judgements of the boundary of action space. In Description
N. Gangopadhyay, M. Madary, & F. Spicer (Eds.),
Perception, action, and consciousness (pp. 217–242).
Oxford: Oxford University Press. Criminology is an academic discipline devoted
Gutting, G. (1983). Religious belief and religious skepti- to the scientific study of crime and criminal
cism. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press. behavior. Although contemporary criminology
Helm, P. (1999). Faith and reason. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
is multidisciplinary, encompassing a variety of
Huber, F., & Schmidt-Petri, C. (Eds.). (2009). Degrees of fields such as anthropology, biology, economics,
belief. Heidelberg: Springer. law, political science, psychiatry, and psychol-
Kenny, A. (1992). What is faith? Essays in the philosophy ogy, the sociological approach to criminology is
of religion. New York: Oxford University Press.
especially dominant. While the central focus of
Mitchell, B. (1994). Faith and criticism. Oxford:
Clarendon. criminology is to examine the causes and conse-
Plantinga, A., & Woltersdorff, N. (1983). Faith and ratio- quences of crime and criminal behavior, contem-
nality. Reason and belief in God (1st edn, February 28, porary criminology also contains a number of
1991). Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
other subareas of inquiry. The sociology of law
Polkinghorne, J. C. (1998). Belief in god in an age of
science. New Haven and London: Yale University is a subarea concerned with the role of social
Press. forces in the creation, modification, and applica-
Seitz, R., Franz, M., & Azari, N. P. (2009). Value judg- tion of laws. The specialty area of criminal
ments and self-control of action: The role of the medial
statistics and crime measurement focuses on
frontal cortex. Brain Research Reviews, 60, 368–378.
Seitz, R., & Angel, H.-F. (2011). The structure of developing reliable measures of criminal activity.
creditions: The role of cognition, emotion, and Victimology is a specialty area concerned with
appraisal. http://www.uni-graz.at/credition/ the role of the victim in the criminal process, and
Seitz, J. R., & Angel, H.-F. (2012). Processes of
especially how society responds to the needs of
believing – A review and conceptual account. Reviews
in Neuroscience, 23(3), 303–309. victims. Finally, criminologists are also involved
Sessions, W. L. (1994). The concept of faith: A philosoph- in examining social control mechanisms in
ical investigation. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. society; penology is the study of the punishment
Smith, W. C. (1998). Faith and Belief: the Difference
and treatment of criminal offenders. Recent
between them. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Stich, S. (1996). Deconstructing the mind. New York: developments in criminology concern the devel-
Oxford University Press. opment of new criminological perspectives that
C 540 Criminology
challenge the assumptions of traditional crimi- with explanations which emphasize social inter-
nology. Often these perspectives are postmodern action. Sociological criminologists use both
approaches that reject scientific rationality as the quantitative and qualitative methodologies,
method for studying crime and criminal behavior. although quantitative methods provide the pri-
The emphasis of postmodern approaches is to mary research approach.
“deconstruct” assumptions of traditional crimi-
nology. Some approaches offer humane alterna-
tives to traditional methods of crime control. Characteristics
Restorative justice, for example, focuses on the
needs of the victim, offender, and the community There is a related discipline of criminal justice
by emphasizing remedies and victim/offender which is also concerned with crime and criminal
reconciliation rather than offender punishment behavior. However, the study of criminal justice
and victim neglect. concerns the system of law that is directly
involved in the apprehension, prosecution,
defense, sentencing, incarceration, and supervi-
Self-Identification sion of those suspected of or charged with crim-
inal offenses.
Science
Contemporary criminology self-identifies as
a science. Its emphasis is on empirical research Relevance to Science and Religion
and scientific methodology. However, in its early
development in the mid-eighteenth century, Criminology examines the role of religion in
criminology was not grounded in science but criminal behavior. Criminological theories
rather in social philosophy. Known as the classi- identify the basis for hypothesizing a negative
cal school of criminology and based on utilitarian relationship between religion and law violation.
principles, the classical school asserted that indi- Criminological research generally identifies
viduals have free will to make their own choices religion as an independent variable with
to act, that decisions are rationally made based variations in criminal behavior as the dependent
upon seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, and that variable. This research indicates, for the most
the role of punishment is to deter criminal behav- part, that religious beliefs and activities are
ior. The use of scientific method to study crime negatively related to violating the criminal
and criminal behavior developed in the late nine- laws of society. However, criminological
teenth century with the emergence of the positive research also recognizes that religious extremism
school of criminology. The positive school attrib- can provide motivation and support for criminal
uted internal and external influences outside of behavior by misusing religion to justify crimi-
the individual’s control as the cause of criminal nal acts.
behavior. Positivists assumed that behavior is Criminologists also investigate the positive
both determined and measurable and offered bio- role of religion in rehabilitation and treatment
logical, psychological, and sociological explana- programs, focusing on religious practices among
tions as the causes of criminal behavior. In the prisoners. Finally, criminologists also recognize
twentieth century, sociological positivism the biblical basis for the restorative justice
became the central scientific explanation of approach in criminology.
crime and criminal behavior and the primacy of
sociological explanations continues today. Socio-
logical criminology contains a number of Sources of Authority
theories of crime causation, but traditionally,
sociological criminology is divided into explana- Criminologists submit both theoretical papers
tions which are social structural as contrasted and empirically based research papers to
Criminology 541 C
peer-reviewed journals in their discipline where Human Being
the papers are subject to blind review. In addition, Human beings are social as well as biological
professional organizations such as the American beings. Both internal (biological, psychological)
Society of Criminology recognize outstanding and external (social) factors explain human
scholarly contributions to the discipline. behavior.
Life and Death C

Ethical Principles Criminologists focus on social life – life after
birth and before death. There is no specific con-
The ethical principles that guide criminologists ceptualization of the origins of life or the mean-
concern research ethics. Criminologists are obli- ing of death.
gated to report all sources of financial support and
other sponsorship of research. Ethical principles Reality
also require the full reporting of research findings Criminology conceptualizes reality in terms of
and fully recognizing the contributions of col- the norms, customs, values, and ideologies of
leagues. In addition, criminologists also have a society. Its focus is on the social reality created
ethical responsibilities concerning research sub- by human beings through social interaction.
jects. They are obligated to ensure that the phys-
ical, social, and psychological well-being of an Knowledge
individual participating in research is not For traditional criminology, knowledge is the
adversely affected by participation in the result of the scientific and empirical study of
research, and they must protect the privacy of social reality. For postmodern criminology,
human subjects and confidentiality of the data knowledge derived from the scientific and empir-
collected. ical study of social reality is only one way of
knowing; there are a number of equally valid
ways of knowing.
Key Values
Truth
Criminologists value the advancement of knowl- Truth in traditional criminology would be the
edge about crime and criminal behavior. They are ability to use the scientific method to understand
committed to the free and open access to knowl- crime and criminal behavior with certainty
edge and to public discussion of findings. They which is not possible. Criminology has an
value objectivity and professional integrity in empirically based but imperfect understanding
performing and reporting research. While values of crime and criminal behavior. In addition,
regarding science and scholarship predominate, postmodern criminology would challenge the
criminologists are also concerned with the assumption that it is possible to reach an objec-
application of their findings. Social policies tive truth concerning crime and criminal
concerning crime and criminal behavior should behavior.
be linked to findings of sound criminological
research. Perception
Perception is a research variable. Criminologists
examine the role of perception in crime and crim-
Conceptualization inal behavior.
Nature/World Time
The world is conceptualized as human society Time is considered a dimension for measuring
and human society is a socializing/civilizing changes in societal definitions of crime and crim-
agent. inal behavior. Time is also a dimension used for
C 542 Criteriologic Problem
determining how long an individual may be held Cross-References

liable for a criminal offense (statute of limita-
tions) and how long an individual may be ▶ Critical Theory
punished for an offense. ▶ Determinism and Indeterminism
▶ Deviance and Social Control, Sociology of
Consciousness ▶ Forensic Psychology
In order to be held criminally responsible for ▶ Knowledge, Sociology of
committing crimes, individuals must be con- ▶ Social Psychology
scious of their actions. The elements of a crime
are mens rea (guilty mind/criminal intent) and
actus reus (wrongful act). While a limited number References
of offenses are strict liability offenses and only
require the actus reus, most crimes require both Baier, C. J., & Wright, B. R. E. (2001). “If you love me,
keep my commandments”: A meta-analysis of the
mens rea and actus reus.
effect of religion on crime. Journal of Research in
Crime and Delinquency, 38, 3–21.
Rationality/Reason Barlow, H. (2007). Dead for good: Martyrdom and the
Reason/rationality is important in criminology rise of the suicide bomber. Boulder: Paradigm
Publishers.
for two reasons. First, it forms the basis for
Cullen, F. T., & Agnew, R. (2011). Criminological theory:
scientific positivism and therefore it forms the Past to present. New York: Oxford University Press.
basis for knowledge in traditional criminology. Miller, M. K. (2006). Religion in criminal justice. New
Second, classical criminology and rational York: LFB Scholarly.
Miller, H. V. (Ed.). (2008). Restorative justice: From
choice theory, the modern-day version of
theory to practice. Bingley: JAI Emerald Group.
classical theory, holds that criminality is the O’Connor, T. P., Duncan, J., & Quillard, F. (2006). Crim-
result of conscious choice and predicts that inology and religion: The shape of an authentic dia-
individuals choose to commit crime when the logue. Criminology & Public Policy, 5, 559–570.
benefits outweigh the costs of disobeying
the law.
Mystery Criteriologic Problem

Mystery is not a concept that appears in crimino-
logical literature; it does not appear in Olof Franck
criminological theory and it is not a variable in Department of Pedagogical, Curricular and
criminological research. Professional Studies, University of Gothenburg,
Gothenburg, Sweden
Relevant Themes
The idea of a criteriologic problem generates
It is important to recognize that criminology con- from what seems to be an indisputable fact,
sists of many theories of crime causation. Typi- namely, that religious sentences are criterio-
cally these theories emphasize empirical research logically problematic in that there does not
and scientific methodology and posit either bio- seem to be any ordinary method by which they
logical, psychological, or sociological explana- could be shown to be true or false. By an “ordi-
tions. Sociological theories predominate and nary” method is meant one that in some way
generally are classified as (1) social structure relies on empirical standards, and since the cen-
theories, (2) social interaction theories, or tral sentences belonging to religious traditions
(3) social conflict theories. Postmodern criminol- and systems of belief would seem to be
ogy challenges the assumptions of traditional interpreted as aiming to say something about
criminology. a nonempirical object, the conclusion is drawn
Criteriologic Problem 543 C
that the sentences are problematic from a Despite the philosophical death of logical
criteriologic point of view. empiricism, the demand for empirical verificative
Of course, some of the sentences used and or falsificative tests to ensure the possible
uttered in religious contexts, such as perhaps truth-value of sentences has continued to live
historical ones about the birth, the life, and the a rather vivid life, not the least in the field of
death of such important leaders as Siddhartha philosophy of religion. Even if the standards of
Gautama, Jesus Christ, or Mohammad, could, at meaningfulness formulated by the logical empir- C
least in principle, be tested by ordinary empirical icists showed to be all too rigid and untenable, the
and scientific methods. But the central sentences basic idea that there has to be some usable
in various religious traditions, for example, “God method by which belief sentences can be sanc-
loves all people” or “The goal of reincarnative tioned “true” or “false,” if these sentences could
existence is moksha,” do not rely on empirical be said to be relevant for the empirical world and
references. Let us call such sentences “belief the lives of its human beings, has survived.
sentences”! The criteriologic problem, then, The main line of divergence in relation to this
could be said to arise from the supposed fact demand, at least in the 1950s and the following
that there seems to be no ordinary method by decades, can be identified to separate reformative
which belief sentences could be shown to be verificationist approaches from a Wittgensteinian
true or false. one, according to which belief sentences have
The crucial question, though, could be said to their own standards of meaning and truth found
be one that sets focus upon what is to be judged as in the religious contexts or, using the terminology
a “criteriologically problematic” sentence. of Wittgenstein, “language games,” where they
Which standards could be used, and are there are used, and that there consequently does not
standards with universal extension? Could exist a “criteriologic problem.” Such a problem
sentences from one context, such as religion, presupposes that there are general, and perhaps
be evaluated and tested by the same criteria universal, standards of comprehending and test-
that are used in another, such as science or every- ing sentences from all kinds of contexts of human
day life? life, but since there are no such standards, there is
In modern ▶ analytical philosophy of religion, not any problem of a “criteriologic” kind.
a great deal of the discussion on the criteriologic Language is a matter of pluralism concerning
problem has started in a verificationist interpre- uses and rules and meanings, and to raise any
tation of it, which, in its turn, falls back to the universal demands in order to obtain non-
Vienna Circle and the antimetaphysical logical pluralistic expressions of meaning and truth is
empiricism of the 1920s. The logical empiricists doomed to fail (Wittgenstein 1978).
set up strictly formulated criteria to differentiate This is, of course, a response which, at its
between “meaningful” and “meaningless” fundamental level, few today would oppose to.
sentences. These criteria were built around the The pluralism of language, the differences
concept of empirical observation, initially between various areas of human enterprises and
expressed in terms of conclusive verification, domains of life, and the many-faced picture of
but later on in milder versions, verificative and methods and criteria to be used to interpret and
falsificative. The basic idea for the logical empir- test the semantic expressions of those differenti-
icists was that meaningful sentences, with some ated contexts – nothing of this seems to be all too
empirical method, at least in principle, could be surprising or, for that matter, problematic to any-
shown to have a truth-value. Since what we have one familiar with the philosophical discussion
called “belief sentences” were judged to fail to related to semantic and epistemological topics
pass this test, they, together with other metaphys- today. After the postmodern era, with its criticism
ical sentences, were doomed to lack meaning of traditional ideologies and religions and its
and, consequently, truth-value (Diamond and rejection of universal standards for applications
Litzenburg 1975). of presumably homogeneous concepts such as
C 544 Criteriologic Problem
“meaning” and “truth,” the aim to find definite perspective which sets focus upon the epistemo-
criteria in order to separate “meaningful” logical question why religious people seem to be
sentences from “meaningless” may seem to be anxious to talk about their beliefs in terms of
a project of a strictly historic interest. “truth” while, at the same time, they seldom
The question, then, is if the criteriologic prob- express the same kind of anxiety for the project
lem is to be judged as one of those “obsolete” to show in accordance with which criteria their
obstacles from the history of philosophy. Is the belief sentences could be established as “true.”
demand for usable criteria in order to test the Looking back through the decades where the
actual or possible truth or falsity of belief criteriologic problem has been discussed,
sentences to be declared misguided and, perhaps, believers generally seem to have been rather
unreasonable? uninterested in taking part in the discussion.
There are, at least, two reasons why the The demand for a criteriologically satisfying
suggested lack of a definite method for testing method for testing religious sentences was of
the truth and falsity of belief sentences would a philosophic kind, and perhaps its relevance for
seem to be of a more profound interest than practicing believers did not become clear. Why
being reduced to a historic parenthesis. First, the bother about philosophical criteria of truth when
basic idea that sentences that seem to propose or the presence of truth in the personal belief is
state something about an existent reality, if such experienced as so vivid and so lively? Even the
a proposal or statement is to be in any way rele- most debated criteriologic challenge during the
vant to people living their lives in relation to this decades after the 1950s, namely, the one formu-
reality, is in itself independent of specific meth- lated by the British philosopher Antony Flew,
odological constructions, like the verificationist then probably one of the most well-known critics
ones. Even if all methods hitherto presented have of religious truth claims, seems to have been most
shown to be misguided or unreasonable, this fact reflected, not by religious believers but by phi-
would not constitute a conclusive reason to losophers of religions which aimed to formulate
negate the demand for criteria which could be a theoretic response to meet the challenge.
used to judge belief sentences as “true” or According to Flew, building his argument around
“false.” Second, the global world, with its a falsificative criterion of meaning, believers
increasing space of communication across not faced with evil in the world still continue to
only geographical but also cultural and religious hold on to sentences about “God’s existence”
frontiers, actualizes the question in which respect and “God’s love” even though there is so much
it is possible to keep an epistemological dialogue that would count against the truth of these
concerning disparate religious claims alive. sentences. If the sentences had a definite mean-
When people representing different religions ing, they would have been accepted as falsified:
and traditions come together debating questions an existing and loving God would not allow all
touching about all kinds of subjects where claims the pain that people are forced to experience in
of truth are presented with reference to religious life. But believers refuse to accept this: instead,
authorities of various forms, the question how it they keep their belief in the truth in the sentences
would be possible to settle disputes concerning and thereby, Flew states, make the claims of them
reasons for and reasons against those claims compatible with anything that would happen –
respectively arises. Are such disputes really to that is, they make them say nothing of relevance
be left without at least a try to – by some attended to the empirical world since not anything in
criteria – solve them, not perhaps definitely, but this world is allowed to count against their truth
through handling them, perhaps in terms of some (Flew 1966).
probability calculation or at least some evaluative Many philosophers of religion have tried to
procedure of an epistemologically relevant kind? meet this challenge by formulating criteria
Commenting first on the initial reason men- which would save the empirical relevance of the
tioned, one could elaborate a philosophical sentences, sometimes in terms of verificationist
Criteriologic Problem 545 C
fundamentals and sometimes in other ways, for The challenge which the criteriologic problem
example, John Hick and Basil Mitchell, respec- poses is, however, today one is seldom met by
tively, just to mention two examples. Common to projects where one tries to establish a more pre-
them all is that they accept the challenge of Flew cise methodological standard in order to evaluate
as a real challenge and that the criteriologic prob- the truth-value of this or that belief sentence.
lem really is a problem to be handled and taken Rather, today’s colleagues of the philosophers
care of. Even though none of these philosophic of religion of the last decades of the twentieth C
responses have shown to be overwhelmingly con- century, generally speaking, are more interested
vincing, they can be considered as serious efforts in interpreting, analyzing, and, when this is
to develop a line of argumentation for how belief thought possible, classifying the central beliefs
sentences, in spite of their nonempirical charac- of different religious traditions and the semantic
ter, could be established as relevant to people expressions of them, in terms of the realist–non-
who live their lives in the empirical world. In realist distinction. One of these colleagues is the
some way, these efforts can be interpreted as Swedish philosopher of religion Eberhard
projects where tools to make the nonempirical Herrmann, who has dedicated a great deal of his
relevant to the empirical, and vice versa, are latest work to an analysis of questions related to
being looked for and elaborated (Franck 1988). this perspective (Herrmann 2004). The focus has
As to the second reason mentioned above, why shifted from penetrating the question how
the criteriologic problem should not be consid- verificative or falsificative criteria could be
ered as a strictly historic one, here it also has to be found to anchor a satisfying test of belief
pointed out that the multicultural and sentences to a dedication to relating the funda-
multireligious communications in today’s world mentals of religious belief to a perspective where
make it interesting to reflect upon the epistemo- questions concerning meaning and reference are
logical presuppositions and consequences of put in the center. Here, the project is managed
intercultural and interreligious dialogue. When, within a broad frame of reference to philosophi-
for example, conservative believers in the name cal theories and positions: the criteriologic prob-
of some religious authority or according to some lem is not seen as especially unique to religious
interpretation of a supposed holy book argue contexts; rather, it is one instance among many
against the democratic rights of women or homo- when it comes to the question how language,
sexuals or propose that creationism is a theory religious or nonreligious, could be interpreted in
which ought to be taught in school alongside relation to semantical, epistemological, and onto-
evolutionary theory and when liberal believers logical criteria of meaning and truth.
together with nonbelievers oppose to these The criteriologic problem, then, is still alive
claims, does it not seem clear that a refreshing and continues to attract an important interest,
investigation of the criteria for proposing belief but the ways of trying to come to terms with it
sentences as “true,” at some point in the discus- have changed. When belief sentences from
sion, has to be performed? The criteriologic prob- a religious point of view is said to be “true,” the
lem seems here to be most vivid and demanding. question “How do you know?” is, of course,
Is it possible to claim that “God forbids women to relevant today precisely as it has been for all
live in exactly the way that men do” or that “God times. Philosophers of religion in our days do,
opposes to every kind of sexual activity except however, seldom take part in enterprises where
for those that are of a heterosexual kind” express specified verificative or falsificative criteria are
“true” sentences? It seems to be reasonable to tried to be constructed. Rather, they choose to
meet such claims with the standard epistemolog- analyze the language of religions in terms of
ical question: “How do you know that?” And realist or non-realist theory and try to investigate
when this questioned is posed, the criteriologic how different philosophical theories on truth con-
problem has been semantically incarnated ditions could be applied to religious sentences
once again. such as belief sentences.
C 546 Critical and Cultural Theory
Cross-References The term “critical theory,” due to its inner ambi-

guity, is to be understood in two senses. In
▶ Concept of God in Contemporary Philosophy a broad sense, it covers those disciplines within
of Religion the social sciences, which offer a critical
▶ Critical Realism in Theology and Science account of society, knowledge, and culture
▶ Evil, Problem of (including political systems, arts, and literature,
▶ Faith and Belief among others). Since the 1970s, reacting to New
▶ Philosophy of Religion Criticism in literary theory, these disciplines have
▶ Realisms in Philosophy of Religion overlapped, particularly in the English-speaking
▶ Religious Experiences world, leading to a broader paradigm of criticism.
▶ Truth On this basis, the definition of critical theory
includes queer theory, the theory of communica-
tive action by J€urgen Habermas, feminist
References theory, critical legal theory, psychoanalysis,
neo-Marxian theories, and many others.
Diamond, M. L., & Litzenburg, T. V. (Eds.). (1975). The In a narrow sense, “critical theory” refers to
logic of god. Theology and verification. Indianapolis:
different generations of the Frankfurt School and,
The Bobbs-Merrill.
Flew, A. (1966). Theology and falsification. In A. Flew & in general terms, not only to the members or
A. MacIntyre (Eds.), New essays in philosophical the- followers of its circle but also to its surroundings.
ology. London and Beccles: SCM Press. Given that the Frankfurt School has been
Franck, O. (1988). The criteriologic problem. A critical
traditionally recognized as the most influential
study with special regard to theories presented
by Antony Flew, D. Z. Phillips, John Hick, Basil source of critical social sciences – and critical
Mitchell, Anders Jeffner and Hans Hof, Studia theory of society, in any sense – this entry
Philosophiae Religionis 15, Almqvist & Wiksell will mostly refer to it. The work of Frankfurt
International.
School writers and researchers develops
Herrmann, E. (2004). Religion, reality and a good life:
A philosophical approach to religion. Tûbingen: Mohr around the Institute of Social Research
Siebeck. (Institut f€ur Sozialforschung) in Frankfurt
Peterson, M., et al. (Eds.). (1996). Philosophy of religion: am Main (Germany) and seeks to adapt Marxist
Selected readings. New York: Oxford University
theoretical and practical tools in order to
Press.
Wittgenstein, L. (1978). Philosophical investigations analyze twentieth-century capitalist societies.
(Anscombe, G. E. M., Trans). London/Worcester: This includes political, economical, and social
Basil Blackwell, Guildford. evolution. The institute was created in 1923 by
relevant researchers, such as Felix Weil
(1898–1975), Kurt Albert Gerlach (1886–1922),
Friedrich Pollock (1894–1970), Karl August
Wittfogel (1896–1988), and Carl Gr€unberg
Critical and Cultural Theory (1861–1940). After a short period of economical
and social studies, Max Horkheimer (1895–1973)
Eduardo Maura takes the lead, breaking ground for a new project
Facultad de Filosofı́a, Universidad Complutense and becoming representative of the group. He
de Madrid (Spain), Madrid, Spain also helped to create the official publication of
the institute, the well-known Review of Social
Research (Zeitschrift f€ ur Sozialforschung). In
Related Terms the next years, several authors would publish
their work on it, including Leo Lowenthal
Critical theory; Critique of enlightenment; (1900–1993), Theodor W. Adorno (1903–1969),
Critique of reason; Culture theory; Frankfurt Walter Benjamin (1892–1940), Herbert Marcuse
school (1898–1979), and Erich Fromm (1900–1980).
Critical and Cultural Theory 547 C
From a highly interdisciplinary approach, the also a profound revision of basic principles
school elaborated a materialist social theory, of traditional Marxist theories: social evolu-
capable of recovering the value of emancipation tionism, lack of attention to ideological and
and transformation of society through the analy- cultural details of domination, and the controver-
sis of different forms of domination in advanced sial Marxist faith in the working class
societies. With the rise of Adolf Hitler and (das Proletariat) as the historical subject of social
National Socialism, the institute disbanded, and change. Opposite to this, critical theory recovers C
many of its members were forced to exile, were a dialectical comprehension of society and links
captured, or even murdered. Particularly relevant theoretical, critical, and practical uses of human
during this period of exile was the USA where reason. Thus, critical theory makes up an
Adorno and Horkheimer stayed until the 1950s, emphatic concept of social reason far beyond
when they returned to Germany and kept on with merely methodical or scientific uses of rational
the activities of the institute. The influence and faculties and, therefore, relives its practical
powerful attraction of the Institute of Social power – then again, named as critical autonomy
Research has been proved by the extraordinary or suppression of the sphere of domination. They
emergence of thinkers and researchers over the argue that technical and scientific outcome from
last 40 years, including Axel Honneth (b. 1949), social reasoning (certainty of the relationship
Claus Offe (b. 1940), Oskar Negt (b. 1934), with nature, increase of welfare) must add to
Alfred Schmidt (b. 1939), Albrecht Wellmer the political overturning of conditions of social
(b. 1933), and J€ urgen Habermas (n. 1929), who irrationality in order to establish a rational fair
ranks as one of the most prolific and influential order of things. From the beginning, the Institute
philosophers of his generation. of Social Research tries to clarify the reasons
The questioning about religion as critique why Enlightenment has not fulfilled its moral
has been important in two different senses: content, paying special attention to bourgeois
Firstly, an increasing number of critical theorists societies and their mechanisms for socializing
(in the broadest possible sense) have looked and appropriate driving of social response.
for Theology as a likely way out of its own When this line of thought becomes central,
antinomies – the impossibility of thinking under the Frankfurt School spreads social and cultural
the constraints of global markets and massive criticism to the realm of foundations of reason
cultural industries. Secondly, critical theory has and mechanisms of thought, adding to critical
recognized but also diminished the theological theory of society and economy a deep analysis
field at the same time. That is to say, it has of different forms of rationality, speech, and
rediscovered its critical value once immersed in experience. According to this, the traditional
a fully secularized world. Like art, religion knows model of critique of ideologies – the process
both sides of modern societies: (1) its scope is according to which knowledge of unfairness
wider than those of natural and social sciences, unmasks false consciousness – is surpassed by
and (2) pays increasing attention to social pathol- critique of reason – yet to be understood as the
ogies. The recent debates between J€ urgen report of those limitations which reason
Habermas and Pope Benedict XVI (then Joseph finds when attempting to deny current social
Alois Ratzinger) have focused on the role of conditions. Therefore, critical theory
reason and religion in a free society. remains aware of its social function and finds
Springing from the Marxist diagnosis on itself apparently open to social change. This is
modernity and its unsolved problems, critical where Horkheimer arrives when stating his
theory is to be originally understood as highly influential distinction between traditional
a theoretical fight against ideologies, serfdom, theory and critical theory (“Traditionelle und
and domination, and also as a quest for a critical kritische Theorie,” 1937). In this writing,
use of reason and emancipation. But what Horkheimer deploys the term traditional theory
Horkheimer and the others undertook was to designate classical theoretical models, at least
since Descartes, which look for constant relations early Frankfurt School works are devoted to an
between objects – those that can imply technical open rational Enlightenment from an interdisci-
involvement with reality – and attach to restric- plinary scope. Within this, intellectual realm
tive methodological and analytical procedures. studies on working-class attitudes in Weimar
Traditional theory distinguishes itself from Republic and the Studies on authority and family
other theories for a rampant reductionism that (Studien u€ber Autorit€ at und Familie, 1936) are
restricts processes of knowledge by avoiding particularly relevant.
value-instances and inner bounds between The experience of exile and Nazism had
objects and their historical and social frame. It a huge impact upon different members of the
is precisely in this way – according to Frankfurt circle, albeit not only biographically
Horkheimer – how sociology confronts its speaking. In the field of theory, the Frankfurt
objects as something to be figured out and School experienced a significant turn toward
then commanded. It confines itself to success in radical reports of the destructive power of social
prediction. But, as Horkheimer notes, “there is rationalization and its outcome. Historical facts
likewise no theory of society, even that of the such as the political drift of the Soviet Union, the
sociologists concerned with general laws, that explosion of European Fascism, the cultural
does not contain political motivations; and the dominance of the USA or the increasing
truth of these must be decided not in supposedly working-class tendency toward integration and
neutral reflection but in personal thought a certain welfare state, forced Horkheimer
and action, in concrete historical activity” and the rest of the Frankfurt circle into rethinking
(Horkheimer 1982b, p. 222). If traditional theory the certainty of revolutionary processes in
seeks to put reality in order and build up advanced societies. Besides, they had to rethink
a permanent notion of truth, critical theory whether the interpretation of historical facts was
is aware of the relationship between human to be undertaken through categories such as class
sciences, interest, and social procedures. There- consciousness or class struggle or not. Not
fore, it makes social change an inner goal: only the increasing expansion of marketing,
“For all its insight into the individual steps in advertising, and consumer society but also the
social change and for all the agreement of totalitarian path taken by the Soviet Union led
its elements with the most advanced traditional the school to determine that Nazism was not
theories, critical theory has no specific influence unique or a barbaric state of exception. It was
on its side, except concern for the abolition of not an exception in history. In this new stage,
social injustice. This negative formulation, if we Frankfurt School writers begin to talk
wish to express it abstractly, is the materialist about Nazism as the main symptom of something
content of the idealist concept of reason” bigger: the clearest of modern societies’ tenden-
(Horkheimer 1982b, p. 242). cies, that is to say, inclination toward control of
The gathering of thinking and acting, both men and things. At this point, Frankfurt
knowledge and praxis, puts critical theory against School writers – Adorno, Horkheimer, and
Max Weber’s notion of value-neutral sociology Marcuse in particular – will tend to overcome
for it would allegedly conceal the problem of its Marxist materialist procedures in order to track
social position from concrete theoretical work: in human history those social and psychological
“Beyond doubt, such work is a moment in the elements which explain how the Enlightenment
continuous transformation and development of has become a social order of reification of both
the material foundations of that society. But the human critical resources and aspirations. These
conception of theory was absolutized, as though writers feel that concepts such as progress and
it were grounded in the inner nature of knowledge rationality must be redefined. Their attitude
as such or justified in some other ahistorical toward philosophy, then, links them with the
way, and thus it became a reined, ideological Marquis of Sade, Hobbes, Nietzsche, or Freud.
category” (Horkheimer 1982b, p. 194). Also, Consequences of this move were clear: after
their common materialist dialectical framework An insight in mythical, irrational, and violent
is gone, the Frankfurt group disbands philosoph- aspects of modern reason reveals the particular
ically, and critical theory itself relates, from this dialectic of Enlightenment, according to
moment on, only to the works by Horkheimer and which rational power, increasing freedom, and
Adorno. autonomy are slowly substituted by a model of
Year 1942 is when this change becomes rationality that does not only administrate the
ultimately clear. Horkheimer writes and publishes order of things without questioning it but also C
The Authoritarian State (Autorit€ arer Staat, 1942). gives up when it comes to making this order
Highly influenced by the work of Walter appear reasonable.
Benjamin, Horkheimer traces the different forms Nazism became a paradigm for this process,
of domination in advanced societies (including for it showed how rationality and human horror
National Socialism, socialism, and capitalism). can team up in perfect harmony. The model
Horkheimer stresses non-economical forms of these societies adopt is that of instrumental
fastening and submission, and states that social reason – one-dimensional reason, says Marcuse –
change, less plausibly steady as the century goes, being its main features (1) an inner ambiguity and
must become more of a break-up with historical (2) an empty case: (1) instrumental reason can
logic than a powering of it. Thus, social reality is fully cooperate with human advance by helping
to be understood under the philosophical category its means being more efficient, but at the
of totally administered world. This designates same time, it is not capable of proposing any
a certain political evolution turning into the end (to these means) at all. (2) Instrumental
victory of the technical dimension of rationality, reason is just particular reason. Universal aims
absolute codification of life, and the closure of are out of its range. Due to certain dark points in
social and political alternatives. Collective Horkheimer and Adorno’s book, it has been
conscience is generated and put under control by said that what they propose is the return of
mass instruments, and the subject is reduced to the irrational-sentimental-human motifs in western
point zero of being mere part of the production culture. This point is not clear, though.
process. At this point in time, Frankfurt School What Adorno and Horkheimer seem to defend
representatives are devoted to cultural criticism, is the fulfillment of the critical agenda of
cultural theory, and social analysis of modern Enlightenment: they look for a culmination of
capitalist societies. practical reason, not for a collapse of reason.
This is where Dialectic of Enlightenment The expectations of enlightened practical reason
(Dialektik der Aufkl€ arung, 1947) points at. can only be assumed after the recognition of
Written by Adorno and Horkheimer during the a failure in modern advanced societies:
1940s and published in 1947, this work still ranks technical rational procedures, even the most
as the landmark for critical theory and, moreover, successful, do not entail the suppression of
among the most influential books of the century. barbarism. The argument for the conversion of
Here is presented a relentless critique of histori- Enlightenment into myth eventually alludes to
cal progress by showing the relationship the process of socially executed domination
between myth and Enlightenment, reason, and through consciousness-oriented patterns and
domination, stating that “in the enlightened authoritarian role models only to be overpowered
world, mythology has permeated the sphere of by radical social and philosophical criticism.
the profane” (Adorno and Horkheimer 2002, This diagnosis needed two more works to
p. 21). Therefore, the myth is already Enlighten- be developed, both by Horkheimer: Eclipse
ment – myth is to be understood here between its of Reason (1947) and Critique of Instrumental
ancient Greek meaning of true story, which Reason (Zur Kritik der instrumentellen Vernunft,
unveils the origin of something, and its 1967), being the second an extended version of
present meaning as a false popular belief – and the first one. In both of them, Horkheimer depicts
Enlightenment turns once more into mythology. two dominant modes of reason in the western
world: (1) objective reason, whose activity leads Horkheimer, it is not about absolute intellectual
to a still hierarchical order, and (2) subjective or security but about a model of critical thinking
instrumental reason. This leads to a sophisticated enabled to generate a whole set of practical
process of strategic choice of means to human ends.
a previously determined end. Within the critical Critical theory then charges the hard core of
philosophy of the Frankfurt School, subjective its critical thinking with negation, alongside the
reason is regarded as the most representative dialectical tradition of western philosophy.
corruption of practical reason. Due to its inability Philosophy is to be understood as the struggle
to suppress its mythical content, Enlightenment for not subduing. But negation, as Horkheimer
has allowed reason to construct rationally himself has argued, offers two different sides: on
inhuman orders – then again, Horkheimer has one side, it is the negation of ideology. On the
Nazism in mind when writing this. In terms of other, it is negation of the insolence of reality.
ends, Enlightenment has been living in denial; This negative position finds its highest expression
it has pushed everything but instrumental in Adorno’s late work Negative dialectic
management into the background, but without (Negative Dialektik, 1966). In Adorno’s view,
stating to which ends were those means dialectical thinking does not have to lead to
acceptable. The victory of the model of a new ultimate system of thinking but to
one-dimensional reason blocks critical thinking the recognition of the perennial character of
by eluding measuring the value of existence contradiction, difference, and contingence.
today. Against those who comprehensively close
Around this argument, Adorno and the system – namely, the thinkers of identity –
Horkheimer build an ideological and cultural cri- Adorno’s philosophy accounts for complexity
tique of society that soon became one of the and antagonism. Totality and harmony are
Frankfurt School main hallmarks. The central just not compatible. Even though Adorno is
element of this argument is the critique of insistence on this position, it has been argued
power and its interest in homogenization and that critical theory has put too much weight on
integration, arranged by what Adorno its interpretation of this closed totality, which
has named the cultural industry. The analysis of seems to define the whole social, economical,
ideological reproduction in advanced capitalist cultural, and juridical system. All these institu-
societies stresses how a distorted perception of tions are regarded as totalitarian means to
reality and the high pressure on private ways a totalitarian end, and therefore, Adorno
of living relate to the disappearance of genuine and Horkheimer would have misunderstood
aesthetic experiences and any conflict whatso- inner differences between contemporary social
ever between culture and society. Thought systems (liberal democracies and the Soviet
and culture are mass controlled, and they do not Union, particularly). What cannot be disdained,
discern anything different beyond the current though, is Adorno’s definitive closure of the
cultural horizon. The entertainment net, as well possibility of making reality more rational by
as knowledge itself, reaffirms a still approach to developing specific policies. Social transforma-
social reality. tion, he argued, needs to be thought in terms of
Loyal to the critical-negative configuration a redemption which at the same time cannot be
of their theory, Adorno and Horkheimer do not mentioned in any way but the negative way. This
present a positive model of collective practical point of view of redemption or negative theology
reason, but it is also relevant to note that general has been interpreted by many scholars and
assumptions of critical theory point at a total religious thinkers in terms of resignation before
recovery of creative-critical reason. Therefore, the definitive judge on systematic thinking and
reason perverts itself as long as it does not modern empathic reason: Adorno has famously
think the best out of itself. For Adorno and put this as the fact that philosophy’s survival
has to do with the fact that the moment of its history natural. Pre- and post-history means to
realization was missed. extract the historical dimension registered in the
Providing ground for many of these arguments idea of the artwork. In terms of Adorno’s book on
stands the work of Walter Benjamin, whose new music, it is not about different styles and
intellectual presence in Adorno’s work is invalu- periods but about the procedural constellation in
able. Although his philosophical exchange with which the work emerges. This is extremely
Horkheimer never proved fruitful, Benjamin’s coherent with Benjamin’s claim that art criticism C
attention to cultural detail, religion, time, history, is actually mortification of the work of art.
and historicity did have an impact upon Adorno’s To mortify a work of art means to approach a
negative dialectics. Also, Benjamin developed hermeneutical mediation toward a materialistic
a highly influential theory of experience, theory of interpretation. To put it another way,
according to which modernity and mass media to mortify is to obtain the dialectical image of the
entail an impoverishment of experience (in social work. Both Benjamin and Adorno twist nature
and cultural terms) but not necessarily the anni- and history in order to challenge the usual
hilation of critical thinking. Adorno and Benja- approach to natural history, that is to say, the
min shared a vivid interest in a theory of very idea that natural history means taxonomy,
interpretation of modern capitalist culture as nature as something that is always previously
part of a whole attempt to understand modernity. given to us. Right now, Benjamin and Adorno
This attempt is not only about cultural forms. It is are placing natural history where the only dialec-
about the work of art itself in modern times. tical bound between nature and history is no more
Summarizing, Benjamin brings modernity and opposition but transience (passing-through).
spatializing together. That is to say, there is no Among Benjamin’s major works are to be found
science if we do not trace the extremes of our The origin of German tragic drama (Ursprung
object: its history. No insight into the realm of art des deutschen Trauerspiels, 1925), One-way
can possibly avoid the completion of the history Street (Einbahnstraße, 1928), “The work of art
of its objects. This idea is also relevant in terms of in the age of its mechanical reproduction” (Das
Adorno’s critique of music. In his Philosophy of Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen
new music (Philosophie der neuen Musik, 1949), Reproduzierbarkeit, 1935), The Arcades Project
he argues that we can only get to know our (unfinished, Das Passagen-Werk, 1927–1940),
objects (musical works of art, that is to say, and the “Theses on the Concept of History”
works in which duration plays a major role) (Geschichtsphilosophische Thesen, 1940).
when going through their extremes. Only these Another key figure within the Frankfurt
extremes guarantee the recognition of their truth School is Herbert Marcuse, even though his
content. This approach gets back to certain her- work cannot be assimilated to the work of Adorno
meneutics of cultural forms of capitalism or, in and Horkheimer. His philosophical background,
other words, to a physiognomy of history in terms far from being strictly dialectical, was
of hermeneutics of the (hidden) natural history of oriented toward Husserl’s phenomenology and
cultural objects. Adorno, not far from Benjamin, Heidegger’s ontology. Marcuse attended the
argues that the origin of the artwork is to be well-known Freiburg lectures by the latter.
grasped in its pre- and post-history. The extremes After this formation period, from which comes
of the artwork are the sign of its main features: his relevant work Hegel’s Ontology and the
it reflects the rest of the world – the whole capi- Theory of Historicity (Hegels Ontologie und die
talist system. Its essence is not pure history but Grundlegung einer Theorie der Geschich-
natural history. tlichkeit, 1932), Marcuse found in Marxist
The natural life of the artwork, its inner philosophy a possibility for more social content
history, develops clearly as a kind of relationship for his theory. After Heidegger’s Being and Time,
according to which its nature is historical and its Marcuse gets increasingly closer to some Marxist
principles. In his remarkable Reason and Some of them were ostracized and others never
Revolution (1941), Marcuse inserts Hegel in the got along with the Institute of Social Research’s
realm of Marxist thinking by underlining patterns. Behemoth, a study of National Social-
the notion of praxis in his work. Marcuse’s stand- ism written by Franz Neumann (1900–1954) in
point is opposed to that of Adorno and 1942, and Punishment and Social Structure
Horkheimer, regarded as overrated theoreticism, (1939) by Otto Kirchheimer (1905–1965)
and pays special attention to the action of social and Georg Rusche have also been influential in
forces and shows steady faith in the final recon- historiography and social sciences. The work of
ciliation of mankind and reality. The writings of these authors highlights the weak points in criti-
young Karl Marx and Freud are also relevant cal theory: the lack of accuracy and critical devel-
sources from which Marcuse develops his opment of political, institutional, and economical
liberation project. This would consist of putting categories; also, it has been said that, up to
the great denial, that is to say, the withdrawal of a point, the Frankfurt School never got rid of
alienating forces by promoting gratification certain cultural elitism and theoreticism. This
instincts, the fair use of technology and the arguably misled Adorno and Horkheimer,
political action of the worst off. His works and got them progressively further from social
have also been influential for its utopian charge. problems and politics. Different generations of
These are particularly interesting: Eros and the Frankfurt School have later tried to solve
civilization (1955), Soviet Marxism (1958), these issues, being J€urgen Habermas its main
An Essay on Liberation (1969), and above all, representative. Habermas’ research manages to
One-dimensional man (1964). transcend the philosophical edges that limited
Also, a very well-known critical intellectual Adorno and the first generation’s work without
next to the Frankfurt School was the psychoana- letting its critical hardcore slip. He has also
lyst Erich Fromm. In the beginning, Fromm tried to inscribe critical theory in the realm of
added to the common Marxist background of language, communicative action, and the norma-
the group his strong interest in anthropological tive foundations of the state. His work has
and spiritual issues. It is in this sense that Fromm been widely discussed both in the USA and
finds human alienation only to be disrupted by overseas, specially his works Theory and Praxis
a suppression of violence and depersonalization. (Theorie und praxis, 1963), Knowledge and
Fromm revised this position in the 1940s with Human Interest (Erkenntnis und Interesse,
strong consequences: now far from Frankfurt, 1968), Theory of Communicative Action
Freud’s presence diminished and the stress on (Theorie des Kommunikativen Handelns, 1981),
humanitarian aspects, ethical life, and oriental and Faktizit€ at und Geltung (1992). One of
religions was increased. But Fromm always kept Habermas’s students, Axel Honneth, has also
the concept of human nature and the road toward developed a strong interest in power, recognition,
emancipation in mind. His main works are interpersonal relations, and justice. Honneth’s
Escape from freedom (1941), Psychoanalysis philosophical exchange with Nancy Fraser
and Religion (1950), The Art of Loving and his work on recognition have proved very
(1956), Psychoanalysis and Zen-Buddhism fruitful. Honneth’s research program focuses on
(1960), The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness the paradoxes of capitalism and its structural
(1973), and To Have or to Be? (1976). social transformations, and remains the last
Summarizing, the Frankfurt School presented stage in the Frankfurt School’s history so far.
a model of critical thinking and radical enlight- Religious debates involving critical theory
ened critique of reason and Enlightenment itself. have arisen in the last 20 years, particularly
Besides, in the surroundings of the Institute, after the tearing down of the Berlin wall and
many political and economical researchers the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The
could publish and present their contributions. debates about Fukuyama’s “end of history”
Critical Discourse Analysis 553 C
argument have had religious implications. The philosophical agenda but also about new per-
secularization processes, the pessimistic views spectives on different scientific traditions.
on mankind’s ability to cope with technique,
and the idea of history as an evolutionary process
drew out in the early 1990s strong debates about Cross-References
religion’s role in a democratic-liberal closed
world, as Fukuyama had projected. In the last ▶ Aesthetics (philosophy) C
decade, some political philosophers have ▶ Critical Theory
argued that radical Islamism (Fukuyama him- ▶ Experience
self) constitutes the kind of menace that fascism ▶ Knowledge, Sociology of
and communism were from the early 1920s ▶ Metaphysics
onward. Critical theorists like Perry Anderson ▶ Myth
(or even Jacques Derrida, both in different ▶ Negative Theology
senses of the terms critical and theory) have
been extremely reluctant to Fukuyama’s claim,
arguing that the end of history can only be about References
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C 554 Critical Realism in Theology and Science
elucidated with reference to Immanuel Kant’s

Critical Realism in Theology and concept of critique as reason’s recognition of its
Science own possibilities and limits, which entails criti-
cism of knowledge claims that disregard those
Kees van Kooten Niekerk limits.
Department of Culture and Society, Faculty of In the various kinds of CR, reality is primarily
Arts, Aarhus University, Århus C, Denmark specified as the natural or physical world. How-
ever, reality may also be held to include history,
the social world, or God. Further, the mental
Related Terms mediation of knowledge may be regarded as a
feature of individual cognition, but also as
Theological critical realism connected with the social nature of knowledge
and its historical transmission. Finally, in its most
elementary sense, CR is just the view that it is
Description possible to acquire knowledge of external reality.
However, it often involves methodological con-
The term critical realism (CR) figures widely in siderations as part of a justification of the realist
philosophy, theology, and the dialogue between bearing of scientific or other beliefs. The concept
theology and science. It turns up in different may even be extended to encompass a full-
contexts, sometimes independently of earlier fledged philosophy including ontological and
uses. Hence, it is not surprising that its uses vary even ethical tenets.
substantially. Nevertheless, it is possible to point
out some core ideas which apply to most, if not
all, kinds of CR described below. Critical Realism in Philosophy
Generally speaking, CR is the view that it is
possible to acquire knowledge of an external, The term CR appeared for the first time in
mind-independent reality. This view contrasts German philosophy. Since the end of the nine-
with phenomenalism, which holds that knowl- teenth century, it here designates those positions
edge is, or should be, restricted to the description that take account of Kant’s critical epistemology
of phenomena (or perceptions) and their but deny that the mental nature of perception and
relations. CR presupposes metaphysical or onto- cognition totally prevents us from acquiring valid
logical realism, which holds that there exists knowledge of the external world as it is in itself.
a mind-independent reality. Thus, it denies meta- More specifically, the term refers to the view of
physical idealism, which holds that reality has, or C. Stumpf and others that reflection on sense-data
essentially has, a mental nature. For these rea- can convey knowledge of certain features and
sons, CR is called realism. relations of the external world.
The qualification critical distinguishes CR In the 1920s, CR became the name of
from so-called naive realism, which claims that a movement in American philosophy, which
reality is as it is perceived. CR acknowledges that was represented, among others, by Roy Wood
we have no direct access to reality. Knowledge of Sellars (1880–1973) and A.O. Lovejoy
reality is always mediated by the human mind. (1873–1962). This movement sought to integrate
Therefore, it is constrained by the limitations of insights of idealism and new realism. New real-
human perception and cognition. As a conse- ism was a reaction to nineteenth century idealism,
quence, alleged knowledge of reality is at best against which it claimed that there exists an
partial or approximate, and it will always be external, physical world and that perception and
possible to subject it to criticism and improve- cognition convey direct access to it. American
ment. The critical nature of CR is often CR agreed with new realism that it is possible to
Critical Realism in Theology and Science 555 C
acquire knowledge of the external world, but plays a central part in his account of SR (which he
disagreed with the thesis of direct access, calls “critical scientific realism”).
which it regarded as a form of naive realism. It The main argument in favor of SR is that the
pointed out that our access to the external world best explanation of the empirical success of sci-
is mediated by mental representations of its ence is that its theories are approximately true.
objects, which cannot be identified with the This argument has been accused of being
objects themselves. Only by recognizing this, viciously circular in that it argues for the truth C
error, illusion, and perceptual variation can be of scientific theories by means of the very kind of
accommodated. reasoning (i.e., abductive inference) upon which
Through the work of Wilfrid Sellars those theories are based. Abductive inference is a
(1912–1989), Roy Wood Sellars’ son, American mode of reasoning to find plausible scientific
CR influenced scientific realism (SR), which hypotheses. According to C.S. Peirce (who
arose in the 1950s in opposition to the positivist coined the term) it has the following form: The
view of science. Although SR only seldom is surprising fact, C, is observed; But if A were true,
designated as CR, it is discussed here because C would be a matter of course; Hence, there is
(1) it shares the general characteristics of CR so reason to suspect that A is true. Moreover, the
that it may be regarded as an elaboration of CR in objection has been raised that empirical success
respect of the philosophy of science and (2) it has does not warrant a theory’s truth. The reason is
exerted substantial influence on CR in the dia- that the phenomena may permit different theories
logue between theology and science. because the latter are underdetermined by the
SR opposes the positivist ideal of science as former. In this connection, critics point to the
consisting merely of propositions about observ- fact that many once successful theories have
ables. For positivists, scientific theories that tran- been abandoned now. The advocates of SR
scend the phenomenal world (e.g., by positing reply that the circularity of the argument is not
unobservable entities such as electrons) do not a vicious one, because its conclusion does not rest
refer to real structures and entities of the external upon the presupposition that scientific theories
world. Such theories may be useful instruments are true. Further, they argue that SR is not
for the ordering and prediction of the phenomena, a global view of science but has to be established
but they have no realist bearing. In opposition to for each theory in particular. Empirical adequacy
this view, SR states that successful scientific theis not a sufficient criterion here. It has to be
ories tell us something about real structures and supplemented with criteria such as consistency,
entities of the world. Often SR includes the idea coherence with other accepted theories, and long-
that progress in science gives us an increasingly term fertility. Finally, they emphasize that SR does
reliable picture of reality. According to Stathis not claim that successful scientific theories are
Psillos (b. 1965), one of its principal advocates, true, but only that they are approximately true.
SR comprises three theses: (1) The world has In 1975, Roy Bhaskar (b. 1944) presented
a definite, mind-independent structure (meta- a general philosophy of science named “transcen-
physical realism). (2) Scientific theories are dental realism,” which was followed in 1979 by
descriptions capable of being true or false relative a philosophy of the human sciences named “crit-
to the reality they intend to describe (semantic ical naturalism.” Gradually his followers desig-
realism). (3) Mature and predictively successful nated these philosophies together as CR. Bhaskar
scientific theories are approximately true and the has accepted this designation, arguing that
entities posited by them inhabit the world “critical” rightly suggests affinities with Kant’s
(epistemic realism) (Psillos (1999)). The idea of epistemology while the ontological denotation of
truth approximation revives Karl Popper’s notion “realism” indicates the differences from it.
of verisimilitude. Ilkka Niiniluoto (b. 1946) has With Thomas Kuhn and others, Bhaskar
given a formalized version of this notion, which emphasizes the social nature of science, but, in
C 556 Critical Realism in Theology and Science
opposition to “postmodern” relativism, he con- signals affinity with the critical theory of the
tends that science conveys knowledge of an inde- Frankfurter Schule (Archer et al. (1998)).
pendent reality. Starting from the phenomena,
through modeling, experimentation, and other
empirical control, science discovers causal laws. Critical Realism in Theology
Such laws should not be considered as constant
conjunctions of events (as does positivism) but as Bruce L. McCormack has characterized Karl
expressions of generative mechanisms that are Barth’s (1886–1968) theology as a “critically
part of the real world. Since these mechanisms realistic dialectical theology.” He justifies this
may be explainable in terms of more fundamental characterization (which does not stem from
mechanisms, the world is to be regarded as Barth himself) with reference to the fact that
a stratified whole. Higher levels emerge from Barth grounds theology in the reality of God as
deeper ones but are not necessarily reducible to He reveals Himself in Jesus Christ. At the same
them. Consequently, each level demands its own time, Barth’s theology is critical in the sense
specific method of scientific investigation. that it presupposes the validity of Kant’s epis-
In his “critical naturalism,” Bhaskar applies temology and critique of metaphysics. Due to
these ideas to the human, especially the social the limits of reason, according to Barth, knowl-
sciences. “Naturalism” indicates that there is edge of God is possible only by God redirecting
a fundamental similarity between the social and our cognitive apparatus through which He
natural sciences in that both are concerned with makes us participants in His knowledge of
the discovery of intelligible connections in the Himself.
real world. At the same time, Bhaskar stresses In the Catholic tradition, Bernard Lonergan
the specificity of the human sciences resulting (1904–1984) developed a theory of knowledge,
from emergent properties of the social world. which he named CR. On the basis of an analysis
These properties relate to the fact that society, of actual knowing, he concludes that cognition
in contradistinction to nature, is the condition as involves experience, understanding, and judg-
well as the outcome of human agency, which both ment that tests understanding. Combined prop-
reproduces and transforms it. Hence, social sys- erly, these elements convey objective knowledge
tems are intrinsically open. As a consequence, of the real world. At the same time, they
unlike the natural sciences, the social sciences constitute the transcendental foundation of the
rely exclusively on explanatory (and not also methods of all sciences, natural as well as
predictive) criteria for theory assessment. Fur- human. In the designation “CR,” “critical” indi-
ther, they enable scientific criticism of social cates the similarities with Kant’s critique of
structures that produce false beliefs, which reason, while “realism” refers to the realist
involves the incitation to remove or transform bearing of proper cognition. Having extended
those structures. Thus, Bhaskar’s CR entails the this CR with the notion of decision, Lonergan
claim that it dissolves the traditional fact/value used it to define the method of theology. In
and theory/practice dichotomies, and passes into conformity with the demands of cognition and
ethics. Here, “critical” no longer merely refers to morality, the theologian has to make responsi-
epistemological critique but also to substantial ble decisions as to which traditional doctrines
criticism of beliefs and social structures. should be taken up for systematic understanding
In what he called “dialectical CR,” Bhaskar and translation into the cultural milieu. In this
developed these ideas to a general theory of connection, Lonergan stresses the importance
identification and elimination of “absences” of intellectual, moral, and religious conversion
(deficiencies) for the sake of socialist emancipa- (Dunne (2005)).
tion. Obviously, this theory draws from Marxist Several biblical scholars have incorporated
wells. At the same time, “critical” now also critical realist ideas into New Testament
Critical Realism in Theology and Science 557 C
hermeneutics. Inspired by Lonergan, Ben F. scientific and the Christian communities serve
Meyer (b. 1927) states that interpretation should to secure continuity of reference, the latter by
concern itself with the intended sense of the text transmitting the initial experiences of God and
and the realist truth claims involved in it. N.T. linking them to new ones. Theology has the task
Wright (b. 1948) bases a critical realist herme- to interpret religious experience in connection
neutic on the thesis that knowledge of the real with reflection on the world, using metaphors
world always is framed by a worldview, of which and models as science does as well. Theology C
stories are an essential part. Cognition proceeds and science are, or should be, interacting
through testing hypothetical stories on their “fit” approaches to reality. At the same time, it is the
with stories already in place, which may give rise hallmark of theology that, by virtue of its concern
to modify them or formulate new stories. With with reality as a whole, it constitutes the highest
regard to the interpretation of the New Testa- level of integration (Peacocke (1984)).
ment, a critical realist hermeneutic recognizes John Polkinghorne (b. 1930) developed CR
the subjectivity of both the author and the reader, somewhat differently. According to him, CR con-
but claims at the same time that this subjectivity siders intelligibility a guide to ontology. There-
does not necessarily preclude an understanding fore, the progress of scientific understanding
that gives access to the external realities dealt gives us increasing verisimilitudinous knowledge
with by the text. Moreover, it takes seriously the of the world. Science and theology are engaged in
theological view of reality as a whole, including a common quest for understanding. There is,
God (Wright (1992)). however, an important difference with regard to
the role of models. While models in science
merely have a provisional, heuristic function
Critical Realism in Theology and Science and often are replaced by mathematical theories,
theology can only speak of God in a variety of
The term CR was introduced into the dialogue models using symbolic language. Nevertheless,
between theology and science by Ian G. Barbour because it contributes to the intelligibility of
(b. 1923) in 1966. Inspired by SR, Barbour uses the world, also theology can legitimately
the term to denote a realism that acknowledges claim to convey verisimilitudinous knowledge.
the creativity of the human mind but also takes Polkinghorne even parallels the development of
seriously the cognitive claims of both science and the Christological doctrine in the early Church
religion. He connects CR especially with the role with the development of quantum physics,
of models in science and religion – e.g., the though recognizing that the former merely led
atomic model and the image of God as a father. to a delimitation of the range of discussion, not
Such models are systematically developed meta- to the formulation of a positive theory.
phors which can tell us something about During the last quarter of the twentieth cen-
unobservable aspects of reality, though only in tury, CR was the dominant epistemology in the
partial and inadequate ways. On the other hand, dialogue between theology and science. How-
Barbour also stresses the differences between ever, from the 1990s onward, the transfer of CR
scientific and religious models due to the fact from science to theology has met with growing
that the latter relate to existential questions of skepticism. The main reason was the consider-
ultimate concern. ation that this transfer does not sufficiently take
CR was elaborated for the science-theology account of the differences between theology and
relationship by Arthur Peacocke (1924–2006). science. The criticism of Ernan McMullin,
Peacocke asserts that, similar to science, a prominent representative of SR, was of seminal
Christian faith depends ultimately on experience, importance. McMullin points out that alleged
viz., religious experience of God as the all- evidence in theology (e.g., religious experience)
encompassing reality. Moreover, both the not by far has the intersubjective strength of
C 558 Critical Theory
empirical evidence in science and that there is no References

consensus about the criteria of theory assessment
in theology, as there is in science. Moreover, Archer, M., et al. (1998). Critical realism. Essential read-
ings. London/New York: Routledge.
theology cannot appeal to an explanatory success
Dunne, T. Bernard Lonergan (2005). The internet ency-
similar to that of science, the success of which is clopedia of philosophy. www.iep.utm.edu/lonergan/
the main argument for SR. Therefore, the fact that Gregersen, N. H. (2004). Critical realism and other real-
the objects of both science and religion are isms. In R. J. Russell (Ed.), Fifty years in science and
religion. Ian G. Barbour and his legacy. Aldershot:
beyond literal description is not a sufficient rea-
Ashgate.
son to transfer CR from science to theology Leplin, J. (Ed.). (1984). Scientific realism. Berkeley:
(McMullin (1985)). University of California Press.
In 2002, Alister E. McGrath’s (b. 1953) Losch, A. (2009). On the origins of critical realism. The-
ology and Science, 7(1), 85–106.
“scientific theology” introduced Bhaskar’s CR
McGrath, A. E. (2002). A scientific theology (Reality,
into the field of theology and science. McGrath Vol. 2). London/New York: T & T Clark.
draws his main inspiration from Thomas McMullin, E. (1985). Realism in theology and science:
F. Torrance (1913–2007), who, on the basis of A response to Peacocke. Religion and Intellectual Life,
2(4), 39–47.
Barth’s Christocentric realism and in dialogue
Peacocke, A. (1984). Intimations of reality. Critical real-
with the sciences, developed a theology of incar- ism in science and religion. Notre Dame: University of
nation and creation. In the same vein, starting Notre Dame Press.
from God’s revelation in Christ, McGrath’s Psillos, S. (1999). Scientific realism. How science tracks
truth. London/New York: Routledge.
scientific theology explores God’s relationship
Wright, N. T. (1992). The new testament and the people of
to the created world, taking account of scientific god. London: SPCK.
insights. This theology incorporates Bhaskar’s
ideas that scientific investigation is a response
to an independent reality, that reality is stratified,
and that the method of a specific discipline must Critical Theory
be determined by the nature of its object.
A Barthian view of theology is combined with Olli-Pekka Moisio
Bhaskar’s CR. One consequence is that God, as Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy,
the one who causes all else to exist, is considered University of Jyv€askyl€a, Jyv€askyl€a, Finland
the most fundamental stratum of reality, and the-
ology, being the study of God, is placed at the
base, not at the apex, of the sciences (McGrath Related Terms
(2002)).
Frankfurt school; Marxism
Cross-References
Description
▶ Classical and Quantum Realism
▶ Concept of God in Contemporary Philosophy Critical theory is a school of thought that
of Religion stresses the examination and critique of society
▶ Epistemology and culture, drawing from knowledge across
▶ Experience the social sciences and philosophy. Critical
▶ Hermeneutics, Theological theory aims at explaining and transforming the
▶ Ontology circumstances that enslave human beings, as
▶ Perception Max Horkheimer defined the term in his now
▶ Philosophy of Science famous 1937 article Traditional and Critical
▶ Realisms in Philosophy of Religion Theory. Critical theory in most of its main form
Critical Theory 559 C
has at least two main elements. Firstly, it is held a philosophical approach that extends to ethics,
that empirical study and philosophical analysis political philosophy, aesthetics, psychology,
should be brought together to form a detailed and philosophy of language, and the philosophy of
correct understanding of a phenomenon under history is most apparent when considered in
study. Secondly, it is held that the normative light of the history of the philosophy of the social
basis for the critical research and critique should sciences.
be founded on the needs, longings, and moral Critical theorists have long sought to distin- C
demands of the people living under the conditions guish their aims, methods, theories, and forms of
of the system or structure that are criticized. explanation from standard understandings in both
The above definition leads to two different the natural and the social sciences. Instead, they
ways to articulate critical theory: one a narrow have claimed, in line with Hokheimer’s 1930
sense and the other a broad sense. Critical theory, inaugural lecture, that social inquiry ought to
in the narrow sense, points to a several genera- combine rather than separate the poles of philos-
tions of long tradition of German philosophers ophy and the social sciences: explanation and
and social theorists in the Western European understanding, structure and agency, and regular-
Marxism known as the Frankfurt School. ity and normativity. Such an approach, critical
According to these theorists, a “critical” theory theorists argue, permits their enterprise to be
may be distinguished from what they call practical in a distinctively moral (rather than
a “traditional” theory according to its specific instrumental) sense. They do not merely seek to
purpose: a theory is critical to the extent that it provide the means to achieve some independent
seeks human emancipation. goal, but rather seek human emancipation in the
Because such theories aim to explain and circumstances of domination and oppression.
transform all the circumstances that enslave This normative task cannot be accomplished
human beings, many “critical theories” in the apart from the interplay between philosophy and
broader sense have been developed. They have social science through interdisciplinary empirical
emerged in connection with the many social social research.
movements that identify different dimensions of A critical theory is considered adequate only if
the domination of human beings in modern soci- it meets three criteria: it must be explanatory,
eties. In both the broad and narrow senses, practical, and normative. These criteria should
a critical theory provides the descriptive and be met all at the same time. That is, a critical
normative bases for social inquiry aimed at theory must explain what is wrong with current
decreasing domination and increasing freedom social reality, identify the actors to change it, and
in all their forms. In this sense, any philosophical provide both clear norms for criticism and
approach with similar practical aims could be achievable practical goals for social transforma-
called a “critical theory,” including feminism, tion. Any truly critical theory of society has as
critical race theory, and some forms of its object human beings as producers of their
postcolonial criticism. own historical forms of life. In light of the
Critical theory, in the narrow sense, has had practical goal of identifying and overcoming
many different aspects and quite distinct histori- all the circumstances that limit human freedom,
cal phases that cross several generations. The the explanatory goal could be furthered only
Institute for Social Research (founded in 1928) through interdisciplinary research that includes
saw the arrival of the Frankfurt School theorists psychological, cultural, and social dimensions,
(Erich Fromm, Theodor W. Adorno, Friedrich as well as institutional forms of domination.
Pollock, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse, Given the emphasis among the first generation
Leo Löwenthal, J€ urgen Habermas, Axel of critical theory on human beings as the self-
Honneth) after Horkheimer gained the director- creating producers of their own history,
ship of the Institute in 1930. Its distinctiveness as a unique practical aim of social inquiry suggests
C 560 Critical Thinking
itself to transform contemporary capitalism into Research 1923–1950. Berkeley: University of Califor-
a consensual form of social life. A capitalist nia Press.
Kompridis, N. (2006). Critique and disclosure: Critical
society could be transformed only by becoming theory between past and future. Cambridge, MA: MIT
more democratic in a rational society where all Press.
conditions of social life are controlled by Wiggershaus, R. (1995). The Frankfurt School: Its history,
human beings. The normative orientation of theories and political significance. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.
critical theory is, therefore, directed toward Wheatland, T. (2009). The Frankfurt School in exile.
the transformation of capitalism into a “real Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
democracy” in which such control could be
exercised.
The focus on democracy as the location for
cooperative, practical, and transformative activ- Critical Thinking
ity continues today in the work of the second
generation’s main philosopher J€ urgen Habermas, Sharon L. Coggan
as does the attempt to determine the nature and Department of Philosophy, University of
limits of “real democracy” in complex, pluralis- Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA
tic, and globalizing societies. Axel Honneth, who
is the main theorist of the so-called third genera-
tion, has further developed the first and the sec- A scholarly norm applied across the board in all
ond generations’ theories into what he calls the academic fields represented in the modern
theory of recognition. As might be expected from university including Religious Studies. The
such an ambitious philosophical project and form critical thinker applies reason and logic to every-
of inquiry, critical theory is rife with tensions thing under examination; weighs evidence;
within the same generation and between the dif- considers counter positions; draws tentative con-
ferent generations of the tradition. clusions based on carefully examined available
evidence; considers the source and validity of all
information; is careful to acknowledge sources of
Cross-References information with a cognizance of their limita-
tions; is attentive to the soundness and logical
▶ Critical and Cultural Theory progression of argumentation ; and approaches
▶ Epistemology any and all subjects objectively, in an unbiased,
▶ Existentialism fair, reasonable manner.
▶ Truth
Cross-References
▶ Logic, Informal
References
Benhabib, S. (1986). Critique, norm, and Utopia: A study

of the foundations of critical theory. New York:
Columbia University Press.
Critique of Enlightenment
Bernstein, J. (Ed.). (1994). The Frankfurt School: Critical
assessments (in six volumes). New York: Routledge. ▶ Critical and Cultural Theory
Friedman, G. (1981). The political philosophy of the
Frankfurt School. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Held, D. (1980). Introduction to critical theory:
Horkheimer to Habermas. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Critique of Reason
Jay, M. (1996). The dialectical imagination: A history of
the Frankfurt School and the Institute for Social ▶ Critical and Cultural Theory
Cross-Cultural Psychology 561 C
can be considered as a psychology “writ large” –
Cross-Cultural Psychology that is, it encompasses all human thought and
behavior, doing so by using the traditional tenets
Walter J. Lonner of psychological science.
Department of Psychology, Western Washington Relatively recent developments include the
University, Bellingham, WA, USA founding in 1970 of the Journal of
Cross-Cultural Psychology, the formation of the C
International Association for Cross-Cultural Psy-
Related Terms chology in 1972, the publication of hundreds of
books in the area, and additions to psychological
Comparisons; Cultural diversity; Cultural varia- curricula throughout the world that features the
tions; Global psychology; Multiculturalism; psychological study of culture.
Relativism cultural; Universality The Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
(JCCP) is exclusively devoted to the publication
of research in which culture plays a critical role.
Description JCCP recently published a special issue entitled
“Religion and Culture: Perspectives from Cul-
Psychological science consists of a number of tural and Cross-Cultural Psychology”. This is an
perspectives and methodological approaches to important development because religion, at least
research and modes of inquiry. These include to some extent, is part of culture. It interacts with
the developmental, experimental, quantitative, other components of culture and thus plays a role
qualitative, and other modes. One of the other in many aspects of the psychological functioning
approaches that has enjoyed growing popularity of individuals and groups across the globe. It is
during the past several decades is cross-cultural for this reason, either explicitly or implicitly, that
psychology. religion is of particular interest for cultural and
Sometimes called culture-comparative psy- cross-cultural psychology. Differences and uni-
chology or multicultural psychology, the main versals across religions may parallel, if not con-
aim of this approach is to expand psychology’s tribute to and explain, cross-cultural differences
horizons by “extending the range of variation” of and universals in other domains of functioning.
psychological variables so that psychology will The way groups (cultural-ethnic and/or cultural-
become increasingly inclusive and enriched by religious ones) differ or resemble each other on
examining virtually any theory or finding in the their religious beliefs, emotions, and practices
discipline to determine their generalizability may reflect, or have an impact on, the way these
(Berry et al. 2002; Matsumoto 2001; Matsumoto groups’ members deal with most if not all the
and Juang 2008). For instance, do the laws of psychological aspects of their life. These include
learning and memory and cognition established how “self” is defined with respect to cognition,
largely in Western cultures hold true everyone emotion, motivation (Markus and Kitayama
around the globe? If not, why? And what might 1991), values, morality, interpersonal and
be done to rectify the situation? The same could intergroup relations, life span development, health,
be asked of perceptual processes, intelligence and and social behaviors related to work, marriage,
abilities, personality development, psychopathol- leisure, economics, and politics (Smith et al. 2008).
ogy, and many other approaches to studying the
nature of individuals who often grow up in strik-
ingly different cultural contexts. Social psycho- Self-Identification
logical perspectives, mixed with cultural
inquiries, are especially prevalent in contempo- Science
rary cross-cultural psychology (Smith et al. Cross-cultural psychology identifies itself as
2008). Largely, then, cross-cultural psychology a science in exactly the same way that its “parent”
C 562 Cross-Cultural Psychology
discipline identifies itself as a science. It does so methodologists in the area. The references below
by using essentially the same tools of methodo- provide a sampling of authoritative readings.
logical inquiry, while at the same time having to
deal with special methodological problems such
as sampling and issues of equivalence. There is Ethical Principles
no reason for it not to self-identify as a totally
independent science. The ethical principles used are exactly those used
in “mainstream” psychology. However, special
attention is given to the sensitivities of people
Characteristics from other cultures, under the belief that it
would be unethical to exploit them for any reason
It is distinctive among the others because it other than to help understand the nature of their
explicitly focuses on culture as an important fac- cultures. This rationale is identical to reasons
tor in all topics within psychological science. psychologists study individuals and groups in
their own milieu.

Key Values
Cross-cultural psychology, as a subdiscipline, is
interested in the area called “science and reli- The key values are the values that any scientist
gion” only to the extent that religion, as an holds in studying the subject matter objectively
important phenomenon for millions of people, and carefully. For cross-cultural psychologists, it
helps to shape many and, perhaps for a great is important to them not to exploit other cultures
number, all facets of their lives. However, many for their own professional reasons (e.g., to add to
psychologists (including cross-cultural psy- their list of publications). Culture-oriented psy-
chologists) have little or no interest in studying chologists simply wish to know how other cul-
religion by employing the canons and methods tures and their inhabitants function. The
of science. An exception, however, is the study numerous methodological arrows in their quivers
of values, beliefs, and attitudes, which represents require careful consideration of what they are
a sizeable portion of cross-cultural psychological doing in the realm of ethics and decency.
research. One could argue that religions largely
consist of a set of beliefs, an assortment of values,
and a number of attitudes. As noted earlier, the Conceptualization
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, which is
the flagship journal of this specialized approach, Nature/World
recently published, for the first time, a special The discipline generally subscribes to the pre-
issue on religion and culture. mise that nature, including human nature, and
the nonhuman world as phenomena that can be
understood by using the depth and rigors of the
Sources of Authority scientific method. Realizing that the challenges
are many and endless, cross-cultural psychology
The sources of authority include the massive endeavors to contribute to these challenges in any
amount of psychological knowledge that has accu- way that makes good, solid sense.
mulated for many, many years – even going back
to the early Greeks and the scholars and philoso- Human Being
phers they influenced. The main contemporary Like most scientists who study human behavior,
authorities are the leading theorists and the Darwinian perspective, as well as various
Cross-Cultural Psychology 563 C
related biological and medical sciences, is Perception
believed to be adequate to study most of the It is axiomatic and widely established that per-
mental and physical processes of all people, ception (visual, auditory, tactile, etc.) can be,
regardless of culture. Studying religion scientifi- and usually is, affected by both culture and
cally may be beyond the realm of the “objective” ecology. Variations in perception are usually
and “nonspirit” world. Note also that it is not understood by a cross-cultural psychologist to
necessary for psychologists to address studying mean that these processes are adaptive because C
religion “scientifically,” but they can do so if of cultural conditions and the nature of the
warranted. ecological forces to which individuals adapt
and function. For instance, culture and
Life and Death ecology affects the perception of visual illu-
Cross-cultural psychologists may occasionally sions, sensitivities in hearing, the perception of
and selectively approach issues of life and death time, and so on.
primarily because they are universal aspects of
being human and because they can be pro- Time
foundly affected by culture. That is, beliefs As indicated above, time (e.g., the passage of
and attitudes about life and death are often part time, accuracy in estimating the passing of
of socialization processes in growing up in dif- a minute, or the construction of a “calendar”) is
ferent societies and cultures. usually treated objectively by cross-cultural psy-
chologists. If time is meant to mean eons and
Reality geological eras, then the way time is used by
Since most psychologists are empiricists and cross-cultural psychologists can be different –
imbued professionally with a sense of scientific as in Darwin’s theory. The study of time (e.g.,
objectivity, “reality” is that which can be accuracy in the perception of the passage of
measured and understood by careful research. time) and space (e.g., the estimate of
Cross-cultural psychologists, like nearly all psy- distances and size relationships) have been
chologists, respect and expect reports of “reality” studied over the years by culture-oriented
to vary across cultures. psychologists.
To psychologists and other scientists, knowl- Consciousness has been studied by the ancient
edge gained through the use of the scientific Greeks, empirical psychologists and psychoana-
method is cumulative. As such, the pool of lysts (such as Freud), and others for many years.
knowledge expands greatly and continuously, The idea of “stream of consciousness” (a term
and cross-cultural psychologists use it in their coined by William James more than a century
research. ago) is part of psychology’s scientific legacy.
These cross-cultural psychologists can, and occa-
Truth sionally do, use the idea of consciousness in their
All scientists believe that “truth” can be some- research. William James’s well-known treatise
what ephemeral, elusive, and tentative. Today’s on the varieties of religious experience is
truths can be tomorrow’s falsehoods and such is squarely in the realm of studying consciousness.
the nature of scientific inquiry. “Truth” observed Numerous cultural and medical anthropologists
and understood across cultures may be more have studied altered states of consciousness that
ephemeral and evasive in a broad range of cul- are often part of religious rituals. Some of this
tures because of methodological problems that literature has influenced cross-cultural psycholo-
must be solved wherever research involving gists, especially in the mental health field
other cultures takes place. (Ward 1989).
C 564 Crowd
Rationality/Reason Matsumoto, D. (2001). The handbook of cultural and

Psychologists assume that as sentient beings, psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Matsumoto, D., & Juang, L. (2008). Culture and
people throughout the world and across historical psychology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
epochs have the capacity to think, to reason, and Smith, P. B., Bond, M. H., & Kagitcibasi, C. (2008).
to solve problems – in general, to act “intelli- Understanding social psychology across cultures.
gently” in various cultural contexts. Psycholo- Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Ward, C. (Ed.). (1989). Altered states of consciousness
gists interested in studying rationality and and mental health: a cross-cultural perspective.
reasoning across cultures often construct tests Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
and other devices to help them understand varia-
tions around the world.
Mystery Crowd
The word “mystery” is often used in psychology
somewhat inquisitively, such as in the “mystery ▶ Collective Behavior
of the human brain,” the “mystery of the devel-
opment of the self,” and the “mystery of human
creativity.” In other words, how does the complex
brain work, how do we develop a sense of self, Cultural Adaptiveness/Adaptation
and why are some people highly creative and
others not? Mystery, in cross-cultural psychol- ▶ Evolutionary Psychology
ogy, is not used as an epiphenomenon or as some-
thing associated with “not knowing” or beyond
humankind.
Cultural Diversity
Relevant Themes
▶ Cross-Cultural Psychology
All of the above covers a lot of ground. Gener-
ally, the juxtaposition of the words “science” and
“religion” tends to raise eyebrows or hackles.
This is because these two important words Cultural Evolution
embrace, separately, different parts of an
immense world of facts, beliefs, attitudes, ▶ Ecological Psychology
methods of inquiry, and of course a bottomless ▶ Evolutionary Psychology
pit of questions. These two words, when used
together in intelligent and rational discourse,
can be important to cross-cultural psychologists
as they consider the nature and scope of their Cultural Psychology of Religion
research.
▶ Psychology of Religion
References
Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Segall, M. H., & Dasen, Cultural Studies
P. R. (2002). Cross-cultural psychology: research and
applications. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Markus, H., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self:
▶ Ethnology
implications for cognition, emotion and motivation. ▶ Popular Culture and the Mass Media,
Psychological Review, 98, 224–253. Sociology of
Cyberethics 565 C
Cultural Turn Cyberethics
▶ European Studies Herman T. Tavani

Department of Philosophy, Rivier University,
Nashua, NH, USA
C
Cultural Variations
Related Terms
▶ Cross-Cultural Psychology
Computer ethics; Computer science; Information
ethics; Internet ethics
Culture Industry
Description
Eduardo Maura
Facultad de Filosofı́a, Universidad Complutense Cyberethics is a branch of applied ethics that
de Madrid (Spain), Madrid, Spain examines moral, legal, and social issues at the
intersection of computer/information and com-
munication technologies. This field is sometimes
A very characteristic term by Th. W. Adorno, also referred to by phrases such as Internet
culture industry gives title to the third chapter of ethics, computer ethics, and information ethics.
his book Dialectic of Enlightenment, cowritten by The expression “Internet ethics” is somewhat nar-
M. Horkheimer. When analyzing popular culture, row in scope and thus unable to capture the range of
Adorno and Horkheimer diagnose that this con- cyber-related ethical issues that arise independently
sists of standardized cultural goods being distrib- of the Internet and networked computers per se.
uted by mass media (radio, film, press, magazines, Because “computer ethics” connotes ethical issues
etc.). Particular aims of the culture industry, a term affecting either computer professionals or comput-
that Adorno always writes in singular, are to dom- ing machines, it also can easily fail to include
inate and to control masses under a state of per- a cluster of relevant issues that fall under the head-
manent consumption of enchanting goods and ing “cyberethics.” The expression “information
liquidation of critical thinking. This process of ethics,” on the contrary, is too broad because it
psychological, economical, metaphysical and can refer to information-related ethical issues that
social domination would end with a negation of are beyond the scope of cybertechnology. Addi-
true art and the impossibility for the right life, tionally, “information ethics” as a field of applied
happiness, and social change. ethics can be easily confused with a methodologi-
cal framework that Floridi (1999) and others call
Information Ethics or IE. (Floridi’s IE framework
is intended as a “macroethical framework” for ana-
Culture Theory lyzing specific issues in cyberethics.) Thus, the
term “cyberethics” best describes the set of ethical
▶ Critical and Cultural Theory issues arising from the convergence of computer/
information and communication technologies
(Tavani 2004a, 2011).
An excellent historical account of key devel-
Curved Space opments in this field of applied ethics can be
found in Bynum (2008), beginning with his anal-
▶ Space ysis of some insights in Norbert Weiner’s work
C 566 Cyberethics
on cybernetics in the 1940s and 1950s that antic- Aquinas). An alternative to traditional ethical
ipated many of the issues that would eventually theories such as utilitarianism and deontology
comprise the field of cyberethics as it is known has been proposed by Gert (2004), who analyzes
today. Typical issues examined in cyberethics cyberethics issues from the perspective of his
include, but are not limited to, personal privacy, system of “common morality” (developed more
intellectual property, cybersecurity, cybercrime, fully in Gert 2005, 2007).
and the digital divide. In the final section of this
entry, we briefly analyze a specific cyberethics
issue involving privacy in the context of Characteristics
bioinformatics research.
This question refers to what has been described as
the “uniqueness debate” in cyberethics (Tavani
Self-identification 2002; Himma 2003). Some argue that cyberethics
has unique ethical issues or properties that
Science distinguish it from other areas of applied ethics
Cyberethics does not identify itself as a science, (Maner 2004). Other ethicists, whom we can call
although, as an academic field, it does examine “traditionalists” (following Johnson 1994), argue
moral, legal, and social issues that arise in some that there is nothing novel about ethical issues
scientific disciplines – viz., computer science and involving cybertechnology. It would seem that
information science. Insofar as cyberethics both groups offer a valuable insight into the
employs empirical observation as an essential nature of the issues examined in the field; how-
step in its overall framework for assessing ever, both groups make some erroneous infer-
relevant ethical issues, it incorporates a key ences. Traditionalists correctly point out that no
element of the scientific method in its approach. genuinely new ethical issues have emerged
However, other aspects of the methodological because of cybertechnology; but these theorists
framework used in cyberethics are conceptual or also underestimate the fact that some moral
analytical in nature, rather than empirical. issues affecting the use and development
of cybertechnology pose a challenge for our
Religion traditional ethical frameworks.
Similar to one aspect of religion, as an academic Defenders of what we can call “the uniqueness
discipline, cyberethics is concerned with identi- view of cyberethics” correctly point out that
fying, analyzing, and evaluating moral issues, cybertechnology has some unique technological
including concerns involving social justice. The features (e.g., in terms of its malleability and
main difference is that cyberethics uses a philo- speed). However, they incorrectly go on to infer
sophical method to approach moral issues rather that the ethical issues associated with this tech-
than one based on religious authority, such as the nology must also be unique. Essentially, they
Divine Command theory. Although cyberethics commit the “CyberEthics Is Unique (CEIU)
issues can be approached from the perspective of Fallacy,” which reasons as follows:
religious ethics, most of the current literature Cybertechnology has some unique technological
analyzes those issues from the point of view of features; cybertechnology raises some ethical
one or more of three principal frameworks: issues; therefore (at least some), ethical issues
philosophical ethics, professional ethics, or affecting cybertechnology must be unique
sociological/descriptive ethics (Tavani 2011). (Tavani 2011). This reasoning is fallacious
Some cyberethics authors, such as Spinello because it mistakenly assumes that features or
(2006), also use the framework of natural law properties that apply to a technology, X, must
theory, which has its roots in theological writings also apply to ethical issues associated with that
(most notably in the works of St. Thomas technology.
Cyberethics 567 C
Relevance to Science and Religion the question of whether any cyberethics are
unique ethical issues, as discussed above).
Although cyberethics is not directly interested in
many questions affecting science qua science or
religion qua religion, it examines some issues and Ethical Principles
controversies that are of interest to researchers in
both disciplines. Along with questions examined There are no specific ethical principles that guide C
by some researchers in religion, for example, cyberethics. Rather this field examines a range of
cyberethics asks questions such as “What does it ethical principles – from utilitarianism to deon-
mean to be human – i.e., in an era where nano- tology to natural law theory to contract/rights-
technology and bioimplants can extend alter the based theories to virtue ethics, and so forth – to
conventional sense of ‘human’” (Moor 2005; see how the various principles can be applied to
Weckert 2006)? With regard to questions affect- ethical issues that arise at the intersection of
ing scientific research, cyberethics asks whether computer/information and communication tech-
the development of cybertechnology (as in the nologies. So, unlike some fields of applied ethics
case of any new technology being developed) is (such as biomedical ethics) that have a set of
“neutral,” i.e., value free, or biased in any way “received principles” guiding them, cyberethics
(Brey 2004; Friedman et al. 2008). is still at a point in its development where the
ethical principles themselves are debated.
Key Values
There are no “sources of authority” per se in
cyberethics, but the field is guided by some Cyberethics has no key values as such. Rather, one
empirical constraints similar to those in science, of its principal tasks is to examine a range of
and it deals with some abstract issues that might values affecting professions, such as computing
be viewed as classic in moral analysis involving and information-technology professionals, as
religion as an academic discipline. As far as well as values affecting the discipline of computer
a widely recognized source or figure in the field science itself. So, an important task of cyberethics
of cyberethics, the insights of James Moor (1985) is to identify and analyze (implicit and explicit)
in his classic article “What Is Computer Ethics?” values in relevant professions and disciplines
have helped to guide research in computer ethics affecting cybertechnology (see, e.g., Brey 2004).
and cyberethics. In his seminal work, Moor
introduced three important terms that have since
structured and influenced the research of many Conceptualization
philosophers in the field: “policy vacuum,”
“conceptual muddle,” and “logical malleability.” As a discipline, or a sub-field of applied ethics,
Moor argues that because computer technology is cyberethics has no agreed-upon definitions or
logically malleable, it makes possible some novel conceptualizations of terms such as Nature/
ways of acting. This, in turn, creates some “vac- World, Life/Death, Reality, Knowledge, Truth,
uums” or voids in our policies and legal frame- Perception, Time, Consciousness, Rationality/
work. However, before we can fill these voids by Reason, and Mystery. In many ways, it employs
either creating new policies or revising existing standard philosophical accounts of reality,
ones, we sometimes first have to clarify muddles knowledge, and reason. The notion of reality
that arise. In this sense, Moor (1998, 2001) has been challenged by research in virtual reality
believes that cyberethics is justified as an inde- technology, and our standard conception of con-
pendent field of applied ethics (independent of sciousness has been challenged by some of the
C 568 Cyberethics
developments in artificial intelligence (AI). understood as the application of the informatics

However, other notions such as nature, truth, model to the management of biological informa-
time, perception, life and death, and mystery are tion; its objective is to make that information
not explicitly examined in cyberethics. more understandable and useful. Sometimes
bioinformatics is used in ways that are synony-
mous with a sub-field called computational geno-
Relevant Themes mics; however, the latter field is more specialized
since its primary use of informatics techniques
Issues/themes and concepts affecting “the and computational modeling is to analyze
good,” right/wrong, permissible/impermissible, genetic/genomic data per se as opposed to
obligatory/supererogatory, and justice are criti- broader biological data in general (Tavani 2006).
cal to cyberethics as a discipline. Also, concerns
about gender issues affecting computers and How Does Bioinformatics Research Threaten
cybertechnology have been examined extensively Privacy?
by Adam (2005). Bioinformatics research, particularly in the area
of population genomics studies, has employed
data-mining technology to analyze genetic infor-
A Specific Cyberethics Controversy mation and “discover” patterns in DNA
Affecting Bioinformatics and Personal sequences affecting various populations and
Privacy groups. Consider the case of deCODE Genetics
(in Iceland) whose use of data mining illustrates
As noted earlier, a wide range of moral, legal, and the kinds of privacy concerns that arise in bioin-
social issues are examined under the heading formatics research. Many Icelandic citizens, who
cyberethics. We also noted that these issues had been encouraged by their government to
generally include concerns affecting personal donate samples of their DNA to deCODE,
privacy, intellectual property, cybersecurity, and assumed that information about their personal
cybercrime. Some recent controversies have also genetic data would be protected by either the
emerged in connection with convergent aspects company’s privacy policies or Icelandic privacy
of cybertechnology and non-cybertechnologies. laws. However, Vedder (2004) points out that the
For example, elements of cybertechnology have kind of privacy protection that applies to personal
converged with biotechnology and nanotechnol- information about individuals as individuals does
ogy to form new fields such as bioinformatics and not necessarily apply to that information once it is
nanocomputing, respectively. These fields, in collected, aggregated, and crossed referenced
turn, introduce concerns that pose additional with other information. So the personal genetic
challenges for some classic cyberethics issues information stored in deCODE’s genetic
such as privacy. We next briefly describe some databases, once cross-referenced with informa-
ways that developments in bioinformatics tion in that company’s databases containing
threaten personal privacy, via a specific case nongenetic information (such as medical/health
example involving genetic databases. and genealogical information), was not entitled to
the same kind of legal protection accorded to
What Is Bioinformatics? “individually identifiable personal information.”
Although there is no univocal definition of bioin- Although data mining has helped researchers
formatics, the field incorporates principles and at deCODE and elsewhere to identify disease
techniques from the broader field of informatics, genes, this technology is controversial because
which involves the “acquisition, storage, manip- it also generates group profiles (Custers 2006).
ulation, analyses, transmission, sharing, and Some groups can be constructed on the basis of
visualization of information on a computer” profiles that are not obvious to the individuals
(Goodman 1998). So, bioinformatics can be who comprise them. For example, Custers notes
Cyberethics 569 C
that a person who owns a red car may have no enables human research subjects to protect them-
idea that he or she belongs to a group of individ- selves against both “coercion and deception.”
uals likely to have or to contract colon cancer She also argues that for this to be achieved, the
(merely because of a statistical correlation that consent process must be open or transparent.
associates people who own red cars with colon But we can reasonably ask whether her “transpar-
cancer). Thus, a decision to deny an individual ency requirement” can be satisfied in research
health insurance could be based simply on the practices where data-mining techniques generate C
“discovery” that the applicant owns a red car data that can be used in subsequent applications
and would thus likely have a higher-than-average without additional consent from the human
probability of contracting colon cancer. Analo- subjects affected. Thus, it would seem that the
gously, a person could also be denied employ- kind of conditions required for “valid informed
ment or life insurance based on similar kinds of consent” are extremely difficult, if not impossi-
group profiling that used arbitrary associations ble, to achieve in cases that that involve second-
and correlations (generated by data mining), ary uses of personal genetic information
linking trivial nongenetic information (such as made possible by data-mining technology in
the color of one’s car) with sensitive information bioinformatics research.
about one’s genetic data. Furthermore, many
people who become identified with these Concluding Remarks
(nonobvious) group profiles will have no chance We have considered only one case example – i.e.,
of correcting any inaccuracies or errors that could our brief analysis of deCODE Genetics – to illus-
easily result from their group identification trate a recent cyberethics issue affecting personal
(because they may have no idea that they have privacy in the context of bioinformatics research.
been associated with a group whose existence is Of course, numerous case examples could have
unknown to them). been devised to illustrate the many different
kinds of controversies that arise within the field
Bioinformatics and the Informed Consent of cyberethics. However, our main objective in
Process in Genetic Research this brief overview of the field has been to
The process of informed consent used in bioin- identify, describe, and elucidate some of the
formatics research involving data mining has foundational elements and key principles of
also been controversial. For example, it is ques- cyberethics.
tionable whether the consent process used by
deCODE in getting permissions from human
research subjects met the required conditions for Cross-References
“valid informed consent.” Consider that even if
the human subjects agreed to have their personal ▶ Cyborgs
data used in a specific context by deCODE, it is ▶ Deontology
not clear that they fully comprehended the ▶ Ethics
process of how their genetic data could be used ▶ Utilitarianism
in secondary or subsequent contexts (e.g., when it ▶ Virtue Ethics
was cross-referenced with information in
nongenetic databases). Furthermore, it might not
even have been possible for deCODE to inform References
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37–54. netics; Human-machine organism
Cyborgs 571 C
Overview which can give an indication of what might also
one day be possible in terms of humans.
The term “Cyborg” arises as a short form of
“Cybernetic Organism,” which is an entity made
up of both biological and technical elements. Medicine
Initially it was used to describe any system of
this mixed type (Clynes and Kline 1960); Although primarily aimed at restoring an individ- C
however, it has more recently been employed ual back toward their original capabilities by
for entities where the biology and technology means of replacement limbs or functions, some
are integrally attached, thereby removing people technologies also offer the possibility of taking
riding bicycles or wearing glasses from the things further and extending performance past the
definition. original.
To be called a Cyborg it is normally the case There are now many human individuals who
that the entity has abilities above and beyond exist with the aid of integral technology. This can
those exhibited by either their biological or tech- range from an implanted pacemaker to artificial/
nological parts alone. This has possibly come replacement hips to implants to assist hearing and
about due to fictional stories in which the cyborg even to an artificial heart. As in the latter case, the
has mental and/or physical capabilities which are implant may possibly be merely a holding state,
far beyond those of humans. A counter example to keep the patient alive until a transplant is
to this is the use of the expression, probably by available. Conversely, it may be an attempt at
the media to hype the story line, to describe an either a direct replacement of a malfunctioning
amputee who has been given an articulated leg or biological original or as an aid to try to ensure that
arm, or a patient suffering from a neurological the biological original continues to perform its
disorder who has received a stimulating neural duties reasonably well.
implant. Perhaps part of the cyborg family are some
While potentially broader definitions are people with artificial legs or arms. For example,
acknowledged, in this text the common under- the C-Leg system is an artificial leg used to
standing of a “Cyborg” is taken to be appropriate. replace a human leg that has been amputated.
So the focus here is on humans or animals that are The leg contains a number of sensors such that,
enhanced mentally and/or physically over and under microprocessor control, the leg can alter its
above the “norm” with integral technology, gait to best replicate the natural gate of the user.
rather than where technology is merely worn There is no reason why such a leg could not
and/or is employed purely for restorative or ther- ultimately outperform the original in terms of
apeutic purposes or even to enhance an individual speed of operation or power.
in comparison with their own problematic state. It As far as artificial arms are concerned, the
has to be pointed out, however, that there is by no i-Limb hand is a five-digit hand with individually
means a clear division between enhancement and powered fingers that can be controlled by myo-
therapy in this situation. electric signals generated by muscle movements
Before continuing, it is worth pointing out that in the remaining part of the person’s limb.
this entry is concerned with actual cyborgs. A better example in this category perhaps is the
Hence, it does not deal with cyborgs in art, in work of Todd Kuiken at the Rehabilitation Insti-
popular culture (such as Science Fiction), or tute in Chicago (Kuiken et al. 2009). Where an
social cyborgs, which are directed toward road individual has had an arm (or two) amputated,
or city networks. What follows is a look at leaving functioning nerve fibers to the arm in
cyborgs in different contexts, in particular medi- place, but no longer useful, then these nerves
cine and sport, with subsequently a discussion of can be redirected in order to control
animal-based (rather than human-based) cyborgs, a replacement bionic arm (or two).
C 572 Cyborgs
The surgical technique involves grafting some and is certainly not at the stage of experimenta-
of the nerves, which were originally controlling tion on supervision incorporating a wider-
the amputated arm, to functioning muscles so that frequency spectrum.
these muscles contract when the subject thinks Other research is more formative and is yet to
about using their amputated hand. Electric sig- show similar practical results. For example,
nals from these muscles can then be used to a different retinal prosthesis is being developed
control the artificial hand via the traditional myo- by a group led by Joseph Rizzo (Jensen and Rizzo
electric route using externally positioned 2007). Rather than being positioned near the pho-
electrodes. toreceptors, the chip will be positioned near the
If only the lower part of the individual’s arm ganglion cells, which send nerve impulses to the
has been amputated, then muscles higher up in brain. The prototype uses a camera mounted on
the arm can be used for this purpose. Conversely, a pair of eyeglasses to capture and transmit a light
if the entire arm has been removed, muscles in the image to the chip. The light and images are
upper chest can be employed, with external elec- converted into electrical impulses, which are
trodes positioned on the chest to monitor appro- transmitted to the brain along the optic nerve. It
priate muscle movements in order to translate has to be said though that this is all rather
these signals into control signals for an articu- speculative.
lated arm replacement. The first person to benefit Already well developed and commercially
from this technology was Jesse Sullivan a power available are cochlear implants. These are surgi-
worker who, in 2001, received replacement cally implanted electronic devices that provide
bionic arms when he had both his original arms a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly
amputated at the shoulder following an electrical deaf or severely hard of hearing. A cochlear
accident. implant does not amplify sound, but works by
Research is currently being conducted by sev- directly stimulating any remaining functioning
eral groups in the area of retinal microchip auditory nerves inside the cochlear with an elec-
implantation, to replace malfunctioning visual tric field. External components of the cochlear
input in humans. As an example, microchips, implant include a microphone, a signal processor,
which contain up to 5,000 solar cells have been and a radio-frequency transmitter. A radio-
implanted into the back of the eye. When light frequency receiver is implanted beneath the
strikes the solar cells, it is converted into electri- skull’s skin. The receiver relays the incoming
cal signals that travel through the optic nerve to signal to the implanted electrodes in the cochlea.
the brain and are interpreted as an image. The The implant even now gives recipients additional
silicon in this way acts as a replacement for auditory information, enabling the ability to
a malfunctioning retina. The replacement retina understand speech in quiet environments. It is
has a diameter of 2 mm. The 2-h operation is done quite possible though for the normal auditory
through an incision in the sclera (the white part of sound input frequency range (in humans typically
the eye), and the chip is inserted into a pocket up to a maximum of 20 KHz) to be extended in
beneath the retina. the future.
The device displays only black and white Over 150,000 people worldwide have already
images and works best in well-lit rooms, but it received cochlear implants, the vast majority of
is hoped that the addition of more solar cells these being in developed countries due to the high
on the chip will improve results. Much of this cost of the device, surgery, and post-implantation
technology relies on the ability of the human therapy. A small but growing number of the
eye to accept silicon chip implants. Numerous recipients have bilateral implants (one implant
patients have now tested this device over in each cochlea). Once an implant is in place,
a number of years and all report improved the recipient has to train themselves to recognize
vision. However, at present, this is far from the signals now being received via their auditory
a restoration to anything like normal vision input, a feat which may involve learning to
Cyborgs 573 C
understand signals with frequencies not previ- out to localize where activity was most pro-
ously entertained. nounced while the subject was thinking about
Another type of implant that is now widely various movements. A hollow glass electrode
used is that employed for deep brain stimulation. cone containing two gold wires was then
This has, thus far, mostly been used to overcome implanted into the motor cortex, in the area of
the effects of Parkinson’s disease, by sending maximum activity.
electrical impulses into the globus pallidus or When the patient thought about moving his C
subthalamic nucleus regions of the brain. hand, the subsequent activity was detected by
Although the present technology involves the the electrode, then amplified and transmitted by
application of a continual stimulation signal, a radio link to a computer where the signals were
research is ongoing to predict when Parkinsonian translated into control signals to bring about
conditions (tremors, dystonia) are shortly to movement of the cursor on a computer screen.
occur such that a stimulating signal is only The subject successfully learnt to move the cursor
applied to stop the effects before they start. around by thinking about different hand move-
This research requires accurate modeling of ments. Eventually the patient reached a level of
the relevant part of the brain such that control where no abstraction was needed – to
a computer is employed to predict what the move the cursor he simply thought about moving
human brain is going to do some time before it the cursor. This could, therefore, be regarded as
actually does it. The same type of stimulator can replacing some of the recipients’ original func-
be used in constant stimulation mode to over- tions or as giving the individual the ability to
come the effects of clinical depression, move the cursor by neural signals alone.
Tourette’s syndrome, and Epilepsy; however, Some of the most impressive human research
the novel predictive technique opens up the pos- to date has been carried out using
sibility not only for the treatment of a variety of a microelectrode array, consisting of 100 elec-
neurological disorders such as these but also for trodes. The individual electrodes are only
its use in a plethora of ways where signals within 1.5-mm long and taper to a tip diameter of less
the brain can be monitored and used to infer what than 90 mm. Human tests are at present limited to
will subsequently be decided by the brain. two reported studies. In the second of these, the
array was employed in a recording only role
(Donoghue et al. 2004). Activity from a few neu-
Brain-Computer Interfaces rons monitored by the array electrodes was
decoded into a signal which enabled the recipient
A small number of research groups have to position a cursor on a computer screen, using
experimented with implants positioned in the neural signals for control combined with visual
brain of humans more for communication pur- feedback.
poses. Although the humans involved have, in The first use of the microelectrode array has
most cases, been in a relatively poor medical though considerably broader implications way
condition, the technological potential of such beyond the concept of therapy and which gives
experimentation is possibly much wider than the best reflection of a practical cyborg to date.
that already discussed. As a step toward a broader concept of human-
One line of research has been focused around machine symbiosis, in the first study of its kind,
patients who have suffered a stroke, resulting in a microelectrode array was implanted into the
paralysis. The most relevant is the use of a brain median nerve fibers of a healthy human individ-
implant which enables a physically incapable ual in order to test bidirectional functionality in
brain stem stroke victim to control the movement a series of experiments. A big difference between
of a cursor on a computer screen (Kennedy et al. this and the studies already discussed is that sig-
2004). Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging nals could be both input to and output from
(fMRI) of the subject’s brain was initially carried the nerve fibers. A stimulation electric current
C 574 Cyborgs
directed into the nervous system allowed infor- What is more pertinent is the use of artificial/
mation to be sent to the user, while control signals technological legs as a replacement for biological
were decoded from neural activity in the region legs. As an example, Oscar Pistorius is a South
of the electrodes. In this way, a number of exper- African double amputee (both his legs were
imental trials were successfully concluded removed from half way between knee and ankle)
(Warwick et al. 2003), in particular: who competes in sprint races with J-shaped carbon
1. Extra sensory (ultrasonic) input was success- fiber add-ons called the “Cheetah Flex-Foot.” The
fully implemented and made use of. general ruling from the International Amateur
2. Extended control of a robotic hand across the Athletic Federation is that Pistorius and other
Internet was achieved, with feedback from the would be cyborgs can compete with regular
robotic fingertips being sent back as neural humans as long as they do not employ “any tech-
stimulation to give a sense of force being nical device that incorporates springs, wheels, or
applied to an object (this was achieved any other element that provides a user with an
between USA and UK). advantage over another athlete not using such
3. A primitive form of telegraphic communica- a device.”
tion directly between the nervous systems of Clearly the ruling is a precarious one and
two humans was performed. opens up arguments as to which differences pre-
4. A wheelchair was successfully driven around sent an advantage and which do not. For instance,
by means of neural signals alone. it has been alleged that the “blades” Pistorius uses
5. The color of jewelry was changed directly as are longer than is necessary, allowing him to
a result of neural signals – as indeed was the cover more ground in each stride. It has also
behavior of a collection of small robots. been claimed that the Cheetahs return more
In these studies, there was no therapeutic, energy per stride without ever becoming fatigued
restorative need for the implant. The individual’s or requiring the same “investment of energy” and
nervous system was plugged directly into the that they are not subject to the lactic acid build up
Internet, thereby allowing for the remote control that slows down human athletes.
of technology by neural signals alone and also for It is anticipated that many other sports will soon
the input of remote sensory stimulation. Essen- face problems of dealing with cyborg participants
tially the individual involved had their nervous when they wish to compete with regular humans.
system extended across the Internet – a true
cyborg, a human with integral technology,
exhibiting a number of powers not available to Animals
regular humans.
Nonhuman animal studies can be considered to
be a pointer for what is potentially achievable
Sports with humans in the future. As an example, in
one particular animal study, the extracted brain
At the present time, some of the physical aspects of a lamprey, retained in a solution, was used to
of cyborgs are starting to raise questions regard- control the movement of a small-wheeled robot
ing human sporting value judgments drawn, par- to which it was attached (Reger et al. 2000). The
ticularly in athletics. It is already the case that the lamprey innately exhibits a response to light
world record time for completing a marathon in reflections on the surface of water by trying to
a wheelchair is much lower than that for complet- align its body with respect to the light source.
ing the same distance on two legs, but it is diffi- When connected into the robot body, this
cult to regard the wheelchair itself as being response was utilized by surrounding the robot
an integral part of the body, hence classifying with a ring of lights. As different lights were
such individuals as cyborgs is perhaps outside switched on and off, so the robot moved around
the scope. its corral, trying to position itself appropriately.
Cyborgs 575 C
Meanwhile in studies involving rats, a group basic functioning of the brain, particularly mem-
of rats were taught to pull a lever in order to ory, and hence this cyborg is useful as a test bed
receive a suitable reward. Electrodes were then for research into diseases such as Alzheimer’s
chronically implanted into the rats’ brains such disease. It is anticipated that before long, human
that the reward was proffered when each rat neurones will replace the rat neurones in
thought (one supposes) about pulling the lever, this study.
but before any actual physical movement C
occurred. Over a period of days, four of the six
rats involved in the experiment learned that they Others
did not in fact need to initiate any action in order
to obtain a reward; merely thinking about it was At present, there are a range of other studies and
sufficient (Chapin 2004). The same team also technologies that could be seen, by some, as being
carried out studies in which rats, with implanted indicative of cyborg technology. It is felt to be
electrodes, were controlled remotely to negotiate worthwhile taking a brief look at each in turn.
a maze. An operator at a computer terminal could RFID – Radio Frequency Identification
cause the rat to turn right or left at a junction Devices, when employed as implants, certainly
merely by pressing a button. can give the recipient a variety of abilities not
In another series of experiments, implants exhibited by humans. While they do not alter any
consisting of microelectrode arrays have been functions within the human body and are not
positioned into the frontal and parietal lobes of themselves affected by any bodily activity,
the brains of two female rhesus macaque mon- when activated they do send a personal identify-
keys. Each monkey learned firstly how to control ing signal to an external receiver which can be
a remote robot arm through arm movements used to carry out functions (e.g., open doors auto-
coupled with visual feedback, and it is reported matically, switch on lights) for that specific indi-
that ultimately one of the monkeys was able to vidual without the individual having to press
control the arm using only brain-derived neural a button or flick a switch.
signals with no associated physical movement. Magnetic implants – small magnets can be
Notably, control signals for the reaching and placed under the skin, allowing objects to be
grasping movements of the robotic arm were magnetically attached to the body. One purpose
derived from the same set of implanted electrodes is for sensory experimentation, in which the
(Nicolelis et al. 2003). movement of the implant in the presence of mag-
In another project, rat neurons were separated netic fields can be felt by the individual.
using enzymes and then cultured/grown on a flat EEG – Electroencephalography is perhaps the
multi-electrode array. The neural culture, a self- most studied noninvasive interface, mainly due to
contained biological brain, was electronically its ease of use, portability, and low setup cost.
stimulated via the electrodes (inputs) and its elec- Unfortunately, it is susceptible to noise, requires
tronic response witnessed on other electrodes extensive training, and has relatively low resolu-
(outputs) (Marks 2008). The project involved tion with poor repeatability. A number of groups
networking the biological brain with a robot have used the output from external scalp elec-
mobile platform. The input (sensory) signals to trodes measuring EEG to drive a computer cursor
the brain were solely the signals obtained from or vehicle. Often the process is extremely slow,
the wheeled robot’s ultrasonic sensors, thereby requires months of training, and is highly
giving the brain a sense of distance. The output unreliable. Although individuals wearing such
from the biological brain meanwhile was used to electrodes can appear “cool” for a media image,
drive the robot around. The overall cyborg, with especially when linked with the term “cyborg,”
a physical body and biological brain then learned the technology is certainly not integral with an
to move around in a corral without hitting into individual and it is difficult to claim that the
objects. The research is aimed at understanding person is doing something that they could not
C 576 Cyborgs
otherwise do, in most cases a lot more effectively, Cross-References

in an easier way.
▶ Bioinformatics, Computational
Ethical Standpoint ▶ Brains, Artificial and Computational
▶ Cognitive Neuroscience
If the application of technology is limited to ▶ Cognitive Science
therapeutic means then there may be a few who ▶ Complex Systems
grumble, but on the whole this is widely ▶ Cyberethics
accepted. When it comes to human enhancement, ▶ Dementia
however, the picture is less clear. Surely any ▶ Intelligence
individual should be allowed to upgrade them-
selves if they want, otherwise the all important
value of freedom of the individual comes into References
question. Conversely the upgrading of a few
humans could realize a new sect and even, ulti- Chapin, J. K. (2004). Using multi-neuron population
mately, a new species with abilities well beyond recordings for neural prosthetics. Nature Neurosci-
ence, 7, 452–454.
those of humans. So shouldn’t such technological Clynes, M. E., & Kline, N. S. (1960). Cyborgs and space.
progression be curtailed? Astronautics, 14, 26–27. 74–75.
But therapy and enhancement cannot be sim- Donoghue, J., Nurmikko, A., Friehs, G., Black, M. (2004).
ply separated with a thick line between them. For Development of a neuromotor prosthesis for humans.
Chapter 63 in Advances in clinical neurophysiology.
example, a new ultrasonic sense could provide Supplements to Clinical Neurophysiology, 57,
a person who is blind with the ability to detect 592–602.
objects and move around much more rapidly on Jensen, R. J., & Rizzo, J. F. (2007). Responses of ganglion
their own and thereby regain dignity. Who could cells to repetitive electrical stimulation of the retina.
Journal of Neural Engineering, 4(1), S1–S6.
deny that? On the other hand, exactly the same Kennedy, P., Andreasen, D., Ehirim, P., King, B.,
technology in an individual with normal vision Kirby, T., Mao, H., & Moore, M. (2004). Using
would give that person an extra sense. Is it right human extra-cortical local field potentials to control
for some individuals to have more senses than a switch. Journal of Neural Engineering, 1(2), 72–77.
Kuiken, T. A., Li, G., Lock, B. A., Lipschutz, R. D.,
others? But on the other hand, if the technology is Miller, L. A., Stubblefield, K. A., & Englehart, K. B.
available it seems a little stupid to restrict its use (2009). Targeted muscle reinnervation for real-time
to a small group of individuals – particularly if myoelectric control of multifunction artificial arms.
there is commercial gain, with jobs and liveli- Journal of the American Medical Association,
301(6), 619–628.
hoods to benefit. Marks, P. (2008). Rat-brained robots take their first steps.
It is apparent that the whole area of cyborgs New Scientist, 199(2669), 22–23.
raises enormous ethical and societal topics that Nicolelis, M., Dimitrov, D., Carmena, J., Crist, R.,
are not at all clear. Even addressing issues as to Lehew, G., Kralik, J., & Wise, S. (2003). Chronic,
multisite, multielectrode recordings in macaque mon-
what animal research is carried out and whether keys. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sci-
or not human neurons should be cultured in ences of the United States of America, 100(19),
a robot body can stir up a variety of feelings. 11041–11046.
Historically it is often commercial and military Reger, B., Fleming, K., Sanguineti, V., Simon Alford, S.,
& Mussa-Ivaldi, F. (2000). Connecting brains to
aspects that carry most weight and here the robots: An artificial body for studying computational
picture is clear that enhancement will take place properties of neural tissues. Artificial Life, 6(4),
quite simply because the available technology 307–324.
provides a distinct advantage. At this point in Warwick, K., Gasson, M., Hutt, B., Goodhew, I.,
Kyberd, P., Andrews, B., Teddy, P., & Shad, A.
time, as this entry has shown, the age of the (2003). The application of implant technology for
cyborg is merely at its beginning, but it is clearly cybernetic systems. Archives of Neurology, 60(10),
in the ascendancy. 1369–1373.
D
Da Vinci Code Description
Carl Raschke ▶ Daoism is the major Chinese autochthonous

Department of Religious Studies, tradition next to Confucianism. Throughout his-
University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA tory, it has played a major role as a philosophy as
well as a religion.
Daoism does not fit well into the established
The title of a novel by author Dan Brown, and Western categorization, which considers philos-
subsequent motion picture, that was extraordi- ophy and religion as separate entities; conse-
narily popular in the beginning of the current quently, there has been much debate in China
millennium. The theme of Brown’s thriller was and in the West about the relation of Daoist
that early Christianity had been a form of goddess philosophy of the pre-Qin period (before 221
worship based on ancient Gnosticism, a “secret” BCE), also termed “philosophical Daoism,” and
which the Catholic Church had gone for centuries the Daoist religion, whose first known institutions
to extremes in order to suppress. While Brown’s go back to the second century CE. This entry will
novel had an equally tremendous impact on the consider both, religion and philosophy, as inte-
general public’s interest in Gnosticism, it was gral parts of “Daoism.”
based on highly dubious and largely fanciful The common ground of philosophy and reli-
historical information that has confused more gion, as well as among the many different strands
than illumined responsible research into who the of religious traditions that considered themselves
Gnostics actually were. “Daoist,” is the reference to “Dao” as origin of
teaching and aim of cultivation and the transmis-
sion of knowledge of this Dao. “Dao” 道, literally
“way,” is conceived in Daoism as the origin
Daoism and regulating force of the universe and of all
being.
Friederike Assandri Important foundational conceptions of Dao-
Department of Sinology, University of ism go back to a short and in many ways enig-
Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany matic text of about 5,000 characters, purportedly
written by Laozi 老子 in the fifth century BCE:
the Daode jing 道德經, the Classic of the Way
Related Terms and its Power, as A. Waley (1934) translates, or
else The Classic of the Way and the Virtue, as
Taoism many other translators render the title.

D 578 Daoism
The history of the booklet is shrouded in mys- interfering”; however, this “not-doing” entails
tery. The received version of the text relies on the “nothing that is not done” (wubuwei):
text commented by the famous scholar Wang Bi Tao never does; Yet through it all things are
(226–249). However, an older version of the text, done. . . . (ch. 37, Waley 1934)
excavated in 1993 in the Guodian tombs in Hebei,
Human beings should strive to imitate this
written on Bamboo slips, confirms that in spite of
several differences with the received version, the Dao in their dealings with the outer world. The
term wuwei 無爲, not actively interfering, is
text existed already in 300 BCE.
used also to describe the ideal behavior of
The Daode jing was probably conceived, just
like the teaching of Confucius, as a guideline for human beings and in particular of a ruler. By
letting things run their natural course, it was
the ruler to govern well. It proposes that in order
believed that they would by themselves become
to achieve supreme power, the ruler should align
himself with Dao. perfect.
Dao is a central theme in the Daode jing and “Kingdoms can only be governed if rules are kept;
Battles can only be won if rules are broken.” But
gives the name to “Daoism.” It is the ontological
the adherence of all under heaven can only be won
ground of all being and at the same time the by letting-alone. . . .
originator and regulator of all being and of all Therefore a sage has said: So long as I “do
natural processes. nothing” the people will of themselves be
transformed. . . . ”(ch. 57, Waley 1934)
There was something formless yet complete,
That existed before heaven and earth; As guideline for individual self-cultivation,
Without sound, without substance, the proposition of imitating the ways of Dao
Dependent on nothing, unchanging, was taken one step further: The individual should
All pervading, unfailing. strive to unite with Dao and thus become part of
One may think of it as the mother of all things
under heaven. . . . (ch. 25, Waley 1934) the eternal, which meant to become immortal.
Since Dao is not only regulator, but also origin
As ontological ground and origin of all being, of all being, Daoist adepts sought to “return” to
Dao embraces all being. This poses an epistemo- Dao by retracing the process of becoming, by
logical problem, since anything that embraces all which Dao brought forth being, backward.
possible being must be “not-being,” in a sense Where the process of becoming, the change
that it cannot have any definable characteristic, from nonbeing of Dao to being and the 10,000
because any such characteristic would exclude its things, implied ever-increasing multiplicity and
opposite and, thus, only “not-being” is able to complexity, the process of return would imply
embrace all being. Dao therefore cannot be ever-diminishing complexity, until the adept
described by means of language: reaches ultimate oneness in Dao:
Learning consists in adding to one’s stock day by
The Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying
day; The practice of Tao consists in subtracting day
Way;
by day. Subtracting and yet again subtracting;
The names that can be named are not unvarying
Till one has reached inactivity. . . . (ch. 48, Waley
names.
1934)
It was from the Nameless that Heaven and
Earth sprang; The text of the Daode jing always had offered
The named is but the mother that rears the ten
thousand creatures, each after its kind. . . . (ch. 1, itself to multiple level readings. Its vagueness
Waley 1934) allowed many different interpretations, and thus,
the booklet was venerated and studied by differ-
Just like Dao cannot be described in words ent groups of people throughout the centuries. Its
because it transcends any definable characteris- interpreters read it variously as a guide for ruling,
tic, its functioning cannot be pinpointed to as a philosophical reflection on ontology and
a definite activity and is therefore described as cosmogony or as an instruction for reaching
“not-doing” (wuwei) in a sense of “not actively longevity or immortality.
Daoism 579 D
Its underlying conception that Dao is all find an elaboration of the theme of going West,
embracing furthermore has an exceptional poten- where Laozi and the Guardian are portrayed as
tial for integration of different concepts and ways seekers of longevity.
of thinking and believing. As of the second century CE, documents from
Thus, in the course of time, many different different social environments show that by then
directions of thought and teachings emerged Laozi was conceived as a deity. Emperor Huan
from this teaching or referred themselves back (r. 147–167 CE) built a palace on the traditional
to it, from immortality seekers and alchemists to site of Laozi’s birthplace and authorized venera-
war strategists, from philosophers to recluses and tion and sacrifice to Laozi. The Laozi ming D
monks. (Inscription on Laozi) written by Bien Shao in
The author of the Daode jing is called Laozi. c. 166 CE as a commemorative marker for the site
Modern scholarship tends to doubt that he ever presents Laozi as an embodiment of Dao and also
existed or that the booklet was put together by as having the capacity to metamorphose and rein-
one man. However, for more than two thousand carnate at will – often as advisor to the sage kings
years, the name of Laozi has been associated with of China. Texts from a popular environment, like
the booklet of the Daode jing, at times as the the Laozi bianhua wuji jing (“Scripture on the
philosopher who authored the book, at times as Transformations of Laozi”), document that mil-
the deity who revealed the book. lennial cults of the second century CE believed in
The earliest references to Laozi we find in the Laozi as a messianic savior.
writings of Zhuangzi (369–286 BCE), an impor- In Sichuan, the sect of the Celestial Masters
tant philosopher who is also counted among the based their teachings on an alleged revelation of
Daoists, who relates stories of a meeting between Laozi to their leader Zhang Daoling in 142 CE
a person called Lao Dan and Confucius (ch. 14 and revered Laozi as Lao jun (Lord Lao) or Tai
and 33). Shang Lao Jun (Lord Lao Most High) as their
About a century later, the philosophical texts highest deity.
Han Feizi (ca. 280–233 BCE) (ch. 38) and This sect established the first known social
Huainanzi (180–122 BCE) (ch. 11) associate organization of Daoist religion.
quotations from the Daode jing with Laozi. Followers were organized into 24 dioceses,
In 104 BCE, the historian Sima Qian each headed by a priest called jijiu (libationer).
(ca. 145–86 BCE) composed a biography of Priests of this sect to this day live in the family
Laozi contained in his Shiji, Record of the Histo- and are not celibate. Adherents had to pay a tax of
rian. This biography relates how Laozi, holding five bushels of rice; thus, the sect was also called
a minor official position in the sixth century BCE five bushels of rice sect (Wudoumi dao). Another
under the Zhou dynasty, was disappointed with designation of the Celestial Master’s sect was
the government and decided to leave the lands of Zhengyi dao (Way of Orthodox Unity), and
the Zhou. When he was about to cross the border under this name it continues to exist today along
toward the West, Yin Xi, the guardian of the the monastic Quanzhen (Complete Perfection)
Louguan Pass, stopped him and asked him to sect as one of the two main religious organiza-
leave some instruction. Laozi thus wrote the tions of Daoism.
Daode jing and left it with him. Sima Qian spec- The Celestial Masters sect spread from Sichuan
ulates that the Lao Dan praised by Zhuangzi first to northern China and then in the fourth cen-
might have been Laozi. tury CE also to the south. There they met
This biography of Laozi became the basis for a different tradition, which claimed its origin in
a rich mythology, developed through the centu- “Dao”: longevity seekers and alchemists, related
ries. The myth begins at the “border crossing” – to the ancient traditions of the “fangshi” (Masters
when Laozi leaves for the West. In a text from the of Esoterica). Furthermore, also Buddhism had
first century BCE “The Lives of the Immortals” gained a foothold in the area since the end of the
by Liu Xiang (Lie xian zhuan, 77–6 BCE), we third century. From the interplay of all these
D 580 Daoism
religious movements in the Jiangnan area of south- The last dynasty to rule China, the Manchurian
ern China emerged two important traditions, based Qing dynasty (1644–1911), saw increasing con-
on scriptures allegedly revealed by immortals: the tacts with the West, from the early Catholic
Shangqing (Highest Clarity) scriptures between missions to the gunboat policy and the Opium
364 and 370 CE and the Lingbao (Efficacious Wars. The apparent weakness of China in front
Jewel) scriptures around 400 CE. While originally of the Western powers led many Chinese to study
competing, these and other traditions were even- Western culture, science, and technologies and to
tually integrated into a hierarchically organized reject traditional Chinese culture and values.
Daoism, which comprised ritual practice as well The fall of Imperial China in 1911 intensified
as individual self-cultivation, often with the aim of this trend; the Nationalist as well as the Commu-
reaching longevity. The growing scriptural lore nist government promoted “rational” and modern
was organized in a proto-canon reflecting the hier- culture; Daoism was relegated to the field of
archical organization of the developing religious superstition; it was considered reactionary and
organization. Competition with Buddhism and suppressed together with other religions. The
also Confucian teachings for influence in the height of suppression happened during Cultural
imperial court led to further consolidation of orig- Revolution (1966–1976).
inally disparate movements, and by the Tang Religious policies changed with China’s open-
dynasty (618–906), Daoism became the official ing and reform policies after 1978, and as of 1980,
state religion. Daoism has come to light again, with a fast grow-
Yet, even institutionalized as a state religion, ing number of renovated and new temples and
Daoism remained a rather open system, official representation through the “Daoist Asso-
interacting with Buddhism and different local ciation of China” (Daojiao xiehui) as one of the
cults and co-opting elements from both. five recognized religions of China. In addition,
Daoism during northern (960–1127) and Daoism has seen some internationalization, car-
southern (1127–1279) Song dynasty enjoyed ried originally mainly by practices like Qigong or
imperial protection of several emperors. In 1119 Taijijuan, which have become popular in the
CE the carving of the blocks for the first print West. Since the 1970s, Daoist temples have been
edition of the Daoist canon began (Schipper and established in some Western countries, in particu-
Verellen 2004: 28). lar in the USA, and more recently Daoist Associ-
This period also saw the rise of “inner ations have been founded in several countries, like
alchemy,” techniques of meditation which in the UK (1996), the USA (2000 and 2004), Spain
aimed at creating longevity by interiorizing the (2001), Switzerland (2007), and others.
alchemical process. In 1170, Wang Zhe With China emerging as a major global eco-
(1113–1170) founded the Quanzhen sect. He spe- nomic power, growing self-confidence leads also
cialized in “inner alchemy,” and his focus on to regained confidence in its autochthonous culture,
meditative practice entailed the establishment of in traditional Chinese values and thinking. After
celibate monastic communities. The Quanzhen the promotion of New Confucianism in the first
sect survives today as monastic Daoist tradition. decade of the twenty-first century, also Daoist
Quanzhen Masters obtained imperial patron- philosophy is praised again by some influential
age in 1197, and the sect grew in importance academics in China as a possible source of inspira-
during the first part of the rule of the Mongolian tion for the solution of the most pressing problems
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). However, acrimoni- of humanity – in particular the ecological crisis.
ous debates with Buddhists led emperor Kublai
Khan (1215–1294) to turn against Daoism and in
1281 order the destruction of the Daoist canon. Self-Identification
The following Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
changed the course of Daoism’s development While, in the twentieth century, Daoism was den-
again, favoring Daoism of the Zhengyi tradition. igrated and even persecuted as a “superstitious”
Daoism 581 D
religion in China, a British scholar, Joseph Need- With a globalizing world facing crises like the
ham (1900–1995) in his monumental work Sci- ecological crisis, Western culture has been criti-
ence and Civilisation in China (Needham 1956) cized widely as part of the problem. Asian cul-
claimed that Daoism was foundational for tures, China in particular, are regaining economic
China’s ancient scientific development. While power and influence on the world stage and are
this particular theory was refuted later by the searching in their own heritage for solutions to
American scholar Nathan Sivin (1995), the pressing problems of the twenty-first century.
Needham’s theory that associated Daoism with Daoism and Science are discussed in three
science remained influential, especially after its important contexts: D
translation into Chinese was published in 1990. First, Daoism is promoted as autochthonous
One important impetus for Sivin’s critique of Chinese way of thinking with aspects and ele-
Needham’s theory was that since the late 1960s ments that can be called scientific. Daoism is
a big change had occurred in Daoist studies. therefore proof that Chinese traditional culture
Where previously scholarly accounts of Daoism did develop scientific thought, challenging the
focused on ancient Daoist philosophy and assumption that Western civilization is the only
ignored the Daoist religion that had developed source of scientific thought (Jiang Shen and Tang
after the first century CE, Daoist studies after Weixia 2002/2010).
the 1960s focused on this Daoist religion, and In response to the global ecological crisis,
eventually the scholarly vision of Daoist history scholars and Daoists have emphasized the poten-
was rewritten. Where Daoism previously, also in tial of Daoism, with its special affinity to and
the writings of Joseph Needham, designated concern for nature, to contribute to find solutions
a rather vague philosophical trend, it now was for this crisis. This debate was initiated by scholars
recognized as a religion associated with at an international conference in Harvard on Dao-
a definable social group, the Daoists. ism and Ecology in 1998 (Girardot et al. 2001).
Sivin argued that most persons accredited with Acknowledging that in order to find solutions
important developments in the history of science for a global world, far-reaching cultural changes
in China were officials, but not Daoist priests or will be needed, Daoism is hailed as a way to
monks. combine spirituality or religion and science,
Since the beginning of the twenty-first cen- thus overcoming the separation of religion and
tury, the question of an association of Daoism as science current in the Western cultural sphere,
philosophy and as religion with science has been which is deemed dangerous because it neglects
reopened by Chinese Daoist or philo-Daoist aca- not only spiritual but also ethical and moral
demics. These intellectuals claim that Daoism – dimensions (Hu 2006).
as it is expressed in the Daode jing or the A prominent advocate of this connection
Zhuangzi, but also in the alchemical teachings between Daoism and Science is Jiang Shen, pro-
and writings of the seekers of longevity of later fessor at Shandong University and director of the
Daoists – is science. Institute of Religion, Science, and Social Studies
They emphasize that Daoism has a “scientific” (IRSSS) founded in 2002 at Shandong Univer-
outlook because it emphasizes the importance of sity, which offers also a doctoral program
observation of natural processes, and they point “Daoism and Science” and runs a research project
out the scientific contents and achievements in “Daoism and Science: Past and Present” and
Daoist writings on medicine, alchemy, astron- a state-planned research project called “The
omy, cosmogony, and cosmology. History of Science and Technology in Taoism.”
Compared to Needham and the earlier discus- Another major promoter is Hu Fuchen, profes-
sion on the relation of Daoism and Science, there sor at the Institute of Philosophy at the renowned
is an important new element: the religious dimen- Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in
sion of Daoism is explicitly recognized and Beijing. He proposes a “New Daoism,” which he
valued. presents as a strategic ideological possibility for
D 582 Daoism
the global world, for all humanity, to address the conceives of the ultimate as immanent; Dao is the
most urgent problems of our planet, many of origin, ontological substance, and rule of all
which have been, in his view, ultimately caused being, and salvation lies in uniting with this origin
by developments driven by Western values of being.
(Hu 2006). This New Daoism movement has to
be considered not only as an answer to Western
culture but also as an answer to the New Confu- Sources of Authority
cianism movement, which has gained much
adherence and attention in China since the end The sources of authority of Daoism are firstly the
of the twentieth century. pre-Qin dynasty writings of the Daoist philoso-
The claim that in Daoism religion and science phy and religion, in particular the Daode jing, but
are harmoniously united plays an important role also the Zhuangzi.
in the promotion of New Daoism: These ancient texts have been a reference and
The unlimited transcendent ontology nature of the
authority for more than two millennia not only in
Dao can be regarded as the ultimate religious belief circles of religious adepts but also among stu-
and the Dao can be seen as the converging point for dents of philosophy in China.
rational science and philosophy and non-rational Their authority derives mainly from the
religion. This is of unrivalled significance to the
development of human civilization. (Hu 2006)
ancient origin and the status as a classic. The
classics were considered as repository of knowl-
It is not quite clear yet to what extent this edge and ultimate truth.
movement, which originated in a rather academic Historically speaking, Daoism has seen many
environment, will be supported and promoted texts appear that claimed to have been revealed
also by the Chinese Daoist Association and by by various deities. These generally gained
wider groups of Daoist practitioners. authority among the adherents that believed in
the particular deities – often based on local pref-
erences. One important argument throughout
Characteristics history to legitimize newly revealed texts was
the claim that they originated in the distant past,
Daoism is an autochthonous Chinese tradition but were hidden in the heavens until the time of
and religion. It differs from Confucianism in as revelation.
much as its teaching focuses on the ultimate In the contemporary discourse, which differ-
origin and rule of being and on individual culti- ent from the past involves intercultural and global
vation, whereas Confucian teachings tend to elements, there is an additional emphasis on the
focus on the social community. Furthermore fact that these texts represent the autochthonous
Daoism has many explicitly religious elements, Chinese tradition in opposition to the Western
like the veneration of a multitude of deities, culture and to the fact that they do show some
rigorous self-cultivation in order to transform convergences with modern Western scientific
the individual being, and a strongly developed concepts and attitudes. In the context of the latter
ritual and liturgical practice. discourse, the fact that they are compatible with
In these respects, Daoism shows some similar- conceptions of science, also the writings of later
ities and overlaps with Buddhism. However, Dao- Daoists on medicine or alchemy, like Ge Hong
ism differs from Buddhism in the conception of (283–343) or Sun Simiao (581–682), are at times
transcendence and in its soteriology. Where cited as authority.
Buddhists seek salvation in Nirvana, which For religious adherents and practitioners of
implies liberation from the cycle of birth and Daoism, in addition to the ancient texts, also the
death and transcending this world of being, the teaching of the masters, often personal masters
aim of Daoist self-cultivation is to unite with and those of their lineage of teaching have much
Dao, a return to the origin of all being. Daoism authority. Transmission of teaching, truth, and
Daoism 583 D
Dao through personal masters in a master- Daoism conceptualizes nature and the world of
disciple lineage has been an important element being as evolved from Dao, in a progressive divi-
in Daoism since ancient times and continues to be sion from an original one into increasing com-
of importance for religious practitioners. plexity. Therefore, Dao is ontological substance
of the world and nature, and the world ultimately
partakes in Dao. In this concept, Dao represents
Ethical Principles original oneness; two represent the two opposing
forces of Yin and Yang, variously defined as
Dao, origin and regulator of all being and of all sunny and shady side of a mountain, male and D
natural processes, is considered as good; how- female, light and dark, or, in another interpreta-
ever, it is beyond conventional human concepts tion also, Heaven and Earth. Dynamic interaction
of good and bad. The major ethical principles of these two opposing elements then creates
expressed in the classics of Daoism are based on being and regulates all natural processes. All
the concept of emulating the Dao, which implies being, nature as well as human beings, emerged
also to emulate the characteristics of Dao. Of from Dao. Nature preserves its original nature,
particular importance are being soft, yielding, which is Dao, better than human beings because it
and not interfering in the natural processes of is not influenced by feelings and cognition or by
life. Since Dao is origin and regulator of nature, human morals and manmade conventions.
ethics include respect for nature and the
noninterference in natural processes. Living and Human Being
acting in accordance with nature are considered Like all other being and the whole world, human
as good, whereas forceful striving of all kinds, beings are brought forth by Dao. Yet, in all
including the strife for knowledge and profit, is ancient Chinese philosophy, human beings are
considered detrimental for individual life and conceded a special role in the world, since the
society. realm of man is conceived as a third fundamental
realm, in addition to the ones of heaven and earth.
In addition, Daoism shares with other ancient
Key Values Chinese ways of thinking the conception that the
human being is seen as a microcosm, which cor-
The key values of Daoism are the values derived responds to the macrocosm of the universe. This
from characteristics of Dao. Of particular impor- conception finds its expression in Daoism in
tance is the concept of naturalness, letting things a conception of the human body as a landscape,
follow their natural course without forceful the so-called inner landscape, inhabited by dei-
interference. Along with this comes a mistrust ties, which correspond to stellar deities (Pregadio
in the manmade culture, including wisdom and 2008:75f).
knowledge, conventional morals, and selfish
longing for profit and gain. Furthermore, Daoist Life and Death
values emphasize female attributes, like being Daoism maintains that all life is brought forth by
yielding and nurturing, which derive from the Dao. Dao is life creating and life sustaining. The
concept of Dao as mother of all being. interpretations of death vary in the early phase of
Daoist philosophical thinking. Where the Daode
jing seems to advocate long life and immortality
Conceptualization and contemporaneously depict death as some-
thing to be avoided, Zhuangzi in many of his
Nature/World anecdotes relates life and death as parts of the
Dao brought forth one, one brought forth two, two
natural process and advocates a mystic experi-
brought forth three and three brought forth the ten ence that goes beyond valuing life and fearing
thousand things. . . . (Daode jing 2011 ch. 42) death. However, since the earliest times, seekers
D 584 Dark Energy
of longevity and immortality called their goal Schipper, K., & Verellen, F. (Eds.). (2004). The Taoist
of cultivation “reaching Dao,” interpreted as Canon: A Historical Guide. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
avoiding death and reaching immortality in this Sivin, N. (1995). Taoism and Science. In N. Sivin (Ed.),
world by uniting with the eternal source of life. Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in Ancient China.
Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing.
Knowledge Waley, A. (trans.). (1934). The Way and it’s Power.
A study of the Tao Te Ching and its place in Chinese
Daoism regards knowledge as negative or at least thought. London: Allen & Unwin. Reproduced in,
as something associated with low stages of spir- http://home.pages.at/onkellotus/TTK/English_Waley_
itual cultivation. Knowledge implies distinctions TTK.html. Accessed 1 Aug 2011.
and multiplicity, and the aim of self-cultivation is
to overcome distinctions and multiplicity to
return to the original unity of Dao. Epistemolog-
ically, Dao cannot be grasped by knowledge, but Dark Energy
only by “discarding knowledge” (Daode jing,
2011, ch. 19) and returning to natural simplicity, Russell Stannard
since Dao is beyond distinctions. Department of Physics and Astronomy,
Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
Cross-References
So-called empty space possessing energy. It is
▶ Cosmology believed to arise from the continual popping into
▶ History of Medicine existence of virtual particles - a process permit-
▶ Ontology ted by Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. We
▶ Religion, History of do not see this energy, and for this reason it is
▶ Transcendence and Immanence called dark energy. However we do see its
▶ Worldview effects. It produces a repulsive force. This
force is causing the distant galaxy clusters to
accelerate away from each other as the universe
References expands.
Daode jing (道德經) (2011). For a collection of original
and translated versions of this text see, http://home.
pages.at/onkellotus/TTK/_IndexTTK.html. Accessed Cross-References
1 Aug 2011.
Girardot, N. J., Miller, J., & Xiaogan, L. (Eds.). (2001). ▶ Energy in Physics
Daoism and Ecology: Ways within a cosmic land-
scape. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ▶ Space
Hu Fuchen (胡孚琛) (2006). 21st Century Strategies for ▶ Time
New Daoism. A Comprehensive Renewal of China’s
Daoist Culture. http://www.dandaowh.com/article.
php/220 Accessed 1 Aug 2011.
Jiang Sheng (姜生) & Tang Weixia (汤伟侠) (Eds.)
(2002/2010). A History of Science and Technology in Darwinian Theology
Taoism (中国道教科学技术史). (2002) Han Wei
Liang Jin (Vol. 1). . Beijing: Kexue chubanshe 科学
(Science Press). (2010). Nanbeichao Sui Tang Wudai
(Vol. 2). Beijing: Kexue chubanshe 科学 (Science
Press).
Needham, J. (1956). Science and Civilisation in China
(History of scientific thought, Vol. 2). Cambridge:
Darwinian Theory and Anthropology
Pregadio, F. (Ed.). (2008). Encyclopedia of Taoism
(Vol. 2). London/New York: Routledge Curzon. ▶ Biological Anthropology and Human Ethology
Das Heilige, Concept of 585 D
neo-Kantianism which was very vibrant at the
Darwinism time. Even though Otto praised Immanuel Kant
he simultaneously saw that only Schleiermacher
▶ Evolution was able to get rid of the Enlightenment rational-
▶ Metaphysics, Darwinian ism which in Otto’s eyes left humanity at a loss.
The Enlightenment rationalism had, while
claiming to have proved the existence of God,
extinguished the sensus numinus (also das
Das Heilige Numinose Gef€ uhl). Sensus numinus for Otto was D
the essential spirit of any religion, and it was
▶ Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinosum something different from intellectual perception
▶ Numinosa of some metaphysical thing or observance of
ordinances, as philosophers were used to argue.
The recovering of this dimension of religion was
Otto’s fundamental mission.
Das Heilige, Concept of Sensus numinus is the experience of the
wholly other (das Ganz Andere) in fear and trem-
Olli-Pekka Moisio bling. Otto’s thinking stresses the categorical dif-
Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, ference between human and divine. Concept of
University of Jyv€askyl€a, Jyv€askyl€a, Finland the wholly other tries to capture this point in
the same manner as Kierkegaard’s “infinite qual-
itative difference” of the divine as the “truly
Related Terms ‘mysterious’ object that is beyond apprehension
and comprehension not only because our knowl-
Idea of Holy edge has certain irremovable limits, but because
in it we come upon something inherently ‘wholly
From a historical point of view Rudolf Otto’s other,’ whose kind and character are incommen-
work Das Heilige (The Idea of the Holy), which surable with our own.” Otto was also able to
appeared in 1917, is one of the crucial points of anticipate the critique of subjectivism that broke
transition in European thought about revelation out later during the Weimar period. For Otto
and alterity. It could be argued that conceptually Numinous is something that is felt as objective
and in argumentative style it laid basis for much and outside of the self.
of what followed. Martin Jay (2004, Chap. 3) The experience of the numinous has a double
has noted that Otto’s body of work in general structure. It is the same structure that the object of
and Das Heilige in particular is embedded in the this experience (mysterium) has. First of all the
tradition that struggled to find in religious expe- object is a mysterium tremendum, an object that is
rience a source of knowledge and belief that faced with fear and awe. And in this aspect the
could supplement the full blown rationalism of mysterium is at the same time more fascinating
modern empirical and critical philosophies. To and interesting than any other object. In this
do just that, Otto found inspiration from the aspect it is mysterium fascinans. This double
examples of concrete religious experiences in structure, the “strange harmony of opposites”
non-European cultures. The philosophies of that Otto opens up in his work, is for him the
Friedrich Schleiermacher and Johann Jacob most central and at the same time the most pecu-
Fries were also central to his formulation of the liar thing in the whole history of religions. With
lineaments of a new theology. the close analysis of this structure Otto draws the
In Das Heilige Otto held fast on the experien- dynamic of the history of religion in a global scale.
tial, in some sense even irrational, dimensions of The mysterium tremendum has three further
religion. These dimensions were ignored even by elements that Otto investigates more thoroughly
D 586 Das Heilige, Concept of
in his book: (1) Shuddering (das Shauervollen), Friedrich Karl Feigel formulated the problem by
(2) Majesty (majestas), and (3) Energy saying that “either God is in some absolute sense
(energicum). The element of Das Shauervollen, ‘wholly other,’ and we cannot experience or say
which at first shows itself as strangeness, shud- anything about him, including that He is wholly
dering, and demonic threat, changes with the other, or we experience something of God, which
cultivation of experience to religious and mystic means God’s essence cannot be determined as
awe. In this element numen is seen as absolute ‘numinous.’ The numinous as category – whether
non-approachability. The element of majestas, or ‘category’ is understood in transcendental-
complete pre-eminence, produces the Kreatur logical or with Otto a psychological sense – is
Gef€uhl, the feeling of one’s insignificance, a contradictio in adiecto.” Leo Strauss had made
which is the basis for religious subservience. the similar argument in 1923. The point was clear
The living aspect of numinose is seen in the that with the concept of the wholly other Otto was
energicum, which is expressed symbolically as pointing beyond his own premises and this was
passion, will, power, and activity. why Strauss saw it praiseworthy.
In the introduction to the English translation of
the Das Heilige from the 1923, Otto made it clear Cross-References
that his argument is not as one sided as it first seems
to be or as dialectical theologians had argued. His ▶ Hermeneutics, Theological
translator John W. Harvey described this by saying ▶ Religion, theory of
that Otto is not open to the critique of isolating the ▶ Religious Experiences
transcendent Otherness because “God is not for
him, so to speak, wholly ‘wholly other.’” Even
though other “is felt as objective” the viewpoint
that someone (subject) is doing the feeling opens
References
up. This shows how deeply Otto is still connected to
By Rudolf Otto: Selected Bibliography
the neo-Kantian framework, while the develop-
(in German)
ment of his ideas, when seen in the light of the €
Das Heilige. Uber das Irrationale in der Idee des
central findings of his work, points toward Göttlichen und sein Verh€altnis zum Rationalen, 1917.
a direction that goes well beyond neo-Kantianism. Vischnu-Nârâyana; Texte zur indische Gottesmystik, I,
In Das Heilige Otto goes on to argue that the 1917.
Siddhânta des Râmânuja, Texte zur indische
Holy is an a priori category. In one sense we
Gottesmystik,II, 1917.
might read this as a response to the full rational- Die Gnadenreligion Indiens und das Christentum;
ization of the Divine in the work of Hermann Vergleich und Unterscheidung, 1930.
Cohen, the famous neo-Kantian Jewish thinker. West-Östliche Mystik; Vergleich und Unterscheidung zur
Wesensdeutung, 1926.
Otto seems to be reaching for the original project €
Das Gef€ uhl des Uberweltlichen; Sensus Numinus,
of Kant who was famously trying to make room [Aufs€atze], 1931.
for faith through reason. For Otto, Kant was not
able to save the finite perception of the infinite By Rudolf Otto: Selected Bibliography
and that is why he needed the help of the work of (in English)
Schleiermacher and Fries, who both tackled the Naturalism and Religion (1907), London: Williams and
problem of the subjective “inkling” (Ahndung) of Norgate.
The Life and Ministry of Jesus, According to the Critical
the Divine. Method (1908), Chicago: Open Court.
But this is the very point the critics quickly The Idea of the Holy (1923), Oxford University Press.
exploited. Either the divine is genuinely other Christianity and the Indian Religion of Grace, Madras
(the wholly other as the most central of Otto’s 1928.
India’s Religion of Grace and Christianity Compared and
findings stated) and in this sense the possessive
Contrasted, New York 1930.
experience of the self cannot capture it at all, or it The philosophy of religion based on Kant and Fries,
is not really other in the end. Already in 1929 London 1931.
Death 587 D
Religious essays: A supplement to The Idea of the Holy,
London 1931. Day of Judgment
Mysticism east and west: A comparative analysis of the
nature of mysticism, New York 1932.
The original Gita: The song of the Supreme Exalted One, ▶ Eschatology
London 1939.
The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man: A Study in the
History of Religion, Boston 1943.
Autobiographical and social essays (1996), Berlin: Walter Death
de Gruyter.
Jay R. Feierman1,* and Lluis Oviedo2 D
1
On Rudolf Otto: Selected Bibliography University of New Mexico, Corrales, NM, USA
2
(in English) Pontifical University Antonianum, Rome, Italy
Almond, P. C. (1984). Rudolf Otto: An introduction to his
philosophical theology. Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press.
Gooch, T. A. (2000). The numinous and modernity: An Related Terms
interpretation of Rudolf Otto’s philosophy of religion.
Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Dying; End of Life; Finitude
Jay, M. (2004). Songs of experience. Modern American
and European reflections on a universal theme.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Raphael, M. (1997). Rudolf Otto and the concept of Death
holiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scientific/Biological-Medical Dimensions
From a biological and medical perspective, death
Data Protection is as complex and mysterious as life. Death is
neither the absence of life nor the second of two
▶ Information Security mutually exclusive categories: life and death.
There is not a sharp distinction between life and
death at any level of organization from cell to
Data Structure tissue to organ to whole person. Almost all defi-
nitions of death, like all definitions of life, fail
Linda Sherrell because of exceptions. A four-cell embryo of
Department of Computer Science, a human being is considered clinically alive,
The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA that is, not dead, even if frozen. In some religious
traditions, these four cells are even considered to
have personhood, which means when the cells die
A data structure may be a built-in programming a person dies. In other religious traditions,
construct such as an array or simply a term a human embryo is not a person who can die
corresponding to the manner in which informa- because life is conferred only at the time of
tion is organized. The idea is that a data structure birth or at the time of the baby’s first breath.
is capable of holding multiple items. Some Clinical death, no matter how it is defined, is
authors define a data structure to be only those not the same as legal death, which is determined
frameworks that are implementation dependent by law. Under ideal circumstances legal death is
(e.g., the array and the linked list), whereas pronounced by an authorized medical practi-
others define a data structure to be implementa- tioner or coroner, who signs and then issues
tion independent (e.g., a stack or a queue). a death certificate. Under certain very unusual
Here, we define a data structure to be an imple-
mentation of an abstract data type. In other
words, the data structure is a usable form of *
Jay R. Feierman has retired from University of
an ADT. New Mexico
D 588 Death
circumstances, death of a person can be deter- In any species, including human beings, death
mined legally even in the absence of a body. of an individual, from whatever cause, is a part of
Imagine a situation in which an adult human the continuation of life. Were there no individual
being, who has massive brain damage from an death there could not be evolution of life by natural
automobile accident, is brought into an Emer- selection. Without natural selection, species,
gency Department of a hospital. Basic bodily including the human species, could not adaptively
functions can often be “maintained,” with or configure to changing environments. The average
without the aid of a mechanical respirator. The age at death, which takes such things as infant
patient’s heart is beating, the liver, kidney, and mortality into consideration, has steadily risen in
many other bodily organs are working. The body the developed world based primarily on decreases
remains warm. If at such time it is determined in infant mortality and modern health care. In the
that there is no demonstrable electrical brain developed world, life expectancy, which is the
activity in the cerebral cortex on an electroen- number of years of life left at a given age, is always
cephalogram (EEG) and the patient does not lower for males than for females. This number has
respond to any type of stimulus, upon the agree- varied over historical times and varies today across
ment of usually more than one physician in com- different countries.
plex cases, the patient can be considered “brain Death can occur by natural means, which
dead.” Depending upon the legal jurisdiction, includes the result of disease. Many of the dis-
such a patient might be considered legally dead eases that kill human beings today in middle and
and transplant organs could then be “harvested.” old age in the developed world would not have
However, there are lots of moral and end of life been factors in human mortality in prehistoric
ethical issues at this point including actions that time when most humans did not live past their
deliberately end another human’s life (euthana- 30s. The average human life expectancy at birth
sia.) The issue gets even more complicated clin- in the world today is in the 60s. In the developed
ically, morally, and legally when persons appear industrialized world, life expectancy at birth is
to be alert but are in what is called “persistent extended another 10 or 20 more years (Lopez
vegetative states” (Caplan et al. 2006). 2002). When death is caused by disease, there is
Human death can have many causes. Physi- sometimes a point in time in which further treat-
cians and coroners categorize the causes ment aimed at a cure for the disease is no longer
of human death into one of four categories: possible. Many patients at this stage receive what
(1) “natural,” which includes disease, (2) accident, is called palliative care usually in a nursing home,
(3) suicide, and (4) homicide. In some cases, the a hospice, or at home. The objective of such care
cause of death can only be listed as “unknown.” is to allow the person to die with dignity with
The causes of human death vary across time and a minimum of suffering.
across nations. Within some nations, there are One of the most curious things about human
large differences in frequencies of the causes of death is that although it is almost always avoided,
death depending on age, sex, racial, or ethnic some human individuals, like individuals in sev-
origin. Infectious diseases – especially malaria, eral other species such as bees, kill themselves as
tuberculosis, and AIDS – are the primary causes a result of their own behavior and for a variety of
of human death in the developing world. All of reasons (Lester 1992). If the behavior is inten-
these illnesses are exacerbated by malnutrition. tional, rather than accidental, in human beings
The primary causes of human death in the indus- this act is called suicide. Some definitions of sui-
trialized world are heart disease and cancer both of cide require that the individual taking his or her
which are affected by lifestyle issues and choices. own life be aware that he or she is going to die as
Even if the cause of death is not attributed to the result of his or her actions. This is probably not
anything discussed above, human beings eventu- the case in a bee who dies for the good of the
ally die “naturally” from single or multiple organ colony after stinging someone. However, self-
failure in senescence. awareness of death prior to the behavior that
Death 589 D
ends one’s own life is not as important from the society who transgress certain laws or violate
biological and evolutionary perspective as the certain moral principles or in nondemocratic
actual life-ending act and its consequence. From states, threaten the continuance of power of
an evolutionary perspective, it is difficult to under- those currently in power. Despotic regimes have
stand how suicide, especially in humans, could also engaged in genocide in which men, women,
have evolved in the context of natural selection. and children of the out-group, defined in various
An evolutionary explanation of human suicide ways, have been slaughtered in mass and then
is possible through kin selection theory disposed of in inhumane ways.
(de Catanzaro 1981). Human individuals, like In all societies, accidents are a major cause of D
stinging bees, would kill themselves for death. According to the United States National
a potential benefit that could accrue to their kin. Vital Statistics Report (2010) and for all ages,
There are more of one’s genes in one’s kin than after heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic
there are in one’s self. Human persons who do kill lower respiratory disease, accidents are the next
themselves are rarely happy and successful. They most common cause of death. Motor vehicles are
are often old, sick, suffering, and utilizing the the primary means of accidental death with
family’s limited resources. When younger they unintentional poisoning and falls coming next.
frequently are suffering from psychiatric disor- However, in most of the developed world, for
ders, most commonly depression and substance persons in their teens and 20s, accidents are the
abuse or dependence. An exception is China, leading cause of death followed by homicide
where suicide is more common among women, and suicide. At that age, natural causes of death
especially young rural women (Canetto and are rare.
Lester 1995). Across nations, and for reasons Compared to any other extant species, humans
that are not understood, there is an inverse rela- bury or cremate their dead in ritualistic ways.
tionship between homicide and suicide rates. In There is no human culture known in which other
addition, measured average intelligence correlate than in some extenuating circumstances, such as
positively with the rate of suicide and negatively warfare, the dead are allowed to simply stay in
with the rate of homicide (Templer et al. 2007). place where they died. However, the same has
Homicide is being deliberately killed by been seen with our closest living relative, the chim-
another member of one’s own species. A com- panzee. Females in the wild have been known to
mon type of homicide is infanticide, which is carry juveniles who have died with them for sev-
present in a number of species, including pri- eral days. There is some evidence that Homo nean-
mates and including human beings (Hausfater derthal, our nearest known human relative who
and Hrdy 1984). Among mammals, the only two became extinct about 30,000 years ago, buried
species in which males live in patrilineal, male- their dead and placed flowers that left evidence of
bonded communities, and in groups deliberately pollen upon the bodies.
kill other males in other groups over territorial As a summary of human death, Mark Graves
disputes are human beings and chimpanzees. The (2008) equates the life of a person ending when
chimpanzee is our closest living relative with a human system ceases to have effect. He breaks
whom we last shared a common ancestor about death down into several components: “Physically,
6–7 million years ago. Ironically, homicidal when decomposed. Biologically, shortly after
behavior does not occur at all in our second death when all cell function ceases, such as brain
closest primate relative, bonobos (Wrangham death. Psychologically, when autonomous
and Peterson 1996). The demographic character- sentience-response-animation ceases, such as
istics of who kills whom among human beings is brain death. Culturally, when no cultural system
predicted quite well by evolutionary theory (Daly responds to the person, which may occur before or
and Wilson 1988). In some human societies, the after individual death. Transcendently, a person
state or those persons who govern, with or with- may never live, or if continued in the interpretation
out the consent of the people, kill members of the of the community, never die.”
D 590 Death
Anthropological Religious Dimension measure from that pressing need. The historical
Religious studies have often pointed to a strong testimonies supply several strategies to cope with
connection between death and religion. It could death in religious terms.
even be suggested that religion emerges as • In some cases, no direct involvement of reli-
a result of “death management,” or a social gious ideas and practices with death is the rule;
form aimed at coping with the problem of fini- the morbidity associated with that negative
tude. Some studies deduce the need of a “terror experience is concealed and its definitive
management” function deriving from the unique “solution” postponed. A paradigmatic case is
human awareness about the inevitable end offered by ancient ▶ Judaism. Religious faith
(Becker 1973). Religion appears better suited in this case served to protect life and to ensure
than other social structures to provide fitting its right length and enjoyment, not to “over-
answers to this demand. This theoretical approach come death,” which was left to an indetermi-
probably puts too much weight on death percep- nate time and a future revelation.
tion and fear, and, as a consequence, builds a case • Death is the beginning of a “long journey,”
for functional religious coping that is debatable. a process of reconstruction of a new life, more
Indeed, an alternative explanation could invert or less connected with the former one. Ancient
the order of variables: it would be religion – or at Egyptians developed an elaborate “guide” dis-
least some religious expressions - that confers closing an ▶ afterlife universe that prolongs
a particular salience to death, eliciting a greater the proofs and struggles of present life. Many
awareness of its risks and threats (judgment, archeological remains in different cultures
hell. . .), which otherwise could be ignored or per- express that sense of an almost symmetry
ceived as less threatening and distressing. between both lives that death separates.
In any case, the suggested link is evident when • Death as a “return to the origin,” or as
the historical record of world religions is a regression to an undifferentiated time and
reviewed under this light. Even if not all religions world. Initiation cults and primitive religious
appear as related in the same way and intensity forms point to this structure, conceiving life as
with death, in most cases, many religious forms a cycle, and death as a new origin, in
emerge as trials to deal with death-related a different dimension, evoking nevertheless
anxiety. Social systems theory furnishes an better or not yet satisfied possibilities. In
interesting – always functional – approach to a similar way, death means the end of a state
the suggested link. Luhmann explains the func- of painful “separation” and the possibility of
tion of religion in terms of “management of resid- everlasting unification (Eliade 1957/1987).
ual contingency,” or the unavoidably negative • Death becomes another link in the long chain
and unmanageable aspects of individual and of life. This is characteristic of Eastern reli-
social life (Luhmann 1977). Death clearly applies gions, like Hinduism and Buddhism. Life and
in this case, since there is no way, through “tech- death become closely entrenched through
nical treatment,” to avoid that “contingency.” dynamics of karma, a link calling nevertheless
This theoretical approach does not preclude to a break and definitive interruption.
other “functions of religion”: religion is not con- • Death as a condition of possibility of a process
fined to “death management.” Furthermore, the of “redemption” or human reconstruction.
functional approach appears as somewhat reduc- This is the case for Christian representations,
tive and unable to highlight important aspects of in which life is seen as limited and negatively
religious mind and behavior. conditioned, and death means the end of that
In any case, it can be justified, from imperfect state, and the beginning, sometimes
a methodological perspective, to try to under- through ways of purification, of a full life with
stand religion from the point of view of “death plenty of joy.
management,” and to qualify the beliefs and Religious death management includes –
behavioral system so built as dependent in good besides beliefs about afterlife – practices aimed
Death 591 D
at expressing deep expectations and representing cultural origins, as to evoke or even become con-
a state of transition and social transformation. tiguous with the most radical ways of thinking. It
Most religions perform funerary rituals at differ- provides a very powerful symbol that is able to
ent stages: to accompany the burial or cremation inspire reversed versions – from death to life – and
of a dead person, to intercede for her, or to remind a symbolic universe born from the absence and
us of her presence or ask for her assistance. The void that death induces.
almost universal character of such rituals reveals The possible modulations of religious gram-
a constant concern about the need to fill the gap mar are manifold, as can be confirmed in the
left by the deceased person and to recompose the plurality of religious traditions dealing with D
social harmony disrupted by such perceived death, and placing it inside their respective
absence (Hertz 1907/2004). These rituals have “code.” Each religion loads “death” with differ-
been seen as “rites of passage,” necessary to ent meanings, corresponding to the position this
assume a new awareness and to adapt to a new concept finds inside each religion’s own code.
social frame, after the absence of a member, Furthermore, inside a religious tradition, signifi-
which represented a link in the system, a knot in cant nuances – and sometimes contrasting
the net. Inversely, some ▶ rites of passage or values – positive versus negative – are perceived
social initiation are described in many religious between more mystical perceptions of death, and
settings as ways of “dying” from a former life and more ascetic or worldly orientations.
being born into a new one. In all these practices, Religion is not the only way to deal with death,
a similar pattern can be revealed. Religion helps and religion is not established only – or predom-
to dynamize communities despite the disrupting inantly – in relationship to death. To be sure,
effects of death; and pushing for transition and other means compete to fill that function, espe-
restabilization despite big changes in the life cially in more secularized societies. Even if some
cycle for individuals and collectives alike. evidence points to slightly better results with
Beyond particular religious beliefs and prac- ▶ religious coping than with alternative means
tices, a more abstract principle can be perceived to allay death anxiety (Vail et al. 2010), under
in the described link. Religion can be thought of any circumstances it can be said that religion pro-
as operating in a binary communication code – as vides the only “program” for coping with death.
do all social systems – that distinguishes between Secular therapeutic, meditative, aesthetic, and life-
immanence and transcendence, between profane fulfilling resources appear as clearly “functional”
and sacred. Such a distinction knows other in this new context, lacking more pervading reli-
“modalities”: between damnation and salvation, gious references. By the same token, religion in
between relative and absolute, or between death advanced societies does not reduce its scope to
and life. “death terror management,” since most religious
A religious modality can perform a type of forms today point to intensifying life experience,
linkage among several of these distinctions: tran- instead of “preparing for a good death.”
scendence with salvation, with absolute, and with Another important point to consider is in
eternal life, or with overcoming death. In this which measure religious beliefs and behaviors
representation, death becomes an important ele- reduce the weight of death and its [dys-] function
ment in the semantic that constitutes the religious regarding many aspects of life. Since religious
code; however, it is not the central one, or one beliefs usually reduce the negative burden of
providing more “semantic intensity” or meaning. death, thereby several consequences can be
The distinction life-death appears as one helping expected in human behavior. This predictable
to extend the core of a potential “religious gram- effect can have positive and negative conse-
mar,” supplying a further explanatory element and quences. In the positive side, a lessening of the
broadening its semantic meaning. In any case, the extent of death’s retroactive pressure could trig-
distinction between life and death appears as so ger greater generosity and altruistic attitudes,
radical, as so fundamental or original in human even to the point of risking one’s own life for
D 592 Deconstructive Theology
the benefit of others. Life expectancy and enjoy- Eliade, M. (1957/1987). The sacred and the profane: The
ment could become a factor determining selfish nature of religion. Orlando: Harcourt.
Graves, M. (2008). Mind, brain and the elusive soul:
behavior, since fear of death could deter “spend- Human systems of cognitive science and religon
ing time” on other people’s interest. The dark side (p. 220). Hampshire: Ashgate.
of this principle – from a biological perspective – Hausfater, G., & Hrdy, S. (1984). Infanticide:
points to forms of fanaticism that leads to Comparative and evolutionary perspectives.
New York: Aldine.
extremes of martyrdom, or still worse, of aggres- Hertz, R. (1907/2004). A study of the collective represen-
sive religious imposition, and suicidal attacks. In tation of death. In A. C. G. M. Robbenb (Ed.), Death
any case, both tendencies appear rather confined mourning and ritual: A cross-cultural reader
in some “religious niches” of the most intense (pp. 197–211). Malden/Oxford: Blackwell.
Lester, D. (1992). Why people kill themselves. Springfield:
forms of religiosity, and the empirical evidence Charles C. Thomas.
does not always validate that general expectation. Lopez, A. D. (2002). World mortality in 2000. London:
Death clearly appears as ambivalent in most Stationary Office Books.
religious mentalities: as a negative reality, Luhmann, N. (1977). Funktion der Religion. Frankfurt am
Main: Suhrkamp.
corresponding to its more “intuitive” effects of Templer, D. I., Lester, D., Arikaw, H., & Mancuso, L.
finitude and social disruption; and as a step open- (2007). Reltionship of IQ to suicide and homocide
ing the way to positive future developments, in rate: International perspective. Psychological Reports,
accordance with “less intuitive” perceptions, 100(1), 108–112.
United States National Vital Statistics Report (2010).
born nevertheless in powerful symbols of ever- Washington, DC: National Center for Health
lasting life and longing for complete human Statistics.
flourishing. Vail, K. E., Rothschild, Z. K., Weise, D. R., Solomon, S.,
Pyszczynski, T., & Greenberg, J. (2010). A terror man-
agement analysis of the psychological functions of
religion. Personality and Social Psychology Review,
Cross-References 14–1, 84–94.
Wrangham, R., & Peterson, D. (1996). Demonic males:
▶ Afterlife Apes and the origins of human violence. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
▶ Body
▶ Eschatology
▶ Forensic Medicine
▶ Judaism
▶ Neglect Deconstructive Theology
▶ Religious Coping
▶ Rite ▶ Religion, Theory of
References
Becker, E. (1973). The denial of death. New York:

Simon & Schuster.
Deep Brain Stimulation
Canetto, S. S., & Lester, D. (1995). The epidemiology of
women’s suicidal behavior. In S. S. Canetto & T. M. Kinfe and Jan Vesper
D. Lester (Eds.), Women and suicidal behavior Department of Neurosurgery, Centre of
(pp. 35–57). New York: Springer.
Neuromodulation, Heinrich-Heine University
Caplan, A. L., McCartney, J. J., & Sisti, D. A. (2006). The
case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the end of life. Hospital, D€usseldorf, Germany
Amherst: Prometheus Books.
Daly, M., & Wilson, M. (1988). Homicide. New York:
Aldine de Gruyter.
de Catanzaro, D. (1981). Suicide and self damaging
Related Terms
behavior: A sociobiological perspective. New York:
Academic. Functional stereotactic neurosurgery
Deep Brain Stimulation 593 D
Description animal models elucidated the state of knowledge
about neurobehavioral, pain, and movement
Nowadays functional stereotactic neurosurgery, disorders in the last century.
more precisely, deep brain stimulation (DBS), The application of electrical stimulation as
has gained widespread acceptance as a treatment a therapeutic tool can be traced back to 15 AD,
modality for movement disorders, pain syn- where Scribonius medicated gout pain. In the
dromes, epilepsy, and some neuropsychiatric second century Galenos of Pergamon, Galen,
disorders. applied “neuromodulative” therapy via electrical
There are several developments which have fish to treat headache and gout pain. D
pioneered this technique over the last and next- Going further into the eighteenth century there
to-last centuries. First, one of the cornerstones is were several works by Christian Gottlieb
the breakthrough work from Sir Victor Horsley Kratzenstein, a scientist, who was engaged in
and Robert Clarke in 1908. Both introduced electricity research and its impact in the treatment
a new method to implant a needle or a probe of pain syndromes. In 1744, he published
into subcortical structures accurately using a monograph concerning this issue “Abhandlung
a Cartesian coordinate system. They first used vom Nutzen der Elektrizit€at in der
their new tool in animal models to study lesioning Arzneiwissenschaft.”
effects of the cerebellum. In the same year, Ewald Georg von Kleist,
The conferment into humans was compassed a Prussian scientist and advocate contrived the
in 1947 by the neurologist Ernest A. Spiegel and “Kleistsche Flasche,” a condenser made electric-
the neurosurgeon Henry T. Wycis at Temple ity useful as medical treatment tool.
University, Philadelphia calling their new tech- Hundred years later, Eduard Hitzig and
nique “stereoencephalotomy.” The goal was to Gustav Fritsch, both neuroscientists, observed
perform accurate ablative procedures instead of motor response after stimulation of the motor
usually undertaken frontal lobotomy in behav- cortex in a dog. In 1874, Robert Bartholow first
ioral disorders (Wycis and Spiegel 1947). performed motor cortex stimulation in humans.
From this point on tremendous developments The pivotal turning point of deep brain stimu-
in stereotactic human atlas (Schaltenbrand and lation can be seen in the landmark development
Bailey 1959), neuroimaging, stereotactic frame of Spiegel and Wycis human stereotactic appara-
systems (Lars Leksell 1949; Mundinger 1977; tus in 1947. This reflects the hour of birth of
Talairach et al. 1949) and electrical devices stereotactic-guided deep brain stimulation.
emerged the use for deep brain stimulation as Many neurosurgeons, namely, Lars Leksell,
we know it today. Jean Talairach, Philipp L. Gildenberg, etc.,
visited Spiegel and Wycis in Philadelphia to
design stereotactic frame systems after they
Self-Identification have returned to their departments.
In this era, chronologically, the first indica-
Science tions of ablative and/or chronic subcortical stim-
Functional neurosurgery as a rapidly growing ulation were neuropsychiatric disorders followed
branch of neurosurgery regards itself a natural by intractable pain syndromes and atleast
science aiming to enhance the knowledge movement disorders. Interestingly, deep brain
about the pathophysiological aspects behind dis- stimulation in behavioral disorders (obsessive-
orders of the central nervous system. The goal of compulsive disorder (OCD), Depression,
deep brain stimulation is the reestablishment Tourette Syndrome) reemerged in the last years
of physiological function by means of with preliminary auspicious results. For instance,
neuromodulation. Spiegel and Wycis started with medial
Extensive neuroanatomic and neurophysio- thalamotomies in psychotic patients in 1947.
logical investigations and observations made in Intraoperatively, neurophysiological patterns by
D 594 Deep Brain Stimulation
electrical stimulation means were performed two decades after a silent period of nearly
prior to lesioning to confirm the intending targets. 30 years. Great research efforts have been under-
In the coming decades until now expansive taken to lighten the poorly understood pathophys-
growing knowledge in neuroscience (neuroanat- iological background by neuroscientific means.
omy, neurophysiology, neuropathology, and However, cognition, emotion, and behavior,
neuroimaging) and clinical evaluation by pro- more precisely, neuromodulation of related dis-
spective, randomized studies conducted deep orders delivered through deep brain stimulation,
brain stimulation to a treatment modality requires interdisciplinarity in every available
which is well established and evidence-based in fashion, and ethical issues have to be taken into
the treatment of movement disorders and pain, account strictly.
furthermore with promising results in neuropsy-
chiatric disorders.
The growing numbers of societies and scien- Sources of Authority
tific journals addressed to deep brain stimulation
(WSSFN, ESSFN) reflects the increasing interest The sources of authority of deep brain stimulation
in this field and emphasizes the future potential of were already named in part. The authors prefer
this subdivision of neurosurgery. to summarize this content in a chronological
manner.
Characteristics Deep Brain Stimulation in Neuropschiatric

Disorders
DBS differs from other disciplines in many ways. Jose Delgado, neurophysiologist, became known
First the prospects of DBS are strongly linked for his work with chronically implanted electrodes
with the technical development of the applied which were connected to a subcutaneous receiver
devices and, therefore, more influenced by the (Stimoceiver) which allowed neuromodulation by
available surgical equipment. radio waves in psychotic patients. He researched
In addition, the authors believe that the grow- the effects of neuromodulation in several animal
ing field of indications in the coming future will models and humans. In 1969, he published a book
pose unexpected neurosurgical challenges. Well- titled Physical Control of the Mind: Toward
established and newly introduced treatment a Psychocivilized Society. This fact may
modalities have to be evaluated carefully, even reflect the enthusiasm carried out at that time
more in a long-term fashion. Neuroscience-based (Delgado 1965).
investigations contributed and will account for Carl-Wilhelm Sem-Jacobsen started in the
this relevant matter. 1950s with a series of 213 patients (123 with
The main goal of functional stereotactic neu- neurobehavioral disorders) in whom “depth
rosurgery is to reestablish altered function of electrography and depth stimulation” was
motor systems, pain processing, and behavior. performed. The main goal was to detect suitable
Due to these facts, a patient’s treatment should target areas by electrophysiological recording
include substantial preoperative evaluation, and thereafter to generate irreversible lesions
defined surgical procedure, and close-mesh (Sem-Jacobsen 1963).
endorsement in the postoperative course by inter- The thin ethical line of this issue became obvi-
disciplinary means. ous regarding the contribution of Robert Heath,
who was engaged in neuromodulative therapy in
patients suffering from schizophrenia, pain,
Relevance to Science and Religion and epilepsy since the 1950s. During an
intraoperative stimulation session in schizo-
As mentioned above, there has been increased phrenic patients in the septal area, some patients
interest in behavioral disorders again in the past reported “euphoric” and “pleasant” perceptions
Deep Brain Stimulation 595 D
(Baumeister 2000). An example for unethical and Going back to the days of Spiegel et al.
dubious practice was the septal area stimulation (1947) many neurosurgeons have contributed to
performed by Heath in 1972 in a homosexual this issue. In principle, the common procedure to
individual aiming to induce heterosexuality identify subcortical brain structures suitable as
behavior. targets was electrophysiological evaluation prior
Based on neuroscientific research, profound to lesioning.
ethical considerations and interdisciplinary col- Natalia Petrova Bechtereva (1925–2008),
laboration DBS was inaugurated in Tourette Syn- neurophysiologist, worked in Leningrad and
drome and obsessive-compulsive disorders developed the first concept of chronic stimulation D
(OCD) in the last decade of the last century by as a therapy in the 1960s/1970s. Patients suffer-
Vandewalle et al. in 1999 and Bart Nuttin from ing from PD were treated over a time course
Leuven (Nuttin et al. 1999). This displayed of 1.5 years with externalized electrodes due
a turning point and again neuropsychiatric disor- to the lack of implantable devices at that time
ders came into interest in the functional (Hariz et al. 2010).
community. German neurosurgeon Fritz Mundinger
treated patients with cervical dystonia with uni-
Deep Brain Stimulation in Pain and Epilepsy lateral chronic thalamic stimulation with benefi-
David Hosobuchi and Guillaume Mazars intro- cial results. Irving Cooper neuromodulated
duced in the mid-1970s the sensory thalamus and thalamic somatosensory nuclei in various move-
the periventricular/periaqueductal gray as pro- ment disorder conditions. In addition, many
posed targets for pain relief in patients suffering stereotactic-guided ablative procedures
from deafferentation pain (Mazars 1975; (thalamotomy, pallidotomy) were performed
Hosobuchi et al. 1977). through the 1970s/1980s. This lesioning surgery
Epilepsy came into focus at the end of the precisely the identified targets formed the
1970s. Irving Cooper demonstrated a marked fundament of later-executed reversible DBS
reduction in medical refractory seizures due to with permanent implantable devices.
deep brain stimulation of the anterior nucleus of
the thalamus (Rosenow et al. 2002). Ten years
later, Velasco published another remarkable Ethical Principles
series of intractable epilepsy treated by thalamic
stimulation. The Hippocratic Oath modified by the Helsinki
Nowadays neuromodulation is an essential declaration (1971) builds the frame for ethic-
part of neurosurgical epilepsy treatment concepts. guided proceedings in neuromodulation. In our
opinion further attention has to be addressed to
Deep Brain Stimulation in Movement autonomous wishes of patients, psychosocial
Disorders impact, stimulation effect on patients’ personal-
Neuromodulation constitutes a well-established ity, and benefit/risk ratio.
and evidence-based treatment modality for
Parkinson’s disease (PD), essential tremor (ET),
and dystonia. Key Values
Neurosurgeon Alim-Louis Benabid and
neurologist Pierre Pollak introduced in 1987 The key value of deep brain stimulation
and 1993 high-frequency stimulation in the is to restore distortion of function by
VIM thalamic nucleus and subthalamic nucleus motor symptoms, pain symptoms, and neuro-
as proposed targets in PD. Undoubtedly, both behavioral means. The neuromodulative
can be regarded as pathbreaking pioneers in strategy is based upon substantiated knowledge
neuromodulation for movement disorders including neuroanatomy, neuroimaging, and
(Benabid et al. 1987; Pollak et al. 1993). neurophysiology.
D 596 Deep Brain Stimulation
Conceptualization Cross-References
The authors summarize the following issues in ▶ History of Medicine

the way they are influenced by DBS. This holds ▶ Movement Disorders
true for some issues more than for others. ▶ Neurology in Europe
Nature/World ▶ Neurosurgery
Human Being ▶ Pain (Suffering)
Life and Death
Reality References
Knowledge
Truth Baumeister, A. A. (2000). The Tulane electrical brain stim-
Perception ulation program a historical case study in medical ethics.
Journal of History and Neuroscience, 9, 262–278.
Time
Benabid, A. L., Pollak, P., Louveau, A., de Henry, S., &
Consciousness Rougemont, J. (1987). Combined (thalamotomy and
Rationality/Reason stimulation) stereotactic surgery of the VIM thalamic
DBS is aiming at improving distortion of motor, nucleus for bilateral Parkinson disease. Applied
Neurophysiology, 50, 344–346.
pain, and behavior function. Nevertheless, some
Delgado, J. M. R. (1965). Evolution of physical control of
beneficial effects go together with unexpected the brain, in: James Arthur Lecture on the evolution of
alteration related to more abstract issues like the human brain. New York: American Museum of
mood, behavior, perception/self-perception, and Natural History.
Hariz, M. I., Blomstedt, P., & Zrinzo, L. (2010). Deep
psychosocial interaction with the environment.
brain stimulation between 1947 and 1987: The untold
The above mentioned points could be affected by story. Neurosurgical Focus, 29(2), E1.
DBS in a short- as well as in a long-term manner; Hosobuchi, Y., Adams, J. E., & Linchitz, R. (1977). Pain
for that reason, it seems advisable to take those relief by electrical stimulation of the central gray mat-
ter in humans and its reversal by naloxone. Science,
issues into consideration by conducting a multidis-
197, 183–186.
ciplinary treatment approach in DBS patients. Laitinen, L. V., Bergenheim, A. T., & Hariz, M. I. (1992).
Leksell’s posteroventral pallidotomy in the treatment
Mystery of Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Neurosurgery, 76,
53–61.
Functional stereotactic neurosurgery and mystery
Mazars, G. J. (1975). Intermittent stimulation of nucleus
contradict themselves as DBS underlies natural ventralis posterolateralis for intractable pain. Surgical
law. Many unexplained issues concerning DBS Neurology, 4, 93–95.
remain still “mystic” until neuroscience-based Mundinger, F. (1977). New stereotactic treatment of spas-
modic toxticollis with a brain stimulation system
investigations highlight our background
(authors transl.). Medizinische Klinik (German), 72,
knowledge. 1982–1986.
Nuttin, B., Cosyns, P., Demeulemeester, H., Gybels, J., &
Meyerson, B. (1999). Electrical stimulation in anterior
limbs of internal capsules in patients with obsessive-
Relevant Themes compulsive disorder. The Lancet, 354, 1526.
Pollak, P., Benabid, A. L., Gross, C., Gao, D. M.,
A critical issue in DBS as regards “Science and Laurent, A., Benazzouz, A., Hoffmann, D.,
Religion” is the fact that beneficial results can be Gentil, M., & Perret, J. (1993). Effects of the stimula-
tion of the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson disease.
associated with non-beneficial effects concerning
Review Neurology (Paris), 149, 175–176.
mood, cognition, behavior, self-perception, and Rosenow, J., Das, K., Rovit, R. L., & Couldwell, W. T.
perception of the environment. Thus, careful (2002). Irving S. Cooper and his role in intracranial
selection, long-term mentoring, and psychosocial stimulation for movement disorders and epilepsy. Ste-
reotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, 78, 95–112.
assistance are required to intercept or ameliorate
Schaltenbrand, G. & Bailey, P. (1959). Introduction to
occurring difficulties, especially in younger stereotaxis with an atlas of the human brain. Stuttgart:
patients. Thieme.
Deism 597 D
Sem-Jacobsen, C. W. (1963). Depth-electrography obser- According to this, deism is characterized by
vations in psychotic patients. Proc Gaustad Mental four elements: (1) recognition of a universal cre-
Hospital, 412–416.
Spiegel, E. A., Wycis, H. T., Marks, M., & Lee, A. J. ative force greater than mankind; (2) centrality of
(1947). Stereotaxic apparatus for operations on the the observation of laws and designs in nature as
human brain. Science, 106, 349–350. a basis for belief; (3) fundamental trust in the
Talairach, J., Hecaen, H., David, M., et al. (1949). ability of human reason to know God; and
Recherches sur la coagulation therapeutique des struc-
tures sous-corticales chez l’homme. Rev Neurol, 81, (4) rejection of all claims of special divine reve-
4–24. lation. One might ask if all four elements were
also essential for classic deism, that is, as it was D
understood toward the end of the seventeenth and
during most of the eighteenth century. Further-
Defense Mechanisms more, what happens with one of the ideas that
a great many associate with deism, namely, that
▶ Coping, psychology of which states that God created the universe at the
beginning and allowed it to run onward according
to laws of nature without ever intervening with its
functioning?
Definition of Truth The term deism was probably first used by
Calvinist Pierre Viret (Instruction chrestienne,
▶ Truth 1564), who applied it with a negative valence to
a group of Lyonnaise anti-Trinitarians. Later, in
the second half of the seventeenth century, it was
appropriated as a self-characterization by those
Deism who wanted neither to be atheists nor uncritically
accept the tenets of revealed religions, concretely
José M. Lozano-Gotor Christianity. For them, human reason was the
Albacete, Spain most adequate way to know God. Thus, natural
or rational religion became the criterion to judge
revelation. At first deism and theism were almost
Related Terms synonyms, but soon began to diverge. Almost
a century later Diderot (Ouvres, ed. by J. Assézat,
Argument from design; Enlightenment; Natural I, 13, 479) tried to differentiate between them
religion; Rationalism saying the deist denies the possibility of special
divine revelation altogether, while the theist
allows for it. This is also the way we tend to see
Description it today: the difference between theologia
rationalis and theologia revelata marks in part
On the website of the World Union of Deists we the divide between deism and theism.
find the following definition of deism: “Deism is The cradle of deism was England, where it was
the recognition of a universal creative force anticipated by Lord Herbert de Cherbury in De
greater than that demonstrated by mankind, veritate (1619; many of the texts mentioned in
supported by personal observation of laws and this paragraph and the following one can be found
designs in nature and the universe, perpetuated in Gay 1981). Locke and Newton’s ideas paved
and validated by the innate ability of human the way for it. Its most important advocates in the
reason coupled with the rejection of claims island were John Toland (Christianity not Myste-
made by individuals and organised religions of rious, 1696), Samuel Clarke (A Discourse
having received special divine revelation.” concerning the Being and Attributes of God, the
D 598 Deism
Obligations of Natural Religion, and the and reason. Some deists tried to harmonize them
Truth and Certainty of the Christian Revelation, and held that Christianity, once expurgated
1705–1706), Anthony Collins (A Discourse of from superstition, was the true natural religion
Freethinking, 1713), and Matthew Tindal (“constructive deism”); others saw faith and rea-
(Christianity as Old as Creation, 1730). Deism son as incompatible, championing the replace-
arose in response to the deep transformation ment of Christianity for natural religion
European society and culture underwent in the (“critical deism,” “decadent deism”). All denied,
seventeenth century. This transformation had however, the possibility of miracles and other
three main vectors: discovery of cultural diver- supernatural events. That must be seen as
sity, which undermined the uniqueness of a consequence of an immanent concept of reason.
Christianity; religious conflicts, especially the Still, reason itself was differently understood,
Thirty Years’ War and English Civil War, ranging from rationalist reason, of a systematic
which fostered the search for natural religious and deductive kind, to enlightened reason, which
truths that could be universally accepted; and was above all the abilities to analyze empirical
advances in scientific knowledge, which reality. If Herbert of Cherbury still relied on the
established the laws of nature that the now unified innate ideas placed in the human mind, the post-
universe strictly obeys in its functioning. This Lockean deists gave an increasing relevance to
new trust in human reason and its autonomy the observation and study of nature as a way to
was extended to the realms of both religion the knowledge of God, at least of His existence.
and morality. In this context, the development of modern sci-
Deism then irradiated from England to France, ence, especially of mechanics, was of paramount
Germany, and North America. In France, it importance (see Gestrich 1981).
became popular among the first enlightened phi- The scientific advances of the age gave rise to
losophers, many of whom converted to atheism. the machina mundi image, that is, the world as
In spite of calling himself a theist, the most con- a closed, law-determined causal nexus which
spicuous French deist was Voltaire (Candide ou runs “automatically” obeying such in-built laws
l’optimiste, 1759). Also Jean-Jacques Rousseau and does not need intervention from outside. This
(“Profession de foi du vicaire savoyard,” Emilio, seemed to ask for a corresponding image of God
Book IV, 1762) is usually considered a deist, as the Supreme Architect or Engineer who creates
although for him religion had more to do with the world at the beginning and lets it run alone
emotions than reason. Deistic ideas also pervaded from then on, a sort of Aristotelian God. Such
the German Enlightenment. Leibniz and Wolff a reduction of divine action to the act of initial
played a significant role in their extension, creation, even when detached from the machina
although they formulated them in the frame of mundi image, is what we usually associate with
a systematic philosophy; the German deist par deism. But neither English nor German deists
excellence was Hermann Samuel Reimarus subscribed to it; on the contrary, their doctrines
(Apologie oder Schutzschrift f€ ur die vern€
unftigen were a reaction against a world without God,
Verehrer Gottes, 1774–1777). The North Amer- either in the form of a rational pan(en)theism
ican “founding fathers” were also profoundly (in England) or through the identification of the
influenced by deism. Its most fervent advocates gubernatio divina with the global act of creation
were Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason, 1794) and conservation of the world (Leibniz and
and Elihu Palmer (Principles of Nature, 1801). Wolff). The popularity of the argument from
There was a wide variety of opinions among design or teleological argument must be under-
deists concerning all main points. For example, stood as a consequence of this frame of mind too
natural religion and revealed religion were differ- (see Gawlick 1972). The one author who
ently related to each other depending on the most clearly denied divine providence and
understanding of the relationship between faith advanced a wholly nonreligious view of history
Deism 599 D
and human destiny was Voltaire. The pervasive a stylized reproach for not giving enough room to
existence of evil in the world was his main stum- divine providence (see Struch 1990). However,
bling block. what he really does is to subsume particular prov-
The decline of deism, already started, was idence within general providence, while
almost inevitable once Hume and Kant’s ideas affirming continuous creation. In other occasions,
were widely received, even though both of them as in the debate over the physicist Paul Davies’
had some affinity with deistic thought. Hume proposals, deism is used almost as a synonym of
refuted the alleged chronological priority of eth- natural theology.
ical monotheism over polytheistic cult religion, Deism exerted significant influence in the con- D
questioning the validity of natural religion. Kant figuration of Western modern culture. And such
clipped the speculative wings of reason and influence can be still perceived today in the
showed the impossibility of any rational theology requirement of universality in the concept of
which claims to be theoretically certain knowl- God, as well as in the not uncontroversial pursu-
edge, undermining the teleological argument as ance of coherence between both religion and rea-
well as any other argument for the existence of son and religion and morality (see Byrne 1989).
God (see Byrne 1993). In the last decades, we
assist, however, to a revival of deism, above all
in the United States. It takes different forms, for Cross-References
example, humanistic, scientific, Christian,
spiritual deism, pandeism, and panendeism. In ▶ Divine Action
general, it is more modest regarding the ability ▶ Evil
of reason to define God’s attributes and the ▶ God of the Gaps
precise character of his relationship with the ▶ Natural Theology
world. (That is why it opts for certain vagueness ▶ Naturalism
when speaking of God, as it is obvious in our ▶ Philosophy of Religion
opening quotation.) But lacking a serious con- ▶ Rationality (Philosophical)
frontation with Kant’s objections it still holds to ▶ Revelation
the centrality of the argument from design, as
the controversial “conversion” to deism of
the notorious atheist Anthony Flew in 2004 References
clearly shows. Other characteristics of modern
deism are its marked critical stance toward Byrne, P. (1989). Natural religion and the nature of
religion: The legacy of deism. London/New York:
revealed religion and the high moral standards
Routledge.
it pursues. Byrne, P. (1993). Deism. In A. E. McGrath (Ed.), The
As an abstract model of God’s relationship Blackwell encyclopedia of modern Christian thought
with the world, deism plays a secondary but (pp. 103–105). Oxford: Blackwell.
Deist Alliance. www.positivedeism.com. Accessed 23
important role in present mainline Christian
June 2012.
debates about divine action. In an ideal typology, Gawlick, G. (1972). Deismus. In J. Ritter, K. Gr€under, &
deism is one of the two conceptual positions G. Gabriel (Eds.), Historisches Wörterbuch der
against which theism has to be defined as Philosophie 2 (pp. 44–47). Basel: Schwabe.
Gay, P. (1981). Deism: An anthology. Princeton:
a middle way, the other being either pantheism
Van Nostrand.
or occasionalism. In both cases, deism stands for Gestrich, Ch. (1981). Deismus. In G. M€ uller, H. Balz, &
extreme creatural autonomy, while pantheism or G. Krause (Eds.), Theologische Realenzyklop€ adie
occasionalism signals extreme dependence on 8 (col. 392–406). Berlin/New York: De Gruyter.
Sturch, R. (1990). The new deism. Divine intervention and
God. Furthermore, deism is used sometimes the human condition. New York: St Martin’s Press.
against the Anglican theologian Maurice Wiles, World Union of Deism. www.deism.com. Accessed 23
who does not allow for special divine actions, as June 2012.
D 600 Dementia
functioning shortly before their deaths multiple

Dementia pathological senile plaques were present (www.
healthstudies.imn.edu/nunstudy). In different
Katharina Fink and Rainer Hellweg statement papers, the categorization of, e.g.,
Klinik f€ur Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Alzheimer’s dementia is discussed. Due to the
Charité - Universit€atsmedizin Berlin, Campus improvement of technologies in imaging, labora-
Charité Mitte (CC15), Berlin, Germany tories and neuropathology preclinical “in vivo”
stages of dementia can be identified leading to the
question where to draw the line and whom to
Description treat. So far the WHO definition of diseases is
still relevant: A “disease” including dementia is
Dementia is a clinical syndrome often caused by inextricably associated with signs of malfunction
chronically progressive diseases of the brain that and suffering.
are combined with an impairment of higher cor-
tical functions, including memory, orientation,
speech, ability to talk, ability to reason, and deci- Self-identification
sion making. The cognitive disturbances in
dementia are often accompanied by changes of Science
social behavior, motivation, and emotional con- Dementia science has grown out of the need to
trol but no disturbance of consciousness is investigate the cause of this syndrome and
observed. Dementia can have a diverse picture, to eventually cure and prevent this clinical
can be studied separately or as part of other dis- picture as dementia occurs frequently in an
eases, like Parkinson’s disease or multiple scle- aging population, causing a burden to the patient
rosis, and can be rapidly progressing, as in itself by losing their independence and primary
Creutzfeldt-Jakob’s disease, or slowly personality, but also to caregivers and leading
progressing, as in Alzheimer’s disease. to social costs exceeding the costs of health
Dementia science is providing research into insurance expenditures almost by a factor of
the cause, cure, care, and prevention of dementia. five in mild and moderate disease stages
It has grown in importance as populations in the (Schwarzkopf 2011).
Western world and elsewhere are aging and aging
is the most important risk factor for dementing
diseases. Characteristics
According to the clinical picture, the syn-
drome can be attributed to different etiologies, Dementia science relates to adjoining specialties
but a definitive diagnosis of the disease can as like geriatrics, neurology, and psychiatry.
of today only be made postmortem. The classi- However, dementia science is distinctive to
fication of non-Alzheimer conditions is under- geriatric medicine because it attempts to shed
going major changes, moving away from light on the underlying pathology of conditions
syndromic toward molecular and gene-based that go beyond conditions of normal aging,
approaches. even though some dementias’ risks rise with
Dementia science is dealing with the funda- increased age. Dementia science uses the knowl-
mental problem that aging on its own is not edge that neurology offers about the relationship
a disease. In the longitudinal and prospective between clinical pictures of deficits and the
Minnesota nun study, nuns with the same envi- topography of lesion location within the nervous
ronmental surrounding were followed with neu- system. It distances itself from neurology by
ropsychological testing over several years and focusing only on neurodegenerative diseases;
their brains were assessed by a pathologist show- included dementia syndromes in neurological
ing that even in individuals with high cognitive conditions like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s
Dementia 601 D
disease at the same time. Patients with dementia concepts were described lately by Bruno
are often treated as psychiatric patients due to Dubois from the Salpêtrière hospital in his article
their deficiencies in higher cortical functions “Revising the definition of Alzheimer’s disease:
resulting in changes of social behavior; a new lexicon” (Dubois et al. 2010).
care of demented patient is therefore often The “European Alzheimer’s disease consor-
multidisciplinary. tium” is a network of over 50 European centers
working with Alzheimer’s disease and related
dementias, setting up large interventional studies
Relevance to Science and Religion for understanding, prevention, treatment, and D
management of the disease or its complications.
This scholarly area is not the prime object of the
research field mentioned as too little is still
known about the diseases themselves. But religi- Ethical Principles
osity, faith, and spirituality have been found to be
protective, aiding well-being for both patients As in all medical disciplines, dementia science is
with dementia and their caregivers. guided by the oath of Hippocrates. For medical
research, the Declaration of Helsinki from 1971,
provides the ethical principles for human
Sources of Authority research.
The early authorities in dementia science used to

be neuropsychiatrists who were dedicated clini- Key Values
cians with a passionate interest in neuropathol-
ogy, bridging the gap between brain, in particular The key values of dementia science are to main-
the cerebral cortex, and behavior. A first good tain the patient’s dignity and to alleviate suffering
description of dementia was given by Philippe resulting from neurodegenerative diseases affect-
Pinel (1745–1826) in the late eighteenth century ing cortical functions. Dementia science is trying
(Torack 1983). Around this time, dementia was to establish algorithms for prevention of demen-
mentioned in the Encyclopédie Française. tia syndromes, supporting curative attempts and
Alzheimer (1864–1915) when describing therapy options delaying the worsening of
Auguste D. at a conference in his lecture called dementias (cf. Hellweg et al. 2012).
“About a remarkable illness of the cerebral cor-
tex” in 1906 set a starting point for the research in
a new entity of patients with an early onset of Conceptualization
behavioral changes later named after the
describer himself as “Alzheimer’s disease.” Nature/World
Around this time, the Prague group led by Pick Nature is conceptualized as the biotic and abiotic
and the Munich group around Kraepelin with world and spans from the subatomic to the cosmic
Lewy, Alzheimer and Nissl, described several in scale. In particular it refers to phenomena not
different conditions with dementia, being name created by humans, as an antonym to culture. The
giving to several neurodegenerative conditions, world comprises the material and the interspersed
like Lewy-body dementia and Pick’s disease. space of the universe.
As shown in the “Minnesota nun study” the
“dual clinicopathological concept” of the Human Being
Alzheimer’s disease might lead to confusion, as The human being is considered as a biological
patients with “senile” plaques might not present being equipped with a highly developed complex
with behavioral changes, not qualifying for the brain, which enables unique functions including
diagnosis from a clinical point of view, new speech, abstract thinking, creativity, and the
D 602 Dementia
development of ethical categories such as moral- objectively and perceive it owing to the changes
ity, science, and art. Thus, humans are considered observed in the surrounding environment.
to be distinctive from the rest of the animal world
in virtue of the unique capacities of the human Consciousness
brain. Consciousness is the responsiveness of subjects
to any physical stimulus in the outside world. It
Life and Death can be graded in different levels of alertness
Life is conceptualized as the presence of physical ranging from drowsiness to full alertness, which
functions in biological systems ranging from bac- comprises crystal clear orientation concerning
teria over plants and animals to humans. In the location, time, situation, personal biography,
human body, it includes functioning of the differ- and full mental capability. Diseases can impair
ent organs, including the nervous system. Death is consciousness globally.
considered the cessation of such physical func-
tions. A special case, which has raised ethical Rationality/Reason
challenges for medicine is that of so-called Rationality is a foundation of accountable and
“brain death,” which is observed in intensive responsible human behavior and of understand-
care medicine. Here, non-brain bodily functions ing reason as ultimate authority. It is impaired in
are maintained, but there is no evident brain mental diseases such as dementia or neuropsy-
activity. chological disorders.
Reality Mystery
Reality is considered the physical world around Mystery is often considered to be contradictory to
us which humans can observe with their senses. modern medicine, including dementia science.
However, modern medicine in principle acknowl-
Knowledge edge a place for mystery – i.e., that which is yet
Knowledge is the understanding of a subject. unknown, and thus, grants that contemporary
This understanding should be based on knowledge may not have elucidated the entire
adjustified true belief. It can be preserved in the physiology of human kind. In this view, mystery
cognitive system and can be put into contexts. is understood as potentially explainable after accu-
Disturbances of higher cortical functions like in mulation of adequate scientific knowledge.
dementia can inhibit aquisation and retention of
knowledge.
Relevant Themes
Truth
Truth is conceptualized as the supreme reality As in all other medical specialties, a critical issue
underlying facts and rules. Accordingly, truth is in dementia science as regards to “Science and
assumed to be absolute or universal which Religion” is the notion of subjectivity. As
humans can grasp only partially. discussed in many statement papers, it is not
predictable which individual will develop
Perception dementia with a certain outcome. So far dementia
Perception is the conscious sensation of the research is done on a group statistical level, not
forces and influences the external physical being adapted to each individual.
world exerts on living beings. Diseases of the
human brain may disrupt or impair perception.
Cross-References
Time
Time is the fundamental category of ongoing ▶ Aging
change in the world. Humans can measure time ▶ Memory
Deontology 603 D
References
Deontological
Dubois, B., Feldman, H. H., Jacova, C., Cummings, J. L.,
Dekosky, S. T., Barberger-Gateau, P., Delacourte, A.,
▶ Deontology
Frisoni, G., Fox, N. C., Galasko, D., Gauthier, S.,
Hampel, H., Jicha, G. A., Meguro, K., O’Brien, J.,
Pasquier, F., Robert, P., Rossor, M., Salloway, S.,
Sarazin, M., de Souza, L. C., Stern, Y., Visser, P. J.,
& Scheltens, P. (2010). Revising the definition of
Alzheimer’s disease: A new lexicon. Lancet Neurol-
Deontological Ethics
D
ogy, 9(11), 1118–1127.
Hellweg, R., Wirth, Y., Janetzky, W., & Hartmann, S. ▶ Deontology
(2012). Efficacy of memantine in delaying clinical
worsening in Alzheimer’s disease (AD): Responder
analyses of nine clinical trials with patients with mod-
erate to severe AD. International Journal of Geriatric
Psychiatry, 27(6), 651–656. Deontology
Schwarzkopf, L., Menn, P., Kunz, S., Holle, R.,
Lauterberg, J., Marx, P., Mehlig, H., Wunder, S.,
Joakim Sandberg
Leidl, R., Donath, C., & Graessel, E. (2011). Costs of
care for dementia patients in community setting: An Dept of Philosophy, Linguistics & Theory of
analysis for mild and moderate disease stage. Value in Science, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg,
Health, 14(6), 827–835. Sweden
Torack, R. (1983). The early history of senile dementia. In
B. Reisberg (Ed.), Alzheimer’s disease: The standard
reference (pp. 23–28). New York: The Free Press.
Related Terms
Deontological; Deontological ethics; Ethics of

duty; Non-consequentialism; Rule-based ethics
Demonstration on the Basis of
Two Terms
Description
Carmela Baffioni
Dipartimento Asia Africa Mediterraneo Deontology or deontological ethics (the terms
(DAAM), Università degli Studi di Napoli stem from the Greek root deon meaning “obliga-
“L’Orientale”, Palazzo Corigliano, Napoli, Italy tion” or “duty”) is an approach to ethics which
judges the morality of actions based on their
adherence to a set of (most often strict) action-
An inductive reasoning in which two terms only principles or rules. These rules typically divide
are compared – such as a minori ad maius, actions into three moral categories: (1) those that
a maiori ad minus, a pari or a simili, and a are obligatory (prescribed, required), (2) those
contrario – opposed to syllogism, in which a that are prohibited (forbidden, illicit), and
conclusion is deduced from a major premise and (3) those that are permissible (neither obligatory
a minor premise linked together through a nor prohibited). Deontological ethics is com-
common middle term. monly contrasted with teleological or consequen-
tialist ethics (e.g., utilitarianism) which holds that
the morality of actions is determined by their
consequences. Accordingly, deontological ethics
holds that it may be our duty to refrain from
Dendrite performing certain actions (like killing and steal-
ing) irrespective of what the consequences of
▶ Neuron doing so will be – it is, for instance, typically
D 604 Deontology
morally prohibited to actively and deliberately debates are indeed debates between directly
kill someone even when this is the only way to opposing deontological camps: whereas some
save several others. Likewise it may be our argue that abortion is strictly forbidden, for
duty to perform certain positive actions instance, others stress the absolute right of
(like defending ourselves or helping others) women to choose. Both of these positions may
irrespective of circumstance and situation. be deontological in the sense of being appeals to
A fairly straightforward example of deonto- action-principles rather than consequences. Thus
logical ethics may be the Biblical appeal to the while most deontological codes contain a prohi-
“Ten Commandments” or Decalogue as the ulti- bition against the active and deliberate killing of
mate moral code. These commandments (“thou adult human beings, perhaps, many other duties
shalt not kill,” “thou shalt not steal,” etc.) have are widely contested.
historically been understood as strict moral com- Different deontological positions may also
mands and prohibitions which require constant vary in how stringent these duties are thought to
obedience, and similar moral codes can be be, i.e., to what extent the rules allow for excep-
found in almost all religious traditions. Many tions for countervailing moral reasons. In the
deontological codes indeed have religious roots, strictest kind of view all duties are absolute, i.e.,
but it may be noted that the connection to religion there are no circumstances or situations in which
is not necessary. A secular example of a deonto- one is morally allowed to perform a prohibited
logical code could thus be the United Nations’ action or to refrain from performing one’s posi-
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which tive duties. This is sometimes called moral abso-
may be taken to specify a list of humanistic duties lutism. However, for reasons discussed below,
and prohibitions. Of course moral positions need some proponents of deontology argue that there
not involve complete catalogs of duties and only can be prima facie duties, i.e., duties which
restrictions in order to be deontological and, con- under certain (but perhaps only exceptional) cir-
sequently, many participants in contemporary cumstances can be overridden by opposing moral
ethical debates may be said to hold (nondescript) considerations. In this way one may suggest, e.g.,
deontological views. Typical examples may be that it is contrary to duty to steal in normal cases –
when debaters claim, for instance, that abortion and therefore also typically morally wrong – but
always is morally wrong, or that euthanasia that one should not abide by this rule (and so it is
should be strictly forbidden. not wrong) should, say, the continuation of the
Deontology is probably better seen as general entire human species depend on this particular
approach to ethics, or as a group (or sort) of moral instance of stealing. This view is deontological
positions (or codes, theories, traditions), than as but not absolutist.
a uniform moral position as such. Numerous var- Philosophers and theologians keen on deonto-
iations of the appeal to moral action-principles logical ethics – commonly called deontologists –
exist, namely, and with widely different charac- have long argued that this sort of ethical
teristics as well. A first dimension of variation is perspective has a range of characteristics which
what more precise set of principles that is thought should make it more appealing than rival ethical
to apply, i.e., exactly what actions are listed as theories (e.g., utilitarianism and virtue ethics).
duties or contrary to duty. While the Biblical Firstly, deontological ethics would seem to fit
commandments include a duty to honor one’s well with public conceptions of both the structure
parents and the One True God, for instance, it and point of morality in general. Most people
may be noted that the Universal Declaration of (or at least so it is argued) rather straight-
Human Rights makes no mention of either – and, forwardly associate morality with as a set of
conversely, the Declaration suggests that dis- more or less strict rules designed to keep every-
crimination on the basis of race, color, and sex one in check and to in this way facilitate social
is contrary to duty, which the Decalogue makes interaction. Indeed the fact that so many religious
no mention of. Many contemporary ethical traditions include deontological considerations
Deontology 605 D
may be taken as an indication of this kind of more keen on rival ethical theories have long
public support – and perhaps, some suggest, soci- argued that deontological ethical thinking not
ety simply could not work without some kind of only lacks fundamental justification but, what is
deontological moral framework. more, also has a number of serious drawbacks
Secondly, deontological ethics is often and problems. And we may say a bit more about
suggested to flow directly from what philoso- these counterarguments here since this discussion
phers call the universal nature of morality. is highly illustrative of both deontology and its
Reflecting on the nature of morality as such, rivals.
many agree that one of its most basic or essential A first problem concerns the kind of moral D
features seems to be that it goes beyond bias and agents envisioned by deontologists. The writer
prejudice and, thus, that it treats everyone the most commonly associated with deontological
same in some important respect. But from this ethics is the German philosopher Immanuel
feature, it is often argued, it would seem that Kant, and Kant famously suggests that duty
moral rules as such cannot treat separate persons, must be done for the sake of duty alone. That is,
situations, and circumstances differently but Kant argues that one should perform one’s obli-
must be more general in exactly the way that gations only and exactly because they are one’s
deontological principles are. Morality must sim- moral duties – and not, for instance, because one
ply consist in rules that apply to everyone in the happens to find killing repulsive, or because one
same way. happens to like telling the truth. But many critics
A third and related argument for deontological (especially from the virtue ethics camp) find this
ethics is that strict action-principles sometimes idea inherently problematic. Kantian deontolo-
are thought to be the only way of avoiding so- gists, they suggest, to some extent seems to hail
called slippery slopes in moral thinking. The case a form of heartless rule-followers that are far
of abortion may once again be illustrative here: as from our ideal of the virtuous person. Suppose,
soon as one kind of exception is allowed (e.g., for for instance, that your friend comes to visit you in
conception by rape) it may seem arbitrary not to the hospital but, when you ask her why she does
allow others (e.g., for pregnancies unwanted for this, she simply replies “because I believe it is my
other reasons) and so on and so forth, until one moral duty to come.” Few people would probably
ends up in an unexpected and unwanted moral be impressed by such a reply, and this friend –
position (in this case, roughly, that “anything although she perhaps performs the right actions –
goes”). In this way, it is argued, deontology may seems to lack a further important part of what
be the only cure against an “anything goes” atti- morality should teach us to have; namely, emo-
tude either in society in general or (at least) in tions stemming from virtuous character traits.
ethics in particular. Once again society would be While deontological ethics may be right about
worse off without deontological moral principles. the morality of individual actions, then, the
Not everyone agrees with these arguments, first criticism is that it may be wrong about the
and it should be noted that they all are debatable. morality of character.
The universality of morality can probably be Is this criticism correct? In defense of deon-
understood in many ways, for instance, and it tology, it should perhaps be said that not all
need perhaps not be taken to imply that ethical deontologists need agree with the Kantian view
principles cannot be sensitive to circumstances. above. Indeed it may be noted that Christian
Furthermore, many philosophers have been crit- ethics puts a lot of emphasis on emotion and
ical of the kind of loose slippery slope arguments virtue, while still reserving a central place for
outlined above, since there is the obvious possi- the Decalogue’s strict commandments. Thus it
bility of being able to carve out some plausible seems entirely possible for deontologists to
middle ground – that is, of having good reasons agree with the critics in that emotion and virtue
for allowing a limited set of exceptions while also are important parts of morality. But, then
disallowing others. Philosophers and theologians again, perhaps this is simply adding things to
D 606 Deontology
deontological ethics which was not there in the the rules are overridden by countervailing moral
first place. According to critics, in any case, considerations; for example, when the lives of
there is a fundamental discrepancy between great many people are at stake, or when one is
deontology’s appeal to rigid rules and our folk in a practical dilemma of the kind noted above.
conception of a virtuous person. Such theoretical moves may provide an easy way
A second and related problem concerns the out of the particular problems noted above, but it
rigidity of deontological rules as such, and this should of course be noted that deontologists here
may be formulated either as a problem internal to risk the same kind of slippery slope problems as
deontological thinking or as an external criticism their rivals. That is, once one exception is
of such thinking. The internal problem is brought allowed, what about others?
out by considering cases of conflicting duties: A third problem is perhaps more technical and
say, for instance, that I make a promise to you concerns the internal structure of deontological
that I will kill your mother. If both killing people rules. The deontological prohibition against kill-
and not fulfilling one’s promises are strictly for- ing (or murder), for instance, is of course typi-
bidden (i.e., always morally wrong) then it would cally taken to forbid me from actively and
seem that I cannot avoid acting wrongly in this deliberately killing someone – e.g., from shoot-
situation, since both killing and not killing your ing someone on the street just for fun. However it
mother are morally prohibited action-alterna- may be noted that it is not normally taken to
tives. What is more, it would actually seem that castigate my passively allowing someone’s
deontological ethics ceases to give me guidance death; e.g., when I see someone else aiming his
on what to do here, since no action-alternative is or her gun but I refrain from interfering. Nor am
held out to be better than the other. These are I acting wrongly when my behavior inadvertently
strange results since we naturally turn to ethics leads to someone’s death; e.g., when I happen to
for action-guidance exactly in difficult cases, and shoot someone while aiming for a tree or some-
most people would probably say that not killing thing similar (given, of course, that I have not
your mother should be my obvious choice. The been inappropriately inattentive). This sort of
external criticism is basically a generalization of thinking obviously relies on two crucial kinds of
this last point: it is noted (especially from the distinctions: (1) that between actions and omis-
utilitarian camp) that there are many situations sions (or active and passive actions) and (2) that
where deontological rules just seem too rigid, and between deliberate and nondeliberate behavior
where we intuitively allow for exceptions. Per- (or intended and merely foreseen outcomes).
haps killing one to save two is morally wrong, but But can these distinctions really be upheld?
what about killing 1 to save 20 – or two million? Many philosophers have criticized similar dis-
Few individuals, when consulting their own tinctions for being both theoretically and norma-
ethical intuitions, would be ready to accept tively untenable, and this is sometimes done with
moral rules as rigid as deontological ethics some- reference to (variations of) the following kind of
times makes them. And therefore deontology has thought experiment.
been accused of not only fostering heartless rule- Say that you are standing next to a railroad
following, but indeed pointless rule-worshipping. track when you suddenly see a runaway trolley
As noted above, some deontologists try to heading straight toward five innocent people. The
avoid these problems by adjusting the stringency only way for you to stop the trolley would be to
of (some) duties or rules. Thus it is often throw a switch which you happen to stand next to;
suggested, for instance, that the prohibition an action which would cause the trolley to roll
against killing is more stringent than the prohibi- down a side track. Unfortunately, there is one
tion against breaking one’s promises (although person on that track as well and your throwing
some deontologists actually have it the other the switch would directly kill this person. What
way around). Furthermore, it is sometimes con- should you do? Empirical studies confirm that,
ceded that there may be exceptional cases where when confronted with this kind of case, most
Deontology 607 D
people say that you should throw the switch. But that deontological ethical thinking can be attrac-
this runs directly against what seems to be tive as such, there is still the question of exactly
a cornerstone of deontological ethics, namely, why one should accept this or that more specific
that actively killing someone should be worse set of deontological rules. For instance, why
than passively letting someone die – note that should killing and stealing be on the list of pro-
you are actively killing the one if you throw the hibitions and not, say, frowning or picking one’s
switch, whereas you only would be letting the nose? A possible answer open to deontologists, as
five die if you did nothing. Deontologists may our discussion above indicates, is that this all
of course insist that the public intuition to this boils down to judgments we intuitively – or per- D
case is wrong, but as noted above they often wish haps naturally – make: Most people simply intu-
to appeal to public conceptions of morality in itively judge that certain actions are morally
support of their views. prohibited, or “feel” that others are permissible.
Some deontological camps have tried to revise Another possible answer, open especially to reli-
their position in light of this kind of problem. gious deontologists, is that the deontological
According to an official Catholic dogma known code ultimately comes from divine commands,
as the Doctrine of Double Effect, for instance, unveiled in scripture or some other way. This is
actions with both good and bad effects (like the sometimes called the Divine Command Theory;
one above) may be morally permissible as long as that is, that moral justification ultimately must
(1) the good clearly outweighs the bad and (2) the come from God or, more specifically, that certain
good effects are not brought about directly actions are morally prohibited simply because
through the bad effects (this is a rough simplifi- God says so. The Divine Command Theory was
cation of the Doctrine). On this view, it may immensely popular among theologians and phi-
indeed be permissible to throw the switch in the losophers during Medieval times.
case above, one may note, since it, firstly, leads to Many modern critics, however, have been
one instead of five dying which clearly is good, largely unimpressed by both of the answers
and, secondly, the bad effect (the death of the outlined above. And so have some deontological
one) is only an unfortunate side effect of the philosophers. The bulk of Kant’s moral philoso-
good (that five lives are saved). However, it phy, for instance, is basically an attempt of pro-
would not be permissible on this view to, say, viding deontological ethics with a more robust
directly push a heavy guy in front of the trolley to fundamental justification. And Kant is generally
make it stop and in this way save the five. Even taken to suggest two more sophisticated ideas of
though this action has the same outcome, namely, what could justify a given deontological code:
the bad effect is no longer an unfortunate side First of all, Kant argues, most examples of deon-
effect but actually a necessary component in what tological duties can be justified by an appeal to
brings about the good effect. Now, is this the universality of morality again. Since morality
Doctrine theoretically plausible? Once again must consist in rules that apply to everyone in the
one may note the obvious risk of watering down same way, he contends, it is immoral to perform
the heart of deontological thinking by adding actions which one cannot at the same time will
these exception clauses. According to critics, fur- that everyone performed. But this directly
thermore, the kind of distinctions that deontolo- implies, for instance, that it is wrong to lie. It is,
gists will have to conjure up in order to explain namely, impossible to lie while at the same time
our reactions to further variations in these cases willing that everyone lied; because in a world
(indeed many further variations have been where everyone lied no one would expect anyone
discussed!) simply seem too arbitrary or ad hoc to tell the truth – and so it would be impossible to
to be plausible. lie. And the same goes for most of the other items
A fourth and final problem for deontological on the deontological list, Kant argues.
ethics concerns the ultimate justification of any A second suggestion from Kant is that many
given deontological code. Even if one accepts deontological duties can be justified from
D 608 Dependent Arising
appealing to the core value of dignity (or respect). ▶ Ethics/Moral theology, Roman-Catholic,
If morality requires that we treat everyone the Europe
same in some important respect, then we cannot ▶ Utilitarianism
treat others merely as means for our own ends, ▶ Virtue Ethics
but we must treat them as ends in themselves.
From this follows directly that we cannot lie, kill
or steal, for instance, because we would then be References
using others merely as means for our own ends. In
both of these suggestions, Kant may be said to Crisp, R. (1995). Deontological ethics. In T. Honderich
(Ed.), The Oxford companion to philosophy. Oxford:
invoke a kind of reasoning similar to the “Golden
Rule” appealed to by many religions – that is, Kamm, F. M. (1993/1996). Morality, morality
roughly the saying that “you must only treat (Vol. I & II). New York: Oxford University Press.
others in a way in which you would like to be Kant, I. (1997/1785). Groundwork of the metaphysics of
morals (trans: Gregor, M.). Cambridge: Cambridge
treated yourself.”
University Press.
While Kant’s suggestions in the present Ross, W. D. (1930). The right and the good. Oxford:
context probably are the most sophisticated to Clarendon.
date, it may be noted that they are both Salzmann, T. A. (1995). Deontology and teleology:
An investigation of the normative debate in roman
problematic. For instance, the “contradiction in
catholic moral theology. Leuven: Peeters Press.
the will” test may work great in the case of lying, Wierenga, E. (1983). A defensible divine command
but many suggest that it does not work in many theory. Noûs, 17(3), 387–407.
other cases. Furthermore, many alternative
interpretations exist for both the appeal to
respect and the Golden Rule as such. Proponents
of utilitarianism, for instance, have argued that Dependent Arising
the Golden Rule – if properly understood – actu-
ally favors their ethical perspective. Finally, Bhikkhu Anālayo
there is a notable discord between Kant’s two Center for Buddhist Studies, University of
suggestions, and some even suggest that they Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
imply different sets of deontological rules.
Perhaps Kant actually could be said to have
paved the way for both of the deontological Related Terms
camps common on the issue of abortion (noted
above): those who argue that abortion is strictly Paticca samuppāda (Pāli); Pratı̄tya samutpāda
forbidden, namely, generally appeal to Kant’s (Sanskrit)
first idea about the universality of rules, and
those in favor of the absolute right of women to
choose generally appeal to Kant’s second idea Description
about respecting people as ends in themselves.
Exactly how deontological ethics should be The doctrine of dependent arising presents the
justified, and what more specific moral rules it Buddhist perspective on the nature of causality,
entails, are likely to be issues for much further whose understanding is considered equivalent to
debate. an understanding of the teaching of the Buddha,
the Dharma (Trenckner and Chalmers
1888–1896, I 190). The centrality of this doctrine
Cross-References is a recurrent theme in various passages.
Thus, dawning insight into dependent arising
▶ Christian Ethics is on record as part of a pre-awakening investiga-
▶ Ethics tion of the nature of reality undertaken by the
Dependent Arising 609 D
Buddha (Feer 1884–1898, II 10). Complete these four noble truths is concerned precisely
insight into the same principle – from the perspec- with the arising of dukkha, while the third noble
tive of dependent arising as well as dependent truth takes up the cessation of dukkha or Nirvāna.
˙
cessation – would have come to its completion Traditional exegesis understands the 12-link
with his attainment of full awakening. The texts exposition of dependent arising as extending over
then report that the Buddha reviewed this doctrine three consecutive lifetimes (Taylor 1905–1907,
right after his successful gaining of awakening I 52). Here, ignorance (1) and volitional reactions
(Steinthal 1885, 1ff), further underlining its (2) pertain to the past. The series of links begin-
importance. ning with consciousness (3) up to becoming D
A stanza that succinctly presents the Buddha’s (10) represent the present, while birth (11) as
teaching in terms of dependent arising and cessa- well as old age and death (12) are assigned to
tion – the mere hearing of which, according to the a future rebirth.
traditional account, led the two chief disciples of Ignorance, as the beginning point of this
the Buddha to attaining the first level of awaken- series, is described as being itself without a dis-
ing (Oldenberg 1879–1882, I 40) – has ever since cernable beginning, since no point in the past can
been a popular theme of inscriptions. be discerned before which living beings were free
The particular soteriological orientation of the from ignorance (Morris and Hardy 1885–1900,
Buddhist teachings finds its reflection in the fact V 113).
that dependent arising is concerned with the fac- Volitional reactions, the second link in the
tors that lead to the arising of dukkha, a term series, can be generated by way of body, speech,
whose meaning ranges from barely noticeable or mind. Such volitional reactions are held to lead
dissatisfaction to outright suffering as inherent in turn to a type of rebirth whose nature corre-
features of human existence (▶ Dukkha). sponds to their wholesome or unwholesome nature
Descriptions of the dependent arising of dukkha (Trenckner and Chalmers 1888–1896, I 389).
often take the form of a 12-link presentation. The third link of consciousness is what
These 12 links are: descends into the mother’s womb (Carpenter
1. Ignorance and Rhys Davids 1890–1911, II 63). However,
2. Volitional reactions it is not the same consciousness that is reborn
3. Consciousness (Trenckner and Chalmers 1888–1896, I 256).
4. Name and form Instead, according to early Buddhist thought
5. Six senses rebirth takes place by way of the flux of
6. Contact consciousness, a changing process devoid of an
7. Feeling abiding permanent entity (▶ Consciousness).
8. Craving The remaining links then depict aspects of
9. Clinging present life experience leading up to the arising
10. Becoming of craving (8) as a reaction to the experience of
11. Birth feeling (7). This in turn arouses clinging (9) and
12. Old age and death then leads on to becoming (10), all of which
The cessation of dukkha comes about through are responsible for rebirth (11) and thereby
the cessation of the previous links in the series of inevitably for having to face once again old age
dependent arising. Thus, with the cessation of and death (12).
ignorance, a reversal of dependent arising by Besides the three-life interpretation of depen-
way of dependent cessation takes place. dent arising, the early Abhidharma tradition
These two aspects of the Buddhist conception presents an alternative mode of interpretation,
of conditionality – dependent arising and depen- according to which the 12 links can be applied
dent cessation – are an integral part of another to a single mind moment (Rhys Davids 1904,
key doctrine of Buddhism, namely, the four noble 144). In this context, the link of birth (11) refers
truths (▶ Truths, Four Noble). The second of just to the arising of mental states. In other words,
D 610 Depression
according to this mode of presentation, the References

operation of all 12 links could take place in the
present, within a single moment. Primary Sources
According to modern scholarship, the formu- Carpenter, J. E., & Rhys Davids, T. W. (Eds.).
lation of dependent arising by way of 12 links
appears to involve a criticism of a Vedic creation Feer, L. (Ed.). (1884–1898). The Samyutta Nikāya
myth (Jurewicz 2000). Instead of leading up to ˙
the creation of the world, the point made by the Morris, R., & Hardy, E. (Eds.). (1885–1900). The
Anguttara Nikāya (5 vols). London/Oxford: Pali Text
Buddhist reinterpretation of this myth would then
Society.
be to reveal the conditioned genesis of dukkha. Oldenberg, H. (Ed.). (1879–1882). Vinayapitakam
The chief principle underlying this aspect of (4 vols). London/ Oxford: Pali Text Society. ˙ ˙
early Buddhist doctrine is the notion of specific Rhys Davids, C. A. F. (Ed.). (1904). The Vibhanga.
London/Oxford: Pali Text Society.
conditionality. This principle finds its succinct
Steinthal, P. (Ed.). (1885). The Udāna. London/Oxford:
expression in the dictum “when this is, that Pali Text Society.
comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises.” Taylor, A. C. (Ed.). (1905–1907). Patisambhidāmagga
˙
Conversely, “when this is not, that does not come
Trenckner, V., & Chalmers, R. (Eds.). (1888–1896). The
to be; with the cessation of this, that ceases” (e.g.,
Majjhima Nikāya (3 vols). London/Oxford: Pali Text
Trenckner and Chalmers 1888–1896, I 262). In Society.
other words, specific conditions are responsible
for whatever happens. Removing these specific Secondary Sources
conditions is therefore the way to prevent the Bucknell, R. S. (1999). Conditioned arising evolves:
same from happening again. Variation and change in textual accounts of the
Paticca-samuppāda doctrine. Journal of the Interna-
This principle of specific conditionality ˙
tional Association of Buddhist Studies, 22(2),
operates in relation to each of the 12 links, inde- 311–342.
pendent of whether the entire set is understood to Jurewicz, J. (2000). Playing with fire: The Pratı̄tya-
refer to the present moment or to extend over samutpāda from the perspective of vedic thought.
Journal of the Pali Text Society, 26, 77–103.
three lifetimes. Illustrations of the same principle
in the early discourses at times take the form of
shorter listings, which may involve only five,
nine, or ten links. Such variant listings confirm
that the 12-link presentation is best considered Depression
a particularly prominent exemplification of the
basic principle of specific conditionality. Joachim Cordes
In Buddhist thought, this basic principle LVR Klinikum D€usseldorf, D€usseldorf, Germany
extends over all aspects of existence. Nirvāna,
˙
however, is held to stand apart as being uncondi-
tioned and therewith the release from all that is Description
conditioned.
According to the World Health Organization
(WHO) depression is a “common mental disorder
Cross-References characterized by depressed mood, loss of interest
or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth,
▶ Causality in Physics disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and
▶ Determinism and Indeterminism poor concentration” (www.who.int). Such symp-
▶ Free Will toms can become chronic or recurrent and
▶ Reality in Buddhism result in an individual no longer being able to
▶ Relations in Buddhism take care of his or her everyday responsibilities.
Depression 611 D
Depression can lead to suicide and results in the demonstrated in several clinical trials and
loss of approximately 850,000 lives every a number of meta-analyses (Fitzgerald and
year (www.who.int). In primary care depression Daskalakis 2011).
can be reliably diagnosed. “Antidepressant med-
ications and structured forms of psychotherapy
are effective for 60–80% of those affected Self-Identification
and can be delivered in primary care”
(www.who.int, Nice 2009). Fewer than 25% of Science
those suffering from depression receive such Psychiatry is the discipline and the clinical and D
treatments. There are many barriers which hinder scientific issues of depression involve subdisci-
the effectiveness of care, including a lack of plines of psychiatry such as psychotherapy, psy-
resources, a lack of trained professionals chopathology, psychopharmacology and
and the social stigma attached to depression subdisciplines of research such as genetic, epide-
(www.who.int). miologic, neuroendocrine, electrophysiologic,
Intermediate phenotypes may be the link neuroimaging and morphologic methods. The
between genotype and phenotype by increasing increase of knowledge about depression is
the precision of psychiatric phenotypes and pro- reflected by national and international scientific
viding further insight into the underlying biology organizations such as the European Depression
(Scharinger et al. 2011). A recent literature Association.
review of neuroimaging intermediate phenotypes The following fields of research are the main
of MDD and their relation to genetic risk variants areas of interest:
shows evidence of the influence of serotonergic
genes on neural intermediate phenotypes Epidemiological Aspects
(Scharinger et al. 2011). The prevalence and clinical phenomenology of
depression in specific populations, different cul-
Comorbidity tures, in couples and families and the influence of
Shared biological vulnerabilities may exist in age, gender and psychosocial factors have been
the comorbidity of type 1 diabetes and investigated (Gotlib and Hammen 2009). Other
MDD (Korczak et al. 2011). A growing body topics are its economic cost, the onset and course
of research suggests that the prevalence of of depression and longitudinal investigations
MDD in children and adolescents with type 1 using interview-based and self-reported measures
diabetes mellitus is much higher than that in as outcomes of depression (Freeland and Carney
youth without type 1 diabetes and is linked 2009). Furthermore, there is increasing knowl-
to heightened illness severity, which suggests edge regarding the relationship between depres-
evidence of plausible common mechanisms sion and medical illness, medical illness as
(Korczak et al. 2011). a predictor of depression, as a cause of depression
and depression as a predictor of the onset of
Treatment medical illness and as a risk factor for morbidity
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and mortality (Freeland and Carney 2009).
(rTMS) is a new treatment within psychiatry
(see chapter ▶ Transcranial Magnetic Stimula- Neurobiological Aspects
tion). The majority of trials carried out have eval- MDD is a heterogeneous clinical entity and is
uated the efficacy of high-frequency rTMS associated with a wide range of trait- and state-
applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex dependent neurobiological instances (Thase
(Fitzgerald and Daskalakis 2011). This “stan- 2009). Research on the neurobiology of depres-
dard” form of rTMS appears to have antidepres- sion began in the late 1950s. The research
sant efficacy and its effects have now been methods focus on transmitter and endocrine
D 612 Depression
systems, peptides, sleep and circadian rhythms, mind-brain relationship remain an area of interest
electrophysiology, anatomical imaging (see for psychiatry irrespective of the progress in
chapter ▶ Neuroimaging) and pathologic and research on the biological basis of mental disor-
animal studies to examine the underlying neural ders (Slosarczyk 2005).
basis of mood and emotion. Increasingly, power-
ful molecular genetic methodologies are being
applied in order to find genetic sequence varia- Relevance to Science and Religion
tions that increase one’s risk of developing
depression (Levinson 2009). “The role of cognitive processes in the religious
experience should be a focus of neuroscience”
Psychological Aspects (Fingelkurts and Fingelkurts 2009). The key
There are links between depression and prenatal question on this topic is “Is our brain hardwired
stress, inadequate parenting, abuse and neglect, to believe in and produce God, or is our brain
early trauma, loss of a parent, social environment hardwired to perceive and experience God?”
and life stress (Goodman and Brand 2009). The (Fingelkurts and Fingelkurts 2009). Aspects of
nature of cognitive processes in depression is religious beliefs may overlap with neurotic and
vital for our understanding of the beginning and psychotic symptoms, sometimes making it diffi-
the maintenance of MDD (Joormann 2009). cult to determine whether they are a resource or
a liability (Koenig 2009).
Treatment of Depression The recent findings of a prospective neuroim-
In randomized blinded placebo-controlled multi- aging study (N ¼ 268) measuring hippocampal
center clinical trials, the efficacy of prevention volume change indicates that hippocampal atro-
and treatment of depression with pharmacother- phy in late life may be influenced by certain types
apy, cognitive behavioral, family and interper- of religious factors (Owen 2011). “Significantly
sonal therapy, psychosocial intervention and greater hippocampal atrophy was observed for
combined approaches were investigated (Gotlib participants reporting a life-changing religious
and Hammen 2009). experience” (Owen 2011). Hippocampal volume
has been linked to clinical conditions, such as
depression (Owen 2011).
Characteristics Recent studies have shown that religion can
serve as a psychological and social resource for
The German system of psychiatric services is coping with stress (Koenig 2009). Religiosity and
separated into psychiatry and psychosomatic sub- other factors such as the availability of supportive
disciplines (Diefenbacher 2005). A lack of others, access to health care systems, short-term
empirical evidence means it is not possible to plans for the future, a strong therapeutic alliance,
assess the advantages and/or shortcomings of problem-solving skills, are recognized protective
these two subdisciplines (Diefenbacher 2005). factors of depression and can protect people from
There is an overlap between the focus of interest suicide (Chentsova-Dutton and Tsai 2009). Reli-
and methods used in psychiatry and affective gion stabilizes the social network whereas the
neuroscience in relation to the neurological dis- lack of stable and supportive social relationships
cipline (Diefenbacher 2005). Recent develop- is associated with a heightened level of depres-
ments in psychiatry have gained a better insight sive symptoms and increased prevalence of
into the biological basis of psychiatric disorders major depression across cultural groups
(Northoff 2008). The concept of neuronal inte- (Chentsova-Dutton and Tsai 2009).
gration may bridge the gap between localization Many studies have shammed a negative rela-
and holism of functions and brain regions tionship, that is, the more religious, the lower the
(Northoff 2008). The dimensions of the depression. Greater religiosity may contribute
Depression 613 D
to development of resilience to depression in Depression,” and this handbook shows the
high-risk individuals (Kasen 2011). Increased broad and diversified nature and development of
religious attendance was associated with signifi- the science surrounding depression.
cantly reduced frequencies for mood disorder
(by 43%) in all offspring (Kasen 2011). The
relationships between religiosity and mental Ethical Principles
health were stronger in males and older adoles-
cents than for females and younger adolescents The care management of a depressive individual
(Wong 2006). with suicidal ideas could lead to an ethical D
Religion can be split into extrinsic aspects dilemma. The therapist has to decide between
relating to religious rituals and intrinsic aspects safety and freedom of the suicidal patient.
showing high levels of spirituality (Nelson 2002). Good clinical practice (GCP) is an interna-
During a trial of 162 patients in palliative-care tional ethical and scientific set of standards for
facilities with a life expectancy <6 months, designing, conducting, recording and reporting
despite a strong negative association between trials that involve the participation of human sub-
spirituality and depressive symptoms, no such jects. Compliance with this standard provides
relationship was found between religiosity and public assurance that the rights, safety and
depressive symptoms (Nelson 2002). well-being of trial subjects are protected, in line
However, there was a lower tendency of with the principles that originate in the Declara-
elderly people with religious affiliations to seek tion of Helsinki (Good Clinical Practice 2002).
treatment for mental health problems seen in the The conditions under which placebo-controlled
National Mental Survey of Elderly Singaporeans trials in depressives are ethical have to defined
in 2004. Compared to those with no religious (Laughren 2001).
affiliation, elderly people of all religious beliefs
showed higher prevalence of mental health prob-
lems, yet reported less frequent treatment to Key Values
health care professionals (Ng 2011).
The research of depression requires conceptual
and operational definitions. It has to consider
Sources of Authority third-variable confounding factors, physical
comorbidities and interacting comorbidities.
Emil Kraepelin, the German psychiatrist, Cultural factors, race, gender and age are just
pioneered the classification of psychiatric disor- some of the factors that influence the course of
der early in this century (Hirschfeld and Goodwin the illness. Research has been carried out on the
1988). He researched both longitudinal history onset, response, remission, recovery and treat-
and the pattern of current symptoms. He pro- ment effects (Ingram and Siegle 2009). An under-
posed that manic-depressive illness “constituted standing of causal issues and the risk of
a genetic spectrum of disorders” (Hirschfeld and recurrence and relapse is needed.
Goodwin 1988). The American Adolph Meyer
saw psychiatric disorders as “primarily the out-
come of interactions between the individual and Conceptualization
the environment” (Hirschfeld and Goodwin
1988). In 1957, Karl Leonhardt, another German World
psychiatrist, proposed that manic-depressive ill- From a clinical perspective, unprecedented
ness be separated into bipolar and monopolar migration being a core dimension of contempo-
disorders. (Ian H. Gotlib and Constance L. rary globalization, poses new challenges to
Hammen 2009) edited the “Handbook of global health on a macro and micro scale.
D 614 Depression
In a world of increasing human mobility, there Perception

are many new outcomes on health influenced by Neuronal oscillations of different frequencies are
transnational interactions between care providers hypothesized to be basic for perception (Pöppel
and care recipients (Koehn 2006). 2009). Perceptual scientists have recently
enjoyed success in constructing mathematical
Human Being theories for specific perceptual capacities
A living human being’s life experiences are “a (Bennett 1991).
dynamic interaction between the environment
around, the environment within and the different Time
forms of consciousness” (Fingelkurts and The subjective experience of time is
Fingelkurts 2009). The human is seen as “a psy- a fundamental constituent of human conscious-
cho-somatic entity consisting of multiple levels ness and can be disturbed under conditions of
and dimensions of human existence (physical, mental disorders (Vogeley and Kupke 2007).
biological, psychological and spiritual reality),
allowing consciousness/mind/spirit and brain/ Consciousness
body/matter to be seen as different sides of the Consciousness consists of the following:
same phenomenon” (Fingelkurts and Fingelkurts A default consciousness, which is “a primary
2009). default state differentiating the living from the
dead and the non-living” (Singh and Singh
Life 2011). Consciousness also consists of a state of
Life changes occur as part of passing from one aware consciousness which includes the different
stage to another during the course of maturation stages from awake to sleep, including drowsy,
and development and in particular the behavior dreamy, non-dreamy, etc., as well as altered
and role-function adaptions that an individual is states such as delirious, comatose, illusionary,
required to make in response to age-related hallucinating, etc. (Singh and Singh 2011). Con-
changes over which he or she has little, if any, sciousness is also a state of operational con-
control (WHO Library Cataloguing in Publica- sciousness wherein all observable/unobservable
tion Data 1994). brain operations like cognition, perception, emo-
tion, conation, etc., result (Singh and Singh
Reality 2011). Consciousness is, finally, also a state of
“The perception of living human reality is regu- exalted consciousness wherein the brain estab-
lated by the environment around, the environment lishes a link with the “inner self,” the divine,
within and the consciousness that helps him make
God, soul, etc. (Singh and Singh 2011).
sense of both” (Fingelkurts and Fingelkurts 2009).
Rationality
Knowledge Human decisions cannot be explained solely by
“To know yourself, your purpose of life and tal- rational imperatives but are strongly influenced
ents and taking these into full use and becoming by emotion (Coricelli et al. 2007). Convergent
coherent with life inside and reality outside is evidence demonstrates the varying contributions
what human life is essentially about” (Ventegodt of various regions of the prefrontal cortex to
et al. 2005). cognitive control (Ridderinkhof et al. 2004). The-
oretical and behavioral studies provide an empir-
Truth ical basis to the impact of the emotion of regret in
Evidence-based medicine supports validated guiding choice behavior (Coricelli et al. 2007).
strategies. Science tries to force “the truth way”
of treatment. Science is strategically planned and Mystery
uses a method described as principle-based con- The corresponding activities of the neural net-
cept analysis (Penrod and Hupcey 2005). work occur only in harmony with physical laws;
Depression 615 D
however, this fact does not necessarily imply that In I. H. Gotlib, & C. L. Hammen (Eds.), Handbook of
there can be a comprehensive scientific theory of depression (2nd ed., pp. 218–248). New York/London:
The Guilford Press.
consciousness, despite all the progress in neuro- Diefenbacher, A. (2005). Psychiatry and psychosomatic
biology, neuropsychology and neurocomputation medicine in Germany: Lessons to be learned? The
(Gierer 2008). The brain-mind relationship may Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry,
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Determinism and Indeterminism 617 D
speaking, determinism is the doctrine that all
Dervish past, present, and future events – including all
acts of the will and all occurrences in nature –
▶ Mysticism in Islam are determined and cannot but take place in the
way they take place. Indeterminism is the nega-
tion of determinism; to deny determinism is to
affirm indeterminism.
Desire Versions of determinism and indeterminism
have been around for millennia. One of the oldest D
▶ Love (Affective, Sexual) known forms of determinism is theological deter-
minism. In more recent centuries, it is physical
determinism that has attracted the most philo-
sophical attention. In what follows we will survey
Desires some main forms of theological and physical
determinism and indeterminism, along with
▶ Passion and Emotion, Theories of their underlying motivations, some of their
main difficulties, and some of their mutual
interrelations.
Destiny Theological Determinism

Theological determinism consists in the belief,
▶ Eschatology roughly put, that there is one unique way in
which the world (including human history) will
unfold, and that this one unique way has, prior to
its unfolding, been “fixed” by a deity or Ultimate
Determinism
Reality of some sort. There is not one but various
“theological determinisms,” however. Theologi-
▶ Causality in Physics
cal determinisms differ from each other by virtue
of the nature of the relevant deity; the deity can be
believed to be the God of classical theism, Zeus,
Determinism and Indeterminism Fate, the stars (construed as divine beings), and so
on. Theological determinisms also differ from
Anders Kraal each other by virtue of the way in which the
Department of Philosophy, University of British relevant deity is believed to have fixed the one
Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada unique unfolding of the world; it could be by
divine decree, causation, permission, concur-
rence, or foreknowledge (or combinations of
Related Terms these), and so on. A third way in which theolog-
ical determinisms differ from each other pertains
Compatibilism and incompatibilism; Indetermin- to the role that human beings and/or other agents
ism; Physical determinism and indeterminism; are believed to play in the unfolding of the one
Theological determinism and indeterminism unique story of the world – Do they play an active
role in this story, contributing something to it by
their volitions and actions? Or are they, say, mere
Description puppets, subject to an illusion of free volition and
action but lacking the real thing?
Determinism and indeterminism are large-scale A major representative of theological deter-
doctrines about the nature of reality. Roughly minism in Western thought is Augustine of
D 618 Determinism and Indeterminism
Hippo (354–430). In a famous passage in De mind that it is a specific kind of free will and
civitate Dei (i.e., I.V.9–10) Augustine upholds a specific kind of determinism that are here spo-
two seemingly contradictory doctrines: first, that ken of. The conception of free will at play in
God has fixed a unique order of events (omnium Augustine’s reasoning is a conception according
ordo causarum) according to which the world to which a person acts out of free will if he or she
will unfold ([c. 413–427] 1963, 174); and second, does what he or she wills to do, and the concep-
that human beings notwithstanding this fixed tion of determinism at play is one according to
order of events have free will (voluntatis arbitrio) which everything that happens cannot but happen
([c. 413–427] 1963, 176). since God in his foreknowledge has already seen
The main sources of motivation for both doc- it happen.
trines are largely theological. The motivation for A second major representative of theological
the first doctrine is provided for by the doctrine of determinism in Western thought is the Protestant
divine foreknowledge. Since Augustine, qua Reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546). In his
orthodox Christian, believes that God knows much-read and controversial book De Servo
everything and hence also all future events, it Arbitrio (1525), Luther upholds, among other
follows that he is committed to the belief that things, the following two doctrines: first, that
there is one unique way in which the world will “all things happen according to God’s immuta-
unfold, namely, the way foreseen by God. The ble, eternal, and infallible will” (omnia
main motivation for the second doctrine is pro- incommutabili et aeterna infallibilique voluntate
vided for by considerations pertaining to moral et praevidet et propouit et facit) ([1525] 1908,
responsibility and the appropriateness of punish- 615); and second, that this entails that human
ments and rewards. Since Augustine, qua ortho- beings lack “free will” (liberum arbitrium)
dox Christian, believes that moral responsibility ([1525] 1908, 615).
exists and that punishments and rewards are The motivation for both of these doctrines is
appropriate, and given that moral responsibility, theological. The first doctrine is supported by
on the part of human beings, presupposes that considerations deriving from divine foreknowl-
human beings act not under compulsion but out edge. Luther argues that since God foreknows all
of free will, it follows that Augustine is commit- things that happen and since all things that are
ted to the belief that human beings have free will. foreknown are foreknown according to God’s
Augustine is aware that there at least seems to immutable, eternal, and infallible will, it follows
be a tension between the above two doctrines, and that all things happen according to God’s immu-
so he adduces various considerations that show, or table, eternal, and infallible will. The second
purport to show, that the two doctrines do not doctrine is taken to be a corollary of the first
conflict with each other. A first such consideration doctrine (although Luther also seeks to support
is that human volition is dependent on God in that it by independent biblical proof-texts): since all
human beings cannot will anything if God’s will things happen according to God’s immutable,
does not first permit that they will be the thing in eternal, and infallible will, there can be no such
question. A second consideration is that in con- thing as human free will.
nection with a human being’s act of willing to do Luther claims that his above position is in
something, God is the one who grants the power agreement with the position of Augustine
which translates the volition into the action in ([1525] 1908, 640). At first sight this might only
question. A third consideration is that human voli- seem to be partly true: Luther’s first doctrine, that
tions are part of the order of events which consti- all things happen according to God’s will, seems
tutes the one unique unfolding of the world. to agree with Augustine’s doctrine that there is
Although the above considerations yield an a fixed order of events that God has foreseen and
understanding according to which free will and caused to be; but Luther’s second doctrine, that
determinism are compatible, it should be borne in divine foreknowledge entails that human beings
lack free will, seems to be the very opposite of practices unintelligible. Take prayer, for exam-
Augustine’s claim that divine foreknowledge is ple. What point is there in praying to God to
consistent with the claim that human beings have intervene in some worldly event if it is already
free will. determined what will take place? It was partly in
The apparent conflict between Augustine’s response to such questions that the classical phi-
affirmation and Luther’s denial of human free losopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–
will is only apparent, however. As Luther makes 1716) – himself a Lutheran – wrote his Theodicy
clear, in denying the existence of human free will (1710), in which he retorted that if an event is
he is using the expression “free will” in the sense determined beforehand then the cause of the D
of “a power of freely turning in any direction, event (e.g., which can be divine intervention in
yielding to none and subject to none” (possit in answer to prayer) must also be determined, in
utrunque se vertere, neque ea vis ulli caedat vel which case there is all the point in the world to
subiecta) ([1525] 1908, 637). And he also makes keep praying (e.g., Leibniz [1710] 1952, 57).
it very clear that he is not denying that human
beings act not under compulsion but willingly Theological Indeterminism
and spontaneously (sponte et libenti voluntate) A theological indeterminist can be described as
([1525] 1908, 634). So Luther’s denial of human someone who believes that there exists a deity but
free will is a denial of man’s ability to will and to who denies that this belief entails one unique
act without being subject to an overriding divine story of the unfolding of the world. There are
will; and this denial is in full agreement with two basic ways of harmonizing the relevant belief
Augustine’s position. Moreover, Augustine’s with the relevant denial.
affirmation of human free will is an affirmation A first attempt to harmonize the belief in
of the spontaneous willing and non-coerced a deity with the denial of a fixed order of events
nature of human action, and this affirmation is in consists simply in denying that God has fore-
full agreement with Luther’s position. Thus, knowledge of all future events, which, as we
although Augustine and Luther employ different have seen, functions as a main rationale for theo-
terms and phrases, their respective positions are logical determinism. This strategy was adopted
nonetheless in fundamental agreement. They by some ancient philosophers, including Marcus
both subscribe to a form of theological determin- Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.), and has recently
ism according to which God’s attributes or been revived in contemporary Anglo-American
actions ensure that all things cannot but unfold philosophy of religion by the so-called Open the-
in one unique way, and that human volition and ists such as William Hasker (1989). A core tenet
action cannot alter this one unique way, although of Open theism is the belief that the future is not
this does not mean that human volition and action fixed, which is taken to be allowed for partly by
is non-spontaneous or coerced. denying that God has foreknowledge of all future
Theological determinism has been objected to events and partly by affirming that human beings
on various grounds. A common objection is that have libertarian free will (i.e., a will that is able to
the position is theologically defective in that it select between equally possible courses of action
renders genuine love of God impossible. Genuine unrestrictedly).
love, it is said, is always free and never subject A second attempt to harmonize the belief in
to necessity, theological, or otherwise. If so, then a deity with a fixed order of events consists in
genuine love of God cannot exist in a world in arguing that divine foreknowledge simply does
which all events are already determined. So in not entail that there is one unique story of the
order for it to be possible to genuinely love God, unfolding of the world. This strategy has been
theological determinism must be false. fleshed out in various different ways. One such
Another objection to theological determinism way, endorsed for example by Alvin Plantinga
has it that the position renders many religious (1986), consists in introducing a distinction
between “hard facts” which hold necessarily, and particular its claim, that all physical, material
“soft facts” about the past, which hold only con- phenomena move mechanically by virtue of
tingently, and then arguing that God’s foreknowl- laws of nature, encouraged deterministic ways
edge is of the category of a soft fact, and hence is of thinking. For if one grants that human beings
a contingent matter. This has been held to allow are material, physical phenomena the obvious
for indeterminacy in the world. conclusion is that also human behavior is entirely
The main motivation or theological indeter- determined by laws of nature.
minism derives in large part from a belief in the Drawing on the idea of laws of nature, the
existence of libertarian free will. That is, it is following influential definition of (physical)
believed that human beings have the ability to determinism has been offered: “Determinism. . .
select between a variety of equally possible is the thesis that there is at any instant exactly
courses of action, without being subject to any one physically possible future” or again: “given
overriding divine or non-divine will. Given this the past and the laws of nature, there is only one
belief, an admission of some sort of indetermi- possible future” (van Inwagen 1983, 3, 65). The
nacy in the world and in God’s dealings with the number of philosophers subscribing to determin-
world seems warranted. ism, understood roughly along lines of this defi-
Critics of theological indeterminism have nition, seems to be vast, and includes, among
often sought to undermine the position by arguing others, the Enlightenment philosopher David
either that God does have foreknowledge of Hume (1711–1776), logical positivists of the
all future events, or that the various attempts to mid-twentieth century such as Moritz Schlick
harmonize divine foreknowledge with indetermi- (1882–1936), and a large company of contempo-
nacy in the world are untenable. The first strategy rary analytic philosophers, among which perhaps
is pursued mainly against theological indetermin- Daniel Dennett is the most prominent.
ists like Hasker who deny divine foreknowledge, The main motivation for physical determinism
and the second strategy is pursued mainly against seems to be that it is the natural outcome of a
theological indeterminists, like Plantinga, who naturalistic world-view. On a naturalistic world-
concede divine foreknowledge but deny the infer- view, human beings are understood as entirely
ence of theological determinism. natural, physical, and biological phenomena,
and like all natural, physical, and biological phe-
Physical Determinism nomena their motion or behavior is to be under-
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, stood as the outcome of the operation of the laws
a new form of determinism gained momentum of nature. This natural outcome, it seems, can
and subsequently replaced theological determin- only be avoided by positing some immaterial
ism as the main form of determinism in philo- extra component in human beings – a “soul,”
sophical discussions, namely, physical for example – or by denying that the motion or
determinism. Indeed, physical determinism has behavior of material, physical, and biological
so come to dominate philosophical discussion phenomena can be fully explained via reference
that many contemporary philosophers use the to operations of the laws of nature, both of
term “determinism” as more or less equivalent which strategies seem to fit ill with a naturalistic
to what we are here calling physical determinism, world-view.
often regarding theological determinism as “a There are at least four major types of objections
mere historical puzzle” or “intellectual amuse- to physical determinism in the contemporary phil-
ment” (Dennett 1984, 171). osophical literature, deriving from considerations
That physical determinism gained momentum pertaining to free will, morality, what is up to
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries human beings, and quantum mechanics respec-
was connected in part with the emergence of tively. In what follows we will survey each of
Newtonian physics. Newtonian physics, and in these three major types of objections.
A first objection to physical determinism Physical Indeterminism
derives from considerations pertaining to free Like theological indeterminism, physical indeter-
will, and goes roughly as follows: If physical determinism is a negative position, and can be defined
minism were true, then human free will could not as the negation of physical determinism. Accord-
exist, for human free will requires that a person is ingly, if physical determinism is defined, as in the
able to select one of several possible courses of foregoing, as the thesis that given the past and the
action, which would not be possible if physical laws of nature there is only one possible future,
determinism were true. But we know from human physical indeterminism can be defined as the
experience that human beings have free will, and denial of this thesis. Physical indeterminism is, D
so physical determinism must be false. thus, consistent with the claim that given the past
A second objection to physical determinism and the laws of nature there are several possible
derives from considerations pertaining to moral- futures. One of the most prominent contemporary
ity, and goes roughly as follows: If physical representatives of physical determinism is the
determinism were true, then there could be no aforementioned van Inwagen.
such thing as genuine human morality and There are at least three main sources of moti-
responsibility, for genuine human morality and vation for contemporary physical indeterminism.
responsibility requires that human beings could A first source of motivation is provided for by
have done otherwise than they in fact did. But human free will. It is maintained that human
there is such a thing as genuine human morality beings have free will and that free will entails
and responsibility, and so physical determinism that human beings have the ability to choose
must be wrong. between two equally possible courses of action,
A third and in recent times much-discussed or alternatively put, an ability to have done oth-
objection to physical determinism is the so-called erwise than one in fact did. But if one is to have
Consequence-argument of Peter van Inwagen, the ability to choose between two equally possi-
which draws on considerations pertaining to ble courses of action or to have done otherwise
what can be said to be “up to” human beings than one in fact did, then physical determinism
and what cannot. The argument goes roughly as must be false and hence physical determinism
follows: Physical determinism entails that human be true. So given that free will exists, physical
actions are the consequences of the laws of nature indeterminism must be true.
and events in the remote past. But it is not up to us A second source of motivation for physical
what the laws of nature are and what events went indeterminism is provided for by human morality
on in the remote past. Hence, the consequences of and could be regarded as an adaptation of the first
the laws of nature and events in the remote source of motivation. It is maintained that mor-
past cannot – in contrary to what physical deter- ally significant human acts require that human
minism implies – be up to us (see van Inwagen beings could have acted otherwise than they in
1983, 16). fact acted (a principle often called “the Principle
A fourth objection to physical determinism of Alternate Possibilities”). But if it is to be
draws on modern scientific theory, and, in partic- possible that one was able to have acted other-
ular, a central postulate of quantum mechanics wise than one in fact acted, then physical deter-
which allows for indeterministic properties on the minism must be false and hence physical
part of submicroscopic, subatomic particles. If indeterminism be true. Accordingly, given that
this postulate of quantum mechanics is correct, human morality exists, it follows that physical
it may be wrong to say that the behavior of all indeterminism must be true.
material phenomena is determined by laws of A third source of motivation for physical inde-
nature, for there will then be at least one kind of terminism derives from quantum mechanics.
material phenomena that may not thus be Since, as has been said earlier, a central postulate
determined. of quantum mechanics allows for indeterminacy
in the world, it is judged that physical determin- otherwise than one actually acted. In a famous
ism is probably mistaken and hence physical paper from 1969, Harry Frankfurt adduces vari-
indeterminism probably true. ous intuitively appealing thought-experiments
The above sources of motivation for physical which aim at undermining this principle (nowa-
indeterminism have not gone unchallenged, days known as “Frankfurt-counterexamples”).
however, and especially the first and second Imagine, for example, that a certain man called
sources of motivation have been subjected to Black is able to manipulate the brain of a certain
much criticism. In what follows we will survey man called Jones in such a way as to be able to
two major objections against each of these two prevent Jones from carrying out any action that
sources of motivation. he, Black, does not want Jones to carry out.
A first objection against the first above source Suppose further that Jones performs a series of
of motivation consists in the claim that free will actions that we would ordinarily consider are
does not entail an ability to choose between two morally significant – whether good or bad
equally possible courses of action. According to makes no difference – without Black preventing
Hume’s famous definition, for example, free will this. Would we say that Jones is morally respon-
consists simply in a certain “liberty of spontane- sible for these actions? It seems we would. But
ity,” which is defined as “that which is opposed to then note: Black could have prevented Jones from
violence” (Hume [1739–40] 2009, 262). That is to carrying out any other series of actions than the
say, a person acts out of free will if he or she acts series of actions he actually carried out, and so
not under compulsion but willingly. Given this Jones cannot be said to have been able to
alternative conception of free will, it is simply have acted otherwise than he in fact acted (see
false to say that free will entails an ability to Frankfurt 1969). Many philosophers have judged
choose between equally possible courses of these sorts of counterexamples thoroughly per-
action. suasive, and have accordingly rejected the
A second objection to the first above source of Principle of Alternate Possibilities as mistaken.
motivation consists in a so-called conditional A second major objection to the second above-
analysis of the phrase that one “could have done mentioned source of motivation denies that the
otherwise” than one in fact did. At first sight it question of whether one could have acted other-
might seem that phrase of this sort require an wise than one in fact acted is even relevant to the
“ability” on the part of free agents to select question of the morality of an action. This is the
between two possible courses of action. Against position of Dennett in his much-discussed book
this, G.E. Moore (1873–1958) famously argued, Elbow Room (1984). The answer to the question
in his book Ethics (1912), that the relevant sort of whether one could have acted otherwise than one
phrases seem rather to be analyzable in terms of did, says Dennett, “could not conceivably make
conditionals, such that, say, the phrase “Peter any noticeable difference to the way the world
could have refrained from eating lunch” is ana- went” (1984, 138). The basic idea here is that
lyzable in terms of the conditional “if Peter had sufficient conditions for the moral status of an
willed to refrain from eating lunch, he would action are located in the action itself, irrespective
have refrained from eating lunch.” Given this of whether the action was one of several possible
style of analysis, it seems false to say that free actions that the subject could have performed. If
will requires an ability to have selected an alter- Dennett’s reasoning on this point is correct, then
native course of action from the course one actu- the Principle of Alternate Possibilities will be
ally selected. mistaken and the presently considered second
Turning to the second above source of moti- source of motivation for physical indeterminism
vation for physical indeterminism, we may note will be undermined.
the following three major objections: A first A third major objection to the second above-
objection takes issue with the idea that moral mentioned source of motivation for physical
responsibility requires an ability to have acted indeterminism takes issue with the very idea
that human beings are genuinely responsible for Among the more noticeable differences
their actions. In his book Freedom and Belief between theological and physical determinism,
(1986), Galen Strawson has developed the following two are worth pointing out.
a powerful argument for the claim that human First, theological determinism can be seen to
beings are not genuinely responsible for their allow for a greater variety of possible causes of
choices and actions. The argument goes roughly action than physical determinism. Physical deter-
as follows: The choices one makes and the minism sees actions as caused exclusively by the
actions one performs are largely a function of operation of laws of nature on material phenom-
one’s character; in order to be fully or genuinely ena; theological determinism allows for such D
responsible for one’s choices and actions one causes, but allows equally for agent causation
must accordingly be fully or genuinely responsi- (both human and divine), and for further kinds
ble for one’s character; but in order to be fully or of causation as well (if such there be).
genuinely responsible for one’s character one Second, theological determinism takes the
must have chosen to be the way one is; however, one unique and fixed way in which the world
no one has ever chosen to be the way one is; unfolds to be ensured by a deity, and hence to
accordingly, no one is genuinely responsible for allow for an element of teleology or goal-
his or her choices and actions (see Strawson directedness. Physical determinism, on the
1986, 28–29). If Strawson’s present argument is other hand, takes the laws of nature and the
cogent, then the presently considered source of existence of matter to be sufficient determinants
motivation for physical indeterminism will be for the one unique unfolding of the world, and
subverted. hence allows for no teleology or goal-
directedness in this unfolding.
Interrelations Between Theological and
Physical Determinism
Among the various similarities between theolog- Cross-References
ical and physical determinism, the following two
are particularly interesting. ▶ Divine Action
First, both theological and physical determin- ▶ Free Will
ism are in agreement that the events of the world ▶ Metaphysics
cannot but unfold in exactly the way in which ▶ Quantum Theory
they unfold. There is simply no other genuine
possibility: either a certain event has been fore-
seen or it has not been foreseen, or will result
References
from the operation of the laws of nature on matter
or will not thus result, and so it is either necessary Augustine of Hippo. (1963). The city of god against
that it takes place or it is impossible that it takes the pagans/De civitate Dei (trans: Green, W.M.).
place. In other words, the unfolding of the world Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Dennett, D. (1984). Elbow room. The varieties of free will
is already fixed.
worth wanting. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Second, both theological and physical deter- Frankfurt, H. (1969). Alternate possibilities and moral
minism are typically associated with a non- responsibility. The Journal of Philosophy, 66(23),
libertarian, compatibilist understanding of 829–839.
Hasker, W. (1989). God, time and knowledge. Ithaca/
human volition. Thus, it is not surprising to London: Cornell University Press.
find that major representatives of theological Hume, D. ((1739–1740), 2009). A treatise of human
and physical determinism, such as Augustine nature (eds. DF Norton and MJ Norton). Oxford:
and Hume, in spite of all their differences, nev- Oxford University Press.
Leibniz, G.W. ([1710] 1952). Theodicy: Essays on the
ertheless, agree in taking human free will to con-
goodness of god, the freedom of man and the origin
sist in a subject’s not acting under coercion but of evil (trans: Huggard, E.M.). London: Routledge &
rather doing what he or she wills to do. Kegan Paul.
D 624 Deterministic and Nondeterministic Turing Machine
Luther, M. ([1525] 1908). De Servo Arbitrio. In D. Martin

Luthers Werke, Weimar Ausgabe (Vol. 18, Developmental Psychology
pp. 551–787).
Moore, G. E. (1912). Ethics. London: Oxford University
Press. Richard M. Lerner1 and Jacqueline V. Lerner2
1
Plantinga, A. (1986). On Ockham’s way out. Faith and Eliot-Pearson Department of Child
Philosophy, 3(3), 235–269. Development, Institute for Applied Research in
Strawson, G. (1986). Freedom and belief. Oxford:
Clarendon. Youth Development, Tufts University, Medford,
van Inwagen, P. (1983). An essay on free will. Oxford: MA, USA
2
Clarendon. Department of Counseling, Developmental, and
Educational Psychology, Lynch School of
Education, Boston College, Chestnut Hill,
MA, USA
Deterministic and Nondeterministic
Turing Machine
Description
Gómez González Daniel
Universidad Complutense De Madrid, Developmental psychology involves the descrip-
Madrid, Spain tion, explanation, and optimization of
intraindividual change and of interindividual dif-
ferences in such change (Baltes et al. 1977). The
A Turing machine is a theoretical machine that study of development involves seeking to
manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according describe, explain, and optimize the course (tra-
to a table of rules. Despite its simplicity, a Turing jectories) of such changes and, as well, of
machine can be adapted to simulate the logic of interindividual differences in intraindividual
any computer algorithm and is particularly useful change across the life span. In other words,
in explaining the functions of a CPU inside there are three goals of the science of develop-
a computer. In computational complexity mental psychology: (1) describe the nature of
discipline, a deterministic Turing machine is a development for individuals and groups,
theoretical machine that is used in thought exper- (2) explain the nature of development for indi-
iments to examine the abilities and limitations of viduals and groups, and because of the interest in
algorithms. In a deterministic Turing machine, using developmental science to improve the
the set of rules impose at most one action to be human condition, (3) optimize, as much as possi-
performed for any given situation. In a nondeter- ble, the trajectories of development. Here, then,
ministic Turing machine, it may have a set of the key questions for developmentalists are what
rules that prescribes more than one action for a characteristics of people and what attributes of
given situation. the environment need to be engaged in what
manners and during what portions of the life
span to increase the probability that individuals
will thrive across the life span (Lerner 2002)?
Deus Ex Machina As suggested by the focus of questions about
optimization on both the individual and his or her
▶ God of the Gaps environmental setting, today, the cutting edge
of developmental psychological theory sees
development as involving mutually influential
relations between the individual and his or her
Development context. That is, the fundamental, or basic,
process of development is a relation between
▶ Biology of Religion individual and context. As such, development is
Developmental Psychology 625 D
neither an individual “unfolding,” for example, and function of the system reduces the potentially
due to genetic influences, and it is not a infinite complexity of the system and, as such,
consequence of an environmental molding of an enables the identification of continuous instances
essentially passive organism. Accordingly, the of structure and function. In short, change across
focus within the contemporary study of human the life span occurs within a dynamic develop-
development is on concepts and models associ- mental system that creates both constancy and
ated with relational developmental systems variation.
theories. As marked by differences across the six
Such theories focus on the mutually influential editions of the most important reference work in D
relations among variables from the multiple the field, the Handbook of Child Psychology
levels of organization (ranging from the biologi- (1946, 1954, 1970, 1983, 1998, and 2006), the
cal through the sociocultural and historical) that current emphasis within this subdiscipline on
comprise the ecology of human development. relational developmental systems theories,
These relations may be termed dynamic interac- reflects a remarkable change in the predominant
tions or developmental regulations, which theoretical foci used to study human development
intends the mutual influence between one vari- (Damon and Lerner 2006). There has been
able within the developmental system and a change from reductionist accounts that stressed
another variable or variables within the develop- the development arose from either nature (e.g.,
mental system, and they are typically represented genes) or nurture (e.g., environmental stimuli), or
as individual ←! context relations. The inclu- from simplistic combinations of variables associ-
sion of history within these theories provides ated with nature or nurture, to the above-noted
a temporal component to the system and gives focus on mutually influential, individual ←!
the system a basis for change. Indeed, historical context relations emphasized within contempo-
embeddedness and temporality are among the rary relational developmental systems theories.
defining features of contemporary relational These changes in theoretical models within
developmental systems theories of human devel- the field have resulted in another major change,
opment. Other concepts are relationism, which is one involving the professional identity of scien-
the idea that the fundamental character of life tists working in this field. A decade ago, most
involves relations among entities, that to be is to scholars studying human development labeled
be in relation, and that there are no entities split the field as either developmental psychology or,
off or isolated in their structure or function from if they were not themselves psychologists, as
relations with the other components of the ecol- a field wherein one had to recognize that psycho-
ogy of life; the integration of levels of organiza- logical science was the predominant lens through
tion, i.e., the components of the ecology of which the span of human life was studied. Today,
development, ranging from micro tiers (e.g., however, the field has become much more deeply
levels within a person, such as his/her genes, and broadly multidisciplinary (and, in some sub-
brain, or cognitive or emotional characteristics) areas, actually interdisciplinary or, in other
through macro tiers (e.g., society, culture, and words, disciplinarily integrative, for example,
historical era); relative ▶ plasticity (the potential developmental cognitive neuroscience). As
for systematic change in structure or function a consequence, more and more scholars of
across life), ▶ diversity, and ▶ self-organization human development refer to their field as devel-
(Overton 2006). opmental science (Bornstein and Lamb 2010).
Self-organization arises because dynamic Developmental science seeks to describe,
interactions within a developmental system explain, and optimize changes across the life
involve a dialectic between system-changing span in within-person change and differences
and system-constraining relations. Such between people in within-person change.
a balance between changes that make the system The change of name for the field studying the
different and changes that maintain the structure human life span reflects in large part a key
D 626 Developmental Psychology
intellectual change that we have noted is reflected both as valuable tools for the analysis of the life
across the various editions of the Handbook of course and as a means to triangulating quantita-
Child Psychology: the certain “demise” of split tive appraisals of human development; as such,
conceptions of the nature-nurture issue and of there has been a growth in the use of traditional
reductionistic approaches to either nature formu- qualitative methods, along with the invention of
lations (sociobiology or behavior genetics) or to new qualitative techniques (Baltes et al. 1977;
nurture formulations (e.g., approaches that Lerner 2002).
attempt to account for development through ref- Finally, it should be noted that this exciting
erence to stimulus-response relations or through and innovative period in developmental theory
an analysis of the function of stimuli); the ascen- and methodology has been framed by a renewed
dancy of focus on relational developmental sys- appreciation of the importance of the application
tems models, conceptions that seek to fuse of theory-predicated research to promote positive
systemically the levels of organization involved development across the life span. Increasingly,
in the ecology of human development (from biol- then, across the last two decades, developmental
ogy and physiology through culture and history; scientists have been involved in conducting
and the emphasis on relations among levels and research that informs, testing ideas associated
not on the “main effects” of any level itself, as with, or evaluating policies or community-based
constituting the fundamental units of analysis of programs aimed at enhancing the lives of diverse
developmental analysis. individuals, families, and communities.
Indeed, as illustrated by the range of chapters
in the 2006, sixth edition of the Handbook of
Child Psychology that are an instance of or, at Self-identification
the least, are framed by developmental systems
ideas about the relational processes linking the Science
multiple, integrated levels of organization within Yes. Developmental science rests on a commit-
the ecology of human development, there exists ment to the scientific method and, hence, to
a diverse theoretical family of such models that empiricism. Indeed, the identity of the field,
are used to conceptualize both “traditional” areas reflected by preference for labeling the field as
of interest within the study of human develop- developmental science, involves an explicit com-
ment, for example, biological development; mitment of the field, and of the scholars working
perceptual and motor development; personality, within it, to science.
affective, and social development; culture and The subdiscipline is a field of science that, as
development; cognitive development; and noted, rests on empiricism. Accordingly, the
“emergent” areas of intellectual interest, for epistemology of developmental science is framed
example, the development of diverse children, by empiricism and the other core components of
positive human development, and – of particular the scientific method – systematic and purposeful
relevance to this encyclopedia – spiritual and observations, replication, communication, cor-
religious development (Damon and Lerner 2006). rection, and the accumulation of knowledge.
These theoretical emphases on individual The ontology of developmental science is also
←! context relations within developmental sci- predicated on empiricism, that is, to be is to be
ence fortunately have been coupled with enor- capable of observation. Entities that cannot be
mous, recent advances in quantitative statistical made empirical or in some way made available
approaches, arguably especially in regard to the to observation cannot be useful within this ontol-
longitudinal methods required to appraise the ogy. Because current beliefs within developmen-
changing relations within the developmental sys- tal science about explanation, and hence about
tem between the individual and the context. causality, emphasize the centrality of falsifica-
Moreover, there has been an increased appreciation, causal statements for which there are no
tion of the importance of qualitative methods, empirical referents – for which there are no
possible observations that can falsify the state- a psychological (cognitive and emotional) facet
ment – are not part of the science (Overton 2006). of human functioning and as an institutional force
Of course, concepts such as spirit, grace, or organizing and shaping human behavior – and
holiness can be operationalized, thus, made spirituality, whether linked to religion or faith or
empirical, and thereby become available to be directed to senses of awe or transcendence in
the focus of scientific study. Therefore, facets of regard to involvement in the natural social or
religiosity or spirituality may quite appropriately physical ecological world, are ubiquitous facets
be topics of inquiry within developmental of human behavior and development. In a science
science. However, when such constructs are part aimed at describing, explaining, and optimizing D
of one’s faith – that is, a commitment to a belief human development, especially when that sci-
that does not require empirical verification and is ence is framed by a relational developmental
not subject to empirical falsification – they are systems approach that focuses on individual
not part of science. These terms of faith are part ←! context relations, religion and spirituality
of a nonscientific (but epistemologically equiva- become essential substantive foci of scholarship.
lent in our view) way of knowing. As noted earlier, this substantive focus was
In short, many scientists, including develop- included within the 2006 sixth edition of the
mental scientists, are religious. They may there- major reference work in the field of development
fore use ideas such as spirit and faith as empirical science, that is, the Handbook of Child Psychol-
concepts available for scientific study or as con- ogy. In addition, religion and spirituality were
cepts linked to their religion. When the latter use also a focus within the most recent, 2009, third
of these concepts is employed, these ideas are edition of the also influential Handbook of Ado-
part of a different system of knowing and being lescent Psychology. Similarly in the first edition
and not components of a scientific approach to of the Handbook of Life-Span Development, there
knowing and being. is also a chapter on the role of religious and
spiritual development across the course of
human life (Scarlett and Warren 2010).
Characteristics
Whereas all development involves change, not all Sources of Authority

changes involve development. Development
involves systematic, organized, and successive In science, which rests on the communication to the
changes across the life span in the relations scholarly community of one’s empirical work and,
within and among levels of organization within therefore, on peer review and correction, and poten-
the ecology of human development. No other tially final inclusion of one’s work in the accumu-
subdiscipline of psychology, or of social and lated archival record of the field, peer-reviewed
behavioral science more generally, has this publications are the main sources of authority.
focus on developmental change. Developmental science shares this commitment to
the authority of peer-reviewed publications.
In addition, when one has attained the stature
Relevance to Science and Religion of being a major contributor to the empirical
status of a field, one may be asked by scholarly
Are there any attributes of human development societies and/or publishers to organize major
that are distinct from and, perhaps, evolutionarily reference works, contributions that reflect the
discontinuous with the attributes of structure integrative state of the art of the field and that
and function found in other species? Arguably, reflect the maturity and scope of a field. Within
religiosity and spirituality are attributes of developmental science, handbooks – most nota-
humans that have no isomorphic parallel in bly the Handbook of Child Psychology and the
other species. Moreover, religion – both as Handbook of Adolescent Psychology – are
exemplars of such reference works, which Key Values

include also annual reviews or, occasionally,
reports from such organizations as the National Developmental science adheres to two sets of
Academy of Sciences or the National Science values. First, the field values science, the scien-
Foundation that pertain to human development tific method, and the ethical conduct of science
(Damon and Lerner 2006; Lerner and Steinberg (Baltes et al. 1977; Lerner 2002; Fisher 2009).
2009; Eccles and Gootman 2002). Second, the field values humans as “ends in them-
selves,” that is, as individuals whose lives have
intrinsic value and who deserve to have the work
Ethical Principles of developmental scientists aimed ultimately at
optimizing their chances for a positive, healthy
The major scholarly organizations with which life. Certainly, this value on the person as
developmental scientists affiliate – for instance a person is reflected in the optimization objec-
the Society for Research in Child Development, tives of developmental science and, as well, is
the Society for Research in Adolescence, the linked to the value of conducting science in an
Society for the Study of Human Development, ethical manner.
the International Society for the Study of Together, then, the two sets of values in devel-
Behavioral Development, the Gerontological opmental science coalesce to create emphases
Society of America, the International Society on on respect for individual rights, dignity, and
Infant Studies, the National Council on Family freedom on beneficence (on doing no harm and
Relations, the American Psychological Associa- in promoting the good) and on social justice.
tion, and the Association for Psychological Developmental science, in directing its theoreti-
Science – all have their own and/or subscribe to cal and empirical work to describe and explain
each others’ detailed ethical guidelines for the the mutually influential links between individuals
treatment of animal and human participants and their contexts and, then, in testing one’s
in research and, as well, for the application of explanations of these individual ←! context
developmental science scholarship to profes- relations by trying to alter their course and pro-
sional practice, including clinical programs and mote positive development, has an “ultimate”
consultation to communities or private or public concern with social justice. If changes in the
organizations (Fisher 2009). In addition, devel- relations between people and their contexts can
opmental scientists have to meet the standards of improve the chances for individuals to lead
protection of human “subjects” (participants) in better lives and if such work can therefore
their research, as specified by university or be extended to the diversity of instantiations
research organization Institutional Review of individual ←! context relations, a vital
Boards (IRBs). portion of the work of developmental science is
Indeed, grant applications to the United States to apply scholarship to policies and programs
federal government require that the proposals to distribute opportunities for healthy positive
include a discussion of how the welfare and/or development justly across the diversity of
rights of animal or human participants will be human development.
protected. Before grants are awarded, the princi-
pal investigator involved in grant proposals must
show the federal funder that IRB approval for the Conceptualization
research has been given. In addition, most Amer-
ican universities require that active researchers Nature/World
gain certification that they are knowledgeable Nature and the world are conceptualized as the
about past and current issues, guidelines, and breadth of the multiple levels of organization
rules regarding the ethical treatment of human within the ecology of human development. The
participants in their research. world is organized into multiple levels of
organization ranging from the inner-biological Truth
levels of organization within a person (e.g., As also noted earlier, developmental science sub-
genetic, cellular, and organ levels) through scribes to an empirical ontology. Following
groups, communities, societies, cultures, and the George Berkeley, for instance, developmental
physical ecology, all of which are in turn embed- scientists would agree that “to be” is to be per-
ded in history, in temporal change (Lerner 2002; ceived, that is, to be capable of empirical identi-
Overton 2006). fication. What is true then is what we can derive
as valid from our empirical observations.
Human Being D
The human is regarded as a distinct – and Perception
valued – species within the ecology of human Perception is a function of the individual (includ-
development. A holistic and therefore emergent ing the scientist). Sensation is reaction to stimu-
view of the human exists within developmental lation. In turn, perception is “sensing with
science. That is, because the “parts” of the indi- meaning,” that is, making cognitive and/or emo-
vidual (characteristics, such as genes, neurons, tional associations to ones sensations. As such,
personality or cognitive style attributes, behav- perception involves, first, experiencing stimula-
iors, attitudes, social relationships, etc.) create tion through the avenues of the senses and, sec-
in their systemic fusion attributes of structure ond, making an association to what one senses
and function that do not exist in the parts in (e.g., the object I see before me is a person
isolation, each person must be understood as I recognize and like, or the smell I sense when
an individual and in a holistic and integrative I walk into the bakery is pleasant, or the voice
manner. Of course, each person, while I hear is my spouse).
possessing such ideographic characteristics,
also has characteristics in common with some Time
groups (e.g., other people in his or her family, Time is the broadest and most inclusive level of
faith institution, community, or profession) and, organization within the developmental system
as well, some characteristics that are shared by (Overton 2006). Time (historical change) moder-
all humans (e.g., the various physical systems ates the structure and function of all other levels
such as digestion, respiration, circulation, or of organization within the developmental system.
reproduction, or the potential for systematic Simply, things change. Individuals mature and
change across life, that is, of “plasticity,” across grow older. Families evolve from a two-person
the life span). Therefore, there is truth in the structure to a structure with children in
dictum that each person is (in some respects) a household, to an “empty nest” when children
like all other people, like only some other grow up and leave home and start their own
people, and like no other person (Lerner 2002; families. Social institutions and society change,
Overton 2006). as a function of natural events, for example, hur-
ricanes, earthquakes, and of human-induced
Reality events, for example, wars, economic crises, or
Within development science, reality is defined political upheavals. Accordingly, time has
empirically. Reality is the multilevel develop- a different meaning at different levels of organi-
mental ecology of human development. zation within the developmental system. For
instance, as just illustrated, we may speak of
Knowledge individual time, generational time, and historical
As explained above, developmental science time.
adheres to an empirical epistemology. As such,
knowledge is the set of ideas (theories or con- Consciousness
cepts), principles, and facts accumulated through This term is used within various facets of devel-
the application of the scientific method. opmental science to refer to a facet of the
cognitive functioning of individuals. Conscious- designed physical ecological to the historical),

ness refers to material in the current awareness of among individuals of what age, sex, race, reli-
the person, that is, what the person is thinking, gious affiliation, ethnic, national, etc. character-
feeling, sensing, or perceiving at a given point of istics, impact what facets of religiosity and/or
assessment. spirituality and, in turn, result in what impacts
of religiosity and spirituality on the subsequent
Rationality/Reason development of the individual and on the struc-
These terms are also used within various facets of ture and/or function of his or her context?
developmental science to refer to facets of the
cognitive functioning of individuals. For
instance, rationality may be used to refer to func- Cross-References
tioning that reflects the person’s adherence to
logic, established facts, social conventions for ▶ Epistemology
appropriate conduct, or even accepted beliefs. ▶ Evolution
Reason may at times be used synonymously ▶ Functionalism
with rationality or, alternatively, as a cognitive ▶ Holism
attribute involved in problem solving. ▶ Philosophy of Science
▶ Plasticity
Mystery ▶ Reductionism
Mystery is not a term typically used within devel- ▶ Worldview
opmental science. When it is employed, it may be
a rhetorical device to dramatize the as yet
unknown bases of a particular phenomenon or
References
to point out that there remain many unanswered
questions about the explanation of an observed Baltes, P. B., Reese, H. W., & Nesselroade, J. R. (1977).
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research methods. Monterey: Brooks/Cole.
Bornstein, M. H., & Lamb, M. E. (Eds.). (2010). Devel-
opmental science: An advanced textbook (6th ed.).
Relevant Themes Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Damon, W., & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of
As an area of science that views religion and child psychology (6th ed.). Hoboken: Wiley.
spirituality as essential foci of scholarship – Eccles, J., & Gootman, J. A. (Eds.). (2002). Community
programs to promote youth development. Board on
given their status as potentially two species- Children, Youth, and Families, Division of Behavioral
defining characteristics of human functioning – and Social Sciences and Education, National Research
developmental scientists would seek to elucidate Council & Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC:
the role of these characteristics within National Academies.
Fisher, C. B. (2009). Decoding the ethics code: A practical
the relational developmental system. As guide for psychologists (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks:
a consequence, research seeking to study religi- Sage.
osity and/or spirituality would be framed within Lerner, R. M. (2002). Concepts and theories of human
the following complex, multipart question: What development (3rd ed.). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
physiological and psychological characteristics Lerner, R. M., & Steinberg, L. (Eds.). (2009). Handbook
of individuals (ranging from the inner-biological, of adolescent psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken: Wiley.
through the cognitive and affective, to the behav- Overton, W. F. (2006). Developmental psychology:
ioral), in relation to what features of the Philosophy, concepts, methodology. In R. M. Lerner
(Ed.), Theoretical models of human development,
multilevel context of development (ranging Vol. 1. Handbook of child psychology (6th ed.)
from the social relationship level through the (pp. 18–88). Editors-in-chief: Damon, W. &
family, community, cultural, natural, and Lerner, R.M. Hoboken: Wiley.
Deviance and Social Control, Sociology of 631 D
Scarlett, W. G., & Warren, A. E. A. (2010). Religious and public support via the mass media to create
spiritual development across the life span: A behav- rules or laws that ban or criminalize behaviors
ioral and social science perspective. In M. E. Lamb &
A. M. Freund (Eds.), Social and emotional develop- they find offensive (Becker 1963/1966; Cohen
ment, Vol. 2 of The handbook of life-span development 1972/1980; Goode and Ben-Yehuda 1994), and
(pp. 631–682). Editor-in-Chief: Lerner R.M. Hoboken, also includes the formal and informal control
NJ: Wiley. mechanisms, such as ostracism and shaming;
the process of labeling those designated as
“outsiders”; and the construction of stigmatized
categories of deviants (Goffman 1963/1986; D
Deviance and Social Control, Schur 1980). The sociology of deviance also
Sociology of examines the behaviors, both individual and col-
lective, of those designated deviant, relative to
Stuart Henry others seen as “normal,” whether this deviance is
School of Public Affairs, San Diego State acquired (e.g., physical disability) or achieved
University, San Diego, CA, USA (e.g., substance abuse). It examines deviant social
organization and subcultures, their interactions
with nondeviants, their private and sometimes
Related Terms secret lives, and the effects of the labeling and
stigmatizing process, as well as the ways they can
Deviant behavior; Deviants; Elite deviance; recover from the moral condemnation and exclu-
Labeling; Moral panic; Social deviance; Social sion embodied in the stigmatizing process (Henry
interactionism; Social stigma 2009; Schur 1980).
Description Recent Developments
The sociology of deviance and social control is Recent developments in studies of deviance
a subdiscipline of sociology that is also informed include: (1) debate over whether the field of
by concepts and theories from social psychology social deviance is still relevant (Hendershott
and social constructionism (Adler and Adler 2002; Henry 2009); (2) a more sophisticated
2011). Social constructionism is a transdisciplin- understanding of moral panics and the stigmati-
ary approach to the study of social phenomenon zation process (Goode and Ben-Yehuda 1994);
that sees the social world, including social devi- (3) the positive ways shaming of behavior, rather
ance, as an emergent outcome of routine practices than shaming people, can be used to effectively
of social interaction. The sociology of deviance reintegrate those who have deviated, back into
and social control, which primarily emerged in society(Henry 2009); (4) a shift from studying
the 1960s, examines the ways that human social deviance committed by society’s powerless, cap-
interaction identifies some of society’s members’ tured in the phrase “nuts, sluts and perverts,” to
behavior as: (1) different, (2) significant, and studying deviance by society’s powerful elites
(3) negative, in its effect on other members and corporations; and, (5) the emergence of
(Henry 2009). It identifies people who experience a field of studies in positive deviance (PD) ema-
others’ behavior as offensive, the ways that they nating from nutrition and health studies, and
act to ban the behavior, and the forms of social later, business and organizational change. This
control that they bring to bear on the perceived seeks uncommon solutions to recurrent eco-
offensive behaviors, and on those committing nomic, social, and community problems from
such behavior. These control groups include within the range of behavior and practices that
“moral entrepreneurs” who reflect or generate are successful and operative on the margins of
D 632 Deviance and Social Control, Sociology of
conventional practices (Henry 2009). A clear and groups play, and their perceived threat to
implication of the positive deviance model is social order, and what to do about both deviants
that rather than exercise social control, its and deviance.
advocates seek to include this form of deviant It is also unusual to have a subdiscipline
behavior into the mainstream. largely dominated by one theoretical framework,
social interactionism/social constructionism
(Adler and Adler 2011; Henry 2009), although
Theoretical Context some sociologists of deviance have introduced
multiple disciplinary perspectives in an attempt
The sociology of deviance and social control has to broaden theoretical explanation within the
been predominantly set within the interpreta- field (Pfohl 1994) which brings it closer to a
tionalist or hermeneutic tradition in sociology. criminological approach.
While there are positivistic studies within the
field, its major research, and the studies
published in its major journal, Deviant Behav- Relationship to Science and Religion
ior, use qualitative methods, including ethnog-
raphy, interview, and case study, to gather data The sociology of deviance and social control
on their subjects. Insofar as those methods are intersects with science and religion through its
systematically organized, and meet the stan- studies of the process of moral identity and social
dards for qualitative research, then the field can control. Indeed, historically each of the three
be described as a social science in the same way criteria, established for determining what counts
that cultural anthropology is a social science. as deviance, have been justified on moral
The field does not self-identify as a religion, grounds, in terms of the extent that a behavior
although positivist critics might hold, especially constitutes “sin” and, in the extreme, that are
in the case of radical social constructionists and embodied in law as “crime.” These dimensions
some labeling theorists, that their ontological are: (1) extent and seriousness of the harm
belief that social reality is a coproduction caused, (2) degree of consensus about whether
achieved through social interaction with no the behavior is offensive, and (3) severity of
intrinsic reality beyond humans acting toward society’s responses.
the named entities as though they were real, Deviance as sin preceded the view that devi-
places it closer to religion where that involves ance was no more than negatively judged differ-
a self-referential value system, than science. ence. The moral control of sinfulness is captured
That it also adopts a cultural relativist stance in in Kai Erikson’s classic book Wayward Puritans
relation to difference and subcultures rather than about the Salem witchcraft trials in seventeenth-
a committed value position, also moves it closer century Massachusetts. As Pfohl has argued, this
to those religions that tolerate diversity, rather demonic perspective reveals that the control of
than those that adopt an absolutist stance (but deviance is a battle between good and evil, over
see Hendershott 2002). “who gets to name the good and control the bad,”
The sociology of deviance and social control and “deviance is, and always has been, a moral
is distinct within sociology in dealing with the battle in which the winners are declared saints
inverse of the main discipline’s concern, which is and the losers, sinners” (Pfohl 1994).
the problem of social order: the institutions and
social processes that constitute a collective soci-
ety or community. The sociology of deviance and Significance
social control addresses how mainstream or pow-
erful groups within society deal with those whose The major sources of insight for the field are the
behavior exists on its margins, the functional or fact that two of its landmark texts, Kai Erikson’s
dysfunctional role these behaviors, individuals Wayward Puritans (Erikson 1966) and Howard
Deviance and Social Control, Sociology of 633 D
Becker’s Outsiders (Becker 1963/1966), are Assumptions About Core Concepts
among the best selling sociology texts of all
time, with between 100,000 and 150,000 copies The position taken by sociologists of deviance
sold up to 1997. Erving Goffman’s Stigma has and social control on core concepts varies
also become required reading for anyone practic- depending upon the theoretical position adopted
ing in the field of mental health. by the sociologist, particularly their ontological
The self-fulfilling prophecy, is the position. The interactionist/social constructionist
essential idea of labeling theory describing the position is predominant in the field and it has
social process of creating career deviance from a particular interpretation of these core concepts. D
minor deviance, or as Edwin Lemert described it, It divides nature/world into a physical and social
creating secondary deviance from primary devi- order. Following sociological phenomenologist
ance. This has become embedded in popular Alfred Schutz, it takes the physical/natural
discourse from education to criminology and world as a reality that can be directly experienced
criminal justice, and is a major reason justifying and conceptualized by scientists in a “first-order”
segregating juvenile offenders from adults in the sense. In contrast, the social world is already pre-
criminal justice system, as well as for diverting constituted by other social beings and so the
juvenile offenders into alternatives to institution- social scientists is only able to make “second-
alization. Indeed, in the broadest approach to the order” constructs based on reinterpreting the
field, those theories that explain the causes of first-order constructs of those in that social world.
deviance are substantially the same as those that Human beings are in the world as physical and
explain the causes of crime, albeit at different social entities. Their social being is as a human
points in the lifecourse (Pfohl 1994). agent who can act individually and collectively,
but the intersection of the individual and social
world is such that individual agency is more or
Ethics of Sociologists of Deviance less colored by social agency, as in social psy-
chologist George Herbert Mead’s intersection of
The American Sociological Society’s Code of the “I” and the “Me,” that reflects the collective
Ethics governs the behavior of sociologists of social other’s view of that individual.
deviance and social control and this Code also Human agents are energized to act, but are not
contains its key values. These include five core fully free to act outside of the discursive social
principles (elaborated in full at http://www. frameworks that serve as the medium for their
asanet.org/about/ethics.cfm): (1) maintain the interaction and expression. Life is a series of
highest level of professional competence; interactive experiences of the physical world,
(2) maximize ethical integrity by acting in ways and of the socially meaningful world of others,
to avoid jeopardizing personal or others’ welfare, mediated by the social and institutional forms
and avoid making false, misleading or deceptive that humans have pre-constituted.
statements; (3) adhere to the highest scientific Death is a socially meaningful transition point
and professional standards and accept responsi- in which individual human agencies cease to
bility for work and ethical behavior; (4) respect contribute to the ongoing reproduction of the
all people’s rights, dignity, and diversity, while existing social order that will continue to be
striving to eliminate bias, intolerance, and any reproduced by those still living.
form of discrimination, and acknowledge the Reality is the concreteness of the physical
rights of others to hold values, attitudes, and world, mediated by the social, and the socially
opinions that differ from your own; and (5) act constructed world of meaning that humans con-
with social responsibility in order to contribute to tinuously create and reproduce, sometimes as
the public good. Specific ethical issues affecting closely replicated forms of that which already
the sociologists of deviance relate to the source of exists, sometimes as variations and transforma-
its research material. tion of that emergent reality.
D 634 Deviance and Social Control, Sociology of
Knowledge is the accumulation of concepts, assuming as we do, that such knowledge is pos-
theories, and research applications about the sible or meaningful, other than the meaning that
physical and social worlds at a variety of levels, we attribute to it.
from formal and organized down to informal and Finally, an additional critical issue facing
spontaneous; from academically organized, sociology of deviance and social control is how
objective knowledge to experiential, subjective the divisions between knowledge from science
knowledge. In its organized form, what counts and religion can be transcended to produce
as knowledge and how it relates to the worlds that a more holistic understanding of social phenom-
produce it, varies by historical era and stage of enon, without excluding knowledge on the basis
societal development. In the present era, orga- that it is outside our present realm of disciplinary
nized knowledge is divided into disciplinary valued knowledge. The attempt to produce
fields and subdisciplinary specialties, gathered a common ground of knowledge, which does
by different methods, depending upon the disci- not marginalize some knowledge in favor of
pline. In contrast, interdisciplinary “integrative” other knowledge, is a major challenge because it
sociologists of deviance avoid the disciplinary applies the sociology of deviance and social con-
division by applying methods to integrate trol to the structure of normal knowledge and the
knowledge across disciplines to produce ways we seek to control deviant knowledge. At
a unity of holistic knowledge deemed to provide best, it takes a conscious reflexive stance toward
a more comprehensive understanding of the its own field of knowledge production.
phenomenon.
Truth is seen as an artifact of the process and
methods used to gather data and, in the radical Cross-References
social constructionist interpretation, is a variety
of truth claims, no more, no less. From this ▶ Constructivism (Philosophy of Mind)
perspective there is no underlying reality than ▶ Criminology
the different interpretations of what is perceived ▶ Evil, Problem of
as the constituted reality. ▶ Meaning, The Concept of
Perception comprises the ways that ongoing ▶ Phenomenology
constituted reality is seen and acted toward as
though it were real, so contributing to its ongoing
constitution.
Time is the relationship in space through References
which social reality is recurrently constituted.
Adler, P. A., & Adler, P. (Eds.). (2011). Constructions of
Consciousness is self-awareness and social
deviance: Social power, context and interaction
awareness of our role as human agents in the (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth.
ongoing production of what appears to be real. Becker, H. (1963/1966). Outsiders: Studies in the sociol-
Rationality/reason is a particular form of ogy of deviance. New York: Free Press.
Cohen, S. (1972/1980). Folk devils and moral panics: The
thinking about the world, born of a historical era
creation of mods and rockers. New York: St. Martin’s
associated with the Enlightenment, that is used to Press.
discriminate between other ways of thinking that Erikson, K. (1966). Wayward puritans. New York: Wiley.
are deemed irrational or unreasoned, in a similar Goffman, E. (1963/1986). Stigma, notes on the manage-
ment of spoiled identity. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice
way that disciplines are used to police what Hall.
counts as acceptable and unacceptable knowl- Goode, E., & Ben-Yehuda, N. (1994). Moral panics: The
edge to the academy. social construction of deviance. Cambridge:
Mystery is the state in which we suspend our Blackwell.
Hendershott, A. (2002). The politics of deviance. San
conviction for the subject/topic at hand, that is,
Francisco: Encounter.
we question that we know or can know how or Henry, S. (2009). Social deviance. Cambridge: Polity
why events, processes, or outcomes happen, Press.
Dialectic 635 D
Pfohl, S. (1994). Images of deviance and social control. Dhammā are ultimate realities (paramattha
Long Grove: Waveland Press. dhammā), the qualities of which are always the
Schur, E. M. (1980). The politics of deviance: Stigma
contests and the uses of power. Englewood Cliffs: same, never change, while the dhammā themselves
Prentice Hall. exist only momentarily. These realities, physical
or mental, are exactly what one can experience
directly with one of the six senses (including the
mind). The observed object as well as the observ-
Deviant Behavior ing mind (subject) is transient and egoless.
Only void phenomena happen and void processes D
▶ Deviance and Social Control, Sociology of run.
The dhammā are taught in greatest detail in the
Abhidhamma, and they can be experienced,
penetrated, and intuitively known by insight
Deviants meditation (vipassanā), which has the power to
transform and liberate the mind.
▶ Deviance and Social Control, Sociology of
Dharma/Dhamma Psychology
Dhamma/Dharma
▶ Psychology in Buddhism
Ven. Agganyani
Bruckmuehl, Germany Diagnostic Neuroradiology
▶ Neuroradiology
Dhamma (Pāli) or Dharma (Sanskrit) in singular
˙
and generally denotes the Teaching of the
Buddha, the truth or natural law he discovered,
used for liberation, and taught. Dialectic
Dhammā or dharmā in plural – according to
context – usually point to phenomena, things, expe- Eduardo Maura
riences, factors of existence, conditions, realities. Facultad de Filosofı́a, Universidad Complutense
The conditioned phenomena (saṅkhata de Madrid (Spain), Madrid, Spain
dhammā) have three characteristics:
1. Impermanence (anicca): They are imperma-
nent and transitory phenomena arising and Essential to the Western philosophical tradition,
immediately vanishing totally again. but not absent from Eastern philosophies, the
2. Suffering (dukkha): Through their transience, dialectical method was founded by Plato and
instability and liability to suffering, they all referred to philosophical implications of dia-
have the nature of dukkha, that is, they are logue. Critical Theory deploys the term in its
unsatisfactory, deficient, or insufficient. modern sense. These are basically the Hegelian
3. Non-self (anatta): They are void of an “I” or view which, as Hegel himself has put it, declares
any permanent entity which could be called I, that the purpose of dialectics is “to study things
ego, self, or soul. The third characteristic in their own being and movement and thus to
applies to Nibbāna, the unconditioned demonstrate the finitude of the partial categories
dhamma, too. of understanding,” and the Marxist view.
D 636 Dialectic Logic
For Marx, dialectics is the framework for devel- stands in contrast to the dualistic, post-Cartesian
opment and home for the diagnosis of capitalist view that perception is always mediated
contradictions. What critical theorists do is to (enriched) by stored mental representations
correct and to suggest different paths and philo- either built up through prior experiences or in
sophical uses of the term. Questioning tradi- place innately.
tional dialectics is precisely a major issue for
them. In general terms, dialectics entail huge
attention to contradictions, tensions, and inter-
relations between different aspects of material- Discernment
ity, nature, society, and the process of thinking
itself. Carolyn M. Aldwin and Michael R. Levenson
Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis,
OR, USA
Dialectic Logic
▶ Logic in Buddhism Discernment refers to the quality of being able to

comprehend what may be obscure. In the con-
text of religious coping, it is a practice involving
meditation, self-reflection, and consultation
Digital Electronics with others through which individuals seek to
determine the Divine intention for the individual
▶ Electronic Circuits in Computers in a particular, usually stressful, situation. It
involves trying to discern what the correct
course of action is, as well as what personal
characteristics individuals need to work on in
Dioptrics order to apply the correct course of action and
to remove barriers in their relationship with the
▶ Optics in Islam Divine.
Direct Perception Discipline
Harry Heft ▶ Mathematics and Religion

Department of Psychology, Denison University,
Granville, OH, USA
Discourse Analysis
The claim that perceiving is a process of keeping
“in touch with” properties of the environment ▶ Conversation Analysis
without the mediation of non-perceiving
processes, such as memory. Experience of the
environment is immediate, rather than being
grounded in a mental construction existing Discursive Psychology
apart from the environment. Things are experi-
enced, rather having an experience of things. It ▶ Conversation Analysis
Divine Action 637 D
pertain to the whole of creation universally and
Diversity simultaneously,” while SDAs “pertain to
a particular time and place in creation as distinct
▶ Pluralism (Religious) from another” (Saunders 2002, 21). GDA has to
do with what Christian tradition calls creation
and conservation of the world, provided conser-
vation is not reduced to sustaining creatures in
Divine Action being, but includes habilitating them to exert their
natural powers as well. SDA, on the other hand, D
José M. Lozano-Gotor relates to the traditional concept of divine gov-
Albacete, Spain ernment of the world, and its particularity can
be either a result of subjective interpretation
or an objective feature of that action. In the
Related Terms latter instance, the risk of conflict with scientific
explanations becomes greatest (see Gwynne
Christ event; Conservation; Creation; Divine 1996, 119–226).
government; General divine action; Miracle; Objective SDA can be conceived both func-
Providence; Purpose; Special divine action tionally and causally. In the first case, the event
which is labeled as SDA differs from other events
only by its special role in fulfilling God’s pur-
Description poses, while in the second case particularity is
due to a different causal history which does not
The notion of divine action (DA) is central to result alone from the laws and processes of
theistic belief, especially to the Christian tradi- nature, that is, to the fact that God acts directly
tion, which will be the focus of this entry. The within world’s history to create the conditions for
God of both Testaments is continually acting in the occurrence of that particular event. (Func-
the world to further His salvific purposes. In the tional and causal objective SDAs are almost
primitive Church, the view of an idle God was equivalent to indirect and direct objective SDA,
considered a form of atheism. In contrast, the respectively.) We still have to make one more
modern age has strongly attacked the idea of distinction, namely, between interventionist and
DA. Together with a fundamental theological noninterventionist objective SDA. Intervention-
reticence about the notion of an acting God and ist SDA implies disruption of the laws and pro-
its anthropomorphic connotations, two main rea- cesses of nature, that is, the classical concept of
sons for such a critical stance are the problem of miracle. Noninterventionist SDA upholds the
evil and the claim that DA conflicts with the integrity of natural laws and processes, either
success of scientific explanations (see Tracy taking place through them or, if they are supposed
1994, 1–4). In order to assess the pertinence of to be necessary but not sufficient causes of what
these objections we need to recall some important is happening, complementing them in some way.
distinctions. Given these distinctions, we are now prepared
First of all, in spite of being semantically to briefly review the most important current types
close, DA and providence are not synonyms. of theories of DA. A privileged site for assessing
The concept of providence exceeds the concept theoretical efforts to conceptualize DA is the six
of DA in claiming a certain degree of divine volumes of the project “Scientific Perspectives on
foreknowledge and planning. DA is usually dif- Divine Action,” jointly run by the Vatican Obser-
ferentiated into general or ordinary divine vatory and the Center for Theology and the Nat-
action (GDA) and special or particular divine ural Sciences (Berkeley, USA) from 1990 to 2008
action (SDA). GDAs are “actions of God that (see Russell et al. 1993–2008).
D 638 Divine Action
The mainline participants in it underscore the and creatural processes and beings as secondary
relevance of SDA for a proper understanding of causes through which God achieves His pur-
the Christian God. This is, however, a disputed poses. There is, therefore, cooperation between
thesis, as several theological positions exist (e.g., God and all actions of finite creatures. Process
that of M. Wiles and G. Kaufman) that argue for theologians admit SDA in all events as well, but
the suitability of subsuming SDA within GDA. do not underline God’s transcendence as dis-
According to this, God relates to the world and tinctly as neo-thomists do. Every actual occasion
history as a whole, not to particular situations. This is influenced by God’s “subjective lure,” but also
cannot be equated with deism, since it affirms by efficient causality from the past and by the
a continuous relation, not restricted to the temporal innate creativity of the occasion itself. Here we
beginning of the world. Such a proposal must be have an instance of direct SDA, while the neo-
seen as a response to the challenges that modern thomistic view subscribes to indirect SDA. But
reason poses to the concept of DA: to do without both positions are compatible with a causal order
SDA is an attempt to respect the alleged self- wholly regulated by natural laws (not all of which
sufficiency of naturalistic explanations and are known or even knowable by science); in other
exempt God from responsibility for evil. words, they do not need gaps in the causal order.
The VO/CTNS project highlights two features There are three main ways of approaching SDA
of SDA. To do justice both to the Christian reli- in dialogue with concrete scientific theories. The
gious experience and to the integrity of natural first one, advocated by A. Peacocke and partly by
sciences, it must be objective and nonintervention- Ph. Clayton, takes theories of complexity and
ist. Let us look at what is thereby excluded. Sub- emergence as its starting point. Upper levels of
jective SDA is espoused by theological schools nature influence lower levels insofar as they
influenced by Bultmann’s existential and impose boundary conditions on them. God is
demythologizing thought, but also by non-realist panentheistically conceived of as the whole
theologians such as D. Cupitt. Interventionist theo- which envelops the world, that is, as the world’s
logians are those who advocate a Humean concept environment, and exerts constraints on the behav-
of miracle, affirming that God may occasionally ior of its parts. This whole-part causation is also
override the laws of nature to obtain particular compatible with a deterministic view of reality.
aims. This position exacerbates the theological The other two strategies employ, on the contrary,
problem of suffering, as it presents a somewhat particular gaps in the causal order and assume that
arbitrary God who corrects Himself. One of its noninterventionist objective SDA is only possible
foremost proponents is V. White. There are other if reality is truly indeterministic. J. Polkinghorne,
ways of understanding miracles which are not regarding chaos theory not only as epistemologi-
interventionist; for example, assuming that the cally, but also ontologically indeterministic, makes
laws of science do not offer an exhaustive account use of some of its mathematical features to propose
of nature and conceiving miracles as law- that God could guide the course of nature through
transcending, instead of law-violating events. input of information instead of energy. Finally,
When it comes to a more precise definition of R.J. Russell, N. Murphy, Th. Tracy, and G. Ellis
noninterventionist objective SDA, there are two explore the possibility of locating SDA at the
main approaches: one that stresses the role of quantum level, concretely at the so-called collapse
metaphysics and the other that opts for direct of the wave function, availing themselves of the
dialogue with the natural sciences. Metaphysics stochastic character of the quantum world, which
is paramount both for neo-thomistic Catholic the- they construe indeterministically in the sense of the
ology (e.g., W. Stoeger and D. Edwards) and Copenhagen interpretation. In a nutshell: Quantum
process theology (e.g., I. Barbour and J. Haught). events are always underdetermined, and God
Neo-thomists build upon a basic distinction resolves such an underdetermination, either in all
between God as the primary cause of all events or only in certain instances.
Divine Creativity 639 D
All these proposals have originated Cross-References
a fascinating debate, starting with the questioning
of the notion of divine action itself. W. Wildman ▶ Creationism
and W. Drees, for example, favor the so-called ▶ Deism
ground-of-being theologies, which try to do with- ▶ Determinism and Indeterminism
out this concept. Anyway, two crucial issues that ▶ Evil, Problem of
remain open are of philosophical nature, namely, ▶ Free Will
how to develop a broad enough concept of cau- ▶ God of the Gaps
sation and elucidate the character of natural laws, ▶ Naturalism, Ontological and Methodological D
whether they are descriptive or regulative. Fur- ▶ Panentheism
thermore, to guarantee DA not being located in ▶ Process Theology
only one level of reality is a permanent challenge. ▶ Theism, Classical
This requires, among other things, that DA in the ▶ Theistic Naturalism
providential guide of creation be adequately
related to DA in individual human life and the
history of salvation. Divine and human actions References
have, moreover, important structural analogies
(for these questions regarding DA and human Bernhardt, R. (1999). Was heißt ‘Handeln Gottes’?
G€utersloher: Chr. Kaiser.
freedom, see Tracy 1994, 77–145). Another sig-
Edwards, D. (2010). How god acts: Creation, redemption,
nificant theological issue concerns the distinction and special action. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
between GDA and SDA itself. They cannot be Gwynne, P. (1996). Special divine action: Key issues in the
separated from each other. We tend to see SDA as contemporary debate (1965–1995). Rom: Universitá
Gregoriana.
coming on top of GDA, but it is perfectly possible
Russell, R. J. et al. Scientific perspectives on divine action
to conceive GDA as being always accomplished (6 vols). CTNS/Vatican Observatory, Berkeley (1993:
through SDAs. Creatio ex nihilo alone cannot be Vol. 1: Quantum cosmology and the laws of nature;
the template of all DAs; as a matter fact, God’s 1995: Vol. 2: Chaos and complexity; 1998: Vol. 3:
Evolutionary and molecular biology; 1999: Vol. 4:
action in the Christ event must serve as the guid-
Neuroscience and the person; 2001: Vol. 5: Quantum
ing criterion (see Edwards 2010, 25–33). mechanics; 2008: Vol. 6: Twenty years of challenge
Life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are, from and progress).
a Christian perspective, the most decisive of Saunders, N. (2002). Divine action and modern science.
God’s acts for us. That is where we get
Tracy, Th (Ed.). (1994). The god who acts. Philosophical
a glimpse of the real nature of the God who and theological explorations. University Park:
acts, where we learn about His unconditional Pennsylvania State University Press.
love and unswerving fidelity to us. The image of
a God who respects the integrity of His creation
and is neither interventionist nor arbitrary
removes many misunderstandings about suffer- Divine Creativity
ing, the experience of a God who always stays by
our side and nourishes the hope that evil will one Gloria L. Schaab
day definitively be overcome (Bernhardt 1999, Department of Theology and Philosophy, Barry
462–466; Edwards 2010, 15–33, 143–150). University, Miami Shores, FL, USA
In any case, we can never intend to determine
the “causal joint” between God and the world,
to spell out how God acts; that is something Related Terms
we cannot know. Any theology of DA should
recognize this fact and remain humble (Edwards Creatio continua; Creatio ex nihilo; God as
2010, 63). semper Creator
D 640 Divine Creativity
By all accounts, the starting point for a Christian Because of these scientific understandings, the
doctrine of creation is in the Hebrew Scriptures, theological notion of ▶ creatio ex nihilo as tradi-
with the principal focus on the Genesis account. tionally interpreted represented an inadequate
Although these verses are open to multiple conception of the creative relation of God to the
interpretations, their articulation produced cosmos. Although ▶ creatio ex nihilo could
a twofold conviction: First, the universe had preserve the transcendent differentiation of God
a temporal beginning, and second, in the begin- from the universe and the dependence and con-
ning, God created all that is ex nihilo, (out of tingency of the universe on God, it could not
nothing). Over time, the doctrine of ▶ creatio ex accommodate the scientific understanding of the
nihilo came to represent both a theological and ongoing creativity of the cosmos in new and
a metaphysical principle. Theologically, the emergent forms. Hence, static conceptions of
doctrine of ▶ creatio ex nihilo preserved the God’s differentiated relation to the cosmos, such
unique eternality and sovereignty of God. as those of origination and preservation, had to be
Metaphysically, it ruled out the possibility that augmented and nuanced by a notion of dynamic
matter was a fundamental, primary, and eternal interaction between God and world. Buttressed
principle. Nonetheless, the tendency to identify by the findings of the natural and physical
the broader notion of creation solely with the sciences, many theologians have acknowledged
singular divine act of ▶ creatio ex nihilo has, that creatio ex nihilo must be supplemented in
according to theologian William Carroll, resulted order to attribute this continuous creativity to
in a “fundamental confusion. . .about what God as Creator.
creation is.” Focusing on the metaphysical and Theologically, the dynamic creativity between
theological concepts, rather than on the particular God as Creator and the cosmos as creation has
act, the concept of creation “affirms that all that been termed ▶ creatio continua. It arises from the
is, in whatever way or ways it is, depends upon understanding that the stuff of the world has an
God as cause” (Carroll 2010). inbuilt creativity that makes the process of
Scientist-theologian Arthur Peacocke echoed creation ongoing and incessant. Moreover, if
this understanding of creation as a relation of God is understood as Creator and if the process
ontological dependence and cosmic contingency of creation has been ongoing throughout cosmic
and asserted that “the postulate of God as Creator history, into the present and the cosmic future,
of all-that-is. . .is a postulate about a perennial or then the ceaseless creative processes revealed by
‘eternal’. . .relation between God and the the physical and biological sciences must be
world”(Peacocke 1986, 95). In this relation, God interpreted as the creative activity of God’s very
is seen, not only as original creator of the cosmos, Self exercised “in, with, and under the very
but also as its faithful sustainer and preserver. To processes of the natural world from the ‘hot,
model this perennial relation, Peacocke utilized big, bang’ to humanity” (Peacocke 1986, 95–6).
a Trinitarian panentheistic paradigm. Within this God is neither conceived as a separate or wholly
model, God as the ground of cosmic being sub- transcendent creator dwelling in serene detach-
sumes, permeates, and yet exceeds the being of the ment from the cosmos, nor as a “God-of-the-
universe, which is dependent and contingent on gaps” who creates in sporadic or interventionist
the creative Being of God. ways. God is Continuous Creator, directly
In contrast to the stasis implied in the notion of involved in the continuing processes of the cos-
God’s sustaining and preserving the cosmos, mos in creative relation.
however, evolutionary cosmology and biology In the Trinitarian panentheistic paradigm, the
continued to discover evidence of dynamism in universe is conceived as an open system in recep-
the cosmos. Research indicated that cosmic tive relation with the very Being of God, which
creativity has been ongoing since the origin of both surrounds and permeates the cosmos.
the universe and has exercised such creativity in Creativity in such a paradigm can be conceived
and through the very stuff of the material world. either through top-down or whole-to-part causality
Divine Creativity 641 D
or through bottom-up or part-to-whole causality. must be interpreted as the creative activity of
As applied to the God-world relationship, both God’s very Self. As continuous and immanent
have been appropriated as means by which one Creator in relation to the cosmos, exercising
could conceive of God’s interaction with the world divine creativity “in, with, and under the very
without violating the laws and regularities opera- processes of the natural world from the ‘hot,
tive in the cosmos, that is, in a way that would not big, bang’ to humanity” (Peacocke 1986, 95–6),
be deemed interventionist. the creative dynamism of the cosmos is itself
In the panentheistic model of whole-part or God’s creative action; the creative processes of
top-down causality, God is the “circumambient the universe are manifestations of the Divine as D
Reality in which the world persists and exists” continuous Creator. This perspective understands
(Peacocke 1993, 158). The world-as-a-whole is God as semper Creator, “creating now and con-
thus conceived as within God, who is present to tinuously in and through the inherent, inbuilt
the world both in its totality and to its component creativity of the natural order – a creativity that
parts. In this model, God is seen as always and is itself God in the process of creating” (Peacocke
everywhere freely and autonomously interacting 1986, 95).
with the world through an input of information. Biochemists such as Ilya Prigogine and
God communicates Godself and God’s purposes Gregoire Nicolis have demonstrated the dynam-
to the world-as-a-whole through an all-embracing ics of part-to-whole causality. They identified
and all-pervasive presence that is essentially self- fluctuations within certain living systems and
communicating. This self-communication trickles organisms which produce changes in the struc-
through the levels of its parts to those capable of ture of the organism or system. In their studies,
receiving this communication. they found a class of systems with what they
Observations of self-organization in open called “dissipative structures.” These structures
systems continuously undergoing change and enable organisms or systems to maintain
growth in a state of disequilibrium give evidence themselves in a state of order, although far from
that the “whole” external environment in which equilibrium. They found that when fluctuations in
a system exists has a relation of effect on its a system are amplified to a particular frequency,
component parts. Philosopher Donald Campbell the entire system undergoes structural change.
(1974) applied the interpretation of downward It becomes a newly ordered state with the capac-
causation to the process of natural selection in ity to take in energy and matter from the outside
the formation of jaw structures of worker termites to maintain its novel form. They reasoned that
and ants. In his study of how higher cultural a similar process of order-through-fluctuation
values downwardly influence immediate human- made the conditions for the initial emergence of
itarian traits, psychologist Roger Sperry (1983) living organisms, as well as for their ongoing
demonstrated that whole-part influence also development, highly probable (Prigogine and
applied to the realm of the behavioral and social Nicolis 1971).
sciences. In this perspective of divine creativity, God as
Conversely, in the panentheistic model of Creator accords cosmic processes the same value
bottom-up or part-to-whole causality, “the stuff and reverence that God accords to human
and processes of the world as we know it are. . .an choices, with God’s activity as Creator as
expression of God in his modality as Creator” ongoing in, with, and under the entire cosmic
(Peacocke 1989, 35). Arising from the under- process. These cosmic processes include the
standing that the stuff of the world has an inbuilt operation of law, the indeterminacy of chance,
creativity, part-to-whole causality suggests that if the unpredictability of events at the quantum
God is understood as Creator and if the process of level, the continuity of life forms, and the
creation has been ongoing throughout cosmic emergence of novelty, just to name a few. This
history, then the ceaseless creative processes convergence of cosmic dynamics, what John
revealed by the physical and biological sciences Polkinghorne calls the elements of “free process”
D 642 Divine Government
(Polkinghorne 1989, 77), which he sees as akin to Peacocke, A. R. (1986). God and the new biology.
human free will, constitute “the means by which London: J. M. Dent and Sons.
Peacocke, A. R. (1989). Theology and science today.
the universe explores its potentialities, human- In T. Peters (Ed.), Cosmos and creation: Science and
kind exercises its will, and God interacts theology in consonance (pp. 28–43). Nashville, TN:
with. . .creation” (Polkinghorne 1989, 78). Abingdon.
Because of the divine choice to create the cosmos Peacocke, A. R. (1993). Theology for a scientific age:
Being and becoming: natural, divine and human
in this way – in autonomy and freedom, through (Revised and expanded ed). Minneapolis: Augsburg
chance within law, and indeterminate in princi- Fortress.
ple – the continuing creation of the cosmos and its Peacocke, A. R. (2001). The cost of new life. In J.
creatures results in a coincidence of opposites. Polkinghorne (Ed.), The work of love: Creation as
kenosis (pp. 21–42). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Free process and free will not only occasion the Polkinghorne, J. (1989). Science and providence.
emergence of new life forms, but also the Philadelphia: Templeton.
inevitably costly process of diminishment and Prigogine, I., & Nicolis, G. (1971). Biological order,
death. They produce not only the kaleidoscopic structure and instabilities. Quarterly Review of
Biophysics, 4, 107–148.
fecundity that delights both creatures and Sperry, R. W. (1983). Science and moral priority. Oxford:
Creator, but also the calamitous events of pain Blackwell.
and suffering. They create not only serendipitous William, C. (2010). As it was in the beginning, Notre
moments of joy and well-being, but also events Dame Magazine; available from http://magazine.nd.
edu/news/15913-as-it-was-in-the-beginning/.
that cause the destruction and extinction of
cosmic and human life. Moreover, evolutionary
theory contends that it was, in fact, the free
process of self-creativity through chance and
law in the cosmos that resulted in the emergence Divine Government
of free persons, humans who “are not the mere
‘plaything of the gods,’ or of God,” but who are ▶ Divine Action
sharers in the “costly process of bringing forth the
new” (Peacocke 2001, 37).
Divine Motivation Theory

Cross-References
Linda Zagzebski
▶ Creator – Co-creator Department of Philosophy, University of
▶ Divine Action Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
▶ God of the Gaps
▶ Ontology Related Terms
▶ Panentheism
▶ Quantum Theory DMT
▶ Relational Ontology
▶ Transcendence and Immanence
Description
References Divine Motivation Theory (DMT) is a form of

theologically based moral theory proposed by
Campbell, D. T. (1974). Downward causation’ in Linda Zagzebski. The theory defines all moral
hierarchically organized systems. In F. J. Ayala &
T. G. Dobzhansky (Eds.), Studies in the philosophy of
properties of persons, acts, and outcomes of acts
biology: Reduction and related problems in terms of God’s motives. God’s motives are
(pp. 179–186). London: Macmillan. states such as love and compassion, states that
Divine Motivation Theory 643 D
are motivating, and that are emotions or similar to any prior evaluative judgment. In particular, she
emotions. She proposes that these states consti- proposes that these persons are identified through
tute the metaphysical and conceptual basis for the emotion of admiration. When we investigate
moral value. Given traditional assumptions virtuous exemplars, we see that their psycholog-
about the nature of God, the theory combines ically most basic good-making feature is a good
moral realism with divine noncognitivism. motivational structure: Emotions that fit their
According to DMT, persons and their qualities intentional objects and which can motivate the
are good in so far as they are like God or imitate God agent to act in certain ways for certain ends.
in the relevant respect. Human motives are good in A virtue is a good motive disposition with reli- D
so far as they are like the divine motives as those able success in reaching the end of the virtuous
motives would be expressed in finite and embodied motive. Moral properties of acts, intentions, and
beings. Human virtues are those traits that imitate consequences are defined in terms of good
God’s virtues as they would be expressed by human motives.
beings in human circumstances. Outcomes get their Divine Motivation Theory gives a theistic
moral value by their relation to good and bad moti- foundation to motivation-based virtue theory
vations. For example, a state of affairs is a merciful since it adds to the structure just described the
one or a compassionate one or a just one because the claim that God is the supreme exemplar. The
divine motives that are constituents of mercy, com- theory permits the identification of human exem-
passion, and justice respectively aim at bringing plars in the same way they would be identified
them about. Acts get their moral value from the without the theological foundation, but it main-
acts that would, would not, or might be done by tains that human exemplars are exemplary
a being who imitates God in the relevant circum- because of their relation to a supremely good
stances. God’s own goodness and the rightness of God. The theory also has a plausible Christian
God’s own acts follow immediately from the theory version since traditional Christian doctrine holds
since God himself is the supreme standard of all that Jesus Christ is both God and the most perfect
moral value. human exemplar. There can be versions of the
This theory is a special case of a general form theory for other religions as well since many
of virtue theory that Zagzebski calls “motivation- religions recognize exemplars, for example, the
based virtue theory.” If we assume that what Buddhist arahant, the Jewish tzaddik, the Confu-
makes an ethical theory a virtue theory is that it cian sage, and of course, there can be secular
gives virtue explanatory centrality, such a theory versions.
must explain how an understanding of the nature The way DMT defines moral rightness and
of virtue illuminates other important concepts of wrongness is structurally parallel to a form of
moral evaluation, such as the concepts of a right Divine Command theory, with the important dif-
act, an obligatory act, a good consequence, ference that DMT identifies the property of right-
a good motive, and human well-being. In virtue ness with divine motivations like love and
theories inspired by Aristotle, the concept of compassion rather than with the divine will or
a virtue is more basic than concepts of act evalu- divine commands. Zagzebski argues that this
ation, but not more basic than the concept of means that famous objections to Divine Com-
eudaimonia, or well-being. In theories of this mand Theory (DCT) do not arise for DMT. One
type, a virtue is either a quality that reliably problem for DCT is that if morality is grounded in
leads to eudaimonia, or it is a quality that is God’s commands, and if God can command any-
partially constitutive of a life of eudaimonia. In thing, then it looks as if God could command
contrast, Zagzebski’s motivation-based virtue brutalizing the innocent, in which case brutaliz-
theory makes the foundation of the theory exem- ing the innocent would have been morally right,
plars of goodness – persons whose exemplifica- a highly implausible consequence. In contrast, it
tion of goodness is identified without dependence is impossible that brutalizing the innocent is right
upon a judgment of the person’s well-being or on DMT as long as being loving is one of God’s
D 644 Divine Motivation Theory
essential motives. The right thing for humans to perfectly good, where perfect goodness entails that
do is to act on motives that imitate the divine God cannot be evil or do anything morally wrong.
motives. Brutalizing the innocent cannot imitate One problem is that the inability to do wrong
the divine motives as long as (i) it is impossible seems to imply that God is not significantly free,
for such an act to be an expression of a motive so perfect moral goodness appears to be incom-
that is like the motives of God, and (ii) it is patible with divine freedom. For the same reason,
impossible for God to have different motives. perfect goodness appears to be incompatible with
Assumption (ii) follows from the assumption omnipotence. These puzzles are resolved if the
that God’s motives are part of his nature. goodness of all of God’s attributes derives from
DMT does not face the famous Euthyphro God’s motives. Perfectly good power is the kind of
problem either. The problem for DCT is that power God is motivated to have; perfect freedom
God’s commands are either based on a reason, is the kind of freedom God is motivated to have;
in which case the reason is the ground of moral and so on. Perfection of all kinds derives from the
rightness, not God’s commands, or else God’s motives of a perfectly good God, not by reference
commands are arbitrary. This problem does not to an independent standard.
arise in DMT. Although a command needs DMT also leads to a reformulation of the log-
a reason, a motive is a reason. The theory says ical problem of evil. What happens in the world is
that the right thing to do is to acquire motives like ipso facto something that is compatible with the
God’s motives. These motives provide the agent divine motives, and cannot be deemed evil, all
with both a reason for an act and the impetus to things considered. The real problem, however, is
perform the act. DCT is appealing because com- that many things occur in our world that seem to
mands are directed toward specific acts, whereas be incompatible with the motives of a loving
motives are much more general. On the other God, leaving aside the metaphysical issue of the
hand, versions of DCT that interpret God as giv- ground of value. That means that the problem of
ing very specific commands to agents are not very evil is not actually about the concepts of good and
plausible. evil and the apparent inconsistency between
Divine Motivation Theory has another theo- a good God and the existence of evil. It is about
retical advantage over DCT. DCT is most natu- the apparent conflict between the motives of the
rally interpreted as an ethics of law, a divine deity that make him worthy of worship (love,
deontological theory, wherein the content of the concern, etc.) and the motives apparently
law is promulgated by divine commands. But exhibited in a suffering world.
God’s own goodness and the rightness of God’s Divine Motivation Theory makes God the ulti-
own acts are not connected to divine commands mate standard of goodness as exemplar rather
since God does not give commands to himself. In than as lawgiver or judge. Since it gives
contrast, DMT makes the features of the divine a central place to virtue, it could be called
nature in virtue of which God is morally good in a divine virtue theory, and since it maintains
the foundation for the moral goodness of those that the basic component of a virtue is an emotion
same features in creatures. Both divine and or an emotion-like state, it focuses attention on
human goodness are explained in terms of good the qualities of God that lead to a personal rela-
motives, and the goodness of human motives is tionship with the divine.
derived from the goodness of the divine motives.
DMT, therefore, provides a unitary theory of
evaluative properties, divine as well as human. Cross-References
Divine Motivation Theory has theological
advantages. One is that it has the capability of ▶ Divine Action
resolving putative problems of inconsistency ▶ Emotion
among the divine attributes. For instance, there is ▶ Ethics
a set of puzzles arising from the idea that God is ▶ Imago Dei
Dualism 645 D
References that there are two different ontological catego-
ries, or levels of existence. In this, it is opposed to
Zagzebski, L. (2004). Divine motivation theory. monistic theories which assert that there is only
one kind of entity. As such, although it is not an
Zagzebski, L. (2010). Exemplarist virtue theory.
Metaphilosophy, 41(1–2), 41–57. intrinsically religious position, it is one required
by any religion which looks to a transcendental,
or supernatural, reality, alongside the world of
ordinary sense experience.
DMT “▶ Materialism” would be an obvious exam- D
ple of a monistic theory, opposed to dualism,
▶ Divine Motivation Theory because it holds that only “matter” exists. Mod-
ern scientific difficulties in defining matter have
led to the greater popularity of such terms as
“▶ physicalism” and “▶ naturalism,” both of
Dogmatic Theology which tend to tie what can exist to what can be
within the grasp of science. Whether that means
▶ Constructive Theology present-day science, future science, or even
hypothetical science remains a difficulty. All,
however, would agree that reality must be defined
in scientific terms and that the idea of any reality
Drama which is in principle inaccessible to science must
be discounted.
▶ Theater Defining reality, however, in terms of
the capabilities of actual or possible science
is to make the idea of reality very
anthropocentric. A typical dualist view does not
Dualism start with what we can know, but with the kinds of
things that exist. Naturalists want to rule out
Roger Trigg anything “supernatural,” but the dichotomy
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of between God, as Creator, and the created, physi-
Warwick, Oxford, UK cal world, would be a form of dualism. God’s
Senior Research Fellow, Kellogg College, reality would not be thought to be physical, or
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK limited by the spatiotemporal framework in
which science operates.
Other forms of dualism, however, have also
Related Terms been influential. They also normally distinguish
between physical and some other form of reality.
Mind-body; Mind-body problem; Mind-body The best known is that between mind and body,
relationship or the self and the brain. It is alleged that our
reality as persons is not constituted by our phys-
Dualism is a philosophical term with a long his- ical makeup. I am not my body. My body ages,
tory. It is often associated with such major phi- but I, it may be thought, am the same person
losophers as Plato and, in the seventeenth throughout all physical change, growth, and
century, Descartes. It is still a live philosophical decay. A particular instance of this view would
position and subject to much dispute. Although be the belief that death is not the end, that “I” can
some would see it as “antiscientific,” others survive the dissolution of my body. Another
would claim that our belief in dualism is itself instance is the experience of my own mental
deeply rooted in human nature. Basically, it holds events and the strong feeling that they are not
D 646 Dualism
the same as any bodily accompaniments, even of a scientific stance. Yet that is itself to assume
a neurophysiological kind. Pain is not just the the metaphysical view that only what is within
firing of neurons, it will be maintained. It is the reach of science can exist.
a specific kind of sensation, and its felt quality The word “mystery” is easily invoked in con-
can never be reduced to bodily events or forms of nection with dualism. Whenever the reality of
behavior. Not all unpleasant sensations are pains, two entities is specified, there is going to be
and not all pains are unpleasant. (Trigg 1970) It a problem as to how they interact. This is
may seem to follow that pain is defined by the a notorious problem for dualism, dating back to
way it subjectively feels. It may be associated the work of Descartes, although insisting that the
with bodily and brain events of various kinds, connection is understood in physical terms
but they must be understood as the cause of pain already begs the question against dualism. It is
and not be identified with it. This means, how- to assume that the only possible causal connec-
ever, that the true nature of pain elides the grasp tions are those understood by science. One reply
of science. Similar arguments are mounted in is that we all, each day, have personal experience
favor of other “qualia,” such as the way red of the way mental events control, or influence,
looks. It is a mental event which cannot be our bodily processes and behavior. One attraction
defined in terms of anything else. of the doctrine is that it allows interaction
All this is to raise the venerable problem of between mind and body. In other words, there is
consciousness, with which scientists make little causation both ways, both upward, from the body
headway. Attempts to explain it in scientific to the mind, as when we suffer injury and suffer
terms have not just proved difficult. There are pain, and downward, when our conscious desires
allegations that they have to be self-refuting. Sci- and decisions affect what we do. The very idea of
ence is always a human practice, engaged in by “psychosomatic” illness points to ways in which
scientists who use conscious processes of reason- our conscious states can even affect our health.
ing. The idea of science explaining consciousness Modern cognitive science complicates the
inevitably implies that it is able to explain itself. issue by drawing attention to the fact that we do
If science can explain the working of conscious- naturally, as humans, tend to think in dualist
ness, it can also explain why scientists see one terms, at least about the relation of the mind and
thing as true and another false. Yet it can be body. As the anthropologist Emma Cohen points
argued that science cannot itself distinguish out (Cohen 2007), recent research in the area
between good and bad reasons for belief. It can suggests we are “natural Cartesians.” In other
only explain why those beliefs were caused in the words, not only do we think our minds – our
first place. thoughts, feelings, and sensations – are different
Dualism certainly challenges the naturalistic, from bodily processes. We find it easy to think of
and even deterministic, assumptions which can the separation of the mind and the body, as Des-
easily become part of the working methodology cartes did. She shows how even the idea of minds
of science. It is itself a metaphysical thesis about migrating between bodies is easy for us to grasp.
the nature of reality and may well be seen by Most significantly, the strong belief in human
many to restrict the scope of science, perhaps in societies of all kinds that a person survives the
an illegitimate way. Dan Dennett, a leading con- dissolution of the body seems natural for humans.
temporary philosopher and prominent atheist, Philosophers such as Dennett tend to deride
accepts (Dennett 1991) that if “dualism” is the such “▶ folk psychology.” They may accept the
best we can do, then we cannot understand reality, and ubiquity, of our common sense
“human consciousness.” He had just remarked beliefs, but consider that they must be supplanted
(Dennett 1991) that “given the way dualism wal- by the findings of science. Yet seeing human
lows in mystery, accepting dualism is giving up.” beings in a neo-Darwinian context, continuous
In other words, dualism is incompatible with with other animals, does not itself resolve the
Dukkha 647 D
issue of mind-body dualism, as it is an open References
question how far animals may have mental expe-
riences which are caused by physical events, but Cohen, E. (2007). The mind possessed (p. 140). Oxford:
are not necessarily identical with them. They may
Dennett, D. (1991). Consciousness explained. Boston:
see colors for example. Little, Brown and Company. pp. 37, 39.
Dualism is a central issue in questions Taliaferro, C. (1994). Consciousness and the mind of god.
concerning the relation of science and religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Trigg, R. (1970). Pain and emotion. Oxford: Oxford
The nature of the human personality is of major
University Press. D
importance for any religious understanding, as is Trigg, R. (2002). Chapter 9. Philosophy matters. Oxford:
the question of the nature of reality. Dualism Blackwell.
maintains that the human self is more than its
body, and not necessarily to be identified with
it. It is the locus of our identity and often identi-
fied with the “soul.” Those who wish to follow Duhkha (Sanskrit)
some modern science in refusing to accept “mys- ˙
teries,” such as the nature of consciousness, are ▶ Dukkha
adopting an antidualist metaphysics. Yet in ruling
out any division between body and mind, more
than this is being claimed. If the only reality can
be physical, however defined, this brings us on Dukkha
a collision course with another form of dualism,
that between God and world. The same antimeta- Bhikkhu Anālayo
physical arguments which dispense with human Center for Buddhist Studies, University of
consciousness as a separate entity must also hold Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
against a belief in a God who is separate from the
spatiotemporal world (Taliaferro 1994).
In other words, some form of dualism is essen- Related Terms
tial to traditional theism and also underpins many
other forms of religious views, invoking spirits, Duhkha (Sanskrit); Suffering; Unsatisfactoriness
˙
and nonmaterial influences. In some ways, the
idea of an immaterial “self” is a mirror image of
God. Indeed, as it is claimed by monotheists that Description
humans were made in God’s image, that is per-
haps not surprising. Whether dualism is hostile to The predicament of dukkha and the way to
a scientific outlook, or even underpins the possi- freedom from it are the chief motivation of the
bility of scientific rationality, remains a vexed Buddhist soteriological enterprise. According to
question (For more on the brain and the mind a dictum found in the early Buddhist discourses,
see Trigg 2002). what the Buddha teaches is simply the nature of
dukkha and its cessation (Trenckner and
Chalmers 1888–1896, I 140). While the exis-
Cross-References tence of dukkha as a motivation for adopting
a spiritual life appears to have been a common
▶ Consciousness, the Problem of concept in ancient Indian thought, the Buddhist
▶ Determinism and Indeterminism approach to this problem stands out for concep-
▶ Naturalism, Ontological and Methodological tualizing the human predicament of dukkha in
▶ Nonreductive Physicalism terminology reminiscent of medical analysis,
▶ Soul namely, by way of the four noble truths
D 648 Dukkha
(▶ Truths, Four Noble). From the perspective of suffering to the unsatisfactoriness of pleasure,
the dialogue between science and religions, this dependent on the context.
is significant, since in this way Buddhism pre- The problem with the translation “suffering”
sents its perhaps most central teaching deliber- is not only that it does not capture the full
ately couched in medical terms. compass of meaning of the term dukkha. This
The term dukkha is often translated as rendering also tends to give the misleading
“suffering.” This translation does not adequately impression that the Buddhist teachings are
capture the range of meaning of the term and even predominantly concerned with the negative
runs the risk of giving a misleading impression. sides of existence and that Buddhism is an
Hence, the meaning of the term needs further instance of pessimistic thought in ancient India.
examination. This does not appear to be the case, however,
According to a statement made in the early since the importance of joy and happiness is
Buddhist texts, dukkha covers whatever is felt repeatedly emphasized in the teachings of early
(Feer 1884–1898, II 53). If on following the Buddhism. A collection of Buddhist poetry has
standard translation one were to render dukkha a whole chapter dedicated to the theme of
in such a context as “suffering,” this would result happiness (von Hin€uber and Norman 1994,
in the proposal that all felt experience is simply Stanza 197–208), and joy is reckoned one of the
suffering. Such a conclusion would directly so-called factors of awakening, thus being
conflict with a standard analysis of felt experi- a necessary requisite for progress toward
ence in early Buddhist discourse, according to liberation.
which feelings can be pleasant, painful, and neu- This much can also be seen in the case of the
tral. These three types of feelings are mutually four noble truths, the central mode of exposition
exclusive in the sense that at the time one has one on the significance of dukkha. The first noble
type of feeling, one does not experience the other truth defines dukkha and the second noble truth
(Carpenter and Rhys Davids 1890–1911, II 66). traces its arising to craving; thus, these two pre-
According to another discourse, the above dictum sentations are concerned with negative aspects.
regarding dukkha covering all that is felt has the But then the third noble truth takes up the positive
impermanence of feelings in mind (Feer value of the cessation of dukkha, and the fourth
1884–1898, IV 216). The changing nature of noble truth delineates the equally positive notion
feelings, however, need not be experienced as of the practical path that leads to freedom from
“suffering.” While a change of pleasant feeling dukkha. This thus gives an overall rather
to its opposite could indeed result in suffering, balanced impression, instead of reflecting an
a change of painful feelings to its opposite would excessive concern with the depressing sides of
rather be experienced as a relief (Trenckner and existence.
Chalmers 1888–1896, I 303). The nature of dukkha, according to the first
This goes to show that all feelings are not noble truth, covers physical events such as dis-
necessarily “suffering”, nor is the changing ease and death, as well as the mental displeasure
nature of feeling invariably something that that can arise from being unable to satisfy one’s
results in “suffering.” Yet, no type of feeling desires. Thus, the range of meaning of dukkha
can provide lasting satisfaction, precisely extends from barely noticeable dissatisfaction to
because the nature of feelings is to be imper- outright suffering as inherent features of human
manent. Hence, a better way of translating existence. Another presentation distinguishes
dukkha would be as “unsatisfactory,” although between three chief aspects of dukkha: related
perhaps the best solution is just to keep the to the experience of outright pain, related to the
original form of the term, thereby allowing state of being subject to conditions, and related
for a sense that ranges from outright pain and to the fact that things invariably change
Dukkha: Suffering 649 D
(Carpenter and Rhys Davids 1890–1911, III 216). then, the cessation of dukkha through the
The actual manifestation of dukkha could then attainment of liberation is attained and future
be overwhelming or just trifling; moreover, rebirth is therewith transcended.
dukkha might disappear quickly or last
for a long time (Morris and Hardy 1885–1900,
III 416). Cross-References
According to the first noble truth, manifesta-
tions of dukkha can be summed up under the ▶ Happiness
heading of the five aggregates affected by cling- ▶ Mental Health D
ing. These five aggregates are considered in early ▶ Pain (Suffering)
Buddhism as the chief constituents of an individ- ▶ Reality in Buddhism
ual, comprising bodily form, feeling, perception,
volitional reactions, and consciousness. Thus,
dukkha can in the final count be traced back to References
clinging to various aspects of oneself.
In other words, the actual experience of Primary Sources
dukkha requires personal involvement in what is Carpenter, J. E., & Rhys Davids, T. W. (Eds.).
taking place by way of clinging, attachment, and
craving. Such clinging, attachment, and craving Feer, L. (1884–1898). The Samyutta Nikāya (5 vols).
are in the end simply a manifestation of igno- ˙
rance. This is reflected in another central Morris, R., & Hardy, E. (Eds.). (1885–1900).
The Aṅguttara Nikāya (5 vols). London/Oxford: Pali
Buddhist doctrine related to the topic of dukkha,
Text Society.
namely, dependent arising. According to this Trenckner, V., & Chalmers, R. (Eds.). (1888–1896).
doctrine, the arising of dukkha hearkens back The Majjhima Nikāya (3 vols). London/Oxford: Pali
through a series of conditional links to the pres- Text Society.
von Hin€uber, O., & Norman, K. R. (Eds.). (1994).
ence of ignorance. In turn, with the cessation of
The Dhammapada. London/Oxford: Pali Text Society.
ignorance, craving and clinging cease, and there-
with the cessation of dukkha is accomplished
(▶ Dependent Arising). A fully awakened one,
who has eradicated ignorance, has gone beyond
being affected by dukkha, as even the experience Dukkha: Suffering
of physical pain will not cause him or her any
mental distress. Ven. Agganyani
Dukkha is one of the three characteristics of German Vinaya Sangha Association (DBO) and
existence recognized in Buddhist thought, Centre for Buddhist Studies (CBS), Myanmar,
together with impermanence and the absence of Bruckmuehl, Germany
a self. According to a standard teaching, because
all conditioned things are impermanent, they
cannot yield lasting satisfaction – they are Dukkha (Pāli) or duhkha (Sanskrit), a key term
dukkha. Since they are dukkha, however, it is and truth in Buddhism, is usually translated as
not reasonable to identify them as a self suffering. According to the context, dukkha is
(▶ Anattā). Thus, from the perspective of the either direct suffering, being liable to suffering,
development of liberating insight in Buddhism, a bodily painful feeling, or unsatisfactoriness,
dukkha forms the transition point from an deficiency, insufficiency.
appreciation of impermanence to insight into the The Buddha declared suffering in the first
absence of a self. With insight fully developed, Noble Truth: “Birth is suffering, old age,
D 650 Dying
disease, death is suffering, to be united with cannot satisfy permanently. Even happy
unbeloved ones is suffering, to be dissociated feelings and desired emotions will change,
from beloved ones is suffering, not to get what dissolve, and cease. One cannot control them
one wants is suffering, in short, the five aggre- or make them permanent.
gates of clinging are suffering.” (Dhammacak- 3. Saṅkhāra-dukkha: All phenomena are
kappavattana-Sutta, Samyutta-Nikāya, S 56, 11) conditioned by some other phenomena,
˙
These types of suffering are evident, which which themselves are impermanent and con-
all beings have to face; they are unavoidable. ditioned. A network of conditions has to work
But the Buddha penetrated suffering and harmoniously together in order to produce one
found its cause, which he taught in the second phenomenon as result. One has no power or
Noble Truth: Craving (tanhā). The third Noble cannot control the resulting phenomenon
˙
Truth declared the cessation of suffering by which arises and vanishes according to its
the complete end and liberation of craving. own natural laws.
Finally, the fourth Noble Truth gives the practi- Penetrating to this truth of dukkha in insight
cal way how to remove craving and be freed meditation (vipassanā) for whatever conditioned
from suffering through following The Noble object one’s mind grasps, as well as for the
Eightfold Path. subject, one’s own mind, leads to disenchantment
Dukkha in the context of feeling (vedanā) and finally to neither like nor dislike but
denotes the bodily unpleasant or painful feeling. equanimity (upekkhā) toward these conditioned
Altogether the Buddha taught five kinds of objects, which is called saṅkhār’upekkha-ñāna,
˙
feelings, which should not be mixed up with the knowledge of equanimity toward conditioned
emotions which are already reactions to the pri- phenomena. This is the highest worldly insight a
mary feelings or sensations. If only three feelings vipassanā meditator can achieve. After this, one
are mentioned, dukkha represents unpleasant is ready for the experience of Nibbāna, the
bodily as well as mental feelings, that is, pain unconditioned, which has none of the
and unhappiness. above-mentioned attributes of dukkha.
Dukkha is one of the three universal charac- The contemplation of suffering
teristics of existence. Here, and in the context of (dukkhānupassanā) is one of the three main
insight-meditation (vipassanā), dukkha is the methods in insight meditation. It discards desire
unsatisfactory, imperfect, deficient, and insuffi- through craving. Nibbāna first appears through
cient quality of all formations or conditioned the desireless aspect and the practice leads to
phenomena (saṅkhāra), and of all worldly desireless emancipation (appanihitā-vimokkha)
˙
experiences too. The intuitive insight into this with concentration as gateway to liberation.
characteristic leads to detachment, disenchant-
ment, and turns the mind to the quest for
Nibbāna, which alone does not have the quality
of dukkha, but to the contrary, is highest bliss and Dying
true happiness. All phenomena have the intrinsic
nature of dukkha according to the three types of ▶ Death
dukkha:
1. Dukkha-dukkha: Some phenomena evidently
are painful and suffering directly in them-
selves (such as headache, worry, anxiety, etc.). Dynamic Systems
2. Vipārināma-dukkha: All phenomena have the
nature of “anicca” impermanence, so they ▶ Ecological Psychology
Dynamical System 651 D
function’s value changes over time according to
Dynamical System a rule that is defined in terms of the function’s
current value. Simple nonlinear dynamical sys-
Achim Stephan tems and even piecewise linear systems can
Institute of Cognitive Science exhibit a completely unpredictable behavior,
University of Osnabr€ uck, Osnabr€
uck, Germany which might seem to be random. This
unpredictable behavior has been called chaos.
A means of describing how one state develops D

into another state over the course of time. In Cross-References
engineering and mathematics, a dynamical sys-
tem is a deterministic process in which a ▶ Complex Systems
E
East Orthodox Theology perspectives. However, the Fathers themselves –

especially the Cappadocians – developed
▶ Orthodox Theology a sophisticated natural theology using the scien-
tific insights of their time, and in principle a neo-
patristic approach incorporating the sciences of
our own time is seen as possible by many. More-
Eastern Orthodox Christianity and over, many of the best Orthodox theologians of
the Sciences the past century have, like Christos Yannaras
(2004), explored issues of epistemology in
Christopher C. Knight a way that reflects the work of St.Gregory
ISSR Office, Bene’t House, St. Edmund’s Palamas in the fourteenth century, and their
College, Mount Pleasant, Cambridge, UK insights arguably provide the basis for such
a neo-patristic synthesis. If there is still a strong
suspicion of modern science among some of
Related Terms those who see themselves as the Fathers’ spiritual
heirs, this suspicion is by no means universal.
Orthodox Christians Why, then, does this suspicion linger? Here
part of the answer may lie in sociological factors.
The Eastern Orthodox strand of Christian theol- Many Orthodox lived until very recently in situa-
ogy is strongly traditionalist, with the writings of tions in which they were inevitably influenced by
the Fathers of the early centuries of the church – the need to react against the Marxist-Leninist
especially those of the Greek-speaking east – version of atheism, with its supposed “scientific”
remaining the touchstone for theological basis, so that even after the downfall of that ide-
authenticity. A major feature of this patristic ology in their countries some of them still tend,
background is an understanding of the created almost instinctively, to see science and atheism as
order that stresses the strong linkage between having an intrinsic connection. In addition, at
the concepts of creation and incarnation. In its least some influential Orthodox in the West have
patristic expression, this theological vision was developed a similar attitude for reasons that are
inevitably expressed in terms of the scientific susceptible to comparable analysis. Especially if
understanding of the late antique world, and this reacting against the recent “liberalization” of
has proved problematical for some Orthodox many of the mainstream Western forms of Chris-
Christians of the present day, for whom the sec- tianity, they too may tend to associate science
ular thought of the last few centuries has some- with the ideologies of those they perceive to be
times seemed to be at odds with patristic the enemies or diluters of faith.

E 654 Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the Sciences
This suspicion of science among at least some The former of these effectively defends a kind
Orthodox Christians should not, however, be of fundamentalism in relation to the patristic lit-
equated with the attitude of “fundamentalist” erature. The latter – with major concerns about
Christians of the West. While the two groups are ecology and about the need for the revival of a
sometimes comparable in sociological terms, “sacred cosmology” – fails to perceive any valid-
their theological views are often very different. ity in the distinctions commonly made between
For example, even though modern historical- technology and pure science and between science
critical study of scripture has had relatively little and scientism. For their supporters, anything
influence in Orthodox circles, scriptural exegesis in current Orthodox thinking which reflects the
in these circles is far from fundamentalist in the positive view of modern science that is charac-
Western sense, in that it strongly influenced by teristic of the mainstream of the Western dia-
the way in which patristic authors often read the logue between science and theology represents
Old Testament scriptures using an allegorical an unacceptable dilution of Orthodoxy.
rather than a literal mode of interpretation, and At the other end of the spectrum lie writers
with a creative use of the science and philosophy such as Basarab Nicolescu and Christopher
of their time. This means, for example, that Knight. These, while insisting that Orthodox per-
the creation accounts in Genesis are not usually spectives have an important role to play in the
seen by Orthodox Christians as expressing literal, science-theology dialogue of the future, do not
“scientific” truths about the way in which the reject the Western dialogue of the last two or
cosmos came into being. (Indeed, patristic writers three generations, with its positive attitude to
such as St.Gregory of Nyssa quite explicitly set science and its view that scientific insights pro-
aside the literal meaning of these texts.) As vide genuine insights into major theological
a result of this patristic basis to their thought, it themes. Nicolescu – who in his Romanian home-
is not science and philosophy as such that are land has led the first major effort to develop
looked at with suspicion by some Orthodox Chris- a structured and widespread science-theology
tians, but only what are perceived (rightly or dialogue in a traditionally Orthodox country –
wrongly) to be perverted forms of these disci- has focused on essentially philosophical issues,
plines. Neo-Darwinian insights in biology are, taking bold and controversial strides to formulate
for example, still sometimes held to be incompat- a “transdisciplinary” approach that affects not
ible with Orthodox faith, though advocates of only the science-theology dialogue but every
these insights do seem to be becoming more area of human thought (Nicolescu 2002). Knight,
numerous among upholders of that faith. in a rather different way, has focused on theolog-
Given this complex background, it is hardly ical issues, arguing that one of the main resources
surprising that there is, as yet, no consensus about that Orthodoxy can bring to the current dialogue
how to formulate a contemporary Orthodox is a “teleological-christological” understanding
response to the sciences in general and to neo- of created things, of a kind that he sees as
Darwinism in particular. Moreover, intellectual a valid extrapolation from the thought of St.
ferment in this area – characteristic of Western Maximos the Confessor. In an updated form that
Christianity for several generations – has (with acknowledges current scientific insights, he
the notable exception of a number of theological argues, the traditional Orthodox understanding
appraisals of psychology) been effectively absent of the link between creation and incarnation can
from Orthodox circles until relatively recently, provide a new framework within which the legit-
and this again makes the wide spectrum of imate questions enunciated by participants in the
existing views within those circles more readily Western dialogue can be answered more satisfac-
understandable. torily than they have been when examined in
At one end of the spectrum is the essentially a purely Western context (Knight 2007).
antiscientific attitude of writers such as Seraphim Between these extremes of the Orthodox spec-
Rose (2000) and Philip Sherrard (1992). trum lie writers who, while not rejecting science,
Ecclesiology 655 E
effectively deny the validity of the kind of dia- ▶ Orthodox Theology
logue between it and theology that has taken ▶ Physics and Orthodoxy (Physics and Eastern
place among Western Christians over the last Christian Theology)
few generations. Among the exponents of this ▶ Scientism
kind of position, few have direct experience of
science or a deep understanding of it. A notable
exception, however, is the cosmologist, Alexei References
Nesteruk, who perhaps presents the most scien-
tifically informed argument of this intermediate Buxhoeveden, D., & Woloschak, G. (Eds.). (2011).
Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Farnham:
kind. While affirming science as being a legiti-
Ashgate. E
mate expression of the human spirit, he tends Knight, C. C. (2007). The god of nature: Incarnation and
to bypass the questions that characterize the contemporary science. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Western dialogue – about truth in science and Nesteruk, A. (2008). The universe as communion:
Towards a neo-patristic synthesis of theology and
theology, and about the consonance or disso-
science. London: T & T Clarke.
nance between them – by interpreting both in Nicolescu, B. (2002). Manifesto of transdisciplinarity.
terms of the philosophical approach known as New York: State University of New York Press.
phenomenology. Major themes in Orthodox theo- Pelikan, J. (1993). Christianity and classical culture: The
metamorphosis of natural theology in the Christian
logical thought can, he claims, be incorporated in
encounter with Hellenism. Yale: Yale University
this approach (Nesteruk 2008). Press.
Given this wide spectrum of views, and the Puhalo, L. (1996). The evidence of things not seen: Ortho-
sociological framework within which they at doxy and modern physics. Dewdney: Synaxis Press.
Rose, S. (2000). Genesis, creation and early man. Platina:
present interact, the future of Orthodox theology
St.Herman of Aklaska Brotherhood.
in its response to the sciences of our time is Sherrard, P. (1992). Human image: World image the death
hard to predict. Will sociological factors con- and resurrection of sacred cosmology. Ipswich:
tinue to affect the discussion that has now Golgonooza.
Yannaras, C. (2004). Postmodern metaphysics (trans:
begun in earnest, so that what, in the short
Russell, N.). Brookline: Holy Cross Press.
term, comes to be seen as the mainstream Ortho-
dox position may reflect the effects of these
factors rather than of a full appreciation of
the resources that the Orthodox tradition has
to offer? Or will the epistemological issues on Eastern Orthodoxy
which many contemporary Orthodox theolo-
gians have focused allow the development ▶ Orthodox Theology
of a more subtle and creative response, which
will have an impact not only in the Orthodox
world but beyond? Activity in this area in the
early twenty-first century – with several new Ecclesiology
initiatives based, like Nicolescu’s, on a real
understanding of the content of contemporary Sven-Erik Brodd
science – represents a hopeful sign that this Department of Theology, Faculty of Theology,
latter outcome is the more probable one, at University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
least in the longer term.
Related Terms
Cross-References
Anthropology; Bible; Church; Hermeneutics;
▶ Creationism History; Physics; Political science; Psychology;
▶ Christianity Sociology
E 656 Ecclesiology
Description From the times of the early church, however,

the church has been characterized by controver-
▶ Ecclesiology, from Greek ekklesia (church) sies and a constant striving to maintain or
and logos (discourse), is the analytical and con- reestablish unity.
structive study of the (self-) understanding of the
Christian Church in its varieties of forms and
practices. Self-identification
The term ecclesiology has a double reference.
It is the more or less coherent understanding of Science
what is church held by a church, a movement, or Depending on language, the connotation of
a person. This understanding can be explicit science differs also in relation to the self-
or implicit. Ecclesiology is also an academic understanding of ecclesiology.
discipline studying these ecclesiologies. Ecclesiology appeared as a part of the teaching
As an academic discipline, ecclesiology in dogmatics during the late Middle Ages and
originates in dogmatics and the need for a more remained so until it became a part of the university
specialized field of studies depending on a system during the twentieth century. It then became
more focused development of the understanding a part of systematic theology/dogmatics at the uni-
of the church in theology at large during the versity where it partly served the traditional pur-
nineteenth century. During the last part of pose of the constructive confessional theology of
the twentieth century, ecclesiology integrated the churches and partly by means of church history
theories from history, sociology, anthropology, emancipated itself from the teaching authority of
and other disciplines in humanities and social the churches. As an academic discipline, ecclesiol-
sciences due to growing insights that the church ogy during the twentieth century has combined the
could not be understood only by interpreting dogmatic and historical perspective with empirical
documents and theories but also needed to be studies and theories used in sociology, anthropol-
understood from the perspective of science. This ogy, political science, etc.
in turn led to an emerging integration of ecclesi- The use of ▶ history in ecclesiology is mani-
ology also in nontheological academic fields like fold. It originates in the insight that the church
political science, sociology, and history. dogmatically is an historical phenomenon.
In universities and academic institutions, Therefore, the dogmas on the church must be
ecclesiology, partly depending on recent devel- read in the historical context to be understood
opments partly on history, is either an indepen- (Yves M.-J-. Congar (1904–1995). But history
dent discipline or a subdiscipline, often related to also presents constructs for ecclesiological ana-
dogmatics, social sciences, ecumenics, law, or lyses. If one, for example, researches the circum-
history. As an academic discipline, ecclesiology stances of the cheap production and distribution
differs worldwide in form and content among the of Bibles during the last part of the nineteenth
institutions which include the discipline. century and contextualizes it in the framework
The church as an object of studies is a unique of the emergence of political liberalism and
phenomenon in the world of religions and individualism, this is one of the most important
organizations, claiming to be itself divine revela- ecclesiological changes in modernity.
tion and by analogy the presence of Christ, ▶ Sociology and ▶ anthropology offer eccle-
the human-divine founder of the church. siology tools for investigating what is church as
Historically, the church has decided about the a fellowship or assembly (koinonia, ekklesia).
biblical canon (at the end of the third century) But ecclesiology integrates theories from social
and all dogmas (about the Holy Trinity, sciences with theories taking into account the
▶ Christology); so basically, all information theological presuppositions or postulates neces-
about the Christian faith is based on the church. sary to understand the claims of the church to be
Ecclesiology 657 E
a unique part of a given divine revelation, that is, Cooperation between ecclesiology and
the theological aspects. Ecclesiology is thus com- ▶ political science and the use of ecclesiology
pared with sociology and anthropology, not an and political science in each discipline is
empirical science even if it takes into account grounded in the fact that they are not possible to
and integrates them into ecclesiological studies separate, for example, when studying Western
because empirical data are a too narrow scope. constitutional thought, the idea of nation or king-
Sociology goes together with theological dom, at least up to the nineteenth century. It was
interpretations like Christology and soteriology possible to distinguish between the political and
in ecclesiology. What sometimes is called the ecclesial worlds but not to separate them.
empirical ecclesiology is used to create data Political science also is of importance for eccle-
E
for systematic theological analyses. The church siology, for example, when studying the ecclesi-
is a political and historical reality that claims to ology of a political party. There are studies in
be a divine revelation. It is at the same time how communist parties in Eastern and Central
▶ incarnational and ▶ eschatological. One of the Europe both made analyses of an ecclesiological
problems when correlating ecclesiology to sociol- character and presented coherent understandings
ogy, except for the German sociology of the of what is church that is ideologically motivated
church (Kirchensoziologie), is that its research ecclesiologies.
object is religion at large which for ecclesiology Ecclesiology has to take into account the var-
is too vague and therefore sometimes irrelevant. ious anthropologies presented in the theological
Constructively, social sciences and political self-presentations made by the ecclesial tradi-
science have played a decisive role in, for exam- tions themselves. There is no fundamental and
ple, Latin American liberation ecclesiology, common view of the human being in the aca-
based on exploratory ecclesiological research. demic discipline itself.
The same could be said about feminist ecclesi- The church is as a community a system of
ology and especially in relation to studies on communication in word and deeds, which
power in the church. Not uncommon is the use according to its own self-presentation expresses
of social sciences when developing middle- the unity between God and the believers and
range theories for understanding church in between the believers. To ecclesiology, this
a certain context. means that it must engage in ▶ communication
The church is an organization, sometimes eas- science to understand what it implies and to
ily identified as a bureaucratic institution and in have the possibility to theologically interpret
any society related the dominant administrative the phenomenon (German “kommunika-
procedures and theories of administration for its tionstheoretische Ekklesiologie”).
administration of finances, buildings, personnel,
etc. It is the same church which administer Religion
finances and sacraments. When the church today The church is not a religion unless it by abstrac-
in its life integrates management theories, tion is converted into Christianity in the modern
ideas of professionalism for its ministers, and meaning of the word, an idea invented during the
introduces the concept of service in a manifold eighteenth century and developed by the phe-
meaning, this, of course, affects the self- nomenologists of religions during the eighteenth
understanding of the church and is then an object and early nineteenth century. Thus, the study of
for ecclesiological studies. If earlier in the history the church cannot be understood as a religion
of the church it could be and still can be studied as and so not even the dogmas on the church. In
a teaching institution with a magisterium and some academic institutions, however, ecclesio-
those who are taught by that teaching office, logical studies are founded on theories that are
today it can be studied by means of categories intimately related to specific confessional
like provider and consumer. standpoints.
E 658 Ecclesiology
Characteristics aspects and elements are integrated or put

in relation to each other in such a way that
The distinctiveness of ecclesiology among the the church, whatever that means, retains its
academic disciplines is a debated issue. integrity.
Ecclesiology is the theoretical interpretation In recent years, ecclesiology has bridged the
of the self-understanding and self-realization traditional divide between empirical and theolog-
of the church and how this has been understood ical analyses because of a renewed interest in the
and developed by churches, movements, and cultural and social expressions of the church but
persons in theory and practice, in history, and in also new possibilities to add new knowledge to
contemporaneity. traditional dogmatic or systematic theological
During the last century, ecclesiology less problems by means of theories presented by
and less was confined to a perception of dogmat- disciplines directed toward empirical studies.
ics as an isolated and of other disciplines than
philosophy unaffected reflection on what is the
true church. This is still to a certain extent true, Relevance to Science and Religion
but the church is nowadays commonly not under-
stood as a generalized abstraction that is detached Ecclesiology has until present times not
or possible to detach from its worship, institu- explicitly on a broad basis engaged in the schol-
tions, or actual life. arly area called “science and religion.” Its
Ecclesiology is not restricted to materials pro- increasing engagement in other disciplines and
duced in the ecclesiastical domains. Also, for the incorporation of ecclesiology in, for example,
example, a state or a political party, as well as social sciences will, however, demand such an
a novelist can produce ideas or systems of ideas engagement. Also, the fact that ecclesiology con-
about what church is or might be according to structively has used, for example, models in
their opinion. Consequently, also, these can be physics as well as insights from biology in its
subject to ecclesiological analyses. hermeneutical assets will contribute to this.
Ecclesiology is organized differently at vari- From the 1960s, the idea of model used in
ous academic institutions. In some, it is social and natural science, particularly in physics,
a discipline called ecclesiology or by a similar has influenced ecclesiology (Avery Dulles
name; in others, it is either a subdiscipline in 1918–2008). It is interesting to observe that
another discipline or combined with another dis- ecclesiology when being most theological in
cipline in the same department. Examples character, pursuing various sorts of analogical
of combination are dogmatics, church history, imaginations, is related to natural sciences.
ecumenics, canon law, and practical theology. In ecclesiology, thus, the relation to natural
Sometimes, individual scholars make research sciences, is established in the framework of sys-
in ecclesiology in other disciplines, for example, tematizing biblical images of “church,” not in the
sociology and political science. context of science, for example, political science
The task of ecclesiology is to keep together the or sociology. In physics, it is observed by eccle-
understanding of the church from various per- siologists, the use of model has a clear similarity
spectives (dogmatic, social, cultural, and so on). with the understanding of analogy not least from
The church as an object for studies is a complex the perspective of neoscholastic theology.
and sometimes inconsistent phenomenon, and Models in ecclesiology are used in two ways: as
ecclesiology must necessary make distinctions explanatory models, which functions as means
but cannot separate the various elements in eccle- for synthesizing, and exploratory as means to
siology as it is an object of the study. Such achieve new perspectives and new knowledge.
a separation would lead to a fragmentation of During the 1930s and 1940s, there was a
the object (church). In ecclesiology, different debate among especially Roman Catholic
Ecclesiology 659 E
theologians whether the analogy of the church as Key Values
the Body of Christ was excessively influenced
by concepts used in biology. Anyhow, explana- The key values in ecclesiology are developments
tory models in biology has been used to of (new) theories and presentation of new knowl-
understand what, since the nineteenth century, edge about the church, acquired by the larger
was called the organological perspective on the academia, the churches, and the society.
church presented by more or less botanical
images in the New Testament (vine tree, body,
etc.) that describes change without dissolving the Conceptualization
identity.
E
In constructive ecclesiology, the idea of Nature/World
corporate person, corporate personality, or The object of ecclesiology is not relational, for
extended personality has been developed with example, church and world but the study of the
help of development psychology both as a her- church per se. However, studies of nature and
meneutical tool and an analytical instrument. world are included in, for example, sacramental
This is understood as a phenomenon common to theology, integral in some ecclesiology.
the ecclesiology of Israel and the church. One Recently, ecclesiology has also been engaged in
could say that psychology has offered hermeneu- studies in ecology.
tical tools for ecclesiology. It is of importance
here to remind us about the relation between the Human Being
individual person and the corporate, communal An ecclesiological question is raised when there is
entity that is the church. In classical ecclesiology, a discussion about the identity of an ecclesial tra-
an individual gets his or her identity by belonging dition, and it is about the relation between an indi-
to the fellowship called church. vidual person and the corporative person, that is,
the church. If aspects of identity is brought in from
psychology and applied on an organization and in
Sources of Authority this case an ecclesiologically founded corporative
person, the question about the real image and the
Fundamentally, ecclesiology is an analytical and subjective image of the subject occurs, the problem
a critical and constructive reflection on a postu- with an external as well internal regenerated iden-
lated divine revelation, as this is expressed in the tity as well. This is in ecclesiology possible to
Christian Church and interpreted in manifold approach by means of tools presented in social
ways through ideas and practices. This is the sciences, including anthropology and psychology;
basis for the academic and scientific work of the interaction between the person and social struc-
various schools in the field of research. tures are studied and the person cannot be detached
In ecclesiology, the productivity of the theories from collective processes of experience.
to which the individual scholar adhere is presenting Anthropology at large has influences on the
the authoritative frame of the discipline. ecclesiology held by the churches. One example
is the difference between Baptist and Lutheran
view on the child which finds expressions in
Ethical Principles different views on baptism and thereby the orga-
nization of the church. This is thus a field of
The ethical principles in the field of ecclesiology ecclesiological studies.
are depending on the requirements held by the
individual discipline that is included in the actual Life and Death
research made, for example, sociology or Theologically, the church claims on the basis of
research in archives. the Bible to be an eschatological phenomenon,
E 660 Ecclesiology
that is, transcending the borders of heaven and common, namely, that as the object itself tran-
earth. In Christian anthropology, the idea of the scends in its totality empirical verification, so
beginning of the individual person’s life has ecclesiology as a field of research is not confined
shifted according to the understandings in biol- to empirical data and that those data must be
ogy during history and that is applicable also to interpreted in such a way that the theories and
death. In ecclesiological structures, birth, dying methods are intelligible in the larger academia.
and death have been interpreted by means of
various rites and practices, for example, baptism Mystery
and funeral ceremonies. For academic ecclesiol- The church is from the Biblical presentations of it
ogy this implies a multidisciplinary approach, and onward offered by categories of mystery.
considering dominating patterns of understand- This affects ecclesiology in two ways: It has in
ing presented by history of ideas and social and the research to consider the claims of the church
natural sciences. to be a mystery also when it is studying its orga-
nizational or political character, and it motivates
Reality studies of the idea of mystery itself and how it
In ecclesiology, the ideas of reality differ is used.
depending on epistemological assumptions held
by the individual scholar.
Cross-References
Knowledge
Knowledge produced in ecclesiology is possible ▶ Biblical Studies
to evaluate in the academic fields of theology and ▶ Catholic Sociology
in accordance with the theories and methods ▶ Christian Cosmology
applied in specific research done. ▶ Christianity
▶ Global Christianity
Truth ▶ Historical Theology
The churches’ ecclesiologies generally present ▶ Incarnation
absolute and universal truth claims. Ecclesiology ▶ Liberation, Theology of
as an academic discipline does not make such ▶ Political Theology, Theological Politics
claims. Thus, truth in ecclesiology depends on ▶ Practical Theology
the researcher’s philosophical position and the ▶ Religion, Sociology of
theories used. ▶ Systematic Theology
Time
Theologically, the church builds on the idea of References
incarnation, that God has become a human person
in Christ and that the church is the living Body of Barruffo, A. (Ed.) (2003). Sui problemi del metodo in
ecclesiologia. In dialogo con Severino Dianich,
Christ. Therefore, history is an essential element
Cinicello Balsamo (Milano).
in many ecclesiological investigations studying Brodd, S.-E. (2010). Ecclesiology in the field of academic
continuity and change of the church. disciplines and research. International Journal for the
Study of the Christian Church, 10, 1.
Dulles, A. (1987). Models of the church. A critical assess-
Rationality/Reason ment of the church in all its aspects. Dublin: Gill and
Rationality in the field of ecclesiology as an aca- Macmillan.
demic discipline seems from the perspective of unermann, P., & Schaeffler, R. (Eds.) (1987). Theorie
H€
constructive ecclesiology to be system immanent der Sprachhandlungen und heutige Ekklesiologie. Ein
philosophisch-theologisches Gesr€ ach, Freiburg/Br.
in the meaning that it depends on the philosoph-
Mannion, G., & Mudge, L. S. (Eds.). (2008). The
ical preconditions for a certain theory or cluster Routledge companion to the Christian church.
of theories. One thing seems, however, to be in New York/London: Routledge.
Ecological Psychology 661 E
even cross citing, among them. Still, the three
Ecological Optics share some common historical antecedents. The
thematic thread linking all of them, however, is
Harry Heft a careful and systematic consideration of the
Department of Psychology, Denison University, environmental context for psychological pro-
Granville, OH, USA cesses. All concur that the environmental context
for the development of perception, thought, and
action has not been given adequate attention in
Analysis of the ways in which radiant light inter- ways most suitable for psychological
acts with surfaces of the environment, and, in considerations.
E
turn, the manner in which the resulting reflected Overall, an ecological approach in psychology
light is structured by those surfaces. The array of takes as its basic phenomena the ongoing, recip-
reflected light serves as potential information for rocal processes of a dynamic environment-
perceiving, and as such creates the possibility organism system. Psychological processes are
for direct perception of environmental layout. viewed as operations of organisms in transaction
Formulated by James Gibson in his ecological with their econiche. Econiche refers to that por-
approach to perception-action. tion of the environment that is functionally sig-
nificant for a particular species. The econiche is
specified relative to the living habits of an animal
or a group of animals. Moreover, environment-
Ecological Psychology organism systems are seen as being embedded in
a nested hierarchy of natural systems. Conse-
Harry Heft quently, in addition to its emphasis on reciprocal
Department of Psychology, Denison University, environment-organism relations operating within
Granville, OH, USA a psychological level of analysis, an ecological
approach calls attention to between-level
influences, especially those stemming from the
Related Terms higher-order systems (e.g., sociocultural pro-
cesses) within which psychological processes
Communities; Context; Cultural evolution; are embedded.
Dynamic systems; Evolution; Human develop- Let us briefly consider an overview of each of
ment; Perception; Place; Policy these distinct “ecological psychologies”:
Description James Gibson’s Ecological Psychology
▶ Ecological psychology is a term that has been James Gibson’s ecological psychology takes as
applied by three different psychologists to their its starting point the dynamic environment-
distinct, independent theoretical approaches and animal relationship, and its primary concern is
associated research programs: the perceptual the act of perceiving (Gibson 1979). A unique
psychologist James J. Gibson (1903–1979), the characteristic of the ecological approach is its
child/social psychologist Roger G. Barker intention to provide the theoretical grounds for
(1903–1990), and the child psychologist, Urie a philosophy of direct realism – the position that
Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005). Roughly contem- individuals perceive the environment directly
poraries, all three developed their individual (i.e., without the mediation of nonperceiving pro-
approaches over the second half of the twentieth cesses) (Heft 2001; Reed 1988, 1996). The claim
century. Because of their different research inter- of ▶ direct perception (sometimes called pejora-
ests and approaches, there was little overlap, or tively, naive realism) stands in contrast to the
E 662 Ecological Psychology
view dominating much of post-Cartesian thought the affordances of the environment. The term
that perceiving the environment is always medi- “affordance” refers to meaningful properties of
ated by stored mental representations (indirect the environment taken with reference to an indi-
realism). An epistemological consequence of vidual. For example, a surface affords “sitting
this latter position is the assumption that what on” if it is approximately at knee height and if it
the individual perceives is a mental construction appears to able be to support one’s weight. Con-
of the environment, rather than the environment sequently, what affords “sitting on” has particular
itself. The threat of Humean skepticism, and even properties taken with reference to an individual.
solipsism, ever looms over this position. As such, affordances are neither solely properties
In contrast to the standard position that per- of the environment nor properties of the per-
ception is the result of a linear sequence of causal ceiver, but they are relational properties within
events – from imposition of physical stimulation an environment-perceiver system. Critically,
on stationary receptors to subsequent stimulus then, the concept of affordance transcends the
“processing” along a neural stream to the standard Cartesian objective-subjective dichot-
brain – Gibson proposed that the senses be “con- omy and is characteristic of a relational ontology.
sidered as perceptual systems” of an active, This concept has drawn much attention in recent
exploring perceiver (Gibson 1966). Actions by years because it raises the possibility that mean-
the individual play a critical role in revealing ing originates in dynamic perceiver-environment
structure (information) specific to environmental relationships, rather than being solely a subjec-
features and events. To illustrate, it is far easier tive quality in isolated minds. This way of think-
to identify an object through active touch ing opens up the prospect that meaning is
(i.e., manipulation by means of the tactile percep- a property of the environment-individual systems
tual system) rather than by passively holding and that, ultimately, it can be located in a public,
the object. In both cases, sensory receptors are shared domain of experience (Reed 1996).
stimulated, and yet successful identification of Much of Gibson’s ecological psychology is
the object is far more likely in the former case. anchored in the experimental research tradition.
Likewise, perceiving objects through vision is Ongoing empirical research has deepened our
facilitated by actions of the visual perceptual understanding of the nature of affordances and
system (e.g., movements of the head and body), of the information supporting locomotion. More-
in comparison to a fixed, stationary view. Why is over, it has been fertile ground for research in
it that actions contribute to detection of stimulus movement science as well as perceptual and
information? Activities of perceptual systems motor development, the latter domain of inquiry
help to reveal what is invariant (i.e., the relations initiated by Eleanor J. Gibson (1910–2002)
that do not change in the context of change) in the (Gibson and Pick 2000). Gibsonian ecological
stimulus array. Such invariant structures specify psychology is currently a thriving area of
stable and persisting features of the environment. research and inquiry. The International Society
(An account of how such structure is available for Ecological Psychology (www.trincoll.edu/
in reflected light is offered through Gibson’s depts/ecopsyc/isep/journal.html) meets regularly
development of ▶ ecological optics (Reed 1988; and publishes a journal (“Ecological Psychol-
Gibson 1966; Reed and Jones 1982). The detec- ogy”) as well as a book series.
tion or “pickup” of structure specific to objects
and events by means of perceptual systems makes
possible the direct (unmediated) perception of Roger G. Barker’s Ecological Psychology
environmental layout.
An especially significant concept formulated Roger G. Barker’s ecological psychology (later
in Gibson’s later writings is ▶ affordances called by him “eco-behavioral science”) started
(Gibson 1979). Gibson proposed that what is with his realization that even though psycholo-
perceived through the pickup of information is gists knew a great deal about how children
behave within laboratory conditions, they knew individuals must be intensively engaged in the
little more than laypersons about children’s setting, often taking on more than one role, in
behavior patterns and experience in daily life. In order to preserve the setting’s operational integ-
response to this shortcoming, Barker followed the rity. Understaffed settings, then, often challenge
path set by naturalists in the biological sciences its participants, and if the degree of understaffing
and established a field research station, in this is not too extreme, they are challenged in
case, in a small town, that provided “easy access psychologically beneficial ways. Conversely,
to phenomena of the science, unaltered by the overstaffing results in some individuals in the
selection and preparation that occur in laborato- setting being superfluous to its operations, and
ries.” In due course, Barker and his colleagues hence marginalized. This analysis of the psycho-
E
developed empirical methods for observing and logical impact of “staffing” applies directly to
recording the activities of children in everyday organizational and institutional settings, such as
circumstances (Barker 1968). schools and workplaces.
Their extensive observations revealed an With the closing of the field station, and the
order or pattern in individuals’ actions that passing or retirement of the first generation of
could not be adequately accounted for solely by eco-behavioral psychologists, work along these
considering the environment as it operates at the lines has been steadily declining. The demise of
level of the individual child. Instead, Barker this research program is also partially attributable
found it necessary to identify higher-order struc- to the very demanding, long-term nature of the
tures that emerge from the actions of two or more research, which is at odds with the institutional
individuals in concert with environmental objects practices within the discipline of psychology.
and other features (“milieu”). He called these Unfortunately, with the passage of time, this sig-
dynamic structures ▶ behavior settings (Heft nificant work is being remembered by
2001; Schoggen 1989). Joint, coordinated actions a dwindling number of psychologists.
by individuals generate the dynamic structure of
the behavior setting, and reciprocally, those
actions are constrained by that structure in the Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological
course of generating it. To take a simple example, Approach to Human Development
a chess game between two individuals is a
dynamic structure constituted by their joint Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological approach to
action in some milieu. Their participation in, human development (later called the
and hence creation of, the game simultaneously bioecological approach) primarily focuses on
constrains their actions. Barker began to see com- the social contexts for interpersonal processes
munities as being comprised of behavior settings that have an impact on the developing child.
that their inhabitants participate in to varying Bronfenbrenner pointed out that after decades of
degrees of involvement. Observations such as child development research, psychologists know
this led him to conclude that the best predictor very little about the environmental influences
of individuals’ actions is knowing “where they operating at many levels of society that affect
are” (i.e., in which behavior setting are they cur- child development. As a consequence, he
rently participating) rather than knowing their lamented, child developmental psychologists
“intrapsychic” traits (e.g., personality). have little to offer to those working in the realm
One important insight that grows out of behav- of public policy that bears on child welfare.
ior setting research is the psychological implica- Bronfenbrenner’s emphasis on the policy impli-
tions of “levels of staffing.” “Optimal staffing” cations of human development research distin-
occurs when the requisite number of individuals guishes his work from that of the others
needed to fill the essential roles of a setting is considered here.
present. In conditions of “understaffed” settings The most distinctive feature of his approach is
(less than the requisite number present), a model of the developing child as being
embedded in a series of nested systems of influ- economics, political science, and anthropology.
ence, conceptualized as a set of concentric This interdisciplinary breadth is both its strength
spheres of dynamic, mutually interacting pro- and its challenge when it comes to formulating
cesses (Bronfenbrenner 1978). The most imme- a comprehensive, contextually sensitive frame-
diate reality from the perspective of the work for the analysis of human development as
developing child is the microsystem. This system well as for intervention. Bronfenbrenner did not
is the primary developmental context, consisting develop a sharply defined research program and
of the child, the available environmental often drew on existing research and data
resources, and typically another person (e.g., resources. Still the overall impact of his approach
a parent). It is necessary to recognize that the continues to be influential among researchers
parent is but one of a number of relations with broadly interested in the contexts for human
which an individual child operates at development.
a microsystem level. Other microsystems include
the relationship of the child with a sibling,
a relative, a peer, or a teacher. Because of the Self-Identification
coexistence of multiple microsystems, the rela-
tionships between microsystems require close Science
consideration. For example, the character of Ecological psychology, in all of three of its var-
interpersonal processes in a microsystem that iations, identifies itself as a science. Ultimately,
includes a sibling may have an influence on the validity of its claims and concepts rests on
dynamics of the child–parent microsystem and empirical evidence. Most of the work in the
so on. Bronfenbrenner refers to these relations Gibsonian tradition is based on experimental
between microsystems as mesosystems. Unlike research, the Barker “school” followed along
microsystems where children are participants, more naturalistic and descriptive rather than
▶ exosystems are interpersonal and institutional experimental lines, and the evidentiary base of
conditions that can affect the child indirectly Bronfenbrenner’s approach draws on a combina-
even though he/she is not a participant in them. tion of “natural experiments” (comparison of
For example, the parent’s experience in the work- existing conditions for development) and demo-
place can affect the character of the parent–child graphic data sources. A significant challenge all
microsystem even though the child is not a part of three face is to develop research techniques and
the former. Other instances of exosystems that ways of analysis that capture the dynamic, envi-
may indirectly affect child development are the ronment-organism phenomena at the center of
decisions by school boards on educational/curric- their respective programs.
ular matters, by neighborhood planning boards Moreover, each of them in their own way is
concerning play space, and by legislators on chil- interdisciplinary, at least within the sciences,
dren’s rights. Bronfenbrenner also identifies what connecting with empirical and theoretical work
he calls macrosystem processes, by which he in other domains of scientific inquiry. Recent
means the culture’s value system(s), political developments in Gibsonian ecological psychol-
ideology, etc. These macrosystem factors have ogy have been exploring linkages with the phys-
a pervasive influence on all of the systems nested ics of complex systems, particularly concerning
within it. Later additions to his model are the motor performance and coordination, and with
chronosystem that refers to the temporal pattern- dynamic systems research in motor and cognitive
ing of life events at each of these levels, as well as development. Barker recognized that with the
the biological resources that play a role in devel- discovery of behavior settings as extra-individual
opmental processes. environmental structures, his focus shifted from
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological psychology exclusively that of the individual to collective,
conceptually cuts across numerous traditional ecological structures. He understood that he was
disciplinary boundaries, including sociology, operating at the boundaries of traditional
psychology and the social sciences, and for that human shelters) – processes that have been called
reason, he began to call his research approach in recent years niche construction. From this per-
“eco-behavioral” science. Bronfenbrenner’s prospective of environment-organism systems, then,
gram, as we have seen, cuts across the traditional features of the environment are meaningful and
boundaries of the biological, psychological, and value-laden taken with reference to an animal. As
social sciences. a result, meaning is not solely a property that
resides in the mind considered in isolation, but
rather it is grounded within an environment-per-
Characteristics ception/action system. Approaching meaning
from the starting point of perception/action estab-
E
In spite of differences among these separate pro- lishes the basis for viewing knowledge as being
grams, each in its own way attempts to elucidate fundamentally embodied. The last decade has
the properties of the environment that are signif- witnessed a surge of research on embodied know-
icant from a psychological perspective. Barker’s ing within cognitive science stemming from this
and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological psychologies insight.
draw attention to environmental properties that,
respectively, either have gone largely unnoticed
before (i.e., behaviors settings) or that rarely Relevance to Science and Religion
figure into psychological analysis of child devel-
opment (i.e., mesosystems, etc.). Gibson’s eco- None of the variants of ecological psychology
logical psychology is more far-reaching than the have direct relevance to “science and religion”
others, however, in its call for a radical transfor- as a scholarly area. That said, Gibson’s ecological
mation in how environment-organism relations psychology, with its starting point being the envi-
are conceptualized. ronment-organism systems and its identification
Following in the footsteps of the American of meaning as a relational property of that system,
pragmatist tradition, Gibson’s ecological psychol- would view both science and religion as frame-
ogy explicitly rejects dualistic approaches to works for human activity operating within such
psychological phenomena (see above). The envi- systems. Barker’s ecological psychology con-
ronment and organism are relational concepts, siders religious institutions (e.g., houses of wor-
each implying the other. Environment-organism ship) as behavior settings that emerge from
is a dynamic system, neither facet of the system collective action and thought (belief) and, recip-
is possible without the other. To illustrate by way rocally, create contexts/constraints that make
of a biological process, respiration is not an organ- religious practices possible. Bronfenbrenner
ism property that operates in itself, but rather it is would most likely view the stances toward living
a function of an environment-organism system (in offered by science and by religion as
the absence of oxygen, there is no respiration). macrosystem influences on human development.
Reciprocally, oxygen as one of numerous chemi-
cal constituents of the biosphere is biologically
significant because of its function in organisms’ Sources of Authority
respiration and metabolism. Psychological pro-
cesses and the environment are to be conceptual- The authority for ecological psychology, like any
ized in a likewise manner. scientific endeavor, rests on empirical, pragmatic
At the level of psychological functioning, criteria: ideas that prove to be useful for ongoing
what animals perceive and act on are the processes of inquiry and understanding are to be
environment’s affordances (see above), and valued. At the same time, these ideas remain open
reciprocally, animals regularly modify the envi- to scrutiny, to revision, and even to rejection
ronment to fashion affordances that support when other empirically grounded, substantive
life activities (e.g., spider webs, beaver dams, ideas are formulated that challenge them.
As far as historical sources, James Gibson’s of evidence-based concepts and theory. To the
ecological approach to perception rests in part on extent that this empirical information can be uti-
the radical empiricist philosophy of William lized to improve the quality of human life, as well
James which claims that immediate conscious as the quality of the biosphere, it is especially
experience includes objects and their relations valued. While any science goes beyond its data
(Heft 2001). Traditional empiricist views have it to develop models and theories, which in turn
that “relations” are not immediately perceived – facilitate the prediction of future possibilities,
a position that Hume demonstrated has devastat- those predictions must be grounded in existing
ing consequences for an empiricist epistemology. evidence. Ultimately, predictions must be
Gibson’s mentor was Edwin B. Holt, one of rejected and theoretical commitments critically
James’s students and the earliest proponent of evaluated in the absence of confirmatory data.
molar (nonreductive) behaviorism. Gibson was
also deeply influenced by the phenomenology of
Gestalt psychology, especially by Kurt Koffka, Conceptualization
and by the dynamic field theory developed
Kurt Lewin, which took as central the claim (The following comments are intended to reflect
(B ¼ f P,E) – behavior is a function of joint the perspective of Gibson’s ecological psychol-
person and environment influences. Likewise, ogy only. No doubt there would be much agree-
the works of both Roger Barker and Urie ment among all three psychologists on the
Bronfenbrenner were inspired by the work of following, but still some subtle differences may
Kurt Lewin, who was their mentor. exist on certain matters. I will not explore these
possible differences here.)
Ethical Principles Nature/World

Nature refers to all that is from the standpoint of
As a science, ecological psychology in its varia- the sciences. Within that all-encompassing
tions adheres to the ethical practices of the sci- domain, ecological psychology distinguishes
ences involving human research. Participants’ between the environment and the world. The
anonymity is protected, and whenever possible, environment is that which exists in relation to
participants’ informed consent is obtained. living organisms (Gibson 1979). The world is
Observational research can often make it difficult all there is independent of considerations of liv-
to meet the latter criterion; however, in Barker’s ing organisms. The physical sciences have devel-
ecological psychology research, the individuals oped quite sophisticated descriptions and models
who were being observed were aware of the of the world defined as such.
researchers’ presence and were informed about Environment and organisms exist relative to
the aims of the investigation. Moreover, as in all each other and, indeed, are facets of a common,
the sciences, ethical practices in scholarship, such dynamic system. The environment refers to those
as properly attributing work and faithful, accurate aspects of the natural world that are significant
reporting of evidence, are strictly maintained. because of their value for specific organisms.
Reciprocally, in many instances, some properties
of the environment result from organisms operat-
Key Values ing in the natural world (e.g., from the production
of oxygen by plants to the building of burrows
Ecological psychology is principally an area of and nests, human dwellings, and settlements).
empirical inquiry. It seeks to gain understanding From the standpoint of science, then, there
and insight into the human condition by drawing are no multiple worlds (e.g., the physical world,
on empirical information and on the formulation the natural world, the social world) – but one, the
natural, some parts of which are especially sig- accepted that certain conceptualizations may
nificant for some types of scientific inquiry and operate well for some purposes but not others,
some types for others, such as environments for and vice versa. What is reality for living things is
biological and psychological functions. their immediate perceptual reality – their per-
ceived, living circumstances. The reality that is
Human Being relevant to ecological psychology is the per-
Human beings are members of the species Homo ceived environment taken with reference to
sapiens sapiens, and current evidence indicates active organisms, that is, affordances. Likewise,
that the species evolved roughly 200,000 to a mathematical or a cosmological framework is
150,000 years ago. The biological similarities to be valued in the context of their associated
E
between them and other primate species are con- conceptual or symbolic systems.
siderable, but the relatively small biological differ- How might one differentiate between
ences that do exist have resulted in enormous “perceptual” reality and “conceptual” reality?
psychological and behavioral differences over Conceptual systems are intellectual abstractions
time. Human beings are highly social with possi- from immediate experience. As such, they
bilities for cooperative processes unmatched by can be – and have been – replaced by other
other primate species. The comparative ease with conceptual systems. The reality of environment-
which humans can offer and receive instruction organism systems is present in ongoing immedi-
and can develop symbolic systems of thought, ate perceptual experience, and facets of it must
requiring a long period of dependence on others, endure if environment-organism systems are to
has allowed for extended collaborative, planning remain viable. Extinction occurs when the reality
processes and, critically, has made possible the of the environment necessary for a species’ exis-
accumulation of know-how across generations. tence ceases to be.
Thus, although many primates show evidence of
protocultural processes in terms of cooperative Knowledge/Truth
action and instruction (e.g., in tool use), humans Ecological psychology’s stance on knowledge
alone have developed the possibilities for pro- and truth follows the pattern established by prag-
cesses (e.g., systematic pedagogy, making sym- matist philosophers. Knowledge consists of those
bolic records) that allow for the preservation of acquired practices (habits) and ideas that success-
collective gains of successive generations. Further, fully serve as means to the individual’s ends.
symbolic processes make possible different frame- However, individuals always operate within
works of thought (e.g., religion, mythology) that social contexts; therefore in the long run, these
provide a basis for collective action as well as for individual practices and ideas must be in concert
individuals’ efforts toward finding meaning in their with social norms and collective goals. More-
existence. Possibilities for culture and cultural over, all ends of praxis, both individualistic and
evolution rest on these combined foundations. collective, are established over the course of
development within social contexts.
Life and Death Truth is knowledge that has successfully stood
The origin of life is a topic outside of the purview the test of time, including assessment by individ-
of ecological psychology. That all living systems uals within a social group who care to evaluate it.
eventually die is a fact of biological processes. Although some outcomes may satisfy a narrow
set of goals for a segment of the social group in
Reality the short run, truth is warranted only over the long
What constitutes reality varies depending on run and, in principle, from the perspectives of all
one’s purposes (life sciences, physical sciences, social group members. Although long held truths
social sciences, religion). This is not a relativism, (traditions) should not be discarded casually or
however, but rather a pluralism because it is without due consideration, neither should they go
unchallenged or unrevised when they clash with Time

reliable, empirical evidence, and when they no What is experienced is change due to environ-
longer serve human interests and what humans mental events (e.g., day-night cycle, seasonal
take to be the interest of the biosphere. conditions, growth and decay, inanimate and ani-
mate motion) and organismic action (e.g., self-
Perception produced locomotion, exploration, production)
Perception is the major concern of Gibson’s eco- (Gibson 1979). Time is an intellectual abstraction
logical psychology (Gibson 1966, 1979; Reed based on events. Abstract systems of measuring
and Jones 1982). In this regard, it follows the time have been developed by humans to provide
tradition of Aristotelian and British empiricist a common framework for ordering interpersonal
thought positing that knowing stems from percep- affairs, and these systems are overlaid on the
tual experience. However, unlike most empiricist ongoing changes that are found in immediate
approaches, ecological psychology rejects the posi- experience.
tion that perception is a linear chain of causal
events, from the stimulation of sensory receptors, Consciousness
which produces simple sensations (or sense data), Consciousness is a term with a wide range of
to the mental construction of a percept based on meanings within psychology. Ecological psychol-
those sensations, supplemented by memory. ogy, to date, has been primarily concerned with
Instead, sensation and perception are treated as consciousness qua awareness accompanying per-
separable processes, and perception (but not sensa- ception and action. For example, to perceive one
tion) is the means by which perceivers stay in affordance of the environment as opposed to some
touch with meaningful features of the environment other is to be aware of the former. That is, aware-
(e.g., affordances – see above). Perceiving involves ness is not superadded to perceiving; rather to
the detection of relational structure in the perceive is to be aware of some properties of the
environment – structural relations specify their environment. In addition, perceiving the environ-
environmental sources – and structure is not carried ment is accompanied by a coperceiving of the self.
in sensations (Gibson 1966). Moreover, because There is an awareness that it is “I” that is perceiv-
structure is most readily detected with respect to ing, as evidenced by the fact that, e.g., some alter-
what remains constant in a changing pattern of able vantage point (rather than some other) has
stimulation, actions by the perceiver (i.e., function- been adopted; that there is a self-referential locus
ing of the perceptual systems) play a critical role in of control for self-movement; and that parts of my
perceiving. In an information-rich environment, body are enduring features of my visual field. This
memory is not needed to supplement perceiving evidence points to an empirical, embodied “I” as
processes, because perceiving – like all processes opposed to an intellectualized “I.”
of a living organism – is an ongoing and continu-
ously transforming process of a dynamic environ- Rationality/Reason
ment-organism system. Change is always ongoing. Ecological psychology is concerned primarily
Structures that are detected by way of perceiving with perception-action processes. For this reason,
processes also serve as the foundation for higher it has not addressed reasoning processes in living
level nonperceptual processes (e.g., imagining, systems. That said, it has vigorously opposed the
remembering). Finally, ecological psychology view that perception and action are a reason-like
takes the standard dichotomy of nativist-empiricist processes (e.g., that they are mediated/based on
sources of knowledge to be a false choice based on inferences, hypotheses, or “programs”). As
dualistic thinking that distinguishes world and explained above, ecological psychology provides
mind (see above). Perceiving is function of an the groundwork for considering perceiving
environment-organism system, and perceptual through action to be a direct and unmediated
information is constituted within this system. process of engaging the environment.
Ecological Theology 669 E
Mystery be products of processes occurring in so many
Science is driven by the experience of wonder isolated minds, ecological psychology offers an
when confronting natural phenomena. Within the epistemology of hope (Reed 1996).
bounds of science, wonder does not have
a transcendent significance. Although the experi-
ence of “uncertainty” does not fully capture this Cross-References
experience, it is a part of it. Some of the experi-
ence of uncertainty may be resolved with greater ▶ Cognitive Psychology
understanding, but owing to the complexity of ▶ Developmental Psychology
natural processes, and perhaps due to factors ▶ Dualism
E
intrinsic to natural processes themselves, uncer- ▶ Meaning, the Concept of
tainty is ever-present. With regard to perceiving, ▶ Perception
more specifically, as the individual explores ▶ Philosophy of Mind
the environment, new information comes into ▶ Theoretical Psychology
view and prospective (inherently uncertain)
information appears on the forward edge of
the awareness accompanying perception-action References
(Gibson 1979).
Barker, R. G. (1968). Ecological psychology: concepts
and methods for studying the environment of human
behavior. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Relevant Themes Bronfenbrenner, U. (1978). The ecology of human devel-
opment: experiments by nature and design.
The ecological approach to perceiving provides Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gibson, J. J. (1966). The senses considered as perceptual
theoretical and empirical grounds for a direct
systems. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
realist epistemology. Perceiving (perception- Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual
action) is a process of detecting publically acces- perception. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
sible information that is specific to objects and Gibson, E. J., & Pick, A. D. (2000). An ecological
approach to perceptual learning and development.
events at various levels of complexity. The array New York: Oxford University Press.
of potential information available to be perceived Heft, H. (2001). Ecological psychology in context: James
is essentially limitless, and at any particular Gibson, Roger Barker, and the legacy of William
moment in time, individuals selectively detect James’s radical empiricism. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum.
some portion of this array owing to their prior
Reed, E. S. (1988). James J. Gibson and the psychology of
history and current intentions. With opportunities perception. New Haven: Yale University Press.
for further individual exploration and perceptual Reed, E. S. (1996). Encountering the world: toward an
learning, perceiving is an ongoing process of ecological psychology. New York: Oxford University
Press.
detecting new information, which both broadens
Reed, E. S., & Jones, R. (1982). Reasons for realism:
and deepens the individual’s awareness of what is selected writings of James J. Gibson. Mahwah, NJ:
there to be perceived (Gibson and Pick 2000). Lawrence Erlbaum.
And because perceptual information is publically Schoggen, P. (1989). Behavior settings: a revision and
extension of Roger G. Barker’s ecological psychology.
accessible, the prospect is always open for indi-
Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
viduals who may be selectively aware of different
informational structures, even conflicting struc-
tures, to come to be aware of what the other
perceives. Ecological psychology, then, is an
epistemology of both direct realism and plural- Ecological Theology
ism, and unlike post-Cartesian views that gesture
in the direction of solipsism, by taking percepts to ▶ Environmental Theology
E 670 Ecology in Islam
nothing less than God himself, since, according to

Ecology in Islam the Qur’an, “whithersoever you turn there is the
presence of God” (2:115).
Richard Foltz Within the hierarchy of creation, the Qur’an
Department of Religion, Concordia University, accords humans a special status that of God’s
Montreal/Quebec, Canada khalı̄fa (2:30, 6:165), which has been generally
understood by Muslims to mean “vice-regent,”
thus one of stewardship or trust (amānat).
Related Terms Recently Idris has criticized this as a later
interpretation, however, arguing that the original
Environment; Qur’an meaning of khalı̄fa was “successor”; according to
this view, humans are not the “deputies of God”
Islam is a religion that was born in the desert, and but simply the “successors to Adam” (Idris 1990).
as such the first Muslims seem to have had a keen Nevertheless, the Qur’an states that “all that is
sense of the fragile balance that existed in the in the earth” has been subjected (sakhkhara) to
harsh ecosystem that made their lives possible. humans (22:65) and that “It is He who has created
This awareness is abundantly reflected in the for you all things that are on earth” (2:29). Yet
Qur’an, which contains many references to ultimately, it is God “in whose hands is the
water and other vital natural resources and lays dominion of all things” (36:83; cf. 2:107, 24:42).
down clear guidelines for their conservation and And though humans are said to have been created
equitable distribution. “in the best of forms” ( fı̄ ahsanı̄ taqwı̄m), the
The Islamic legal tradition, devised from Qur’an goes on to caution that “Assuredly the
the eighth to tenth centuries on the basis of creation of the heavens and the earth is [a matter]
the Qur’an and hadiths (reports about the words greater than the creation of human beings: Yet
and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad), spells out most people understand not!” (40:57).
in detail the divinely prescribed parameters Humans are described in the Qur’an as being
for the use of natural resources, including water, more like other beings than unlike them. All
soil, air, plants, and animals. As in the Qur’an, creation is said to worship God (22:18), even if
conservation and fair distribution are empha- their praise is not expressed in human language
sized. Moreover, like everything in creation, (17:44, 24:41– 2). Nonhuman communities are
resources are seen foremost as belonging not said to be like human communities (6:38), and
to humans but to Allah, for whom humans are to nonhuman animals are explicitly said to possess
hold nature in trust (amāna). speech (27:16). Nonhuman animals are said to
have received divine revelation, as when God
instructs bees on how to make honeycombs and
Humans and Nature in the Qur’an honey (16:68). The earth was created for the
benefit of all living beings (anām), not for
The Qur’an presents natural phenomena as signs humans alone (55:10). In fact, the only significant
(āyāt) pointing to the existence of God (16:66, difference between humans and other beings is
41:53, 51:20– 1, 88:17– 20). The value of nature that humans alone possess consciousness (taqwa)
is therefore primarily symbolic. Scientific and are thus accountable for their actions.
inquiry which aims to understand the workings Humans will accordingly be held accountable
of the universe thus constitutes, for Muslims, for any acts of wanton destruction committed
a sacred quest. Nature is perfectly proportioned against the earth (2:205, 7:85). Wastefulness
and without any flaws (67:3), a reflection of the and overconsumption are also prohibited (7:31),
qualities of its creator. It has a divinely ordained as is hoarding. Water, arguably the most vital
purpose (3:191, 21:16, 38:27) and is neither natural resource, is to be kept as common prop-
random nor meaningless. The “environment” is erty (54:28). Balance (mı̄zan) is to be maintained
Ecology in Islam 671 E
in all things, including, presumably, natural camels and donkeys. He urged his followers to
systems (13:8, 15:21, 25:2). Failure to do so, plant trees and cultivate land not only to provide
consequently, may be argued to be un– Islamic. food for humans but for birds and other animals
as well (Sahı̄h Bukhārı̄ 3:513). In a hadith which
is strikingly similar to a well-known rabbinical
In the Hadiths saying, Muhammad is reported as saying
“When doomsday comes if someone has a
The Arabs to whom the Qur’an was revealed in palm shoot in his hand he should [still] plant it”
the early seventh century CE had a long familiar- (Sunān al-Baı̄haqı̄ al-Kubrā).
ity with the ecological constraints posed by their
E
native desert environment. Reports about the
words and deeds of Muhammad (hadı̄ths) indi- In Islamic Law
cate that the prophet of Islam possessed both an
awareness of these constraints and a sensitivity to The legal corpus known as the sharı̄‘a, codified
the duties of humans toward the rest of creation. by Islamic jurists during the Classical period
Muhammad received the first of his revela- (eighth to tenth centuries CE), was meant to be
tions while meditating in a cave on a mountain all encompassing and thus includes aspects which
outside of Mecca. Thus, as in the case of numer- could be said to deal with environmental protec-
ous other seminal religious figures, his insights tion and management of natural resources. The
came within the context of immersion in the jurists applied the four principles of Qur’anic
natural world. Perhaps the most illuminating of injunctions, the example of Muhammad as attested
the hadiths in this regard is the one which states, in the hadiths, analogical reasoning, and their own
“The earth has been created for me as a mosque consensus of opinion to the preexisting customary
[i.e., as a place of worship], and as a means of practices of the Arabs and the Persians in particu-
purification” (Sahı̄h Bukhārı̄, 1:331). According lar and to some extent of other Muslim peoples.
to another hadith, Muhammad said, “The world is The aspect of sharı̄‘a law with the most
green and beautiful and Allah has appointed you explicit environmental applications may be the
His stewards over it.” institution of the protected zone (harı̄m), which
A well-known hadith has Muhammad prohibited the development of certain areas,
prohibiting his followers from wasting water, mainly riverbanks, for purposes of protecting
even when it is found in abundance and when it watersheds. A related institution is that of
is used for a holy purpose such as ritual ablutions the preserve (hima), which usually entailed the
(Musnad ibn Hanbal, ii, 22). Muhammad also protection of trees and wildlife. Some traditional
decreed that no more than an ankle depth of harı̄ms and himas still exist today, notably in
water (i.e., sufficient for one season) could be Saudi Arabia, but they are much diminished
taken for irrigation. Essential resources are to from former times and continue to disappear.
be common, not private property: “Muslims The legal texts go into some detail about the
share alike in three things – water, pasture and distribution of water resources and also devote
fire” (Mishkat al-Masābih). sections to the “bringing to life” (ihyā) of “dead”
Numerous hadiths speak to Muhammad’s lands (mawāt), including the conditions and
concern for the interests of nonhuman animals. rights pertaining to one who engages in such
In regard to the killing of domestic animals for “development.”
food, he called for swift and conscientious Islamic law also extends many legal protec-
slaughter with a sharp knife (Sahı̄h Muslim, tions to nonhuman animals, including the “right
2/11, “Slaying,” 10:739) and not to slaughter an of thirst” (haqq al-shurb), which states that they
animal within view of its kin. He forbade cannot be denied drinking water (Qur’an 91:13).
hunting for sport and frequently reprimanded A thirteenth-century work by ‘Izz al-din ibn ‘Abd
his followers for abusing or neglecting their al-salam, Qawā’id al-ahkām fı̄ masālih al-anām
(Rules for Judgment in the Cases of Living Yet the relationship of the infinite (the creator)
Beings), includes what might be called in to the finite (creation) is neither entirely one of
contemporary terms “an animals’ bill of rights.” immanence (tashbı̄h) nor one of transcendence
Among the provisions are that animals should be (tanzı̄h), since both extremes are incompatible
properly cared for, not overburdened, kept safe with the ultimate oneness (tawhı̄d) of God.
from harm, given clean shelter, and allowed to Neither can creation be divine alongside the
mate. creator nor can there exist separate realities for
Although there is little in the classical legal each; either case would represent a kind of
corpus that could be explicitly categorized as polytheism (shirk) unacceptable in Islam.
environmental law, there exist within it several The Muslim philosophers largely followed
basic principles which could, if so interpreted, the Greek model of the cosmos, which they
serve to mitigate some of the main causes understood to be spherical in shape and bounded
of global environmental degradation today. by the stellar field. The planets, the Sun, and the
In particular one may cite the principles of Moon occupy the middle layers, with the Earth
minimizing damage, the primacy of collective constituting the center. The heavenly world
over individual interests, and the giving of prior- (al-‘ālam al-ā‘la), though made up of ether in
ity to the interests of the poor over those of the contrast to the lower world (al-‘ālam al-asfāl)
rich. While some contemporary Muslims – notably which is comprised of the four elements, shares
Mawil Izzi Dien and Uthman Llewellyn – have with it the qualities of heat, cold, moistness, and
attempted to provide such interpretations, dryness and acts upon it accordingly. The earth’s
these have not yet found their way into the legal geography was most often understood in
codes of any existing Muslim societies. terms of the pre-Islamic Iranian divisions of
seven concentric climes (keshvars), although the
fourfold division of the Greeks and the ninefold
In Islamic Philosophy version of the Indians were also known.
The Islamic philosophers affirm the position
From around the tenth century CE, Muslim of humans near the top within the hierarchy of
philosophers, familiar with Classical works, created beings, below angels but above other
appear to have been the ones to coin the Arabic animals, plants, and minerals. Humans are the
term tabı̄‘a to represent the Latin and Greek mediators between the heavenly and earthly
equivalents natura and physis. (The word tabı̄‘a realms and a major channel for divine grace.
does not appear in the Qur’an.) The derivatives The human body, furthermore, is perceived as
tab‘ and matbū‘ may, on the other hand, have a microcosm of the universe, with specific parts
been the source of the Latin pairing natura of the body being identified with parts of the
naturans and natura naturata (Nasr 1964/1993, zodiac and thus subject to their influences.
p. 9). In Islamic philosophy the distinction The so-called Pure Brethren of Basra
between the creator and creation is represented (Ikhwān al-Safā), in their tenth-century treatises
by the terms haqq (lit., “divine truth”) and khalq. collectively known as the Rasā’il, write that the
The laws of the universe exist not in and of study of nature offers proof of God: “Know that
themselves but rather as expressions of the divine the perfect manufacturing of an object indicates
will, understood in Aristotelian terms as the first the existence of a wise and perfect artisan
cause. There are no “secondary” causes; thus, even when he is veiled and inaccessible to sense
what appear to be the laws of nature are merely perception. He who meditates upon botanical
the “habits” of created things, which God could objects will of necessity know that the beings
alter if he chose. Miracles, accordingly, are seen of this reign issue from a perfect artisan”
simply as instances where God chooses to cause (Nasr 1964/1993). For the Ikhwan, who consid-
things to happen in other than their familiar, ered themselves Pythagoreans, numbers were an
habitual manner. important means of insight into the ordering of
nature. In one section of their treatise, the Ikhwan words the sun, in the sign of Aries, speaks to the
present a fictitious court case in which nonhuman plants and the date palms/You yourself, too, know
animals complain of their treatment by humans. what the limpid water is saying to the sweet herbs
Goodman has drawn attention to the similarity of and the sapling” (6.1068–69). Moreover, the Sufis
ecological vision evoked in this tenth-century tract often employ the symbolism of love (‘ishq) to
with that of contemporary ecologists (Goodman describe the relationship of mutual attraction
1978). The Ikhwan were a marginal group, how- between the creator and his creation. Yunus
ever, and their views should not be taken to repre- Emre, a thirteenth-century Turkish poet, com-
sent the mainstream Islamic thought of their time. posed the famous line, “We love all creation for
the sake of its Creator.”
E
Many Sufi tales, such as those found in the
In Sufism works of Rumi, Attar, and others, include
animal characters, though these are almost
Muslim mystics, known as Sufis, have tended to always stand-ins for human characteristics asso-
interpret Qur’anic references to the oneness of ciated with particular species. Nonhuman ani-
God (tawhı̄d) as indicating an underlying unity mals are seen as occupying a level below
to all reality. The Andalusian mystic Muhyi humans, and the “animal soul” of the philoso-
al-din ibn ‘Arabi (1165–1240) described creation phers is equated by the Sufis with the “lower
in terms of “unity of being” (wahdat al-wujūd), self ” (nafs), or one’s own baser instincts which
an idea which won wide popularity among Sufis along the path of spiritual development one
especially in South Asia where his work remains strives to overcome.
highly influential. Many mainstream Muslims
have found this belief to verge dangerously
close to pantheism, however; the seventeenth- Contemporary Islamic Environmental
century Indian Sufi teacher Shah Waliullah Ethics
preferred the term “unity of witness” (wahdat
al-shuhūd) as more clearly maintaining the While it is important not to romanticize the past –
distinction between creator and creation. Muslims, like people of all cultures, have not
The Sufi notion of the “complete man” always followed the spirit or the letter of their
(al-insān al-kāmil), also elaborated by Ibn sacred laws – it would appear from the above that
‘Arabi, expands the conception of the human premodern Islamic societies possessed something
being as microcosm of the universe. For Sufis, that might be considered in contemporary
cultivation of the individual is analogous to terms as having constituted an environmental
cultivation of the cosmos as a whole; thus, one’s ethic. And while one may likewise remain
personal spiritual development can affect the skeptical of arguments that Western imperialism
entire world. alone is to blame for the erosion of traditional
To Sufis such as Jalal al-din Rumi norms throughout the Muslim world, it does seem
(1207–1273), not just animals and plants but the to be the case that traditional Islamic directives
entire universe of creation is alive (Clarke 2003). enjoining care and restraint in regard to the use
“Earth and water and fire are His slaves,” he writes of resources have become less apparent in the
in the Masnavı̄-yi ma‘navı̄; “With you and me they modern period.
are dead, but with God they are alive” (1.838). In short, not only are Muslim societies today
Nature also speaks, though only the mystics real- not models of environmental consciousness, in
ize this: “The speech of water, the speech of the many cases they provide examples of the worst
earth, and the speech of mud are apprehended sorts of environmentally destructive lifestyles
by the sense of them that have hearts” (1.3279). and development policies. Many of the most
The conversations of nature are indicative of severely degraded environments in the world
affective relationships: “You yourself know what today are those in which Muslims constitute
a majority of the population. While overall often experienced most profoundly by rural
per capita consumption and pollution rates are women, who are the primary users of natural
generally less than in Western industrial socie- resources (and whose husbands may be quite
ties, Muslim countries mostly suffer from acute disconnected by comparison, away working in
environmental problems connected with poverty, urban factories). At the same time, rural women
overpopulation, and outmoded technologies. tend to be the most disempowered members of
Unfortunately, it is also true that Muslim traditional societies, thus the least able to react to
societies today are faced with so many severe the crisis.
problems of all kinds – political, social, and Ironically the United States, while remaining
economic – that environmental protection often the world’s major agent of environmental
seems at best a secondary concern. Few Muslims destruction as well as the leading proponent of
have yet come around to the way of thinking unsustainable economic policies and practices, is
expressed by Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich, also the original home of environmentalism in its
when he stated that “the environmental crisis is modern sense. Environmental consciousness,
the playing field on which all other problems are in its contemporary form, emerged in the late
played out,” or the popular environmentalist nineteenth century among Americans such as
image in which the various human struggles Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Theodore
going on in the world today are like “fighting Roosevelt. Revisionist philosophies which
over deck chairs on the Titanic.” We are so placed humans within and not above natural
preoccupied with dealing with the threats systems were articulated by Americans such as
approaching us head on that we fail to notice Aldo Leopold in the 1940s and Edward Abbey in
what is happening under our feet. the 1970s. Contemporary environmentalism, as
To be fair, Westerners too have been exported to the rest of the world, is thus largely an
extremely slow to recognize the severity of the American product.
threat posed by global environmental degrada- This point has not gone unnoticed by environ-
tion. This is more true than ever today, as the mentalists elsewhere. In a 1989 article in the
government of the United States of America, US-based journal Environmental Ethics, Indian
the world’s number one polluter, holds ever sociologist Ramachandra Guha argued that
more firmly to a Pollyanna-esque notion that whatever its inherent merits, an environmental-
environmental concerns are overstated and ism derived within the particular history and
trumped by the unrivaled importance of perma- culture of North America cannot simply be
nent economic growth. It seems significant that applied as a one-size-fits-all model to the rest of
in March 2005, the publication of the so-called the world. The attempt to do so – seen in such
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, in which a examples as the creation of national parks
5-year study by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries from which human inhabitants are forcibly
concluded that human activities have severely expelled – too often constitutes a “direct transfer
compromised two-thirds of the earth’s ecosys- of resources from the poor to the rich”
tems in only the past 50 years, made front-page (Guha 1989, p. 75).
headlines in Europe and elsewhere in the world It hardly comes as a surprise, then, that
but was almost completely ignored by the main- environmentalist policies and initiatives in the
stream media in the USA. Muslim world are often seen as merely another
The USA is the world’s richest country, example of Western imperialism, an attempt by
and environmental degradation is typically less foreigners, foreign interests, or foreign puppets to
worrisome to the rich who can mostly shield meddle in the affairs of Muslim communities
themselves from its effects than it is to the poor for purposes of exploitation and control.
who suffer from environmental problems It would seem that under such circumstances,
most immediately and most severely. In the environmentalism in Muslim societies would
developing world, the environmental crisis is have to develop in an indigenously derived form
seen as locally relevant, if it hopes to take paradox that, even among Muslims seeking to
root and flourish. Unfortunately examples of derive an environmentalism from within their
home-grown environmentalism are not yet easy own tradition, the initial impetus and context is
to find in the Muslim world, though they are not often the West.
nonexistent. The first specifically Islamic treatise on
Probably the credit for first beginning to think environmental protection, composed by a team
about the environmental crisis in Islamic terms of Islamic scholars in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in
should go to Seyyed Hossein Nasr, an Iranian- 1983, was commissioned by a Swiss-based envi-
American academic who has been preoccupied ronmental organization, the International Union
with the effects of human activities on natural for the Conservation of Nature and Natural
E
systems since before Rachel Carson, during his Resources (IUCN) (Kader et al. 1983). The
student days in Massachusetts during the 1950s resulting tract, which consisted of only 30 pages
when he would trace Thoreau’s footsteps around of text, was very poorly distributed, and its
Walden Pond (Nasr 2003, p. 85). A historian of authors have since acknowledged that their
philosophy and science, Nasr, was struck by how efforts to have its findings adopted by policy-
much had changed since Thoreau’s time and makers in Muslim countries have largely failed.
began to feel that there was a marked difference A second effort to articulate Islam-based envi-
between Islamic science, in which the pursuit ronmental values came at the instigation of
of understanding nature was seen as a sacred another Western organization, the Worldwide
undertaking, a way of better knowing the mind Fund for Nature (WWF). The WWF organized
of God, and the desacralized scientific approach a symposium in Assisi, Italy, in 1986 on environ-
of the post-Enlightenment West in which nature mental values in world religions, to which
was seen as mechanical, devoid of life or inherent a Muslim representative was invited and who
meaning, and existing only to serve human ends. composed a one-page statement on Islam and
Nasr spelled out this distinction in his book the environment (Nasif 1987, p. 47). Later, the
Science and Civilization in Islam and other WWF expanded their project to commission
works, even preceding by several months Lynn short edited books of articles on religion and the
White Jr.’s famous critique of human exception- environment, one book for each major religion.
alism in Western religions, a 1967 paper titled To edit the Islam volume, they approached
“The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis” Fazlun Khalid, a British Muslim of Ceylonese
(White 1967), with a similar argument in origin who had developed a strong interest in
a lecture series Nasr gave at the University of environmental issues through reading the
Chicago in the summer of 1966 (Nasr 1967). works of Nasr and a number of Western
Over the past four decades, Nasr has continued environmentalists.
to describe the environmental crisis as one that The WWF volume edited by Khalid and
originates as a crisis of values; his works are cited published in 1992 under the title Islam and
widely by Muslim environmentalists and as Ecology contained a half dozen brief essays by
a representative authority by Westerners seeking practicing Muslims which took note of Islamic
to include “the Islamic perspective” in discus- teachings on the environment and offered
sions on the environment. explanations for the environmental crisis based
The main shortcoming of Nasr’s contribution on such things as Islamic critiques of the
has been that he has always written predomi- global economy (which, being based on the
nantly for a Western audience of non-Muslims, taking of interest and the unlimited creation
serving first and foremost as an apologist for of credit, they claimed as fundamentally
Islam. Those Muslims who have read him have un-Islamic) (Khalid and O’Brien 1992). Again,
almost always read him in English, as his works this little book was poorly circulated – though it
have been little translated into Arabic or even has since been issued in Turkish and Indonesian
his own native Persian. His case exemplifies the translations – and was known and used mainly by
Western environmentalists as a statement of “the pages much more extensive (Foltz et al. 2003), and
Islamic position” on environmental protection. in the strengthening of a global network of Muslim
The most sophisticated attempt yet to discuss environmentalists which continues to expand
environmental values through the lens of the today. Among them can be counted, in addition
world’s religious systems was undertaken in to Fazlun Khalid, Uthman Abd al-Rahman
the late 1990s by two professors at Bucknell Llewellyn, an American convert who has spent
University, Mary Evelyn Tucker (a specialist many years working as an environmental consul-
in Confucianism) and her husband John Grim tant for the government of Saudi Arabia; Turkish
(an expert on Native Americans). Tucker and theology professor İbrahim Özdemir, author of
Grim obtained funding from a variety of sources several books on environmental ethics and now
which enabled them to organize a series of Undersecretary of Education for the Turkish gov-
ten international conferences on religion and ernment; Safei El-Din Hamed, professor of land-
ecology, which were held at Harvard University scape architecture at Texas Tech and former
Divinity School from 1996 to 1998. For the Islam consultant to the Egyptian government and the
conference, which occurred in May 1998, Grim World Bank; and Mohammad Aslam Parvaiz,
sought out the organizational assistance of Fazlun founder-director of the Islamic Foundation for
Khalid, who drew on his growing international Science and Environment in Delhi. Özdemir has
network of Muslims concerned with the environ- since arranged for a Turkish translation of the
ment to come up with a list of participants. Harvard Islam and Ecology volume, while Parvaiz
The Harvard conferences, perhaps to be has commissioned an Urdu version for use in the
expected of an initial foray into a new field, pro- Islamic seminaries of India. Another longtime
vided mixed results. At the Islam conference, it Islamic environmentalist, Iraqi-born law professor
was hard not to feel that many of the participants Mawil Izzi Dien, who did not attend the confer-
were less interested in saving the environment that ence but who submitted a paper for the published
they were in taking advantage of an all-expense- proceedings, has been attempting to establish
paid trip to Harvard. In their presentations many a Centre for Islam and Ecology at the University
referred to the environment only passingly, some of Wales. Izzi Dien contributed to the 1983 Jeddah
not at all. Though other axes were ground, no hard tract and is the author of the first book-length
questions were asked about the treatment of the treatment of Islam and the environment, titled
environment in contemporary Muslim societies, The Environmental Dimensions of Islam, which
and all problems were blamed on Western inter- was published in 2000 (Izzi Dien 2000).
ference, Western values, and the erosion of tradi- By far the most significant efforts in dissemi-
tional Islamic norms. The dominant theme of the nating an Islamic ethic of the environment on
conference was that Islam provides everything a global scale have been by Fazlun Khalid.
necessary for the appropriate management of Beginning with the establishment of the organi-
natural resources and that if Islam were widely zation he founded in the early 1990s, the Islamic
and properly practiced, then there would be Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sci-
no environmental crisis to talk about. Issues such ences (IFEES), based in Birmingham, England,
as human population control, lifestyles of this former British civil servant has spent the last
overconsumption, and animal rights, when briefly decade of his retirement endlessly traveling
raised, were loudly dismissed out of hand by cer- around the world conducting environmental edu-
tain vocal participants and not revisited. cation seminars in Muslim communities from
Nevertheless, a number of genuinely commit- Saudi Arabia to Indonesia. A project conducted
ted Muslim environmentalists did attend the by Khalid among the Muslim fishermen on the
conference, even if their voices were not promi- East African island of Zanzibar was described by
nently heard there. The event at least resulted in BBC News in early 2005 as a remarkable success.
both the publication of an edited book, like its Such efforts by practicing Muslims, who hap-
predecessor titled Islam and Ecology but at 584 pen to be environmentalists and therefore seek to
articulate their environmentalism in Islamic Environmentalism in Iran is seen most tangi-
terms, may be weighed against initiatives in bly in the proliferation of environmental NGOs,
countries where the environmentalists concerned many of which, such as the Green Front of Iran
just happen to be Muslims (Foltz 2005). (GFI), have been remarkably effective in raising
The international environmental organizations public awareness and carrying out environmental
WWF and IUCN, for example, both have protection campaigns. And while the government
offices in a number of Muslim countries. continues to be seen by most Iranians as all talk
(The IUCN Karachi office is the largest in the and no action, Iranian environmentalists at least
developing world.) enjoy the theoretical support of the Islamic state.
As might be expected, organizations that are While Iran’s home-grown environmentalism
E
Western in their origins, outlook, and approach seems to hold unique promise in the Muslim
are likely to attempt projects which reflect their world today as proof that indigenous, non-
Western orientation. Equally predictably, their Western models can indeed succeed, paradoxi-
successes have been mixed, when they have cally the conditions of enforced independence
not – as in IUCN Pakistan’s attempt to which gave rise to Iran’s unique environmental
enlist Pathan religious scholars in teaching movement are little appreciated by most Iranians,
environmental ethics in religious schools – been who are eager to overcome their 25 years of
acknowledged failures. One significant aspect of forced isolation and climb aboard the juggernaut
the constraints faced by international environ- of economic globalization. With Iran’s entry into
mental organizations operating in Muslim the WTO newly on the table for discussion and
countries is that they tend necessarily to be a president for whom environmentalism seems
grant driven. That is to say, because they rely a lesser priority than challenging the West, the
heavily on grants to carry out their works, they future of Iranian environmentalism may be in
must devise projects which may reflect more the question.
interests of granting agencies than they do the In conclusion, a plurality of models currently
actual needs of the societies in question. exists for environmentalism across the Muslim
An exception to this phenomenon can be world. Unfortunately, none yet appears up to the
found in Iran, where NGOs are severely restricted task of reducing the momentum of ecologically
in their ability to solicit or obtain external funding devastating modernity, which continues its head-
because of a long-standing US-led economic long plunge toward global catastrophe. But if
embargo. As a result, environmental organiza- there is any hope at all for the world’s environ-
tions in Iran have emerged in a context of inde- mental movements to play a role in slowing the
pendence and localism. Indeed, Iran would seem present destructive trends and steering human
to offer the most successful example in the world society toward more just and sustainable alterna-
today of a truly home-grown environmentalism tives, the planet’s 1.2 billion Muslims demonstra-
(Foltz 2005). bly have cultural resources to draw upon which
Civil society in Iran benefited greatly from are both compatible with their traditions and hold
the election of reformist president Mohammad promise for meeting emerging needs.
Khatami in 1997. Since then, over 200 new
environmental organizations have been officially
recognized by the Iranian government. The Cross-References
government of the Islamic Republic itself has
promoted an environmentalist rhetoric which is ▶ Allah
among the most sophisticated and progressive in ▶ Animal Theology and Ethics
the world, even explicitly calling for an Islamic ▶ Environmental Theology
approach to environmental ethics, although its ▶ Islam: An Overview
rhetoric has not been backed up by action in ▶ Philosophy in Islam
many cases. ▶ Theology in Islam
E 678 Ecology in Judaism
Clarke, L. The Universe alive: Nature in the philosophy of Broadly speaking, the term “ecology” connotes
Jalal al-Din Rumi. In Foltz, et al. (Eds.), Islam and
a worldview that emphasizes interaction and con-
ecology: A bestowed trust (pp. 39–65).
Foltz, R. C. (Ed.). (2005). Environmentalism in the nectedness: all living and nonliving things are
Muslim World. New York: Nova. integral parts of the biospherical web; their
Foltz, R. C., Denny, F. M., & Baharuddin, A. (Eds.). essence or identity is an expression of connection
(2003). Islam and ecology: A bestowed trust.
and context, so that to understand their makeup, it
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Center for the Study of
World Religions. is necessary to consider relations between parts
Goodman, L. E. (trans.) (1978). The case of the animals and not just the parts themselves. All life-forms –
versus man before the king of the Jinn: A tenth-century including Homo sapiens – result from the same
ecological fable of the pure brethren of basra. Boston:
processes, and given the affinities between
Twayne.
Guha, R. (1989). Radical American environmentalism humans and nonhumans, the value of nonhumans
and wilderness preservation: A third world critique. is not merely instrumental as a resource utility for
Environmental Ethics, 11/1 (1989), 71–83. human beings. It is precisely this misguided
Idris, J. S. (1990). Is man the Viceregent of God? Journal
instrumental attitude toward the natural world
of Islamic Studies, 1(1), 99–110.
Izzi Dien, M. Y. (2000). The environmental dimensions of that has led humans to cause serious damage for
Islam. Cambridge: Lutterworth. the earth, a situation which calls for environmen-
Kader, B., Ahmed, A. B., al-Shirazi al-Sabagh, A. L. T., tal ethics. In a narrower sense, the term “ecology”
al-Sayed al-Glenid, M., Mawil, Y., & Dien, I. (1983).
refers to the science of ecology which has
Islamic principles for the conservation of the environ-
ment. Gland: International Union for the Conservation a specific history consisting of individual scien-
of Nature and Natural Resources. tists practicing ecology within definite social and
Khalid, F., & O’Brien, J. (Eds.). (1992). Islam and ecology. institutional milieus. In popular parlance, “ecol-
London: Cassell.
ogy” has become vaguely synonymous with
Nasr, S. H. (1964/1993). An introduction to Islamic
cosmological doctrines (Rev. ed.). Albany: State “environmentalism” and denotes an awareness
University of New York Press. of the current ecological damage to the earth
Nasr, S. H. (1967). Man and nature: The spiritual crisis in and its inhabitants and the actions necessary to
modern man. London: Allen & Unwin.
remediate the damage.
Nasr, S. H. Islam, the contemporary Islamic world, and the
environmental crisis. In Foltz, et al. (Eds.), Islam and
ecology: A bestowed trust (pp. 85–105).
White, L. (10 March 1967). The historical roots of our Jewish Environmentalism
ecologic crisis. Science, 1203–1207.
A Jewish environmental movement emerged in

the early 1970s as an apologetic defense against
the charge of Lynn White Jr. that the Judeo-
Ecology in Judaism Christian tradition, rooted in the Bible, was
responsible for the current ecological crisis. In
Hava Tirosh-Samuelson defense of Judaism, Jewish theologians have
School of Historical, Philosophical, and argued that White and other environmentalists
Religious Studies, Arizona State University either misread the Hebrew biblical text or lack
College of Liberal Arts, Tempe, AZ, USA any knowledge of postbiblical Judaism. An accu-
rate and informed reading of Jewish sources
shows that the Jewish religious tradition, and
Related Terms especially the Bible, is replete with ecological
wisdom and that its environmental ethics can be
Environmentalism; Jewish religion used as a basis for sound ecological policies.
Ecology in Judaism 679 E
While Judaism views the human as the zenith of and that Judaism approaches the environmental
creation, the Jewish faith does not give license to crisis in its own distinctive manner has been
exploit the earth’s resources. Rather, Judaism slow to spread. Jews either assume that Judaism
articulates an ethic of responsibility that enjoins has little to say about environmental matters or
humanity to take care of the world God has cre- presuppose that Judaism and environmentalism
ated. The biblical narrative of the Garden of are inherently incompatible. The inherent ten-
Eden, in which the first created earthling was sions of Jewish ecological discourse are most
placed “to till and protect it” (Gen. 2:15), serves evident in the State of Israel. A strong theme
as a paradigm for the desired relationship within early Zionism conceived the return to the
between humanity and the natural world: humans Land of Israel as the return of the Jews to nature,
E
must tend to and care for the natural world of but the complex situation in the modern State of
which they are part. Israel illustrates the paradoxes of Zionism. On
Since the 1970s, Jewish environmentalists the one hand, intimate familiarity with the land-
have mined the Jewish literary tradition for its scape of the land, its flora and fauna, and the
ecological wisdom, reinterpreting the Jewish her- concern for the preservation of the physical
itage in light of environmental concerns and environment are popular among secular Israelis,
values. In particular, the prophetic commitment but they are not legitimized by appeal to the
to social justice and care for the poor inspired religious sources of Judaism. For secular
leftist political thinkers, chief among them Arthur Israelis, attention to environmental issues has
Waskow, to preach a Jewish-, religious-, and more to do with western orientation and links
leftist-oriented environmentalism. Under the to the environmental movements in Europe and
broad concept of “eco-kosher,” Waskow has inte- North America than with Judaism. On the other
grated a wide-ranging critique of unjust social hand, Jews who are anchored in the Jewish tra-
practices with deep concern for the Earth and its dition tend to link their love of the Land of Israel
natural resources and compassion for the socially to the creation of a religious-nationalist vision,
marginal. In 1993, several Jewish environmental which has little to do with environmental values
organizations coalesced into the Coalition on the and sensibilities. In fact, these religious-
Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL). With nationalist groups have no qualms committing
a membership of about 10,000, this umbrella various environmental sins (e.g., uprooting
organization has attempted to educate Jews ancient olive groves) in order to advance their
about environmental matters, inspiring Jews to nationalist agenda (i.e., the settlement of Greater
lead environmentally sound lives, beginning Israel) at the expense of the nationalist agenda of
with the greening of synagogues and calling the Palestinians. The ongoing Israeli-Arab con-
Jews to lend their support to various legislative flict and especially the Israeli-Palestinian con-
organizations and to enter into interfaith dialogue flict have exacerbated the environmental
on environmental matters. In the past two challenges in the Land of Israel, but, conversely,
decades, several Jewish organizations and educa- acute environmental problems such as water
tional initiatives in North America (e.g., ALEPH, shortage that affects Arabs, Israelis and
Alliance of Jewish Renewal, Isabella Freedman Palestinians have actually inspired some prom-
Center, Hazon, Kanfey Nesharim, Shalom Nature ising Israeli-Arab-Palestinian collaboration. In
Center, Tel Shemesh, and others) have attempted the past decade, Jewish religious environmen-
to cultivate a Jewish ecological outlook and talists have established various educational
a program for Jewishly environmental activism efforts (e.g., Heschel Center for Education and
rooted in Jewish values. Environmental Leadership and Teva Ivry
However, the message that Judaism can be [Hebraic Nature]) to ground environmental
part of the solution to the environmental crisis activism in the religious sources of Judaism.
Today, a small but growing body of environ- group of humans, Israel, namely, the covenant. As
mental Jewish discourse articulates a distinctive part of His covenant with Israel, God revealed the
Jewish presence in the environmental conversa- law that specifies how Israel is to treat the natural
tion about religion and ecology worldwide. In the world. These commands constitute the Jewish reli-
State of Israel, a robust environmental movement gious environmental ethics that includes the fol-
is involved not only in environmental education lowing principles: First, the world belongs to God,
and advocacy but also in legislation and political its Creator, and humans are but temporary tenants
action. Yet in both the State of Israel and the who should treat God’s world with care. Second,
Diaspora, the Jewish environmental movement humans, who are created in the image of God,
takes the environmental crisis as a fact to which must follow divine commands and protect God’s
humans must respond; the movement does not creation from wanton destruction (Bal Tashchit).
engage the ecological crisis as a scientific ques- Third, humans should imitate God who rested at
tion. Scientific findings about particular environ- the end of the act of creation; humans and their
mental problems such as soil corrosion, domestic animals must rest on the Sabbath and
extinction of species, loss of biodiversity, defor- extend rest to the Earth in the sabbatical year.
estation, or pollution of air, water, and soil are Fourth, humans must prevent needless suffering
used as evidence to chart the appropriate courses of animals (tza‘ar ba‘aley hayim), even though
of action. The scientific data about the physical humans are allowed to eat certain animals which
environment are coached neither as “old ecol- should be killed and prepared in a certain way.
ogy” (i.e., the view that nature exhibits inherent Finally, how humans care for the weak and vul-
harmony, order, and beauty) nor as “new ecol- nerable of their society determines the well-being
ogy” (i.e., a view that highlights the “dark side of and fertility of the earth. These principles are
nature” due to predation, competition, struggle, applied first and foremost to the Land of Israel,
conflict, and strife). The call for preservation and the collateral of God’s covenant with the chosen
protection of natural resources or to find political people; when cruelty and greed exceed what the
solutions to growing environmental problems is land can bear, God exiles the people of Israel from
rooted not in the science of ecology but in the the Land of Israel.
Jewish commitment to justice and the Jewish Although the ecological wisdom of the Bible
ethics of responsibility, whether these are could inspire sound environmental policies, the
anchored in the Jewish religious tradition or belief that God revealed His will to Israel in
given a secular interpretation. Ethics takes prece- sacred texts also set Judaism as a religion of
dence in Jewish environmentalism today. a Book in which nature was understood, experi-
enced, and interpreted through the prism of Scrip-
ture. From the priestly reforms that produced the
Torah Versus Nature in Premodern Book of Deuteronomy, through the Pharisaic
Judaism interpretation of Judaism during the Second Tem-
ple, and into the rabbinic Judaism of the Talmu-
The complexity of Jewish attitudes toward the dic period, Judaism emerged as a scholastic
natural world could be traced to two foundational culture that over time brought about the increased
beliefs of Judaism: first, that God created the world alienation of Jews from the natural world. In
and continues to manage it and care for it, and rabbinic Judaism, the Torah was regarded as the
second, that God revealed His will to Israel, the sacred medium for communication between God
chosen people, in the form of Torah. The dominant and Israel and the exclusive object of love, devo-
doctrine of creation insists that God is not part of tion, and veneration. To worship God, Israel
nature and that nature is not intrinsically holy. should study the Torah and behave according to
Nature only points beyond itself to the Creator its commandments as expounded in the authori-
God who has entered a special relationship with tative interpreters of the Torah, the rabbinic
one species – the human species – and with one sages, and their heirs through the generations.
The exclusive study of the Torah and the acts that and throughout the nineteenth century, European
follow from it stand in some tension with the Jews began to demand an end to centuries of
worship of nature (Mishnah Avot 3:7). discrimination, exclusion, and marginalization
The rabbinic movement created a comprehen- and demanded civil rights and social inclusion.
sive lifestyle that was text-centered, a life By the 1870s, Jews in Western and Central
of prescribed commandments of Torah study. Europe indeed received civil rights, but granting
For observant Jews in the premodern world, civil rights to Jews did not entail social accep-
nature was good but not holy; it could be made tance; the emancipation gave rise to ongoing
holy, or sanctified, through the observance of internal debate about the meaning of Jewish iden-
divine commands that pointed to the divine Cre- tity, and the emancipation unleashed a backlash
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ator as the source of meaning and value rather in the form of racial anti-Semitism. All these
than to nature. Nature (or what “is”) does not factors played a role in how “nature” was con-
dictate what ought to be; only divine revelation strued in Jewish discourse during the nineteenth
articulates the moral norm (what “ought” to be). century.
Historical circumstances further contributed to
the disconnect between Jewish communal life
and the physical environment: the exile of the “Religion” and “Science” in Modern
Jews from the Land of Israel, urbanization of Judaism: The Debate about Evolution
the Hellenistic world during which rabbinic Juda-
ism came into existence, the occupational shift As Europe made it possible for Jews to integrate
from agriculture to commerce in the Islamic into majority society and culture, Jews flocked to
world, and the restriction on Jewish ownership the universities, whose doors had previously been
of land in the Christian world. All of these factors closed to them. Many Jews were attracted to the
brought about growing alienation from and indif- natural sciences, especially the new disciplines of
ference to the immediate natural environment in chemistry, microbiology, and medical biology. In
which Jews lived. While caring little for the envi- some scientific fields, Jews were disproportion-
ronment where they actually lived, Jews contin- ately represented and reached outstanding
ued to yearn to return to the Land of Israel in the achievements; other fields were shaped entirely
messianic age. or mainly by Jewish scientists. For Jews who
In the middle ages, Jewish philosophers theo- wished to become part of European culture, mod-
rized about nature. Especially in Muslim lands, ern science became a substitute for religion,
rationalist philosophers were very interested in although, ironically enough, it was the lifestyle
the natural world as an object of study since in the of traditional Judaism with its insistence on
regularity and orderliness of nature one could study, meticulous observance of laws and com-
discover how God manages the world and come mitment to the pursuit of truth that generated the
closer to the knowledge of God. Jewish rational- personality type suitable for the rigors of scien-
ist philosophers were not only interested in the tific inquiry. Since academic excellence did not
laws of nature as explained by the physics of guarantee academic appointments or social
Aristotle, but they also held that the hidden mean- acceptance, conversion to Christianity was rather
ing of the Torah means what natural philosophy, common, being seen as a path toward full inte-
that is, Aristotelian science, teaches. In the mid- gration that many Jews coveted. For those who
dle ages, the study of the laws of nature was seen remained loyal to the ancestral tradition, the
as a religious obligation. meaning of Jewish identity became hotly
The medieval worldview and its culture ended contested, resulting in diverse ways of being
for Jews only in the eighteenth century with the Jewish. Some insisted on the modernization of
emergence of the modern nation-state that could Judaism from within (Reform); others insisted on
not tolerate the semiautonomous communal life the timelessness of Judaism, although they
of Jews. From the end of the eighteenth century accepted the validity of modern culture and
consented to superficial changes in Jewish prac- modern thinkers, became less important to these
tices (positive-historical school and neoortho- theologians because they presented Judaism as
doxy), and still others rejected the winds of a spiritual religion that transcends nature. Presum-
change and erected an ever higher fence around ably, only pagan religions identify God with
the Torah to defend Judaism from modernity and nature, while rational, ethical Judaism based on
modernization (ultra-Orthodoxy). the teachings of the prophets is the ultimate rejec-
These developments brought a cleavage tion of paganism including its Christian
between the natural sciences and religion in Juda- manifestations.
ism, which was simply unknown in the The core theory of the science of ecology – the
premodern world. Unlike Maimonides and the theory of evolution – generated diverse Jewish
late medieval Aristotelian Jewish philosophers, responses. In Europe, especially in Germany,
nineteenth-century Jewish theologians, espe- nineteenth-century theologians of the Reform
cially if they were associated with the movement Movement, who endorsed modernization and
for religious reform, did not consider the study of acculturation, defended Judaism as a rational reli-
nature a religious obligation. As “science” and gion and insisted that in principle, Judaism has
“religion” grew apart from each other, theolo- nothing to fear from modern science. Although
gians held that scientific knowledge about nature a radical and rationalist form of Reform Judaism
was to be found in the laboratories of the modern had developed in Germany, viewing Judaism as
university rather than the sacred texts of the Jew- faith in ethical monotheism, it did not necessarily
ish tradition. The role of the theologian was not to entail openness toward Darwin’s theory of evo-
speculate about the natural world, but to defend lution. Abraham Geiger, for example, the leading
the rationality of the scriptural tradition which Reform theologian, rejected outright the trans-
had come under the scrutiny of yet another mod- mutation of species, using standard arguments
ern science: the science of history. Historicism in from the 1860s: the moral and rational gap
the nineteenth century invalidated many religious between humans and animals, the harmony evi-
claims by questioning the divine origin of scrip- dent in organic nature, and the apparent incapac-
tural texts, showing them to be but humanity of natural forces to produce new species.
produced documents. However, the historical gist of the theory of evo-
In contrast to their Protestant counterparts, Jew- lution was adopted by several Jews (e.g.,
ish theologians who agitated for Reform Judaism Zecharias Frankel), who sought modernization
did not turn to the Book of Nature to justify their of Judaism and who argued that the Jewish reli-
claims but rather focused on the rationality of the gion developed over time.
doctrine of revelation. They continued to see the In Victorian England, the coherence of Juda-
Bible as a revealed text, although they challenged ism and science (including the theory of evolu-
the authority of its rabbinic interpretation. Without tion) was the standard view of Anglo-Jewry. The
loyalty to revealed Scripture, they believed, Jew- presumed alliance between Judaism and science
ish religious identity could not be maintained. was expressed in the pages of the Jewish Chron-
Thus, Ludwig Steinheim (d. 1866), Solomon icle and fits well with the assimilationist tendency
Formstecher (d.1889), and Samuel Hirsch (d. of the rising middle-class English Jewry. In con-
1889) all attempted to prove that revelation is trast, the less assimilated and generally poorer
logically plausible and that Judaism is the highest members of the community, who tended to read
expression of universal, rational, and moral reli- the Jewish Record, were more aware of the chal-
gion. They focused on the meaning of revelation lenge that the science of evolution posed to Juda-
and employed the philosophy of Kant, Hegel, and ism. The communal leaders insisted on harmony
Schelling to articulate the intellectual content of between Judaism and science, as a survival strat-
the Jewish religion. The doctrine of creation, egy against anti-Semitism, on the one hand, and
which was the primary context for the Jewish assimilation, on the other hand, but a radical,
reflection on nature among medieval and early rationalist Reform Judaism did not take root in
England. There was only one rigorous scientific God which results in nihilistic and immoral
defense of the theory of evolution by the eminent behaviors. The traditionalists gave rise to Con-
Jewish naturalist, Raphael Meldola, who consid- servative Judaism which offered a way for
ered the theory of evolution to be in full accord numerous Jewish migrants from Eastern Europe
with the highest standard of scientific method and to Americanize while remaining loyal to their
who saw no incompatibility between being an traditional Jewish lifestyle.
evolutionist and a materialist and being a Jew, In the twentieth century, the theory of evolu-
albeit an assimilated one. He was the exception tion has generated much less debate among Jews
rather than the rule. than among Christians. Leading evolutionary
In America, the debate about Darwin’s theory biologists and ecologists – Stephen Gould
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of evolution was much more rigorous, but it (d. 2002), Richard Lewontin (b. 1929), Lynn
emerged only after the publication of the Descent Margulis (b. 1938), and Lawrence Slobodkin
of Man in 1871. Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler (d. 2009) – are born Jews, but their scientific
(d. 1926) endorsed the theory of evolution research is not informed by the sources of the
which he viewed as a scientific proof for the Jewish tradition, since they tend to see science
Reform understanding of Judaism, that is, as and religion as two “nonoverlapping magisteria.”
a progressive religion that evolved in morality Conversely, there are Jewish scientists (espe-
and conceptions of God from biblical times to cially physicists) who are religiously committed
the present. Kohler ignored the theory of natural and scientifically educated – Nathan Aviezer,
selection and defined Darwinism as “the natural Gerald Schroeder, and Judah Landa – who have
law of progressive development of life under attempted to show that the doctrine of evolution
favorable conditions.” The major critic of evolu- does not violate the literal meaning of the biblical
tion among Reform Judaism, Rabbi Isaac Mayer creation narrative. For them, there is no conflict
Wise (d. 1900), understood natural selection to be between the Torah and science, only between
a natural law in which survival of the strongest rabbinic interpretation of Torah and science.
prevails. For him, nature was indeed a “battle When the Bible is properly interpreted, these
ground” which robbed the moral law as taught seeming problems “dissolve into nothingness.”
by Judaism of its legitimacy. Wise developed his Today, the ultra-Orthodox world has become
own theory about the history of life which less and less interested in contemporary science
acknowledged that the Jewish religion like nature and more willing to interpret the biblical text
is bound by a law of evolution, meaning that it literally. Thus, in 2004, the works of the Ortho-
progresses from lower to higher forms. However, dox rabbi Nosson Slifkin, who attempted to inte-
he did not adopt the theory of progressive reve- grate the belief that the earth is millions of years
lation and opposed the notion of gradual contin- old with Jewish traditional sources, generated
uous transmutation of species. a heated controversy and were banned by some
At stake in the debates about evolution were authorities. As a result, the teaching of evolution
not the varying theories of evolution, but the in Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox schools has
implications of the concept of progress for the clearly stalled, and these communities show rel-
Jewish religion. A few Reform rabbis followed atively little interest in ecological or environmen-
Wise in rejecting evolution on the ground that it is tal matters. The situation is somewhat better in
improbable, but several traditionalist Jews began Israel, where rulings by Ultra-Orthodox authori-
to consider arguments against evolution on the ties at times impinge on environmental issues.
basis of specific references in Genesis. The tradi-
tionalists understood that the evolutionary theory
denied the belief that God created the world Ecological Strands in Modern Judaism
according to his free will and insisted that the
materialism and atheism associated with evolu- Ecological thinking is rather marginal in modern
tion also undermine human accountability before Jewish thought, but several modern Jewish
thinkers could be labeled “ecological” because avarice and exploitation. Heedless destruction of
they highlight interaction and connectedness nature reflects human arrogance and rebellion
between all living and nonliving things, they against God, but the laws of the Torah assure
reject the notion that nature has only instrumental that humans behave wisely and judiciously to
value as a resource utility for human beings, and protect the integrity of the natural world and its
they promote a view of nature as a source of perpetuation. For Hirsch, the created world
moral obligation and/or spiritual vitality. A few exhibits not only inherent purpose but also order-
examples will illustrate ecological tendencies in liness, intelligence, and interdependence. Given
Modern Orthodoxy, Zionism, and the Jewish the remarkably wise design of the universe,
Renewal Movement. The impetus for these eco- humans have an obligation to protect the natural
logical reflections does not come from the sci- world. Indeed, Scripture prohibits copulation of
ence of ecology, but it is possible to find within diverse animals, grafting of diverse trees, yoking
modern Jewish theology a few ecological voices. together of diverse animals, wearing of wool and
Some of them view nature as holistic, stable, and flax, and mixing of milk and meat. These laws are
balanced, while others recognize that nature as rooted in the act of creation when God separated
a dynamic, perpetual flux. His creatures “each according to its kind.”
Through the Torah, the Creator of the world
Modern Orthodoxy functions as the “regulator of the world”; the
Modern Orthodoxy was founded in Germany by human who was appointed as the “administrator”
Samson Raphael Hirsch (d. 1888), as a response of God’s estate executes the rules that ensure
to the movement for religious reform. While protection of nature. In Hirsch’s analysis of the
Hirsch endorsed the Jewish struggle for emanci- Hukkim, nature serves as a model for observance
pation and advocated openness toward European of divine commands and places its own demands
secular culture, he defended the traditional doc- or commandments on humans. Hirsch’s approach
trine of “Torah from Heaven” and rejected the thus exemplifies how Modern Orthodoxy can
reformers’ critique of rabbinic Judaism or their support Jewish religious environmentalism.
tendency to discard traditional practices and
introduce new rituals. In accord with rabbinic Zionism
Judaism, Hirsch argued that God, the Creator of Jewish religious environmentalism accords a place
the world, gave humans the right to rule nature, of honor to the Land of Israel, the Holy Land,
but that this right came with the duty to treat which serves as collateral in the covenant between
God’s created order in accordance with divine God and the people of Israel. The Bible, however,
will. According to Hirsch, the human is part of makes clear that the Land of Israel was given to
nature, indeed a “brother to all creatures,” but like Israel conditionally: so long as Israel observes
the first born in a Jewish family, the human also God’s will and follows His commandments,
has special privileges and obligations. Hirsch including the commandments for the treatment of
held that human mastery over nature is about nature, and the land remains fertile and provides
the fulfillment of the human rational, God- the people of Israel with abundance. But when
given, free will, but the human right of mastery Israel rebels against God and sins against God,
over nature depends on the extent to which the the Land becomes infertile and desolate; when
human will corresponds to God’s will. The Torah sinfulness abounds, God exiles Israel from the
itself thus discloses how nature is to be treated Land of Israel. Throughout their long exilic exis-
with justice and respect. tence, Jews have yearned to return to the Land of
In his classification of Jewish laws, Hirsch Israel, but they postponed the fulfillment of this
placed the commandment “Do Not Destroy” dream to the Messianic Age of the remote future.
(bal tashchit) at the head of the section on the At the end of the nineteenth century, however,
Hukkim (decrees), which were legislated by God Zionism rebelled against the passivity of traditional
primarily for the protection of nature from human Jewish messianism by insisting that Jews take the
initiative to leave their countries of residence and Hasidism) and non-Jewish (i.e., Bergson and
settle in their ancestral home. Only in the Land of Tolstoy). He viewed nature as an organic totality
Israel could the Jews become a normal nation with out of which emerges human consciousness, and
its own political sovereignty, spoken language, and he called the totality of nature havaya. Literally,
unique culture. For Zionist ideologues, the return this means “being” but is in fact the four letters of
of the Jews to the Land of Israel was not only the Tetragrammaton arranged in a different order.
a secularization of the messianic dream, it was Secularizing the notion of divine immanence,
also a call for the return of the Jews to nature in Gordon understood “being” as a dynamic, ever-
order to create a new “muscular Jew,” a physically changing living force in constant flux that pul-
strong, fearless Jew who celebrates the rhythms of sates throughout all levels of reality. Humans can
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nature and derives vitality from nature. experience the hidden aspect of nature only
The return of nature played a central role in the through direct intuition arising through manual
original and highly creative thought of Aharon labor which overcomes the alienation of mankind
David Gordon (d. 1922), the spiritual leader of from nature. For Gordon, the regeneration of
Labor Zionism. Although he grew up in an Ortho- humanity and the regeneration of the Jewish peo-
dox home in Russia, Gordon studied European ple could come only through the development of
philosophy and literature and was particularly a new understanding of labor as the source of
influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Berg- genuine joy and creativity.
son, and Leo Tolstoy. Settling in Palestine in
1904, Gordon joined the agricultural settlements Jewish Renewal Movement
and experienced the hardship of pioneers’ life in The Zionist call for the return of the Jews to
order to exemplify his call not just for the Jews nature illustrates the traditional Jewish idea of
but for all of humanity. For Gordon, the Jews’ teshuvah. The term is usually translated as
return to their land symbolized humanity’s return “repentance,” but its Hebrew stem connotes
to nature and the renewal of the relationship both “to return” and “to reply,” so that teshuvah
(indeed the covenant) between humanity and means both a movement of return to one’s source,
nature which was destroyed by culture, especially to the original paradigm, and simultaneously
modern, urban, and industrialized culture. Gor- a response to a divine call. Teshuvah thus
don contended that human beings should strive involves a spiritual reorientation or
“to live with and in nature,” because the universe a transformation of the self away from an inau-
is an organic totality enlivened by divine energy thentic way of life lacking creative force and
that pulsates through all levels of reality. Emerg- toward the authenticity that is characterized by
ing out of the organic totality, humans have continual creativity and renewal. In America,
reached the most developed state of being: cul- during the second half of the twentieth century,
ture and self-consciousness. Yet these are also this concept gave rise to the Jewish Renewal
the causes for human alienation from nature. The Movement.
human tragedy is especially severe in the case of The catalyst for the birth of this new move-
Jews because they seek to assimilate into western ment was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
Christian culture, denying their roots in the Land (d. 1972), a Polish Jew who was born into
of Israel, the Jewish nation, and in the Hebrew a Hasidic family, but who also received modern
language. Only agriculture and farming could university training. Heschel managed to flee
reconnect modern, alienated Jews to the sources Nazi-occupied Poland and settled in America in
of cosmic creativity, enabling them to live most 1941 where he inspired scores of alienated Amer-
authentically as Jews as well as human beings, an ican Jews to find their way back to the sources of
ideal he exemplified in his own life. Judaism in order to heal the atrocities of moder-
Gordon’s thought has a strongly pantheistic nity, which culminated in the Holocaust.
character, which could be traced to various intel- Heschel’s ecologically sensitive depth theology
lectual sources, both Jewish (i.e., kabbalah and spoke of God’s glory as pervading nature, leading
humans to radical amazement and wonder, immanentist ontology of kabbalah and blurs the
viewed humans as members of the cosmic com- distinction between creation and revelation. The
munity, and emphasized humility as the desired world and the Torah are both God’s self-
posture toward the natural world. Another prod- disclosure and both are linguistic structures that
uct of Hasidism and a refugee from Nazi- require decoding, an act that humans can accom-
occupied Europe was Zalman Schachter-Shalomi plish because they are created in the image of
(b. 1924), who founded the Jewish Renewal God. From the privileged position of the human,
Movement in the late 1960s. His creative reinter- Green derives an ethics of responsibility toward
pretation of Judaism combined a “Gaia con- all creatures that acknowledges the differences
sciousness” with psychological interpretation of between diverse creatures while insisting on the
Lurianic kabbalah and New Age spirituality. need to defend the legitimate place in the world of
Schachter-Shalomi urged a paradigm shift from even the weakest and most threatened of crea-
monotheism to pantheism within Judaism but did tures. For Green, a Jewish ecological ethics must
not intend to revive neo-pagan pantheism. be a torat hayim, namely, a set of laws and
Instead, he offered contemporary Jews a new instruction that truly enhances life.
way to infuse Jewish life with rituals that envision
a God who is an integral part of all human civi-
lization. He articulated the view that all of Conclusion
humanity has a specific responsibility for that
relationship. The rituals of the Jewish Renewal Jewish-revealed legislation about nature consti-
Movement are all contemporary variants of tra- tutes a program for the preservation and conser-
ditional Jewish practices (e.g., the pilgrimage vation of a world that belongs ultimately to God.
festivals), but the movement inspires an ecologi- As God’s viceroys in the world, human beings
cally based Jewish spirituality. carry out divine instructions because humans
Shachter-Shalomi’s ideas were systematized alone are endowed with the capacity to be
into Jewish ecology by Arthur Green (b. 1941) responsible for others. The most distinctive fea-
who, under the influence of kabbalah, presented ture of Jewish ecological thinking is the concept
a holistic view of reality in which all existents are of responsibility and the ethics of care that flows
in some way an expression of God and are to from it, that is, care for the needy, the weak, the
some extent intrinsically related to each other. vulnerable, and the marginal. Jewish environ-
Green combines evolutionary theory (albeit with- mental ethics is decidedly anthropocentric, and
out engaging its scientific details) with kabbalah it calls humans to action toward other humans
and neo-Hasidism. He argues that the traditional and toward nonhuman creatures. Jewish envi-
doctrine of creation can no longer serve Jews in ronmental ethics of responsibility stands in con-
an age of science. Taking the evolutionary theory flict with any outlook that denies human
as descriptively true, Green reinterprets the bib- uniqueness, be it deep ecology or Darwinism,
lical doctrine of creation that adopted the onto- especially in its distorted Nazi interpretation.
logical schema of kabbalah. Offering Most distinctively, Jewish environmental ethics
a progressive interpretation of evolution as the sees a causal link between moral failure and
emergence of ever more complex forms of life injustice in the social realm and environmental
culminating in human beings, Green presented degradation. Greed, exploitation, and a lifestyle
a holistic view of reality in which all existents of material excesses ruin not only other humans
are in some way an expression of God and are to but also the natural world. The Jewish tradition
some extent intrinsically related to each other. thus extols the merit of moderation and calls one
Contrary to those who hold that in Judaism nature to cultivate virtues such as modesty, humility,
per se is not sacred, Green wishes to obliterate the and self-restraint. These virtues and the actions
ontological gap between the Creator and the that flow from them prevent the tendency for
created. Instead, he adopts the monistic and cruelty, including cruelty toward animals.
Economic Sociology 687 E
Although the Jewish tradition has many References
resources for the articulation of a distinctively
Jewish approach to environmentalism, the sci- Benstein, J. (2006). The way into Judaism and the envi-
ronmental. Woodstock: Jewish Light.
ence of ecology merely provides the information
Cantor, G., & Swetliz, M. S. (Eds.). (2006). The Jewish
about the current ecological problems that the tradition and the challenge of Darwinism. Chicago:
Jewish thinkers must address. University of Chicago Press.
This is especially evident in the case of the Efron, J. J. (2007). Judaism and science: A historical
introduction. Westport: Greenwood.
environmental movement in Israel. In the Diaspora,
Green, A. (2003). EHYEH: A Kabbalah for tomorrow.
Jewish ecological thinking is mainly theological Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing.
and could be seen as a Jewish commitment not Jonas, H. (1966). The phenomenon of life: Toward
a philosophical biology. Evanston: Northwestern Uni-
E
only for the preservation and conservation of nature
versity Press.
created by God, but as a commitment to preserva-
Tal, A. (2002). Pollution in a promised land: An environ-
tion of life itself. This commitment receives special mental history of Israel. Berekeley/London: The Uni-
significance after the Holocaust, since the Nazis versity of California Press.
were determined to annihilate the Jewish people Tirosh-Samuelson, H. (Ed.). (2002). Judaism and ecol-
ogy: Created world and revealed word. Cambridge:
as a particularly pernicious subhuman species. The
Harvard University Press.
most profound ecological response to the atrocities Tirosh-Samuelson, H. (2006). Judaism. In R. S. Gottlieb
of the Holocaust was articulated by the German- (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of religion and ecology
Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas (d. 1993), who (pp. 25–64). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Waskow, A. (Ed.). (2002). Torah of the earth: Exploring
showed how to erase the gap between “is” and
4,000 years of ecology in Jewish thought. Woodstock:
“ought” which in his view undergirded the instru- Jewish Lights.
mentalist attitude toward nature. For Jonas, life Yaffee, M. (Ed.). (2001). Judaism and environmental
itself is endowed with moral significance rooted ethics: A reader. Lanham: Lexington Books.
in the “needful freedom” of every organism.
Jonas’s critique of technology inspired the Green
movement in Europe, but his anti-utopian thought
has made relatively little impact on Jewish intellec- Economic Sociology
tual life in the twentieth century.
As awareness of the ecological crisis becomes David Reisman
more prevalent among Jews, it is reasonable to Economics, University of Surrey, Guildford,
expect that Jewish ecological thinking will become Surrey, UK
more prominent in the twenty-first century. But for Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
this to happen, a new creative interplay between
“science” and “religion” will have to come about
as Jewish intellectuals become conversant in the Related Terms
science of ecology as well as in environmental
philosophy and ethics, responding to them on the Business life; Economy
basis of the religious sources of Judaism.
Economics is the study of people “as they live
and move and think in the ordinary business of
Cross-References life” (Marshall 1890 [1949]: 12). Sociology is
“a science which attempts the interpretative
▶ Creation in Judaism understanding of social action in order thereby
▶ Judaism: An Overview to arrive at a causal explanation of its course and
▶ Natural Sciences in Judaism effects” (Weber 1922 [1947]: 88). Economics is
▶ Natural Selection production, consumption, distribution, and
▶ Process Theology exchange. Sociology is meaningful interaction
▶ Revelation in Judaism and recognized interdependence. Economics is
E 688 Economic Sociology
the activity. Sociology is the lens that makes capital at variance with the free market criterion
sense of the activity. Economic sociology is the of achieved status. Sometimes, however, the
synthesis of the bedrock and the filter. It is intergenerational transmission of advantage will
a combination of making and getting on the one be seen in a more attractive light. Sentimental
hand, socialization and culture on the other. social conservatives will define it as the embodi-
At the stage of production the organization ment of the unbreakable links of kinship and the
hires inputs which have a pulse. Labor is supplied perpetuation of a going concern.
in the light of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, At the stage of exchange there is the agreed-
Weber’s work-ethic, and the socialist’s class- upon quid pro quo. Exchange is theft unless the
based perception of injustice and exploitation. contract is supported by non-contractual consen-
Capital is accumulated through gratification sus: “There is no truly moral force save that
deferred and credit extended, normative rational- involved in attachment to a group” (Durkheim
ity and unions contained. Land is the property of 1925 [1961]: 87). The protection of title is
a third estate, at once return-seeking and history- ensured both by widely diffused norms and by
dominated. Rent in a modern economy is a form the monopoly of legitimate authority that is
of profit. Rent in a traditional economy is how the exercised by the judges and the politicians.
hereditary aristocracy defines its social space. Exchange presupposes the socially validated
At the stage of consumption it is the lesson of standard of reciprocity. This may build upon the
institutional comparison that commodities are not convention-driven exchange of Malinowski’s
just the disembedded bearers of individual utility kula (Malinowski 1922) that is handed on
but also vocal modes of self-presentation and through the non-mercantile custom of Christmas
identification (Goffman 1959). As signifiers presents and the multi-party social exchange of
they confirm that the user is cognizant of the integrated blood donors who confidently stake
code and conforms to the pattern: “A man their survival on an uninsurable return gift: “In
would be ridiculous who should appear in public not asking for or expecting any payment of
with a suit of clothes quite different from those money these donors signified their belief in the
which are commonly worn” (Smith 1759 [1966]: willingness of other men to act altruistically in
284). As trophies they are proof that the con- the future” (Titmuss 1970 [1973]: 269). Alterna-
tender has played a zero-sum game and defeated tively, exchange may build upon the neoclassical
his second-best rivals: “In order to gain and to economist’s rational calculation of costs and ben-
hold the esteem of men it is not sufficient merely efits in a resource-scarce world where optimizing
to possess wealth or power. The wealth or power catallactics has the missionary function of satis-
must be put in evidence” (Veblen 1899 [1970]: fying discrete and multiple desires: “It gives peo-
42). In some societies, esteem is earned through ple what they want instead of what a particular
political leadership or acknowledged wisdom. In group thinks they ought to want” (Friedman
other societies, standing is purchased through 1962: 15). Exchange is broader than utility and
earning and spending: “I am not ugly, for the profit alone.
effect of ugliness – its deterrent power – is nulli- Exchange is often defended with the argument
fied by money” (Marx 1844 [1973]: 167). that the free market is anonymous and impartial.
That is why the distribution of income and An alternative perspective is that economic
wealth is so important. More spending means decentralization works well precisely because of
more respect. More property means more replicated interactions, return business, reputa-
power. Ownership creates a master-servant relational capital, and embedded conventions that
tionship which can be perceived as demeaning save on the transaction costs of collecting infor-
and undeserved. Alienated lumps of labor might mation and monitoring shirkers. Putnam, writing
prefer consultative producer-cooperatives in about who-knows-whom, observes that “social
which all surplus value reverts to the productive. networks allow trust to become transitive and
The liberal society might find the inheritance of spread: I trust you, because I trust her and she
Economic Sociology 689 E
assures me that she trusts you” (Putnam 1993: lobbies that speak for the whales, and welfarist
169). Granovetter found that as many as 56% of pressures that speak for the old. Civil society is
jobs were secured through personal contacts not supply and demand and it is not the diktat
external to the firm (Granovetter 1974 [1995]: from the top. It is, nonetheless, an economically
11): “Economic action (like all action) is socially relevant constituency which is incorporated with
situated, and cannot be explained by individual great difficulty into Spencer’s Manichean The
motives alone; it is embedded in ongoing net- Man Versus the State (Spencer 1884).
works of personal relations rather than carried Yet globalization is a challenge to a single
out by atomized actors” (Granovetter 1992 country’s conscience collective. Internationaliza-
[1996]: 270). It is Chinese guanxi, Soviet blat, tion could mean the emergence of a worldwide
E
and Japanese sequential contracting that is the consensus even as it could mean the babel of
ultimate guarantor of truth-telling and the cate- anomie. Local knowledge is becoming
gorical imperative. A businessman does not cheat a nonlocal thing. Increasing integration takes
his wife’s brother or a new immigrant from the Keynesian demand-management and the social
village where his kinsfolk live. The allocation of welfare democracy beyond the territoriality of
resources in this way becomes a path-dependent a Whitehall or a Washington alone. As problems
history of remembered relationships. become shared, so shared solutions emerge in
Economics is production, consumption, distri- the form of the European Union, the European
bution, and exchange. Yet, it is also political econ- Central Bank, the World Health Organization,
omy, situated at the confluence of market and the multinational conglomerate answerable
homeostasis and the visible hand. The State coor- to no polity but the color of money. A multi-
dinates entitlements and regulates spillovers. societal society is inevitable. In evaluating the
Thus, Pigou maintained that where the marginal new skein of affiliation, the cross-disciplinary
social benefit differed from the marginal private subject-area of economic sociology will have an
benefit, the missing market necessitates corrective important role to play.
action through taxes and subsidies (Pigou 1920
[1932]). Coase argued the opposite, that only the
factored-down one-off is in a position to buy and Cross-References
sell an externality precisely because only the iso-
lated utility-seeker can know what will make him ▶ Epistemology
feel better off in his own estimation (Coase 1937 ▶ Ethics
[1988]). Ostrom for her own part assigns pride of ▶ Evolution
place to social infrastructure (Ostrom 1990). ▶ Functionalism
Tribal loyalties and Tönnies’s Gemeinschaft ▶ Functionalism in Sociology
(Tönnies 1887 [2001]) ensure that Pigou’s inter- ▶ Globalization, Sociology of
vention and Coase’s privatization will not be ▶ History of Ideas (Intellectual History)
required to prevent the overgrazing of the com- ▶ Political Theory
mons. Affect and belonging will be enough. ▶ Rationality (Philosophical)
Fred Hirsch writes that “the controllers usu- ▶ Social Psychology
ally have a large handicap of relevant informa- ▶ Wisdom (Philosophically)
tion. Only I can see everywhere I litter” (Hirsch
1977: 150). He then observes that socialized men
and women will be led as if by a guilty conscience
to act out the drama for which their evolving References
society has kindly scripted the scenario.
Coase, R. (1937 [1988]). The nature of the firm.
One by-product is voluntary action and
Economica, n.s., Vol. 4, reprinted in his The firm, the
nongovernmental organizations. Standing market, and the law (pp. 35–55). Chicago: University
between market and State are environmental of Chicago Press.
E 690 Economy
Durkheim, E. (1925 [1961]), Moral education

(trans: Wilson, E. K., & Schnurer, H.). New York: Ecumenism
The Free Press.
Friedman, M. (1962). Capitalism and freedom. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. ▶ Pluralism (Religious)
Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday
life. New York: Anchor Books.
Granovetter, M. (1974 [1995]). Getting a job (2nd ed.).
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Granovetter, M. (1992 [1996]). Economic institutions as Eddington
social constructions: A framework for analysis. Acta
Sociologica, Vol. 35, reprinted in R. Swedberg (Ed.), ▶ Relativity
Economic sociology (pp. 269–277). Cheltenham:
Edward Elgar.
Hirsch, F. (1977). Social limits to growth. London:
Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the western pacific. Education
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Marshall, A. (1890 [1949]). Principles of economics
(8th ed.). London: Macmillan. 1920. ▶ Intelligences, Multiple
Marx, K. (1844 [1973]). Economic and philosophic man-
uscripts of 1844 (trans: Milligan, M.). London:
Lawrence and Wishart.
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolu-
tion of institutions for collective action. Cambridge: Education in Buddhism
Pigou, A. C. (1920 [1932]). The economics of welfare Gisella Full
(4th ed.). London: Macmillan.
Putnam, R. D. (1993). Making democracy work. Institute of Transcultural Health Sciences,
Princeton: Princeton University Press. European-University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder),
Smith, A. (1759 [1966]). The theory of moral sentiments Germany
(6th ed.). New York: Augustus M. Kelley.
Spencer, H. (1884). The man versus the state. London:
Williams and Norgate.
Titmuss, R. M. (1970 [1973]). The gift relationship. Related Terms
Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Tönnies, F. (1887 [2001]). Community and civil society Buddhist doctrine
(trans: Harris, J., & Hollis, M.). Cambridge:
Veblen, T. (1899 [1970]). The theory of the leisure class. Education as a term does not exist in early Buddhist
London: George Allen & Unwin. scriptures, i.e., the canonical texts of the
Weber, M. (1922 [1947]). The theory of social and Pali-Canon. Similar to Plato’s Politeia – a political
economic organization. (trans: Henderson, A.M., &
Parsons, T.). New York: The Free Press. script containing the first systematic theory of edu-
cation in the Occident – early Buddhist writings
expound an educational philosophy and methodol-
ogy embedded in its philosophical or spiritual
Economy content. This becomes obvious when Buddhist
texts are screened on behalf of the three main
▶ Economic Sociology quests of educational theory:
1. The anthropological: What is a human being?
2. The teleological: What is a human being
supposed to be or become?
Ecotheology 3. The methodological: How can education help
the individual to achieve its teleological
▶ Environmental Theology purpose? (Böhm 1994).
Education in Buddhism 691 E
In the following, Buddhist tenets regarding energies. Human beings are, according to
these aspects will be outlined in relation to their Buddhist scriptures, a continuum of these mate-
educational implications. rial and mental aspects coexisting. In the course
of dependent origination and the law of cause and
effect, the main cause of human beings coming
Anthropology into existence is determined by ignorance
(Ledi 1999). Being the first aspect in the chain
Human beings are, according to early Buddhist of dependent origination, it is also the central
philosophy, beings among seven other categories issue of Buddhist teleology.
of beings, i.e., animals within 31 planes of
E
existence (U Ba Khin 1951). Contrary to other
forms of existences, humans are regarded Teleology
privileged, as due to their mental capacity and the
ability of self-awareness, progress and develop- The teleological aspect of what humans are
ment are easier to accomplish. Furthermore, since ideally supposed to become is expressed in
human beings experience happiness and pain, the Buddhist philosophy. The following conversa-
urge to emerge from suffering functions as tion attributed to the Buddha and his chief
a driving force, supporting a progressive attitude. disciple Sariputta, exemplifies this teleology.
Human beings are born in the plane of Kāma
Sariputta: There is talk of great human beings,
Loka, a sensual world with mind and matter. o Lord. What then is meant by a great human
Here, matter comprises of eight to ten qualities being, o Lord?
that constitute the whole of the material world. The Buddha: Great human beings are charac-
The basic components are extension, cohesion, terized by a liberated mind.
Without a liberated mind, there is no great
kinetic energy, motion, and space. They can be human being. (Nyanaponika 2000)
accompanied by subsidiaries like color, odor,
taste, nutritive essence, consciousness, and sex. Liberation of mind is defined as the liberation
The smallest unit of matter is called kalapa. It is from ignorance and illusion. Non-liberated beings
only when a minimum of eight nature elements are, according to Buddhist philosophy, ignorant of
(four basic components accompanied by their true nature, of the true nature of mind and
subsidiaries) are combined that a kalapa is matter phenomena, and of the ultimate truth of
formed. This constitutes mass in the description Nirvana (see below). Based on this ignorance,
of Buddhist philosophy. These kalapas are in human beings generate suffering by their acts of
a state of perpetual change or flux. They are body, speech and mind. Ignorance, wrong view,
merely a stream of energies. The body of and illusive perception are inherent in every non-
a human being is not an entity in Buddhist doc- liberated human being. To liberate oneself from
trine but a continuum of matter and life force this illusion, therefore, becomes the main purpose
coexisting. Through meditation, activating the of human existence and life.
introspective qualities, a human being can With the dissolution of ignorance, Nirvana is
develop the ability to perceive his own body and realized. Whereas all things in the realm of mind
external material objects as mere energy and and matter are conditioned, Nirvana is not. It is,
vibration. according Buddhism, the only ultimate reality,
The mental aspects of human beings are accessible not by annihilation of physical exis-
divided in 121 categories which are explained in tence but by the purity of one’s mind. Nirvana is
detail in the Abhidharma, the scholastic manuals described as “the Unformed, the Unconditioned,
of Buddhism (Bodhi 2000). On a generalized the End, the Truth, the Other Shore, the Subtle,
level, they are divided into four main categories: the Everlasting, the Invisible, the Undiversified,
consciousness, feeling, perception, and volitional Peace, the Deathless, the Blessed, Safety, the
E 692 Education in Buddhism
Wonderful, the Marvelous, Purity, Freedom, philosophy, insight cannot be accomplished

the Island, the Refuge, the Beyond” (Amaro and unless the mind has the capacity to penetrate the
Passano 2009; Feer 1898). illusive apparent level of appearance, mental
Awakening to the reality of Nirvana is, training is necessary to acquire such sharpness
according to the Buddhist doctrine, the ultimate and clear vision. Buddhist instructions consist of
goal of human life and the successive liberation 40 methods to help the mind to lose its unstable,
from illusion the highest and ultimate form of unconcentrated, flickery, conditioned, and highly
education. associative nature and to gain the advantage of
a serene mind. The serene mind is the prerequisite
for insight, comparable to the still surface of
Methodology a pond allowing the observer to view its base.
Buddhist philosophy consists not only of an Insight

anthropology and teleology but also of a highly Insight as the final goal of Buddhist practice elim-
differentiated methodology to accomplish the inates ignorance, illusionary view, and perception.
teleological goal. This methodology is laid With the realization of the true nature of mind and
down in a threefold training of virtue, serenity matter, its causes and effects, relations, and the
of mind, and insight. final realization of Nirvana, distinct of all condi-
tioned phenomena as is the case in the realm of
Virtue mind and matter, inconceivable happiness arises.
Virtue is regarded as the foundation for mental Therefore, the educational goal of insight is simul-
development and comprises all actions of body, taneously accompanied by happiness. Insight
speech and mind. Actions are virtuous when meditation techniques are summarized in one of
performed on the basis of non-greed, non-aver- the most famous Buddhist scriptures: The
sion, and non-delusion leading to contentment, satipatthāna sutra or the discourse on the four
peace of mind, and happiness. Actions based on foundations of mindfulness. These four founda-
craving, aversion, and delusion, on the other tions incorporate meditative practices on the
hand, have the seed of suffering inherent in body, on feelings and sensations, on the mental
them and are therefore opposed to Buddhist and its concomitants, and on phenomena as such.
teleology. Moreover, Buddhism emphasizes In recent years, there have been growing
whoever performs unvirtuous actions is going to attempts to establish mindfulness practices within
be his or her first victim of this deed: the educational system and research in the field of
“It is impossible to commit an unwholesome mindfulness with youth. Although the research is
action – to insult, kill, steal or rape – without in its infant stage, results are promising and suggest
generating great agitation in the mind, great crav- mindfulness as a meaningful tool in the course of
ing and aversion. This moment of craving and education. So far, results suggest an improvement
aversion brings unhappiness. When we commit of attention, academic performance, and social
unwholesome actions we experience the hell-fire behavior. Research also points toward a reduction
of craving and aversion. When we perform of stress, anxiety, and fear and an increase in
wholesome actions we experience the heaven of emotional balance.
inner peace. Therefore it is not only for the
benefit of others but for our own benefit, to
avoid harm to ourselves that we abstain from Cross-References
unwholesome words and deeds (Hart 1991).”
▶ Abhidharma
Serenity of Mind ▶ Awakening
Serenity of mind is the second aspect of the ▶ Mindfulness (Buddhist)
threefold training. Since, according to Buddhist ▶ Virtue
Education, Sociology of 693 E
References Thus, the sociology of education requires dif-
ferent disciplines with connected different meth-
Amaro, B., & Passano, B. (2009). The Island. An Anthol- odologies and tools for a grounded understanding
ogy of the Buddha’s teachings on Nibbāna. Redwood
of the society-education relationship. The sociol-
Valley: Sukhi Hotu Sdn Bhd.
Bodhi, B. (Ed.). (2000). Comprehensive manual of ogy of education is part of the society of knowing
Abhidhamma. The philosophical psychology of it as that particular field of research aiming at
Buddhism. Onalaska: Buddhist Publication Society. studying and understanding the processes of
Böhm, W. (1994). Wörterbuch der P€ adagogik. Stuttgart:
socialization with particular reference to family,
Kröner.
Feer, L. (Ed.). (1884–1898). The Samyutta Nikāya mass media, educational institutions, and teach-
(Vol. 1–5). London: Pali Text Society. ing communities (such as school, university, and
Hart, W. (1991). The art of living. New York: HarperOne.
E
religion). It is possible to summarize the phases
Ledi, S. (1999). The manual of dhamma. Igatpuri: VRI.
of study of sociology of education as follows:
Nyanaponika, T. (2000). Geistestraining durch
Achtsamkeit. Konstanz: Bayerlein und Steinschulte. definition of society and community, determina-
U Ba Khin, S. (1951). What Buddhism is. In VRI (Ed.), tion of the particular context of education,
Sayagyi U Ba Khin journal. A collection commemorating relationship between education and society,
the teaching of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. Igatpuri: VRI.
social interaction, and study of education
as social science (Ottaway 1998).
Education System Sociology and Science of Education Between

History and Epistemology
▶ Education, Sociology of The attention of sociology for education
goes back to the end of twenty-first century,
when Edward Alsworth Ross in 1898 dedicated
the first course of sociology for teachers at the
Education, Sociology of Stanford University, where 3 years later a course
explicitly called Sociology of education was
Carmine Matarazzo taken by David Snedden. Other courses specifi-
Pontificia Facoltà Telogica dell’Italia cally focused on the sociological study of educa-
Meridionale, Sezione San Tommaso d’Aquino, tion have been organized during the first decade
Naples, Italy of twentieth century at the University of Virginia
and at the Teachers College of the Columbia
University of New York (Brookover 1955). Any-
Related Terms way the official birth of the sociology of educa-
tion is usually referred to the publication of An
Education system; Social component and school; introduction to education sociology by W.R.
Socialization; Socialization process Smith in 1917. This book was a new starting
point of the theory and the practice in education
for a society complaining the growing neglect of
Description educational practices.
Subsequently the National Society for the
For a Definition Study of Education Sociology was founded, and
The sociology of education, or educational soci- from 1925 it was a landmark for the studies in
ology, focuses on the relationship between soci- the field. In 1927 starts the publication of The
ety and education. As all the applied sociologies Journal of Educational Sociology. The Editorial
the sociology of education can be specifically (pp. II–IV) of the volume number 1 (1927), pro-
understood for its field of study, which regards vocatively asking if there is a specific aim of
the educational processes referred to particular the new journal, among other things stated:
societies, institutions and educational models. “The editors and backers of this magazine answer
E 694 Education, Sociology of
this question in the affirmative. There are several pedagogy, and social psychology with different
reasons for this answer. First, while there are multidisciplinary approaches (Ardigò 1966).
a number of magazines that accept articles Through the “short century” the sociological
devoted to sociology in its application to study of educational processes has become
education, no one magazine is devoted exclu- even more important (Hoyme 1961), as shows
sively to that field. The sociological aspect of the work of Paul Freire, according to whom the
education cannot be properly represented without education alone is not able to transform the
the emphasis that will come from a journal society, but the education is the only element
devoted to educational sociology. Second, soci- which can help society in its process of improv-
ology is a new science in the process of developing. In this perspective, education plays
ment, and already there is a body of material, a fundamental role, as a practice of freedom
essential to educational reconstruction and prac- from the oppression (Freire 1970). Freire,
tice, which is not available to the educator. . .” using a Marxist approach for the critique of
(ib., II). contemporary society, between 1960s and
A determining point for the field is the book 1970s underlines some relevant problems
E´ducation et sociologie of É. Durkheim. The regarding the relationship between socialization
following definition is very famous: “The educa- of knowledge and social change, starting from
tion is the action exercised by adult generations a deep analysis of the illiteracy rate which
on those who are not yet mature for the social divided the Brazil. From the research started by
life” (Durkheim 1922). The French sociologist Freire emerges a social lecture of education and
defines the following aim of the education: “at of its fundamental role in the definition of indi-
the selfish and asocial being who comes into the vidual and social personality.
world be superimposed another one, who is able It is progressively defined as a social function
to live a moral and social life” (Durkheim 1922). of education, as described by Maurice Blondel
The social function of education is a matter of with his philosophy of action. According to the
fact, because the society guarantees itself and French philosopher, all emerges from action,
above all its conservation exactly through the because from the social point of view nothing is
process of socialization of education. really “static”. The society is fundamentally
In Europe, through the twentieth century, this grounded on human relationship that is by
approach to education does not have many sup- definition dynamic, so driven by the dynamic
porters. In fact, in Germany, Italy, and England, relationship between persons, even in the com-
there are few and occasional publications until mercial or industrial field (e.g., the development
the 1960s, even if there is a specific attention to of social psychology and the marketing studies
the education processes in the books of authors on the likings of commercialized products or
like Comte, Marx, Scheler, Manheim, and of products to commercialize). According to
Dewey. Blondel every experience is Erlebnis, that is
Through all the last century in the United a “lived experience”. The voluntary action is an
States there is a lively debate (particularly regard- action aimed at building the society. The educa-
ing the “educational sociology”) and a significant tion is one of its fundamental parts: “the action is
scientific production (Peters 1924). In a country for society, and we are tied one to another only
with a flourishing educational tradition, as it was through action. And as one is not first a man and
Italy, the socio-educational researches started in then that particular man, so the society does not
the universities only at the beginning of 1960s, exist without being that determined society”
with the national meeting La scuola e la società (Blondel 1893).
italiana in trasformazione (The school and the Through the time the educational sociology is
Italian society in transformation), which stressed better understood as study of the experience of
the desirable relationship between sociology, the teaching and learning processes.
Education, Sociology of 695 E
New aspects and new developments emerge proposal and project of life, assumed as a phe-
from the recent research in Anglophone area and nomenon which goes on for all the life, going
even in Italy, for instance, the study of the over the spatiotemporal limits of the school and
economy’s influence on training processes the professional training (Torres and Mitchell
(Brown et al. 2008; Ribolzi 2012). Within the 1998; Scanagatta 2002).
worldwide economic crisis, the speculators Because of the richness and the variety of
often use psychological factors in order to obtain potential educational and training “objects”, the
big advantages, at the expense of the States and of individual is almost obliged to select. He has to
the individual investors and citizens. As if it were responsibly build a personal project of using an
a sort of battle fought on Wall Street as in Milan ever more available market of symbolic objects.
E
or Berlin, using the weapons of economic At the core of the modern socialization is the
indicators. subject, able to manage with growing autonomy
This situation is a cause of uncertainty for the different available training resources, exactly
the individual existences and for the whole because of the mutual dependence and relation-
society that are on the chasm of the existential ship between educational experience and society
liquidity (as an example Bauman 2000, 2012). (Blyth 2002; Colbati 2006). Saying it in a differ-
Obviously this confirms the “prophetic” role ent way, the training society, that is the school,
played by education in the transformation of has to take into account the social community and
social aims, when society is not able to guarantee interact with the different contexts and factors.
the right flourishing of every citizen. Even the This model requires that the educational sociol-
religious leaders stress the danger of this situation ogy not only observes, but also critically analyzes
and advocate a new social model not grounded on the effects on the social life that such an educa-
the gains, but on the individual good, as the tional relationship has.
Christian churches (Gutschera et al. 2003) and Thus, it seems fundamental to hope an ever
the last popes do. In the personalist perspective deeper relationship between paideia (learning,
of John Paul II, the education plays a fundamental training, and education) and freedom, quality of
role in order to develop new life-styles life and existential planning (Cambi 2008). It is
(Enciclycal Letter, Centesimus annus, 1 May possible to define an eco-socio-organization of
1991, n. 36). the learning processes which can really stress
the resources of the educational environment
Globalization, Education, and Project of Life: (in the sense of nature and nurture) connected to
Toward a New Research the broader social contexts, in order to underline
In the educational process, the environment the relationship between learning and develop-
plays a fundamental role, not for determining, ment of the person (autopoiesis) (Mangano and
but for promoting the processes of growth. The Michelin Salomon 1998).
environment, both human and natural, interact The contemporary crisis of educational sys-
with educational processes that are deeply tied tems, of institutions (as school and university),
to different natural, cultural, and social contexts. and of family raises the necessity to deeply, but
In this way, a new role for school and educational even dramatically reflect on the future of
processes emerges: They must develop an even the relationship between society and education.
more strong coordination with the processes of To better understand the contemporary pro-
socialization. This is a consequence, among other cesses of socialization the following statement
things, of the globalization even in the field of of Dewey is of great help: “If there is especial
instruction and knowledge, which has redefined need of educational reconstruction at the
the aims of educational sciences, not only for present time, and if this need makes urgent a
the economies and the markets (Gallino 2003). reconsideration of the basic ideas of traditional
Education, in this new scenario, is defined as philosophic systems, it is because of the
E 696 EEG (Electroencephalogram)
thoroughgoing change in social life accompany- Studi di Trento, Facoltà di Sociologia, dipartimento di
ing the advance of science, the industrial revo- Sociologia e Ricerca sociale, Quaderno 34/200610-11.
Dewey, J. (1930). Democracy and education: An intro-
lution, and the development of democracy. Such duction to the philosophy of education. New York: The
practical changes cannot take place without Macmillan Company.
demanding an educational re-formation to meet Durkheim, É. (1922). E´ducation et sociologie. Paris: F.
them, and without leading men to ask what revi- Alcan.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogia do oprimido. Rio de Janeiro:
sions they require of the ideas and ideals which Editora Paz e Terra.
are inherited from older and unlike cultures” Gallino, L. (2003). Globalizzazione e disuguaglianze.
(Dewey 1930, 386). Bari: Laterza.
Gutschera, H., Mair, J., & Thierfelder, J. (2003).
Geschichte der Kirchen. Ein ökumenisches Sachbuch
mit Bildern. Verlag Herder: Freiburg im Breisgau.
Cross-References Hoyme, R. G. (1961). The current status of educational
sociology. Journal of Educational Sociology, 35,
▶ Cognitive Psychology 128–133.
Mangano, A., & Michelin Salomon, A. (Eds.). (1998). La
▶ Empathy scienza sociale dell’educazione nel contesto della
▶ Epistemology civiltà planetaria. Manduria: Pietro Lacaita Editore.
▶ Experience Ottaway, A. K. C. (1998). Education and society. An
▶ Functionalism in sociology introduction to the sociology of education. With an
introduction by W.O. Lester Smith. London:
▶ Globalization, Sociology of Routledge (original edition 1953).
▶ Personalism Peters, C. C. (1924). Foundation of educational sociology.
▶ Phenomenology New York: Macmillan.
▶ Religious Education Theory, Roman-Catholic, Ribolzi, L. (2012). Società, persona e processi formativi.
Manuale di sociologia dell’educazione. Milano:
Southern Europe Mondadori Università.
▶ Religious Education, Protestant Scanagatta, S. (2002). Socializzazione e Capitale Umano.
La sociologia dell’educazione e le sfide della
globalizzazione. Cedam: Padova.
Smith Walther, R. (1917). An introduction to educational
References sociology. Houghton/New York: Miffin Company.
Torres, C. A., & Mitchell, T. R. (1998). Sociology of
Ardigò, A. (1966). Sociologia dell’educazione. In education: Emerging perspective. New York: State
Questioni di sociologia (Vol. I, pp. 468–526). Brescia: University of New York Press.
La Scuola.
Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid modernity. Cambridge: Polity
Press.
Bauman, Z. (2012). Conversazioni sull’educazione. In
Collaborazione con Riccardo Mazzeo. Trento:
Erickson.
EEG (Electroencephalogram)
Blondel, M. (1893). L’action: essai d’une critique de la
vie et d’une science de la pratique. Paris: Alcan and Heiko J. Luhmann
Presses Universitaires de France. Department of Physiology, Institute of
Blyth, M. (2002). Great transformations. Economic ideas
Physiology and Pathophysiology, University
and institutional change in the twentieth century.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg
Brookover, W. B. (1955). A sociology of education. University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
In collaboration with O. C. Smuker and J. F. Thaden.
New York: American Book.
Brown, P., Lauder, H., & Ashton, D. (2008). Education,
Globalisation and the Future of the knowledge Econ- An EEG measures the electrical activity
omy European Educational Research Journal, 7(2) produced by the brain (mostly the outer mantle
131–156. of the brain, the so-called cerebral cortex), which
Cambi, F. (2008). Filosofia dell’educazione. Bari:
is recorded with electrodes placed on the scalp.
Laterza.
Colbati, A. (2006). Globalizzazione e istruzione nella Whenever the brain shows large-scale synchro-
Sociologia dell’Educazione in Italia. Università degli nized neuronal activity, as during sleep, rhythms
Electromagnetism and Optics 697 E
of certain frequency and amplitude can be
observed in the EEG. The EEG is used to define Electromagnetism and Optics
states of awareness, sleep states, and the state of
brain death (isoelectric or flat-line EEG). Stoyan Tanev
Integrative Innovation Management, Department
of Technology and Innovation, University
of Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark
Eight Fold Path
Dustin Byrd Related Terms E

Olivet College, Olivet, MI, USA
Electricity and magnetism; Electrodynamics;
Electromagnetic theory; Optical sciences;
Developed by the Siddhartha Gautama, the Optics; Physical optics
Eight Fold Path is the way toward the liberation
of the individual from his attachments and delu-
sions. The ultimate goal is the cessation of suf- Description
fering. They are broken up into three categories.
(1) Wisdom, comprised of Right View and Electrodynamics
Right Intention, (2) Ethical Conduct, comprised Electrodynamics (or electromagnetism) is a part
of Right Speech, Right Action, Right Liveli- of physics dealing with the interaction forces
hood, and (3) Concentration, comprised of between electric charges and currents, nature of
Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right electric and magnetic fields, and electromagnetic
Concentration. wave radiation and propagation, as well as the
interaction of electromagnetic waves with matter.
It involves two fundamental concepts – electrical
charge and electromagnetic field. It also involves
Electrical Potentials additional derivative concepts which are related
either to the characterization of the sources of
▶ Evoked and Event-Related Potentials the field or to the characterization of the field
and its manifestations. Both the fundamental
and the derivative concepts are characterized
by two types of quantities: (1) local quantities,
Electricity and Magnetism i.e., related to a particular given point in space,
and (2) integral quantities, i.e., related to a given
▶ Electromagnetism and Optics region in space. In addition, both, the local and
the integral quantities, have their own specifics in
two particular cases – in vacuum and in matter.
Electrodynamics The Concept of Electrical Charge

Experiments have shown that the fundamental
▶ Electromagnetism and Optics building blocks of nature, the elementary parti-
cles such as electrons, neutrons, and protons,
could be electrically neutral or could be charac-
terized by two different types of electrical
Electromagnetic Theory charges – positive and negative. Like charges
repel one another, while opposite charges attract.
▶ Electromagnetism and Optics The interaction between electrical charges can be
E 698 Electromagnetism and Optics
quantitatively described by means of Coulomb’s charges and currents, while the differential form
law (Charles Coulomb, 1736–1806): The electri- has some additional requirements such as the
cal force between two charges at rest is directly continuity of the spatial distribution of the
proportional to the product of the charges and charges. Electrical charges are a relativistically
inversely proportional to the square of the dis- invariant physical quantity – they do not change
tance between them. Coulomb’s law describes when moving from one coordinate system
the force of interaction between charges at rest, frame of reference to another. This property is
i.e., it works within the realm of electrostatics. fundamental for the inherent relativistic nature of
The ability to measure electrical charges made it electrodynamics where the possibility to study
possible to realize that they are discrete in nature electromagnetic phenomena in different coordi-
and that there is a minimum quantity of electrical nate system frames of reference is a key.
charge – the charge of the electron. The absolute It is important to point out that by saying that
measured value of any electrically charged body the concept of electrical charge is a fundamental
is proportional to the absolute value of the elec- concept, we mean that it cannot be described in
trical charge of the electron. Finite physical simpler, more basic concepts. In the words of
objects are usually electrically neutral since they Eugene Hecht: “We know it by what it does and
contain equal amounts of positive and negative not by what it is – if you like, it is what it does,
elementary particles as part of their internal struc- and that’s that” (Hecht 2000, p. 610). We there-
ture. The excess of one particular type of elemen- fore do not know what an electrical charge is in its
tary particles (positively or negatively charged) essence. This statement is equally valid for both
leads to the possibility for finite physical objects classical and quantum electrodynamics. It is also
to possess an electrical charge in one of the two important to point out that when we use the term
possible types. This is due to the fact that electri- “electrical charge” we could mean two different
cal charges are subject to an “addition rule” that things: (1) the physical quantity describing the
follows the rules of addition of algebraic num- properties of electrically charged bodies or
bers. When summing charge, positive charges are (2) the body or the particle possessing the elec-
represented as positive numbers and negative trical charge. Mixing both concepts together does
charges as negative numbers. However, there is not usually lead to confusion; however, it is
a charge conservation law stating that in any important to keep this distinction in mind since
closed system, the total electric charge remains it points out the fact that it is always a specific
constant. The total electrical charge of a physical particle or object that manifests the properties of
object is an example of integral characteristic – it an electrical charge and that these properties are
characterizes the electrical properties of the just one type out of several others, e.g., the grav-
object as a whole and does not provide informa- itational ones (characterized by the mass of
tion about the distribution of its constituent ele- a particle or an object).
mentary particle charge within the body. An
example of local characteristic is the electrical The Electromagnetic Field Concept
charge volume density which characterizes the The second fundamental concept in electrody-
electrical charge within unit volume at a given namics is the concept of electromagnetic field
point in space. The distinction between integral which provides a unified picture of the electric
and local characteristics of electrical charges and magnetic phenomena. In the case of electro-
enables a dual possibility for the specific form static phenomena, we can focus our discussion on
of the quantitative physical laws describing them. the electric field alone. According to Coulomb’s
The laws of electricity and magnetism, and of law, a charge Q1 exerts a force on a second
electrodynamics in general, can be expressed in charge Q2, and vice versa. Coulomb’s law how-
both integral and differential forms. However, the ever does not explain how this force is transmit-
integral form tends to be more general since it ted through empty space. In order to answer this
could be applied to arbitrary types of electrical question, physicists in the nineteenth century
developed the concept of electric field. A charged This simple exposition of field theory shows
particle, such as an electron, interacts with other that the concepts of energy and field are inher-
charged particles by creating a web of interaction ently interrelated. “A field is a region in space in
around itself that extends out into space. We say which any point can be characterized by a set of
that one charge creates an electric field in space numbers. These may be scalars, for example
and another charge immersed in that field inter- energy, or vectors, for example forces, and so
acts directly with it, and vice versa. The field that we may have scalar or vector fields. Energy is
surrounds an electrical charge is part of it. For a scalar, and as we shall see, it becomes the basic
example, the total energy of an isolated electron ‘substance’ of field physics, as matter was the
at rest equals its internal energy (E ¼ mc2, where basic ‘substance’ of Newtonian physics.” “It is
E
m is its mass) plus the energy of its field. Two so because the field is characterized by the pres-
different electrons interact through their respec- ence of energy. . . . A field is nothing more than
tive fields. The total energy of the system includ- a spatial distribution of energy which varies with
ing the two electrons is equal to the sum of the time. Energy has thus been freed from its depen-
energies of its parts, i.e., the two electrons and dence upon physical vehicles such as particles; it
their fields. It is this total energy of the system has achieved the status of independent scientific
that is subject to the energy conservation law and existence” (Theobald 1966, p. 50).
that is being conserved during the interaction. The inherent relationship between the energy
The picture so far seems to be quite straight- and field concepts makes the questions about
forward, but it raises (and has raised in the past) their existence somehow interchangeable. It is
some very interesting questions. One of the most interesting to discover that in physics the exis-
interesting of them is why do we need the field tence of the physical reality behind the concepts
concept at all. The answer is that we need – in of energy and field might be questioned. The
order to deal with the explanation of the “action at answers of many eminent physicists to similar
a distance” and the principle of “locality” – the questions are ambivalent. For example,
expectation that effects must be colocated with according to American physicist and philosopher
their causes, both in space and in time. One elec- of science Percy Bridgman (1882–1961), 1946
tron causes another, second, electron located at Nobel Laureate in Physics: “The reality of the
some distance away to experience a certain force. field is self-consciously inculcated in our elemen-
This force seems to have no cause located any tary teaching, often with considerable difficulty
nearer to the second electron. It seems, therefore, for the student. This view is usually credited to
that there is no visible local cause for the force Faraday and is considered the most fundamental
experienced by the second electron. The intro- concept of all modern electrical theory. Yet in
duction of the field concept enabled the descrip- spite of this I believe that a critical examination
tion of the interactions between electrically will show that the ascription of physical reality to
charged bodies in a way that satisfies spatiotem- the electric field is entirely without justification.
poral locality and explains the action at I cannot find a single physical phenomenon or
a distance – the electric force on each of the a single physical operation by which evidence of
charged bodies at a given moment in time is the existence of the field may be obtained inde-
caused by the electrical field at its location. One pendent of the operations which entered into the
of the key challenges in such an approach comes definition. The only physical evidence we ever
from the fact that we are dealing with have of the existence of a field is obtained by
a macroscopic but, at the same time, invisible going there with an electric charge and observing
physical reality – the field is invisible but it the action on the charge . . ., which is precisely the
becomes visible by its effects. Its energy is operation of the definition . . . The electromag-
manifested by the work done by the electrical netic field itself is an invention and is never
field force to move the charge away at a given subject to direct observation. What we observe
distance. are material bodies with or without charges
(including eventually in this category electrons), impossible to question. “Its existence invites
their positions, motions, and the forces to which (if not compels) us to regard the fields as inde-
they are subject” (Lange 2002, p. 41). Such state- pendent dynamical entities in their own right,
ment may seem strange, but there is one aspect in every bit as ‘real’ as atoms or baseballs. . . . But
which it is not so trivial. In the case of the system it takes a charge to produce an electromagnetic
of two electrons considered above, does the field field and a charge to detect one . . .” (Griffiths
of the first electron exist when the second one is 1999, p. xiv). Thus, taking into account the
not present, i.e., independently of it, or its pres- dynamic nature of the electromagnetic fields
ence is enabled by the proximity of the second resolves the ontological ambiguities associated
electron? This question may be considered as with their existence.
being not about the reality of the field in general
but about its reality independently of the second Electromagnetic Wave Theory
electron. Such question, however, does not seem The rigorous electromagnetic theory was devel-
to fall within the scope of interest of the majority oped over the course of the nineteenth century
of physicists whose reasoning functions under the by James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) who used
premises of operationism – the view that the his mathematical skills to build on the physical
meaning of every scientific term must be specifi- insights and the experimental genius of Michael
able by identifying a definite testing operation Faraday (1791–1867) in unifying all known
that provides a criterion for its application. This electromagnetic phenomena into a single set of
entails that for most physicists, “the whole of equations – the Maxwell’s equations. Maxwell’s
physics is about operations, chiefly measure- work on electromagnetism has been rightly con-
ments and computations, rather than about sidered as the second great unification in phys-
nature” (Bunge 1973, p. 1). Such an approach to ics, the first one being the universal theory of
the definition of a concept is called operational. gravitation developed by Isaac Newton (1643–
The operationist attitude to scientific concepts 1727). Maxwell’s equations can be briefly sum-
has a long history and, as we have seen, tends to marized as follows. The first equation describes
put aside questions of whether the object of the how electric charges generate electric fields. It is
definition exists in reality or not. also known as Gauss’ law and states that the
Electric fields have a real physical existence amount of electric field coming out of any closed
and are not just theoretical constructs invented by surface (the electric flux) is proportional to the
physicists to get around the problem of the trans- total charge enclosed by the surface. In short, it
mission of electrostatic forces through vacuum. is related to the experimental fact that electrical
The certainty about the real existence of the fields charges are the sources of electrical fields. The
comes exactly from the fact that they possess second equation is the magnetic equivalent of
energy and that it is actually possible to convert Gauss’ law and points to the fact that there are no
this energy into heat or work, and vice versa. The experimentally observed magnetic monopoles,
ambiguity of the question about the realism of the i.e., the amount of the magnetic field coming out
electric field seems to appear due to the fact that of any closed surface (the magnetic flux) is equal
when we discuss the reality of the fields, we are to zero. The third equation is Faraday’s law.
silently focusing on static fields, i.e., the electric This equation describes mathematically how
fields of electrical charges that do not move in changing magnetic fields generate electric
time and space. Electrodynamics deals with fields. The fourth, and final, equation is
dynamic, i.e., changing in time, electric, and Ampère’s law describing how electric currents
magnetic fields. When an electrical charge and changing electric fields generate magnetic
undergoes acceleration, a portion of its field fields. With these four elegant equations, Max-
“detaches” itself and travels off at the speed of well showed that electricity and magnetism
light, carrying with it energy. This is what we call were simply aspects of one single electromag-
electromagnetic radiation and its reality is netic force.
Optics to find situations in which its wavelength is very
One of the most important results of Maxwell’s much smaller than the size of the objects with
work was that the electromagnetic field predicted which it interacts. Thus, a waveless approach to
by the theory turned out to propagate at a speed optics, which is usually called geometrical optics
equal to the speed of light as experimentally approximation, has a very wide range of applica-
measured at that time. Maxwell demonstrated tions. In geometric optics, light propagation is
that all phenomena involving electricity, magne- treated as light rays, emanating from a source,
tism, and light could be explained by means of which propagate through transparent media.
the concept of electromagnetic field. It was real- There are three laws of geometrical optics. The
ized that the whole spectrum of radiations, radio first law is the law of rectilinear propagation,
E
waves, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-rays, and which states that light rays propagate in straight
g-rays, were all electromagnetic radiations mov- lines through homogeneous transparent media.
ing at the speed of light. Since then, it became The second law is the law of reflection, which
clear that optical phenomena are just electromag- governs the interaction of light rays with
netic wave phenomena that could be character- conducting surfaces (e.g., metallic mirrors). The
ized within a specific frequency range which third law is the law of refraction, which predicts
happens to be visibly perceptible by the human the behavior of light rays as they traverse sharp
eye and highly relevant for all living organisms. boundaries between two different transparent
Optics has developed through the ages as an media (e.g., air and glass).
independent part of physics with its own theoret- Geometric optics has proven to be a highly
ical specifics and practical applications (Hecht successful theory. Its most important applications
2002). However, the most accurate language of focus on describing and explaining the operation
optics is the rigorous language of the theory of of commonly used optical instruments: eye-
electromagnetism (Born and Wolf 1999). In most glasses, cameras, telescopes, microscopes,
of the cases, optics deals with the propagation of etc. Although geometric optics does not make
light through transparent media and its interac- any explicit assumption about the nature of light,
tion with mirrors, lenses, slits, etc. Optical effects it tends to suggest that light consists of a stream of
can be divided into two broad classes: (1) effects massless particles. The wave theory of light,
that can be explained without reference to the fact which developed in the first half of the nineteenth
that light is fundamentally a wave phenomenon, century, initially encountered significant resis-
and (2) effects that can only be explained on the tance since scientists thought that, if it were
basis that light is a wave phenomenon. Let us, for a wave, light should have manifested its
the moment, consider the former class of effects. wave nature through such phenomena as interfer-
It might seem somewhat surprising that any opti- ence and diffraction – phenomena in which waves
cal effects at all can be accounted for without do not travel in straight lines and would not cast
reference to waves. After all, as we have already straight, sharp shadows, the same as water waves
seen, light really is an electromagnetic wave phe- do. Later on, however, with the works of Christian
nomenon. It turns out, however, that wave effects Huygens (1629–1695) and Thomas Young
are only crucially important when the wavelength (1773–1829), the wave theory of light emerged
of the wave is either comparable to, or much and was established as an alternative approach to
larger than, the size of the objects with which it the understanding of optical phenomena. Young’s
interacts (Hecht 2002; Born and Wolf 1999). double-slit interference experiment has clearly
When the wavelength of the wave becomes demonstrated the wave nature of light and became
much smaller than the size of the objects with the model for other revolutionary experiments in
which it interacts, then the interactions can be modern physics demonstrating the complemen-
accounted for in a very simple geometrically tarity of the particle and wave properties of
intuitive way. Since the wavelengths of the visi- elementary particles within the context of the
ble light are only of order a micron, it is very easy emerging quantum physics.
The Photon: The Optical Quantum of Energy and of the unexplained experimental facts” (Dear
Action 2006, p. 144). He started with the commonly
The idea of the quantum of energy was intro- accepted “solar system” model of the atom
duced as a kind of energetic atomism, in which wherein negatively charged electrons orbit
energy could not be divided into arbitrarily small around the central positively charged nucleus
amounts but existed as discrete, tiny packets. In like planets. “The size of an electron’s orbit
its origins, the introduction of the concept of corresponded to the orbit’s energy, and Bohr
energy quantization was driven by deeply practi- postulated that the only orbits permitted to such
cal reasons. In 1900, it allowed German physicist electrons were those whose energy corresponded
Max Planck (1858–1947) to create an adequate to discrete, quantized levels – not just any amount
mathematical model of the so-called black-body of energy, or orbit, was allowed by his model.
radiation. Planck worked with careful experi- There were levels, or steps, of orbital energy that
mental measurements of the actual energy distri- the electrons could occupy. Bohr called them
bution trying to develop a correct theoretical ‘stationary states.’ The only changes in orbital
model to describe it. Eventually, he found out levels that an electron could undergo were the
that he could do that only if he assumed that the ones in which it shifted, in a discrete jump,
emitted energy could change only in jumps, from from one stationary state to another” (Dear
one energy level to the next. This assumption in 2006, p. 144). Assuming the discrete nature of
Planck’s model violated the usual way of think- these changes allowed Bohr to interpret some
ing about energy – as a quantity that could vary experimental results that had been known for
smoothly, increasing or decreasing gradually, nearly 30 years. These results concerned the radi-
rather than being confined to stepwise change. ation emitted by hydrogen atoms when excited by
Planck called these discrete energy changes heat. When the radiation was separated out
“quanta” of energy. Very soon, other physicists according to frequency by a spectroscope, the
began to see the more universal meaning in spectrum showed a series of discrete bright lines
Planck’s idea. In a paper of 1905, on the photo- that were uniquely related to the specific internal
electric effect, Albert Einstein (1879–1955) structure of the atom. Niels Bohr’s achievement
argued that light itself should not be understood consists of the demonstration that the energetic
simply as wave motion but should also be under- manifestations of light quanta could be identified
stood in terms of light quanta – massless packets with the composition of atoms and the structure
of energy that were later to be called “photons.” of matter in general. The dynamic structure of
The energy of a single photon E was found to be matter is manifested and could be known by the
proportional to the light’s frequency n by means particular mode by which the smallest quantities
of a universal constant h: E ¼ hn. The constant h of energy are presented to the observer. Or, in the
was first derived by Planck and, therefore, known poetical theological language of Christos
as Planck’s constant or the “quantum of action.” Yannaras, “That means that the hypostasis of
Soon after the emergence of the photon, the idea matter itself is energy, that matter contains the
of the quantum nature of energy was extensively constituents of light, that light is the ideal matter”
infiltrated into microphysics. In 1913, Danish (Yannaras 1998, p. 39).
physicist Niels Bohr (1885–1962) opened up
a critically important new arena for the use of A Relativistic Quantum Theory of Electrodynamics
the quantum concept – atomic spectra. It was the Unlike Newtonian mechanics, classical electro-
exploration of this arena that led to the emergence dynamics is a relativistic theory, i.e., there are no
of the new or quantum physics. Bohr adopted fundamental problems to incorporate in it the
Planck’s quantum concept to study the internal effects of special theory of relativity – the expla-
structure of atoms in a way that was “in obvious nation of electromagnetic phenomena that
contrast to the ordinary ideas of electrodynamics involve changes happening at a speed compara-
but appeared to be necessary to account for some ble to the speed of light. In fact, it was exactly
electrodynamic considerations that led Albert the electromagnetic force. Fagg (1996) points out
Einstein to the formulation of the special theory that any viable natural theology must understand
of relativity and to demonstrate that magnetic and meaningfully interpret the electromagnetic
fields are just the manifestations of electric fields force in its “awesome” universality: “The elec-
in a different coordinate system frame of refer- tromagnetic force provides a simplifying and uni-
ence (Griffiths 1999). Electromagnetism has fying influence that has not yet been seriously
a particularly elegant relativistic formulation considered by natural theologians, and it needs
which allows a natural extension of electromag- to be. . . . [T]he universality of the electromag-
netic theory to the realm of relativistic phenom- netic force must constitute one of the central
ena. Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the ingredients and cohesive bases in natural theol-
E
relativistic quantum field theory of electrody- ogy. This hypothesis is based not only on the
namics. It was developed by a number of physi- premise of the universality of the electromagnetic
cists, beginning in the late 1920s, and describes at force in general but also on the nature of the
a very fundamental level how light interacts with photon of electromagnetic radiation, or light, the
matter, i.e., all phenomena involving the interac- carrier of this force, in particular. The primality
tion of electrically charged particles by means of of light as a salient feature of the universe since
exchange of virtual photons – the mediator or primordial times, as an indispensable element in
exchange particles providing the fundamental our daily lives, as a means of communication for
mechanism enabling the existence of the electro- all humankind, and as a manifestation of divine
magnetic interaction force. QED was the first presence suggests a uniquely proximate connec-
satisfactory quantum mechanical description of tion between the physical and spiritual worlds”
a physical field involving the processes of crea- (Fagg 1996). It should be strongly emphasized
tion and annihilation of quantum particles. It has that in the cases when this connection is applied
served as a successful model for the development in relation to the divine presence in the world, it
of all subsequent quantum field theories. QED refers to a relation between the created world and
showed that there are both observable and the eternal, uncreated God. According to Saint
unobservable photons and that the electromag- Augustine, in creation, there is nothing related to
netic force between electrically charged particles God the Trinity, except the fact that the Trinity
is carried by the unobservable ones – the virtual has created it. The difference between created
photons (Fagg 1996). Although virtual photons and uncreated is, therefore, so crucial that all of
cannot be directly observed, their existence is our human analogies about the two poles of this
certified by the fact that without including them, difference should be taken very cautiously, with
QED calculations could not yield results which a full appreciation of the deep and beautiful mys-
are in agreement with experiments. teries hidden in it (Florovsky 1976).
A third perspective enabling the discussion of
Electrodynamics, Optics, and Religion the relationship between electrodynamics, optics,
The relationship between electrodynamics, and religion could be based on the semantic rich-
optics, and religion could be considered from ness of the field concept in the way it has been
several different perspectives. The first one is used as a metaphor signifying the immanent pres-
based on the fact that both Michael Faraday and ence of God and the activity of the divine ener-
James Clerk Maxwell – the key figures behind the gies in space and time. According to Pannenberg
development of the theory of electromagnetism – (2006), “the potential of the field concept for the
were authentically religious people, and, dialogue between science and theology has not
according to some, it was precisely their religious been used until very recently . . .” The actualiza-
worldview that made it possible for them to cre- tion of this potential, however, should focus on
ate a dynamic theory of the electromagnetic field the similarity between the conceptual relation-
(Torrance 2002). The second perspective is based ships (not between the concepts themselves) in
on the universality and on the pervasive nature of the two different domains and on the ways of
their operation within their own proper context the icon of Christ Pantocrator that looked down
(Tanev 2009). Both quantum electrodynamics from the top of dome, with the result that in the
and theology refer to dynamic “nonclassical” darkness of the church the icon of Christ would
realities, and it is only by taking into account of seem to hover in the reflected light of the rising
this dynamism that it is possible to escape poten- sun” (Louth 2004). This extraordinary care in
tial ontological ambiguities and open additional using natural light has deeply theological rea-
epistemological opportunities. In both cases, the sons. It demonstrates the importance attached to
invisible nature of the dynamic realities leads to the significance of light as a symbol of the com-
the need of interpretation. In both cases, the inter- ing of Christ, the Logos, and son of God, in the
pretation of the manifestations of these realities world in his Nativity and rising over the world in
can lead to the danger of their forceful visualiza- his Resurrection (Louth 2004). It is also pro-
tion since we always tend to interpret within the foundly biblical. In John 8:12 (NKJV), Jesus pro-
framework of our visual experience (Puhalo claims, “I am the light of the world. He who
2007). The tempting connection between inter- follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will
pretation and visual experience affects our lan- have the light of life.” He is the One who gives
guage since the visual is easier to be expressed the light of life. In the New Testament, God is
linguistically, and our linguistic and visual light (1 John 1:5). The followers of Jesus are the
assumptions are not fully decoupled. The strug- light (Matt. 5:14), and the faithful shines as lights
gle against such forceful visualization of invisi- in the world (Phil. 2:15). In these and other ref-
ble, i.e., unseen, realities is common to both erences in the Gospel John (1:4–10; 3:19; 12:35,
theology and modern physics. 36), God is the source of the uncreated, life giving
Another perspective enabling the discussion of light. The experience of this uncreated light refers
the relationship between electrodynamics, optics, to the encounter with the glory of the Godhead
and religion is based on the extensive use of light Himself and lies at the heart of Eastern Christian
and energy as metaphors in theology. This is spirituality and of Byzantine hesychasm in par-
especially true in Eastern Christian (Orthodox) ticular. Hesychasm is a tradition of prayer based
theology where the two concepts are present and on the repetition of the Jesus prayer (Lord Jesus
fundamentally interrelated (Tanev 2009; Louth Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner),
2004). The theology of the Eastern Christian under the direction of a spiritual father, which
Church builds on the legacy of the Byzantine leads to a conscious experience of the presence
tradition where light, both artificial and natural, of God, often in the form of a vision of light
was extensively used and is still part of Orthodox (Louth 2004). The theology of the experience of
worship today (Louth 2004). It is not a mere the uncreated divine light was a fundamental part
coincidence that one of the oldest hymns in the of Byzantine theology. It was theologically
Orthodox Church is addressed to the joyful light refined on a number of synods in Constantinople
of the glory of the Trinity which is symbolized by in the middle of the fourteenth century to become
the lighting of the evening lamp at sunset: “as the inseparable part of Orthodox theology up to
sun sets, and with it the light of the world, the the present moment. The key theologian behind
evening lamps symbolizes the eternal light of the the doctrinal formulations of the synods in
Godhead (the light that knows no evening, as it is Constantinople is Saint Gregory Palamas
sometimes put)” (Louth 2004). In addition, the (1296–1359), with his distinction between the
orientation and the architecture of the churches in divine essence and the energies, according to
the Middle and Late Byzantine periods were which God is unknowable in his essence but
carefully calibrated to make use of the natural knowable in his energies (Louth 2004). The
effects of the rising sunlight. “[T]he sills of the emphasis of this statement has two interrelated
windows around the base of the dome were aspects. The first aspect is epistemological – in
polished and fixed at such an angle that the hor- the divine energies, it is God Himself who is
izontal rays of the rising sun were directed up on known and not merely something about God.
Electromyography 705 E
And according to the Gospel of John, life eternal Florovsky, G. (1976). Creation and creaturehood,
consists in knowing God (John 17:3). The second Chapter III. In The collected works of Georges
Florovsky (Creation and redemption, Vol. III,
aspect is soteriological since it points out that it is pp. 43–78). Belmont: Nordland Publishing Company.
God alone who could save His people. God, how- Griffiths, D. (1999). Introduction to electrodynamics.
ever, is eternal, invisible, and personal and cannot Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
be approached by means of our human ways of Hecht, E. (2000). Physics: Calculus (2nd ed., Vol. 2).
Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.
knowing. Our knowledge of Him, therefore, is Hecht, E. (2002). Optics (4th ed.). Reading: Addison
always associated with His will – everything Wesley Longman.
that we know about God is the result of divine Lange, M. (2002). An introduction to the philosophy of
revelation and the manifestation of His energies physics – Locality, fields, energy, and mass. Oxford:
Blackwell. E
(or activities). Paramount among these divine Louth, A. (1996). Maximus the confessor (p. 108).
energies is the uncreated light of the Godhead, London: Routledge.
the light in which Christ was transfigured before Louth, A. (2004). Light, vision and religious experience in
his disciples on Mount Tabor – the Taboric light Byzantium. In M. Kapstein (Ed.), The presence of light –
Divine radiance and religious experience (pp. 85–93).
(Louth 2004). According to Saint Maximus the Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Confessor (c. 580–662), the theological predeces- Pannenberg, W. (2006). Problems between science and
sor of Saint Gregory Palamas and of his theology theology in the course of their modern history.
of the divine energies, on Mount Tabor, it was Zygon, 41(1), 105–112.
Puhalo, L. (2007). The evidence of things no seen – Ortho-
actually Christ’s disciples who were transfigured dox christianity and modern physics (3rd ed.).
by the Spirit and made able to see His divine glory: Dewdney: Synaxis Press.
“They beheld Him transfigured, unapproachable Tanev, S. (2009). Essence and energy – An exploration in
because of the light of his face, were amazed at orthodox theology and physics. Logos: Journal of
Eastern Christian Studies, 50(1–2), 89–153.
the brightness of his clothes and in the honor Theobald, D. W. (1966). The concept of energy. London:
shown Him by Moses and Elijah who were with E. & F.N. Spon.
Him on either side, they recognized his great awe- Torrance, T. (2002). The relevance of Christian faith to
someness. And they passed over from flesh to scientific knowledge with reference to John
Philoponus and James Clerk Maxwell, Ch. 7. In Theo-
spirit, before they had put aside this fleshly life, logical and natural science. Eugene: Wipf and Stock.
by the change in their powers of sense that the Yannaras, C. (1998). Elements of faith. Edinburgh: T&T
Spirit worked in them, lifting the veils of the pas- Clark.
sions from the intellectual activity that was in
them. . . . They were taught hiddenly that the all-
blessed radiance that shone resplendently from his
face, as it overpowered the sight of the eyes, was Electromyography
a symbol of His divinity that transcends mind and
sense and being and knowledge” (Louth 1996). Reinhard Dengler
Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical
School, Hannover, Germany
References
Born, M., & Wolf, E. (1999). Principles of optics: Elec-

tromagnetic theory of propagation, interference and Related Terms
diffraction of light (7th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Electroneurography; EMG
Bunge, M. (1973). Philosophy of Physics. Dordrecht:
Reidel.
Dear, P. (2006). The intelligibility of nature – How science
makes sense of the world. Chicago: The University of Description
Chicago Press.
Fagg, L. (1996). The universality of electromagnetic
phenomena and the immanence of God in a natural Electromyography (EMG) denotes
theology. Zygon, 31(3), 509–521. a subdiscipline of clinical neurophysiology and
E 706 Electromyography
neurology (See ▶ Neurophysiology) recording Since then, EMG has remained an important
muscle currents at rest and during activity by research tool in studies of muscle and nerve in
surface or by needle electrodes for research and health and disease and could simultaneously be
for diagnostic purposes. Motor and sensory nerve established as a routine diagnosis although it
conduction studies (electroneurography) are part remained, to some extent, an art. In addition,
of electromyography. EMG is of greatest diag- EMG has increasingly been used for studies of
nostic value in diseases of motor neurons, physiological movements such as grasping, gait,
nerve, and muscle, while research applications or sports activities (See ▶ Movement Disorders).
are preferentially concerned with studies of nor- Consequently, the physiological findings were
mal and pathological movements and reflexes. used to analyze pathological movements such as
The beginnings of clinical EMG after 1930 are tremor, myoclonus (jerks), tics, and others in
associated with the names of D. Denny-Brown order to understand their pathophysiology (e.g.,
(1949) in North America and F. Buchthal Dengler et al. 1986).
(1985) in Europe (See ▶ Neurology in Europe), An important step forward was the introduc-
among others. A modern and frequently used tion of digital techniques into neurophysiology
summary of the current knowledge on clinical starting in the 1970s. New amplifiers and moni-
EMG is the comprehensive textbook by tors and also highly selective recording elec-
J. Kimura (2001). trodes were developed in conjunction with
methods such as single-fiber EMG (Stålberg &
Trontelj 1997), allowing to investigate the func-
Self-Identification tion of the neuromuscular transmission in the
microseconds domain and denervation and
Science reinnervation in a quantitative way. Averaging
The beginnings of EMG were merely scientific techniques provided the possibility to record
and were based on the technical development of smallest nerve potentials of a few microvolts
modern electrophysiological amplifiers and amplitude as required for sensory nerve conduc-
oscilloscopes for displaying fast electrical muscle tion studies.
and nerve activity in the time domain of millisec- Modern EMG has in part become a routine
onds. Another important step was the introduc- tool in diagnosis and is still a science with
tion of the concentric needle electrode by Adrian a vast body of literature and several scientific
and Bronk (1929) and the subsequent observation journals dedicated to EMG research. Most mod-
of motor unit potentials by Denny-Brown (Mayer ern and also developing countries have their
2001). EMG has always self-identified as national societies for clinical neurophysiology
a biological and/or medical science following including EMG.
the rules of scientific work. In a period between
1930 and 1960, many EMG phenomena have
been first described which separate normal mus- Characteristics
cles from those affected by muscle disease or by
a peripheral nerve or motor neuron disorder. EMG is distinctive from other specialties of med-
Findings such as fibrillation potentials, positive icine in several aspects.
waves, fasciculation potentials, or myotonic dis- It is the only discipline to study electrical activ-
charges in resting muscles or myopathic and neu- ity of nerve and muscle in order to conclude on
rogenic changes in innervated muscles were their functional status. Thus, it has the potential to
described and scientifically classified (Caruso provide information on relevant functional changes
et al. 1999). The latter changes were statistically of the neuromuscular system and to explain clinical
evaluated; normative values were developed and phenomena such as muscle weakness, muscle
provided for quantitative EMG measurements fatigue, wasting, cramps, and others. This capacity
(see Caruso et al. 1999). of EMG is used for diagnostic purposes especially
Electromyography 707 E
in the field of neuromuscular disorders where EMG who theoretically and practically developed
still plays a very important role. EMG at the end of the second decade of the
Another difference to other helpful diagnostic last century and made it an attractive and
approaches such as imaging by nuclear magnetic respected science. The approaches to EMG in
resonance tomography or muscle biopsy and mor- experimental and clinical neurophysiology have
phological examination is that it is an office method been scientific from the very beginning. A large
providing immediate diagnostic information. It is body of data was collected, analyzed, and
to some extent an extension of a clinical neurolog- published in well-renowned journals. In the fol-
ical examination and can be performed repeatedly. lowing, normative data have been developed for
It is economical and highly appropriate for moni- diagnostic purposes which are still valid despite
E
toring the course of neuromuscular diseases. all technical new developments in this field.
Another important difference to other This material has been published in numerous
approaches of analyzing the neuromuscular func- books on EMG in the Anglo-American
tion is that EMG works in the time domain of literature as well as in German language and is
milliseconds and has a high time resolution. This revisited from time to time. In nearly all coun-
is not only relevant in studying neuromuscular tries with a developed health-care system, we
diseases but also in central motor or movement find scientific societies which are in part or
disorders (See ▶ Movement Disorders) when the exclusively concerned with EMG. Mostly,
exact analysis of movements or of reflexes is of these societies have the attribute “clinical
great importance. It allows to detect the exact neurophysioplogy” in their denotations, and
timing of the interaction of several muscles sometimes, the term EMG appears. These soci-
which is helpful in studying gait and its disorders, eties take care for ascertaining the quality of
the various tremor forms, myoclonic movements, EMG and also for education of young scientists
tics, spasticity, and several others. and physicians and have contacts with health-
care system authorities and industrial companies
with regard to commercial aspects of EMG.
Relevance to Science and Religion An international society called “International
Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology”
EMG is clearly a biological science and plays its (IFCN; http://www.ifcn.info/) forms the
most important role in neurological medicine. It umbrella for the national societies and organizes
goes, however, beyond these borders as muscle communication between them, e.g., via regular
activity and movement is part of human life in international congresses with assemblies of
general and is the only possibility of man to get in the member society delegates. The IFCN also
touch with its environment and with other publishes guidelines for practicing EMG and
living beings including speech production. EMG defines the appropriate EMG terminology
is also used in psychological studies aiming (Caruso et al. 1999). It supports the development
at man-to-man interaction and, in particular, at of high-quality EMG in economically disadvan-
interindividual communication. This psycho- taged countries.
physiological potential of EMG makes it an
interesting tool for interdisciplinary activities
between neurosciences and humanities (See Ethical Principles
▶ Neuropsychology).
EMG follows the ethical principles expressed
in the famous “Oath of Hippocrates.” It has
Sources of Authority also adopted the rules of the “Declaration of
Helsinki.” For scientific use of EMG, it is oblig-
The sources of authority of EMG are formed by atory to apply to the local ethical committees and
neurophysiologists and clinical neurologists ask for permission.
E 708 Electromyography
Key Values Perception

Perception in the field of EMG mainly refers
One key value of EMG is to make a contribution to the awareness of muscle contractions or
to the diagnosis of diseases of the neuromuscular movements.
or the central motor system. Another is to support
research focusing on the normal and the patho- Time
logical function of the motor system (Kimura Time is an important parameter of EMG as all
2001; Stålberg & Falck 1997). electrical events have a time dimension. EMG
measures phenomena in the domain of millisec-
onds and even microseconds.
Conceptualization
Consciousness
Nature/World Consciousness is a construct of the brain. EMG
EMG conceptualizes nature as the basic mecha- does not contribute to the understanding of con-
nisms of life and the environmental forces with sciousness although movements may be a sign of
special regard to those influencing the motor sys- consciousness.
tem. World has no special meaning in EMG
except for the classification of countries Rationality/Reason
according to their economical status and their Rationality is important in science. EMG can,
capacities to develop EMG. however, not contribute to its definition.
Human Being Mystery

EMG has no special definition of human beings. There are mysteries in medicine and also in
It understands itself as a discipline which serves EMG, i.e., objectively recordable phenomena
human beings in health problems. which can currently not be explained.
Life and Death

EMG associates life with muscle activity which is Relevant Themes
indeed the way how living beings make contact
with their environment. Even basic signs of life EMG has always been a biological science and
such as heartbeat and breathing represent muscle a subdiscipline of clinical neurophysiology. It is
activity. The origin of life is closely associated part of the world of natural sciences and has little
with muscle activity or contractions on a micro- relationship with faith or spirituality which is
scopical level as seen in bacteria, etc. Death is the prevailing in religion.
absence of such activity.
Reality References
Reality in EMG is recordable electrical muscle
activity. Adrian, E. D., & Bronk, D. W. (1929). The discharge of
impulses in motor nerve fibres: Part II. The frequency
of discharge in reflex and voluntary contractions. The
Knowledge Journal of Physiology, 67, 13–151.
Knowledge in EMG is fairly identical with exper- Buchthal, F. (1985). Electromyography in the evaluation
tise in the art of EMG. of muscle diseases. Neurologic Clinics, 3, 573–598.
Caruso, G., Eisen, A., Stålberg, E., Kimura, J., Mamoli, B.,
Dengler, R., & Santoro, L. (1999). Hopf HC Clinical
Truth EMG and glossary of terms most commonly used by
Truth is a term not used in EMG. The guideline clinical electromyographers. Electroencephalography
for EMG is evidence-based knowledge. and Clinical Neurophysiology. Supplement, 52, 189–198.
Electroneurography 709 E
Dengler, R., Wolf, W., Schubert, M., & Struppler, A. The stimulation has to be strong enough to acti-
(1986). Discharge pattern of single motor units in vate all nerve or muscle fibers. By stimulating
basal ganglia disorders. Neurology, 36, 1061–1066.
Denny-Brown, D. (1949). Interpretation of the the nerve at two different sites along the nerve,
electromyogram. Archives of Neurology and Psychia- the motor conduction velocity can be calculated
try, 61, 99–128. by diving the distance by the latency [m/s].
Kimura, J. (2001). Electrodiagnosis in diseases of nerve and In sensory fibers, recordings are done with
muscle (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Mayer, R. F. (2001). The motor unit and electromyogra- electrodes applied to the skin. Sometimes,
phy–the legacy of Derek Denny-Brown. Journal of the needles are used for recording the signals. The
Neurological Sciences, 189, 7–11. time between the stimulus and the response is
Stålberg, E., & Falck, B. (1997). The role of electromy- measured and the sensory conduction velocity is
ography in neurology. Electroencephalography and E
Clinical Neurophysiology, 103, 579–598. calculated. The amplitude of the sensory nerve
Stålberg, E., & Trontelj, J. V. (1997). The study of normal action potential represents the number of sen-
and abnormal neuromuscular transmission with single sory fibers activated. The impulse travels along
fibre electromyography. Journal of Neuroscience the nerve in both directions. Some of the action
Methods, 74, 145–154.
potentials travel to the spinal cord and back
resulting in late responses called F-waves. This
provides information on the conduction of the
proximal nerve segments. Electroneurography
Electroneurography is used to evaluate the nerve conduction in neu-
romuscular disorders. Slowing of the conduction
Christian Bischoff velocity is due to acquired or inborn problems of
Facharzt f€
ur Neurologie, Munich, Germany the myelin in patients with demyelinating
polyneuropathies or repeated nerve compres-
sions. The lack of conduction across a nerve
Related Terms segment is called conduction block, which can
be complete or partial. It is mostly a sign of an
Nerve conduction study acute peripheral nerve compression. In axonal
neuropathies, the conduction velocity remains
normal or is only slightly reduced, but the ampli-
Description tudes of the motor compound action potentials
are low. Low amplitudes are also found in
Electroneurography refers to the technique used patients suffering from loss of alpha-
to test and quantify the nerve conduction and motoneurons and in patients with loss
impulse propagation along motor and sensory of muscle fibers (myopathy). To make a further
nerves. A synonym is nerve conduction study. differentiation of neuromuscular disorders,
In principle, a peripheral nerve is stimulated electroneurography is frequently combined
by a short electrical pulse usually applied with the electromyography.
transcutaneously. The responses are recorded
using electrodes applied over the muscle inner-
vated by the nerve (motor nerve conduction), Axon Inner part of a peripheral nerve
Myelin Outer part of the nerve
from the skin (sensory nerve conduction) or
Electromyography Investigation of the muscle using
from another part of the nerve (mixed nerve needle electrodes inserted into the
conduction). The time the impulse takes to muscle
travel from the stimulation to the muscle is Polyneuropathy Disorder that damages more than one
called distal motor latency and is measured in nerve at the same time, mostly the
milliseconds. The amplitude is a measure of the longest nerves (to the feet) are
damaged first
number of nerve or muscle fibers activated.
E 710 Electronic Circuits in Computers
Cross-References building blocks into small chips; integration

has reduced the size and cost of computers and
▶ Clinical Neurophysiology other electronic devices (Branscomb 1982). The
▶ Electromyography actual trend in microelectronics is known as
▶ Neurophysiology Moore´s law: the number of transistors in an
integrated circuit doubles every 18 months.
Some integrated circuits have become classic
References designs and are still in use today in spite of
being fabricated long time ago, for example,
Bischoff, C., Denger, R., & Hopf, H.-C. (2008). EMG, the processor Z80 (Santo 2009). Moore´s
NLG (2nd ed.). Stuttgart: Thieme.
law cannot continue indefinitely, new physical
Kimura, J. (2001). Electrodiagnosis in diseases of
nerve and muscle. New York: Oxford University properties emerge when circuits are reduced to
Press. the scale of nanometers; fabrication costs and
power dissipation are important obstacles to
overcome when reducing the size of integrated
transistors.
Current research is looking for new
Electronic Circuits in Computers implementations of transistors by using materials
and devices at the nanometer scale, transistors
Alberto Delgado with carbon nanotubes or graphene. Also new
Electrical and Electronics Engineering architectures for information processing and
Department, National University of Colombia, memory are being explored such as memristor
Bogota, Colombia crossbars (Strukov et al. 2008).
Related Terms Self-identification
Computing machinery; CPU; Digital electronics; Science

FPGA; Microprocessor Electronics, computer devices, and integrated
circuits are based on first principles from chemistry,
solid-state physics, and quantum mechanics. These
Description devices are the result of mathematical theories,
models, computer simulations, and experiments.
The development of electronics has a direct Digital circuits rest on scientific discoveries and
impact in computers; the first computing devices follow the laws of nature.
were mechanical with limitations in size and
processing speed. With the invention of the tran-
sistor in 1947 and the integrated circuit in 1958 Characteristics
(Lee 2007), a new approach for computing
devices was possible using the binary system for Electronic circuits are modeled, developed, and
instructions and data in digital computers. Bool- tested before the actual implementation as inte-
ean logic is implemented in electronic circuits grated circuits in solid state; these circuits follow
by using transistors on-off states as true-false mathematical models and natural laws. The main
(one-zero) logic. characteristic of electronic circuits for computers
Since the invention of the transistor (elec- is a solid background in experiments and theory;
tronic switch in digital electronics), research years of research and development are needed to
has been focused on the integration of these produce commercial devices.
Electronic Circuits in Computers 711 E
Relevance to Science and Religion Knowledge
Fundamental and in permanent search.
There are no links between electronic circuits for
computers and religion. This discipline is not Truth
interested in the area of science and religion. Electronic devices must perform without divine
intervention or authorities.
Sources of Authority Perception

Source for devices operation.
The discipline rests on physical laws, mathemat-
E
ical models, experiments, and numerical simula- Time
tions. There are well-known contributors to the Main variable, computing speed is a goal.
field but these people are related to discoveries or
ideas rather than authority; all principles can be Consciousness
proved or tested in a laboratory without support It does not apply.
from authority. Circuits must follow mathemati-
cal models and natural laws independent of Rationality/Reason
authorities. Digital circuits are designed using Boolean logic.
Mystery
Ethical Principles There is no room for mystery; circuits must work
in a predictable way.
All ethical principles of mankind are valid.
Cross-References
Key Values
Respect for human life, improvement of human ▶ Applied Mathematics (Mathematical Physics,
quality of life, sustainable exploitation of natural Discrete Mathematics, Operations Research)
resources. ▶ Automation, Electronic
▶ Bioinformatics, Computational
▶ Control Theory
Conceptualization ▶ Games, Computer
▶ Robot Emotions
Nature/World ▶ Robot Programming
Source of inspiration and natural resources.
Human Being References

Center of activity, goal, motivation to improve
devices, happiness. Branscomb, L. M. (1982). Electronics and computers: an
overview. Science, 215(4534), 755–760.
Lee, T. H. (2007). The pre-history of the integrated circuit:
Life and Death a random walk. IEEE Solid State Circuits Newsletter,
Valuable. 12(2), 16–22.
Santo, B. (2009). Microchips that shook the world. IEEE
Spectrum, 34–43.
Reality
Strukov, D. B., Snider, G. S., Stewart, D. R., &
Where devices are tested, continuous work to Williams, R. S. (2008). The missing memristor
understand it. found. Nature, 453, 80–83.
E 712 Electronic Memories
about the body, as for example a body-theology

Electronic Memories or somatology would be even though embodied
theology always implies a certain notion of the
▶ Computational Memories body. Instead, it is defined by its methodological
awareness that theological reflection is embodied
too. This means that it is not only methodologi-
cally concerned with the embodiment of theolog-
Electrophysiological Responses ical reflection in general, but with the
embodiment of its very own reflection. It is, how-
▶ Evoked and Event-Related Potentials ever, controversial how this particular methodo-
logical awareness should be theologically
expressed, since an embodied perspective chal-
lenges the very concepts of particularity and
Elementary Particle Physics method from within. It cannot be defined as
a strict method, but must be viewed as an embod-
▶ Particle Physics ied approach, which can sometimes be described
as a mood that defines this kind of theological
thought. Some emphasize the diversity of the
approach rather than its unity.
Elite Deviance Embodied theology is motivated by what it
takes to be an increasing interdisciplinary aware-
▶ Deviance and Social Control, Sociology of ness of human embodiment and of reflection as
embodied in the radical sense of the word. How-
ever, it is contested whether this theology is
driven primarily by strict, internal, theological
Embodied Theology concerns for embodiment, as indirectly expressed
for example in the doctrines of incarnation and
Johanne Stubbe Teglbjærg resurrection of the body, or whether it springs
Center of Naturalism and Christian Semantics, from a more external and contextual develop-
Faculty of Theology, Copenhagen University, ment, as in the phenomenological discovery of
Copenhagen, Denmark the body or corporeal turn in philosophy. What is
clear, however, is that embodied theology has
also developed as a reaction against a diverse
Related Terms field of dualistic tendencies in religious thought,
for example tendencies toward epistemological
Somatology dualism (where the subject is considered separate
from the object); anthropological dualism (where
the soul or mind is considered separate from the
Description body); or cosmological dualism (where human
beings are considered separate from the rest of
Embodied theology is a new kind of theology, the cosmos). In embodied theology, the effect of
which has, in recent years, developed throughout these dualisms is generally viewed as distortive,
the world. It is distinguished by a particular meth- since they are believed to have destructive
odological awareness, rather than by a specific implications in terms of anthropocentrism, indi-
theological content. This theology is embodied in vidualism, subjectivism, and intellectualism.
the sense of a methodological concern with its Correspondingly, embodied theology typically
own embodiment as a condition for its thought. It stresses the importance of what is regarded as
is theology through the body and not theology the experienced and constitutive relation between
Embodied Theology 713 E
subject and object, mind and body, and human political theology, it does not necessarily move
beings and the cosmos. In spite of rejecting dual- within preestablished political categories. Rather,
ism, embodied theology does not by definition it can challenge such categories from the perspec-
adhere to monism since it recognizes a theologi- tive of embodied experience. Typically though, it
cal, philosophical or experiential fact of presupposes a fundamental relation between rea-
dualisms. son and feeling and expresses human becoming
It is possible to distinguish different move- through interpersonal relationships as well as
ments in embodied theology currently in devel- through sexual desire. In contextual theologies,
opment. These are embodied theology in embodied theology is therefore not simply to be
traditional theologies, in contextual theologies, equated with a theology of context and culture, but
E
in postmodern theologies, in phenomenological more often occurs as counterculture.
theologies, and within the dialogue between the- Within postmodern theologies (radical or
ology and science. However, even though these moderate), both the construction and non-
movements are framed within the context of tra- construction of the body are questioned. It is
ditional theological debates, it should be noted argued that tradition and culture not only shape
that the very notion of embodiment is widely the body, but that the body is naturally or phe-
recognized as challenging these traditional nomenologically given and thus shapes this fea-
theological distinctions. A more elaborate ture too. Embodied, radical, postmodern
description of embodied theology, thus, depends theology, which tends to weigh the notion of the
on their various methodological and conceptual body as a potentially liberating construction,
assumptions about the body and its context. implies a theological call for developing
In traditional (conservative as well as liberal) a positive distance to the given and consequently
theologies, embodied theologies are neither com- more discarnate and disinterested being. How-
mon nor well defined. Frequently, embodied the- ever, moderate postmodern theology calls for
ology is viewed as proceeding from the embodied a third path between total disengagement and
tradition of the church. However, what this means absolute engagement. In this moderate context,
specifically is subject to a great variety of inter- embodied theology is explicitly aware that the
pretations. This kind of embodied theology pre- body is not only what we think, but also what
supposes an understanding of the body as we think with. The body is not merely
a tradition, which is distinct from other traditions, constructed (by tradition or by us) as an object
and which, therefore, displays a certain concept from which we can distance ourselves by creating
of privacy. Consequently, this assumes an under- a new notion, but must be seen as a constitutive
standing of the body as a given, non-constructed, feature of subjectivity.
and private context of meaning. This kind of embodied, moderate, postmodern
In contextual theologies such as Liberation, theology is related to embodied theology as
Black, or Feminist theologies, embodied theol- developed from a phenomenological perspective,
ogy calls for an alternative to traditional theolo- which is currently affecting the dialogue between
gies, which are seen as dualistic and oppressive. It theology and science. The theology-science issue
is claimed that dualism leads to alienated and has typically presupposed a view of the body
violated human beings. A notion of the body as as a kind of object or aspect of objectivity,
a cultural construct and an expression of the most whether such an object is explained in realist,
fundamental level of power relations among physicalist, materialist, or naturalist categories –
humans are implied in these theologies. Yet, in or described within the framework of a non-
embodied contextual theology, the body is reductive, dual-aspect monism. As an aspect of
viewed as a source of revelation that can be objectivity, the body points to a scientific context
liberated and speak for itself. Because the body for theology which gives rise to certain scientific
is viewed as a political field, embodied contextual demands, such as greater objective validity and
theology becomes political theology. However, as empirical progression. However, in continental
E 714 Emergence, Theories of
phenomenology the body is described as a third Isherwood, L., & Stuart, E. (1998). Introducing body
way of being in the world, between the modes of theology. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
McFague, S. (1993). The body of god. An ecological
pure subjectivity and objectivity or a way of theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
being, which mediates between or even synthe- Merleau-Ponty, M. (1945/1958/2003). The phenomenology
sizes the inner and the outer. According to phe- of perception. London: Routledge.
nomenology, embodied meaning is enacted, Murphy, N. (2006). Bodies and souls, or spirited bodied?
embedded, and extended. This implies that the Nelson, J. B. (1992). Body theology. Kentucky: Westminster/
body cannot be defined in purely private or col- John Knox Press.
lective categories, but rather must be addressed Nikkel, D. H. (2010). Radical embodiment. Eugene:
through the experience of intersubjectivity. Con- Pickwick Publications.
Noel, J. (2009). Black religion and the imagination of
sequently, embodied theology of this kind explic- matter in the atlantic world. New York: Palgrave
itly thematizes the notions and relations of its McMillian.
own subjectivity, alterity, and ambiguity. This Sheets-Johnstone, M. (2009). The corporeal turn. An
brings embodied, phenomenological theology interdisciplinary reader. Exeter: Imprint Academic.
Teglbjærg, J. S. (2012). Ambiguity, the trinity, and natu-
into a close relationship with other sciences, but ralism: From the methodology of Pannenberg to
in a way that is quite different from the traditional the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty. Theology and
– whether naturalistic or hermeneutical – manner Science, 10(1), 19–38.
of relating theology and science. Waldenfels, B. (2000). Das leibliche Selbst. Vorlesungen
zur Ph€ anomenologie des Leibes. Frankfurt am Main:
In describing embodied theology, other dis- Suhrkamp.
tinctions could be used than those applied
above. For example, could one distinguish
between the traditions of subjective, objective,
and phenomenological thought, or between a Emergence, Theories of
“body-positive” and a “body-negative” theology.
However, such distinctions might be problematic Achim Stephan
because it might be argued that they are Institute of Cognitive Science
undermined by an awareness of the body as an University of Osnabr€uck, Osnabr€uck, Germany
ambiguous mediator between subjectivity and
objectivity.
Related Terms
Cross-References Emergent phenomena; Fulguration
▶ Body Our deepest interests in “what there is” and “what

▶ Dualism it is” traditionally give rise to two quite different
▶ Incarnation approaches: a diachronic one on how things have
▶ Monism developed and a synchronic one on how the
▶ Phenomenology makeup of things relates to their particular behav-
iors, dispositions, and properties. Correspond-
ingly, nearly all religions offer stories about
how the universe, matter, living beings, and par-
References
ticularly, human beings came into existence and
Bracken, J. A. (2009). Subjectivity, objectivity, & inter- how they relate to each other. But religious
subjectivity. A new paradigm for religion and science. accounts of the origin of life, mind, and spirit do
West Conshohocken: Templeton Foundation Press. not provide the very context in which theories of
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter. On the discursive
limits of “sex”. New York: Routledge.
emergence enter stage, although many theories
Hopkins, D. N. (2002). Heart and head. Black theology. of emergence address the same issues. Theories
Past, present and future. New York: Palegrave. of emergence come into play in the context of
Emergence, Theories of 715 E
scientific approaches to understanding ourselves and mind. While vitalists like Hans Driesch and
and the nature around us, and they, too, comprise Henri Bergson claimed, for the explanation of
diachronic and synchronic versions. vital and mental processes, the existence of
The basic idea of emergence is that as systems supernatural entities such as an entelechy,
become increasingly complex during evolution, a psychoid, or an élan vital, biological mechanists
some of them may exhibit novel properties that were convinced that they could reduce without
are neither predictable nor explainable on the residue all phenomena of life and mind to phys-
basis of the laws governing the behavior of the ical and chemical processes. Both vitalism and
systems’ parts. Particularly, complex wholes can mechanism, however, were thought to have
come to have properties that are not reducible to implausible consequences: substance-dualistic
E
the arrangement and the properties of their com- approaches, on the one hand, violate the principle
ponents. Accordingly, in metaphysics, epistemol- of the causal closure (i.e., If x is a physical event
ogy, and philosophy of science, the meaning of and y is a cause or effect of x, then y, too, must be
“emergence,” being “emergent,” and to a physical event), of the physical domain and are
“emerge” is associated with features such as hard to square with evolutionary cosmologies;
being “novel,” “unpredictable,” and “irreduc- mechanism, on the other, does not seem to cap-
ible.” Hence, we should be aware of the crucial ture the genuine organic and mental processes
difference between the technical usage of these adequately, it particularly failed to explain phe-
terms and their use in ordinary language, where to nomenal experiences. The emergentists steered
“emerge” roughly means to “appear,” to “rise a middle course. They denied both substance-
above a surrounding medium,” or to “come into dualistic and reductionist theories: they were
view (or existence).” The only connection nonreductive naturalists.
between ordinary and philosophical usages of The development of early British
these terms is that entities that emerge in evolu- emergentism itself has its roots in the work of
tion (or otherwise), in the ordinary sense of the John Stuart Mill, Alexander Bain, and George
word, may be good candidates for being emer- Henry Lewes. Although we can find some pre-
gent in the technical sense. cursors of emergentist thinking already in ancient
After a brief sketch of the historical develop- philosophy, particularly in the work of Galen, and
ment of emergentism (a comprehensive overview in continental philosophy, the proper develop-
is offered by Stephan 2007), I will focus on ment of theories of emergence begins in the
a systematic account of the varieties of the con- mid-nineteenth century in Britain. In his book
cepts and theories of emergence. Eventually, Problems of Life and Mind Lewes (1875) intro-
I comment curtly on the relationship between duced the term “emergent” into philosophy, to
theories of emergence and religious issues. distinguish emergent from resultant effects.
The history of emergentism comprises several Herewith, he picked up on a distinction Mill had
ups and downs (cf. Brian McLaughlin’s “The rise drawn between homogeneous and heterogeneous
and fall of British emergentism” in Beckermann effects in his magnum opus A System of
et al. 1992). It has seen its early heydays at the Logic. Ratiocinative and Inductive (1843). Joint
beginning of the twentieth century when in rapid effects of causes are called heterogeneous effects
sequence, the major works of British and (or “emergent”) if they are not the sum of their
American emergentists appeared: in 1920 Sam- separate effects; otherwise they are called homo-
uel Alexander’s Space, Time, and Deity; in 1922 geneous. His thought was that homogeneous
Roy Wood Sellar’s Evolutionary Naturalism; in cases obeyed principles of vector composition
1923 Conwy Lloyd Morgan’s Emergent Evolu- and were additive; by contrast, in heterogeneous
tion; and in 1925 Charles Dunbar Broad’s The cases, there was a failure of vector composition or
Mind and its Place in Nature. Most of these additivity. The products of chemical interactions,
philosophers’ theories of emergence are reactions for example, were evidently qualitatively differ-
to the philosophical debate on the nature of life ent from the substrates that grounded the
reaction. Mill’s further distinction between ulti- the notion of emergence, however, is far from
mate and derivative laws was also of great impor- being used in a uniform way.
tance for the development of emergentist ideas. Hence, it is highly controversial what the
In particular, Broad took up Mill’s distinctions criteria are by which “genuine” emergent phe-
and his subsequent considerations about the nomena should be distinguished from
limits to the explanation of psychophysical laws nonemergent phenomena. Some of these criteria
when he developed his “classical” notion of are very strong, so that few, if any, properties
strong synchronic emergence (see below; for fur- count as emergent. Other criteria are inflationary
ther details on Mill’s impact on British in that they count many, if not all, system prop-
emergentism, see Stephan 2007, Chap. 6). erties as emergent. One of the consequences of
In the following decades, theories of emer- this controversy is a great confusion about what is
gence were discussed vividly on conferences really meant, when some property is called
and in special issues. However, the criticism by “emergent.” In the next part of this chapter,
the logical positivists Carl Gustav Hempel, Paul I therefore offer a structure of the varieties we
Oppenheim, and Ernest Nagel seemed to put an currently encounter within emergentist thinking.
early end to emergentism, for their analyses The various kinds of emergence that have
in Studies in the Logic of Explanation been suggested thus far can be structured
(Hempel & Oppenheim 1948) and The Structure according to three different dimensions: first, it
of Science (Nagel 1961), respectively, led to is an issue whether the notion of emergence refers
a squarely uninteresting and unpromising con- to an epistemological or a metaphysical (i.e., an
cept of emergence being relativistic in several ontological) relationship; second, whether it
ways and purely epistemic. The upshot of their refers to a synchronic or a diachronic relation-
thoughts is that there is no reason to treat emer- ship; and third, whether it is introduced as a weak
gence as an ontological trait of any property, or rather a strong notion.
rather it should be seen as indicative of the Most of the more ambitious theories of emer-
scope of our knowledge at a given time; what gence and in fact, all classical approaches of the
may be called emergent with respect to theories British emergentists are based on a common basal
currently available may lose this status in the near notion of emergence from which they can be
future when better scientific theories have been developed by adding further and more demand-
developed. ing features (cf. Stephan 2007, Chap. 4). This
With the decline of positivism, interest in weak, synchronic and metaphysical notion of
metaphysical questions returned. It is the still emergence specifies the minimal criteria for
unsettled question about the nature of mental emergent properties. It comprises three features:
states that has helped nonreductive approaches the thesis of physical monism, the thesis of sys-
and particularly, emergentism to return to the temic properties, and the thesis of synchronic
philosophy of mind (cf. the contributions of determination.
Beckermann and Kim in Beckermann et al. The thesis of physical monism is about the
1992). During the last two decades, however, makeup of systems that have emergent properties
the idea of emergence not only has seen a strong or structures. It claims that the bearers of emer-
revival in philosophy of mind but in many differ- gent features consist of physical entities only and
ent fields and disciplines such as physics, biol- rejects all substance-dualistic positions such as
ogy, social sciences, religious studies, artificial vitalism or Cartesian dualism, which, for exam-
life, robotics, connectionism, dynamical systems ple, attribute properties such as being alive or
theory, theories of self-organization, and theories having cognitive states to supernatural bearers
of creativity (important anthologies are, among (e.g., an entelechy or a res cogitans,
others, Beckermann et al. 1992; Bedau amd respectively).
Humphreys 2007; Clayton and Davies 2006; According to the second thesis, only systemic
Corradini and O’Connor 2010). In these fields, properties are candidates for emergent properties.
These are system properties that are different in (cf. van Gulick 2001, p. 17). This type of emer-
kind from those had by the system’s proper parts gence is also compatible with contemporary
(i.e., parts on a lower level of organization). It is reductionist approaches. Particularly for this rea-
uncontroversial that many systems exhibit sys- son, philosopher of science Mario Bunge is
temic properties. Thus, it is among the properties emphatic about it, but also several cognitive sci-
of a horse to neigh and whinny, but no proper part entists, for example, Francisco Varela, David
of it (head, heart, nor any cell assembly) can Rumelhart, and James McClelland, to mention
whinny; it is among the properties of a connec- just a few, adopt this position.
tionist network to generalize and to recognize Van Gulick considers an even weaker type of
patterns, but no single part of it (e.g., a unit or synchronic metaphysical emergence, namely,
E
connection weight) has this property. specific value emergence: this obtains whenever
The thesis of synchronic determination spec- a whole and its parts have features of the same
ifies the relationship that holds between the sys- kind but have different subtypes or values of that
temic properties of a system and its kind (the mass of a whole, e.g., is different in
microstructure (i.e., the specific arrangement of value from the mass of any of its proper parts).
the system’s parts together with their properties). Nobody, however, has ever thought to character-
Systemic properties and dispositions depend ize specific values as emergent properties. Quite
nomologically on the microstructure of their contrary, from the very beginning of British
bearers. There can be no difference in emergentism, features of wholes, which differ
a system’s systemic properties without some dif- only in value but not in kind from features of
ference in the properties or arrangement of its their parts, have served as a contrast class for
parts. (Often, the latter claim is also referred to emergent properties. This is already present in
as a thesis of mereological supervenience.) Lewes’s distinction between resultant and emer-
Anyone who denies the thesis of synchronic gent effects, for which nonadditivity is the deci-
determination either has to admit systemic sive feature. Hence, there is no reason to treat
properties that are not dependent on the micro- specific values as emergent properties at all, since
structures of their bearers, or she has to suppose – usually their bearers share them in kind with their
contra the thesis of physical monism – that some components.
additional factors, for example, nonnatural enti- On the other side of the spectrum, van Gulick
ties, are responsible for differing systemic prop- presents a much stronger type of synchronic
erties and dispositions of otherwise physically metaphysical emergence, namely, radical kind
identical systems. One may have to admit, for emergence (van Gulick 2001, p. 17). In this
example, that there may exist objects that have case, a whole is thought to have features that are
the same parts in the same arrangement as dia- not necessitated by the system’s microstructure,
monds but lack the diamond’s hardness. This i.e., the properties of its parts, their mode of
seems implausible. Equally implausible is the combination, and the law-like regularities
idea that there may exist two physically identical governing the features of the parts. William
organisms, one viable and the other not. In the Hasker’s proposal of what he has coined “emer-
case of mental phenomena, opinions may be gent dualism” together with the postulation of the
more divided, but one thing seems to be clear, mind as an emergent individual (a soul field) is
anyone who believes, for example, that two phys- a case in point of radical kind emergence, since
ically identical human beings could be such that he explicitly denies that all mental processes are
one suffers, say, from aphasia while the other supervenient on brain processes (Hasker 1999,
does not, also declines the first thesis of weak pp. 194 –195). Radical kind emergence, thus,
emergentism, namely, physical monism. rejects one of the core elements of traditional
Weak, synchronic and metaphysical emer- theories of emergence, which also is a center
gence is equivalent to what Robert van piece of Broad’s classical definition (see below)
Gulick has called modest kind emergence and the third feature of weak synchronic
emergence as introduced above: synchronic understand why a certain entity instantiates

determination. Jaegwon Kim, one of the most a certain property, in fact a property that is only
distinguished participants in the current debate attributed to the system as a whole. So, the aim of
on emergence, therefore doubts with good each reductive explanation is to explain
reasons whether radical emergence gives us a system’s dispositions and properties solely by
a form of emergence at all (cf. Kim in Clayton reference to its components, their properties,
and Davies 2006, p. 192). arrangement, and interactions. To be successful,
Among the more ambitious epistemological several conditions must be met: first, a property to
notions of emergence both a synchronic and a be reduced must be functionally specifiable; sec-
diachronic version deserve closer attention. ond, it must be shown that the specified func-
While both share the features of weak emergence, tional role is filled by the behavior of the
they differ with respect to the features of irreduc- system’s parts; and third, the behavior of the
ibility (synchronic emergentism) and system’s parts must follow from the behavior
unpredictability (diachronic emergentism). they show in simpler systems than the system in
The idea of strong synchronic epistemic emer- question. If all conditions are met, the behavior of
gence has its origin in Broad’s theory of emer- the system’s parts in other contexts reveals what
gence. Broad’s definition of emergence which he systemic properties the actual system has.
developed in sharp contrast to the mechanistic Since the three conditions are independent of
worldview might be the most quoted passage in each other, we have to distinguish three different
emergentism; it reads: “Put in abstract terms the types of strong synchronic emergence, which
emergent theory asserts that there are certain in turn have three different implications.
wholes, composed (say) of constituents A, B, If a systemic property is irreducible due to the
and C in a relation R to each other; that all wholes fact that the components’ behavior, given their
composed of constituents of the same kind as A, current arrangement, is not reducible to the
B, and C in relations of the same kind as R have behaviors they show in simpler systems, then
certain characteristic properties; that A, B, and C the system itself (or its specific structure) seems
are capable of occurring in other kinds of com- to exert some “downward causal influence” on its
plex where the relation is not the same kind as R; parts. However, such downward causation would
and that the characteristic properties of the whole not violate the principle of the causal closure of
R(A,B,C) cannot, even in theory, be deduced from the physical domain. We would just have to
the most complete knowledge of the properties of accept additional types of causal influences
A, B, and C in isolation or in other wholes which within the physical domain besides the known
are not of the form R(A,B,C). The mechanistic types of mutual interactions.
theory rejects the last clause of this assertion” On the other hand, if it is impossible to show
(Broad 1925, p. 61). The second clause of this that the behaviors of the system’s parts fill the
definition is, by the way, Broad’s formulation of causal role adequately attributed to the function-
the principle of synchronic determination that ally specified systemic property, this systemic
radical kind emergence would deny. As its core property itself seems to have causal powers dif-
feature, however, this definition comprises the ferent from those of the system’s microstructure.
irreducibility (or nondeducibility) of certain sys- If in addition, the systemic property were
temic properties, i.e., the principled failure of a nonphysical (mental) property with a causal
reductive explanations of these properties. influence on the physical world, we would have
Closer scrutiny, however, reveals that three to admit a violation of the principle of the causal
different sorts of irreducibility claims are hidden closure of the physical realm.
in Broad’s definition. They come to the fore by In contrast, the occurrence of properties that
studying the conditions reductive explanations are not functionally specifiable at all is neutral
must meet to be successful. Generally, we ask concerning downward causation. It neither
for reductive explanations when we want to implies nor excludes downward causation.
Systems with properties that admit of no func- emergence into a strong one, since reductive
tional analysis need not be constituted by com- physicalism remains compatible with it. Only
ponents whose own behavior is irreducible. Nor the addition of the thesis of unpredictability, in
is it implied that the system’s structure has principle, will lead to stronger forms of dia-
a downward causal influence on the system’s chronic emergentism.
parts. It may just be that some of the system’s The structure of an arising new system can be
properties are nonstructural properties, i.e., basic unpredictable, in principle, for two reasons: its
properties whose instantiation does not consist in arrangement may be a result of indeterministic
the instantiation of distinct properties by the sys- processes or it may be the result of deterministic
tem or its parts as O’Connor and Wong have but chaotic processes. Within emergentism, only
E
claimed. O’Connor and Wong, however, intro- the second option is discussed. It is captured
duce nonstructurality as a metaphysical (and not by the thesis of structure unpredictability,
as an epistemological) feature of emergent prop- which claims that the rise of a novel structure is
erties in a strong sense. In addition, they think unpredictable, in principle, if its formation is
that novel causal powers might be conferred on governed by laws of deterministic chaos. Like-
the system by its own emergent features (cf. wise, any property that is instantiated by such
O’Connor and Wong 2005, pp. 665–667). a novel structure is unpredictable, in principle.
Among the properties, dispositions, and Emergence as structure unpredictability has
behaviors to be reductively explained, mental a great deal in common with an approach Andy
properties take an exceptional position: they are Clark has called emergence as uncompressible
considered as remarkably intractable. Some unfolding. This expression refers to those patterns
authors even doubt that we ever might succeed or macrostates of a system that can only be
in reductively explaining certain mental proper- derived by complete simulations of all interac-
ties, such as phenomenal experience, intentional- tions at the component’s level and the external
ity, or free agency. Even if we would know influences on the system (cf. Bedau in Corradini
everything about the neural correlates of con- and O’Connor 2010, p. 52). Such complete
sciousness, even if we could say how each single simulations of the underlying microdynamics
neuron and how each single synapse behave, we would also be necessary for long-term predic-
might not be able to reductively explain all mentions of structure formations governed by deter-
tal properties correlated with these neural pro- ministic chaos. Since these simulations are not
cesses. In fact, such a failure would not be available – information compressing short cuts
based on a lack of insight on the side of the are not adequate for longer intervals – structure
neurosciences; rather it would come along with unpredictability as introduced above is
the conceptual impossibility to adequately recon- unpredictability, in principle. Mark Bedau who
struct phenomenal qualities via their functional once introduced the simulation-based notion of
role. And this principled failure might be due to emergence in the context of game-of-life envi-
the fact that phenomenal properties are ronments unfortunately dubbed it weak emer-
nonstructural properties. gence, too, to distinguish it from the strong
Let us now turn to diachronic theories of synchronic type, which comes with irreducibility.
emergence. These theories are all based on The game-of-life was invented by the mathema-
a thesis about the occurrence of novelties in evo- tician Conway and is a two dimensional cellular
lution. According to this thesis, in the course of automaton, on which, based on a few mathemat-
evolution, exemplifications of genuine novelties ical rules, one can define complex structures and
occur again and again. Existing entities combine mechanisms, which exhibit interesting similari-
to new configurations and structures that consti- ties to biological systems.
tute new entities with new properties and behav- Recently, Paul Humphreys has argued that the
iors. However, the idea of a sequence of novelties criteria for synchronic emergence are not suffi-
does not by itself turn a weak theory of cient for a state or property instance to count as
emergent because the historical development of did not bother many philosophers and scientists
a system’s dynamic is often crucial for them when debating the prospects of emergent proper-
being emergent. This criticism overlooks, how- ties in physics, chemistry, biology, and cognitive
ever, that both synchronic and diachronic as well science. Only recently, Philip Clayton took up
as both epistemological and metaphysical notions theological questions when discussing the relation-
of emergence have fruitful applications. Impor- ship of emergence and transcendence (Clayton
tant is to keep them apart. 2004). There he weighs the costs of linking emer-
Typically, in scientific and philosophical gence with theism to expand the explanatory rep-
debates about emergence, religious issues do not ertoire for treating our “big questions” about
play a prominent role. In the history of agency, responsibility, and freedom. These ques-
emergentism, only Conwy Lloyd Morgan and tions can, however, also be touched within a pure
Samuel Alexander, who see themselves in the tra- naturalistic framework of emergence (cf. Corradini
dition of Spinoza and who had a strong mutual and O’Connor 2010, part II).
impact on each other (cf. Stephan 2007, Chap. 1),
comment in their works on both divine qualities
and the conception and role of God in evolution Cross-References
(Alexander in the fourth book of Space, Time, and
Deity; and Lloyd Morgan in the first lecture of ▶ Consciousness, the Problem of
Emergent Evolution, where he discusses ▶ Determinism and Indeterminism
Alexander’s ideas). Their general goal is to give ▶ Dualism
a philosophical interpretation of nature as a whole ▶ Evolution
by conceiving of emergent evolution as a natural ▶ Free Will
development through and through, which is barred ▶ Functionalism
from any “alien influx” or a “designing mind” at ▶ Monism
particular occasions. Alexander, however, holds ▶ Nonreductive Physicalism
a rather unique position concerning the ultimate ▶ Philosophy of Mind
basis and the putative result of nature’s develop- ▶ Reductionism
ment. In his highly speculative metaphysical
inquiry, he postulates space-time as the basal, ubiq-
uitous, and all-pervasive entity. In addition, he References
assumes an activity (a metaphysical principle, he
termed nisus) that leads the universe from certain Beckermann, A., Flohr, H. K., & Kim, J. (Eds.). (1992).
Emergence or reduction? Essays on the prospects of
constellations of space-time to matter and in further
nonreductive physicalism. Berlin/New York: Walter
succession – via physical structures and chemical de Gruyter.
syntheses – to life, mind, and consciousness. Bedau, M. A., & Humphreys, P. (Eds.). (2007).
Eventually or so Alexander thought, mind may be Emergence: Contemporary readings in philosophy
and science. London: MIT Press.
productive of a new emergent quality he called
Broad, C. D. (1925). The mind and its place in nature.
Deity – a quality he attributes to the highest natural London: Kegan Paul.
systems, yet finite beings. In this picture, he Clayton, P. (2004). Mind and emergence. From quantum
equates God (as an actual existent) with the infinite to consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Clayton, P., & Davies, P. (Eds.). (2006). The re-
universe with its nisus toward deity. Accordingly,
emergence of emergence. The emergentist hypothesis
Lloyd Morgan transcends what scientifically can from science to religion. Oxford: Oxford University
be argued for, when he states that emergent evolu- Press.
tion itself may be conceived as the expression of an Corradini, A., & O’Connor, T. (Eds.). (2010). Emergence
in science and philosophy. New York/London:
omnipresent Divine Activity, which is manifested Routledge.
in every one of the multitudinous entities that Hasker, W. (1999). The emergent self. Ithaka/London:
emerge in evolution. Understandably, these issues Cornell University Press.
Emotion 721 E
O’Connor, T., & Wong, H. Y. (2005). The metaphysics of Description
emergence. Nous, 39, 659–679.
Stephan A. (2007). Emergenz. Von der Unvorhersagbarkeit
zur Selbstorganisation, Paderborn: mentis Verlag. “Emotions” were traditionally viewed and con-
3rd ed. (An English translation is forthcoming with ceptualized as a heterogeneous group of sponta-
Springer.) neously arising subjective states associated with
van Gulick, R. (2001). Reduction, emergence and other a variety of thoughts, behaviors, and bodily
recent options on the mind-body problem: a philosoph-
ical overview. J Consciousness Studies, 8(9–10), 1–34. responses. The word “emotion” is derived from
the Latin word exmovere meaning “to move,”
“to stir,” “to set in motion” which was referred
to as mental movement or agitation. Thus, tradi-
E
Emergent Monism tional accounts of emotions represented in vari-
ous branches of the humanities, such as literature,
▶ Nonreductive Physicalism philosophy, and religion, have been grounded in
subjective experience (Damasio 2003; LeDoux
1996). Emotions have been recognized as pow-
erful factors influencing thinking and behavior.
Emergent Phenomena As such, they were often regarded to play
a crucial role in all the dimensions of human
▶ Emergence, Theories of experience, including religious experience and
practice (Azari and Birnbacher 2004). In contrast
to thinking or reasoning, emotions were often
viewed as irrational.
EMG Although historically emotions have been
a subject of analysis by many thinkers and phi-
▶ Electromyography losophers, such as Aristotle, René Descartes,
Baruch Spinoza, David Hume, to name the few,
the science of emotions started in the second half
of the nineteenth century with the works of
Emotion Charles Darwin, William James, and others.
Darwin’s observations described in The Expres-
Jacek De˛biec1,2 and Joseph E. LeDoux3,4 sion of the Emotions in Man and Animals pointed
1
Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute at the universal and evolutionary character of
and Department of Psychiatry, University of emotional responses (Darwin 1872). Evolution-
Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA ary perspective enabled studying emotions
2
Copernicus Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, through their expressions independently of sub-
Kraków, Poland jective (conscious) reports (Darwin 1872; Ekman
3
Center for Neural Science, Department of 2003). It also paved the way to investigating
Psychology, New York University, New York, human emotions through animal research. For
NY, USA centuries, emotions were perceived to be
4
Emotional Brain Institute Labs, Nathan Kline connected to various bodily responses, such as
Institute, Orangeburg, NY, USA changes in heart rate and respiration, sweating,
shaking, dilation or constriction of pupils, and
many others. It was commonly accepted that
Related Terms emotions trigger and change bodily states. This
view was first questioned in the 1880s by William
Affect; Affection; Feeling; Mood; Passion; James and Carl G. Lange, who independent of
Sentiment; Temper; Temperament each other proposed that emotions arise from
E 722 Emotion
bodily states (James 1884). At the time when the In 1939, Heinrich Kl€uver and Paul Bucy
James-Lange “peripheral” theory of emotions was observed that monkeys with severed temporal
formulated, there was little empirical evidence lobes did not express reactions associated with
supporting their claims. On the contrary, clinical fear or anger (LeDoux 1996). Almost two
and laboratory findings, such as observations of decades later, in 1956, Lawrence Weiskrantz
patients with severed spinal cord or experiments identified that the structure within the temporal
on animals with disrupted major sensory path- lobe which lesions are associated with the
ways, suggested presence of emotional responses Kl€uver-Bucy syndrome was the amygdala
despite the apparent disconnection between the (LeDoux 1996). Subsequent research provided
brain and periphery. One of the early critics of abundant evidence demonstrating the key role
the James-Lange theory, Walter B. Cannon, of the amygdala in emotions, especially in fear
argued that bodily responses would be to too (LeDoux 1996; Phelps and LeDoux 2005).
slow to generate emotions and would lack the Receiving information from all sensory modali-
specificity necessary to distinguish between one ties, the amygdala is responsible for generating
emotional state and another (LeDoux 1996). fear responses based on the processing of the
Cannon proposed that the hypothalamus, an evo- sensory stimuli (LeDoux 1996; Phelps and
lutionary old brain structure, plays a crucial role in LeDoux 2005). The information about natural
emotion. Whereas Canon’s contemporary, Charles threats appears to be evolutionary hardwired
Dana, emphasized the role of brain cortex in gen- into animal brains. In contrast, learning and
erating emotional responses (LeDoux 1996). memory mechanisms in the brain enable acqui-
Thus, with the works of Cannon and others, the sition and maintenance of the information about
focus in emotion research was shifted from study- environmental threat experiences by an individ-
ing bodily responses to investigating the brain. ual. If the stimuli are evaluated as threatening,
The first brain-based model of emotion circuitry the amygdala sends signals to the brain stem and
was formulated by James P. Papez in 1937. Papez hypothalamus, which further control fear defen-
proposed that a network of interconnected brain sive behaviors as well as associated physiologi-
structures including the hippocampus, hypothala- cal responses. Findings from animal research
mus, thalamus, cortex, and mammillary bodies have been overwhelmingly supported by obser-
works in concert generating emotional states as vations from human brain imaging studies
well as associated conscious feelings (LeDoux showing the involvement of the amygdala in
1996). An alternative model of emotion circuitry normal and pathological fear (Phelps and
in the brain emphasizing the role of different brain LeDoux 2005).
areas was proposed in 1952 by Paul MacLean. Animal research demonstrated that the sen-
Although, most of Papez’s or MacLean’s specula- sory information reaches the amygdala through
tions did not stand the test of empirical verifica- two independent inputs: the “low road” or tha-
tion, their intuitions that emotions and other lamic pathway conveying rapid but imprecise
functions are related to a coordinated activity of signal and the “high road” delivering complex
anatomically and functionally interrelated brain information from association areas in the cortex
structures remained a common way of thinking (LeDoux 1996). The “two roads” model of signal
in neuroscience (LeDoux 1996). transmission explains why fear responses can be
Significant progress in the neuroscientific initiated (by the indirect “low road”) before we
study of emotion resulted when researchers are aware of the eliciting stimulus (cortical asso-
focused on a particular class of emotions, such ciation areas are implied in conscious processes).
as fear or pleasure, instead of developing general Human brain imaging studies demonstrate that
purpose brain-based models for all emotions. In the amygdala as well as fear responses may be
particular, studying fear and related brain struc- activated by stimuli that are not consciously per-
tures provided new insights into neural mecha- ceived (Phelps and LeDoux 2005). Although the
nisms of emotions (LeDoux 1996). amygdala circuitry is not the only structure
Empathy 723 E
involved in fear, investigating the amygdala cir- Panksepp, J. (1998). The foundations of human and animal
cuitry provided valuable insights into the ways emotions. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Phelps, E. A., & LeDoux, J. E. (2005). Contributions of
the brain generates emotions. the amygdala to emotion processing: From animal
Existing data demonstrate that brain systems models to human behavior. Neuron, 48(2), 175–197.
involved in generating emotions are highly pre- Zajonc, R. B. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences
served throughout the evolution, e.g., even if need no inferences. American Psychologist, 35,
151–175.
differences in brain structure are taken into
account, similar circuits are involved in control-
ling and generating fear in various species includ-
ing fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and
E
mammals, including humans. Emotional reac- Emotional Contagion
tions, such as fear or anger, are evolutionally
developed adaptive responses increasing individ- ▶ Empathy
ual chances of survival. Other emotions, such as
disgust, guilt, joy, affection, pleasure, interest,
etc., play their roles regulating various aspects
of individual’s psychological or social life Emotional Robots
(De˛biec 2007; Panksepp 1998). Emotional
responses are in most instances generated uncon- ▶ Robot Emotions
sciously. They may be accompanied by con-
scious feelings when an animal has the capacity
for conscious awareness (Damasio 2003; LeDoux
1996). Further research in psychology provided Empathy
more evidence that affective and cognitive sys-
tems to a large extent may operate independently Karsten R. Stueber
of each other (Zajonc 1980). Much work has yet Department of Philosophy, College of the
to be done to further elucidate the relations Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, USA
between emotional responses and conscious
feelings at the neural level.
Related Terms
Agape; Altruism; Emotional contagion;

References
Sympathy
Azari, N. P., & Birnbacher, D. (2004). The role of cogni-
tion and feeling in religious experience. Zygon, 39(4), The concept of empathy plays and has played an
901–917. important role in contemporary and traditional
Damasio, A. (2003). Looking for Spinoza. Joy, sorrow, discussions about the psychological mechanisms
and the feeling brain. Orlando: Harcourt.
responsible for our ability to know other minds and
Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of the emotions in man
and animals. London: John Murray. our ability to be social creatures who are emotion-
De˛biec, J. (2007). From affiliative behaviors to romantic ally attuned to the feelings of others and who are
feelings: A role of nanopeptides. FEBS Letters, 581, also concerned about their well-being. While the
2580–2586.
Ekman, P. (2003). Emotions revealed: Recognizing faces
concept of empathy is of rather recent vintage – it
and feelings to improve communication and emotional has only been coined at the beginning of the twen-
life. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. tieth century – empathy-related phenomena have
James, W. (1884). What is and emotion? Mind, 9, already been at the center of attention among
188–205.
LeDoux, J. E. (1996). The emotional brain. The mysteri-
Scottish moral philosophers of the eighteenth cen-
ous underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon tury, particularly David Hume and Adam Smith.
and Schuster. They, however, referred to such phenomena by
E 724 Empathy
using the term “sympathy.” Given the wide range perceptual encounters with others allows us to
of psychological phenomena that are collectively know what another person is feeling or thinking.
constitutive for our social abilities, both cognitive Accordingly, for Lipps, knowledge of other
and emotional, it should maybe come as no sur- minds involves processes of inner imitation and
prise that the history of the empathy concept projection.
is characterized by a great deal of conceptual Lipps, however, did not regard empathy as one
confusion and divergence. Readers of the literature method among others for gaining knowledge of
on empathy are therefore well advised to pay other minds. For him, it constitutes the only
very close attention to how exactly different method since he thought of the ▶ inference of
authors conceive of empathy in order to properly analogy, which he regarded as the only alterna-
adjudicate between their claims. In the following, tive in this respect, as a conceptually inconsistent
this entry will broadly outline the various aspects undertaking. It requires us to think of another
of the empathy concepts and the associated person’s mind as something that is identical to
debates. my mind but at the same time also as something
that is “absolutely different,” because it is some-
thing I do not directly experience (Lipps 1907).
The Concept of Empathy and Lipps’ writings were highly influential at his
Knowledge of Other Minds time. Yet philosophers did soon become
concerned about whether empathy could be
Theodor Lipps (1851–1914) is appropriately regarded as a reliable method of knowing other
regarded as the main source of the modern empa- people’s mind as Lipps had claimed. Philoso-
thy concept or what he called “Einf€ uhlung” phers in the phenomenological tradition, such as
(feeling into), since it was him who most system- Edmund Husserl, Edith Stein, and Max Scheler,
atically conceived of empathy as the central generally accepted Lipps’s devastating critique
psychological mechanism allowing us to aesthet- of the inference of analogy as pointing to
ically appreciate works of art and objects of a fundamental shortcoming of the ▶ Cartesian
nature and who simultaneously also conceived conception of the mind, which gives primacy to
of the very same mechanism as the basic the first person perspective. Yet they asked why
and primary means for knowing others as minded Lipps’s critique would not apply to his own con-
creatures. Equally important, it was his concep- ception of empathy since he still seemed to
tion that the American psychologist Edward adhere to the general Cartesian framework of
Titchener referred to when translating the thinking about the mind. Phenomenologists con-
German term “Einf€ uhlung” as empathy (Stueber tinued to think of empathy as being central for our
2006; 2008). knowledge of other minds. Nevertheless, they did
Lipps conceives of empathy as a biologically not conceive of it as a resonance phenomenon but
based resonance phenomenon. By nature, we are as our unique ability to perceptually apprehend in
constituted so that we internally resonate with a direct and non-inferential manner the mental
and mirror other persons’ mental states when we states expressed in another person’s face, gesture,
observe their activities or their bodily gestures. or even tone of voice (Zahavi 2010).
Nevertheless, in resonating with another person, Lipps’s conception of empathy also resonated
we are also in some sense aware of the fact that with hermeneutic philosophers concerned with
we are merely vicariously sharing his or her the concept of understanding, which they
thoughts or experiences. In resonating with your regarded as the unique method of the human
anger, we are also aware of the fact that it is not us sciences. Yet while hermeneutic philosophers of
but you who is really angry. We thus project our the eighteenth and nineteenth century, such as
thoughts and experiences, which are caused by Friedrich Schleiermacher, Johann Gustav
resonance, onto you. In this manner, Lipps Droysen, and the early Wilhelm Dilthey, did
suggested, empathy as inner resonance in the think of understanding to a large extent in
Empathy 725 E
a psychological manner as involving rethinking those emotions (Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia 2008).
and reexperiencing the mental life of others, phi- They also postulate a cognitively and conceptu-
losophers in the hermeneutic traditions in the ally advanced capacity of simulating the minds of
twentieth century wholeheartedly rejected others depending on our imaginative ability to
a psychological conception of understanding take their perspective and look at the world
and with it the concept of empathy. Particularly, from their point of view. Only on this level
Hans-Georg Gadamer argued that to think of do we make sense of others in terms of our con-
understanding as empathy is epistemically naı̈ve ceptually more sophisticated repertoire of folk
and simplistic. It does not sufficiently recognize psychological terms such as beliefs, desires, and
that interpretation is always a holistic and so on and understand an agent’s reasons for
E
culturally mediated affair whereby we under- acting. Simulation theorists label this cognitively
stand individual texts and individual agency advanced level of understanding as reenactive
only by being able to situate them in a larger empathy or more generally high-level
social and cultural context. Within the context mindreading (Stueber 2006; Goldman 2006).
of the philosophy of history, only the followers
of the philosopher and historian Robin George
Collingwood, like William Dray, for example, Empathy and Moral Psychology
continued to defend empathic reenactment as
the unique method of appreciating the thought Empathy so far has been discussed primarily as
processes of rational agents (Kögler and Stueber a cognitive means for gaining access to other
2000; Stueber 2006). minds. Within the context of investigating the
Since the 1980s, empathy has become a topic prosocial nature of human beings and the psycho-
of broad interdisciplinary research projects, logical foundation of moral agency, researchers
a topic that has received renewed and sustained however tended to conceive of empathy primarily
attention particularly from the neurosciences, but as an affective phenomenon emphasizing our
also from philosophy, developmental and social ability to vicariously share the emotions of others
psychology, ethology, and even anthropology and to be emotionally attuned to their needs.
(Decety et al. 2009; Engelen et al. 2012; Coplan While researchers did not always sufficiently
and Goldie 2011). Within the context of the con- distinguish between different dimensions of
temporary ▶ theory of mind debate, simulation a human’s affective attunement toward others,
theorists, who in contrast to theory theorists, one nowadays generally distinguishes conceptu-
argue that our ability to understand other minds ally between four affective empathy-related
is based on knowledge-poor mechanisms, again phenomena, that is, emotional contagion, proper
promote empathy or our ability to simulate the empathy, sympathy, and personal distress.
mental processes of others as a reliable means of Emotional contagion is referring to the human
knowing other minds. They generally distinguish propensity to catch the emotion of others one
between two levels in our simulative abilities. associates with, such as the tendency to feel
First, they postulate a cognitively and conceptu- happy or panicky in a room full of happy or
ally less complex and developmentally early panicky people. Such propensity however does
capacity for making sense of others variously not involve the ability to recognize that one’s
referred to as low-level mindreading or basic happiness or panic has been caused by another
and mirroring empathy. Such basic level of mak- person feeling a certain way. Proper empathy is
ing sense of other persons is seen as being referring to our ability to vicariously share
neurobiologically realized by so-called mirror another person’s emotion (their grief or anger)
neurons, neurons that are activated both in the and this also implies that we are in some sense
execution and the observation of goal-directed aware of the fact that the felt emotion is more
bodily movements or when feeling certain appropriate to the other person’s circumstances
emotions and when observing others having than our own. Sympathy, on the other hand, does
E 726 Empathy
not require that one shares the emotion of the they called sympathy, needed to be corrected
other person. Rather it is a feeling of concern for and supplemented by the impartial spectator per-
the other person’s well-being and accordingly it is spective in order for empathy to play a role as the
an emotion sui generis, which is directed toward foundation for moral judgments and for deriving
the other person. Finally, personal distress is an universal moral principles. How exactly one
emotional reaction that is caused by the situation should conceive of the contribution of empathy,
of another person while it is at the same time an in the cognitive or affective sense, as contributing
emotion that is directed toward one’s own self, to constituting us as social and moral creatures
such as when one feels upset about having to is therefore the subject of ongoing empirical
deal with the misfortune of another person when research and continuous philosophical discussion
one really has better things to do. (Coplan and Goldie 2011; Debes 2011; Slote
Two comments are important in this context. 2010).
First, given these conceptual distinctions, it needs
to be stressed that human infants are able to
experience proper empathy and sympathy only Cross-References
after they acquire the cognitive ability to suffi-
ciently distinguish between self and other ▶ Altruism
(usually in their second year). Second, while it ▶ Imagination
is conceptually important to distinguish between ▶ Hermeneutics
these various affective phenomena, as a matter of ▶ Simulation Theory
fact they tend to occur together when humans ▶ Theory of Mind
encounter other persons, particularly other
persons in need. Moreover it seems as if only
creatures, which are receptive to emotional References
contagion, develop later on more mature
empathic and sympathetic capacities. For this Batson, C. D. (2011). Altruism in humans. Oxford: Oxford
very reason, various researchers refer to sympa- University Press.
thy also as empathic concern (Hoffman 2000; Coplan, A., & Goldie, P. (Eds.). (2011). Empathy. Philo-
sophical and psychological perspectives. Oxford:
DeWaal 2006). Oxford University Press.
Affective empathy has been shown to contrib- Debes, R. (Ed.). (2011). Empathy and ethics. Spindel
ute positively to prosocial behavior. With help of Supplement of the Southern Journal of Philosophy, 49.
a number of ingenious experiments, Daniel Decety, J., & Ickes, W. (Eds.). (2009). The social neuro-
science of empathy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Batson has also made a strong case for a causal DeWaal, F. (2006). Primates and philosophers: How
connection between empathic concern or sympa- morality evolved. Princeton: Princeton University
thy and the existence of genuine altruistic- Press.
motivation having the well-being of another Engelen, E.-M., & Röttger- Rössler, B. (Eds.). (2012).
Special section on empathy. Emotion Review, 4, 1.
person as its ultimate goal (Batson 2011). Yet Goldman, A. (2006). Simulating minds: The philosophy,
he has also shown that we can be altruistically psychology, and neuroscience of mindreading.
motivated to violate universal moral principles Oxford: Oxford University Press.
such as fairness and justice. In addition, it is Hoffman, M. (2000). Empathy and moral development.
commonly known that our ability to empathize Kögler, H.-H., & Stueber, K. (Eds.). (2000). Empathy and
and sympathize with others is limited and biased agency: The problem of understanding in the human
in that we tend to empathize more easily with sciences. Boulder: Westview Press.
others that in some sense are closer to us. It is Lipps, Th. (1907). Das Wissen von Fremden Ichen.
Psychologische Untersuchungen, 1, 694–722.
exactly for this very reason that David Hume and Rizzolatti, G., & Sinigaglia, C. (2008). Mirrors in the
Adam Smith in the eighteenth century thought brain—how our minds share actions and emotions.
that our natural ability for empathy, or what Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Endocrinology 727 E
Slote, M. (2010). Moral sentimentalism. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. End
Stueber, K. (2006). Rediscovering empathy: Agency, folk
psychology, and the human sciences. Cambridge,
Mass.: MIT Press. ▶ Eschatology
Stueber, K. (2008). Empathy. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The
Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. London:
Academis Press. http://plato.stanford.edu entries/
empathy/.
Zahavi, D. (2010). Empathy, embodiment and interper- End of Life
sonal understanding: From Lipps to Schutz. Inquiry,
53, 285–306. ▶ Death
E
Empiricism End of Metaphysics
Carl Raschke ▶ After-Metaphysical Theology

Department of Religious Studies, University
of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
End Point
A philosophical method first articulated by
Francis Bacon in the late sixteenth century that ▶ Eschatology
shifts the focus of philosophical investigations,
and overall the pursuit of science itself, from
metaphysical speculation to immediate human
experience, its testing, and evaluation. The early Ending
British “empiricists” emphasized “simple ideas”
derived from sense observation over complex and ▶ Eschatology
grandiose philosophical concepts such as God,
the universe, the soul, matter, etc. Later genera-
tions refined the principles of empiricism to
involve mainly the formation of testable hypoth- Endocrinology
eses and their validation through precise means of
experimentation. The latter type of empiricism is Werner-Alfons Scherbaum
now called the “scientific method.” Heinrich-Heine-University D€usseldorf,
D€usseldorf, Germany
Enactivism and Buddhism Description
▶ Constructivism in Buddhism Endocrinology is a biomedical discipline dealing

with the origin, effect, and medical consequences
of biochemical signals (hormones) that are
transported via the blood stream to distant sites
Encyclopaedism of the body to help communication between var-
ious organs and tissues. It is like sending email
▶ Science in Islam, Classification messages to the whole body via the blood. In that,
E 728 Endocrinology
endocrinology has many similarities with neurol- We can now better describe how endocrine
ogy where nerve signals are transported via neu- functions and species change in different habitats,
rons and humoral neurotransmitters. As a clinical such as the development of the water-saving
discipline, endocrinology deals with diseases of principle of antidiuretic hormone in reptiles that
disturbed function – hormone excess and hor- first left the water. However, in most if not
mone deficit – and morphological pathologies of all other medical fields of endocrinology, we
endocrine organs as well as diagnostic proce- recognize and have to accept the limits of our
dures, therapy, and management of respective knowledge and understanding whenever we try
diseases. As a science, endocrinology aims at and dig deeper into the basic questions how the
understanding the basic mechanisms involved. system exactly works and why it may get out of
Recently a major focus is on the understanding order in some cases at a certain time point.
of the molecular mechanisms involved.
Neuroendocrinology describes the interaction
between the central nervous system and endocrine Characteristics
systems in the control of homoeostasis and its
pathologies. For example, the cells of the neuro- Endocrinology is unique in its level of communica-
hypophysis are originating from the brain and tion with many systems in the body. Distinct endo-
extend to the posterior pituitary gland from crine messages can be distributed to nearly all
where – upon appropriate stimulation by periph- organs within a short time, and negative or positive
eral or central signals – the antidiuretic hormone feedback regulation is a common feature of endo-
or oxytocin is released into the blood stream. crinology. The same hormone may have various
effects in different organs of the body since
the perception of such a signal is dependent on the
Self-identification presence of specific receptors in the recipient cells.
The interaction between the ligand and the receptor,
Science and the appropriate triggering of the recipient cell
Endocrinology is a clinical subject that tries machinery drive the response of the recipient organ
to understand the physiology of endocrine and also the endocrine feedback response that is not
regulation, to diagnose endocrine disorders and only provided to the signaling endocrine organ but
to treat and manage patients with such diseases. may also extends to other organs of the body.
For the understanding of the physiology of
the endocrine system and of the pathologies
underlying endocrine disorders, the discipline Relevance to Science and Religion
takes advantage of chemistry, biochemistry,
genetics, statistics, biometry, physics, biophys- The discipline endocrinology does not see itself
ics, and other basic sciences. The advances in as relevant to the scholarly area “Science and
the subject in both clinical and basic endocrinol- Religion.” However, many processes in endocri-
ogy are driven by scientific methods, i.e., system- nology are too complex to be fully understood so
atic research that allows to provide the clinical that we just have to accept them as a fact and
and scientific evidence required for appropriate describe them as they are, with a scientific strive
diagnostic and therapeutic decision making. to find out the origins which we will probably
Evidence from published clinical trials as well never be able to indicate [1, 7].
as clinical observations and the experience of
the physician are a basis for such decisions.
Comparative endocrinology clearly shows that Sources of Authority
the underlying mechanisms of communication
between distant organs via fluids in a body are The word hormone was first coined in 1905 by
basic paradigms in the development of species. Ernest Starling (1866–1927) from University
Endocrinology 729 E
College London who had first discovered the (1899–1978) from the University of Toronto.
hormone secretin in 1902. The term “hormone” For this achievement, Banting and Mcleod got
was soon universally accepted [10]. However, the Nobel prize, but Banting shared it with Best,
there were a number of researchers who had and Mcleod shared it with Collip who was the
already discovered the principles of endocrinol- brain behind all this work. In 1922 the so-called
ogy before that time. Performing a series of isletin was first injected into the blood of wasting
experiments, the German anatomist and physiol- children with diabetes and was able to save their
ogist Arnold Berthold (1803–1861) working in lifes. In 1923, the industrial production of insulin
Göttingen was able to show that the secondary was taken up by Eli Lilly in the USA, and in the
sex characteristics of castrated cockerels could be same year, insulin production was licensed by
E
maintained by implanting the testes to other Hoechst in Germany.
places and he was able to prove that this A number of further endocrinologists and
was mediated via the bloodstream [6]. In 1855, pioneers in medicine were awarded with the
the physiologist Claude Bernard (1813–1878) Nobel Prize, such as Emil Theodor Kocher
from Paris described that glucose synthesized in (1841–1917) for his work on the thyroid gland
the liver was secreted into the portal vein, and or Rosalyn Yalow (1921–2011) who obtained the
he thus provided direct evidence for internal Nobel Prize 5 years after the death of Solomon
secretion. Thomas Addison (1793–1860) from Berson (1918–1972) with whom she had
Guy’s Hospital in London described the function first described the radioimmunoassay (for the
of the adrenal glands. Addison’s disease is measurement of insulin). There are other great
a complete failure of the adrenal cortex and is pioneers who were, however, not awarded
lethal when untreated. It was only in 1948 that an with the Nobel Prize such as Deborah Doniach
extraction and synthesis of the adrenocortical (1912–2003) and Ivan Roitt (b.1927) from the
hormone cortisone was achieved and was applied Middlesex Hospital London who were the first
as a life-saving drug in patients with adrenocor- in 1956 to describe autoantibodies to thyroid
tical insufficiency. This work was honored with microsomes and thyroglobulin that are a key
the Nobel Prize to Kendall, Reichstein, and feature of autoimmune thyroiditis. Deborah
Hench. The most prominent patient with Doniach was a leading figure in modern
Addison’s disease was John F. Kennedy, the immunology opening the concept of autoimmune
former president of the USA. In 1911, Walter disease.
Cannon (1871–1945) described that fear or In 1986, Pierre Marie (1853–1929) described
anger leads to a release of the hormone adrenaline acromegaly (Pierre Marie’s disease), and it was
from the adrenal medulla. later realizted that both acromegaly and gigantism
Similar developments can be seen along the were associated with pituitary tumours.
discovery of insulin [2]. The German pathologist In 1912, Harvey Cushing (1869–1939)
Paul Langerhans (1847–1888) first described the described the close relationship between pituitary
pancreatic islets. Later in the century Joseph von tumors and certain syndromes, and in 1932 he
Mering (1849–1908) and Oskar Minkowsky described the basophil tumor that was later called
developed a deeper understanding that diabetes Cushing’s disease [3].
mellitus was associated with the pancreas The field of neuroendocrinology is closely
and Gustave-Edouard Languesse (1861–1927) linked with the pioneering work by Ernst
demonstrated that the endocrine pancreatic (1905–1965) and Berta Scharrer (1906–1995)
secretions are to be distinguished from the who recognized that neurons in the hypothalamus
action of the exocrine acini. It was only in 1921 are the source of the axons that constitute the
when insulin could be extracted from the neurohypophysis [9].
pancreas by John Macleod (1876–1935), James Andrew Schally and Roger Guillemin with
Collip (1892–1965), Sir Frederick Banting their groups elaborated that the anterior pituitary
(1982–1941), and his student Charles Best is tightly controlled by the hypothalamus and in a
E 730 Endocrinology
historic race for the first description they isolated a wide array of regulatory mechanisms such as the
the relevant peptide-releasing hormones. Both of negative feedback systems. On top of that erup-
them were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in tions of hormones occur mostly in a meaningful
physiology or medicine in 1977 [4, 8]. way, for example, the mid-cyclic surge of
luteinizing hormone that induces ovulation.
Ethical Principles Human Being

Endocrinology is closely linked with the pro-
Endocrinology deals with many subjects where cesses of mating, conception, growth, puberty,
ethical considerations are key issues. These are, maturity, and senescence which are rather fea-
among others, reproductive medicine, transsex- tures of most animal species than of human
uality, diagnosis of diseases in utero, abortion, beings. These close links with other species are
and preventive medicine in endocrine disorders important unifying factors that reconcile human
related to gene aberrations. For most of these beings and biology. These important links are
issues, the endocrinologists discussed the matter studied in the field of comparative endocrinology.
thoroughly and published recommendations
for the clinicians and also for health providers Life and Death
and political decision makers. For example, Endocrinology is a system of higher developed
inherited C-cell carcinoma is a genetic trait life. Programmed cell death (apoptosis) of certain
with such a high penetrance that it is cells is a prerequisite of life and development of
recommended to completely remove the thyroid organs including endocrine glands. Even in
gland in childhood in order to prevent the cancer adults ontogenic regression with programmed
to grow and to set metastases. It is well under- reversal of reproductive maturation and function
stood that this involves a high responsibility of may occur during states of acute systemic illness
the doctors involved in the diagnostic and pre- and may be reinstated when the prevailing envi-
ventive procedures that may also set the individ- ronment is more favourable [5].
uals at risk.
Reality
In endocrinology, most values are not absolute
Key Values but relative to others, so that the reality is always
to be seen in relation to the actual situation. For
Endocrinology considers the body as a whole as example, the same cortisol value in the blood may
well as the communication between different be too high or too low, depending on the clock
organs. It also considers the communication time we look at it.
between the body and the environment, for exam-
ple, in the expression of hormonal responses to Knowledge
environmental stress. Knowledge in endocrinology is a combination of
objective accumulation of knowledge, and
insight based on clinical experience.
Conceptualization
Truth
Nature/World In endocrinology, facts are considered as true
Nature and the world can be seen as a system of when they are based on clinical or experimental
homoeostasis and eruptions. These are also key scientific evidence as well as personal experience.
issues in endocrinology where basic hormone For example, the reduction of the number of storks
secretion is regulated by many factors that aim at in the Alsace definitely coincides with a reduction
achieving a balance of the whole system. To of the birth rate but this does not necessarily mean
achieve a homoeostasis, the hormonal system has that the storks provide our babies.
Energy in Physics 731 E
Perception Bliss, M. (1987). The discovery of insulin. London:
Why do men feel as men and women as women, Macmillan. ISBN 0-7710-1560-7.
Cushing, H. (1912). The pituitary body and its disorders.
and why do some women with all the hormonal Philadelphia: Lippincott.
signs of women feel as men and vice versa. When Guillemin, R. (1978). Peptides in the brain: The new
and where does the sexual programming take place endocrinology of the neuron (nobel lecture). Science,
and what is going wrong in the exceptional cases? 202, 390–402.
Handelsman, D. J., Dong Q. (1992). Ontogenic regression:
How do psychological and psychosocial events a model of stress and reproduction. In: K. Sheppard ,
influence the hormonal homoeostasis and vice J. H. Boublik, J. W. Funder (Eds.) Stress and
versa? reproduction. New York: Raven Press, 333–345.
Jørgensen, C. B. (1971). John Hunter, A.A.Berthold and
the origins of endocrinology. Odense: Odense Univer- E
Time sity Press (Acta Historica Scientarium Naturalium et
Cyclic processes are immanent to endocrinology, Medicinalium 24).
for example, cyclic secretion of hormones with Kronenberg, H., Melmed, S., Larsen, P. R., & Polonsky, K.
short cycles such as the 90 min peaks of gonad- (2011). Principles of endocrinology. In Williams text-
book of endocrinology (12th ed.). Philadelphia: Elsevier.
otropin-releasing hormone, the daily rhythm Schally, A. V. (1978). Aspects of hypothalamic regulation of
of cortisol secretion, the light-induced release of the pituitary gland (nobel lecture). Science, 202, 18–28.
melatonin, or the monthly menstrual cycles in Scharrer, B. (1987). Neurosecretion: Beginnings and new
women. The regulation of clock genes is a fasci- directions in neuropeptide research. Annual Review of
Neuroscience, 10, 1–17.
nating issue underlying these processes on Starling, E. H. (1905). The Croonial lectures on the chem-
a molecular level. ical correlation of the functions of the body. Lancet, 2,
339–341.
Consciousness
It is increasingly recognized that endocrine hor-
mones are not only regulated within the endocrine Energy
system but they also influence brain functions and
psychological activities such as consciousness. ▶ Chemical Thermodynamics
▶ Energy in Physics
Rationality/Reason
Psychiatric manifestations of endocrine disorders
may be elicited by excessive derangements of var-
ious hormones. This clearly shows that clinical Energy in Physics
symptoms of endocrine disorders cannot be com-
pletely explained by the known hormone actions. Stoyan Tanev
Integrative Innovation Management, Department
Mystery of Technology and Innovation, University of
There are plenty of mysteries in endocrinology. Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark
It is a general feeling and probably a fact that
mysteries turn up at any edge of our scientific
achievements, thus pushing further scientific Related Terms
work which leads us to a higher level of knowl-
edge and to mysteries at a higher level. Classical physics; Dark energy; Energy; Kinetic
energy; Potential energy; Quantum physics
References
Introduction
Arnott, R. (2011). A brief history of endocrinology. In
J. A. H. Wass & P. M. Steward (Eds.), Oxford textbook
of endocrinology and diabetes (2nd ed.). Oxford: The concept of energy has a fundamental place
Oxford University Press. in physics – a place that was acquired in the
E 732 Energy in Physics
nineteenth century when its emergence provided concept, a concept which is inherently associated
a new and unifying framework bringing together with the description of motion, change and the
all known phenomena within the dominating interaction between physical objects and systems
mechanical view of nature and embracing heat, in general.
light, and electricity, together with mechanics, in
a single conceptual structure (Harman 1982, Energy and Change
p. 2). This new framework led to the development Energy is a property of all matter and is observed
of the concepts of the physical field, electromag- indirectly through changes in physical objects’
netic ether, conservation and dissipation of speed, mass, position, and so forth. The change
energy which, in the beginning of the twentieth in the energy of a system, which is all we can ever
century, opened the way to the formulation of the measure in an experiment, is a measure of the
theories of relativity, quantum mechanics, and physical change in that system. Force is the agent
gravitation. The evolution of these theories still of change, whereas energy is the measure of
governs our knowledge about the structure of change. Because a system can change through
matter, about the world and the cosmos. Yet, the the action of different forces in different ways,
obvious relevance and pervasive use of the con- there are several distinct manifestations of
cept of energy in physics did not stop Richard energy.
Feynman (1918–1988, recipient of the Nobel
By observing the changing behavior of matter,
Prize in Physics in 1965) to write that: “It is we ‘infer’ the presence of one form or another
important to realize that in physics today, we of energy. Still, energy is not an entity in and of
have no knowledge of what energy ‘is’ (Harman itself – there is no such thing as pure energy. Energy
1982, p. 4-2).” is always the energy of something. The concept of
energy provides a means of quantitatively account-
ing for physical change. When a material system
manifests an observable change due to some inter-
The Concept of Energy in Classical action, we associate an amount of energy with the
Physics extent of that change. Interaction is crucial; if matter
did not interact, the concept of energy would be
superfluous. (Hecht 2000a, p. 223)
The discussion of the concept of energy usually
starts with an emphasis on mechanics, but it is Mario Bunge points out that, since it is ubiq-
only to go beyond it. According to Eugene Hecht uitous, the concept of energy must be philosoph-
“. . . it influences our thinking about every branch ical and, in particular, metaphysical belonging
of physics, indeed, about every aspect of our in the same league as the concepts of thing
existence. Yet, there is no completely satisfactory and property, event and process, space and time,
definition of energy. Even so,” he continues, “we causation and chance. He identifies energy with
will quantify its various manifestations as changeability (Bunge 2000, p. 458).
we struggle to define it (Hecht 2000a, p. 222).”
In its most popular meaning, the concept was Kinetic and Potential Energy
used at least since the late 1500s and was associ- It is interesting to point out that the concept of
ated with the capacity of physical objects and energy is associated with the concept of work.
systems to do work. In 1638, Galileo employed This association makes a lot of sense given the
the term energia though he never defined it. semantic meaning of the word energeia
It was only in the 1850s that the idea had taken in Greek which comes from energos: en – “at”
on a scientific meaning – a meaning that is not + ergon – “work.” In mechanics, work is defined
altogether satisfactorily defined. “In very general by the product of force and distance, and happens
terms, energy describes the state of a system in to be equal to the change of energy resulting from
relation to the action of four forces” (Hecht the application of that force to a body as that body
2000a, p. 223) – gravitational, electromagnetic, moves through a distance in space. This type of
strong and weak. It is therefore a relational energy is naturally associated with motion and is
called kinetic energy, a term introduced by Lord Conservation laws are commonly considered
Kelvin (William Thomson) in 1849. It was as the deepest and most significant types of
defined as the square of the velocity v of an object scientific laws because they give insights into
multiplied by its mass m divided by two: mv2/2. the symmetry of the physical systems but, more
If, however, the force acting upon the body is importantly, into the symmetries of space and
naturally present after its displacement and the time (space-time). More involved mathematical
body is kept motionless but potentially suscepti- manipulations of the classical physics laws of
ble to the force action, the potential for generat- motion reveal that energy conservation stems
ing the kinetic energy is still there because of the from the “smooth” nature of time, i.e., from the
presence of the force. This type of energy is fact that “it spreads smoothly from the past into
E
known as potential energy and exists by virtue the future with no squashed bits or stretched bits”
of the position of the body in relation to (Atkins 2003, p. 98). What this really means is
a naturally present force. Such is the situation that the energy conservation law could be math-
when the gravitational force causes the free fall ematically derived from the invariance of the
of objects which are left on their own without any physical laws to forward and backward time
support at some height above the surface of the changes. So deep is the relationship between con-
earth. In summary, kinetic energy is associated servation laws and the symmetry of space-time
with the capacity to do work by virtue of motion; that the conservation laws survive even when
potential energy is associated with the capacity to classical physics laws of motion fail and there is
do work by virtue of position. a need to move into the realm of relativity and
quantum mechanics. This relationship shows that
Energy Conservation Law and Symmetry the stability and the sustainability of the physical
R. B. Lindsay defines the concept of energy world are deeply rooted into the symmetry
through the concept of change pointing out, how- principles of its most fundamental inner structure
ever, that the basis of its usage today is the idea of (Atkins 2003, p. 98).
invariance, which means constancy in the midst
of change (Lindsay 1971, p. 384; 1972, p. 219). From Visible to Invisible
Lindsay’s shift of focus from change to invariance Historically, the concept of kinetic energy was
alludes to the energy conservation law – the empir- introduced first. The introduction of potential
ical fact that, whenever an amount of energy is energy provided continuity to the idea of energy
transferred from one entity to another, the total in general since its change was associated with
amount of energy always remains unchanged. the work done on a body against a naturally pre-
This shows that “the importance of energy springs sent external force. Its relevance to the develop-
not just from its variety of form, but form its ment of physics was found to be critically
conservation: the total amount of energy in the important:
cosmos remains always the same, since the loss
of one kind of energy is always being compensated The concept of kinetic energy, as it stands, is
a derivative concept since it is directly definable
by the gain of another kind of energy (Word 2005, in terms of observables, namely mass and velocity.
p. 18).” It is important to note that the conservation To this extent its usefulness is limited, and it
of energy applies to systems and not to individual affords no deeper understanding of the nature of
bodies. The total energy of a system of bodies mechanical systems; its logical distance from
observation is too slight. But the value and signif-
includes contributions from both, kinetic energy icance of the concept are immeasurably increased,
of motion, and potential energy that reflects the both for mechanics and as it turns out for physical
interaction between the bodies. The potential science as a whole, by the introduction of the
energy contributions depend on the distances additional concept of potential energy. This move
at one stroke places energy among the most impor-
between the bodies, their electrical charges, and, tant of physical concepts. The new notion of energy
possibly, other things. It is only the total energy thus created, represents a considerable conceptual
that is conserved. sophistication of the old one; its logical distance
from observation is now very much greater, and Faraday enabled electric interactions to satisfy
the concept casts its net more widely. (Theobald spatiotemporal locality and explain the action at
1966, p. 39).
a distance, i.e., that the electric force acting on
It is, therefore, the logical distance from obser- a charged body at a given moment in time is
vation that provided the concept of energy its caused by the electrical field at its location.
metaphysical relevance. It is the shift from the The field is invisible, but it becomes visible by
description of the visible properties of physical its effects. Its energy is manifested by the work
objects and systems to the manifestation of done by the electrical field force for moving the
their invisible ones that makes it universally charge away at a given distance. Even this simple
meaningful. exposition of the field theory clearly shows
in what sense the concepts of energy and field
Energy and Fields: The Electrical Field as an are interrelated. Energy “becomes the basic
Example ‘substance’ of field physics, as matter was the
The relevance of the concept of potential energy basic ‘substance’ of Newtonian physics. Energy
is inherently associated with the emergence of the is not a way of characterizing particles, but
field concept. To clarify what a field is, we could a way of characterizing processes in the field”
use an example from electrostatics – the part of (Theobald 1966, p. 50). “It is so because the
physics dealing with electrical charges, fields, field is characterized by the presence of energy.
and their interactions. The concept of electrical . . . A field is nothing more than a spatial distri-
charge is fundamental and cannot be described in bution of energy which varies with time. Energy
simpler, more basic concepts. In the words of has thus been freed from its dependence upon
Eugene Hecht: “We know it by what it does and physical vehicles such as particles; it has
not by what it is – if you like, it is what it does, achieved the status of independent scientific exis-
and that’s that (Hecht 2000b, p. 610).” A charged tence” (Theobald 1966, p. 98).
particle such as the electron interacts with other How should we interpret then the comment of
charged particles by creating a web of interaction Richard Feynman that in physics today, we have
around itself that extends out into space. We say no knowledge of what energy is? In his comment
that one charge creates an electric field in space Feynman continues as follows: “We do not have
and when another charge is immersed in that a picture that energy comes in little blobs
field, it interacts directly with it. The field that of a definite amount. It is not that way. However,
surrounds an electrical charge is part of it and there are formulas for calculating some numeri-
becomes the media or mediator of the interaction cal quantity and when we add it all together
with the other charge. The picture is quite it always gives . . . the same number. It is an
straightforward, but raises many questions. abstract thing in that it does not tell us the mech-
The main question is why do we need the field anism or the reason for the various formulas. . . .
concept? The answer is: to deal with the expla- Conservation of energy can be understood only if
nation of “action at a distance,” and the principle we know the formula for all of its forms”
of “locality” – the expectation that effects must (Theobald 1966, p. 4-2). Such an approach to
be co-located with their causes, both in space and the definition of energy is an example of opera-
in time. One electron causes another, second, tionism – the view that the meaning of every
electron located at some distance away, to expe- scientific term must be specifiable by identifying
rience a certain force. This force seems to have no a definite testing operation that provides
cause located any nearer to the second electron a criterion for its application. This means, unfor-
than the distance to the first one. It seems, there- tunately, that for most physicists “the whole of
fore, that there is no visible local cause for physics is about operations, chiefly measure-
the force experienced by the second electron. ments and computations, rather than about
The introduction of the field concept by Michael nature” (Bunge 1973, p. 1).
The Concept of Energy in Modern packets of energy that were later to be called
Physics “photons.” The energy of a single photon E was
found to be proportional to the light’s frequency
Energy in Quantum Physics n: E ¼ hn. The constant h was first derived by
Max Plank and the Quantum of Energy and Action Planck and, therefore, known as Planck’s constant
The idea of the quantum of energy was intro- or the “quantum of action.” Soon after the emer-
duced as a kind of energetic atomism, in which gence of the photon, the idea of the quantum nature
energy could not be divided into arbitrarily small of energy was extensively infiltrated into
amounts but existed as discrete, tiny packets microphysics.
(Dear 2006, p. 142). In its origins, the introduc- In 1913, the Danish physicist Niels Bohr
E
tion of the concept of energy quantization was opened up a critically important new arena for
driven by deeply practical reasons. In 1900, it the use of the concept – atomic spectroscopy.
allowed the German physicist Max Planck to It was the exploration of this arena that led to
create an adequate mathematical model of the emergence of quantum physics. Bohr adopted
a troubling problem – the so-called black-body Planck’s quantum to study the internal structure
radiation, i.e., the radiation that is emitted by of atoms in a way that was “in obvious contrast to
a specific type of heated bodies. Planck worked the ordinary ideas of electrodynamics but appears
with careful experimental measurements of the to be necessary in order to account for experi-
actual energy distribution trying to develop mental facts” (Dear 2006, p. 144). He started with
a correct theoretical model to describe it. the commonly accepted “solar system” model of
Eventually, he found out that he could do the atom wherein negatively charged electrons
that only if he assumed that the emitted energy orbit around the central positively charged
could change only in jumps, from one energy nucleus like planets. “The size of an electron’s
level to the next. This assumption in Planck’s orbit corresponded to the orbit’s energy, and
model violated the usual way of thinking about Bohr postulated that the only orbits permitted to
energy – as a quantity that could vary smoothly, such electrons were those whose energy
increasing or decreasing gradually, rather than corresponded to discrete, quantized levels – not
being confined to stepwise change. Some people just any amount of energy, or orbit, was allowed
consider Planck’s assumption as a “desperate” by his model. There were levels, or steps, of
but the only possible move enabling him to fit orbital energy that the electrons could occupy;
the empirical data on black-body radiation. Bohr called them ‘stationary states.’ The only
Planck called these discrete energy changes changes in orbital levels that an electron could
“quanta” of energy. He assumed that their neces- undergo were ones in which it shifted, in
sity in the theory would soon be explained, and a discrete jump, from one stationary state to
that the explanation would not require energy another” (Dear 2006, p. 144). Assuming the dis-
itself to exist only in bundles of specific sizes. crete nature of these changes allowed Bohr to
He, however, was not able to come up with such interpret some of the experimental results that
an explanation himself. had been known for nearly 30 years. These results
concerned the radiation emitted by hydrogen
The Universal Meaning of the Energy Quantum atoms when excited by heat. When the radiation
Concept was separated out according to frequency by
Very soon other physicists began to see the more a spectroscope, the spectrum showed a series of
universal meaning in Planck’s idea. In a paper of discrete bright lines that was uniquely related to
1905 focusing on the photoelectric effect, Albert the specific internal structure of hydrogen atoms.
Einstein argued that light itself should not be under- Even though quantum theory was still in its initial
stood simply as wave motion but should also be stages, there was a major epistemological break-
understood in terms of light quanta – massless through that was associated with Niels Bohr’s
achievement – the demonstration that the ener- filling all space and mediating the interaction
getic manifestations of light quanta could be between physical particles such electrons, pro-
identified with the composition of atoms and the tons, and neutrons. This was a world different
structure of matter in general. The dynamic struc- from Newton’s world that was based on particles
ture of matter is manifested or known by the exerting forces on one another through empty
particular mode by which the smallest quantities space. The insights of special relativity, however,
of energy are presented to the observer. go far beyond electromagnetism since its essence
is rooted in a symmetry principle – that the laws
Quantum Versus Classical Energy of physics should take the same form after an
One of the most obvious and important differ- increase of the velocity of all objects by the
ences between classical and quantum physics is same constant value. What Einstein really did
that the exchange and transformation of energy is was to change Newton’s laws of classical physics
not regarded as a continuous process. In classical of motion so that they obey the symmetry
physics, the use of the energy concept is process principle found in electromagnetism.
driven and descriptive in nature. It presupposes The first of Einstein’s insights about the
continuity and needs to be abandoned when mov- concept of energy was the association of mass
ing into the realm of quantum physics (Theobald with energy: “One more consequence of the
1966, p. 117). But concepts such as conservation electrodynamical paper has also occurred to me.
of energy which do not require following the The principle of relativity, together with
actual process of change are still naturally valid Maxwell’s equations, requires that mass be
in quantum theory. In other words, the radical a direct measure of energy contained in a body;
newness of quantum theory is associated with light transfers mass. . . . The argument is amusing
the way it describes the states of systems and and attractive; but I can’t tell whether the Lord
has nothing to say of the processes by which isn’t laughing about it and playing a trick on me”
states of affairs are realized. This does not mean (From a letter to Conrad Habicht in 1905).
that nothing ever happens; it simply means that Einstein obviously talks about his famous equa-
continuous processes escape the conceptual tion E ¼ mc2 which holds for isolated bodies at
apparatus of quantum theory. This “new” physics rest (m is the mass of the body and c is the speed
deals with the energetic manifestations of physi- of light). For moving bodies, the correct mass-
cal realities, which are invoked or actualized in energy equation becomes E ¼ gmc2 and includes
acts of observation performed in a way suitable to an additional factor g ¼ 1/(1–v2/c2)1/2 which
the dynamics of their inner nature (Wilczek 2008, depends on the velocity of the body v. Einstein’s
p. 74). Quantum objects are not only invisible but result implied that the mass of any body was
also unimaginable, i.e., the fundamental concepts equivalent to its energy at rest.
of quantum physics are not accessible to human
imagination. This leads to a continuous need of “Energy of Being”
interpretation. Such an interpretation could hap- The message coming from the equation E ¼ mc2
pen only within the framework of activities of was rather radical – the concept energy associ-
a given scientific community driven by its histor- ated with physical particles is not necessarily
ically developed ontological and epistemological related to motion (kinetic energy) and positioning
presuppositions. (potential energy), “. . . there is also an
energy that a particle has from its mere existence,
Energy in Relativity and Cosmology an energy that depends directly on the mass”
Special Theory of Relativity and E ¼ mc2 (Feynman 1994, p. 65). Therefore, in the world
The special relativity of Einstein came out of the of isolated elementary particles “there are two
study of electricity and magnetism. It arose from significant forms of energy: the mass energy
a description of the world based on the concept of and the kinetic energy of motion. The mass
field. As we have seen, fields are physical realities energy of a particle is its energy of being”
(Word 2005, p. 18). Energy of being is propor- the universe as a whole. He thought that the
tional to mass. “Twice as much mass means twice universe had a constant density in time and
as much energy, and no mass means no energy. space but eventually found out that there is no
. . . So mass represents a highly concentrated solution with those properties. To get the constant
form of energy” (Word 2005, p. 19). It took density solution, Einstein added to the equations
many years before Einstein could assume in for gravity a new term called the “cosmological
1932 that his equation E ¼ mc2 was experimen- term” or the “cosmological constant.” The solu-
tally confirmed and it is now well known that tion he found corresponded to a closed static
it is correct. universe – a big sphere with finite radius that
stayed constant over time. This solution hap-
E
Energy, Gravitation, and the Geometry of pened tо be unstable. In addition, in 1929,
Space-Time Edwin Hubble provided convincing evidence
The second of Einstein’s insights about energy is that the universe is in fact expanding, leading
related to his theory of gravitation. After the devel- Einstein to admit that the introduction of the
opment of the special theory of relativity, Einstein cosmological term was his “greatest mistake” or
started looking for a way to include gravity into the “blunder.” Nevertheless, the possibility he iden-
new framework and, in the end, produced a field- tified, of adding a new term to the equations of
based theory of gravity – general relativity. The general relativity to describe the universe, did not
fact that general relativity is a field theory should go away and became a matter of serious study in
be of no surprise. One of the main insights from the following 70 years. Cosmological observa-
the special theory of relativity was the postulate tions remained consistent with a cosmological
that the velocity of light, c, is constant but, even constant equal to zero until about 1998, when
more importantly, limited. Therefore, the influ- convincing measurements began to indicate that
ence of one particle to another cannot be transmit- there is indeed an accelerating cosmic expansion
ted faster than that. Newton’s law of the that could be explained by the presence of
gravitational force did not obey that rule and was a cosmological term with a cc having a very
not consistent with special relativity theory. Gen- small positive value. Subsequent observations
eral relativity arose as an update of Newton’s grav- provided additional support for this and
itation theory by fixing this inconsistency with the Einstein’s introduction of the term in 1917,
help of a field-based approach. Using the relativ- although introduced for the wrong reasons, was
istic principles, Einstein showed how energy cre- found to be prophetic.
ates a gravitational field playing the role that was The cc or the cosmic density was recently
previously occupied by mass alone. In his gravita- estimated by measuring its effects on the curva-
tion theory, Einstein related the metric or the cur- ture of space through the distortion such curva-
vature of the geometry of space-time to the ture causes in images of distant galaxies (Wilczek
strength of the gravitational field arising from 2008, p. 108). It is a powerful new technique
any energy present, showing that gravity could measuring some of the properties of the cosmic
be deeply encoded in the geometry of space- microwave background radiation (CMB). Using
time. Mass and energy distort space-time, and the this technique, by 2001, several groups made
distorted space-time in turn accounts for gravita- several important conclusions. First, the universe
tional effects on matter and energy (for example is made up of 30% matter. Second, only 5% of
light) moving through it. these 30% is the matter as we know it – the kind
of matter we study in biology, chemistry, engi-
Matter, Dark Matter, and Dark Energy neering, and geology and the kind of matter we
The third of Einstein’s insights about energy is are made from. The remaining 25% is a special
related to cosmology. In 1917, based on his two type of (dark) matter – it is not uniformly distrib-
initial insights, Einstein derived the set of equa- uted in space and its density is not constant in
tions describing the metric of the space-time of time. Observations suggest that it is based on
a special (probably new) particle, but it is not One of the most representative examples can be
clear what this particle is. The new Large Hadron found in Eastern Christianity where the distinc-
Collider (LHC) in Geneva is expected to help in tion between essence and energy has been
identifying the source of dark matter. Third, playing a significant role since the fourth century
there is a 70% missing component which is A.D. This last section will briefly focus on the
not matter and which is considered as being concept of energy in Eastern Christian theology
contributed by the so-called dark energy. (Tanev 2009).
It appears to be very uniformly distributed in It was probably St John of Damascus
space and time and has been observed only (c. 676–749) who defined it in a most straightfor-
through its gravitational influence on the motion ward way:
of normal matter. This makes it look like . . . energy is the natural force and activity of each
a property of empty space. It has not been essence: or again, natural energy is the activity
observed to absorb light, i.e., it is not dark in the innate in every essence: and so, clearly, things
usual sense but transparent. The dark energy that have the same essence have also the same
energy, and things that have different natures
concept is directly associated with Einstein’s cos- have also different energies. For no essence can
mological term – although there are slight differ- be devoid of natural energy. . . . Natural energy
ences in the interpretation, they may refer to the again is the force in each essence by which its
same physical phenomenon (Wilczek 2008, nature is made manifest. And again: natural energy
is the primal, eternally-moving force of the intelli-
p. 105). “The theory of dark energy is in bad gent soul: that is, the eternally-moving word of the
shape. It’s a problem for the future” (Wilczek soul, which ever springs naturally from it. And yet
2008, p. 195). The current guesses are that it is again: natural energy is the force and activity of
some sort of force field which permeates the vac- each essence which only that which is not lacks.
(John of Damascus 2000, Writings, “Concerning
uum but there is no currently known theory of Energy,” Orthodox Faith, Book II, Chapter XXIII)
physics that could explain it. On the other hand,
“the dark-matter problem, . . ., is ripe for solution” One of the key aspects of the definition is the
and there are promising ideas that could explain universality of the distinction between essence
what dark matter is (Wilczek 2008, p. 196). Some and energy: “of each essence,” “in every essence,”
physicists believe that, with the addition of his “no essence can devoid of natural energy.”
cosmological term, Einstein had in fact identified St John of Damascus makes a careful distinction
a new form of energy that is associated with space- between four related terms:
time itself – it is not carried by matter and not the
But observe that energy and capacity for energy,
result of the known forces, i.e., a kind of vacuum and the product of energy, and the agent of energy,
energy. This is the first time in physics when a new are all different. Energy is the efficient and essen-
form of energy is identified together with a claim tial activity of nature: the capacity for energy is the
nature from which proceeds energy: the product of
that there is nothing carrying it. There are two
energy is that which is effected by energy: and the
other logical possibilities. Either we are now see- agent of energy is the person or subsistence which
ing the effects of some new substance that was not uses the energy. Further, sometimes energy is used
previously seen before, or there is something in the sense of the product of energy, and the
product of energy in that of energy, just as
wrong with our current theoretical worldview
the terms creation and creature are sometimes
(Taylor 2008, p. 41). transposed. For we say ‘all creation,’ meaning
creatures. (John of Damascus 2000, Writings,
“Concerning Energy,” Orthodox Faith, Book II,
The Concept of Energy within the Chapter XXIII; Book III, Chapter XV,
“Concerning the energies in our Lord Jesus
Context of Religion Christ”)
The concept of energy is often considered within This text was used as a reference for the crite-
the context of specific religious worldviews. rion of Orthodoxy used during the Byzantine
Church Council in Constantinople, 1351. It is important to underline the personal
The Council confirmed the orthodoxy of the dynamic nature of the Divine energies. Although
theology of St Gregory Palamas (1296–1359) – a God affects things and persons on each occasion
monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the through a particular energy or operation, it is
Archbishop of Thessaloniki who became known always Him personally acting and wholly present
as a preeminent theologian of the Divine energies in it:
(Kapriev 2005). The distinction between essence
and energy in God is the fundamental epistemo- The operations which produce the attributes of the
world are, therefore, bearers of certain attributes
logical premise of the theology of St Gregory found in God in a simple and incomprehensible
Palamas: way. The operations, therefore, are nothing other
than the attributes of God in motion – or God
E
With respect to the fact of its existence but not as to
Himself, the simple One, in a motion which is, on
what it is, the substance is known from the energy,
every occasion, specific, or again, in a number of
not the energy from the substance. And so,
different kinds of motion, specified and unified
according to the theologians, God is known with
among themselves. God Himself is in each of
respect to the fact of his existence not from his
these operations or energies, simultaneously
substance but from his providence. In this the
whole, active, and beyond operation and move-
energy is distinct from the substance, because the
ment. . . . We only know the attributes of God in
energy is what reveals, whereas the substance is
their dynamism and to the extent that we partici-
that which is thereby revealed with respect to the
pate in them. . . . we only know them through the
fact of existence. (Palamas 1988)
prism of the effect they produce in the world. God
For Palamas, the energy differs from the Himself changes for our sake in His operations,
remaining simple as the source of these operations
essence but is not separated from it. The essence and being wholly present in each one of them.
refers to the immanent, self-identical being of (Staniloae 1998, pp. 125–126)
God, while the energy means that God does
something and He does it willingly. The energy The nature of the Divine energies cannot be
does not denote something other in God than His grasped except dynamically and as a result of
essence but is the same Divine being as active ad God’s personal activity and will. It is exactly
extra (Tollefsen 2008, p. 141). This activity ad this Divine personal dynamics that makes the
extra includes God’s works such as creating, sus- invisible God visibly present in the world.
taining, providing, deifying, etc. “When the In a way similar to the situation in quantum
activity is spoken ‘objectively’ as a divine work physics, these dynamic personal (hypostatic)
(ergon) or being, . . . we are not to imagine presence and manifestations cannot be consid-
a something existing between the divine essence ered apart from us. We are co-participants to the
and creatures. The terms work and being denote, measure of our personal cooperation which is
. . ., the reality of God’s activity as a powerful borne within the specific context and status of
presence (Tollefsen 2008, p. 141).” God’s works our own spiritual “devices” and sacramental life.
represent his activity or energies in relation to One could summarize therefore that the
His creatures and God, as He is in Himself, meanings of the concept of energy in Orthodox
should be distinguished from God as He related theology and physics intersect at the epistemo-
to something other than Himself. The Divine logical level. The similarities are definitely more
energy is what manifests that God is, while the visible in relation to quantum physics, the theory
essence is what He is. If there was no distinction of relativity, and cosmology than in relation to
between Divine essence and Divine energy, the classical physics where the concept plays
fact that “God is” would have remained a more descriptive than epistemological role.
unknown. The focus here is on the knowledge In both cases, orthodox theology and quantum
of God, i.e., the distinction between essence and physics, the concept deals with the articulation
energy and the meaning of energy itself is artic- of the hypostatic manifestations of the realities
ulated within an entirely epistemological context. which are invoked or actualized within the
E 740 Enlightenment
experiential acts of Divine-human and object- Harman, P. (1982). Energy, force and matter – The con-
instrument interactions. The hypostatic nature ceptual development of nineteenth-century physics.
Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
of the energetic manifestations in physics Hecht, E. (2000a). Physics: Calculus (2nd ed., Vol. 1).
is expressed by the fact that energy is always Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.
associated with something – a physical entity, Hecht, E. (2000b). Physics: Calculus (2nd ed., Vol. 2).
such as particles, bodies, fields, or a physical Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.
Kapriev, G. (2005). Philosophie in byzanz. Wuerzburg:
system. There is one single occasion in physics Koenigshausen und Neumann.
where there was a claim about the existence of Lindsay, R. B. (1971). The concept of energy and its early
a kind of vacuum energy or energy of “nothing.” historical development. Foundations of Physics, 1(4),
This is the so-called dark energy in cosmology 383–393.
Lindsay, R. B. (1972). The scientific and theological revolu-
which is believed to be associated with space- tions and their implications for society. Zygon – Journal
time itself and which is not carried by any of Science and Religion, 7(4), 212–243.
known fundamental particle. This belief, how- Palamas, S. G. (1988). The one hundred and fifty chapters
ever, appears to be more of a speculation. The (¼ Capita 150) (trans: Synkewicz, R. E., C.S.B). Stud-
ies and texts (Vol. 83, p. 247). Toronto: Pontifical
fundamental difference between the two con- Institute of Mediaeval Studies. Ch. 141.
cepts is rooted in the different nature of the Saint John of Damascus. (2000). Writings (trans: Chase,
realities they are dealing with and can be F. H. Jr.). Washington: Catholic University of
expressed as the difference between “created” America Press.
Staniloae, D. (1998). Orthodox dogmatic theology – The
and “uncreated,” “person” and “thing,” “per- experience of god. Brookline: Holy Cross Orthodox
sonal” and “impersonal.” The Divine realities Press.
are the dynamic personal realities of a living Tanev, S. (2009). Essence and energy: An exploration in
and loving God Who has a will. God does what orthodox theology and physics. Logos: A Journal of
Eastern Christian Studies, 50(1–2), 89–153.
he wants and human spiritual efforts make sense Taylor, A. (2008). The Dark Universe, Ch. 1. In A. Connes
only within the context of a personal relation- et al. (Eds.), On space and time. Cambridge:
ship with Him. Cambridge University Press.
Theobald, W. D. (1966). The concept of energy. London:
E. & F. N. Spon.
Tollefsen, T. (2008). The christocentric cosmology of St
Cross-References Maximus the confessor. Oxford/New York: Oxford
University Press.
▶ Electromagnetism and Optics Wilczek, F. (2008). The lightness of being – Mass,
ether, and the unification of forces. New York: Basic
▶ Epistemology Books.
▶ Particle Physics Word, K. (2005). The quantum world – Quantum physics
▶ Physics and Orthodoxy (Physics and Eastern for everyone. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Christian Theology)
References Enlightenment
Atkins, Peter. (2003). Galileo’s Finger – The great ideas Sharon L. Coggan
of science. New York: Oxford University Press. Department of Philosophy, University of
Bunge, M. (1973). Philosophy of physics. Dordrecht:
Reidel. Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA
Bunge, M. (2000). Energy: From physics to metaphysics.
Science Education, 9(5), 459–463.
Dear, P. (2006). The intelligibility of nature – How science In this context, it refers not to the experience of
makes sense of the world. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press. awakening as in the Buddha’s enlightenment,
Feynman, R. (1994). The character of physical law. but rather to an era in European history, begin-
New York: The Modern Library. ning in the last half of the eighteenth century.
Environmental Ethics 741 E
The era represented a paradigm shift in
European culture that elevated the light of Environment of Evolutionary
Reason as the best tool for determination of Adaptedness (EEA)
what is true and valuable. The Enlightenment
era produced a challenge to the ancient regime Matt Rosano
in politics and culture. It celebrated the new Psychology Department, Southeastern Louisiana
ideals of egalitarianism, fraternity, liberty, University, Hammond, LA, USA
freedom of speech, assembly, religion and the
principle of democracy, and self-government.
In Religious Studies, the Enlightenment era pro- The natural habitat or environment to which
E
duced the foundational norms in scholarship humans were originally adapted. This is assumed
and academic investigation of the subject of to be the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and habitat
religion. where humans spend over 99% of their evolution-
ary history. However, it must be recognized that
each adaptive trait has its own unique evolutionary
Cross-References history and therefore its own particular EEA. For
example, the human fear response is particularly
▶ Awakening sensitive to signals associated with the presence of
▶ Deism snakes and spiders. This reflects the fact that these
threats were prevalent in the ecological environ-
ments of our ancestral past. Human reasoning,
however, exhibits characteristics reflective of the
Entelechy social environment of the past, where concerns
about cheating on social agreements would have
Achim Stephan been of particular concern. So while both of these
Institute of Cognitive Science adaptations reflect elements of our hunter-gatherer
University of Osnabr€ uck, Osnabr€
uck, Germany origins, they reflect different aspects of those ori-
gins: one ecological, one social.
In Greek, an entity that “bears its goal within

itself.” The Vitalist Hans Driesch (1867–1941)
reinvented the word to refer to a nonphysical,
nonspatial causal factor in living beings, which Environmental Ethics
he claimed would direct the physical and chemi-
cal processes during an organism’s development. Christopher J. Preston
Department of Philosophy and the Program on
Ethics and Public Affairs at the Mansfield Center,
University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
Entropy
▶ Chemical Thermodynamics Holmes Rolston III is widely known as the

“father of environmental ethics” for his relentless
articulation of the presence of natural values in
nature. He is also known for his work on the
Environment reconciliation of Christian theology and evolu-
tionary biology during which he characterizes
▶ Ecology in Islam nature as “cruciform.” In 1997 he presented the
E 742 Environmental Ethics
Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh, and in 2003 he A collection of essays titled Philosophy Gone
was awarded the Templeton Prize in London. He Wild (Rolston 1986) was quickly followed by
retired as Distinguished University Professor of a systematic work Environmental Ethics: Duties
Philosophy from Colorado State University in To and Values In the Natural World (Rolston
2008 (Preston 2009). 1988). In these two books and dozens of articles
At the start of the 1970s, several environmen- that came after them, Rolston pressed his case
tal thinkers including Richard Routley and Arne for intrinsic and systemic natural value. Against
Naess had begun to ask whether a new type of those who argued all value is a derivative
ethic for nature was needed, one that centered not of human interests, Rolston countered that
on people but on the environment itself. Answer- “systemic nature is valuable intrinsically as
ing this call, Rolston published “Is there an Eco- a projective system, with humans only one sort
logical Ethic?” in the leading philosophy journal of its projects” (Rolston 1988, p. 198).
Ethics in 1975. The publication of this article was While this view on objective intrinsic value
thought by many to mark the birth of the field of was his central position in environmental ethics,
environmental ethics. Rolston argued in this arti- his work branched out into other areas of the new
cle that morality “is a derivative of the holistic field including environmental aesthetics, envi-
character of the ecosystem” (Rolston 1975, p. 17). ronmental law, environmental economics, the
Ecosystems themselves held value that deserved ethics of wilderness preservation, and endan-
our respect irrespective of their usefulness to gered species protection. In all of these areas,
humans. Over the next decade, Rolston cemented Rolston distinguished himself from many philos-
his place at the vanguard of those philosophers ophers by the scientific rigor he brought to his
arguing for this “intrinsic value” of nature. For arguments. In his position in environmental aes-
Rolston, intrinsic value existed objectively thetics (scientific cognitivism), for example,
in nature, independent of any human value judg- Rolston argued that “science becomes the pri-
ments. Other environmental philosophers, such mary avenue for perceiving landscapes, better
as J. Baird Callicott, agreed that nature had than any other – necessary though not sufficient
value, but insisted this value could not exist for their most adequate understanding” (Rolston
objectively in nature, requiring instead a human 1995, p. 380). Rolston’s prolific work ethic and
judgment to actualize it. Rolston’s position devotion to the new field he helped create led to
remained uncompromisingly objectivist about him becoming the founding president of the Inter-
the existence of this value. national Society for Environmental Ethics and
In Rolston’s view, intrinsic value in organisms the cofounding editor of the first journal in the
accumulated in the form of biological “achieve- field Environmental Ethics.
ments” that got “locked in” by the DNA of Rolston’s work in environmental ethics had by
a species over time. Above and beyond individual necessity taken a largely secular form in order to
organisms and species, the system itself was also satisfy his philosophical critics. But his idea of
a source of value, generating complexity and natural value accumulating in the biota over evo-
diversity through geological, hydrological, and lutionary time also had strong theological under-
evolutionary forces operating relentlessly currents. At the same time as he was publishing
through time. Value in nature was therefore not books and articles for philosophy audiences, he
only instrumental, reflecting the usefulness of was also publishing for theological audiences.
particular organisms and species to others; it His 1987 book Science and Religion: A Critical
was also intrinsic and systemic. These latter two Survey (Rolston 1987) sought to find room within
types of value resided in the organisms that the latest physical and biological sciences for
employed their selective advantages to secure a divine presence. In his version of evolutionary
their own goods and in the ecosystems that pro- theism, Rolston insisted that, while evolutionary
vided the supporting matrix in which those forces theory was the correct mechanism for explaining
could operate. the changes in biological forms over time,
Environmental Ethics 743 E
evolution by itself was not quite explanatory parallel in human life. Individual persons, like
enough. “The universal principle (the best individual organisms, suffer and die in the face
adapted survive) never entails any particulars of a harsh processes. God’s grace intervenes to
(dinosaurs exist) not even when given the initial ensure that there is benefit to all this suffering.
conditions (microbes, trilobites)” (Rolston 1987, Rolston’s theodicy worked the same way in both
p. 120). He suggested that there needed to be the human and the natural worlds. Environmental
some other principle at work. Natural selection, necessity was the mother of both cultural and
he argued, is “only a fraction of some bigger biological invention. Nature is thus “cruciform”
truth” (Rolston 1987, p. 121). with Jesus, “not the exception to the natural order
As the debates about the anthropic principle but a chief exemplification of it” (Rolston 1999,
E
and intelligent design unfolded around him, p. 307). Life is a passion play, well symbolized by
Rolston found his Calvinist background helping the pasqueflower that emerges from snowbanks
to inform his theological understanding of nature. in the Colorado high country each spring. The
The anthropic principle, which held that the uni- discovery of the pasqueflower’s bloom at the end
verse had its initial conditions fine-tuned from the of a long winter leaves Rolston compelled by “the
start by a divine being so that humans might grace of life renewed in the midst of its perpetual
eventually evolve, contained too much of the perishing, generating diversity and complexity,
heavy determinism within double-predestination repeatedly struggling through to something
that he had rejected years earlier. Intelligent higher. . .” (Rolston 1999, p. 370).
design, which insisted that a divine power was
required to build certain complex biological
structures that resisted evolutionary explanation, Cross-References
did not give adequate account of the contingency
and chance pervading earth’s history. In Genes, ▶ Biology
Genesis, and God (Rolston 1999), a book based ▶ Christianity
on his 1997 Gifford Lectures, Rolston found ▶ Creationism
room for God in the evolutionary epic as the ▶ Environmental Theology
source of information, opening up the “possibil- ▶ Ethics
ity spaces” through which the mechanical pro- ▶ Evolution
cesses of evolution operated. Rolston noted how ▶ Gene
biologists John Maynard Smith and Eörs ▶ Gifford Lectures
Szathmáry had identified several key moments ▶ Intelligent Design
in evolutionary history when unlikely adapta- ▶ Natural Theology
tions – such as the swim bladders in fish becom- ▶ Science and Religion Dialogue and the
ing the lungs that enabled them to survive on Interreligious Dialogue
land – opened up vast new possibility spaces
(Maynard Smith and Szathmáry 1995). Rolston
References
suggested the presence of a divine power as the
“ground of information” offering “the most ade- Maynard Smith, J., & Szathmáry, E. (1995). The major
quate account of the origin of these information transitions in evolution. New York: W.H. Freeman.
channels” (Rolston 1999, p. 359). The three Preston, C. J. (2009). Saving creation: Nature and faith in
the life of Holmes Rolston, III. San Antonio: Trinity
moments of greatest historical significance – the University Press.
start of the universe, the beginning of life, and the Rolston, H., III. (1999). Genes, genesis, and god. Cam-
emergence of mind – are described in Rolston’s bridge: Cambridge University Press.
2010 book Three Big Bangs: Matter-Energy, Rolston, H., III. (2010). Three big bangs: Matter-energy,
life, mind. New York: Columbia University Press.
Life, Mind (Rolston 2010).
Rolston, H., III. (1975). Is there an ecological ethic?
According to Rolston, the role of divine grace Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political,
operating in the background of evolution finds its and Legal Philosophy, 85, 93–109.
E 744 Environmental Theology
Rolston, H., III. (1986). Philosophy gone wild. Buffalo: “physis” and “natura” signified everything that
Prometheus. existed, and the so-called natural theology, for
Rolston, H., III. (1987). Science and religion. New York:
Random House. example Thomas Aquinas, shaped the path for
Rolston, H., III. (1988). Environmental ethics: Duties to modern science by investigating Gods being
and values in the natural world. Philadelphia: Temple through studying nature and by explaining the
University Press. world from the image of God. The view of nature
Rolston, H., III. (1995). Does aesthetics need to be science
based. British Journal of Aesthetics, 35(4), 374–386. changes then radically in the nineteenth century.
Humans and nature are distanced radically from
each other and the human identity is not longer
understood as a double belonging to divine-
spiritual and natural-bodily spheres of reality.
Environmental Theology In time with a progressing secularization and
modernization, the change of the life-systems, for
Sigurd Bergmann example in climate, reveals with an increasing
Department of Archaeology and Religious clearness man as a rational and technical ruler
Studies, Norwegian University of Science and over nature. Human codes of knowing about and
Technology, Trondheim, Norway acting in nature are out of balance with the codes
of nature. Older natural theology does not any
longer fit into this challenge and late modern
Related Terms theology is challenged to reconstruct the tradi-
tions of creation theology and to interpret in
Ecological theology; Ecotheology a new key the God who acts in, with and for
a world threatened by his/her own image.
There is an indissoluble connection between
Description one’s understanding of nature and God. A shift in
the understanding of any one of these invariably
As the notion of “nature” is essential for the self- causes the other to appear in a different light as
understanding of the European/Western civiliza- well. Accordingly, any change in the modern
tion also theology has in its long history contrib- understanding of nature simultaneously calls
uted to the development of the concept of nature. into question the understanding of God inhering
In the Abrahamitic religions, “nature” is “crea- within Christian life and Christian faith. From the
tion” which exists out of its relation to God. God 1970s, we can observe such a change in the image
is regarded as the Creator of everything between of nature and the image of God.
heaven and earth, and classical Christian theol- As “nature” turns into “the environment,” that
ogy has interpreted God’s work as a making, is, nature affected radically by human social and
preserving, and fulfilling of nature. The doctrine technical activities, also beliefs in Creation and
of creation offers the horizon for the whole under- the Creator change. The emergence of environ-
standing of Christian faith even if it historically mental science and the worldviews and values of
often has been opposed to soteriology, the doc- environmentalism in the increasing social move-
trine of salvation. A general challenge for Chris- ments catalyze this process even more. Theology
tian theology therefore is to relate God’s creation has since then faced and responded in a manifold
and God’s salvation to each other (cf. Conradie of modes to what we can call the environmental
2012). Are human beings as “images of God” challenge. The emergence and rapid and dynamic
placed above or among creatures? Is only man/ development of the subdiscipline of ecotheology
woman or also nature in the need of liberation? mirrors – in analogy to the connected
The view of nature and the use of it have subdiscipline of environmental ethics – this
undergone several changes in the history. In change of the interconnected concepts of nature
antique and medieval times, the notions of and God. Are human beings the only ethical
Environmental Theology 745 E
subjects? Can one speak meaningfully about the theology, one dogmatic in a direction from faith
intrinsic value and rights of nature? What are the to environment (ecological doctrine of creation)
pro et contras for anthropocentrism versus and another contextual, departing from the state
ecocentrism? Who and where is the Creator in of nature and moving toward the reflection on
the suffering of his/her creation? This change God (theological ecology).
takes its course in the ethical challenge, but it is A pioneer of ecological theology in the USA
far from limited to this; rather, the ecological was Joseph Sittler who already in 1961 clearly
perspective expands to cultural, aesthetic, scien- viewed the “new situation” confronting the proc-
tific, technical, political, and economical spheres. lamation of faith, which he encountered with his
This complexity of environmentalism can also be cosmic Christology. While process philosophy,
E
observed in different approaches in ecotheology. for example John Cobb, offered an important
After Lynn White’s famous blaming of Jewish background warrant for ecotheology in the
and Christian faith as the “roots of our ecological USA, European theologians have met this with
crisis” in 1967, theologians have responded and a far more skeptic attitude. German biologist and
revisited their biblical sources and traditions in theologian G€unter Altner was the first who since
the context of the environmental discourse. Even 1974 interpreted the environmental degradation
if White’s historical description has been in the light of a Christian theology of the Cross,
rejected by environmental historians, the deep where nature revealed a civilization at crisis
interlinkage of religion and environmental prac- (cf. Altner 1991). Several theologians related
tices and ideologies is at the core since then. the conflict between humanity and nature to the
While Protestant theologians have been in the conflicts between different classes, regions and
forefront of academic ecotheology in the begin- people, and also to the gender conflict, and
ning, Orthodox theologians contributed with a wide-open perspective of liberation and recon-
important perspectives on liturgy, aesthetics, ciliation was brought into the heart of the ecu-
and cosmology in the 1980s in the frame of ecumenical social ethics after 1970.
menical processes, mainly the “conciliar process A first extensive and influential reinterpreta-
for justice, peace and the integrity of creation” tion of Christianity was offered in 1985 by J€urgen
(JPIC). Catholic theology awakened late in the Moltmann in his “ecological doctrine of the cre-
1990s and has for example recently focused on ation” (Moltmann 1985). Different themes from
sustainability as a central ethical principle. Christian tradition were loosely linked to new
Since the 1970s, churches and theologians scientific insights and eco-ideology in order to
have met the ecological challenge in three ways. work out the relevance of Christian faith for find-
Either one has regarded the environmental crisis ing ways out of the contemporary crisis of society
just as reason to reformulate conventional doc- and nature. Disciples from different confessional
trines of faith, or one has eclectically mixed up traditions – as from, for example, Karl Barth’s
elements from ecological science and spirituality antinatural revelation theology or from
with selected elements from Christian tradition. neothomistic universalist Catholicism – tried to
A third way has sought for critical-constructive respond to the ecological challenge, even if one
mediations of ecological insights and interpreta- not always did succeed to find synthetic correla-
tions of God. This way, where theology works as tions with the fathers of tradition and the chal-
a part of a larger ecological discourse as well as it lenge of the new situation.
asks for specific Christian reconstructions, repre- Ecofeminism reflects about the interconnec-
sents the mainstream of creation theology in the tion of gender and the environment and has
second part of the twentieth century. The under- created a significant impact on ecotheology.
standing of God itself is challenged by the suffer- Catharina Halkes, Anne Primavesi (Primavesi
ing of nature caused by men and women who 2000), Sallie McFague, Rosemary Radford
supposed to be images of God, the creator. Meth- Ruether (Ruether 1994), and Heather Eaton
odologically, one can differ two modes of doing (Eaton and Lorentzen 2003) have from different
angles produced alternative visions of human The European Ecumenical Forum of Christian
encountering of nature. Women has a subgroup on Ecofeminism and
After the widening of the academic Ecology.
ecotheological discourse from the first to the Together with an academically vital and man-
third and fourth world in the 1990s, the approach ifold reflection, the ecumenical movement
of an ecological theology of liberation emerged. consisting of both many independent Christian
Leonardo Boff revisited ecological themes in the groups and networks and of institutionalized
continuity of Latin American liberation theology church bodies constitutes a strong and sustainable
(Boff 1995), Yvonne Gebara combined feminist basis for the further development of ecological
and ecological reflections about liberation, and constructive and critical theology and praxis (cf.
Sigurd Bergmann developed a normative Hallman 1994, and Hessel and Ruether 2000).
approach where soteriology and ontology are This development is not just only about ideology
interpreted in the notion of the “Gods liberating reconstruction but also about the reacting and
movement in creation” in a constructive correla- renewal of Christian community-life and mis-
tion with Eastern Early Church theology, espe- sion. Alternative church banking, forests and
cially its Trinitarian and pneumatological land owned and ecologically used by churches,
traditions (Bergmann 2005). green parish economy, Christian church aid for
Ecotheology was from the beginning an ecu- women preserving nature, sustainable liveli-
menical affair. Especially the Eastern-orthodox hoods, urban greening, and treeplanting are just
contributions to the new discourse on nature were a few among lots of examples where ecotheology
developed in the institutions and conferences of and ecopraxis are in an intermutual exchange.
the ecumenical movement, especially in the In its early phase, ecotheology dealt with
World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Con- large-scale problems in connection to The Club
ference of European Churches (CEC). It was due of Rome’s survival issues. In a second phase, it
to the orthodox representatives at the WCC related to the issues of sustainability with regard
assembly 1983 and especially to the Syrian- to the Brundlandt-programme even if the position
orthodox theologian and church leader Paulos of the churches developed a much more dynamic
Mar Gregorios that the WCC programme on and constructive view of “our common future”
“Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation” than the weak consensus of the United Nations.
(JPIC) was enriched with the environmental While the nations agreed on limits and extrinsic
issue so that the main agenda for ecumenical values for the ongoing exploitation of nature, the
social ethics since then could focus on peace, churches defined sustainability with regard to
justice, and ecological problems as the most the intrinsic value of creation and made the
prioritized challenges for Christians. Orthodox claim of a radical conversion. In a third phase,
theologians enriched the somehow limited per- ecotheology investigates the interconnection of
spectives of Protestant thinkers with themes like economy and ecology by focusing on the ques-
sacraments, liturgy, trinitarianism, and beauty. tion for what functions as God in the ongoing
A breakthrough for ecumenical ecotheology in globalization process. Through their committed
Europe adapted by the churches took place at involvement in ecological discourses and alli-
the concilium in Basel in 1989. For the first time ance-building churches, Christian groups and
after the schism between Eastern and Western theologians have shown the relevance of Chris-
Europe, all churches met in one common confer- tian faith as a transformative countervailing
ence, and they were even able to make a strong power in opposition to the forces of destruction,
consensus on the need for a more just and eco- such as for example in work around environmen-
logical order of world economics. The heritage tal racism and ecojustice in solidarity with the
of this strong ecological commitment in the victims. The dignity of the question where and
European churches is developed in the “European how God acts in the ecological destruction and
Christian Environmental Network” (ECEN). reconstruction is increasing in accordance with
the increasing environmental problems. At pre- social institutions. Historically, medieval theol-
sent one observe a new phase where the con- ogy represents the cradle of modern science.
sciousness about accelerating climate change Environmental theology is usually not taught as
produces new challenges to all faith communi- an isolated subject but included in the different
ties. In general, one can claim that climatic subdisciplines of systematic theology, biblical
change also changes the conditions for faith com- theology, and sometimes church history.
munities and belief systems and that religious
processes therefore essentially contribute to Religion
sociocultural processes of mitigation and adapta- Environmental theology explores belief systems
tion. The history of 40 years of environmental with regard to God, nature, and the environment,
E
theology has prepared the Christian faith commu- but it does not presuppose an individual belief or
nities to respond to the need of creative climate confession. Many scholars and students although
adaptation and since 2005, one can observe an are committed to different belief traditions and
increasing interreligious communication about seek for to apply insights from environmental the-
how different faith communities can cooperate ology in their religious practices and in the ideolo-
with regard to the painful challenges of the future. gies of their faith communities. Also the so-called
Four international societies and networks rep- public theology includes the environmental theme
resent not only environmental theology but the at its heart and scholars of environmental theology
broader field of the study of religion and the therefore strongly influence the public self-
environment in the global academic landscape. understanding of faith communities. Insofar as
Mary E. Tucker initiated in 1996 the Forum on one might regard also the environmental move-
Religion and Ecology in the USA, while Heather ment as a belief system one can also state important
Eaton developed the analogous Forum in Canada. points of contact between the scholar’s academic
After 2003, the European Forum for the Study of activity and his/her political commitment, a fact
Religion and the Environment was initiated and that is true even for many life scientists.
chaired by the undersigned and the International
Society of the Study of Religion, Nature and
Culture was initiated by Bron Taylor in the Characteristics
USA. Networks in Africa, Latin America, and
Asia are developing. Environmental theology is distinguished from the
other disciplines of theology by its focus on the
interaction of human beings with their environ-
Self-Identification ment, and it highlights especially the ethical
implication of this interaction. Also the connec-
Science tion between feminist theology and ecotheology
Theology develops as a scholarly self-critical represents a distinctive subdiscipline.
reflection about different expressions of Christian The rather amorphous field of Christian
faith and their contexts and relations to other ecotheology is currently characterized by a num-
religions and worldviews. Research and teaching ber of distinct discourses, each with its own inter-
take place in the universities either at theological locutors, guilds, and forms of rhetoric. These
faculties or departments at faculties of social include at least the following:
science or humanities. Theological institutions – Multi-faith collaborative discourse on “reli-
are either hosted by a church organization or gion and ecology,” for example, in the context
part of the national universities. In some coun- of the Forum of Religion and Ecology where
tries such as Germany, agreements between the “religion” serves as an umbrella term for var-
state and the church regulate their relation. Theo- ious distinct theologies and “earth” for the one
logical schools educate students for services in world within which various human cultures
the faith congregations, schools, media, and other and religions emerged.
– Ecumenical discourse on ecojustice with consciousness in alliances with political and eco-
regard to the threats of economic injustices nomic institutions. Environmental theology is
and inequalities and ecological destruction. closely connected to the emergence and develop-
– Numerous contributions to applied ethics on ment of environmental science, and it contributes
environmental themes such as climate change, dynamically to the establishment of the “environ-
biodiversity, and animal ethics. mental humanities” which organize themselves at
– Discourse on an ecological biblical hermeneu- present in order to achieve a better balance of
tics, for example, in the context of the Earth faculties in environmental science. The contribu-
Bible series. tions from environmental theology to the dis-
– Reconstructive work on the ecological ambi- course on science and religion are therefore not
guities and wisdom embedded in particular mainly interested in ontological or epistemolog-
Christian traditions (e.g., the Franciscan ical questions but formulate critical perspectives
tradition). to the ethics of science and to its sociopolitical
– Theological reflection on Christian beliefs and significance as either life-destructive or life-
symbols (e.g., within the context of the Chris- enhancing scholarly practice. Environmental the-
tian Faith and the Earth project). ology contributes – by operating with a central
– Theological reflection on liturgical renewal, idea of the intrinsic value of life and ecojustice –
for example, on the celebration of a “Season to the ongoing transformation of science as
of Creation”. a human rational practice for the best of both
– Reflections on a wide variety of Christian man/woman and nature.
earthkeeping projects, missionary endeavors,
and the greening of Christian institutions.
It is striking that such discourses remain some- Sources of Authority
what disjointed from one another and that the
methodological differences between the various Environmental theology is still a young discipline
theological subdisciplines remain unresolved in in its dynamic development, where an increasing
this context. number of committed scholars on different con-
tinents are contributing to its rapid growth and
scientifical and public progress. Some important
Relevance to Science and Religion scholars have been mentioned above. Following
the advancing institutional structuration of the
While the discourse about “science and religion” field, one should mention Mary C. Grey, Celia
has prioritized “big science” as a dialogue Deane Drummond (Deane-Drummond 2008),
partner – and neglected environmental science and Sigurd Bergmann in Europe; Heather Eaton,
and also technology – and while it only to Larry Rasmussen, John Cobb, and Dieter Hessel
a limited degree has included reflections about in North America; Denis Edwards and Norman
the ethics of science and the power alliances of Habel in Australia; and Ernst Conradie in South
science with other social institutions, environ- Africa (Conradie 2006). The World Council of
mental theology is driven by the ethical problems Churches has furthermore offered a significant
that arise when science is applied to nature. international arena to develop environmental the-
Sometimes big science has been used to develop ology. With regard to the broader field of the
a theological vision that makes use of science to study of religion and the environment, one should
develop an ecological moral to the story of evo- also mention Mary E. Tucker and Bron Taylor in
lution. While classical natural science has been the USA who have established influential aca-
driven by anthropocentric interests to use nature demic bodies. Both the European Forum for the
for humanity’s sake, environmental science cer- Study of Religion and the Environment and the
tainly contains methods and insights from science International Society for Religion, Nature and
but applies these with a higher ethical Culture arrange regular thematic events which
are published, and a couple of journals, such as church has interpreted man/woman as a “micro-
“Worldviews,” are prioritizing reflections from cosm” of the whole creation and a “mediator”
environmental theology. The former journal between the Creator and all creatures. Environ-
“Ecotheology” has been taken over in 2007 mental theology rejects that this implies
by the International Journal for the Study of a superiority of humans over other beings.
Religion, Nature and Culture.
Life and Death
Life is not a commodity but a gift; life includes
Ethical Principles death as a natural component.
E
The main ethical principles for all academic disci- Reality
plines are of course valid also for environmental As all that exists is connected to God, also reality
theology. Furthermore the respect for the intrinsic in its manifold is sacred.
value of nature and life generates a self-critical
perspective which runs through all investigations Knowledge
of the discipline. The concept of ecojustice/envi- According to the classical apophatic tradition,
ronmental justice, which expands the concept of knowledge about God can never encompass the
justice from the human to the ecological sphere, is nature of God but only the God who acts. Only
deeply and widely explored in the discourse of human experiences with God in nature can be
environmental ethics, and ecotheologians have studied. Ecotheologians use a broad range of
contributed with significant perspectives about scientific epistemological concepts from the
how such a concept is rooted in deeper cultural humanities, social sciences, cultural studies, life
and religious beliefs. Other ethical concepts have sciences, and environmental science.
been investigated such as feminist ethics, dis-
course ethics, and virtue ethics, and recently, cli- Truth
mate ethics and animal ethics have been explored Truth appears as an approximation of insights
extensively by ecotheologians. into the interplay of religious belief systems and
environmental practices and ideologies.
Key Values Perception

The perception of the environment is an essential
The increase of human self-critical consciousness human skill which underlies all thinking and act-
about his/her interactions with nature, where the ing in, with, and through nature. Environmental
human skills are interpreted in the light of faith in theology has in its beginning mainly dealt with
the triune Creator, a belief that relativizes all total cognitive and moral dimensions of the human-
power claims of humans as rulers over nature. nature interplay but explores in its later history
also the aesthetical dimension through studies
of imaginations, artifacts, perceptions, and
Conceptualization awareness.
Nature/World Time
Nature/world is perceived as creation. In its ori- Time and space are central categories of the
gin and development as well as in its perishabil- human conceptualization of nature and the envi-
ity, it exists out of its relation to God. ronment. Environmental theologians have criti-
cized reductionist understandings of time as
Human Being crucial for anthropocentric and instrumentalist
According to the biblical story, man/woman has worldviews, and they emphasized the entangle-
been created as “the image of God.” The old ment of different time modes in deep
understanding of sustainability. The significance worldviews and values in late modernity. As eco-
of space has been accentuated by “theology in its logical worldviews develop belief in the earth as
spatial turn,” where environmental theologians one common animated space, also concepts of
have overcome Newtonian concepts with reflec- space are at core in environmental theology
tions about lived space which unites physical, which investigates how images of nature, space,
social, and imagined space. Concepts of both and the sacred interact.
time and space have been investigated in their
embedment in religious beliefs.
Cross-References
Consciousness
Consciousness is a central term in psychology ▶ Animal Theology and Ethics
and neuroscience, which as such is not dealt ▶ Bioethics in Christianity
with extensively in environmental theology. ▶ Body
▶ Christian Cosmology
Rationality/Reason ▶ Christian Ethics
Concepts of reason and rationality belong to the ▶ Creator – Co-creator
central parts of the Western self-understanding ▶ Ecology in Islam
through the ages. As environmental theology ▶ Ecology in Judaism
also includes the philosophy of religion, it inves- ▶ Feminist Philosophy of Religion
tigates also how concepts of reason are ▶ Liberation, Theology of
transformed by ecological worldviews. Espe- ▶ Worldview
cially ecofeminist theologians have reflected
about how images of gender and images of nature
affect concepts of rationality, and how rationality References
not at all can be understood in an universalistic
Altner, G. (1991). Naturvergessenheit: Die Grundlagen
way but must be analyzed in its contextual
einer umfassenden Bioethik. Darmstadt:
(including natural and cultural) embeddings. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Primavesi, A. (2000). Sacred Gaia. London/New York:
Mystery Routledge (Foreword by J. Lovelock).
Bergmann, S. (2005). Creation set free: The Spirit as
The term “mystery” emerges in religious contexts,
liberator of nature, (Sacra Doctrina: Christian theol-
and is also frequently at work in different ogy for a postmodern age 4). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
approaches of environmental theology. In the dia- (German ed. 1995, Russian ed. 1999).
logue between science and religion, it can help to Boff, L. (1995). Ecology: Cry of the Earth, cry of the poor.
New York: Orbis.
express common attitudes to nature which one can
Conradie, E. (2006). Christianity and ecological theology:
never fully but only partially analyze. Mystery Resources for further research. Stellenbosch: Sun
further appears in combination with other terms Press.
such as wisdom, the Sacred, and sacraments. Conradie, E. (2012). Creation and Salvation, Vol. 1: A
Mosaic of Selected Classic Christian Theologies, Vol. 2:
A Companion on Recent Theological Movements.
(Studies in Religion and the Environment 5 & 6),
Relevant Themes Berlin-M€ unster-Wien-Z€urich-London: LIT.
Deane-Drummond, C. (2008). Eco-theology. London:
Darton Longman and Todd.
The concept of “the Sacred” has been crucial in Eaton, H., & Lorentzen, L. A. (Eds.). (2003). Ecofeminism
the invention of modern sociology as well as the & globalization: Exploring culture, context, and
history of religion. Environmental theology uses religion. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield.
the notion to analyze what people regard as Hallman, D. G. (1994). Ecotheology: Voices from South
and North. Geneva/Maryknoll: WCC/Orbis.
sacred and how these images relate to religion
Hessel, D. T., & Ruether, R. R. (2000). Christianity and
and faith traditions. Especially the sacredness ecology: Seeking the well-being of Earth and humans.
of nature and earth seems to characterize Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Epistemology 751 E
Moltmann, J. (1985). God in creation: A new theology of structures associated with knowledge. In modern
creation and the spirit of God. SCM: London. times, the two approaches have both focused on
Ruether, R. R. (1994). Gaia and God: An ecofeminist
theology of earth healing. Harper-Collins: San Francisco. what might be called naturalistic epistemology
which further blurs the boundary between philos-
ophy and science in the area of epistemology.
Environmentalism
Discussion
▶ Ecology in Judaism
Historically, philosophy attempted to draw dis-
E
tinctions between knowledge and belief, with
knowledge associated with certainty and justifi-
Epilogue cation and belief associated with doubt and lack
of justification. In the Republic, Plato (309 BCE,
▶ Eschatology estimated) went so far as to associate knowledge
with eternal, unchanging truths about immutable
objects of knowledge (forms); Plato associated
beliefs with the world of change, perception,
Epistemology and everyday experience. Much of Plato’s epis-
temology did not survive classical times, but the
J. Michael Spector association of knowledge with eternal truths and
Department of Learning Technologies, certainty persisted until the modern period. In
University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA Descartes’ (1637) Discourse on the Method,
there is the application of an early form of the
scientific method to philosophical issues in an
Related Terms attempt to establish with certainty what can be
known. Descartes’ (1641) Meditations on First
Theory of knowledge Philosophy carries his method of doubt further in
an attempt that it can be established with certainty
that the self is essentially a thinking being and
Definition that the existence of God can be demonstrated
with certainty.
Epistemology is an academic discipline and area It is perhaps ironic that Descartes’ (1637)
of inquiry within both philosophy and psychol- method of doubt ultimately led to a fundamental
ogy. As a result, epistemology holds a vitally shift in philosophical epistemological away from
important place in the boundaries between the deduction a priori methods (logic aimed at
sciences and the humanities. Accordingly, epis- establishing conclusions with certainty) to what
temology is the central focal concern within the can be called naturalistic epistemology, which is
philosophy of science. Broadly defined, episte- an approach to use scientific methods to examine
mology is the study of knowledge, including the the sources and structures of knowledge. In nat-
nature of knowledge, the sources of knowledge, uralistic epistemology, there is no longer a strong
the structure of knowledge, and the limits to distinction between beliefs and knowledge. On
knowledge. On the side of philosophy, the the philosophical side of naturalistic epistemol-
emphasis has historically been on the limits ogy, one will find ongoing attempts to map out
of knowledge and how it might be distinguished the boundaries between sense and nonsense –
from belief and opinion. On the side of a mainstream philosophical enterprise – based
psychology, the emphasis has been on the on findings in psychology. On the psychology
development of knowledge and cognitive side of epistemology, one will find scholars
E 752 Epistemology
addressing questions about (a) the sources of become a critical aspect of a belief or knowledge
belief and knowledge (e.g., perception, habits, network.
etc.), and (b) the structure of knowledge and In naturalistic epistemology, the process of
belief networks (e.g., mental models, schema, coming to know receives as much or perhaps
etc.). Happily, there is a fair amount of interaction more attention than discrete bits of knowledge
between philosophers and psychologists, which that might result from learning and experience.
suggests that epistemology will remain a viable In educational research that draws on epistemol-
and important area of inquiry indefinitely. ogy, this is evident in the emphasis now placed on
Traditional epistemology approached these collaboration, interactions with peers, motiva-
questions using deductive methods and with tion, and self-regulation. Naturalistic epistemol-
a prior notions of the nature of knowledge (e.g., ogy humanizes knowledge, which is no longer
knowledge involves certainty), the sources of viewed as something possessed by an elite
knowledge (e.g., valid deductive arguments and group of scholars. Everyone comes to know and
perhaps direct and immediate perceptions), and believe a variety of things. Not all beliefs are
structure of knowledge (e.g., knowledge struc- equally well justified or equally acceptable, but
tures are based on undeniable truths). everyone has beliefs, and how they are developed
and how they change is of interest to naturalistic
epistemologists. Naturalistic epistemology pro-
Naturalistic Epistemology vides a basis for the examination and evaluation
of controversial beliefs: (a) Does a particular
Naturalistic epistemology embraces a scientific knowledge claim fit well with other beliefs pre-
approach when exploring questions about the viously accepted claims? (b) Can the person mak-
theory and nature of knowledge (Spector 2012). ing the claim produce and/or reproduce evidence
For example, epistemologists investigating the in support of the claim? (d) Is there a reasonable
nature of knowledge look at what people in fact cognitive basis for accepting a particular claim
accept as well founded and reliable rather than made by a person?
restrict knowledge to that which is absolutely Historically, the success of the scientific
certainty (e.g., mathematical knowledge). When method roughly coincided with a shift in emphasis
investigating sources of knowledge, epistemolo- within philosophy from metaphysics (what kinds
gists are likely to examine what people actually of things exist?) to epistemology (what kinds of
use and report using as sources rather than be things can we know?). A subsequent shift from
constrained to deductive argumentation. When deductive to naturalistic epistemology occurred
considering the structure of knowledge, episte- as more was being learned about human cognitive
mologists are likely to consider groups of beliefs and noncognitive processes (Kim & Pekrun, in
and their interconnections rather than focusing on press). While philosophy was reacting to changes
a few undeniable axioms of truth (Quine 1992; in the role and prominence of science and in par-
Quine and Ullian 1978). ticular psychology, there has been a resulting influ-
In naturalistic epistemology, there is primary ence of naturalistic epistemology on science and
emphasis on knowledge development and the psychology. Kuhn (1996) basically argues that
formation of beliefs (Kornblith 1994; Spector epistemology (the philosophy of science) grounds
2012). Knowledge is now viewed as something all science. More recently, the concept of a web of
that can and does change, both within the indi- belief (Quine and Ullian 1978) is a key concern
vidual knowing subject and within a community with many cognitive scientists and learning
of believers. Knowledge is no longer about fixed researchers investigating how individuals and
object. However, beliefs that comprise a body of groups form beliefs and how those beliefs change
knowledge are still viewed and critiqued as more over time and through experience. Quine &
or less well justified, and the interrelationships Ullian’s view is that beliefs change as a whole –
and interdependencies among a set of beliefs it is an individual’s entire belief network that one
Epistemology 753 E
brings to an experience rather than a single belief. inquiry from other domains (such as religion,
This constructivist perspective is even evident in politics, and esthetics). There are probably other
Wittgenstein’s (1922) Tractatus when he remarks legitimate perspectives as well. It is likely that
that the world of the happy man is not the same as a humanistic epistemological perspective can be
that of the unhappy man and that our beliefs wax elaborated that helps everyone develop critical
and wane as a whole. reasoning skills and serves to frame discussions
There are two critical foundations for natural- about important social issues (e.g., distinguishing
istic epistemological. First, there is the widely creationism from evolution, framing the abortion
held view that people construct internal represen- debate, reconciling individual responsibility and
tations to make sense of new experiences and national policy).
E
unusual phenomena. Understanding how these The fundamental thread underlying a natural-
internal representations form and shape beliefs istic approach to epistemology is that the focus
and knowledge is a core area of investigation in should be on how people in fact form and change
epistemology; this also happens to be a key con- their beliefs, how belief networks evolve, and
cern for learning psychologists and educational what cognitive, noncognitive, and social factors
researchers. As Wittgenstein (1922) stated, we influence beliefs and knowledge development.
picture facts to ourselves – we create internal Within epistemology broadly considered, there
representations in response to and in order to are a number of open questions. For example,
make sense of our experiences; cognitive psy- there is an ongoing debate with regard to the
chologists call these internal representations sources of knowledge – the internalism/external-
mental models, schema, and scripts. The second ism debate. The basic question in this controversy
important foundation concerns language. Not is whether a chain of beliefs must be grounded on
only do we create internal representations that or linked in some to an internal mental state or an
no one ever directly observes in order to make external state of affairs (or both) in order to be
sense of an experience, we talk about these rep- considered well justified. While some epistemol-
resentations (and many others things as well). ogists come down on one side or the other, it
There are what Wittgenstein (1953) would call should be noted that many naturalists do not
language games associated with the discussion of take sides; rather, they change the question into
mental models, schema, and other hidden internal something more pragmatic, such as what is
mental states. These two foundations will be rec- required for a particular belief or set of beliefs
ognized as the foundation of social constructiv- to be considered reliable and useful to
ism by many, which further emphasize the notion a community of practice?
that philosophy does shape and influence both the A second area of investigation in epistemol-
natural and social sciences as Kuhn (1996) and ogy concerns the nature and status of a priori
many others have argued. beliefs. Are there beliefs that can be considered
well justified that are not related in some way to
human experience? Those who might be called
Important and Open Questions pure empiricists would insist on the notion that all
belief and knowledge are based on and proceed
There are alternative perspectives about episte- from experience. However, when one examines
mology and many open questions. Alternative how people actually come to form beliefs and
perspectives include: (a) philosophical episte- expectations, many naturalists have noticed that
mology should be distinguished from psycholog- a priori beliefs apparently can and do play a role
ical epistemology and remained focused on the in expanding what one (or a community) knows
philosophical questions concerning the nature of or relating what one has learned to something else
truth and certainty; and (b) philosophical episte- one believes (Goldman 1986).
mology should focus on the philosophy of sci- A third area of investigation in epistemology
ence and continue to help differentiate scientific concerns the problem of induction which is
E 754 Epistemology, Evolutionary
regarded as the fundamental way in which we References

learn about the world. While deductive methods,
when correctly applied, result in certainty, Descartes, R. (1637, 1983). Discours de la méthode
[Republished in Oeuvres De Descartes, Eds.
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the inductive method. For example, suppose the Philosophy [translated by John Cottingham].
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
induction is of this form: 90% of the randomly
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(2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
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ways. But where is the evidence to support this Plato (380, BCE, estimated). Republic. In J. M. Cooper,
unstated premise? Indeed, because it is a claim (Ed.), (1997) Plato: Complete works. Indianapolis, IN:
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about the future, the evidence does not exist.
Quine, W. V. O. (1992). Pursuit of truth (revised ed.).
One naturalistic way around this dilemma is to Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
simply argue that humans do in fact apply or Quine, W. V. O., & Ullian, J. S. (1978). The web of belief
accept this unstated premise and have been (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Random House.
Spector, J. M. (2012). Naturalistic epistemology. In
doing so for a long time; perhaps it is even our
N. M. Seel (Ed.), The encyclopedia of the sciences of
nature to apply some kind of basic probabilistic learning. New York: Springer.
sense about the association of events; perhaps, Wittgenstein, L. (1922). Tractatus logico-philosophicus
there is an evolutionary advantage to holding the (trans: C. K. Ogden). London, UK: Routledge &
Kegan Paul.
view that the future will resemble the past. Is this
Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical investigations
a claim that can be empirically investigated? The (trans: G. E. M. Anscombe). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
answer is not all that clear.
Epistemology as practiced in the twenty-first
century emphasizes how people come to believe
and form their beliefs. The concept of a learning Epistemology, Evolutionary
community associated with social constructivism
is widely accepted among most epistemologists. Neil Spurway
The notion of language games and communities University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
of discourse and practice are closely associated
with modern naturalistic epistemology and the
emphasis on practical norms and reliability of Description
beliefs (Wittgenstein 1953).
If we accept that, at the level of immediate
causes, human beings are as totally the products
Cross-References of ▶ evolution as any other living forms, many
traditional philosophical questions must be radi-
▶ Coherentism cally reconsidered. The assessment of the nature
▶ Naturalism of human knowledge is a major case in point.
▶ Philosophy of Science Evolutionary ▶ epistemology (EE) is the working
▶ Social Constructivism out of such an assessment, starting on the basis that
Epistemology, Evolutionary 755 E
not only our bodies in all their features – including Similar arguments apply to brains. Much of
sensory and nervous systems – but also mental the detail is highly technical, but some points are
functions are wholly the products of ▶ natural easily understood. For instance, in human beings,
selection on the surface of this earth. the areas of the ▶ sensory cortex devoted to
thumb and finger tips, and to lips, are much larger
The Biological Aspect than those to limbs and trunk – the relevant factor
The evolutionary viewpoint provides a perspec- being the importance of tactile discrimination in
tive on the limitations of our sensory and mental the respective body parts, not their own surface
capacities and yet, simultaneously, an assurance area. Nor should it be assumed that the mecha-
that the judgments we make about the material nisms determining innervation density are
E
world are reasonably reliable. Considering sen- entirely genetic. A fetus at about three-quarter
sory functions first, our eyes can detect only term has far more nerve ▶ synapses, sensory
a narrow range of the electromagnetic spectrum, and motor, than it will have a year or two later:
yet it is a range to which most material objects extensive ▶ perinatal elimination of less useful
which we might wish either to avoid or grasp are synapses occurs in parallel with reinforcement of
opaque, so we can see them by utilizing this others (Edelman 1987). Such selective shaping of
waveband. Also, our brightness sensitivity self- the nervous system by the environment is accom-
adjusts over a range of about 108, and when plished very rapidly compared with the geologi-
maximally dark-adapted, our vision reaches the cal timescale of the genome’s evolution. “The
ultimate physical limit, one photon being suffi- Darwinism of synapses replaces the Darwinism
cient to excite a rod. For hearing, there is no of genes” (J-P Changeux) and occurs much faster.
similarly absolute physical limit, but we can However, whichever the mechanism of selection,
hear sounds sufficient to vibrate our eardrums we may conclude that, within the limits of feasi-
just 1/10th the diameter of a hydrogen atom – bility, both the information captured and the data-
yet only in a frequency range safely above those processing capacity applied to it are biologically
of body noises, which otherwise would deafen us. determined by their cost/benefit ratio. Looking
On the other hand, predatory birds which hunt back to the previous quotation from Lorenz, not
from many metres above the ground have higher just our physical but our mental “organs” – our
visual acuity, many animals can hear higher fre- capacities to undertake particular forms of
quencies, our touch and smell capacities fall far thought and formulate particular kinds of concept
short of those in species to which one or other of – have been selected by their contributions to our
these sensory modes matters more, and we have ancestors’ survival and reproduction.
no capacity to detect electrical signals as some The fundamental driving force behind this fact
fish do, the polarization of light like some insects, was put “crudely but graphically” by Simpson
etc. Electrical signals are the sequence of electri- (1963): “The monkey who did not have
cal impulses generated and transmitted by neuro- a realistic perception of the tree branch he jumped
nal populations, which as a whole, at systemic for was soon a dead monkey – and therefore did
level, are considered synonyms of EGG and/or not become one of our ancestors.” It is no longer
EPs. What determines the capacities each species thought that monkeys, sensu strictu, are direct
has? The inescapable constraint is, of course, evolutionary precursors of human beings, but
physical feasibility: an X-ray eye will never be Simpson’s comment can be read with no loss of
more than a fictional concept. Within what is impact in terms of the common precursor of
physically possible, however, the determining Homo sapiens and modern monkeys. Further-
influence has been the evolutionary cost/benefit more, what is true of spatial and other physical
ratio. “We have developed ‘organs’ only for judgments must, from a Darwinian standpoint, be
those aspects of reality for which, in the interests true of biological and social judgments also. The
of survival, it was imperative for our species to consequences of being wrong would in many
take account” (Lorenz 1977). cases have been fatal, and in all others, they
would have been failure to thrive in the compet- of our concepts of the world: it makes sense of
itive world. But we have survived, and emerged common sense! Proponents of EE contend that
from a network of ancestors who all survived, so no other philosophical stance justifies such
our social dispositions have, over the course of confidence.
history, been on balance valuable, and our objec- Readers with any knowledge of the history of
tive concepts highly trustworthy. Of course, we philosophy will by this point have perceived that
are not born with detailed knowledge of our indi- EE represents a distinctive position in relation to
vidual environments, let alone anticipation of the the debate, extending from Plato to the present,
uncountable number of events which will occur about the existence or otherwise of innate ideas.
in a given life. What is conveyed in our DNA, and Empiricists, of whom probably the most extreme
more finely tuned by synaptic competition, is was Locke, have always denied that we have such
responsiveness to particular forms of regularity ideas – the mind of a newborn baby is, to them,
in our environments – initially, in the evolution of “tabula rasa,” a clean slate. The opposite school,
the species, the physical environment; later, broadly classed as Idealists, has maintained that
increasingly the social one. An example of the we perceive the world in terms of ideal concepts
first kind is that nervous systems are not with which we are born. The earliest fully
predisposed to judge the leap to a particular recorded version of this stance is that of Plato.
branch but to make spatial judgments generally. But Darwin himself commented in his notebooks:
An instance of the second kind is that the brains “Plato says in Phaedo, that our imaginary ideas
of human infants are not adapted to the learning arise from the pre-existence of the soul, are not
of German in one child and Chinese in another derivable from experience. Read monkeys for
but in each to the learning of language generally. pre-existence!” Before this, he had already said,
However, the extraordinary speed with which we “He who understands baboon would do more
do learn the language(s) heard all around us in our towards metaphysics than Locke.”
early years must give the strongest indication to An account of innate ideas more acceptable to
any doubter that the propensity for such learning the relatively modern mind was that of Kant. For
is, indeed, inborn. him, concepts such as of space and time (concepts
fundamental to Newtonian physics) are pos-
The Philosophical Aspect: Part 1: sessed by us a priori: they are not products of
Fundamentals our personal experience but instead are the basics
Simpson continued from his comment on the in terms of which we interpret all experience. Yet
tree-dwelling monkey: “Our perceptions do give this has the unhappy consequence that, as we can
true, though not complete, representations of the never assess the world without these a priori con-
outer world because that was and is biologically cepts, we can never know if they are right. Nor
necessary, built into us by natural selection. If it can Kant’s approach explain how such concepts
were not so, we would not be here!” By the same arose. William James, at the turn of the twentieth
token, we may add that not only perception but century, and more recently and consistently
also many aspects of conception must be reason- Konrad Lorenz, argued that they are not mysteri-
ably accurate. Competition searchingly tests ous but products of natural selection – and con-
those concepts which have direct survival conse- sequently trustworthy: if not perfectly correct,
quences, though not those for which this is not the they are pretty sound: “In the early years of the
case. Some of the latter category will be consid- Second World War, when by coincidence he was
ered under heading “Relevant Themes.” The for- a professor in Königsberg [Kant’s home city],
mer inextricably embody and imply the reality of Konrad Lorenz used Darwin’s idea about the
the world perceived – we may know that world formative role of the past to put the finishing
imperfectly, but we know it adequately for our touches to Kant. He argued that Kant’s scepti-
survival. EE therefore gives us justification for cism about what the world is really like was
cautious confidence in the approximate validity unjustified because the cognitive structure
which enables us to know what the world is like concept-forming propensities, its rate of progress
had evolved through natural selection. The rea- would be restricted to that at which DNA could
son why our minds have this particular, and no mutate – either the DNA which directly affects
other, cognitive structure . . . must be that we these propensities or that which modifies rates of
have evolved and not flown in, so to speak, from synapse change. Individuals could learn from
outer space. Our cognitive structure has been experience, but there is no evident physical
selected by and, therefore, reflects or represents, mechanism by which their learning could be
the real world” (Munz 1993). passed on faster than the mutation rate. (The
So what is inborn in the individual has arisen assumption that it could be conveyed by inheri-
by the accumulated actions of natural selection tance would be an instance of Lamarck’s mis-
E
upon countless generations of ancestors. In tech- take.) Yet the most superficial glance at the
nical biophilosophical language, such inborn pro- human world shows that individuals can transmit
pensities to form concepts are “ontogenetically their learning at rates many orders of magnitude
a priori, but phylogenetically ▶ a posteriori” faster than that of mutation. The processes
(Lorenz 1977). Thus, “The great resistance of involved are, of course, sociocultural, not mech-
the empiricists to innate knowledge is made irrel- anistically biological.
evant . . . in the form of a more encompassing Mainstream evolutionary epistemologists,
empiricism” (Campbell 1974). To take an even such as Lorenz, Campbell, and Vollmer, regarded
broader view: “From the perspective of biology, each actual concept we form on the basis of our
knowledge . . . is a form of self-reference.... The inherited propensities as a hypothesis about the
knower is part of the known, and has been shaped world: “hypothetical realism” is the label given to
by what is known. The reflector reflects, more or the resultant epistemological stance. These
less adequately, because it is itself part of what is “hypotheses” are, of course, challenged by our
being reflected. The biological perspective, there- encounter with our surroundings, and where they
fore, provides an assurance that the reflector is prove unfruitful, either we shall be eliminated (if
adequate and also explains at the same time how they have drastic short-term consequences) or
it has been shaped by natural selection to be we, as conscious beings, will eliminate them in
adequate” (Munz 1993). Again: “. . . the impres- favor of alternative hypotheses which will in turn
sive order in nature is not, as has been claimed by be put to experiential test.
idealistic philosophy, a product of our thinking An even more eminent philosopher, Popper,
and imagination.., on the contrary, human although only fully espousing Darwinism quite
thought itself is a product of the emerging order late in his intellectual life and never using the
in nature” (Wuketis 1984). term “hypothetical realism,” took what was
One more instance is the inveterate human effectively this idea forward to form the basis
disposition toward generalization and induction. of his mature philosophy of sophisticated knowl-
Hume pointed out that induction can be justified edge and particularly of science. Although
only psychologically, not logically, but EE asserting the consistency of knowledge growth
explains why we all have this psychological “from the amoeba to Einstein” and regularly
drive: living beings can only adapt to consistent referring to his viewpoint by the label “EE,”
features of the world, but it is imperative for their Popper (e.g., 1972) had little concern with the
survival that they do so adapt: conscious beings biological history, or the mechanisms, of natural
must therefore have the propensity to look for selection. His chief interest remained, as it had
such consistencies. always been, the process of successive “conjec-
tures and refutations” by which knowledge
The Philosophical Aspect – Part 2: Exploratory advances in human societies. This is an aspect
Knowledge of the contention, sustained throughout his writ-
If human understanding were limited to that ing, that hypotheses can never be proved but
which could be directly derived through innate should instead be so stated that they make
specific predictions vulnerable to challenge; their comprehension patterns on the world which it
success, if these predictions are not refuted, is experiences. Random “conjecture” and the risk
merely that they have for the time being evaded of refutation are thus the picture of all learning in
disproof. This is analogous to natural selection, EE – slowly, through the evolutionary elimina-
but the mechanism is different. Of the other tion of less appropriate “conjectures,” among
authors cited, only Campbell passim and Munz, organisms without conscious thought (EEM),
in much of his writing, have had in mind this and much more rapidly, within the individual,
conscious level of conjecture and potential refu- where the effectiveness of a conjecture can be
tation when they used the term “EE.” From consciously assessed (EET).
Darwin, through James and Lorenz to Vollmer
(1984) (other authors cited by Campbell 1974) Justified and Practically-Effective Belief
the earlier, biological processes, affecting the The core of mainstream epistemology is a search
unconscious propensity to form basic concepts for the characteristics of justified, true belief. It
and the selection of the better ones by preferential has therefore, as Bradie (2004) stresses, been less
survival, not the highly conscious formulation concerned to describe the processes of knowl-
and frequently rapid, purely mental rejection of edge acquisition and concept formation than to
sophisticated ones, is what “EE” refers to. Each is prescribe how these activities should be under-
a valid meaning, but they should not be confused. taken for their outcome to be trusted. EE is
Bradie (e.g., 2004) has distinguished them by the equally concerned with justification but looks to
labels “EEM” and “EET,” respectively. the fact of concept survival to provide it rather
Nonetheless a final, but highly important, than to the method by which the concepts were
point must be that in neither mode of learning is arrived at. And it regards the beliefs so justified,
a model of the external world considered to be not as ever being certainly true but as being
imposed on the living entity by that world. Uni- “well-formed and reliable hypotheses” (Tomas
cellular and other simple organisms do not even Hançil) – reliable, that is, in making our practical
have body systems which could learn this way, way in the world. Thus, EE (with emphasis on
yet by natural selection, they become increas- EEM) offers strong grounds, independent of tra-
ingly adapted to the world over evolutionary ditional philosophical speculations, for believing
time and so may be regarded as having acquired that the world we sense is objectively real, that
information about it. They have done so by our fundamental concepts of it approximate use-
“random mutation and selective retention” fully to that reality, and that we can gradually
(Campbell). This of course is not epistemology, extend those concepts in the direction of
but the learning processes which are within the yet better understanding by formulating our con-
province of epistemology are considered to be jectures tightly enough that they can be subject to
contiguous with such primitive learning. Animals experiential test – ideally, by direct experiment
with nervous systems, to which the concept of an (EET).
epistemology begins to become applicable, might Among philosophers who are in the main-
more reasonably be thought to acquire informa- stream yet sympathetic to the evolutionary
tion receptively by the action of the outside world approach, the most common challenge is to the
upon the individual. However, it is argued that radical version of EET upheld by Popper and
such a concept tacitly pictures the world as Campbell. This challenge concerns their conten-
consisting of discrete bits of information, which tion (designated “Thesis Darwinism” by Nicolas
could be picked up by passive response or pains- Rescher) that human hypothesis generation is
taking observation. Yet the world “is not labeled” initially completely random, albeit that a large
(Edelman), and the radical evolutionary episte- percentage of our hypotheses are rejected as
mologist contends that such passive information soon as we are aware of them. Such a claim
acquisition never happens. Instead, the “labeling” may soon become susceptible to empirical test
is done by the organism, imposing its by the developing techniques of cognitive
psychology. Meanwhile, Michael Ruse charac- evolutionary challenge as physical ones. Yet this
terizes it as a “disanalogy” between biological surely departs from the principles of EE? Never-
variation (which seems truly random) and theless, Van Huyssteen (2006) urged that “. . . for
hypothesis formation. Philosophical critics such theologians the following should be true: if we
as Rescher and Ruse argue, and almost all prac- take the theory of evolution seriously, we should
ticing intellectuals, scientific, and otherwise take evolutionary epistemology seriously,” and
would agree, that only hypotheses which appear “. . . it would be a serious mistake to think
to have some prospect of success are ever formu- that . . . one could conceive of an epistemology
lated, though the subsequent selection processes independently of biology.” In turn, Spurway
are as radically refutational and Darwinian as (2009), while endorsing these sentiments, ques-
E
Lorenz, Vollmer, and all other evolutionary epis- tions whether van Huyssteen has in fact followed
temologists have steadfastly maintained. through the theological implications of EE radi-
cally enough. He argues that the more metaphys-
ical and other worldly theological contentions
Self-identification have never been, and can never be, subject to the
reality checks which justify our trust in the utility
EE is a philosophical position based upon science. of physical world concepts, and so must be viewed
with the greatest caution and restraint. See also
section “Relevant Themes”.
Characteristics
EE offers the only understanding of human Sources of Authority

knowledge which takes its origin from the stand-
point that human beings are products of evolution The primary authority of EE is rational argument;
by natural selection. support from individuals must, by its nature, be of
secondary account. Nevertheless, the fact that
Darwin himself was clearly thinking along such
Relevance to Science and Religion lines (as indicated by the two notebook quotations
in section “The Philosophical Aspect: Part 1:
EE is clearly compatible with simplistically nat- Fundamentals”) encourages those inclined toward
uralistic thought and thus with an atheistic view such a position. The subsequent commitments
of the world. However, if one holds a concept of of such great figures as James (psychology),
different levels of causation, operating in parallel Lorenz (ethology), and Popper (philosophy)
upon the same observed phenomena, such reinforces this.
a conclusion need not follow. Sympathetic explo-
ration of the implications of EE for the science-
religion dialogue is nevertheless in its infancy. Ethical Principles
Stanesby (1985) treated the subject broadly,
suggesting that Popperian “conjecture and refuta- The ethical principle guiding EE is fearlessness
tion” (EET) was appropriate as an account of in the search for truth.
theological as well as of scientific thinking –
though, perhaps inevitably, it is less clear what
would constitute the refutation of a theological Key Values
conjecture, not concerned with this world, than
a scientific one. By contrast, Burhoe (1972), and The key value of this discipline is that evolution
more recently Tomas Hançil, contended that by natural selection should be recognized as the
human beings have access to nonphysical infor- paramount influence determining human sensory,
mation, and the resulting concepts are as subject to cognitive, and rational capacities.
Conceptualization Time
The real passage of time is a concept fundamental
Nature/World to evolution and therefore to EE.
For EE, nature has been the crucial influence on
the emergence of cognition, until supplanted very Consciousness
recently (on the evolutionary timescale) by orga- EE conceives consciousness as that property of
nized society. a complex brain which, inter alia, enables the
individual to advance his/her understanding by
Human Being making repeated conjectures and, in comparing
It is of the essence of EE that human being is their predictions with experience, subjecting
a state inextricably and totally integrated with them to potential refutation.
that of all other organic life.
Rationality/Reason
Life and Death Rationality, for EE, is that process of analysis of
Life is conceptualized within EE as wholly concepts and their implications which, though in
a product of natural selection, operating on ran- itself abstract, brings to bear a set of criteria
dom changes originating at the molecular genetic honed by natural selection, over the period of
level. evolution during which consciousness has
existed, to tally with experience of the world.
Reality
Reality for EE is all that of which we are a part, Mystery
with which we can in principle interact directly or EE has no specific concept of mystery but seeks
indirectly, and which we can know by observa- to explain many aspects of human cognition
tion or deduction. which would otherwise be mysterious, such as
the universal disposition toward induction and
Knowledge why many of our practical concepts fit the world
Knowledge, though never perfect, always has so well, by the operation of natural selection.
some degree of adequacy as a contribution to
survival. It takes two forms: implicit knowledge
of (some region of) the world, embodied in the Relevant Themes
physical structures of every living form, and
explicit knowledge, held in the minds of It is of the essence of scientific method to subject
advanced animals and humans. Both forms are explanatory conjectures about the world to poten-
considered to be the consequences of variation tial refutation by checking their specific predic-
and selective retention. The physical variation tions (predictions which they make but rival
(EEM) is always random, but whether the con- explanations do not) against experimental or
ceptual variation (EET) is equally random is other observation (Popper 1972 et prec.). Reli-
contested. gious conjectures which are also about the world
(sooth sayings, prophecies) are in principle open
Truth to similar tests and, where they differ from scien-
Truth, for EE, is that totality of facts about the tific predictions on the same topic, are therefore
world to which we increasingly approximate as liable to result in conflict. The same may
our knowledge advances. sometimes be true of explanatory retrodictions,
such as those of creationism and intelligent
Perception design – areas in which the conflict is currently
Perception is the formation of a sensory active and intense. By contrast, religious conjec-
image of some aspect of the world in a tures about events and affairs not in this world –
conscious mind. whether in a hypothesized “other world” or
Epistemology, Reformed 761 E
“before/after” physical time – should have no Edelman, G. M. (1987). Neural Darwinism. New York:
interface with science, and thus, no basis for Basic Books.
Lorenz, K. (1977). Behind the mirror: A search for
conflict with it. a natural history of human knowledge. London:
Those comments are not specific to EE. It has, Methuen. Originally published as Die R€ uckseite des
however, recently been argued that religious con- Spiegels. Munich: Piper (1973).
cepts themselves – not their predictions but their Munz, P. (1993). Philosophical Darwinism: On the origin
of knowledge by means of natural selection. London:
claimed truth content – are vulnerable to critique Routledge.
from the standpoint of EE (Spurway 2009). This Popper, K. R. (1972). Objective knowledge: An evolution-
is because what is subject to natural selection is ary approach. Oxford: Clarendon.
behavior. Concepts of the physical world lead to Simpson, G. G. (1963). Biology and the nature of science.
Science, 139, 81–88. E
behaviors which will only be advantageous if the Spurway, N. C. (2009). Theology’s response to evolution-
concepts are highly accurate – if the monkey’s ary epistemology. In C. R. Brakenhielm (Ed.), Linaeus
space concepts are not correct to within a very and homo religiosus. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet.
small percent, it will miss the branch. From the Stanesby, D. (1985). Science, reason and religion.
London: Croom Helm.
standpoint of EE, it is precisely for this reason Van Huyssteen, J. W. (2006). Alone in the world? Grand
that we can place very considerable trust in the Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
validity of such concepts. By contrast, the behav- Vollmer, G. (1984). Mesocosm and objective knowledge.
iors promoted by religions – social bonding, mat- In F. M. Wuketits (Ed.), Concepts and approaches in
evolutionary epistemology. Dordrecht: Reidel.
ing practices, self-sacrifice for the good of the Wuketis, F. M. (1984). Evolutionary epistemology –
group, etc. – depend on the strength of the belief A challenge to science and philosophy. In F. M.
which promotes them but not on its truth (e.g., Wuketits (Ed.), Concepts and approaches in evolu-
Munz 1993). Thus, the survival of such beliefs tionary epistemology. Dordrecht: Reidel.
provides no grounds for trusting their validity,
and since there are an infinite number of ways
of being wrong but only one of being exactly
right (and probably only a very limited number Epistemology, Reformed
of ways of being nearly right), the basis for any
such trust is tenuous in the extreme. Anders Kraal
Department of Philosophy, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Cross-References
▶ Epistemology Related Terms

▶ Evolution
▶ Evolutionary Psychology Christian epistemology; Protestant epistemol-
▶ Evolutionary Theology ogy; Rationality of theistic belief; Religious
▶ Natural Selection epistemology
▶ Philosophy of Mind
Reformed epistemology – one of the most
widely discussed issues in contemporary
References Anglo-American philosophy of religion – was
Bradie, M. (2004). Naturalism and evolutionary episte-
promulgated in the early 1980s primarily by the
mologies. In I. Niiniluoto, M. Sintonen, & J. Wolenski analytic philosophers and reformed Christians
(Eds.), Handbook of epistemology. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Alvin Plantinga and Nicholas Wolterstorff,
Burhoe, R. W. (1972). Natural selection and god. Zygon, whose pioneering papers on this topic were
7, 30–63.
Campbell, D. T. (1974). Evolutionary epistemology. In
published in the anthology Faith and Rationality
P. A. Schlipp (Ed.), The philosophy of Karl Popper. La (1983). Reformed epistemology was developed
Salle, IL: Open Court. mainly as a response to the so-called evidentialist
E 762 Epistemology, Reformed
challenge to theistic belief, urged, for example, A second reason that reformed epistemolo-
by W.K. Clifford and Bertrand Russell, according gists urge for rejecting the evidentialist chal-
to which theistic beliefs such as “God exists” lenge, which brings us to the heart of reformed
cannot be rationally held without successful epistemology, consists in the claim that certain
proofs or arguments for the existence of God. theistic beliefs can, for certain people in certain
Reformed epistemologists respond to this circumstances, be properly basic. A “properly
challenge not by seeking to show that there are basic” belief is here understood as a belief that
successful arguments for the existence of God, belongs to that class of a person’s beliefs that the
although there may very well be such arguments, person is prima facie rationally entitled to hold
but by rejecting the evidentialist challenge. noninferentially and on account of their immedi-
A first reason that reformed epistemologists ateness and obviousness. The “circumstances”
give for rejecting the evidentialist challenge is spoken of are given primarily by way of example;
that it is poorly motivated. Many have motivated examples include people who upon having acted
the evidentialist challenge by appeal to some form wrongly feel guilty in God’s sight, or who when
of classical foundationalism, according to which life is sweet feel a sense of gratitude to God, or
beliefs are rationally held only if they are more or who have a sort of background awareness of
less undeniable or can be derived from beliefs that the constant presence of God, and so on (see,
are more or less undeniable. Beliefs that are more e.g., Plantinga 1983, 80–81; Alston 1983, 108).
or less undeniable have often been taken to be of People in circumstances like these will naturally
three basic sorts: self-evident beliefs, for example, form beliefs such as “God disapproves of what
the belief that “2 + 2 ¼ 4”; incorrigible beliefs, for I have done,” “God is to be thanked,” or “there is
example, “I seem to see something green”; and a God.” According to reformed epistemologists,
beliefs concerned with what is directly evident to people who in these circumstances form these
the senses, for example, the belief that “there is beliefs are prima facie rationally entitled to hold
a tree in front of you” when there is a tree in front them. The term “prima facie” is important and
of you. Reformed epistemologists reject classical indicates that the rational entitlement to hold the
foundationalism for two reasons: first, because it is beliefs at hand is open to defeaters should
self-referentially incoherent since the position is the process by which the beliefs have been
itself neither self-evident, incorrigible, or formed be shown to be defective. The general
concerned with what is directly evident to the epistemological principle underlying this posi-
senses, nor is it entailed by beliefs that are, and tion is called “the innocent-until-proved-guilty
hence does not satisfy its own criterion; and sec- principle” and is formulated by Wolterstorff as
ond, because it entails that numerous beliefs that follows: “A person is rationally justified in
are obviously rational are irrational, for example, believing a certain proposition which he does
the beliefs that “the world has existed for more believe unless he has adequate reason to cease
than five minutes,” “there are other minds,” and “I from believing it” (Wolterstorff 1983, 163).
ate cornflakes for breakfast” (supposing I ate There are various misunderstandings of
cornflakes for breakfast), none of which are self- reformed epistemology in the literature. One
evident, incorrigible, or concerned with what is misunderstanding has it that reformed epistemol-
directly evident to the senses nor derivable from ogy affirms the rational entitlement to take God’s
beliefs that are. Whether there are grounds for existence as properly basic without regard
the evidentialist challenge other than classical to specific circumstances. This is incorrect;
foundationalism remains to be seen, but until reformed epistemology affirms the rational
they are put forth, the evidentialist challenge entitlement to hold theistic beliefs as properly
remains little more than a promissory note basic only given certain circumstances
(Plantinga 1983, 62). (e.g., Wolterstorff 1983, 155; Plantinga 1983,
Epistemology, Reformed 763 E
78–82; Alston 1983, 103–105). Another misun- entities other than God. A problem with this
derstanding has it that reformed epistemology, in objection, however, is that it overlooks that
affirming the rational entitlement to take theistic reformed epistemology’s claim is that it is in
beliefs as properly basic, is taking them to be specific circumstances that it can be rational to
objects of knowledge (e.g., Zagzebski 1993, hold theistic beliefs, not that it is rational to
199–208). This is incorrect; when reformed epis- hold such beliefs without regard to circum-
temology speaks of beliefs as “justified,” it means stances. A prerequisite for rational theistic belief
not that quality which distinguishes knowledge is the existence of specific circumstances that call
from true belief but rather rational entitlement in forth theistic belief in a person as something
the sense of being within one’s epistemic rights immediate and obvious. Thus, if belief in the
E
or violating no epistemic duties. Plantinga Great Pumpkin’s existence is to be as rational as
has written much about theistic beliefs as objects theistic belief, it must be prompted by analogous
of knowledge also, most importantly in his circumstances and present itself to the prospected
Warranted Christian Belief (2000), but these believer as something immediate and obvious. It
more recent writings do not redefine reformed is far from obvious that such circumstances
epistemology but represent instead explorations obtain, however, for people do not spontaneously
of further topics. A third misunderstanding, form beliefs about the Great Pumpkin. A similar
which probably also results from confounding objection, which Plantinga calls the son of Great
Plantinga’s earlier with his more recent work, Pumpkin objection, says that the epistemological
has it that reformed epistemology presupposes principles of reformed epistemology entail
the theological doctrine of a sensus divinitatis, a radical relativism in which various suspicious
that is, a cognitive faculty supposedly inherent in communities – the voodoo community, say –
human beings by virtue of which human beings could legitimately claim that their distinctive
can sense God. This doctrine may be added to beliefs are properly basic relative to their com-
reformed epistemology as an explanation of how munity and hence can be rationally believed by
certain theistic beliefs are prompted in certain members of that community. A problem with
circumstances and has been so added, for exam- this objection, however, is that it once again
ple, by Plantinga, but reformed epistemology as overlooks that it, according to reformed episte-
such does not presuppose the truth of such expla- mology, only is in specific circumstances that
nations. The underlying epistemic principle of people can be rationally entitled to hold theistic
reformed epistemology is instead the above- beliefs. So reformed epistemology does not as
mentioned innocent-until-proved-guilty princi- such entail that voodoo practitioners can legiti-
ple; the sensus divinitatis doctrine is an optional mately claim that their distinctive beliefs are
addition to the central claims of reformed properly basic; it would only entail this if it
epistemology. were committed to holding that there are justifi-
Among objections to reformed epistemology, cation-conferring circumstances that prompt the
the so-called Great Pumpkin objection is voodoo beliefs at hand as immediate and obvious
probably the most famous one. According to and, moreover, that there are no defeaters for
this objection, the epistemological principles these beliefs. But reformed epistemology is as
that reformed epistemology draws on could just such committed to neither of these claims and,
as well be used to say that people are rationally hence, does not entail radical relativism.
entitled to believe in all sorts of bizarre entities,
say the Great Pumpkin. The claim is that if people
are rationally entitled to believe in a supernatural Cross-References
entity such as God, then they ought also to be
rationally entitled to believe in supernatural ▶ Epistemology
E 764 Equality
References
Eschatology
Alston, W. (1983). Christian experience and Christian
belief. In A. Plantinga & N. Wolterstorff (Eds.),
Gaetano Iaia
Faith and rationality: Reason and belief in god
(pp. 103–134). Notre Dame: University of Notre Seminario Permanente di Studi Storico-Filosofici
Dame Press. “Pasquale Orlando”, Pontificia Facoltà Teologica
Plantinga, A. (1983). Reason and belief in god. In dell’Italia Meridionale, sez. “S. Tommaso
A. Plantinga & N. Wolterstorff (Eds.), Faith and
d’Aquino”, Naples, Italy
rationality: Reason and belief in god (pp. 16–93).
Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Plantinga, A. (2000). Warranted Christian belief. Oxford/
New York: Oxford University Press. Related Terms
Wolterstorff, Nicholas. (1983). Can belief in god be ratio-
nal if it has no foundations? In Faith and rationality
(pp. 135–186). Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Apodosis; Consummation; Day of judgment;
Press. Death; Destiny; End; End point; Ending; Epi-
Zagzebski, L. (1993). Religious knowledge and the virtues logue; Fate; Goal; Judgment; Last days; Last
of the mind. In L. Zagzebski (Ed.), Rational faith:
things; Soteriololgy
Catholic responses to reformed epistemology
(pp. 199–225). Notre Dame: University of Notre
Dame Press.
Description
Eschatology (from the Greek eskatos, “what is at

Equality the end” or “last”) is the study of the final end of
all things and the resolution of all creation in its
Philip P. Taylor ultimate goals. In fact, the long sweep of evolu-
Department of Political Science and International tion, when studied from a theological point of
Affairs, Kennesaw State University, Atlanta view, may suggest a creation whose theological
Kennesaw, GA, USA “goodness” may be viewed as fully accomplished
only in the eschatological future. Although in the
Christian theological tradition, the eschatology
Equality is defined essentially in four ways: Equal- has a primary place, the idea of an afterlife is
ity of opportunity, equality of outcome, social present – in a greater or lesser extent – in almost
equality, and political equality. Equality of oppor- all world religions.
tunity is everyone having the same chance at a The only exception is Buddhism which, refer-
desired outcome. Equality of outcome is ensuring ring to a beginningless samsara, namely, the
that the desired result or outcome occurs. Social endless cycle of birth and death, states that it is
equality seeks to provide consistency and same- not possible to say a “starting point” of the
ness in the distribution of wealth, property, educa- universe (as well as of the individual) neither
tion, and other resources. Political equality is an end of it. In this sense, Buddhism has in
typically understood as no one individual having common with other Indian religions (particu-
greater influence or control over the government larly Induism and Jainism), the idea that the
and its ultimate use of power. universe passes through an unending series of
cycles of manifestation and non-manifestation.
Buddhism speaks of an ultimate and final end
only on the level of the individual (living) being:
Eros all the teaching of Buddha, in fact, is aimed to
provide to his followers the resources in order
▶ Love (Affective, Sexual) to definitively escape from the samsara.
Eschatology 765 E
To achieve this goal, every believer must carry eschatological realities must be avoided since
out a process of self-training that will lead it to they must be considered as “something” that hap-
a definitive enlightenment and a complete pens or occurs without any participation by the
understanding of reality as it is, the experience involved actors.
commonly known as nirvana. By replicating the Nevertheless, in the academic context, escha-
awakening of the Buddha, his followers too tology is treated quite literally and considered as
could finally escape from the painful process of an autonomous discipline which finds its place in
rebirth. the end of systematic area because it is related
Islamic tradition, on the contrary, not only both to the belief that the last things are the final
speaks extensively of death, end of the world, intervention of God in the history and to the
E
and resurrection, but, according to the Sunnite reflection on the Novissimi – death, judgment,
tradition, eschatology is directly related to one heaven, hell, and purgatory – and the final resur-
of the six fundamental articles of the Islamic faith rection, with “new heavens and new earth” that
(seven according to the Shiite tradition). The follow on from it.
Qur’an calls the end of this world (and the begin- At the center of eschatology’s concerns, there
ning of the next world) the “day of resurrection,” is not the end as such, but the end as the new
in which the living God, the Most Merciful of the creation of all things, that is to say both the
merciful, will descend in order to carry out an conclusion of God’s salvation plan – that encom-
interrogation: people will be called one by one, passes the final destiny of all things – and the
and they will be asked not what they did, but why “return” of Jesus Christ at the end of time.
they did it. Consequently, the righteous will be Consequently, three main features mark
rewarded with the pleasures of the heavenly life, eschatology. First of all, it is a reflection on the
while the unrighteous will be punished in the hell. individual and on the relationships between him
The Qur’an, using colorful depictions as well, and the others (the mankind and God). Secondly,
clearly claims that both the ultimate joys and it accounts the future in the light of the past,
sufferings, resulting from the divine judgment, characterizing itself as a theology of history
make reference to deeper realities which are aiming at understanding – even more and even
proximity to God, on the one hand, and distance better – the meaning of human actions and their
from him, on the other. not always positive outcomes. Thirdly, it regards
Christian eschatology may instead be seen as the cosmic perspective, which considers the man
a dimension inherent in all theological studies, as a part of the creation and inside it, because his
orienting them toward an analysis and an under- fate is strictly tied to it (Schwarz 2000).
standing of the God’s plan of creation and Already in the ancient Indo-European tradi-
redemption through the study of the future pros- tions is possible to recognize an abundance of
pects. This is the last (extreme, insuperable, and evidence for various beliefs about death and
definitive but also inaccessible or only partially afterlife, but it is not possible to identify an orig-
deducible) stage of the existence of individual inal belief; from an anthropological point of
beings, of the human race, and of the creation at view, the eschatological reflection stems from
all. Therefore, its main and primary task is not to the human need to create an order, giving orga-
know – in a comprehensive, descriptive, or even nization to every form of chaos. Human beings at
representative way – the afterlife or the realities a certain point of their evolution felt the need of
beyond the death. a structure, even external, in order to think of and
So considered, Eschatology cannot be defined to say about space and time.
only as the science of the afterlife: instead it is Hence, what Abraham J. Heschel called the
a daring hope, an attempt, a provisional wander- “architecture of time” – the evaluation of time as
ing, and an approach to the threshold without a substantial dimension for Jewish (and, later,
ever reaching it. Any easy materialization of Christian) thought – can be seen as an ideal
E 766 Eschatology
foundation of the conventional division of the understand where we are, we talk about the initial
time flow into measurable and structural units event (a fact we did not watch), in the same way
(Heschel 2005). we must try to define the final events, even if we
If the eskatos is the word of God that breaks will not witness them.
the silence of the human present breaking into it Subsequently, according to the Christian tra-
and stimulating a reflection on the signs of the dition, God is the Lord of all events in space and
times, which are not continuous but discrete and time; He is the Lord of creation and history.
discretizable, then it is an announcement, it is the These ones, in turn, can be considered as marked
good news that cannot be set aside considering it by the faithfulness of God to His ancient and new
as connected with a future potential and yet to promises. Furthermore, the Christian hope finds
come; rather, the eskatos must be seen as antici- an additional eschatological foundation in the
pated in the concrete instants of the present and, victory of Christ over the death: according to
for this reason, as an “invitation” to a different the Pauline literature, in the final times He will
future. gather the whole creation in one, initiating
The Old Testament is not very clear about the a novum unattainable by human forces only and,
contents of the Jewish eschatology, but it cer- at the same time, solving the unde malum ques-
tainly underlines two polarities: the expectance tion in new categories.
and the promise. In fact, Israel is the nation that The NT eschatology arises from the need to set
expects the realization of the promise made by the initial and the final boundaries of the human
God, what J. Moltmann calls the experience of experience of time, and it has a utopian feature: it
the not yet that becomes, just now, a direction to corrects the imperfect nature of human life in the
take and to follow (Moltmann 2000). In recalling here and now and allows men to hope in an age
God’s actions, Israel remembers the indefinable wherein imperfections and defects will disap-
something that makes it the chosen people and pear. Gospels frequently return to this facet,
that, at the same time, in an even more painful insisting both on the value of the present and on
way highlights its infidelities (and its betrayals) to the imminence of the end of times. The “waiting-
this promise. God sets the future: the task promise” polarity, proper of Israel, once again is
assigned to Israel is to realize – in its present – confirmed in Jesus Christ, who announces
the contents of that future. a kingdom to be waited – it surely will come in
Everything starts with the creation and will the future – but, paradoxically, already present:
end with the age (not only with the world) that choosing Jesus Christ (thus operating a decision)
is yet to come: while the Hebrew word olam in the years to come, the evoked future, just now
indicates both the “time” (more properly the can find a mode of action in the present history of
“century”) and the “world,” olam ha-bah directly every man, of the entire humanity, of whole cre-
refers to a new era that is yet to come, qualita- ation (Vorgrimler 1980).
tively other and different from the present – the In the last 50 years, the theological reflection
epoch of history – if not even its opposite. For the has emphasized the uninterrupted presence, in
Jewish tradition, God is the Lord who establishes creation, of both Christ and the Spirit – almost
an end to the world and introduces a new era; He in a foretaste of that eskaton which will find its
is the King, every believer observing the Torah full and final stage in the future. In fact, the
may receive in his own life. Nevertheless, the full meaning and the value of things in the world
realization of His kingship belongs only to Him: consist not only of what they are or have been,
the whole history is placed under the dominion but also of what they can become. The hope in the
and the judgment of the Most High. future, that the eschatology invites us to sustain,
In the Jewish tradition, the human concern for is not a wishful thinking, nor an easy expectation.
history, based upon the fact that everything has Rather, it is hoping against any hope, moving in
a beginning, finds its central point in an equally an obstinate and opposite direction compared to
strong concern for the last things: if, in order to any apparently positive result, tracking down that
Eschatology 767 E
“something” unifying all mankind in the deep of pertains to the novelty inherent in the ultimate
its own being. On a cosmic scale, the eschatolog- destiny of creatures and of all the creation: it
ical hope arises when considering all the imper- attempts to, at least stammering, answer the
fections of this world, all faults that challenge us Kantian question “What can we hope for.”
every day as well as all unfinished dimensions of In brief, three elements can be found within
our personal life. The ultimate hope is the escha- the eschatological question: the ultimate destiny
tological hope: somehow and somewhere, there of the universe (the universal element), the whole
will be a time (and, perhaps, a place or, rather, humanity (the collective element), and every
a non-place) where all the imperfections, all human being (the individual element) (Ratzinger
defects, and all unfinished things will disappear. 1977).
E
Obviously, we should not forget that the This last element is ignored by the so-called
eschatological language is a symbolic and mythic scientific eschatologies, especially the most
one, where the word myth keeps its original recent of them, which, starting from the (scien-
meaning standing for word, and then speech, tific) cosmological idea of a universe open that
recount, and narrative. will continue to cool and expand forever, claim
In this sense, along with the language on the that these characteristics will have an impact on
last things, eschatology contains a reflection on all the structures that compose it, from galaxies
the meaning of both history and the absolutely to living organism, which will vanish forever
ultimate (a valuable asset in a more and more without a trace (Polkinghorne and Welker
relativized world). 2000).
The prophecy, which is a hopeful expectation, Nevertheless, the individual element, it is
encourages the witness and then becomes indeed in the heart of the Jewish-Christian tradi-
a lifestyle. For this reason, in Christ eschatology tion which, however, is also concerned about the
becomes relationship between the human life and fate of both the elementary particles and the mac-
the eskaton in its final form as fulfillment, and not roscopic elements of the universe. However,
a mere description of the eskata. “God hath raised while the fate of the universe, when scientifically
up” him (Acts 2:24) and then He is present in the analyzed, is considered as oriented in a
Church’s life and in the life of each believer. completely deterministic way (the universe
Consequently, the here and now can only be began its growth probably with the Big Bang
opened to the future and constitutively related and will continue its course, come what may),
to it. Therefore, the eschatological thinking the Jewish-Christian tradition sees the end of all
brings together two asymmetric realities: the his- things as an initiative that arises solely from the
torical future, that is man-made, and the future will of God.
that comes, work of God. In the middle of them is In this sense, sciences can offer many signifi-
Jesus Christ, the only one who can reconcile this cant contributions to theology: biology, paleon-
asymmetry and make up the opposites. He is the tology, geology, and astronomy can in fact help
divine-human eskatos, the subject of the escha- to value both the contingency of the existing
tology and not an element of it, He is the eternal things (recalling that the created things will not
Son who has chosen to come in contact with the exist forever) and the perennial novelty of the
cosmic-human reality because he wants to take it things created in nature.
upon himself, in order to renew and heal it. Reflecting on the final perspectives of the cos-
The eschatological dimension, rather than mos, religion and science can both learn how to
a geographical one, is an historical one – giving cope with a reality that is literally beyond any
meaning to the present as it is seen projected into possible human experience. On this aspect, and
the future – and, even more, is a teleological one, without any reductionism, it is possible to state
because things will reach their end when they that, trying to explain the observable world,
achieve the purposes for which God created both religion and science make reference to an
them. The eschatological thinking, consequently, unseen world. Pursuing the ultimate description
E 768 Esotericism or Esoterism
of what is immediately visible they choose – and alchemy, Rosicrucianism, the Christian Theoso-
postulate – a world that is invisible and, at the same phy of Jacob Böhme and his followers, Illumi-
time, is the reason for which things are as they are. nism, Mesmerism and Swedenborgianism,
Spiritualism, and the theosophical currents asso-
ciated with Helena Blavatsky and her followers.
Cross-References There are competing views regarding the com-
mon traits uniting these currents, none of which
▶ Hope (Life After Death) involve “inwardness,” mystery, or secrecy as a
▶ Hope, Theology of crucial trait. Esoteric knowledge, in the non-
▶ Reality in Buddhism scholarly sense, is thus that which is available
▶ Theological Anthropology only to a narrow circle of “enlightened,” “initi-
ated,” or specially educated people.
References
Fergusson, D., & Sarot, M. (Eds.). (2000). The future as Eternal Life
God’s gift: Exploration in Christian eschatology.
Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
Heschel, A. J. (2005). The Sabbath. New York: Farrar ▶ Grace
Straus Giroux.
Moltmann, J. (2000). The future of creation: Collected
essays. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Polkinghorne, J., & Welker, M. (Eds.). (2000). The end
of the world and the ends of God: Science and Ethics
theology on eschatology. Harrisburg: Trinity Press
International. Sandra Lee Dixon
Ratzinger, J. (1977). Eschatologie – Tod und ewiges
Leben, Regensburg: Friedrich Pustet, ; (1988).
(English Trans.) Eschatology, death and eternal life, Denver, Denver, CO, USA
Washington, DC: CUA Press.
Schwarz, H. (2000). Eschatology. Eerdmans: Grand
Rapids.
Vorgrimler, H. (1980). Hoffnung auf Vollendung. Aufriss
Related Terms
der Escatologie. Freiburg: Herder.
Moral philosophy; Morality; Philosophical ethics
Ethics is a lively field of argument, exploration,

Esotericism or Esoterism and creativity that thrives today because of the
history of science and religious contention in
Catharina Stenqvist the European context and the perpetuation of alter-
Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, nate versions of a good life in cultures worldwide.
Lund University, Lund, Sweden The term “ethics” is categorized in several
characteristic ways. First, ethics can designate
actual conduct and character, and the principles,
A term with two basic meanings. In the dictionary values, and rules that people use to regulate them-
sense of the term, it signifies the holding of selves and their relationships in small social
esoteric opinions, and derives from the Greek settings or large social, economic, and political
esôterikos, meaning “within,” thus “pertaining networks. Discussion of ethics in this sense is
to the more inward,” mystic. In the scholarly often descriptive, although it may verge into
literature, the term designates a series of prescription, that is, views about what conduct
historically related religious currents including and character ought to be. In formal academic
Gnosticism, Hermetism, magic, astrology, settings, anthropology, sociology, psychology,
Ethics 769 E
and religious studies may engage in descriptive Character ethics takes Aristotle’s Nicomachean
study, although they often explicitly reject any Ethics as its preeminent reference point for
effort to prescribe what ethics should endorse. expanding on ancient Greek philosophy. Aristotle
A second category for understanding the term conceives of good character as directed toward the
“ethics” specifies the systematic and reasoned telos of a happy life. Dispensing quickly with
study of right conduct and good character as fame and wealth as happiness (Aristotle 2002,
essential elements of a good life. Ethics as I.5), Aristotle expands on the notion that happiness
elaborated in these endeavors is primarily is “activity of soul in accordance with virtue.” In
“prescriptive,” aimed at specifying what charac- this instance, virtue is the human soul’s particular
ter and conduct and their bases in thought and excellence, which is its ability to use reason prop-
E
human life should be (Korsgaard et al. 1996). erly (Aristotle 2002, I.7). Proper use of reason will
For this meaning, “moral philosophy” and “phil- guide the appetites or passions to a mean between
osophical ethics” can be used as rough synonyms, extremes. Reason thereby allows the person to
although theology and religious teachings may control the passions or appetites rather than being
also speak systematically to the good and the subject to them (Aristotle 2002, II.6). Good con-
right in individual and social human existence. duct shapes virtuous character and in turn flows
These categorizations of ethics permit three from it as a person matures (Aristotle 2002, II.2). If
limitations on the present discussion: First, ethics the soul can achieve virtue, Aristotle says, happi-
in philosophy is so broad that reflection on ethics ness and a good life can be assured, independent of
in non-European religions and philosophies chance, except in extreme conditions (Aristotle
would require a separate entry. Second, particular 2002, I.9).
codes of professional ethics are a subset of Aristotle’s writings directly influenced ethical
prescriptive ethics. An appeal to professional thought in Western Europe for several centuries
ethics alone as a justification for action is unlikely and then indirectly through other thinkers’
to satisfy the range of ethical considerations. treatises, until, by the middle of the thirteenth
Rather, professional ethics depends on the wider century, Latin translations made his own works
discussions outlined here. Third, ethics as familiar again. In the thirteenth century, Thomas
discussed here readily encompasses morals, Aquinas wove Aristotle’s ideas explicitly into
sometimes defined as specific prescriptions for moral theology in the then dominant Roman
behavior and virtue. Some writers distinguish Catholic Church (Hare 2008). Also in the medie-
between “morals” so defined and “ethics” delin- val period, Aristotle heavily influenced Muslim
eated as the conceptual bases for morals. While moral theology and encyclopedic Jewish thinkers
clarification of these aspects of thought about like Maimonides.
ethics is helpful, experts’ terminology for con- Aquinas’s theological ethics with its Aristote-
ceptual bases and actual prescriptions may vary lian structure was weakened, however, by armed
from this nomenclature. conflict between Catholic rulers of Europe and
Three standard approaches to moral philoso- Muslim powers from its south and east, violent
phy are character-oriented, teleological, and challenges to Catholic dominance during
deontological ethics. The deontological focuses the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth and
more on prescriptions of duty than on outcomes seventeenth centuries, and rise of modern
of action. The teleological emphasizes attaining science. The violence alienated many Europeans
the right goal (Greek telos) of action or character. from any religious ethics. Scholars were
Utilitarians have dominated the nineteenth- and impressed by scientific advances and sought to
twentieth-century teleological discussions of give ethics a nonreligious grounding, composed
action, while the character-oriented approach more exclusively of claims to reason. Justifica-
comprises a full field of inquiry. Character ethics tion of ethical prescriptions by appeals to the
may also be referred to as “aretaic” ethics from authority of the ancients and biblical revelation
the Greek aretē, meaning excellence. was undermined.
E 770 Ethics
One response to the chaos of the sixteenth and Jeremy Bentham around the turn of the
seventeenth centuries was the deontology of nineteenth century, and his friend’s son John
Immanuel Kant, the eighteenth-century Prussian Stuart Mill, author of Utilitarianism. Mill makes
philosopher with whom twenty-first-century a case for the principle of utility as the basis for
philosophers must still contend. Kant is best all further moral judgments. He presents the util-
known in ethics for his “categorical imperative,” itarian movement as holding that conduct is right
his formulation of a command that applies no as it tends to promote pleasure and minimize
matter what else must be considered: “Act only pain, when moral reflection accounts for the larg-
according to that maxim by which you can at the est number of sentient beings affected by the
same time will that it should become a universal action. He insists on utilitarianism’s accordance
law” (Kant 1785, p. 38 [421]). Kant appears to with biblical teachings, without letting any reli-
believe that careful examination of the ideas so gion displace utilitarianism as the ground for
stated yields a second form of the same impera- ethics (Mill 1861, ch. 2). Although utilitarians
tive: “Act so that you treat humanity, whether in often note that pleasures and pains can vary and
your own person or in that of another, always as philosophers disagree about whether to maximize
an end and never as a means only” (p. 46 [429]). goods different from pleasure, utilitarian reason-
Briefly recapitulated, the second form enjoins us ing today has major philosophical proponents,
to weigh our proposed actions against the consid- like Peter Singer (Singer 2002).
eration that every person is a worthy aim of Philosophers arguing for deontological or
action, is someone whose well-being is worth teleological approaches to conduct, like expo-
promoting. Yet a third statement of the categori- nents of character before them, often seek cer-
cal imperative, according to Kant, affirms “the tainty in the idea that human nature has universal
Idea of the will of every rational being as making aspects that would ground ethical principles for
universal law” (Kant 1785, p. 48 [432]). all human beings. Yet their conceptions of the
Despite challenges to them, all of Kant’s nature of human beings, their downplaying of
formulations of the categorical imperative have religion and ancient systems of thought, and
reached far into world thought. In addition to their preference for universals have all produced
applications of the first form to daily life, they sharp criticism of and alternatives to the three
have influenced notions of the just formation of major approaches. For instance, three intellectual
political entities. For instance, participatory giants of the nineteenth and early twentieth cen-
forms of government are required by the concep- turies now affect notions of human nature in
tualizations that people are ends in themselves ethics. Karl Marx points out unacknowledged
and not just means to political ends and people effects of wealth on moral philosophy and judg-
are capable, with education and thought, of ments (Marx 1978). Friedrich Nietzsche concen-
giving themselves laws based on reason. trates on the unacknowledged role of power in
The imperatives also speak to human and civil ethical thought and action (Nietzsche 1998).
rights and to the specification of those rights Sigmund Freud highlights unconscious desires,
through limitations on research on human sub- especially sexual ones, in the origins and later
jects in science. These limitations often derive judgments of ethics (Freud 1990). These
from questions like, “Could this or that scientific challenges form the bases of many postmodern
treatment of a person be a universal law? Would critiques, such as those from postcolonial theory
it treat the person as only a means to an end?” and deconstructionism, of the three standard
The best-known teleological approach empha- approaches to ethics.
sizing conduct is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism Two outstanding and strikingly different
has its roots in the philosophy of Epicurus criticisms from within the twentieth-century
(341–270 B.C.E.) and developed through the philosophy speak to previous conceptions of rea-
writings of the eighteenth-century Scottish son and ancient philosophical systems. Michel
philosopher David Hume, the British philosopher Foucault challenges the eighteenth- and
Ethics 771 E
nineteenth-century conceptions of human reason Cross-References
as fundamentally a function of individual
thought, independent of the workings of socie- ▶ Animal Theology and Ethics
ties. Alasdair McIntyre brings Aristotelian think- ▶ Bioethics in Christianity
ing back to prominence in After Virtue and argues ▶ Bioethics in Islam
that philosophical ethics must acknowledge its ▶ Bioethics in Judaism
dependence on the ways of life in which people ▶ Deontology
find themselves, much as ancient Greek philoso- ▶ Neuroethics
phy formulated its moral judgments with ▶ Utilitarianism
reference to the accepted practices of its day. ▶ Virtue
E
Alternatives to the three standard approaches ▶ Virtue Ethics
often emerge, perhaps unexpectedly, from the
emphasis of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century
philosophical ethics on the universality of its con- References
clusions. People previously excluded from discus-
sions of philosophical ethics began to argue that Aristotle. (2002). Nicomachean ethics. Translated with
moral claims aspiring to universality would have a historical Introduction by Christopher Rowe;
Philosophical introduction and commentary by
to attend to experiences and activities that European
Sarah Broadie. Oxford/New York: Oxford University
male philosophers and their heirs ignored or Press.
derogated. Collaboration of women, especially in Freud, S. (1990). Totem and taboo. Translated by James
philosophy and psychology, on ideas and practices Strachey with a biographical introduction by Peter
Gay. New York: W.W. Norton.
of caring has produced a major strand of investiga-
Hare, J. (2008). Religion and morality. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.),
tion in ethics. Similarly, formerly colonized peoples The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Metaphysics
have advanced ethical proposals from the perspec- Research Lab, CSLI. Stansford University: Stansford,
tive of their peoples’ traditions. Scholars of religion CA. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/
religion-morality/
and anthropologists have promoted these discus-
Kant, I. (1785/1995). Foundations of the metaphysics of
sions and been challenged by them. From these morals (2nd ed.). Translated with an Introduction by
efforts emerge ethical arguments that value highly Lewis White Beck. Library of Liberal Arts. Upper
religious practices and texts, non-European Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. References are first
to page number in this book, then in brackets to Kants
customs, and the natural universe (e.g., Sullivan
Werke, Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, to assist
and Kymlick 2007). comparison to other editions.
These lines of inquiries do not exhaust the Korsgaard, C. M., Cohen, G. A., Geuss, R. A., Nagel, T.,
field of ethics. Many moral philosophers and & Williams, B. (1996). In O. O’Neill (Ed.), The sources
of normativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University
theologians treat the relationships of ethics to
Press.
metaphysics (ideas of what must be true for the Marx, K. (1978). Economic and philosophical manu-
world to appear to us as it does). They may scripts of 1844. Translated and annotated by Martin
debate epistemology, our ability to know the Milligan. In Tucker, R. C. (Ed.), The Marx-Engels
reader (2nd ed.). New York: W.W. Norton.
bases of ethics and draw conclusions even with-
Mill, J. S. (1861/1957). In Piest, O. (ed.) Utilitarianism.
out complete certainty. Scholars of ethics search Library of Liberal Arts. Upper Saddle River: Prentice
the natural sciences and the social sciences for Hall.
evidence of what is possible for human conduct Nietzsche, F. (1998). On the genealogy of morality.
Translated with notes by Maudemarie Clark and Alan
and character and for description of situations
J. Swensen, with an Introduction by Maudemarie
calling for ethical reflection. And always the arts Clark. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
and cross-cultural and historical studies of Singer, P. (2002). In H. Kuhse (Ed.), Unsanctifying human
actual ethical systems challenge claims to ethi- life: Essays on ethics. Oxford/Malden: Blackwell.
Sullivan, W. M., & Kymlicka, W. (Eds.). (2007). The
cal certainty and propose visions of a good life to
globalization of ethics: Religious and secular
unsettle and inspire reflection, character, and perspectives. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge
action. University Press.
E 772 Ethics of Duty
supernatural moral law (lex naturalis and lex

Ethics of Duty supranaturalis). As a consequence, it is typical
for Catholic ethics to mediate between theologi-
▶ Deontology cal and philosophical, religious and secular
notions and descriptions.
Ethics/Moral Theology, Recent Developments in Europe

Roman-Catholic, Europe
Catholic moral theology in Europe has undergone
Walter Schaupp a renewal under the impact of Vatican Council II
Department of Moral Theology, University of (1962–1965), and German theologians have
Graz, Graz, Austria played a prominent part in it. Already before
Vatican II, after a long period of
neoscholasticism, characterized by rationalism,
Self-description legalism, casuistry and high inner theological
uniformity, a reception of existentialistic and per-
Roman Catholic moral theology is sonalistic thought, as well as a general desire for
a subdiscipline of Catholic theology in general. a more existential and spiritual outlook, led to
It seeks to describe, critically analyze, and meth- a fruitful period of new accounts, commonly
odologically justify the implications of biblical known as “christocentric moral theology,”
revelation for the Christian conduct of life: How e.g., Bernhard H€aring’s “Das Gesetz Christi”
one is to act or behave in the light of the Chris- published in 1954. A more decisive breach, by
tian faith, according to the Bible and in conso- no means concurrently in all European countries,
nance with Catholic tradition and doctrine? occurred after Vatican II, when Catholic moral
Throughout the patristic and scholastic period, theologians like Josef Fuchs, Bruno Sch€uller,
moral theology was an undifferentiated part of Franz Boeckle, and Alfons Auer tried to lay new
Christian theology and it was only after the foundations for their discipline. For some
Council of Trent (1545–1563) that it developed decades, discussions centered on questions of
as an independent discipline. It is generally normative theory and metaethics. Sch€uller
divided into fundamental moral theology (1973) tried to show that the Christian command-
(theologia moralis fundamentalis) and special ment of love is compatible with a modified con-
moral theology (theologia moralis specialis), sequentialist model of ethics rather than with
the first including questions of ethical theory, traditional natural law theory. Auer (1971), stim-
individual conscience, sin, and remission; the ulated by the inner church crisis that had been
second is equivalent to the different topics of provoked by the promulgation of the encyclical
applied ethics. Humanae Vitae (1968) on artificial conception,
Since its beginnings, Catholic moral theology developed the model of Autonomous Morality.
as a religious ethics encompasses a strong tradi- His ethical account advocates the freestanding
tion of natural law. Man, as a creature of God authority of human practical reason in the secular
endowed with freedom and reason, is capable of moral sphere (“Weltethos”), in contrast to the
having insight into a natural moral order, called Catholic magisterium whose genuine and exclu-
natural moral law (lex naturalis). This leads to the sive competence is seen in questions of faith and
assertion of a twofold source of moral insight – praxis of faith (“Heilsethos”). The debate that
supernatural revelation and nature and natural followed is known as the controversy on the
reason –, founding two, partly overlapping Christian proprium because – according to
spheres of moral truth, i.e., natural and Auer – Christian faith does not give an extra
Ethics/Moral Theology, Roman-Catholic, Europe 773 E
insight into moral problems beyond natural prac- Ethics” (Hertz et al. 1978–1982) shows. After
tical reason (instead of this, it motivates and a period of consensus, however, differences are
stimulates rational insight and ethical behavior). reappearing in the field of life-ethics (e.g., posi-
Some assertions of Auer and Sch€ uller have been tions on embryonic stem cell research) and
subsequently rejected by Pope John Paul II in his recently Protestant theologians are propagating
encyclical Veritatis Splendor (1993). In spite of an “ecumenism of difference.” While Catholic
such controversies, Auer’s and Sch€ uller’s work moral theology favors objective moral truth
has deeply influenced post-Vatican European and moral judgments, Protestant theologians
moral theology. Apart from this, the post-Vatican commonly emphasize individual conscience
period has been marked by ongoing conflicts and responsibility and the necessity of moral
E
between the Roman magisterium and moral theo- compromise. Because of this and the absence
logians in the field of sexual ethics (artificial of an authoritative magisterium, moral positions
contraception; AIDS and condoms; homosexual- within the evangelical and protestant
ity; divorced and remarried Catholics). churches are more heterogeneous than Catholic
Today European moral theology exists in positions are.
a plurality of different theoretical approaches.
This is due above all to divergent philosophical
positions theologians are in dialogue with, to an Self-identification as a Science and
asynchronous development of theology in Questions of Epistemology and
Western and Eastern European countries, to lan- Methodology
guage barriers (German- vs. Romanic-speaking
regions), and also to some tendencies to restore In the course of the last century, Catholic moral
classical, neoscholastic thinking. Nevertheless, theologians have become more and more aware
there are common challenges that foster dialogue of the necessity to clarify epistemological and
and communication between theologians: the methodological questions in confrontation with
ecological crisis, the growing secularization of modern science and philosophy. At the first step,
the European societies, legalization of active Catholic moral theology identifies itself as an
euthanasia and same-sex marriages in some ethics with a cognitive, normative, anti-relativis-
European countries, and a wide range of biotech- tic, and universalistic outlook. As such, it goes
nological challenges. beyond approaches that want to give scientific
Under the influence of the encyclical explanations to or mere descriptions of the phe-
Evangelium Vitae of Pope John Paul II (1995), nomenon of morals (e.g., evolutionary ethics,
there has been a general turn to life-questions in neurobiological ethics, studies of moral systems
the Catholic Church. Catholic moral theology in within cultural anthropology), but also differs
Europe as an academic discipline took part in the from individual ethical subjectivism. In contrast
evolving bioethical discussion in Europe (Korff to philosophical ethics, it not only refers to
1998) and many moral theologians became mem- human reason but also to particular religious
bers of ethics-committees or were involved in the beliefs as a source for ethical reasoning. As
teaching of medical ethics. Also feminism had an a consequence, one of its most challenging theo-
impact on Catholic moral thinking, although less retical problems is how to integrate the two
than in other theological disciplines, e.g., exege- sources of knowledge, natural human reason
sis, and not as productive as in the Anglo- and supernatural belief (divine revelation), in an
American world. all-encompassing theory.
There have been considerable ecumenical According to Klaus Demmer’s (1985) tran-
efforts between Catholic and Protestant ethicists scendental-hermeneutical approach, value claims
during the last decades of the twentieth century and normative judgments are derived from a two-
as the ecumenical “Handbook of Christian stage interpretation of factual (empirical)
E 774 Ethics/Moral Theology, Roman-Catholic, Europe
judgments: interpretation of facts on been involved in discussions of bioethical prob-

a (philosophical) anthropological level (e.g., lems (e.g., status of the human embryo, stem cell
exploring the notion of human freedom on the research, end-of-life decisions). Ecumenical
basis of neurobiological facts) and interpretation efforts mainly involved the protestant churches.
of anthropological “truths” in the light of reli- In the future, moral theology will have to deal
gious believes (e.g., exploring the notion of more with questions of the good life and with
human freedom in the light of faith). According virtue ethics. It will have to strengthen its biblical
to Demmer, we therefore are confronted with and genuine theological profile in the context of
three levels of truth-claims, namely, factual, a secular and multicultural society, also in critical
anthropological, and theological, which are dialogue with other religious traditions. On the
related to specific methods and standards of ver- other hand, moral theology will have to defend
ification and which, together, constitute the epis- certain universalistic moral claims, based on
temological background for the inquiry of moral human dignity and human rights, with a special
theology (articulating the value of human free- sensibility for of all kinds of vulnerable groups
dom and correlating moral norms in the light of within modern society.
faith). Another approach holds that a narrow set
of basic, universalistic norms can be demon-
strated by convincing rational arguments (e.g., Cross-References
by some type of transcendental argument),
whereas other moral claims emerge from an ▶ Bioethics in Christianity
interpretation of human traits in the light of par- ▶ Christian Ethics
ticular religious beliefs; e.g. Schockenhoff ▶ Deontology
(1996). ▶ Humanities
Religious sources of authority are the Bible, ▶ Personalism
authorities of the ecclesiastical and theological ▶ Phenomenology
tradition (above all Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, ▶ Philosophical Anthropology
Francisco Suarez, Francisco de la Vitoria, Alfons ▶ Utilitarianism
Liguori), and magisterial documents (Vatican ▶ Virtue Ethics
Council II, encyclicals as Humanae Vitae,
Veritatis Splendor, Donum Vitae). Philosophical
sources are predominantly Aristotle and Kant, References
then representatives of personalism and phenom-
Auer, A. (1971). Autonome Moral und christlicher
enology, and, recently, J€ urgen Habermas.
Glaube. D€ usseldorf: Patmos-Verlag.
Utilitarianism is normally seen as in conflict Demmer, K. (1985). Deuten und Handeln: Grundlange
with core assumptions and values of Catholic und Grundfragen der Fundamentalmoral. Freiburg
ethics with its strong deontological tradition. i. d. Schweiz: Universit€ats-Verlag.
H€aring, B. (1954). Das Gesetz Christi. Freiburg i. Br.:
Particular natural sciences and humanities are
Wewel-Verlag.
indispensable interlocutors to the moral theolo- Hertz, A., Korff, W., Rendtorff, T., & Ringeling, H.
gian but never as immediate source for normative (Eds.). (1978–1982). Handbuch der christlichen
claims. Ethik (Vol. 1–3). Freiburg i.Br: Herder-Verlag.
Korff, W. (Ed.). (1998). Lexikon der Bioethik (Vol. 1–3).
G€ utersloh: G€utersloher Verlags-Haus.
Schockenhoff, E. (1996). Naturrecht und
Future Challenges Menschenw€ urde: Universale Ethik in einer
geschichtlichen Welt. Mainz: Matthias-Gr€ unewald-
Verlag.
For a long time, post-Vatican Catholic moral the-
Sch€uller, B. (1973). Die Begr€ undung sittlicher Urteile:
ology in Europe has concentrated on metaethical Typen ethischer Argumentation in der Moraltheologie.
questions and on the field of applied ethics has D€ usseldorf: Patmos-Verlag.
Ethnology 775 E
settings were engaged in preserving and presenting
Ethnography their unique heritage. Still there were incitements
for international perspectives and cooperations.
▶ Ethnology The overall methodological approach was compar-
ative with close links to general anthropological
theories of evolution and diffusion.
More or less explicit uses of ethnology/
Ethnology anthropology by Nazism, Fascism, Stalinism,
and colonial expansionism have subjected the
Pia Karlsson Minganti discipline to external and internal criticism
E
Department of Ethnology, History of Religions (Craith et al. 2008). One significant consequence
and Gender Studies, Stockholm University, of the postwar critique is the strengthening of the
Stockholm, Sweden particular characteristic of ethnology as “history
from below,” i.e., with focus on overlooked
categories of people and cultural expressions
Related Terms (see section “Characteristics”). Another result is
the move away from essentialist, homogenizing
Anthropology; Cultural Studies; Ethnography; and deterministic understandings of culture.
Ethnology of Religion; Folklife Research; Folk- Scholars such as Arjun Appadurai, Fredrik
loristics; Sociology Barth, and Ulf Hannerz (Hannerz 1992) have
called attention to globalization, to ethnicity as
social construct and culture as flow. Social con-
Description structivism is a common theoretical basis, gener-
ating studies on images, categories, norms, and
Ethnology is the study of humans as cultural values of people as individuals and/or as mem-
beings. It explores how cultural patterns are bers of social groups (Berger and Luckmann
constructed, preserved, and changed in various 1967). In combination with structuralism,
times, places, and social contexts. Peoples’ cul- interactionism, and phenomenology, social
tural behaviors and expressions are examined constructivism has made scholars like Pierre
through both contemporary analysis and histori- Bourdieu and Erving Goffman particularly influ-
cal reconstruction. Qualitative methods dominate ential in the field. Researchers associated with
and the empirical material is derived from structuralism, with major importance for the
various sources, such as archives, interviews, study of cultural and religious myths and rituals,
observations, questionnaires, artifacts, print and are Claude Lévi-Strauss, Mary Douglas, and Vic-
nonprint media, or the Internet. tor Turner. Engagement in the work of Michel
The term “ethnology” derives from the Greek Foucault, and other leading names of the “linguis-
ε῎ ynoB (ethnos) meaning people. As defined in tic/narrative turn,” has led to a boost for discourse
various ways, the subject has developed along analysis and the focus on culture as representation.
separate paths of inquiry and pedagogical princi- Further, the complex relation between the
ples (i.e., social and cultural anthropology and researcher and the researched has been discussed
folkloristics). Ethnology (or folklife research) has in what has been labeled as the “reflexive turn”
been considered an academic field since the late (Marcus and Fischer 1986). This is both episte-
eighteenth century, with professorships established mological and political, and does not only con-
mainly during the first half of the twentieth cen- cern the concrete meetings between the
tury. Being a child of its time, ethnology was then researcher and the researched, but also their
part of the construction of “folk” or “national” dynamic interplay with structures and condi-
cultures. Ethnologists in their respective national tions of life. In the wake of the latest decades’
E 776 Ethnology
minority struggles (i.e., indigenous and colo- the one side it adds knowledge about individ-
nized people, people of color, women, and uals’ and groups’ perceptions, practices, and
nonheterosexuals) ethnologists add self- needs in relation to those domains; on the
reflexive knowledge about the maintenance of other, it scrutinizes science as a cultural product
asymmetrical power relations. Ethnology is in itself. Ethnologists have developed produc-
a science which contributes to society’s reflective tools for the study of the dynamic interplay
tion over itself. This ambition is indicated in the between culture, society, and science, with par-
review of study programs in ethnology ticular focus on the construction, dissemination,
published by the Swedish National Agency for maintenance, and change of meaning, knowl-
Higher Education in 2008. Here the reviewers edge, and truth (Reid and Traweek 2000). Cut-
encapsulate the ethnologist’s special competing edge research is often coming from feminist
tence to: theoreticians, such as Emily Martin and Donna
– concretely illustrate everyday processes from Haraway (Haraway 1997), well aware of gen-
the perspective of different groups; dered postulations and division of scientific
– let the mundane and the seemingly normal labor. Critical studies on processes of “natural-
appear less self-evident; ization” of beliefs and practices are mixing with
– examine prejudices and stereotypes critically; the growing interest for biology and brain
– make the strange and the unfamiliar more research.
comprehensible;
– understand why misunderstandings and con- Religion
flicts appear between people, and how to coun- Ethnology does not identify itself as a religion.
teract and avoid such tensions; It embraces the study of popular religious beliefs
– analyze how technology and media shape peo- and practices. As concisely phrased by professor
ple’s daily life; of ethnology Gábor Barna:
– study how old traditions, rituals, and percep-
tions linger in modern life – and how new ones The subject of the research carried out in different
countries under various names (religiöse
are created; Volkskunde, Volksfrömmigkeitsforschung, ethnol-
– reflect on present times from a historical per- ogy of religion, anthropology of religion, etc.) is
spective, through the investigation of how essentially the same: so-called folk religiosity or
dreams about the future or the longing for the popular religion supplementing the practice of dog-
matic religions, the everyday practice of religion
past constitute the present. and, in general, an ethnological/anthropological
approach to the study of religious life. (Barna 2004)
Self-identification Ethnologists aim at understanding the ideas

and experiences of the people they study. Their
Science intention is to attain both the “emic” (insider)
Ethnology identifies itself as a subject within the and “etic” (outsider) perspectives. The people
humanities. It draws on empirical studies, with studied are increasingly regarded as “subjects,”
predominantly qualitative methods. Although i.e., “participant observers” as well as the
being a subject within the humanities, it is still researcher, who acquire knowledge about the
closely linked to social sciences, its sister- social world in the course of participating in it.
discipline anthropology among others, which is Thus, the participants’ accounts can be analyzed
generally categorized as a social science. “in terms of the perspectives they imply, the
There is an increased call for ethnologists to discursive strategies they employ, and even the
participate in interdisciplinary studies of sci- psychosocial dynamics they suggest”
ence, i.e., natural science, technology, medicine, (Hammersley and Atkinson 2007). This means
and environmental research. Here the objective that the ethnologist’s analysis does not simply
of the ethnologist’s involvement is twofold: On attempt to replace peoples’ religious beliefs with
Ethnology 777 E
cultural or sociological explanations. There is culture, society, and science as well as between
indeed space for the study of experiential culture, society, and religion. Although little
aspects of religion, cultural phenomenology, attention has been paid by ethnologists to the
and embodiment (Csordas 2002). Religion in emerging field of “science and religion,” such
relation to medicine and health is constantly an a fusion might be viable and rewarding.
important ethnological field. Today much inter-
est is oriented toward the role of religion and the
changes in the (late/post) modern society. Secu- Sources of Authority
larization, migration, identity, gender, and youth
are frequent themes. The ethnologist’s sources are not given a priori,
E
but need to be “created” by the researcher through
the collection of various empirical data (i.e., inter-
Characteristics views, observations, artifacts, print and nonprint
media). Worth mentioning are also the large
Ethnology is a cultural science within the human- national archives and collections accessible espe-
ities, closely related to social and cultural cially in the Nordic and Baltic regions, including
anthropology and folkloristics. In Sweden, folk- material on faith and religious customs. The work
loristics has merged with ethnology, while in does not aim at natural scientific evidence, but at
countries such as Finland and the USA, it is orga- analysis and compelling argumentation along with
nized as an independent discipline. Tradition has it authoritative management of all steps in the
that anthropologists focus on non-Western cul- research process from experience to text. The
tures and ethnologists on culture “at home.” In overall purpose is to present various and substan-
the wake of globalization and transnational migra- tial perspectives on given cultural and societal
tion, the distinction between the disciplines is phenomena. Ethnology is known for being eclectic
increasingly blurred. Despite common roots, eth- in both methodological and theoretical
nology and anthropology are being categorized approaches. The basic attitude is often that of
and positioned differently within various national cultural relativism, with less of an obsession with
academic organizations. From a Swedish horizon, canons, and more preoccupation with critical self-
the following features contribute to make this dis- reflections over how such standards are used as
cipline distinctive over time and in relation to means to produce and reproduce hierarchies and
other (sub)disciplines: the ethnographic method; precedence of interpretation. Contemporary eth-
the combination of synchronic and diachronic per- nologists gain authority through peer review pro-
spectives; the eclectic approach in theory, meth- cedures, but also through high quality semipopular
odology, and empirical material. Last but not least scientific publication/interaction.
is the firm focus on everyday life:
In the academic division of labour, ethnology
emerged as the discipline of the overlooked or Ethical Principles
ignored, the seemingly trivial – all that the histo-
rians found too mundane, the aesthetic expressions Like any other scientists, ethnologists are guided
art historians defined as too popular, the narratives
that did not qualify as literature and the everyday by correctness, sincerity, and responsibility. The
routines that did not interest the sociologists. particular ethical dilemmas intrinsic to ethnolog-
(Löfgren 2008) ical research are dealt with in various codes of
ethics, for example, the American Anthropologi-
cal Association’s statements on ethics
Relevance to Science and Religion (http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/ethstmnt.htm) and
UNESCO’s code of conduct for social science
Ethnologists have developed productive tools for research (http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/
the study of the dynamic interplay between MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SHS/pdf/Soc_Sci_Code.pdf).
E 778 Ethnology of Religion
Key Values Löfgren, O. (2008). When is small beautiful? The trans-

formations of Swedish ethnology. In M. N. Craith,
U. Kockel, & R. Johler (Eds.), Everyday culture
A key ambition is to give people tools to better in Europe. Approaches and methodologies
understand themselves and the world. (pp. 119–132). Aldershot: Ashgate.
Marcus, G. E., & Fischer, M. M. J. (1986). Anthropology
as cultural critique. An experimental moment in the
human sciences. Chicago/London: The University of
Relevant Themes Chicago Press.
Reid, R., & Traweek, S. (Eds.). (2000). Doing science +
Some ethnologists are involved in interdisciplin- culture. New York: Routledge.
ary studies of science, and many in the research
on the interaction of culture and religion, with
specific focus on popular religious beliefs and
praxis. So far, however, ethnology has not Ethnology of Religion
directly dealt with the emerging field of “science
and religion.” ▶ Ethnology
Cross-References
Ethnomathematics
▶ Critical and Cultural Theory
▶ Cultural Studies Clara H. Sánchez and Vı́ctor Albis
▶ Humanities Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad
▶ Knowledge, Sociology of Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
▶ Religion, History of
▶ Religion, Sociology of
▶ Social Constructivism The term “ethnomathematics” was first used by
Ubiratan D’Ambrosio, a Brazilian mathemati-
cian, in the 1960s to describe the relationship
between mathematical practices and different
References cultural groups as national-tribal societies, labor
groups, children of a certain age bracket, or pro-
Barna, G. (2004). Ethnology of religion in Europe. Fore- fessional classes. Ethnomathematics is a disci-
word. In G. Barna (Ed.), Ethnology of religion.
Chapters from the European history of a discipline.
pline that attempts to improve mathematical
Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. education.
Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1967). The social con-
struction of reality. A treatise in the sociology of
knowledge. New York: Anchor Books.
Craith, M. N., Kockel, U., & Johler, R. (Eds.). (2008).
Everyday culture in Europe. Approaches and method- Ethology of Humans and Biological
ologies. Aldershot: Ashgate. Anthropology
Csordas, T. J. (2002). Body/meaning/healing.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (2007). Ethnography.
Principles in practice (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.
Hannerz, U. (1992). Cultural complexity. Studies in the
social organization of meaning. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Haraway, D. (1997). Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium.
Eudemonia
FemaleMan#_Meets_OncoMouse. Feminism and
technoscience. New York: Routledge. ▶ Happiness
European Studies 779 E
economic, and political unity. The newly admitted
European Medical Genetics states are not only characterized by different reli-
gious traditions, but also by the degree of modern-
▶ Medical Genetics ization unfolding in these countries based on
different political, economic, and religious factors
with varying development dynamics.
In addition, since the Second World War,
European Studies there have been various waves of economic
migration, so that the different European socie-
Christian Danz ties have become immigrant societies. As a con-
E
Institut f€
ur Systematische Theologie und sequence, European religious cultures have also
Religionswissenschaft, Evangelisch become pluralistic. At present Islam in its differ-
Theologische Fakult€at der Universit€at Wien, ent forms is the demographically largest non-
Wien, Austria Christian religion in Europe. These develop-
ments make it increasingly clear that Europe has
no fixed essence, but is a rarefied cultural con-
Related Terms struct in which geopolitical, economic, legal, and
religious elements are superimposed over it. The
Cultural turn subject areas of European Studies are with regard
to the indicated complex character of Europe
By European Studies we mean, on the one hand, exceedingly heterogeneous and many-sided.
the investigation and analysis of the complex They encompass history, law, economics, poli-
relationships between history, culture, econom- tics, sociology, cultural studies, literary studies,
ics, law, and the social structure of Europe and, linguistics, theology, and religious studies. In the
on the other hand, interdisciplinary courses of current debates about Europe and European inte-
study, which in the last year have been introduced gration, the cultural influence of the different
at numerous European universities. These religions is given enhanced attention.
courses of study both address and develop further Religious characteristics do not function
certain questions and topic areas, which since the merely as markers of identity, but serve as cog-
nineteenth century have constituted a significant nitive maps of the world for people. Exclusion
portion of the European cultural sciences. The and inclusion are instrumental in the definition of
reasons for the introduction of these courses of religious membership, even if the traditional
study in Europe as well as on other continents are “inner-outer” boundaries of Europe’s dominant
multifaceted. Christian creedalism have dissolved. In European
As a result of the “cultural turn” in the human- religio-political discourse, there is currently
ities since the 1980s, the concept of culture heated and occasionally emotion-laden discus-
increasingly has replaced the concept of society sion about the integration of Islam into European
as the leading theme in the human and social society as well as the controversial admission of
sciences. Reflected in this trend is the recognition Turkey into the EU. In contrast with earlier
that religious cultures under modern conditions debates, the discussion about ethnicity has been
have not lost their capacity to leave their mark. replaced with the invention of Islam as an identity
Another important motive for the establishment of marker or a political category (the Muslim
European Studies lies in the broadening of Council of Britain, the Islamic Conference in
the European Union. The debate over admission Germany, etc.). Because of the many-layered
of new member states into the European topic and focus areas of European Studies, these
Union since 1989/1990 from the beginning was discussions can only be conducted at an interdis-
obviously as well about Europe as a cultural, ciplinary level.
E 780 Evil
Finally, strengthened culturally oriented

studies cannot help but join together different Evil, Problem of
methodological approaches. The analytical
interpretation of modern religious cultures Thomas Anderberg
demands the close engagement of cultural and Department of Philosophy, Uppsala University,
religious theory as well as social scientific, Uppsala, Sweden
legal, and political methodologies, in order
to succeed and trace appropriately the transfor-
mation of religion and society in modern Related Terms
Europe.
Moral evil; Natural evil; Theodicy problem
Cross-References
Introduction
▶ Imagination
▶ Islam: An Overview The problem of evil, also known as the theodicy
▶ Landscape problem (from theos, Greek for God, and dike,
▶ Pluralism (Religious) justice), is a conundrum, or rather a set of interre-
▶ Religion, History of lated problems, with ancient roots. A very early,
▶ Religion, Sociology of but still valid, wording is Lactantius’ (c. A.D. 260
▶ Religious Studies to c. AVD. 340) rendering of the formulation
claimed to be by Epicurus (342–270 B.C.):
God either wishes to take away evils, and is unable;
References or He is neither willing nor able; or He is both
willing and able. If He is willing and unable, He
Danz, C. (2008). Die Deutung der Religion in der Kultur. is feeble, which is not in accordance with the char-
Aufgaben und Probleme der Theologie im Zeitalter acter of God; if He is able and unwilling He is
des religiösen Pluralismus. Neukirchen-Vluyn: malicious which is equally at variance with God;
Neukirchener Verlag. if He is neither willing nor able, He is both mali-
Graf, F. W. (2004). Die Wiederkehr der Götter. Religion in cious and feeble and therefore not God; if He is
der modernen Kultur. M€ unchen: C. H. Beck. both willing and able, which is alone suitable to
Keppel, G. (2004). The war for muslim mind: Islam and God, from what source then are evils? or why does
the west. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. He not remove them? (Quoted from Ahern 1971)
Koopmans, R., Statham, P., Guigni, M., & Passy, F.
(2005). Contested citizenship: Immigration and cul- However, the set of problems is somewhat
tural diversity in Europe. Minneapolis: University of wider than implied by this. Broadly, it consists
Minnesota Press.
of two separate but interrelated questions: (I) the
Troeltsch, E. (2008). Der Historismus und seine
Probleme. Erstes Buch: Das logische Problem der question of natural evil, namely, why is there
Geschichtsphilosophie (1922) (Ernst Troeltsch, suffering in a world supposedly governed by
Kritische Gesamtausgabe Bd. 16, 1 und 1, 2), hrsg. v. a good and powerful god? and (II) the question
F.W. Graf. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.
Weber, M. (1980). Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Grundriß
of moral evil, namely, what is the justification, if
der verstehenden Soziologie (1922). T€ ubingen: Mohr any, of malice, greed, and cruelty in a world
Siebeck. ruled by a benevolent Creator and superhuman
Master?
The problem of evil has attracted massive
attention during the centuries and is generally
Evil thought to be the most important objection to
the credibility of theism, although there is no
▶ Sin (Vice, Human Limits, Negativity) lack of answers brought forward by believers.
Evil, Problem of 781 E
History and Some Preliminaries God is not only thought of as the Creator of the
world but also as a supernatural person with qual-
The problem of suffering appears in different ities found in human beings, although elevated to
guises in most religions. In Hinduism, suffering perfection, and moral evil is not part of a set of
is seen as “the essence of the universe” (Bowker properties that one expects to find in a perfect
1970), partly understood as a result of a power being. Human beings are created in the likeness
struggle among the deities. In Buddhism, too, of God (▶ Imago Dei), but they have deficiencies
suffering is thought to invade almost every aspect in knowledge and power that God does not have,
of human life. In both religions, the way to handle and these weaknesses may be held to (at least
evil is primarily by efforts to become detached partly) explain human moral ineptitude. These
E
from ordinary ambitions and strivings. Accusa- shortcomings are not found in God, and the ques-
tions against heavenly powers are less frequent. tion as to why God inflicts suffering on sentient
In Judaism, however, such accusations appear beings, or at least abstains from removing this
quite early, e.g., in Job’s book, although here, it is suffering, lays the ground for the theodicy
not the fact of suffering that is questioned but its problem.
distribution. God is believed to participate in
history, and, consequently, it is natural to ask
why God does not intervene more often, not The Theodicy Problem Posed
least in order to alleviate the suffering of His
people. In Christianity, the questions of suffering The problem itself can be simply formulated as
are not so much part of the sacred scriptures as of follows:
the theological discussion from Origen onward. A. God is powerful to an immensely high degree
Famous participants in the discussion are (sometimes expressed more unguardedly as
St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. With grow- “almighty” or “omnipotent”).
ing impact, well-known philosophers such as B. God is benevolent to an immensely high
Spinoza, Hume, and Kant have written about it. degree (sometimes expressed as “supremely
The term “theodicy” (“théodicée”) was probably benevolent”).
first used by Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz C. God knows everything that is going on in the
in 1697. world (sometimes expressed as “omniscient,”
Concerning (I), the problem of natural evil, which by implication also includes that He
there are at least two questions brought up for knows what is going to happen, at least in
scrutiny. (i) Why is there suffering at all? Why the near future).
must human beings, or sentient beings, endure If this is how God is supposed to be, then it
pain of the flesh as well as of the soul? (ii) Why seems to follow that:
is there no obvious proportion when it comes to (a) If God is thus powerful, then He could abol-
which persons are stricken by these afflictions? ish evil if he wants to do so.
Some individuals seem to encounter more pain (b) If God is this benevolent, then if He would
than others, both short term and in the long run. want to abolish evil, He could do so.
This is not fair in itself, and when moral consid- However, (D) there is evil in the world.
erations are added, this injustice is apparently Hence, the Being presented in (A)–(C) cannot
augmented. Some people who are morally good exist.
seem to suffer a lot, whereas others, who are less Therefore, God must be made up of other
good, enjoy a prosperous life. properties.
When the unfairness of this is brought up in But a god that is weak is not how God is
the context of monistic religions such as Judaism, supposed to be; likewise, a being that is lacking
Christianity, and Islam, we have an example of in moral goodness is not God nor is a being that
the problem of moral evil. In monistic religions, does not know what is going on in the world.
E 782 Evil, Problem of
It follows that in the face of evil, there cannot be However, these lines of defense are not
a god as generally conceived. very promising and are also uncommon in the
Due to the force of this line of reasoning, many theodicy debate. Henceforth, the discussion will
claim they cannot believe in God. This, in turn, mainly deal with premises (A) and (B).
may be interpreted to the effect that the objector
finds God lacking in moral aspects, which is
a hindrance to worship Him. Alternatively, it Responses Concerning the
may be interpreted to mean that God cannot Omnipotence of God
exist at all and so should be wiped out of the set
of valid beliefs. Although the theist Richard Swinburne claims
that “no writer who could plausibly be called
a Christian has denied the omnipotence of God
Some Preliminary Responses until this century,” the omnipotence of God is far
from clearly stated in the Scriptures and may
Nevertheless, as it stands, this formulation has even be incomprehensible as it stands. The
shortcomings that can be pointed out by the theist Greek word “pantokrator” is sometimes under-
(i.e., for thinkers that are concerned with doctrines stood to mean “all-powerful”; nevertheless, this
seen from within a religious tradition). Some have seems to have been exaggerated in the transla-
tried to solve the problem by retaining the sum of tions into Latin. It may also be held that the
God’s properties (i.e., A–C) while rejecting the concept cannot be understood in a literal fashion.
existence of evil, i.e., premise (D). This may easily For example, God cannot be expected to do what
be rebutted, for example, by pinching the objector is logically impossible, like undoing what He is at
and asking if the treatment should be prolonged or the same time doing.
not. It may then turn out that what the objector However, there are two common lines of
claims is really that natural evil serves some fur- defense whereby God’s omnipotence is
ther good, an argument that belongs elsewhere restricted. According to the first, it may be held
and will be discussed in section “Responses that although God is certainly omnipotent, this
Concerning the Omnipotence of God”. only holds good for His part of the world. There is
Another possible reply concerns modifications also an evil power, Satan, competing for world-
of premise (C), God’s alleged omniscience. One wide power. This paves the way for an answer to
way to justify God is to ascribe God two different the problem of evil, certainly the most common in
roles, i.e., the role of Creator and the role of popular discussions. The presence of this evil
Sustainer of the world. Some, like Voltaire, held spirit has scriptural support and is the basis of
the view that the creation was good although God the most common answer to the theodicy prob-
later turned His back to it all. This, however, is lem. If all evil is attributed to the presence of
a less promising route of defense since God in this Satan, then God may be seen as wholly good,
fashion seems to have acted callously or noncha- although not wholly powerful. This also makes
lantly when faced with the suffering of His crea- place for the actions of human beings in the soul-
tures. The alternative view that God was later making process. We are, so to say, asked to par-
introduced to a world that already included suffer- ticipate on God’s side in the universal combat
ing may, although it lacks scriptural support, seem between good and evil.
more attractive, although it then becomes cloudy Attractive as this line of defense may seem,
how strong God really is. Is God able to hear our there are some serious drawbacks to take into
prayers and put everything right in the end? Ques- account. To begin with, we are faced with uncer-
tions such as these are relevant also when one is tainties concerning how strong this evil power
confronted with the Manichean view of might be. If strong enough, he may have won
a competition concerning the power over the the game already, and this universe may be his
world between good and evil powers. playground. Or he may prove to be the winner in
the end, and therefore, we would do wisely by This suggests that we would do better to exam-
taking sides with him. Furthermore, and more ine the second premise and see if it is possible to
seriously, this line of defense evades the original modify it in a way that is consistent with moral
problem by creating a new one. If God is the and theistic beliefs.
original Creator of the world, then it seems that
Satan could only be introduced into the world
through immoral negligence by God or through Responses Concerning the Benevolence
evil intent by God. Either way, God is responsible of God
for the evil brought by through Satan in the same
way an instigator of a crime is held responsible To begin with, we may ask if it is necessary to
E
for the deeds physically performed by those paid think of God as wholly benevolent. What does it
by him. So the Satan hypothesis eventually fails mean to claim that God is good? Since God is
as a solution to the problem of evil. totally different from all that is known of earthly
The second restriction relating to the almighti- beings, what can be meant by addressing Him as
ness of God concerns the power given to man to good? Is not His goodness completely different
act freely. If God has all power in His hands, then from ours?
there seems to be no room for blaming His crea- The argument implied by these questions,
tures for the evil acts they perform. They cannot be however, should not be stressed too hard as it
blamed more for what is going on than puppets could prove to be counterproductive for the the-
that skip and jump with every tug of the strings ist. If God’s goodness is completely different than
held by the puppeteer. In accordance with this, ours, it may be objected that it may not be good-
premise (A) cannot be construed in a way that ness at all. A skeptic (i.e., an interlocutor inter-
gives room for independent actions of man. How- ested in questioning parts of some creed or other)
ever, the reasonable way to interpret (A) is that may even add that, from what can be deduced
God has the (dispositional) power to do anything, from the world, it would be more feasible to
although He does not necessarily have to act thus claim that the Upholder of it all has a more
in every single instance, should He choose to avoid relaxed moral standard than the one expected
doing so. In this way, people may be held respon- from God. If the apologist would claim that this
sible for at least some of the evil in the world, as is judgment is dubious due to our shortcomings as
claimed in some of the arguments that follow. moral beings, then it could be objected that moral
Although over the years, it has become more judgments always stem from our moral beliefs,
common to stress the goodness of God, some however defective these might be. We blame
apologists (i.e., theists or lay people defending those who hold much power, e.g., presidents
a certain creed) have claimed that it is far more and dictators, not according to their standards
important that God is almighty than that He is but according to ours; and these are the same
wholly benevolent, the reason being that we can standards we use when blaming celestial beings.
only trust in God if He has the power to enforce If we are asked to use a completely different
His will. (This is the view of C. S. Lewis and P. T. moral standard when praising or blaming God,
Geach.) Others have objected to this on the then we may rightfully ask if this is a moral
ground that it is morally offensive to worship standard at all. Furthermore, if we cannot under-
a being about whom one has serious moral objec- stand the standard involved when it comes to
tions. As put by H. J. McCloskey, “To worship, God, this may also pose a problem since what
revere, adore, and to yield our wills to a being we are examining is the moral goodness of God;
who may do evil or permit evil which we our- in order to do so, we simply have to rely on our
selves should feel morally obliged to prevent if own standards, however imperfect these may be.
we could, is to act in a morally irresponsible way, There is a better solution to take into account.
it is to abandon our moral autonomy in favour of God may, as claimed by Leibniz, actually have
a being we know to be capable of immoral acts.” created the best world possible. Hence, He should
not be blamed but praised. There are several ways devoid of such moral properties, God would be
this argument could be developed. The first line expected to create such a world.
of defense concerns the natural evils. Those who The skeptic may reply by pointing to the enor-
deny that natural evils are really evil, since their mous amount of suffering in the world and ask if
occurrence serves a greater good, usually claim all this is necessary for bringing about these
that natural evil is part of a whole that is better allegedly good properties. Surely, this is a clear
than a whole without it. Therefore, suffering is case of overkill. And, further, he may add that the
not “really” an evil; it should rather be considered result of first-order evil is not only second-order
as a necessary means for a good end. good; we also get second-order evil, i.e., moral
One way to do so would be to put it into evil. Some people even seem to enjoy the atroc-
a Darwinian frame. According to some etholo- ities that afflict others. There certainly is no lack
gists, e.g., M. S. Dawkins, pain is the most expe- of moral evil such as malevolence, cynicism, and
dient way to warn sentient beings from behavior cruelty in this world. Surely, this needs to be
that may prove dangerous for individuals as well explained.
as for species; hence, it can be shown to have The apologist can retort that natural evil and
evolutionary value. Therefore, pain can be moral evil serve a further cause. Without evil,
explained as a necessary means for a world how would one know that what is good is really
containing more evolved animals, and this is the good? This, the theist would claim, is no more
kind of universe that God is expected to create. possible than that a man who had never seen
Still, this does not wholly save the Creator a shadow could really know what light is. How-
from the accusation that the proceedings of the ever, the skeptic can respond that it is possible to
world are, at least in some instances, needlessly experience good without any suffering even if
dependent on evil. There seems no good expla- suffering is necessary in order to know that one
nation to why toothaches should be so immoder- is experiencing good. Hence, moral evil still
ately painful. Further, as claimed by the needs to be explained. One theistic way to do so
ethologist Richard Dawkins, the way that some is to claim that knowledge of the dichotomy
animals are construed to interact in biotopes, for between good and bad is needed, not only in
example, certain species of antelopes and some order to really comprehend what is good but
types of predators, seems to make the concept of also for the gratitude that God expects from his
a wholly good creator questionable. Surely, followers. To this, the skeptic might retort that it
a wholly good and powerful being could have is cynical to create this amount of suffering in
created a better system than this, e.g., by order to get subservient beings to bow their heads
substituting pain with the diminution of pleasure, to their Maker.
as suggested by David Hume. As it is, the idea A second line of defense is to stress that the
that God should have created a system with ani- choice between moral good and evil serves
mals designed to avoid the claws and teeth a good cause, i.e., the soul-making process that
of others seems to make the premise (B) makes human beings autonomous individuals
questionable. who are responsible for their deeds and freely
Still, the debate could continue on this line. It turn to God and as a result are rewarded with
could be claimed that natural evil is a necessary His friendship in the eternal afterlife. This is the
means, not only in order to make a first-order famous free-will defense. The upshot of this is
good (survival) necessary but also in order for that there are some evils that may be engulfed by
making a secondary good (e.g., empathy) possi- greater goods; some bad things may be seen as
ble. It could be claimed that natural evil is necessary means for a better general state of
a necessary means for making sympathy and affairs than otherwise would be possible. For
other morally useful properties possible. Without example, it may be held that a world containing
pain, no empathy; and since a world where people pain is better than a world without it since pain
act from empathy is better than a world totally makes compassion possible, and a world
containing compassion is better than a world most of the time. For God to prevent immoral
without it. Further, a world containing certain people to be born is simply to use the divine
types of moral evil, for example, malice, is powers of choice in reproductive matters so that
claimed to be better than a world without it due only beings that consistently would choose to
to the fact that this makes possible the choice act benevolently were allowed to see the light of
between good and bad acts; hence, in such day. Obviously, an omnipotent Being can do this
a world, human beings cannot only feel compas- (and this is in fact what He is held to have created
sion but also act morally. This capacity is not with Paradise). Since God has not chosen this
possible without free will. The utilizing of free alternative, He cannot evade responsibility for
will, however, often results in suffering as the evil acts committed by men. Hence,
E
a bad but necessary consequence of the larger according to the skeptic, He is not wholly good.
good consisting of this very capacity. Therefore, Still, there is a line of defense left for the
God is not only morally permitted to allow suf- theist, what could be called The Actual Person
fering and malice in the world, He is even mor- Argument for the Existence of God. The theist
ally required to do so since the good things that may claim that for all the skeptical acumen
are added through this process makes the world shown by the skeptic, what he asks of God is
better than it would otherwise have been. No less a world that not only excludes skeptics (as well
would be expected by a wholly benevolent being. as theists, of course); it is also a world in which
This is a strong line of defense, but far from human beings as they are now would not exist.
conclusive. To begin with, it may be objected that Not even the most convinced atheist would prefer
the presence of moral goodness and the addition a world where evil is totally absent. If placed in
of free will in some agents hardly make up for the such a world, not only would the atheist be bored,
enormous amounts of suffering in nature. One he would also be stripped of the moral properties
may be forgiven to ask how antelopes and sheep which make him the person he is. In a world
are compensated for the suffering they endure by completely devoid of evil, there would be no
the addition of free will in one species that made crooks but also no heroes, no moral goals to
its entry into the world very late in the evolution- fight for, and no Dostoevsky novels. Certainly,
ary process. Secondly, the free-will defense is not it could be claimed, this is a worse condition than
wholly convincing even on its own terms. As the present one. Therefore, God is not only per-
the philosopher Anthony Flew once put it mitted to create the world as it is, He should also
(in the atheist phase of his career), it is certainly be praised for it.
possible for an almighty being to create a world This may appeal to some atheists, but it is
where people freely choose only among good nevertheless not totally convincing. To begin
things. That is, God could have chosen to create with, it may be said on behalf of those more
beings “who would act freely but always do primitive creatures that suffer attacks by sharp-
right” (Mackie). This is not, as some apologists clawed animals, that the costs of this alleviation
have claimed, to use people as puppets and pre- of human boredom are too high. And secondly, it
determine their behavior; as pointed out by Flew, can hardly be denied that the amount of suffering
“there is no contradiction involved in saying that in the world outweighs the benefits in this pro-
a particular action or choice was: both free, and cess. Those billions and billions of animals that
could have been helped, and so on; and predict- have suffered before human beings appeared on
able, or even foreknown, and explicable in terms Earth seem, in this light, to have suffered in vain.
of caused causes.” Everyone can act in a good
way now and then; some do it most of the time,
and a few do it consistently. These agents act Further Lines of Defense
according to their character and so are deter-
mined by that, which, of course, does not make When presented with arguments like these,
them less free than agents who act morally wrong some theists take refuge in the inscrutability of
God. Some add that it is even sacrilege to pre- demands of justification (rules of probability,
sent arguments like these, that it is wrong to etc.), it would be viewed as a kind of “intellectual
question the supreme wisdom of a Being Russian roulette,” similar to Pascal’s wager or the
immensely more developed than we are. This, route to faith presented by William James in his
though it may perhaps dampen the questioning essay “The Will to Believe.” Nevertheless, it is
spirit of some believers, is of little help to the consistent with Christian teachings and may con-
agnostic and will not silence the skeptic. To stitute an answer that works for the believer,
begin with, it could be claimed that we have to although it does very little for the searching
act on the rational and moral capabilities we are agnostic. As is the case with Dostoevsky’s The
endowed with. Although limited, we cannot just Brothers Karamazov, where Ivan’s skeptic objec-
hand over to authorities the problems that we tions are met by a kiss from his deeply religious
must confront as moral beings, no less in a case brother Alyosha, the most powerful answer from
like this than when we choose allegiance to the believer lies in the continuation of belief in
political leaders. It could even be said that this the face of such strong arguments and so many
is a further ramification to the theodicy complex. daily examples of human cruelty and stupidity.
Why could not God have made us less suscepti- The skeptic may conclude that he has shown not
ble to temptation, less inclined to doubts, espe- only that God is not worthy of worship, or even
cially when the price we have to pay is so high – that there cannot be a God in the way the theist
eternal damnation, or at least exclusion from defines God (since at least one of the defining
Paradise? characteristics will have to go), but also that it
John Hick presents an answer to this problem. may prove morally pernicious to worship a Being
He claims that life on Earth, with all its suffering with so many ethical shortcomings. He may even
and insecurity, is a “soul-making process” hold, like Christopher Hitchens and other skep-
whereby human beings mature to be friends of tics, that the belief in God has brought much evil
God. As in all close relationships, loyalty is to the world, e.g., the Crusades and the Inquisi-
tested, and as a result of faithfulness, the relation- tion. Still, the believer may hold that without
ship is strengthened. Those who cling to faith a God, the world would be a much worse place,
even when much tells against it prove themselves with no hope for those who are placed in the
especially worthy to be inhabitants of the reign of worst conditions and little consolation to all
God. In order to make this soul-making process who are deprived of a close relative or of
possible, it is necessary that the earthly surround- a sustainable life goal.
ings contain so many occurrences that speak
against the existence of a good Creator that it
poses a challenge even to the most devout. Cross-References
Hence, the enormous amount of unexplained
evil found in the history of mankind and other ▶ Free Will
animals is necessary; it serves the purpose of ▶ Hope (Life after Death)
confronting human beings with an objection that ▶ Pain (Suffering)
really works as a test of their faith. ▶ Rationality (philosophical)
How do we know if this answer is feasible? ▶ Theism, Classical
This, according to Hick, we will come to know
when we knock on Heaven’s door. Viewed as
a life strategy, this is judged differently by the References
believer and the skeptic (partly as a result of
different conceptions of belief). For the believer, General Surveys
€
Billicsich, F. (1952, 1955, 1959) Das Problem des Ubels
this can be held as a declaration of the hope
in der Philosophie des Abendlandes. A. Sexl.: Vienna.
inherent in belief. For the skeptic, whose concep- Bowker, J. (1970). Problems of suffering in religions of
tions are usually determined by scientific the world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Evoked and Event-Related Potentials 787 E
Hick, J. (1966) Evil & the God of love (2nd ed. 1977). system and analyze their meaning. Different sen-
New York: Harper & Row. sory modalities exist: visual, auditory, somato-
Sertillanges, A. D. (1951). Le Problème du Mal. Paris:
Aubier. sensory, olfactory, etc.) of a physical stimulus;
visual EPs (VEPs) are quite different from audi-
A Selection of Special Studies tory (AEPs) and somatosensory (SEPs) EPs. In
Ahern, M. B. (1971). The problem of evil. London: addition, amplitude (magnitude of the evoked
Roudedge & Kegan Paul. potential, usually recorded in micro V or mV
Geach, P. (1977). Providence and evil. Cambridge: Cam- (one millionth of a Volt), with respect to a base-
bridge University Press.
Hume, D. (1779) Dialogues concerning natural religion. line computed on the basis of EEG signal ampli-
London: Uppsala University Library. tude over a time span of choice, usually 100
E
McCloskey, H. J. (1974). God and evil. The Hague: milliseconds, or ms, preceding stimulus event
Nijhoff. presentation), and latency (for example, the time
Plantinga, A. (1974). The nature of necessity. Oxford:
Clarendon Press. between a flash of light and the major positive
Swinburne, R. (1998). Providence and the problem of evil. response in the occipital EEG, namely, P1), vary
Oxford: Oxford University Press. with the intensity and subjective relevance of
events. EPs have been extensively used in
human studies and have made important contri-
butions to our understanding of neural systems
Evoked and Event-Related Potentials that respond selectively to different types of
stimuli in different sensory modalities and in
Alberto Zani the mapping of cortical and subcortical regions
Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and of the brain (Regan 1989; Barber et al. 1999). To
Physiology at Research Area 3 Milan (ARM3), date, these studies have successfully identified
National Research Council (CNR), Milan, Italy a set of robust potentials, named ▶ event-related
potentials, associated with several motor-cogni-
tive-affective functions. The intracerebral
Related Terms sources of these potentials are also known to
some degree (Donchin 1984; Zani and Proverbio
Averaged evoked potentials; Electrical poten- 2003). Event-related potentials are a set of stan-
tials; Electrophysiological responses; Evoked dard and robust electrophysiological potentials,
responses of the brain; Scalp-recorded potentials; abbreviated as ERPs, reflecting “higher-order”
Sensory evoked potentials brain processing invoked in relation to menta-
tions such as memory, expectation, attention, or
changes in the mental state, rather than simply
Description evoked by the physical impingement of external
stimuli.
Evoked potentials (EPs) are small voltage fluctu-
ations in the ongoing ▶ electroencephalogram
(EEG) elicited by, and time-locked to, repeated Self-Identification
occurrences of specific sensory, motor, or
cognitive stimulus events. To extract average Science
waveforms (also known as average “evoked Since it was first introduced by GD Dawson
potentials” of the brain) from the ▶ EEG, it is (1951), the study of EPs has been pursued exten-
necessary to sum and average the results of mul- sively and systematically, and much effort has
tiple trials. EP morphology varies as a function been devoted to it by scientists from different
of the sensory modality (which are a type of fields including physics, electrophysiology, neu-
nerves and centers that carry stimuli from sense roscience, psychology, etc. EPs have always been
organs (or receptors) to the central nervous regarded as valuable indices of brain sensory and
E 788 Evoked and Event-Related Potentials
cognitive-affective functions. Historically, when (whether from the cortex or the scalp) and deep
there was an almost complete lack of noninvasive intracerebral recordings, as were usually
and harmless neurophysiological techniques for obtained from nonhuman animals before ethical
human research, EPs were considered the tech- rules were established to prevent them. Besa or
nique of choice for such studies. Since EPs con- Brain Electrical Source Analysis; is a computer-
sist of peaks and troughs, the polarity of which is ized algorithm for source imaging and electro-
indicated by the letters P and N, respectively, magnetic dipole localization for EP and EF in
followed by numbers that denote their chronolog- research and clinical settings. Loreta is the acro-
ical order (e.g., P1, N1, P2), they provide milli- nym of low resolution brain electromagnetic
second-by-millisecond high-temporal resolution tomography. Given measurements of scalp elec-
of neural processing (i.e., a measure of the ability tric potentials and/or magnetic fields, this algo-
to distinguish between two temporally close but rithm computes the exact 3D intracranial location
not identical samples of the property being mea- (s) of maximal activity with a minimum degree of
sured; it is expressed as the difference in values of “blurring.”
a property necessary to make such a distinction,
also called resolving power. EPs and EFs have a
resolving power in the order of 1 ms or less). Characteristics
Earlier latency (<150 ms) peaks and troughs
mostly reflect the activity of brain sensory areas Unlike other modern ▶ neuroimaging technolo-
(visual-occipital, auditory-temporal, etc.). gies for investigating human mind and brain
Later-latency potentials, termed ▶ event-related functions, only EPs/ERPs and their magnetic
potentials or ERPs, mostly reflect higher-order counterparts (evoked fields, or EFs/ERFs), can,
mind processes such as, for instance, attention, at present, contribute to elucidating the millisec-
memory, and language. This is highly relevant to ond-based temporal progression of neural
the unveiling of “online” sequential and parallel processing observed in the brain, thus increasing
activation of different areas and systems of the our knowledge of the dynamic functional inter-
brain during mental functions. Unlike any other connectivity across brain systems (Lehmann and
modern ▶ neuroimaging technologies, EPs/EFs Callaway 1979; Donchin 1984; Regan 1989;
are uniquely endowed with this valuable Barber et al. 1999; Zani and Proverbio 2003).
high-temporal advantage (Donchin 1984; Zani
and Proverbio 2003). They have nevertheless
suffered the limitation of a raw spatial resolution, Relevance to Science and Religion
a measure of the ability to distinguish between
two spatially close but not identical samples of The major temporal advantage of EPs makes this
the property being measured, arising from the so- subdiscipline/technique aware of its value in
called inverse problem, namely, the problem of adding precise timing to the activation of brain
determining which sets of generators inside the regions identified by techniques with high spatial
head might have produced the EPs recorded from resolution but poor temporal resolution, such as
outside the head (Scherg 1992; Zani and PET and ▶ fMRI. Currently, this makes the com-
Proverbio 2003). The devising of source analysis bined recording of electrical and hemodynamic
algorithms has allowed this limitation to be signals in the same session the most advanced
circumvented. Indeed, these algorithms, for procedure in neuroscience for thoroughly
example, BESA (Scherg 1992) and/or LORETA enhancing our knowledge of where in brain
(Pascual-Marqui et al. 1994), make it possible to space, and when in time, specific regions are
determine the intracranial generators of these active during a function, as in memory and atten-
scalp-recorded potentials (wave or voltage), in tion processing (Donchin 1984; Zani and
humans, without the need for parallel surface Proverbio 2003).
Sources of Authority University recorded a so-called mismatch nega-
tivity, or MMN, 150–200 ms after occasional
There are innumerable sources of authority for physically deviant auditory stimuli in a stream
this subdiscipline/technique. These are not only of otherwise identical stimuli. This MMN is
eminent scientists from a range of domains elicited by deviations in any auditory feature
from neuroscience to physics, including, mathe- and increases as the feature becomes more devi-
matics and electronic engineering, but also ant. In 1980, Marta Kutas and Steven Hillyard at
milestone papers, books, and dedicated journals. U.C. San Diego pioneered studies of the
These sources are authoritative because they have response of language areas to semantic stimuli,
devised new theoretical viewpoints or introduced recording a so-called N400 after presenting an
E
new methods of analysis, as well as identified incongruous word in sentences such as “I like
previously undetected potentials associated with pizza with mozzarella cheese and nails.” Over-
individual sensory and cognitive processes, all, these potentials, or components, have pro-
thus boosting the power of EPs/ERPs to address vided a specific taxonomy of EPs/ERPs that has
hard questions such as “What do these potentials subsequently been widely used in numerous
indicate?” during brain processing, or, from research and clinical settings (Kutas and
a more general view, “Where do they come Hillyard 1980). The untimely death of Russel
from in the brain?”, as well as “How do the M. Harter in 1990 should not go unnoticed; he
brain and mind work?” Overall, then, the strength was at the peak of his career, after having con-
of the linkage of these potentials to cognitive tributed much during the 1970s and 1980s at the
neuroscience undertakings has been increased. University of North Carolina at Greensboro to
A great deal of time and space would be required identifying the neural substrates of human visual
to review all these sources; in view of the limita- perceptual development, pioneering the record-
tions, only a very few selected ones will be con- ing of infant VEPs. Last but not least, we must
sidered here. recognize the outstanding work of Terence W.
In 1964, Kornhuber and Deeke found a scalp- Picton (Picton et al. 2000), Michael Scherg
recorded electrical reflection of motor cortex (1992), Paul L Nunez, F.H. Lopes da Silva, H.
activity leading to voluntary muscle movement, Spekreijse, Roberto D. Pascual-Marqui
which they called Bereitschaftspotential or BP (Pascual-Marqui et al. 1994), D. Lehmann (Leh-
and was later known as readiness potential mann and Callaway 1979), D. Regan (1989), and
because of its relationship to the pre-motor plan- many other leading scientists not mentioned
ning of volitional movement (Kornhuber and here for space reasons who made important con-
Deecke 1980). In two related studies in 1965, tributions to establishing methods for locating
Salomon Sutton and colleagues found an the sources within the brain of potentials
enhanced positivity with a latency apparently recorded from the surface of the scalp. Since
ranging from 200 to 300 ms related to “stimulus 1949, the “Electroencephalography and Clinical
uncertainty,” while in 1968 and 1969, Walter Neurophysiology” Journal, also known as EEG
Ritter and Vaughan found a similar positivity Journal, comprising the “Electromyography and
in conditions related to “stimulus novelty,” Motor Control” and “Evoked Potentials” sub-
later known as the P300. Thereafter, Emmanuel sections, has also been of great importance for
Donchin and his students (Donchin and Lindley fostering research and disseminating informa-
1969; Donchin 1984) at the University of Illinois tion in this field. This journal has always been,
brought the study and interpretation of the func- and remains, the official organ of the Interna-
tional significance of the P300 potential for eval- tional Federation of Societies for EEG and Clin-
uating cognitive information to unprecedentedly ical Neurophysiology. For this reason, its name
high levels. During the 1970s, Risto N€a€at€anen was changed to “Clinical Neurophysiology” in
and his group (N€a€at€anen et al. 1987) at Helsinki 1999.
Ethical Principles functions besides subcortically regulated visceral

ones such as the cardiac cycle and respiration.
In line with the Declaration of Helsinki in 1971, Conversely, death is usually considered as the
clinical, diagnostic, and research activities absence of such brain potentials due to the irre-
performed in the context of this subdiscipline/ versible cessation of all the forebrain and
practice are guided by sound ethical principles brainstem functions, even in conditions in which
of patient/subject care and interpersonal and the heart and lungs are still working, thanks to the
communication skills, as well as by standard action of ER equipment (Lehmann and Callaway
guidelines for psychophysiological research, 1979; Donchin 1984; Regan 1989; Zani and
compiled by a panel of outstanding scientists in Proverbio 2003).
this field (Picton et al. 2000).
Reality
Reality is a contentious term that, in its widest
Key Values sense, might include everything, that is, whether
or not it is observable or comprehensible. In
The key values of this subdiscipline/practice are a most general way, EPs reflect brain processing
to use information technology to appraise and related to everything, that is, mostly at the phys-
assimilate evidence from scientific studies to ical sensory level, independent of awareness,
enhance patient care outcomes in clinical which is related to higher-order processing or
settings, and to enhance our knowledge of the cognitive levels in the brain and thus to the activ-
functional activity of brain sensory, cognitive, ity of the so-called association cortices. To some
and affective systems. degree, this higher-order activity is reflected in
the ERPs (Donchin 1984; Zani and Proverbio
2003).
Conceptualization
Knowledge
Nature/World Knowledge is rationalized in terms of neural pro-
Nature, in the sense of the natural or physical cesses that link stimuli to successful behavior in
world, is seen to represent all the physical stimuli complex and challenging environments. These
eliciting a functional or dysfunctional bioelectri- processes are referred to as the way humans and
cal response in the brain, no matter whether or not nonhuman animals acquire, manipulate, and use
the latter is consciously aware of them. information in the context of mental functions.
EPs have contributed successfully in reflecting
Human Being the neural mechanisms underlying all these func-
The human is seen as a complex biological sys- tions by means of appropriate experimental
tem in which both lower-order sensory and setups, in which the patient/participant performs
higher-order cognitive brain processes may be tasks, and stimuli differing in meaningfulness are
studied, the latter seen in nonhuman animals to administered to “probe” the underlying neural
a much lower degree. electrical activity thus elicited.
Life and Death Truth

Life is defined as a state of brain responsiveness EPs may serve as “clues,” on the one hand, to the
to the external world as indicated by the presence impingement of events in the external and inter-
of EPs, no matter whether individuals are aware nal physical world on brain systems, irrespective
of and consciously report the events that elicit of their conscious experience, and on the other, to
them. EPs are therefore objective signs of life in their mental representations, irrespective of their
individuals in a coma, where there is still some “true” presence. Indeed, robust evidence has been
sparing of cortically based cognitive brain obtained of EPs/ERPs recorded in conditions in
which no stimuli were actually presented because subcellular, cellular, and whole-system structural
they were “omitted” in a sequence, elicited sim- and functional brain functions, the millisecond-
ply by strong subjective expectations (Donchin based scale used to measure the time of appear-
1984; Zani and Proverbio 2003). ance, or latency, of the various peaks and troughs
in the EPs/ERPs, indicates the stages of neural
Perception processing that an external or internal event
Perception is thought of as an active construction undergoes in the brain, closely paralleling
process, and a form of conscious awareness of “online” the actual timing of mental and behav-
the objects of the external world that transcends ioral functions (Donchin 1984; Regan 1989; Zani
the simple sensory processing carried out by the and Proverbio 2003).
E
primary and secondary cortices, notwithstanding
the importance of this basic processing for Consciousness
analyzing the features of physical stimuli and Consciousness is a complex concept that includes
objects. EPs have provided meaningful knowl- neural processes relative to the state of wakeful-
edge of the sensory and perceptual processes of ness, awareness of the world and the self as an
the brain for the major sensory modalities actor in the world. Most of these neural processes
(Donchin 1984; Regan 1989; Zani and Proverbio occur at an unconscious or automatic level. The
2003). For instance, a relatively early latency relationships of EPs and ▶ EEG signals to con-
P100, or P1, recorded from the occipital scalp, sciousness differ markedly. Indeed, EEG simply
changes in amplitude as a function of check size provides a generic index of individuals’ wakeful-
to produce an inverted U function, the low ampli- ness, or arousal, ranging from coma to alert wake-
tude values of which are associated with both fulness. Conversely, EPs can provide a measure
lower and higher check sizes, and the highest of the time-locked and selective responsiveness
amplitudes with medium sizes of 10–15 min of of the brain to sensory and cognitive events as
arc. However, for active perception, active a function of the subjective relevance of events.
involvement of the frontal and parietal associa- To some degree, this makes them possible signs
tion cortices is also thought to be mandatory. As of some of the neural processes strictly related to,
a proof, neurological patients with a lesion in the or preceding, the conscious mental processes
right inferior parietal lobe (causing a hemispatial elicited by these events (Donchin 1984; Zani
neglect syndrome), but intact occipital lobes, and Proverbio 2003), some in particular; for
show a normal P100 at the right occipital scalp instance, the so-called N400, a wave recorded
in response to patterned visual stimulation from about 400 ms after the occurrence of a linguistic
the left visual field, contralateral to the side of the stimulus, such as the word “sock” presented at the
lesion, but do not consciously perceive these end of a sentence such as “I like my roll with
stimuli. Conversely, patients with a lesion in mustard and sock.” This wave, then, seems to
the visual occipital cortex (blindsight patients) reflect brain processes related to the subjective
cannot see stimuli from the external world and realization that this word is semantically odd with
show no P100 at the scalp over the occipital respect to subjective expectation – for instance,
cortex. Overall, these EP findings reflect normal “a hot dog” – and/or to the successive conscious
visual sensory processing, but impaired percep- mentations elicited by this realization (Kutas and
tual conscious processing, in the neglect patients, Hillyard 1980).
and impairment of both sensory and perceptual
processes in blindsight patients. Rationality/Reason
Traditionally, rationality has been regarded as
Time that which is rational and capable of sound and
Time has a very special meaning for EPs. Unlike goal-directed reasoning for problem solving and
other timescales, in the order of nanoseconds, decision making, following given rules or other-
seconds, minutes, or hours/days, proper to wise, as opposed to being irrational or incapable
of reasoning. There is considerable evidence that ▶ Neglect

psychiatric populations with altered reasoning ▶ Neuroimaging
ability and mental faculties show alterations in ▶ Neurophysiology
both EPs/EFs and event-related potential mor- ▶ Neuropsychology
phology (Regan 1989; Barber et al. 1999; Zani ▶ Perception
and Proverbio 2003).
Mystery
References
EPs may provide insight into the mystery of brain
functioning in terms of time-based parallel Barber, C., Celesia, G. C., Hashimoto, I., & Kakigi, R.
and sequential functional inter-activations of its (Eds.). (1999). Functional neuroscience: Evoked
manifold ▶ functional systems. potentials and magnetic fields. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Dawson, G. D. (1951). A summation technique for
detecting small signals in a large irregular background.
The Journal of Physiology, 115, 2–3.
Relevant Themes Donchin, E. (Ed.). (1984). Cognitive psychophysiology:
Event-related potentials and the study of cognition.
Hillsdale/London: Erlbaum.
Some additional issues are especially relevant to
Donchin, E. & Lindley, D. B. (1969). Average evoked
this subdiscipline/technique, as to any other life potentials: Methods, results, and evaluation. NASA
science disciplines, from the “Science and SP-191.
Religion” viewpoint, issues that have been con- Kornhuber, H. H., & Deecke, L. (1980). Motivation, motor
and sensory processes of the brain: Electrical poten-
sidered by many thinkers throughout human his-
tials, behavior and clinical use. Amsterdam/
tory. If, from a religious point of view, the mind New York/Oxford: Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedi-
stemming from the brain is to be strictly consid- cal Press.
ered as arising from a spiritual soul, should Kutas, M., & Hillyard, S. A. (1980). Reading senseless
sentences: brain potentials reflect semantic incongru-
the absence of brain responsiveness – as reflected
ity. Science, 207, 203–205.
by the absence, after death, of any evoked Lehmann, D., & Callaway, E. (1979). Human evoked
potentials – be taken to indicate that this spiritual potentials: Applications and problems. New York:
entity has been separated from its material “res- Plenum Press.
N€a€at€anen, R., Paavilainen, P., Alho, K., Reinikainen, K.,
ervoirs,” the brain and body, now incapable of
& Sams, M. (1987). The mismatch negativity to inten-
any response per se? If so, a “dualistic” view of sity changes in an auditory stimulus sequence. Elec-
soul/mind and body, or, in more up-to-date terms, troencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology
mind and brain interrelationships, should be Supplement, 40, 125–131.
Pascual-Marqui, R. D., Michel, C. M., Lehmann, D.
maintained. However, many accomplishments
(1994). Low resolution tomography: a new method
of neuroscience currently support a “monistic” for localizing electrical activity in the brain. Interna-
view of mind and brain, as dependent on biolog- tional Journal of Psychophysiology, 18, 49–65.
ical processes and independent of the spiritual Picton, T. W., Bentin, S., Berg, P., Donchin, E.,
Hillyard, S. A., Johnson, R., Miller, G. A., Ritter, W.,
soul. This has made, and will continue to make,
Ruchkin, D. S., Rugg, M. D., & Taylor, M. J. (2000).
these issues the subject of intense argument Guidelines for using human event-related potentials to
(Donchin 1984; Zani and Proverbio 2003). study cognition: Recording standards and publication
criteria. Psychophysiology, 37, 127–152.
Regan, D. (1989). Human brain electrophysiology.
Evoked potentials and evoked magnetic fields in
Cross-References science and medicine. New York: Elsevier.
Scherg, M. (1992). Functional imaging and localization
▶ Clinical Neurophysiology of electromagnetic brain activity. Brain Topography,
5, 103–111.
▶ Cognitive Neuroscience
Zani, A., & Proverbio, A. M. (2003). The cognitive
▶ Cognitive Science Psychology electrophysiology of mind and brain. New York:
▶ Magnetoencephalography (MEG) Academic.
Evolution 793 E
In its most general sense in science, “evolu-
Evoked Responses of the Brain tion” means progressive change. That is how
physicists, chemists, astrophysicists, and sociol-
▶ Evoked and Event-Related Potentials ogists use it. In these fields, it is usually taken to
be predictable (hence “progressive”), as in the
changes producing the main sequence of stars,
or in the “evolution” of alcohol during fermenta-
Evolution tion. Biological evolution has been taken to be
not predictable, largely because neo-Darwinian
Stanley N. Salthe theory is based completely on chance occur-
E
Department of Biological Sciences, rences, as explained below, and as emphasized
Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA so strenuously by Stephen Jay Gould, who
wanted to rule out all notions of progress from
biological evolution.
Related Terms Science has for the most part been involved
only with development, leaving evolutionary
Darwinism changes as the province of history. Philosopher
of science Karl Popper spoke of “the poverty of
In a general sense, evolution is one of two differ- historicism,” referring to the fact that it is diffi-
ent kinds of change, the other being development. cult to use history for pragmatic purposes. Only
Based on the usages in biology, where both kinds predictable changes can be modeled. There have
of change are studied, development can be been exceptions in science, such as historical
defined as “predictable directional change,” and geology and evolutionary biology. The tech-
would be a constitutive aspect of any dynamical nique of historical geology has been to take
system, as seen, for example, in the developmen- several different kinds of evidence from any
tal stages of an embryo, which go through given sequence in the geological record. Each
a predictable sequence. At a simpler level, torna- kind of evidence can be used to corroborate (or
does also go through predictable stages of devel- not) what was found with other kinds of evi-
opment. Evolution, on the other hand, would be dence taken from the same record. In this way,
the “irreversible accumulation of modifications a geological time period can be “run through”
and marks” resulting from encounters with other over and over again, building up a coherent pic-
systems or forces. It produces individuation. ture from different lines of evidence. This is
Such marks can form a record of historical analogous to checking to see if some develop-
changes. A simple example would be the craters mental event in an embryo is repeated in other
on the moon. A more interesting example would embryos, where other embryos are used to sup-
be changes that occur as a result of mutations in ply evidence for each kind of experimental
the DNA information storage in the cells of probe. So history can be studied by science if
organisms. Such mutations are known to mark preserved traces can be studied by many differ-
some of the changes that have occurred during ent techniques, as can be done with the fossil
biological evolution. All natural systems both record. Based on studies by paleontologists of
develop and evolve (individuate). They develop fossils and the strata they are preserved in, bio-
insofar as they are members of a class of dynamic logical evolution has been constructed as an
things, and their characteristic changes are inferred process of replacement of kinds of liv-
constitutive of their being in time. They also ing systems with others over long periods of
evolve/individuate because they inevitably get time on the earth. The fossils have been located
modified when they interact with other things in time by historical geologists using physical
and systems. techniques for dating the enveloping rock strata.
E 794 Evolution
This record gives us an idea of the sequence of need to get increasingly more complicated as
living beings that inhabited the earth. we describe kinds appearing more and more
The idea of biological evolution is founded recently in the record. This pattern of change is
upon the inference that earlier living forms gave not implied by the “descent with modification
rise to later ones in a kinship relationship based model,” which only predicts the generation of
on reproduction. Indirect methods of finding rela- increasing numbers of kinds of living things.
tionships between living beings are comparative Since it is common for developmental processes
anatomy, which Darwin and his forerunners used to show an increase in complexity of a develop-
to imagine biological evolution in the first place, ing system (as in the egg to chicken sequence), it
and comparative genomics, which is now the has been suggested that biological evolution
major tool for establishing kinship relationships might also be a predictable process for any planet
between kinds of living things. The conceptual with moderate enough conditions that could sup-
model used in these studies is what Darwin called port life. That is, there is some evidence that
“descent with modification.” Here, greater simi- biological evolution can be considered to be an
larity is taken to reflect closer kinship, and pro- aspect of a large-scale developmental process of
cesses of change are held to result in the surface of any earth-like planets. Any devel-
accumulating differences as time passes from opmental process always involves individuation
generation to generation. So the model is one of of the developing system as well, because
ever-increasing difference from original ances- historical accidents are always occurring in any
tral forms as generations succeed each other material system. Therefore, development is
over time. During this process, driven by repro- always evolutionary in part. Biological evolution,
duction, new species occasionally come into then, would be “evolutionary” in its creation of
being if the accrued changes prevent interbreed- many new kinds, and may also show a develop-
ing with populations of the older kinds. This mental tendency in its creation of increasingly
process of descent can be modeled overall as complex kinds of living beings as it continues
a tree, with the oldest ancestor in the trunk, and over time.
with new branches marking the origin of new The above statements make up what can be
species. One result of this process would be to called the facts of biological evolution – dated
increase the number of different kinds of living fossils and graded series of increasingly dissimi-
things, as well as the number of different kinds of lar anatomical resemblances accompanied by
environments they live in as they migrate to increasing degrees of genetic difference. Some
unoccupied regions. One would also expect an religiously motivated persons may refer to this
increase in the number of resulting ecological body of information as “the theory of evolution,”
relationships among the different kinds. So this which might better be stated as “the theory that
model of “descent” explains the variety and dis- evolution has occurred.” However, what is
parity of living things. described above is not taken to be a theory in
Concurrently, we have also found in the evo- the usual sense (involving causes) at all, but
lutionary record a process of increasing complex- a logical inference based upon facts from several
ity in the newer kinds of living beings appearing sciences, ranging from physics, through chemis-
later in the record of evolutionary change. The try and biology, to anthropology.
earliest living things were simple masses of sin- There actually is a theory of evolution that
gle cells, each reproducing separately. To these informs the thinking of evolutionary biologists,
were added multicellular kinds of different and this is the “neo-Darwinian theory” – the
sorts on different branches of the “tree” of life theory that evolution is mediated by natural
(e.g., sponges, plants, animals), and to these were selection. This theory, along with several others
added kinds that live in social systems, as well as as well, was sketched out by Darwin, and has
kinds that engage in building things. As a result, been developed by subsequent evolutionary biol-
we find that our descriptions of living beings ogists as a largely mathematical theory of
Evolution 795 E
population genetics. It concerns how some takes place. It is now clear that regulation of
genetic predispositions can replace others over genetic information is more important than
several generations in a lineage of populations. changes in that information in generating new
It is a theory of competition between genotypes phenotypes, and such regulation could plausibly
(which code for phenotypes like the brown eyes/ be influenced by the biological system itself.
blue eyes alternatives in people) for relative rep- Possible influences by a living system itself on
resentation in the next generation. Genotypes that what new phenotypes may appear during evolu-
reproduce most successfully would gradually tion are coming to be assimilated under the label
replace competing types, and are then said to be “self-organization.” This change in perspective
the more “fit.” It is assumed that this differential allows organisms themselves to have a role in
E
reproduction (with the best said to have upcoming evolutionary changes. In the neo-
higher fitness) is usually a sign of better adapted- Darwinian theory, there can be no effect of organ-
ness to existing environmental conditions. ismic intentionality upon evolution; they (and
Fitness involves two components – viability and we) are viewed as mere hapless pawns in the
fertility – which make up the phenotype of a kind competition between genotypes in a population.
of organism. Viability refers to the ability to Some neo-Darwinians have even proposed that
make a living and to survive the various hazards genes are the agents in evolution, with organisms
facing living things, while fertility refers to the being relegated to being mere “gene machines,”
ability to attract mates and successfully produce or “vehicles” for the promotion of genetic varie-
and (in some cases) raise offspring. A genotype’s ties. So the enforced randomness of gene muta-
fitness is measured as the number of surviving tion, installed in the neo-Darwinian theory in
offspring of that type in the next generation rela- order to eliminate the possibility of external influ-
tive to most successfully reproducing genotype. ence upon evolution, is being challenged instead
The neo-Darwinian theory has built into it an by the possibility of internal agentive action by
important provision that relates closely to the living beings themselves, as suggested by some
controversy between religion and biology. This studies in the field “Evo-Devo” (Evolutionary
provision is now coming to be increasingly crit- Developmental biology). This invokes unease
icized within evolutionary biology itself as not among many scientists because Western science
only not being required, but as not being even has been wedded to the idea that all of Nature
a plausible restriction. This important provision works mechanically, with no influence of desire.
is that new forms and behaviors can appear in This is why Francis Bacon excluded Aristotle’s
organisms only by way of random mutations of final cause from consideration in science. Natural
genetic predispositions. “Random” here means selection only eliminates the relatively unfit, and
“random with respect to the needs of the organ- creates nothing new. It is strictly a negative
isms.” This provision forestalls the possibility “weeding out” process, revealing success in
that there might be some agency, like a deity or reproduction subsequent to changes being made
other as-yet-undefined factors, influencing evolu- by self-organization. It can now be said that nat-
tion, since the changes that might increase fitness ural selection (selection by consequences) only
are held to necessarily occur prior to the possibil- disposes what self-organization proposes.
ity of their becoming useful. This basic assump- The neo-Darwinian population genetics the-
tion is a purely ideological constraint on the neo- ory has been embedded in a larger, more
Darwinian theory, and restriction to it has no encompassing theoretical nexus, called the Syn-
basis in observation. Some evolutionary biolo- thetic Theory of Evolution. This was a hoped-for
gists are now interested in the idea that organisms union of population genetics, natural history,
themselves might influence new forms by way of paleontology, comparative anatomy, develop-
changing behavioral patterns or by changing the mental biology, and animal behavior. It is inter-
hormonal environment of their cells, which is esting to note how fully the randomness idea
where the deployment of genetic information has suffused this entire theoretical orientation
E 796 Evolution
in biology. (1) The supposed randomness of For example, the frequency of pairs of moves in
mutation as a source of the new has already master chess games, and of pairs of notes in
been noted. (2) The willy-nilly wanderings of a classical music score, can be shown to fit
animals, spores, and seeds has been cited as a Poisson distribution, even though they were
important in the establishment of new species obviously not made “by chance.” This makes an
because new populations might come by chance ironic footnote to the Synthetic Theory’s focus
to be established far enough away from the source upon randomness. This bias would seem to be
populations so as to interrupt interbreeding. a veritable invitation for those who wish to ima-
A long period of evolutionary changes in sepa- gine a supernatural hand in evolution to assert that
rated populations after this would be enough to all the seemingly random events were actually
establish a new species after the accumulated directed from outside by a deity. There can be no
genetic differences became great enough to logical objection to that assertion, and so the dif-
have rendered the genomes incompatible in ference of interpretation becomes merely an asser-
a hybrid. This “allopatric model” of speciation tion of wills. For this reason alone, atheists will be
has been the dominant one in the Synthetic inclined to accept the ideological change privileg-
Theory. (3) In the population genetic theory, evo- ing self-organization instead of randomness in the
lution is always characterized as being kicked generation of new departures in evolution.
off by environmental changes occurring without We can explore further the relationship
respect to the needs of the organisms in a popu- between natural selection and the evolution of
lation – that is, occurring at “random.” (4) Since changes in organisms over time, a process that
biological populations of larger organisms are has been labeled “macroevolution.” This label is
often rather small, there is commonly a statistical poised in distinction to “microevolution,” which
sampling error determining which genes might refers to the changes in gene frequencies from
get passed on to the next generation, called one generation to the next as resulting from nat-
“genetic drift.” This means that varieties that ural selection. It was long assumed that micro-
get subjected to selective culling are often chosen evolution repeated over thousands of generations
in advance by accidental events. (5) At a larger would gradually add up to macroevolution. That
scale, unforeseeable “pre-adaptation” is sup- was Darwin’s own view, and this “gradualism”
posed to have been a major mediation of new was taken to be the norm for biological evolution
ways of life. For example, the fish-like ancestors until recently, when it was shown that phenotypic
of the first vertebrates to leave water for dry land evolution often goes by spurts and jumps, some-
appear to have already been walking in the shal- times in response to dramatic environmental
low waters where they lived, and they were change. Genetic change by way of selection
already breathing air in those stagnant tropical over the generations would logically be gradual-
waters. We might note that some modern fishes istic, but we see that organismic changes need not
do both. It needs always to be the case that, in be. A further point is that any feature or function
order to get going in a new way of life, there must of an organism is influenced by many genes. The
be some way of gaining a foothold – once again, neo-Darwinian theory does encompass the evo-
the only alternative seems to be chance. lution of many genes simultaneously (as modeled
It is interesting to note that logically, there is no in the computation technique, “genetic algo-
way to tell the difference between a chance event rithms”). Most biological functions involve
and an arbitrary action. Chance events are charac- more than one trait, and the simultaneous evolu-
terized when data about collections of some kind tion of many such traits, insofar as they affect one
of event fall into frequency distributions that can function, can be dealt with successfully by neo-
be fit to some probability density function. But Darwinian theory. There remains, however,
when a collection of instances of a type of delib- a conceptual problem with the simultaneous evo-
erate, agentive action is subjected to statistical lution of many independent functions, yet to be
analysis, it too can be found to be “random.” solved within selection theory.
Evolution 797 E
Macroevolution can be explored further with Concerning the ideological aspects of evolu-
a famous example used by religious objectors to tionary biology, we might consider how a process
evolution – the evolution of the eye. They point that supposedly produced us could not have ideo-
out that since an eye would not function unless all logical implications. Science is not free from
its features were in place, it seems impossible to ideology, as Marxist scientists were insisting
imagine all of these getting gradually improved back in the 1880s of the nineteenth century.
simultaneously because in the selection model, Long before that, the connection of Darwinism
there needs to be functional superiority in each to Capitalist ideology was being formed, given
generation in order to propagate some variety of the influence on Darwin’s thinking by texts like
a feature. An “unfinished eye” could not have any those of Malthus. Capitalism valuates the growth
E
selective advantage in respect to vision. As well, of competing firms, while Darwinism valuates
since each feature needs the others to collaborate the relative growths of different genotypes in
together in order to produce vision, they could not a population. It was said that Darwin imported
evolve in tandem either. This example poses Capitalism into Nature when he formulated com-
problems for the selection model; natural selec- petition between different types in a population
tion, selecting by consequences, cannot foresee for reproductive hegemony as the basis of evolu-
future benefits. In the selection model, one is tionary change. Subsequently Social Darwinists
required to imagine improvement of all the future justified their particularly brutal view of the
parts of the eye as occurring because each step human economic situation by appealing to its
was adaptively superior to other, competing naturalness – Nature red in tooth and claw!
forms, long before they came to function together More recently those neo-Darwinians known as
as features of the eye. That is, each future feature Sociobiologists promoted similar views, which
of the eye must be viewed as having been an even more recent group known as Evolution-
involved in other functions that were selectively ary Psychologists have tried to ameliorate. They,
favored. There could have been no selection pres- however, still use the basic mechanism of repro-
sure favoring vision until just before the advent of ductive competition between various types in
the eye. For example, the pigment cells in the a population as the motor of evolution, producing
retina could have had light-sensitive ancestral natural selection. And so, we who are here today
cells that functioned merely as detectors of light would be seen to be the offspring of a series of
and dark, without any image forming ability. ancestors who outcompeted (by successfully
Only in later generations of succeeding outreproducing) the ancestors of other possible
populations in descendent species would they folks who are not here instead! Competition is
get co-opted into the focusing eye, a process therefore the source of all good, based on
labeled “exaptation.” This is the formal Darwin- a random – that is, pointless – production of
ian answer, but whether there is in fact a sequence competing genotypes. Insofar as it is insisted
of ancestral populations with adaptive pre-eye that nothing is directing the evolutionary process,
components actually known from the fossil and that it is not developing in any particular
record is questionable. Lacking such a record, direction, it is without any intrinsic meaning.
evolutionary biologists can only believe that Gould was fond of noting that it was just pure
such a sequence must have occurred. The belief accident that our lineage did not go extinct long
rests on plausibility. That is, as is frequently the ago, as most kinds of animals have.
case in science, there can be a logical in-principle It needs to be noted that there are today at least
solution to a problem before that solution can be four groups that have an interest in shaping our
demonstrated empirically. culture’s creation myth (using “myth” in its eth-
Another important aspect of macroevolution nographic sense of an account of what we are,
that is problematic for neo-Darwinians – conver- where we came from, and what we should be
gent evolution – is explored in a separate entry in doing to reflect those origins.) There are, most
this encyclopedia. prominently, the neo-Darwinian evolutionary
E 798 Evolution, Convergent
biologists, who feel that they, as scientists, ought ▶ Metaphysics, Darwinian

to have exclusive rights to interpret organic evo- ▶ Natural Selection
lution. There are, actively contesting them, reli- ▶ Philosophy of Science
giously based Creationists (fundamentalists in all ▶ Worldview
three of the Abrahamic Faith Religions would
presumably have a stake in the Genesis story).
Then there are, somewhat less prominent now, References
the Marxists, who object to the notion of genetic
determinism that almost automatically follows Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by natural
selection, or the preservation of favored races in the
from the neo-Darwinian idea that only genetic
struggle for life. London: Murray.
information can be passed on from one genera- Gould, S. J. (2002). The structure of evolutionary theory.
tion to the next, reflecting the properties of the Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
winning genotypes in the reproductive competi- Newman, S. A. & Müller, G. B. (2003). Origin of organ-
ismal form: beyond the gene in developmental and
tion. They promote instead the idea that Man can
evolutionary biology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
be molded by social arrangements regardless of Pigliucci, M. & Kaplan, J. (2006). Making sense of evolu-
inherited predispositions. Finally, there are the tion: The conceptual foundations of evolutionary biol-
ideological Capitalists, for whom the valorizing ogy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Reed, R. G. B. (2007). Biological emergences: Evolution
of competitive production in our basic myth can
by natural experiment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
only be a good thing.
So, we see that the large changes in phenotype
over time that we call biological evolution, or
macroevolution, has been established as an
almost inescapable fact. At the same time, the Evolution, Convergent
dominant – indeed, the only current – theory of
biological evolution, the still unfinished theory of Stanley N. Salthe
natural selection, or microevolution, deals only Department of Biological Sciences,
with changes in the proportions of genetic varie- Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA
ties in a population over a few generations. It is
a theory that depends upon accidental occur-
rences at all levels involved in evolution, from Related Terms
cells and organisms to populations and biological
lineages. Biological evolution; Evolution; Organic
evolution
Cross-References Ever since Darwin, and implicitly even before his

work, the pattern of biological evolution has been
▶ Altruism viewed as one of “descent with modification”
▶ Attachment: Theory and Patterns (Darwin 1859). That is, since biological evolu-
▶ Biology tion is mediated by changes occurring during the
▶ Biology, Theoretical development of individuals and the reproduction
▶ Creationism of populations, there could be many different
▶ Cultural Studies changes made to the common phenotype in
▶ Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the a population in different instances and at different
Sciences times. This will sometimes give rise to descen-
▶ Ecological Psychology dent lineages deriving from the original popula-
▶ Evolution, Convergent tion as a result of animals, seeds, spores, or other
▶ Free Will propagules spreading out into new locales. Since
▶ History of Ideas (Intellectual History) the same principle would apply to all the newly
Evolution, Convergent 799 E
formed populations as well, we would have separately. This, called “parallel evolution,” can
a resulting pattern of increasing numbers of bio- be seen to result from similar genetic and organi-
logical lineages descending from an original pop- zational predispositions and body forms being
ulation. This pattern can be visualized as a tree subjected to similar environmental selection
evolving from a common ancestral population pressures. An example is found in the several
represented in the trunk and with an increasing frog families that have independently given rise
diversity of living things represented in the to species that lay their eggs on land instead of in
branch tips. Comparative genomic studies have water, or which come to brood their eggs inside
corroborated this model by showing that genetic the body of a parent. Certain possibilities would
difference increases along with phenotypic naturally be inherent in a given phenotypic orga-
E
(anatomical and behavioral) difference. That is, nization informed by similar genetic predisposi-
if we arrange living things on a conceptual tree, tions. So, some cases of homoplasy are easily
with increasingly different forms spread out into explained within the general Darwinian view-
the branch tips, we find that genetic difference point, especially if they are similar only in
generally follows the same pattern. a general sort of way rather than in detail.
So, given the fact that the genetic information, However, there are many cases of homoplasy
which informs the construction of the phenotype, that cannot be readily understood using the Dar-
parallels the apparent pattern of increasing diver- winian “descent with modification” perspective.
sity of living things during evolution, the princi- In these examples, kinship relations are quite to
ple of “descent” appears to be a sound model for very distant, and the similarities are surprisingly
evolution. Given this picture, it is natural to alike. These cannot be understood using the
expect that the disparity among living things “descent” principle alone. Here are some
would be continually increasing during evolution examples:
as well, resulting in such different beings as, for 1. Jellyfish, squids, and vertebrates have focus-
example, sponges, butterflies, and fishes. If we ing eyes on the same plan. It is known that the
look over all living things, this expectation does clear protein that makes up the lens is coded
seem to be corroborated in general. However, for by different genes in these cases. The
upon closer examination we find more than genes are different, but the form and function
a few puzzling cases where, even though the are the same. Amazingly, the same form is
genetic difference might be great, phenotypic found as well in the eyespot of single-cell
similarity is much greater than would be expected dinoflagellates.
given that fact (Willey 1911; Conway Morris 2. Both old man’s beard (a lichen) and Spanish
2003; McGhee 2011). In taxonomy these cases moss (a flowering plant) live as finely dis-
of similarities between evidently distantly related sected grayish masses draped over the
kinds is called “homoplasy.” branches of trees in misty coastal environ-
Now, in some cases homoplasy is easy to ments, the first in northeastern North
understand as a result of the requirements of America, the second in southern coastal
adaptation to a given environment. For example, regions. They are organized so as to capture
fishes, porpoises, sharks, and fossil icthyosaur water from mist, and minerals from dust.
reptiles all have very similar streamlined bodies 3. Both the very primitive hagfish in the oceans
that allow them to swim rapidly in the dense and an Amazonian catfish live by burrowing
medium of water. General shapes like these can into large rotting corpses that have drifted
be coded for by at least partly different genetic into deep waters. Their bodies have con-
information, allowing for many ways to solve an verged upon a muscular eel shape covered
adaptive problem, mediated by natural selection. in slime, which can tie itself into knots.
As well, it is easy enough to understand how 4. The primitive freshwater fish Polyodon and
closely related species might give rise to descen- the basking shark have evolved the same
dants that take up the same way of living body form, mouth structure, and behavior
for feeding upon microscopic plankton. It forms – minnows, pikes, eels, flatfish, pan-
should be noted in this case that there are fish, and so on. This pattern of replacement
other kinds of body designs for this same has been called “iterative evolution.” Again,
economic activity, notably in the whale there are some unique forms, like teleostean
shark and among whalebone whales. That seahorses, not found in the earlier faunas.
is, we cannot explain these similarities by 10. Agriculture was evolved separately by
claiming that there is only one possible way humans, ants, termites, and bark beetles.
to achieve this particular way of life, in 11. Another large-scale example is the evolution
which case natural selection would have of similar vegetations in different regions,
been sufficient to explain the similarities. while the species are all different. A
5. The New World vultures have evolved from well-known example is the Mediterranean
storks, while Old World vultures evolved vegetation profile found also in the Andes
from hawks. Mountains, South Africa, California, and in
6. Hummingbirds and hummingbird moths Australia. In this case, the similarity clearly
have evolved the same body form, general involves factors larger in scale than
size, and hovering behavior that allows them organisms.
to feed upon nectar in flowers. Other birds We find an interesting example in comparing
and butterflies have achieved this economic seahorses with chameleons. Both of these are
activity in quite different ways. slow moving, camouflaged stealth hunters using
7. Large complicated underground nests with a very rapid strike at their prey. They move about
tall chimneys for air conditioning have using prehensile tails to grasp the vegetation they
evolved both in some tropical ants, related climb about in. Both have independently moving
to wasps, and in some tropical termites, eyes. Seahorses have live birth, as do some cha-
related to cockroaches. meleons. The extreme difference in habitat in this
8. A stunning larger scale example is found in example, as well as the significant distance in
comparing the many body shapes and life- kinship, magnifies the importance of these simi-
ways of marsupial (pouched) mammals with larities. Note that the actual mechanism of prey
those of eutherian mammals (like us). The capture in each case is quite different, with
faunas of each, which evolved independently seahorses using a sucking action and chameleons
on separate continents, duplicate the same using a long sticky tongue. This shows that, what-
major forms and lifeways, like those of ever the forces eliciting convergent similarities
wolves, mice, and badgers – even saber here, they cannot transcend historical differences
tooth tigers. We do find a few very special- that have accrued in the two lineages separately.
ized kinds in each group that were not dupli- This should serve to remind us that in evolution-
cated in the other fauna, like the eutherian ary convergence similar forms evolve from very
bats. Also, while the lifeways of kangaroos different ancestors.
compare closely with those of antelopes and This brings us to the question of what might be
deer, their body forms and progression are causing this widespread limitation in evolution-
different, and so not all the ecological dupli- ary possibilities, which, on the Darwinian
cates in this general example are as closely “descent” model should be unlimited and should
similar as most of them are. produce similarities only very rarely, by chance.
9. An even larger scale example is found in the Darwinians invoke chance, conditioned by simi-
fossil record, when early paleoniscoid fishes lar selection pressures. The only other conceptual
were replaced, after a mass extinction, by possibility raised so far that might work is the
holostean fishes, and when these were structural attractor idea from the field of dynam-
replaced after another large-scale extinction ical systems. Structuralism has been an approach
by modern teleost fishes. All of these used in linguistics and in cultural anthropology,
faunas evolved the same panoply of body where again interesting similarities and
Evolution, Convergent 801 E
limitations are found. The idea generally is that Description
there are structural attractors, or “deep struc-
tures” in nature that exert a pull upon phenomena Evolutionary biology is a subdiscipline of biol-
resulting in their being reflected in many similar ogy, and of historical geology and physical
“surface structures.” In the case of biological anthropology. Recent advances have been in
evolution, there are as yet no candidates for using DNA comparisons to determine the
“deep structures.” A far-fetched non-structuralist degrees of relatedness of various lineages of
possibility from genetics might be imagined by living systems, and in bringing in ontogeny
way of the lateral transfer of genes carried by (development, in the subdiscipline Evo-Devo)
viral infection. It is also known that many genes in the role of describing how new forms are
E
are conserved during evolutionary changes, and created.
so the same genetic information might be lying
dormant in many lineages. But this would not
explain why these genes would be brought into Self-identification
play in cases like the seahorse and chameleon.
Possibly more interesting, it is known that gene Science
regulation can manipulate the same genetic infor- This is a science in the sense of making system-
mation to get different results, so why not ima- atic observations in comparative studies, and in
gine the possibility that gene regulation could generating mathematical models in the popula-
turn different information to producing the same tion genetics subdiscipline.
results? But, again, given that adaptation by nat-
ural selection can produce a variety of adapta-
tions, why should it produce duplications? Characteristics
Somehow, these genetic possibilities do not
seem very convincing as an explanation of evo- Evolutionary biology is a distinctive scientific
lutionary convergence, especially considering discipline in that it is concerned with historical
that convergence is found even at the ecological subject matter.
level, as in the Mediterranean vegetation pat-
terns. In this case, fire has been at work, but
why is there only one kind of response to fire? Relevance to Science and Religion
We know there is not just one response because in
Australia there are other, non-Mediterranean- Evolutionary biology is related to “Science and
type fire disclimax biomes. Religion” because it has implications for, and
It might be noted that our logics make it very discusses, the origin and evolved nature of
easy for us to see how differences can accrue in human beings. As well, it is a science that estab-
changing systems, but very difficult to imagine lishes beliefs about past events, and all beliefs
how similarities between different systems might have numinous functions.
arise. Any unplanned change is more likely to
create a difference from what was present before
the change. But it requires elaborate technologies Sources of Authority
in order to generate similar forms, as in a factory,
or during organism reproduction, which is guided The sources of authority in evolutionary biology,
by the genetic system. Evolutionary biologists as in any science, are important published works
have simply put this problem aside, sometimes and the authors who wrote them. These persons
by suggesting that on the genetic level there is move to positions of power in regard to control-
only parallel evolution (Gould 2002), if indeed, ling publication and resource allocations. As
they acknowledge it at all (Pigliucci and Kaplan well, they determine the direction that investiga-
2006). tions will move in.
Ethical Principles implicitly held to be faulty in some way, and

may be jettisoned or improved at any time.
Ethical principles guiding this discipline, as in
any science, have to do with abhorring plagiarism Perception
and in maintaining focus (excluding overly crea- “Perception” is the subject of some studies in the
tive approaches and new departures). At the same ethology subdiscipline of evolutionary biology.
time, competition is extolled. For example, while we have three color receptors
in our eyes, birds have four.
Key Values Time

“Time” is important in evolutionary studies
The overriding key value in this discipline is inasmuch as biological evolution has taken
competition. This is central to the dominant place over long periods of time, while studies
(neo-Darwinian) theory of evolution, as compe- that can be done covering many generations are
tition between genotypes for representation in restricted to microorganisms in experimental
future populations. setups, or to computer simulations.
Consciousness
Conceptualization “Consciousness” has no presence in evolutionary
biology.
Nature/World
“Nature/world” does not function prominently in Rationality/Reason
evolutionary biology inasmuch as it excludes the “Rationality or reason” is studied in regard to its
origin of life from its studies. functions in the “evolutionary psychology”
subdiscipline of evolutionary biology.
Human Being
“Human being” is important inasmuch as it Mystery
studies the origin of humanity. ‘Mystery’ has no presence in evolutionary biology.
Life and Death

“Life (and origins of) death” are important in that Relevant Themes
the neo-Darwinian theory has a theory of why
senescence occurs, and that leads to death. Additional themes, issues, and concepts in evo-
lutionary biology of relevance to “Science and
Reality Religion” concern (a) mass extinctions that have
“Reality” is not, as such, important in evolution- periodically decimated life on Earth, and could
ary biology. happen again, (b) widespread extinctions cur-
rently being caused by human economic activi-
Knowledge ties, and (c) human predispositions that appear
“Knowledge” has some importance inasmuch as under crowded conditions.
the “meme” analog of the gene is held to spread
through populations by way of competition
between ideas. Cross-References
Truth ▶ Bioinformatics, Computational

“Truth” has no role in this, or any, scientific ▶ Biology
discipline. All observations and theories are ▶ Evolution
Evolutionary Psychology 803 E
▶ Natural Selection Note that evolutionary prototyping is similar to
▶ Philosophy of Science incremental development in that parts of the sys-
tem may be inspected or delivered to the customer
throughout the software life cycle model.
References
Conway Morris, S. (2003). Life’s solution: Inevitable

humans in a lonely universe. Cambridge, UK:
Evolutionary Psychology
Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by natural
selection, or the preservation of favored races in the Matt Rosano
struggle for life. London: Murray.
E
Psychology Department, Southeastern Louisiana
Gould, S. J. (2002). The structure of evolutionary theory.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
McGhee, G. (2011). Convergent Evolution Limited Forms
Most Beautiful. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Pigliucci, M., & Kaplan, J. (2006). Making sense of evo- Related Terms
lution: The conceptual foundations of evolutionary
biology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Willey, A. (1911). Convergence in evolution. New York: Adaptation, behavioral; Adaptiveness; Behav-
E.P. Dutton. ioral adaptiveness; Behavioral selection; Cultural
adaptiveness/adaptation; Cultural evolution; Nat-
ural selection of behavior; Social evolution
Evolutionary History
Description
Evolutionary psychology (EP) is a general
theoretical approach to psychology. It is the
application of Darwinian principles to the under-
Evolutionary Prototyping standing of human nature. Simply put, EP claims
that we humans think and behave as we do
Linda Sherrell because evolutionary pressures molded and
Department of Computer Science, adapted us to be that way. EP is an approach to
The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA psychology that seeks to provide a comprehen-
sive, unifying framework for understanding
human behavior and mental processes.
Evolutionary prototyping is a software EP sees itself as grounded in the most successful
development method where the developer or unifying framework of the life sciences: neo-Dar-
development team first constructs a prototype. winism. Neo-Darwinism has been used as the the-
After receiving initial feedback from the cus- oretical structure uniting all of biology, and its
tomer, subsequent prototypes are produced, effects are being felt in areas as diverse as anthro-
each with additional functionality or improve- pology, economics, and even cosmology. As the
ments, until the final product emerges. organizing framework for biology, neo-Darwinism
This prototyping scheme differs from the rapid applies to all living organisms on Earth. The
or throwaway prototyping, in that the developer assumption that humans fall outside of this frame-
begins with the best understood requirements; work is, for EP and its adherents, special pleading
whereas in rapid prototyping, the developer imple- in the extreme. To further bolster their position,
ments the least understood requirements. Further- evolutionary-minded psychologists (here on
more, the first prototype need not be built quickly. EPers) can point to an impressive body of
E 804 Evolutionary Psychology
empirical support that has accrued over the past around for decades as a loose collection of sub-
few decades. This empirical support has cut across disciplines with only a minimal amount of con-
all subdisciplines of psychology. From the earliest structive interaction among themselves. EP holds
work in mate selection and attraction, the evolu- a promise of providing a common theoretical
tionary approach has been successfully applied to framework for uniting all of psychology. For the
questions in developmental psychology (e.g., why first time in history, psychologists might have
do girls mature more quickly than boys?), social a common language that they can use to relate
psychology (e.g., why do we so easily form in- to one another. Furthermore, EP strengthens the
groups and out-groups?), cognitive psychology connections between psychology and other
(e.g., why is calculus so much more difficult to related disciplines such as biology, anthropology,
learn than language?), biological psychology primatology, and even archeology. A common
(e.g., why is the frontal lobe so much bigger than theoretical framework and a common language
the occipital lobe?), and even abnormal psychol- can help specialists from different disciplines and
ogy (e.g., why are we more likely to have phobias subdisciplines work together rather than in suspi-
to snakes and spiders rather than cars and guns?). cious isolation from each other, thus facilitating
Most recently, the evolutionary approach has progress.
been delving into our most human of characteris-
tics: morality, religion, and consciousness.
Though some have argued that these topics are Relevance to Science and Religion
“beyond” scientific explanation, recent work has
given EP a solid foothold in each. For example, There are a number of reasons why the science/
morality is a natural part of our social nature. religion dialogue is of interest to evolutionary
Those of our ancestors who simply couldn’t fig- psychologists. First, religion is a nearly universal
ure out that repaying debts made others angry or characteristic of human societies. As such, it
being obviously selfish made one a poor mating affects the thinking and behaving of the vast
prospect, suffered social isolation and reduced majority of humanity. Ignoring religion leaves
fitness. Similarly, religion may have been impor- psychology as an incomplete science. Put another
tant for bolstering group-based moral standards way, to fully understand humans, psychology
making one group more cohesive and therefore must investigate religion. The fruits of this inves-
more successful compared to another. How far tigation will very likely play an important role in
EP can successfully be pushed is still an open shaping the issues relevant to the science/religion
question. No doubt it will eventually run into dialogue. For example, the empirical studies
limitations of one sort or another. But as for showing positive physical and mental health ben-
now, EPers see their approach as the most excit- efits associated with religious practice can inform
ing theoretical advancement yet in psychology. discussions of both the functional significance of
religion in peoples’ lives and the potential evolu-
tionary origins of religion.
Self-identification Second, religion did not just appear fully
formed – it evolved. The same is true for the
Without question, EP sees itself as science. This mental faculties that allow humans to think reli-
is so because it generates hypotheses that can be giously. The question of how humans became
empirically tested. religious creatures is inherently a question of
evolutionary psychology. Exploring the ▶ selec-
tion pressures that molded us into creatures capa-
Characteristics ble of religious imagination informs us about our
evolutionary past and helps us to better understand
What makes EP distinctive is its promise. From the role that religion plays in today’s world.
the EP perspective, psychology has stumbled Finally, exploring the evolution of religion can
provide a scaffold for constructive interaction Practitioners in EP are expected to conduct
among many different scholars both religious and research with competency and integrity. Because
nonreligious. For believers and theologians, it may EP deals directly with human nature, those
provide an opportunity to better understand how involved in EP research bear an especially
religion (presumably guided by divine provi- heavy burden in being honest, cautious, and thor-
dence) emerged, or was revealed, among our ough in their data collection and interpretation. It
ancestors. For scientific skeptics, it may offer an is not uncommon for EP research to have sensi-
opportunity to better understand the natural basis tive social and political implications. It is all too
of religion and the seemingly mysterious human easy for the general public and/or the popular
need for it. Both groups, however, can be united in press to sensationalize, misunderstand, or exag-
E
these efforts by using agreed upon scientific gerate EP studies in an attempt to sell a product or
methods for addressing questions about why and push an agenda. For example, studies indicating
how humans evolved as religious creatures. that by virtue of our evolutionary design males
are naturally aggressive or females are naturally
deceptive are sometimes carelessly transformed
Sources of Authority from studies trying to explain why certain behav-
ioral propensities exist into ones offering
Being grounded in neo-Darwinism, the writings a justification for some of our less socially desir-
of Darwin (Origin of Species, Descent of Man) able tendencies. EP researchers must take great
provide the foundational texts. William James care in delimiting the scope of generalizability of
was one of the few early psychologists to take their work, and they must be constantly sensitive
evolution seriously as an important mechanism to the wide individual differences typically pre-
molding human nature. His writings – Principles sent in humans. The need for replication of find-
of Psychology, Varieties of Religious Experience ings, restraint in interpretation, and strict
– form another layer of the early important works. discipline in distinguishing natural tendencies
In more recent times, E. O. Wilson’s Sociobiol- from moral prescriptions are essential in EP.
ogy and Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene lay-
out some of the important principles of neo-
Darwinism and its application to human behav- Key Values
ior. William Hamilton’s work on inclusive fitness
and Robert Trivers’ work on parental investment The key values would be curiosity and honesty.
and reciprocal altruism have provided important Psychologists who adopt an evolutionary
contributions in understanding how a “selfish” approach must be curious about human nature,
evolutionary process can create “selfless” behav- and this curiosity must drive them to seek the best
ior. Barkow, Cosmides, and Tooby’s edited vol- explanations possible for why humans are the
ume The Adapted Mind provides a good overview way we are. Furthermore, EPers must be honest
of evolutionary psychology for the professional about human nature. Humans have a naturally
audience. While a very recent handbook (2005), evolved collection of both admirable and ignoble
edited by David Buss called The Handbook of traits. This is reflective of the fact that evolution
Evolutionary Psychology, provides a state of the is an adaptive process, not a moral one. At the
field report in just about every subdiscipline of same time, EPers must be careful not to confuse
psychology. “how we naturally are” with what we potentially
can be. For example, though we have natural
tendencies toward selfishness, vindictiveness,
Ethical Principles and prejudice, we also have natural tendencies
toward compassion, forgiveness, and justice. By
The ethical principles guiding EP are no different studying moral exemplars such as Gandhi,
from those guiding any other scientific discipline. Mother Theresa, and Nelson Mandella, EP can
provide important data on how it is that humans world to which we were originally adapted.
can enlarge the more admirable of our qualities Homo sapiens emerged some 200,000–
while restraining our more vile ones. What we are 150,000 years ago. It has only been in about the
naturally neither determines the ultimate manner last 8,000 years or so that settled agriculture
of our being nor justifies our more shameful emerged. Thus, for over 99 % of our evolutionary
tendencies. history, humans lived in hunter-gatherer bands –
and it was this world, called the ▶ environment of
evolutionary adaptedness or the EEA, to which
Conceptualization we were adapted. This ancestral environment is
the one which is “natural” to us in the sense that
Nature/World our mental and behavioral tendencies are
There are a number of ways in which the EP designed to fit with it and not necessarily with
perspective on these terms is somewhat different the modern urban world.
from how they are commonly used. First, in one
sense, nature and world are to EPers pretty much Human Being
the same as they are to anyone else. Nature is the As with nature/world, there is a sense in which the
natural stuff out there: forests, streams, birds, and term human being is the same for EPers as it is for
mountains – all the stuff you want to “get back to” anyone else. Human being refers to us, members
when you go camping. World is often taken as of our species. However, there is another sense in
being broader, encompassing both our human- which human being is a much more technical and
made urban environments (“man’s world”) and nuanced term for EPers than for most others.
the “natural” world. However, in another sense, Human beings are members of the species Homo
EP offers a slightly different perspective on both sapiens sapiens. This species arose about
these terms. Since from an EP standpoint, 200,000–150,000 years ago and differed only
humans are not radically set apart from other very modestly in morphology (body form) from
species, our habitat is also not radically set apart other ▶ hominin species also present at that time
from “nature.” In other words, all habitats are (e.g., Homo erectus, Homo helmei, and Homo
natural. The entire world from an 80-story office neanderthalensis; collectively these species are
tower in Chicago to a tangled jungle canopy in often referred to as the archaic Homo sapiens).
the Congo is natural. Habitats may vary in terms The diverse array of hominin species present
of how much a species has manipulated the envi- both prior to and concomitant with the emergence
ronment to suit its own needs (humans and bea- of Homo sapiens sapiens debunks any notion of
vers tend to manipulate their environments more human evolution as a progressive march from less
than dragonflies and coyotes). Manipulation, intelligent and sophisticated species to increas-
however, is not the same as making something ingly more intelligence and sophisticated ones.
unnatural. As an environment is manipulated, the Indeed, upon their initial emergence, Homo sapi-
kind of selection pressures it brings to bear on ens sapiens did not differ at all in terms of stone
various species changes. Generally speaking, the tools, artifacts, hunting strategies, or other
species doing the manipulating does so to make archeological indices of cognitive capacity rela-
the environment more suitable for itself, and tive to other contemporaneous hominins.
often this will make the environment less suitable Thus, a major question in EP, and human evo-
for other species. So as beavers reduce river flow, lution in general, is what variable(s) account(s) for
species that depend on the river flow may suffer. our unique human intellectual capabilities. When
As humans build 80-story office towers, species and why did we become human, and what exactly
that formerly used the trees or open space on does that mean? By the time of the ▶ Upper
which the building now sets suffer. Paleolithic (about 35,000 years ago), symbolic
Furthermore, EP often makes a distinction artifacts and stunning cave art reveal a mind that
between the world humans now inhabit and the is undeniably human – the same as ours now.
But why did it take so long and what prompted its not terribly relevant for evolutionary purposes.
emergence then and not sooner or later? The only thing that is relevant, from an evolu-
tionary standpoint, is whether the reaction (run-
Life and Death ning away) based on the assumed reality (danger
While the origin of life is a fascinating and impor- present) is more adaptive than a different reaction
tant topic, it is not directly relevant to EP. All based on different assumed reality. In this sense,
evolutionary processes pertain to the diversifica- it can be said that evolution is more “concerned”
tion of life forms; thus, life – understood as a self- with pragmatic truth (what works in terms of
sustaining system capable of reproduction or rep- promoting fitness) rather than metaphysical
lication – is a necessary prerequisite for evolu- truth (what is absolutely true).
E
tion. Death or the loss of a system’s self- As an example, suppose another rabbit was
sustaining and reproductive ability is also an a “tough guy” rabbit who would only run away
essential aspect of evolution. Less adapted crea- if there was thoroughly convincing evidence of
tures tend to die out with relatively less reproduc- a fox (as opposed to an opossum or raccoon)
tive success compared to more adapted creatures. about. This might have the advantage of conserv-
Thus, the traits associated with the less adapted ing energy for only those times when one is really
creatures are less likely to be passed on to future in danger. However, since the margin of error on
generations. this strategy is far thinner (a single mistake could
be fatal), the chances of this rabbit’s alternative
Reality, Knowledge, Truth, and Perception strategy for interpreting reality getting passed
These four terms are interrelated in EP. Evolution along to future generations are less than its more
designs creatures to be adapted to their environ- paranoid comrade.
ments. This typically means that to one degree or Thus, we are led to a conclusion about evolu-
another, creatures have to take in information from tionary processes: they hone an organism’s men-
the environment and respond to that information in tal/perceptual processes such that they are
ways that enhance their fitness or reproductive adaptive, not necessarily so they discern the
success. Perception refers to all the processes that “truth.” Often a fairly accurate (or truthful)
go on in an organism directed to the purpose of assessment of the environment is more adaptive
taking in and making sense out of external stimu- than an inaccurate (or nontruthful) one (avoiding
lation. Knowledge refers to the interpretation that falling off a cliff that is really there is quite
organisms give to that external stimulation based adaptive). However, this need not always be
both on the sensory inputs and the stored results of true. Most EPers see very little convincing evi-
past interactions with the environment. This dence that any creatures, other than humans (and
knowledge frames the reality within which the maybe elephants), know they are going to die,
organism functions. For example, a rabbit may even though this is undeniably true. Knowing that
perceive through both visual and auditory signals truth would probably not be adaptive – the worry
the presence of a large four-legged furry creature would sap energy needed for more immediate
in its immediate vicinity. Based on this input tasks. Thus, truth and adaptiveness are not the
coupled with information retrieved from memory same, and so just because a certain interpretation
about past encounters of a similar nature, it may of reality is adaptive, there is no guarantee that it
construct knowledge about the presence of is the truth. This discussion becomes very rele-
a predator (it knows a fox is about). This knowl- vant when we consider issues of God, religion,
edge provides the basis for its current reality – it is the soul, etc. Believing that these concepts are
in trouble and needs to react quickly. For the true might be adaptive, but that doesn’t necessar-
rabbit, the danger is real and so it runs away. It is ily mean that they are really true. It doesn’t nec-
at this point that evolution, in a sense, stops. essarily mean that they are false either; it just
The question of “was the danger really real?” means that we can’t use adaptive as convincing
or, put another way, was the rabbit’s reality true is evidence for truth.
Time evolved to help us solve social problems and

For EP, time is often considered on a much to ensure that we were not getting cheated by
deeper scale than is commonly done. Humans as others. This may help to explain why it seems
a species have been around for about so effortless (and even fun) to gossip and specu-
200,000 years. However, placed against the time late (reason) about why others did what they did
scale of life on Earth (about 3.5 billion years), it is (Fred must have thought that Jenny cheated on
a miniscule proportion. Furthermore, since set- him when he saw her at the party with Ted). Yet
tled agriculture only emerged about 8,000 years at the same time, reasoning about why the sum of
ago, then the kind of lifestyle that we are cur- x must equal the square root of y on the other side
rently engaged in makes up only a tiny portion of of the equation is often arduous.
the total time that humans have been around.
Thus, human civilization, which we typically Mystery
think of as being very old, is, in fact, only a tiny In EP, mysteries usually surround particular
blip in relation to the deep time of Earth’s total human traits such as consciousness, language,
history. morality, religious tendencies, etc. Why and
how did these particularly human characteristics
Consciousness arise? Complete explanations may never be
From the perspective of EP, consciousness is found. Yet it is precisely the mystery surrounding
something of a mystery. Psychological studies these issues that makes them especially interest-
show that many processes can be carried out ing for EPers to pursue. Mystery in the largest
quite effectively unconsciously. Furthermore, sense involves the very origin of the evolutionary
some of the most abundant and well-adapted process itself. Why have such a process and from
creatures (bacteria, beetles, and cockroaches) where did it originate? Is there any purpose to
have little, if any, consciousness. So why be evolution or is it just an aimless, futile march of
conscious? The importance that consciousness adaptation, diversification, and extinction? These
has for humans (one might easily argue that it is are the deepest mysteries and ones where science
the central human trait) suggests that it must (and certainly EP) is hard pressed to provide any
serve some adaptive function. But isolating answers.
exactly what that function is has not been easy.
Some studies suggest that consciousness is nec-
essary when acquiring new, complex skills. This, Relevant Themes
however, is not a guarantee that consciousness
arose for that purpose or that it arose for any There is considerable discussion concerning the
purpose at all. evolutionary origin of religion. Some have
argued that religion may have provided an adap-
Rationality/Reason tive advantage in terms of group cohesion and
EP considers reason to be an adaptive trait that solidarity. If so, then this suggests that religion
allowed humans to better interact with their envi- was itself an adaptation. Furthermore, it sug-
ronments. Furthermore, studies suggest that it gests that some form of group level selection
was the social environment that was key in may have been operating in our ancestral past.
selecting for human rational functioning. Rea- This would cut against the dominant orthodoxy
soning problems that are framed in terms of of individual selection being the proper level of
social obligations (if he or she is a teenager, analysis for understanding evolutionary
then he or she must not be drinking beer) are processes.
usually more easily solved than the ones framed Others have contended that religion represents
more abstractly (if the card has a vowel on one not an adaptation but an exaptation or spandrel.
side, then it must have an even number on the ▶ Exaptation refers to a trait that emerged for one
other). This suggests that our reasoning ability adaptive purpose being co-opted later for
Evolutionary Theology 809 E
a different purpose. So, for example, the bones of References
our middle ear originally emerged as part of the
hinge system for reptilian jaws. Later, this set Barkow, J., Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (1992). The
adapted mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
of bones served nicely as a mechanism for
Buss, D. (2005). The handbook of evolutionary psychol-
conducting sound vibrations (although that is ogy. New York: Wiley.
not what it was originally designed to do). Corballis, M. C., & Lea, S. E. G. (1999). The descent of
A ▶ spandrel is similar except that its origin mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Crawford, C., & Krebs, D. L. (1998). The handbook of
need not have involved any adaptive purpose.
evolutionary psychology. Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Today, we can find all kinds of uses for our Dawkins, R. (1989). The selfish gene. Oxford: Oxford
belly buttons (paint them, put rings and diamonds University Press.
Ellis, B. J., & Bjorklund, D. F. (2005). Origins of the
E
in them, etc.), and social trends being what they
social mind. New York: The Guilford Press.
are, belly buttons might become identified with
Low, B. S. (2000). Why sex matters. Princeton: Princeton
sexual appeal such that those with better buttons University Press.
might even have higher rates of ▶ reproductive Rossano, M. J. (2003). Evolutionary psychology. New
success. None of these functions, however, York: Wiley.
Rossano, M. J. (2010). Supernatural selection: How
explain why belly buttons originally arose. As
religion evolved. New York: Oxford University Press.
best as we can tell, they are just accidental by- Wright, R. (1994). The moral animal. New York: Vintage
products of our anatomy without any direct adap- Press.
tive purpose.
From EP’s perspective, religion may be some-
thing like this. Humans may first have evolved
the mental capacity for ▶ agency detection Evolutionary Theism
(ascribing behavior to an internal mental state
such as a desire or belief) for the purpose of ▶ Evolutionary Theology
understanding and predicting the behavior of
other animals (including fellow humans). Later,
this capacity may have been extended to include
environmental events such as the wind, rain, or Evolutionary Theology
ocean currents. Thus, the wind was assumed to
have a desire to punish humans for sin or reward Niels Henrik Gregersen
them for virtue. From this beginning, more com- Department of Systematic Theology,
plex ideas about spiritual forces and deities could Faculty of Theology, Copenhagen University,
emerge. Debates over the origin of religion reflect Copenhagen K, Denmark
its complexity as well as the complexities of the
evolutionary process itself.
Related Terms
Cross-References Darwinian theology; Evolutionary theism
▶ Biology of Religion Introduction
▶ Cognitive Science of Religion
▶ Cognitive Science Psychology Evolutionary Theology (ET) refers to forms of
▶ Evolution religious self-reflection that are significantly
▶ Evolutionary Theology shaped by the resources of evolutionary biology.
▶ Philosophy of Mind While some evolutionary theologies build
▶ Psychology of Religion on assumptions of non-Darwinian forms of
▶ Theory of Mind evolution such as orthogenesis and spiritual
E 810 Evolutionary Theology
goal-directedness, most contemporary propo- himself had made. I question whether the former
nents of ET give preference to standard neo- be not the loftier thought” (November 18, 1859).
Darwinian models of evolution with its focus on God the creator “makes things make them-
natural selection, the statistics of variations of selves,” as Kingsley later argued. Already in
environments and genomes, and the malleability the second edition of the Origin of Species
of species over time. However, since evolution- (January 7, 1860), Darwin appropriated
ary theory itself is under constant development, Kingsley’s words when referring to “a celebrated
and also find various interpretations within con- author and divine” who had written that “it is just
temporary philosophy of biology, proponents of as noble a conception of the Deity to believe that
ET also refer to aspects of biological evolution He created a few original forms capable of
that go beyond neo-Darwinism, such as the self-development, as to believe that He required
importance of biochemical constraints, self-orga- a fresh act of creation to supply the voids caused
nization, and the much debated question of trends by the actions of his laws” (Darwin 1860: 481). In
toward complexity in evolution. Also, more often the concluding paragraph, Darwin also inserted
than not, theological proposals refer to central a new reference to God: “There is grandeur in this
aspects of cultural evolution, such as the emer- view of life, with its several powers, having been
gence of symbolic language, morality, aesthetics, originally breathed by the Creator into a few
and religion. forms or into one and that, whilst this planet has
In order to constitute a theology in the proper gone circling on according to the fixed law of
sense of the word (involving concepts of the God gravity, from so simple a beginning endless
or the divine) ET inevitably draws on other forms most beautiful and most wonderful have
sources than evolutionary theory, such as reli- been, and are being evolved” (Darwin’s insertion
gious experiences, scriptures, and traditions. ET italicized). It has been discussed whether these
is nevertheless distinct from forms of theology theological reflections are to be seen merely as
that are either indifferent to the findings of strategic compromises. But in his posthumous
evolutionary biology (such as existentialist the- Autobiography Darwin stated that at the time he
ology), or anti-Darwinian in nature (such as Intel- was writing the Origin, “I deserve to be called
ligent Design theory). Even though the latter may a Theist,” while adding that his religious convic-
be said to be shaped by Darwinism, evolutionary tion later “has very gradually with many fluctua-
biology is here not used as a positive resource for tions become weaker” (Darwin 1958: 93).
theology. He ended up in agnosticism: “The mystery of
the beginning of all things is insoluble by us and
I for one must be content to remain an agnostic”
Early Evolutionary Theology (1958: 94).
Darwin’s impetus for religious reflections
The first examples of ET can be found in the mostly came up in relation to the laws of physics,
earliest responses to Darwin’s theory of evolu- and to the beauties of nature such as the Brazilian
tion. Darwin sent a draft of the Origin of Species rain forest. He thus shared the expectation of
(published November 24, 1859) to Charles a harmonious world order with contemporary
Kingsley, a close friend from Darwin’s days as Victorianism. On this background, the miseries
student of theology. From his parsonage, Kings- of pain, and their inevitability given natural selec-
ley wrote a congratulating letter to Darwin: tion, were to be seen as counter-indications of
“I have gradually learnt to see that it is just as a moral divine design. Whereas Darwin’s stron-
noble a conception of Deity, to believe that gest proponent in America, the Harvard Professor
he created primal forms capable of self- Asa Gray, argued for a divine direction of evolu-
development into all forms needful pro tempore tion, Darwin himself eschewed the idea of
and pro loco, as to believe he required a fresh act a divine twinkling of the processes of natural
of intervention to supply the lacunas which he selection. His correspondence with Gray gives
ample evidence of Darwin’s concession that his after the deluge; some argued more defensively
own theology was “in an utterly hopeless muddle. that the 6 days might refer to long ages before the
I cannot think that the world, as we see it, is the creation of humankind (the Hebrew yom could
result of chance and yet I cannot look at each mean both days or ages); others straightforwardly
separate thing as the result of Design” (Letter to believed that God made the world look older in
Asa Gray November 26, 1860). Simultaneously, order to test his believers.
Darwin gave up the idea of a divine revelation in It goes without saying that evolutionary theo-
Christianity. His distaste for revivalism was out- logians found these maneuvers utterly futile.
spoken and uncompromising, in particular the They interpreted the Bible as a foundational
“damnable doctrine” of damnation (1958: 87). myth about the perennial conditions of humanity
E
Ever since Darwin pointed to natural selection in relation to God rather than as a textbook of
and variation as the prime engines of biological epochs in early natural history. Proponents of ET
evolution, a variety of themes came up as poten- here usually followed a combination of historical
tial falsifiers or validations of religion in general, criticism and liberal Protestant theology (Barton
and of Christianity in particular. In what follows, and Wilkinson 2009). Today, ET follows
the different challenges and responses are a standard distinction between the “common crea-
discussed one by one. tion story” provided by the sciences, and the
“metanarratives” of religion, the latter focusing
on the meaning of the cosmos, life, and human
The Interpretation of Scripture existence. Ancient precursors exist for such
distinction. The Jewish-Platonic philosopher
Darwin and his followers were by no means the Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 B.C.E. to 50 C.E.)
first to question a literal reading of the creation read Genesis as a description of God’s instanta-
story in Genesis 1–3. The so-called higher criti- neous creation of a spiritual world that was only
cism in Germany had done so since the end of the later to be manifested in time and space. Church
eighteenth century, and in England Robert Cham- Fathers such as Gregory of Nyssa (c. 331–395) and
bers’ Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation Augustine (354–430) followed this method of
(1844) had argued that since God works through interpretation, assuming that God created an intel-
laws of nature no one should understand the 6- ligible world (Genesis 1) prior to the creation of the
days account of Genesis literally. Darwin’s revo- material world (Genesis 2 onward). Symbolic and
lutionary theory of evolution was launched in the literal readings were thus often intertwined in
midst of an age of evangelical revivalism, how- Patristic and Medieval exegesis. Against this back-
ever, and the interpretation of scripture was ground, Eastern-Orthodox and Roman-Catholic
heavily debated in the early decades of ET. theology have come to accept the gradual evolu-
Even though Darwin did not pretend to solve tion of species, even though the human soul is
the riddle of the emergence of life, his mecha- claimed to be uniquely created simultaneously
nisms of evolution required a long history of with each fertilized egg. A literalist reading of
species formation, including a geological period Genesis is only widespread among Protestant fun-
of minimally 200 million years. Initially, the damentalists. Conservative Jewish communities
Darwinians had a time problem that was only usually accept long-term gradual evolution, while
solved conclusively much later with the Big Muslim communities are divided on the issue.
Bang theory. But the defenders of a literal reading Since the Quran only offers vague descriptions of
of Genesis (an individual creation of each species cosmological beginnings, the age of the Earth does
during 6 days, and a time horizon of maximally not feature centrally in Muslim circles. Islam does
10,000 years) soon had to fight against the host varieties of ET, but according to polls, the
common views of physicists, geologists, and evo- majority of Muslim communities are still against
lutionary biologists. Catastrophists argued that evolutionary theory, particularly concerning
the laws of nature had been different before and human descent.
The Common Descent of Humanity perspective that is able to value the continuity
between humans and other higher animals, and
While Darwin left the origins of humanity out of to point to marks of human distinctiveness.
account in On the Origin of Species, he addressed Central aspects of human cognition find precur-
the issue at great length in The Descent of Man sors and analogies in other species, such as
(1871) as well as in the Expression of the Emo- locomotion (including bipedal walk) and the
tions in Men and Animals (1872). Darwin here development of sentience (from light-sensitive
analyzed many structural homologies between cells to compound eyes and lens-based eyes).
humans and other species, while also pointing to Likewise, in social insects, we find clear systems
behavioral similarities regarding sexual selec- of division of work with procedures for “punish-
tion, emotions, and instinctive reactions. Darwin ment” of free-riders among higher apes, and we
found that even religious sentiments are similar find forms of behavior that may be termed moral
to the reactions of dogs coping with sudden or proto-moral. The comparative perspective
changes in their environments. To many of his even involves cases in which animal develop-
contemporaries, Darwinism was simply identical ment far exceeds that of humanity, for example,
with the “ape-theory.” in terms of physical strength, the olfactory senses
Proponents of ET have developed several of dogs, and the evolution of forms of awareness
arguments against the view that Darwinism unknown to humans (such as echolocation in bats
implies a humiliation of the human race. The and dolphins). Without humiliating the human
most principled argument (developed already by species, such evolutionary features may elicit
nineteenth century Kantians) has been to apply a sense of humility on the part of humanity.
the fact/value distinction: The dignity of human- Many proponents of ET thus see humanity as
ity does not depend on its historical origins being a peer with its co-creatures, and influential
but stands and falls with the intrinsic value theologians such as J€urgen Moltmann have
(or disvalue) of humanity as it is today; just as argued that both evolutionary and biblical per-
a daughter of Stalin should not be valued or spectives require us to understand humanity as
disvalued by the undertakings of her father, so carved out of the web of nature (imago mundi)
the value of humanity does not depend on its before it makes sense to speak of humanity as
origins. Even though this argument is valid, the created in the image of God (imago Dei).
repetitive use of it tends to bolster the dualistic What then about human distinctiveness, if not
view that what is valuable about humanity is uniqueness? Evolutionary theory does not sup-
simply that which dissociates us from other port an essentialist concept of species. Yet most
animals. evolutionary biologists are prepared to admit that
Others have followed an even more straight- Homo sapiens, due to historical happenstance,
forward argument from progress: Rather than has developed quite unique characteristics that
being a story of the descent of man, evolution is we do not find in other species. “We are built as
a story of the “Ascent of Man” (so the title of gene machines and cultured as meme machines,”
Henry Drummond’s Lowell Lectures 1904, also as Richard Dawkins argued in The Selfish Gene
used for a famous BBC series by Jacob (1976), and similar views are held by George C.
Bronowski 1973). Yet also this argument back- Simpson, E.O Wilson, and other strict evolution-
fires. It could well be, as already assumed by ists. Theologians often argue on similar tracks.
Darwin himself (1958: 92), that the human race Wolfhart Pannenberg points to the human open-
is only one station in an evolutionary trajectory ness to new and fresh experiences within a hori-
that inevitably leads beyond the human race. zon of possibilities which liberates humans from
A similar argument is made today by the a bondage to the concrete environments and the
transhumanist movement. instinctual reactions typical for other species.
The most widespread strategy among evolu- This sense of infinite horizons may also explain
tionary theists has been to develop a comparative the emergence of religion, including ideas about
God. Likewise, Karl Rahner points to the peculiar Others (probably the majority) find the psycho-
capacity of human beings to transcend them- logical explanation of the emergence of religion
selves through their latent or “unthematic” both speculative and wanting in detail, and argue
awareness of God. This “supernatural existential” that religion more probably came up in the crea-
serves as a precondition for the specific human tive gene-culture interaction, where the immedi-
capacity for freedom, self-reflection, and univer- ate pressures of natural selection are relaxed
sal concepts of truth and morality. (Rolston 1999: 141). With its laryngeal tract
Within current science-religion discussions, Homo sapiens affords a particular capacity for
the search for human distinctiveness has been nuanced speech, and the acquisition of
elaborated partly in discussion with paleoanthro- a symbolic language during cultural evolution
E
pology, and partly in the context of research facilitated an awareness of open-ended mean-
programs such as evolutionary psychology and ings, including references to principles and
cognitive theories of religion (van Huyssteen universals such as the divine, mathematics,
2006). Paleoanthropological records suggest ideas of the common good, and the search for
that Homo sapiens emerged from a common evo- truths that transcend the perspective of the indi-
lutionary lineage with the homo habilis and homo vidual persons and particular groups. The emer-
erectus (c. 2–1.8 myr) around 400 kyr ago, and gence of religion (as evidenced in burial
was, according to known records, not developed practices) and moral sociality (as evidenced in
into anatomically modern homo sapiens sapiens rituals and community building) feeds into this
until around 100 kyr ago. Our species has thus picture. As in natural selection, not everything
lived together with the homo neandertalis goes in cultural evolution. Religion and morality
(c. 170–30 kyr), who had slightly bigger brains have thus been pruned and universalized in the
than we. Yet, apparently, a cultural explosion course of cultural evolution, so that only rela-
took place only within our species between 60 tively few ideas of the divine have been able to
and 30 kyr ago. Paleoanthropologists argue that survive the test of time and experience. Also,
cultures constitute systems of nongenetic infor- religious wisdom traditions provide large-scale
mation transfer, manifested in discrete forms of orientational schemes which enable humans to
tool making and art, and in systems of morality cope with everlasting dilemmas of the human
and belief that differ from population to popula- condition, and to pick out information about
tion (van Huyssteen 2006: 222). Moreover, what is of enduring value in contrast to what is
cultural information is not only dependent on only of ephemeral importance.
the brains of individuals, but is stockpiled into
forms of cultural memory, supported by social
media such as art and architecture, symbolic lan- Design, Chance and Natural Selection
guage, rituals, and signs with socially shared
meanings. The issue of design versus natural selection plus
While evolutionary psychologists agree that variation has remained a contested area in ET.
there is a naturalness for developing religious Both believers and nonbelievers have thus argued
imagination within the human species, they find that if Darwinism is correct, divine purpose and
the explanation for this fact in the “Hyperactive care are removed from the world of living organ-
Agency Detection Device” (HADD): Particular isms to be replaced by purposeless chance and
brain modules work spontaneously leading to an pitiless selection. The picture is oversimplified,
over-ascription of agency and mind to, for exam- however. For even though Darwin’s mechanism
ple, stones, trees, clouds, or dreams as revealing of natural selection superseded divine design as
“supernatural agents.” Some evolutionary theo- the basic framework for explaining the fertility,
logians find this explanation plausible and argue growth, and order in the world of biology, Darwin
for its in-principle compatibility with a notion of himself spoke of a design in the general setup of
a God, who wants to be known to human beings. the universe. Since the late 1950s, physicists have
unexpectedly reinvigorated discussions of design considerations of plausibility and economy will

by pointing to the so-called cosmic fine-tuning of depend on worldview assumptions that exceed
laws and physical constants, which provide the the scope of empirical science.
proper physical and chemical conditions for the The idea of self-organization is often
emergence of life and consciousness. Moreover, presented as the antidote to the idea of design.
mathematical models have been developed This is correct as long as one by design under-
in order to explain recurrent features of stands a controlling preordering of things. Yet,
self-organization and trends toward increased any self-organizational processes takes off from
complexity during evolution (Gregersen 2003). conditions that are difficult to understand to be
The so-called anthropic principle points to the results of preceding self-organizations, con-
concerted fitfulness of the basic laws of nature ditions such as the mathematical envelope of
(gravity and nuclear forces) and of the constants possibilities, the physical constants and the laws
of nature (mass-energy) for the biological habit- of nature as we know them. Even if physicists
ability of the universe. Whereas the biological should find a grand unified theory for gravity and
community earlier tended to think that life and quantum laws, which could also explain the
human existence emerged as an unlikely result of amount of matter in the universe, such imagin-
chance, the majority of scientists today believe able “law of everything” would be as it is, and has
that we live in a biofriendly universe, so that life always been. Yet, even if self-organization can
emerges inevitably given the physicochemical hardly explain all of physics, computer models of
conditions. Rather than seeing humanity as self-organization have succeeded to explain quite
a tragic gypsy fighting against all odds with the a few robust features of biological evolution.
conditions of the universe (so Jacques Monod), it Evolutionary novelty thus tends to come up in
is nowadays more often assumed that we are at semi-stable and codependent systems poised
home in the universe (Stuart Kauffman), and that between evolutionary stable strategies (ESS)
the emergence of life is almost inevitable (Chris- and purely chaotic systems.
tian de Duve). Obviously, this view is open to The new sciences of computational complex-
naturalist as well as to theistic interpretations. ity have thus given hope to explain the fact that
The anthropic principle can be reformulated as evolution eventually evidences an overall
a research program asking, How much could the complexification over time, measured by param-
constants and laws of nature be changed, and we eters such as size of organisms, morphological
would still have life and consciousness? The complexity, kinetic complexity, complexity of
answer of physics is: very little indeed. Based nervous systems and sensitivity, social complex-
on the fact of the concerted laws, a new argument ity, and the intensity of interconnectedness
for design has been developed: (1) The more between different biological organisms. On the
improbable the specific laws of nature are (in whole, the history of evolution offers both cases
relation to other mathematically possible laws), of resilience and self-repetition and of novelty
and (2) the more these very particular laws are and exploration of new adaptive spaces. As
actually fine-tuned for life (toward the inevitabil- evidenced in cases of convergent evolution, not
ity of life and consciousness), the stronger is the everything is up for grabs in evolution. Natural
argument for an inference to design. No infer- selection is always constrained by what is
ence, however, offers a proof. Thus, it could be physically and chemically possible. Some bio-
that the laws of nature are as they are by sheer chemical structures thus show a remarkable
chance (the Lady Luck Hypothesis) or it could be self-identity across phyla (such as the hox-gene
that our universe is only the lucky winner among responsible for the building of body structures),
endless other universes that we do not, and prob- while other biological functions have developed
ably never will, know about (the multiverse independently in different genetic lineages (such
theory). Anthropic design is thus only one of as the construction of lens-based eyes in octopus
several explanatory hypotheses, and and mammals). Even if the ecological niches
differ markedly, similar adaptive spaces are The “how” of the evolutionary mechanisms and
explored by genetically distant biological classes. principles as described by the sciences are thus
ET stands and falls with its assumption that the complemented with a theological interpretation
interplay between natural selection and chance of the “why” of evolution. The religious question
plays a central role in God’s manner of letting the of purpose thus depends on the qualitative or
world of biology flourish. This core assumption “poetic” outcomes of the evolutionary processes
can take several forms. In its strongest form, it is rather than on its quantitative or “prosaic”
argued that natural selection plus chance by methods. This path is taken by those who follow
themselves provide the divine ruling of the bio- Stephen J. Gould and others who argue that the
logical world by guaranteeing a progress and Modern Synthesis of Darwinian macroevolution
E
proliferation of the biological potencies of the and genetic micro-evolution is not complete,
material world. Around the turn of the nineteenth though not incorrect. The history of evolution is
century, this combination of natural selection and a “drama” (Celia Deane-Drummond) with
a progressivist teleology (often based on Herbert endless many mutations (at micro-level) and
Spencer’s interpretation of Darwin) was historical “saltations” (at macro-level). On this
widespread among liberal theologians (e.g., the view, the religious interpretation should
aforementioned Henry Drummond). acknowledge the tensions, paradoxes, and back-
The medium-strong version is that natural falls of evolution rather than construct a smooth
selection plus chance involve a statistical and optimistic trajectory of evolution.
tendency to provide some sort of overall direc- The way ET copes with natural selection and
tionality during evolution, even though one chance can be seen as a theological redescription
should expect many cases of downfalls, as it is of an evolutionary process already described
evidenced in the big periods of extinction during and (partially) explained by the sciences. So far,
evolution (99% of known species are extinct). theological hermeneutics stands in the fore-
Observe that directionality is more than ground. Yet this hermeneutical approach can be
equiprobability but less than progress. Many con- complemented by theories of divine agency
temporary proponents of ET follow this line. during evolution. Robert John Russell et al.
Arthur Peacocke, for example, has persistently (2008) argue that since many mutations occur
argued that the biological notion of chance refers due to quantum mechanical processes, mutations
to genetic mutations as well as to the variations and variations should be explained at deeper
facilitated by circumstances and ecological explanatory levels than those offered by the bio-
niches. Chance, in this sense, has nothing to do logical sciences. Moreover, since quantum events
with existential feelings of estrangement and pur- are the basic constituents of nature, there is at
poselessness, as presupposed by atheists such as quantum level eventually no difference between
Bertrand Russell or Jacques Monod (Peacocke the primary and secondary causality (i.e.,
2004: 50–65). On the contrary, only the principle between the divine creativity, and the actual
of chance and variation can open up the full quantum events). Finally, since quantum events
gamut of evolutionary possibilities by generating are statistical in nature (even if they all fall within
new organismic constellations which then are the spectrum of the Schrödinger equation), one
subsequently tested in the competitive game of cannot ever, according to the Copenhagen inter-
natural selection. pretation, gain a complete deterministic theory of
The weak or minimalist version of the core ET quantum events. By implication, one can never
assumption is that natural selection and chance have full biological explanation of mutations.
are compatible with theism. Natural selection and According to Russell and colleagues, quantum
chance are here seen as the de facto methods that mechanics thus makes a substantive divine
God has chosen in evolution, this method being agency conceivable also in the biological realms
coherent with the religious affirmation of divine of chance and mutations, a possibility opened up
purpose concerning the outcomes of evolution. by the Copenhagen interpretation. It is
noteworthy that also some Islamic scholars put unavoidable by-products of evolution. Just as
emphasis on mutations rather than on natural one cannot create morally free creatures without
selection (Guessoum 2011: 290). Although also risking their immoral deeds, so God cannot
the Quran gives preference to ideas of cosmic create a world endowed with freedom and auton-
balances, mutations are seen as indicators of omy without facing natural evils. This free pro-
a sovereign divine agency, which works, as cess defense involves that pain and pleasure come
a hidden variable, alongside the standard opera- and go together, part of the package deal of
tions of the laws of nature. creation. God is neither immoral nor amoral,
but values the world as a whole as “very good”
(Gen 1:31). This position then finds two different
Natural Selection and Natural Evil interpretations. One is to endorse the cruciform
character of creation, and argue that the pain of
Any theory of particular divine agency in evolu- the prey is redeemed by the pleasure of the pred-
tion inevitably raises the stakes for an evolution- ator within the evolutionary process; a world of
ary theodicy. For how can a benevolent creator sweat and blood is better than a bloodless world
promote a biological world, in which pain and (Holmes Rolston). Another option is to see God’s
suffering is part of its working method? Since compassion and co-suffering as the divine
Darwin himself shared the harmonious expecta- response to natural evils. A Christian ET may
tions of a Victorian natural theology, he was thus say that in Jesus, the Son of God, God is
lifelong affected by this theodicy problem. Also co-carrying the costs of evolution while taking
today evolutionary biologists argue that the exis- side with the losers of the game of biological and
tence of widespread and systematic pain in the social completion. Similarly, non-Christian phi-
universe is what one should expect, if there is no losophers of biology have observed the common
God of the universe (Richard Dawkins). emphasis on the centrality of suffering in Dar-
Several evolutionary theodicies have been winism and in Christianity (Ruse 2001: 134).
proposed. One way is to give up the moral expec- On Christian premises, it is even possible to
tation to God shared by morally concerned athe- elaborate a Trinitarian theodicy in three steps. In
ists and believers when posing the theodicy the beginning God said, “Let it Be”: Let the world
question. If God is being-itself, God is both the develop and flourish (the free process view of
ground and the abyss of any particular being. This creation). For the benefit of the evolving creation,
ground of being-theology either argues that talk however, God goes into the depths of evolution-
of divine love is symbolic (Paul Tillich), or that ary existence through his own Son, thus sharing
moral characteristics of God are altogether the “groanings” and birthing woes of creation
misplaced. God is amoral rather than unmoral. (Rom 8:22–23) while also absorbing and
This theological position finds some support in transcending the pains in God’s internal experi-
the Bible (Isa 45:8: “I make weal and create ence (cross and resurrection of Christ). Finally,
woe”) and thus also Martin Luther and John God will send his life-giving Spirit to create
Calvin referred to the “hidden God.” These a new world under new cosmological conditions
Reformation theologians, however, made a dis- while retaining the experiences of lived life,
tinction between the hidden and the revealed with both scars and joys (the new creation)
God, and the task of faith was to believe in (Southgate 2008).
God’s revealed love while accepting the tension
between experience and faith.
Another path consists of distinguishing Unsolved Metaphysical Questions
between evil and hardship. On this view, the
fact of natural suffering does not suggest that As we have seen, proponents of ET follow
God has evil intentions, or even finds pleasure a variety of strategies by which they appropriate
in designing miseries. Rather, natural evils are central tenets of evolutionary theory within
Exaptation 817 E
distinctive theologies. Accordingly, the term References
“evolutionary theism” is only to be used as
a shorthand for quite different ways of using Barton, S. C., & Wilkinson, D. (Eds.). (2009). Reading
Genesis after Darwin. Oxford: Oxford University
evolutionary biology as a resource for religious
Press.
self-reflection. In fact, none of the described posi- Darwin, C. (1958). The autobiography of Charles
tions use evolutionary biology as their only Darwin, Barlow N. (Ed.). New York/London: W.W.
source for theological reflection a commitment Norton.
Gregersen, N. H. (Ed.). (2003). From complexity to life:
to Darwinian evolution as the best available
On the emergence of life and meaning. Oxford: Oxford
scientific theory does not imply the view that University Press.
evolutionary theory is the solution to all sorts of Guessoum, N. (2011). Islam’s quantum question: Recon-
ciling Muslim tradition and modern science. London:
E
questions. Not only does physics and chemistry
I.B. Tauris.
precede and undergird all forms of life through
Peacocke, A. (2004). Evolution: The disguised friend of
cultural formations but human beings have devel- faith. Selected essays. Philadelphia: Templeton
oped forms of life and experience that cannot be Foundation Press.
sufficiently tackled by evolutionary biology. If Rolston, H., III. (1999). Genes, Genesis, and God: Values
and their origins in natural and human history.
there is a common core to ET, it is the assumption
that evolutionary theory needs to be seen in Ruse, M. (2001). Can a Darwinian be a Christian? The
a wider metaphysical perspective, involving relationship between science and religion. Cambridge:
other natural sciences, the manifold perspectives Cambridge University Press.
Russell, R. J., Murphy, N., & Stoeger, W. R. (Eds.).
of the human sciences, and the religious experi-
(2008). Scientific perspectives on divine action:
ences of humanity. Here one needs to dig “deeper Twenty years of challenge and progress. Vatican City
than Darwin” (John Haught). State/Berkeley: Vatican Observatory Publications/The
ET also shares an ontological commitment Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.
Southgate, C. (2008). The groaning of creation: God,
with nontheistic spiritual traditions such as
evolution, and the problem of evil. Louisville: West-
Buddhism. For biology consciousness is a sec- minster John Knox.
ondary issue that only develops as a sub-form of van Huyssteen, W. (2006). Alone in the world? Human
life in specific lineages, humans in particular. uniqueness in science and theology. Grand Rapids:
William B. Eerdmans.
Yet, both the idea of God in the theistic traditions
and the idea of the primordial mind in Buddhism
presupposes aspects of ultimate reality which are
prior to what emerges and come to flourish in
very late stages of cosmic evolution. There must Exaptation
be something significantly prior in order for
something significant to evolve. Matt Rosano
Psychology Department, Southeastern Louisiana
Cross-References
▶ Biology of Religion Refers to a trait that emerged for one adaptive

▶ Divine action purpose being co-opted later for a different
▶ Evolution purpose. For example, the bones of our middle
▶ Evolution, Convergent ear did not arise specifically to conduct sound
▶ Evolutionary Psychology pressure waves. Instead, they were originally
▶ Hermeneutics, Theological part of the reptilian jaw bones designed for
▶ Imago Dei chewing. The hinged arrangement, however,
▶ Metaphysics, Darwinian proved useful much later for sound propagation
▶ Systematic Theology and was “re-tooled” by natural selection for that
▶ Theistic Naturalism purpose.
E 818 Existentialism
understanding human existence (dasein) in

Existentialism terms of existentialia, a clearing of being comes
to pass, which does not happen in the philosophy
Jari Ristiniemi of consciousness! Existentialism, as Heidegger
Department of Culture Studies, Religious Studies interprets it, is an existential/ontological analysis
and Educational Sciences, University of G€avle, of being; existentialism is not subjectivism
G€avle, Sweden (Heidegger 1985).
To Kant’s subjectivist turn, existentialism
adds the existential turn: the analysis is directed
Related Terms to human existence, not only to the mind. Schel-
ling (1775–1854) had claimed that being could be
Philosophy of existence known in existence through experience;
there is an a posteriori philosophy of “higher
empiricism” (Schelling 2007). Experience is not
Description only a passive receiving according to Schelling,
but an active deed of self-determination.
Existentialism, as a philosophy of life, has its Both Kierkegaard’s and Sartre’s existentialism
idea-historical sources in German idealistic phi- has radical a posteriori character. Claiming that
losophy. Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel gave existence precedes essence, Sartre seems to agree
the decisive impulses for the birth of existential- with Schelling: human essence is realized
ism. Kant (1724–1804) moved away from what through deed, action, and choice only;
was understood as medieval metaphysical ontol- choice gives human nature its “whatness” or
ogy, ungrounded speculations about the nature of being; existence precedes essence (Sartre 1946).
the beyond, and he turned to the analysis of per- Heidegger on his side claimed that the distinction
ception and grounds of knowledge, this being the between essence and existence has haunted
subjectivist turn in him. Heidegger (1889–1976) Western thought from its beginning. If essence
classifies Kant as an adherent of the philosophy of is understood as a pre-given “entity” or abstrac-
consciousness, and given the subjectivist turn this tion, as a “what” and as a thing, then essentialism
seems plausible. In Kant, possibilities and limits is unavoidable according to Heidegger. If we on
of human experience and of perception are in the other hand understand essence from the
focus. He asked how the mind “in advance,” perspective of time, then the existential clearing
a priori, structures the perception of the world; of the essence of humanity and of being is
his aim was both to show how the mind works and possible according to Heidegger, and such
how the factory of mind looks like prior to actual clearing have happened, happens, and will
perception (Kant 1982). Existentialism draws happen in philosophy (Heidegger 1993). That
attention to the preceding domain as well, but it the humanity of humans is dependent on their
adds existentialia, which are beyond the categor- choices, on their ability to self-determination, is
ical frames. Existentialia are like categories, Hei- a central theme in existentialism.
degger wrote, they are transcendental in relation Schelling initiated the historicity of philoso-
to everyday experience and awareness, but in phy: the place of thinking is in time and space.
Heidegger’s view they were more fundamental Existence could be known only in and through
for human self-understanding than categories. existence itself, not through reason alone;
Categories are subjectively in the mind; existence is to be known in the phenomenon of
existentialia structure the self/world interaction existence. The Greek word for “phenomenon,”
or human existence in its entirety, and they give jainómeno, is translated as “that what shows
access to being. By focusing on existentialia, itself.” Existentialism is closely related to
Heidegger considered that he had moved phenomenology and hermeneutics; today, it is
beyond the philosophy of consciousness: in more in agreement with post-phenomenology
Existentialism 819 E
(Deleuze, Guattari, and Levinas) than with lifeworld, which we come to know through
Husserl’s phenomenology. Existentialism is moods (stimmung), passions, choices, actions,
thinking in time and place; it tries to express and deeds. Existence in time and space is
the basic phenomena of human life; it explicates both for Feuerbach and for Merleau-Ponty
that what show itself in human existence, (1908–1961) bodily existence in the concrete
including being. Existentialism in Heidegger’s physical universe. According to Heidegger,
interpretation is an existential ontology. existentialia like care, death, and freedom belong
For Feuerbach (1804–1872) and Kierkegaard to human lifeworld. The facing of finitude gives
(1813–1855), Schelling’s existential turn became birth to anxiety; it shows the presence of anxiety
crucial. Human beings are in time and space: or nothing in human life; in anxiety, the nothing-
E
we think, feel, and will as concrete bodily beings ness of human existence shows itself. Anxiety is
in the concrete physical reality; to exist is to an expression of the finitude of human existence;
apprehend, to sense the concrete physical being; as such, it belongs to all aware life according to
human nature (wesen) “dwells” in the concrete existentialists. In anxiety, the finitude of human
physical being. Existentialism focuses on the existence shows itself, truly to exist is to ex-ist.
analysis of human nature, subjectivity, existence, Existence for existentialists is to step out of the
and human finitude in time and space. The nothingness of existence, as it shows itself in
analysis of finitude shows that there are different anxiety, and it is to give life content, meaning,
ways of relating to the world, to others, and to and direction through choice, decision, and
God. Human life, existentialists conclude, is deed (the Latin ex-ist means “to step out”).
relational and individuals might be aware of The analysis of finitude does not only show the
different ways of relating. They do not negativity of existence, but it also shows
understand with “relationality” personal relations the possibility of self-transcendence and of
only, but constitutive relations, which give living for others: the ethical striving. Early
human beings their identity. It is the capability existentialism and recent existentialism express
of relating that differentiates human beings from the ethical striving.
mere things. Things and objects lack this ability Schelling had coined “the horizon of freedom”
according to existentialists. Things are “givens”; as a basic feature of human existence: self-deter-
human life is an open possibility, not a fixed mination, that is, choices and deeds through
thing. Existentialism has several “subgroups” which humans realize their potentials and their
like atheist existentialism, Christian existential- belongingness to being, happens in the horizon
ism, and feminist existentialism. Atheist existen- of freedom, which by definition is in time.
tialists claim that the clearing of existence/being The horizon of freedom is the relationship
does not open for God relationship. Christian between the now and the future; only the future
existentialists like Sören Kierkegaard, Karl is the open possibility. Nietzsche (1844–1900)
Jaspers, Gabriel Marcel, Rudolph Bultmann, Paul radicalized the time relationship: it is the
Tillich, and Mary Daly claim that God relationship future that determines the now; the future is the
is constitutive for human self-understanding. becoming of the now, also expressing the ethical
Feminist existentialists claim that Man has taken striving. The horizon of freedom is direction to
the place left by the exit of Father God; the next future: human existence is future-oriented
step in history is to dismantle and to deconstruct and future-directed. In Heidegger, and in later
the structure that make the master Man possible: hermeneutics, especially in Dilthey and in
the hierarchical ontology with God or Man at the Gadamer, horizon becomes crucial as the horizon
top. The radical vein is an essential part of of understanding: human life, and even life in
existentialism. general, is to be understood in the light of the
Existentialists describe and explicate human future possibilities and potentials, not only in
relationality. They claim that preceding the the light of its past events and happenings.
objectifying relation to things there is the bodily The individual is in time and space; she or he
constantly projects her or his nature onto Recent day existentialists claim that the
unknown future, this being the stage of care modern scientific perspective, building on the
(Sorge); in the situation of projection, the indi- subject/object distinction between the individual
vidual is to decide and to choose what she or he is and the observed world, gives one perspective on
to become through the leap of choice or of faith things. Existentialists adhere to perspectivism,
(Kierkegaard). Choice, through which humans Nietzsche being a portal figure in modern,
realize and come to consciousness of their selves, or rather, in postmodern perspectivism.
happens only in the horizon of freedom according The objectifying relation presupposes that the
to existentialists. Both in Kierkegaard and in individual posits her or him as an observer in
Sartre, freedom is self-communicative, that is, relation to the world, creating the subject/object
freedom in one person affects and “starts” free- structure between the individual and the world.
dom in the Other; the individual is a part of the Thinkers profoundly influenced by existential-
human race or human species. Freedom is not ism, like Martin Buber (1878–1965) and Paul
“my freedom,” freedom belongs to all; “it” deter- Tillich (1886–1965), consider that the subject/
mines the individual and the species. The rela- object structure lays the ground of the cognitive
tionship between the individual and humanity at relation in modern natural science. In claiming
large or the human species is a central theme in this, they were inspired by Heidegger,
existentialism. In Sartre’s view, there cannot be Kierkegaard, and Feuerbach. Behind these
any realized good or realized and materialized three, there lies the influence of Fichte
human nature that is not good for all; the individ- (1762–1814). Fichte had opened for human
ual good enriching the humanity of humans is the self-determination, and self-determination is
only good according to him (Sartre 1946). a central theme in existentialism. Feuerbach
Getting inspiration from Heidegger’s analysis analyzed the possibilities of self-determination
of thinghood and of technology, recent existen- and concluded that the subject/object relation
tialism analyses the human predicament in the era between the individual and the observed world
of technology and globalization. It warns us of or nature is a result of the act of positing. Given
objectifying and rectifying human life; a danger the relationality of human existence, this act of
in the present situation is that we understand self-determination is in Feuerbach’s view
ourselves as things among things. When the hori- a secondary act. Prior to the subject/object
zon of understanding is determined by the ontol- relation, there is the I and Thou relation: before
ogy of thinghood, we tend to understand the individuals posit themselves as autonomous
ourselves as things among things; we do not see thinking selves, they are in the world as concrete
ourselves as time beings with the continuity bodily beings in the company of fellow men and
between the past, the now, and future. Things, women (Feuerbach 1957). Feuerbach is the
understood in terms of thinghood, have no time initiator both of the I and Thou philosophy and
relationship. As we understand ourselves as of the existential/phenomenological analysis of
things among things, we have fallen away from bodily/physical being. He was an inspirational
our humanity into a nonpersonal “they”; a kind of source for Nietzsche, and he should be seen as
“thrownness” characterizes the everyday life one of the foundational figures of existentialism.
according to Heidegger. “Thrownness,” “herd” Martin Buber developed the I and Thou philoso-
(Nietzsche), “inauthentic living” and “bad faith” phy and conceptualized the objectifying relation
(Sartre), and “dreaming innocence” (Kierke- as the I-it relation, setting it apart from the more
gaard) are existentialists’ coinages for living at primordial and original relation of I and Thou.
the mercy of other people. The existential According to Buber, science and scientific
turn at this level is that the individual makes the knowledge are congruent with the I-it relation;
turning around and starts to look for some human active self-determination is in the I and
more authentic ways of living than just following Thou relation. It is in relation to the Other that the
the stream. positing of subjectivity or self-determination
comes to pass according to Buber: only in rela- composing Letter on Humanism in 1947. Sartre
tion to another Thou the individual finds her or had claimed that existence precedes essence:
his true “deeper” self. Maurice Merleau-Ponty a human being is thrown into existence;
also held the view that the individual she or he has to accept the finitude and anxiety
self-determination happens only in relation to of existence and to understand that it is through
the Other: the individual understands who and her or his choices that she or he makes her or his
what she/he is only in the company of life and fills existence with content, direction,
other human beings. Christian existentialists and meaning. Heidegger’s point in Letter on
emphasize the central role of God relationship Humanism is that the humanity of humans
in the act of self-determination. has been discussed under the domination of old
E
Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986), living side metaphysics and recently under the domination
by side with Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) and of technology and the ontology of thinghood.
also working with him, analyzed the gaze or the Due to those misconceptions, the humanity of
look of the Other. Historically, women have been humans has not been reached yet, but someday
submitted to the look of the Other, which for in the future the possibility of human essence will
Beauvoir is the look of man. Under the look of perhaps show itself. Humanism as we know it
man, or of men, women understand themselves as today is opposed, Heidegger wrote, “because it
passive objects instead of taking hold of their does not set the humanitas of man high enough”
innermost capabilities to action and self-determi- (Heidegger 1993).
nation; authentic living between men and women Existentialism had its heyday in Germany in
is to go beyond the objectifying look and the bad the beginning of twentieth century, in France,
faith; it is to understand oneself as an active during 1940s and 1950s, in the USA between
agent of self-activity and self-determination. 1940s and 1970s, in Russia through Dostoevsky,
In bad faith, coined by Sartre, the human Shestov, and Berdiaev in the end of nineteenth
self-understanding is not determined by the and in the beginning of twentieth century.
individual’s own self-determination and own The Great Soviet Encyclopedia from 1979
choice, but by that what the individual believes characterized existentialism as “an irrationalist
others think of her/him. In the state of bad faith, current in contemporary bourgeois philosophy”
the individual’s possibilities and potentials have (http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/exis-
not shown themselves yet, that is, the individual tentialism, 2012-05-11). Existentialism has been
has not come to consciousness. Recent existential influential in philosophy, in literature, in art, espe-
theologians, like Mary Daly, emphasize the cially painting, in expressionism, and in construc-
interactional nature of consciousness: both tivism. The existentialist turn grounded both
women and men are in the power of bad faith. If phenomenology and hermeneutics. The themes
one pole of the interactional setting changes, in picked up by existentialism has been developed
Daly’s view women’s consciousness, then the further by feminist thought, cultural analysis,
change of the other pole, of men’s consciousness, post-structuralism, post-phenomenology, con-
will follow. Recent day existentialism is moving structivism, and, recently, by epistemological dis-
away from the individualistic interpretations cussions in reflexive or differential monism.
to communal, societal, and interactional interpre-
tations of human being there, seeing individuals
as performative agents in interaction and Self-identification
inter-dependence with each other.
Existentialism considers itself as humanism. The early existentialists like Schelling,
Sartre had written Existentialism Is a Humanism Feuerbach, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche consid-
in 1946, Heidegger answered Sartre (who had ered that they were doing science. These philos-
referred to Heidegger an existentialist, ophers did not deny the objectivity of thought, as
which Heidegger was unwilling to accept) by we today understand it as representations of the
world out there (correspondence theory of truth), interest in religion as anthropological, social, and
but they claimed that there must be other kinds of cultural phenomenon. Feuerbach, Kierkegaard,
truths as well. They were not relativists, but they Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, and Berdayev, with
considered that representations give only Marcel, Jaspers, and Merleau-Ponty, have
surface knowledge of things and humans. It is analyzed religion as a psychological, social, and
not representational truths or representational cultural phenomenon. Nietzsche’s cultural
objectivity that we find in existentialism, philosophy sets many of the main themes of
but expressive truths (existential/ontological today’s cultural analysis.
truth-claims) about the self-to-self and of the
mind-reality relation.
Characteristics In existentialism, there is skepticism considering

authoritative sources; still, the great names of
The emphasis is on the individual and the existentialism are considered as authorities.
description of human finitude with its limits and Like empiricism, existentialism listens to
possibilities are the characteristic features of the senses, like rationalism existentialism uses
existentialism. Even if existentialism emphasizes reason in the analysis of human existence. But
the individual, it also draws attention to the inter- existentialism goes beyond plain empiricism as it
action between individuals and between individ- claims that an aware mind is more differentiated
uals and humanity at large. Further, the action- and alert to life experience than common sense
character of human life is in focus: through action empiricism with its passive camera-view of the
and choice the individuals realize their nature and mind allows for. Existentialism even goes
that realization has impact on other human beyond rationalism in taking hold of the human
beings, changing the human nature, and even potential and in claiming that the realization of
God’s being. Some existentialists like Schelling, that potential, the genuine human nature, is the
Kierkegaard, and Tillich emphasize the change matter of choice and decision, not of rational
in God: human beings are active agents in an calculation.
unfinished universe and their actions affect the
universe and even enrich God.
Ethical Principles
Relevance to Science and Religion Existentialism emphasizes ethical principles like

responsibility, reciprocity, action, self-activity,
Existentialism has drawn attention to the presup- and spiritual development. Existentialism
positions and conditions of natural and humanis- “demands” a respond to human situation subjec-
tic sciences: science and scientific truths are of tively, socially, and culturally. As it sees individ-
human making and existentialism studies the pro- uals in interaction with their surroundings, it also
cess of the production of knowledge, the function presupposes that the individual becomes aware of
of knowledge and science in modern society, the that how environment and social milieu affect the
value judgments associated with science, repre- individual, and how he or she is affecting the
sentations and “techniques of power” (Foucault) surroundings. Reciprocity is that an individual’s
in history and in the contemporary world, the role self-realization happens in relation to other peo-
of prejudices and fore-understandings in human ple; reciprocity in the individual-society interac-
self-understanding. Existentialism has made con- tion is to understand the way models of
tribution to the discussion of what science is and interpretation and patterns of understanding
what the role of science in the contemporary affect the individual, and in what way the indi-
society is. In existentialism, there has been keen viduals contributes to the legitimacy of the
cultural patterns. In existentialism, human nature, according to existentialism. Humans are potential
that what we are able to become, is dependent on beings: their life is characterized by openness
action or choice. Choice, then, is first and fore- toward future, vulnerability, and unfinished states
most an inner act through which the individual of affairs (in economy and in personal life). Only
strives to become that what he or she is able to future will show what it will become of man. The
become: a self-active, aware, differentiated, and nonobjectivity of human nature has ethical con-
integral self, and this self being a goal of the sequences according to Levinas: to claim that one
spiritual development. In Kierkegaard’s view, knows the Other or to claim that we know the
spiritual development gives echo in eternity. human nature is to do violence to the Other. To
respect the Other is to let the Other express her-
E
self or himself. In these expressions, we only see
Key Values the exterior of personality, never the core of per-
sonality or the seat of underlying motives.
The key values of existentialism are affirmation,
self-realization, and love. Humans should not shy Life and Death
away from existence, but they should meet exis- Even if death plays such a central role in existen-
tence with open eyes. They should not only affirm tial self-understanding, it shows the finiteness of
themselves as rational beings, but as life- life to us; existentialism is a philosophy of life.
experiencing beings. Life experience is antithet- Existentialism puts things in relation to life expe-
ical: there are rational and irrational, good and rience. Death has a this-worldly meaning: it
bad, constructive and negative elements in forces us to summon our life and to accept death
human existence. The more of the negative one as a limit of life. Faced with the possibility of
is able to take in and to affirm, the higher the death, we are confronting two possibilities: either
possibility of spiritual development, or the spiri- to escape from death (and from life) or to accept
tual synthesis of personality. It is love that makes death as a springboard of spiritual growth. It is
the affirmation possible. Existentialism does not useless to speculate about life hereafter or about
see love as individual property or quality, but the origins of life, as the origins and the ultimate
love is an existential/ontological matter: individ- outcome of life are beyond the reach of human
uals partake in love that is in and above them. knowledge.
There is a widespread interest in Spinoza, who
also had a participatory view of love. There are Reality
existentialists, like Kierkegaard, who identify The complete knowledge of reality is not acces-
love and being with each other. sible to human beings. There are perspectives on
reality: perspectives in natural sciences give
some view on reality; the ethical perspective
Conceptualization shows the relationality of life; the perspective
of faith gives an understanding of reality. Exis-
Nature/World tentialism affirms that there is a reality indepen-
Nature or world is not only an object of analysis dent of human beings, but all knowable reality
as is the case in natural sciences. Existentialism is in relation to human beings. Human
gives a relational interpretation of the world and beings express their understanding of reality in
or nature: the individual is already in the world, in art, in science, in philosophy, and in religion.
culture, and in nature. Nature is the sensed, Giving emphasis to action, existentialism pleads
apprehended world. for the openness of reality, claiming that
the ultimate outcome of reality, whatever that
Human Being is, is also dependent on human action and
To say what human nature is or to claim that we choice, not only on the anonymous forces of
know what a human being is impossible universe.
Knowledge of the patterns of understanding and of percep-

There are several kinds of knowledge. The repre- tion: we should be aware of the influence of the
sentational knowledge of modern science is one patterns of understanding (criticism), but we are
kind of knowledge. Existentialism claims that also able to introduce new models and new pat-
the representational knowledge or objective terns of understanding (construction). With the
knowledge touches only the outer relations of change in the presets, changed of perception and
things and humans. The participatory knowledge, changed understanding will come; the world is
on the other hand, is an existential/intuitive form perceived in a new way.
of knowledge. To differentiate between different
forms of knowledge is essential to existentialism. Time
Existentialists are attracted by Aristotle doctrine Time is a central category in existentialism.
of informed matter, as Aristotle’s differential or Humans and other living and nonliving things
reflexive monism comes close to existentialists’ are in time and space. Thinking, feeling, and
understanding of the nature of knowledge, some willing are in time; thinking above time moves
even claim that Aristotle was an existentialist! in the sphere of abstraction. The existential turn is
to turn from abstraction to existence in time and
Truth space. Thinking is a matter of coordination of
Most of the existentialists agree with Kierkegaard the mind/body totality. The coordination is
that subjectivity is the truth: only the personally like navigating the sea, with the difference
tested truth-claims have validity, and such truth- that the “marks of navigation” mark identity,
claims are approximations to reality. Existential- relationality, and the goal of life. Kierkegaard
ists think that truth-claims in natural science are did the coordination in terms of time. To awaken
also approximations and they consider that scien- to consciousness is to become aware of one’s
tific truth-claims are dependent on the underlying past. By telling one’s life story consciousness
plane, which has been drawn or projected “in dawns, and one’s past becomes a part of the
advance.” Scientific truth-claims are not final now; one gets an aware relation to one’s past,
truths as they change over time and have hypo- this being an essential part of one’s identity. In
thetical character as models. Truth, for an exis- that very moment, the possibility of future or the
tentialist, is that what gives direction, content, futurity of human dasein opens itself up as well
and meaning to one’s life; truth and commitment according to Kierkegaard. Life is continuity
belong together. One “existential” insight into the between the past, the now, and the future; in
nature of truth is that error and truth are related, repetition the existence that has been becomes
and that there always is the possibility of in the now (Kierkegaard 1964).
correcting one’s truth-claims.
Consciousness
Perception Existentialism gives a relational view of con-
It is not the scientific study of perception under sciousness. Consciousness is not a thing; con-
the laboratory conditions that is the primary inter- sciousness is awareness. Consciousness by
est of existentialists, but the study of the catego- existentialists is interpreted in several ways. For
ries and presets determining perception. The Sartre (and for Hegel), subjectivity or conscious-
presets are also socially and culturally deter- ness is the “I to I”: the individual relates to her or
mined patterns of perception; shortly, the mind him; she or he turns inward and becomes self-
is infiltrated by prejudices, evaluations, subjec- conscious. For Kierkegaard, consciousness is
tive preferences, and power structures; it is a relation to reality outside of the mind. When
framed by fore-understanding. Existentialists consciousness or the self comes into being, the
consider that the patterns are historical. “relation relates,” he wrote, that is, the aware
Nietzsche’s cultural philosophy is the analysis mind (the “I to I”) relates “a third” outside
the mind. The second relation gives the measure of tested. Feminist thought and feminist theology
the self, not the “I to I” relation. Only that what is put emphasis on the action and change: through
different from the self gives true qualitative differ- analysis and construction, language, conscious-
ence! Qualitative difference is a sensed difference, ness, and societal structures are changed for
and only sensed difference gives consciousness. a more equal society to take place. Today’s
world is characterized by the economization:
Rationality/Reason through globalization all people are affected
Existentialists are not against reason. They are by economics and macro-political decisions.
against the exclusive identification of reason with Existentialism analysis the role of religion, sci-
ratio. Existentialists do not dismiss reason or ratio- ence, and economy in the era of globalization,
E
nality, but they are critical of identifying reason or and it aims to offer constructive alternatives
rationality with a second-order phenomena. The to prevailing economical and political ideolo-
second-order phenomena are representations and gies, emphasizing the local and the initiatives
abstractions and in existentialists view modernity from the below in constructing the condition of
has made a fatal identification between rationality livelihood for the individual and for the commu-
and reason. Reason should be given a much wider nity. The individual orientation is tuned
definition than ratio allows for. Reason might have down in modern existentialism and the interac-
several interpretations; modernity’s interpretation tion between the individual and society, and
of reason as procedural reason (Charles Taylor) or individual and culture are brought to the
as technical reason (Paul Tillich) is a limitation foreground.
and reduction of reason. The argumentative
approach takes arguments as arguments, but argu-
ments are abstractions and as such they are above Cross-References
life, and so is the procedural or technical reason
above life as well. For example, in Feuerbach, ▶ Freedom
reason is in life. ▶ Hermeneutics
▶ Ontology
Mystery ▶ Phenomenology
Some atheist existentialists are open to the mys- ▶ Pluralism (Religious)
tery of being. Human nature is an enigma; nature ▶ Posthuman Condition
and being are groundless; the ground of human ▶ Process Theology
life and of knowledge rests on the bottomless
abyss. In general, the negative and nothingness
are seen as elements of life by existentialists. For References
Christian existentialists, all created life is finite,
and the Christian existentialists look for points of Feuerbach, L. (1957). The essence of Christianity.
New York: Harper & Row.
meditation between the finite and the infinite.
Heidegger, M. (1985). Being and time. Oxford: Basil
Like Descartes, some existentialists consider Blackwell.
that the relation between the infinite and the finite Heidegger, M. (1993). Basic writings. San Francisco:
is internal to the mind; consciousness of finite as Harper.
Kant, I. (1982). Critique of pure reason. London: Mac-
finite presupposes the infinite.
Millan Press.
Kierkegaard, S. (1964). Repetition. An essay in experi-
mental psychology. San Francisco: Harper.
Relevant Themes Sartre, J.-P. (1946). Existentialism is a humanism.
New Haven: Yale University Press.
Schelling, F. W. J. (2007). Grounding of the positive
Existentialism is action oriented. It is in the philosophy. The Berlin lectures. New York: State
praxis of life that existential truths are to be University of New York Press.
E 826 Exo-system
sense impressions with already extant knowledge,

Exo-system or in other words, an abstraction from what we
perceive into a theoretical structure. During
Harry Heft antique times, experience was mainly related to
Department of Psychology, Denison University, technical knowledge of the artisan and craftsman,
Granville, OH, USA like farmers, carpenters, and doctors, who try this
and that and finally acquire knowledge about his/
her field. Real knowledge, however, was thought
Interpersonal and institutional processes that have to come from reasoning and insight. Aristotle gave
an indirect effect on an individual’s well-being a place to empirical knowledge through experi-
even though he/she is not a participant in them; ence, in his manifold writings about the natural
rather, their effects are mediated through interper- world. In his theory of science, the Organon, he
sonal domains in which the individual does par- acknowledged the role of sense experience in that
ticipate. For example, although a child does not it fosters the material out of which knowledge is
participate in the parent’s sphere of work or in the generated. This sense experience which covers
meetings of the school board, activities in both of singular events, though, has to be brought into
those domains can have consequences in the life relationship with other events and underlying
of the child. A concept in Bronfenbrenner’s ecol- structures, such as causation or correlations have
ogy of human development. to be abstracted, and this is done by the mind.
Finally, these pieces of information have to be
put together into a model of what this experience
tells us about reality. This is done by what Aris-
Expansion of the Universe totle calls anchinoia, the deep insight of reason,
which then uncovers the deep structure of how
▶ Space single events are related. We see smoke. We
know that smoke is normally produced by fires.
We reason that there must be a fire. In that, we
build on our experience around fire: that it is hot,
Experience that it burns, and that burning produces smoke.
Thus, sense experience and cognitive structures,
Harald Walach such as memories and knowledge, are always
Europa-universit€at Viadrina, Institut f€
ur intertwined.
transkulturelle Gesundheitswissenschaften,
Franfurt (Oder), Germany
Institute for Information Biology, School of Middle Ages
Social Sciences & Samueli, The University of
Northampton, Northampton, UK During later antique times and the scholastic
period of the middle ages, the term used for expe-
rience was the Latin verb experiri – to make an
History experience, which is related to traveling. Robert
Grosseteste (1168–1253) was the first to use the
Our access to reality as living organisms is through term systematically to describe his optical experi-
experience: through our senses, we receive infor- ments. It was more systematically used by Roger
mation, and comparing this with what we know, Bacon (1218/1219–1292), one of his students.
we change our knowledge structure. Aristotle put Bacon was the first to postulate a scientia
it this way: ek tes mnemes empeiria – out of experimentalis, an experimental science or
memory, experience grows. By that, he meant a science of experience, which should be the
that experience is always a connection of our basis for all knowledge, even for theology and
Experience 827 E
philosophy. Since he had no chance to elaborate After him, the scientific efforts to understand
fully on this, as he was under arrest and could not the world were gradually intensified. Francis
communicate, we have to glean what he meant by Bacon (1561–1626), who was no relative of the
it from the sketches he produced. From that, the earlier Bacon but used in fact a lot of his writings
following image emerges: Bacon had a holistic and took his famous theory of idols from Roger
view of experience. Inner or spiritual/religious Bacon, advocated experiments to teach us about
experience and outer experience were two nature. His ideal was to free us from the bonds
branches of one epistemological access to the that nature, habit, political, and societal conven-
world. By spiritual or religious experience, he tion, as well as current understanding – the idols
meant an experience that came out of a contem- that bind us – bind us with. The way to do this is
E
plative access and illumination received in a kind to put nature to the test. Here, the language of the
of mystical rapture. This would give the founda- judge starts to become pervasive that is still
tion and general understanding, which could then active today, when we speak of controlled trials,
be used to order the experiences of the outer world if we want to test the efficacy of a medical inter-
through senses and systematic experiments. What vention. Francis Bacon saw nature as the one who
Bacon means by inner experiences through rap- needs to be tried, submitted, and overcome. He
tures is not so different from Aristotle’s under- meant that we can reveal natures secrets by way
standing of anchinoia, a clear, direct insight into of experiments. In a parallel movement, Galileo
theoretical structures that serve to connect phe- Galilei (1564–1642) actually performed experi-
nomena we experience in the outer world. It ments to clarify many notions of mechanics, as
gives us insight about the basic, fundamental prin- did many other contemporary writers and fol-
ciples which we need in order to make sense of lowers after him. During the seventeenth century,
experience. For experience itself is not useful it had finally become clear that the high road to
unless we can connect it to theoretical structures. understanding nature was to perform experi-
And the basic theoretical structures are derived ments. The natural sciences started to form them-
from such insights. For Bacon, such fundamental selves into special disciplines, and
insights came from spiritual experiences of mysti- experimentation became their way of finding
cal raptures. In that sense, such inner experiences out about the natural world. The outer experience
were spiritual and religious at the same time, as of Roger Bacon had become a methodological
Bacon was a Franciscan friar for whom these stance through the advocacy of Francis Bacon
experiences could only be given by the God he and the example of Galilei. This transformation
believed in. What is interesting to see in Bacon is meant that passive, receptive experience or expe-
that in this mid-thirteenth-century view, at the rience that was the consequence of a journey into
cradle of the modern scientific enterprise, the two unknown lands, literally, had become an active
notions of inner and outer experience are still interference with nature. Not only innocent
unified, two facets of one faculty that helps us observation, but manipulating nature and not
understand the world. It is not clear whether only receptive perception, but interactive experi-
Bacon had mystical experiences himself, or ence that resulted from introducing changes into
whether he took his ideas from the abundant Fran- a natural system and observing the result was now
ciscan tradition of ▶ spirituality, dating back to the hallmark of scientific experience.
Saint Francis himself and his close friend Aegidius
of Assisi. But he was surely involved in many
scientific experiments, probably in the production Scientific Experience
of gunpowder and other chemical experiments. He
advocated studies of medicinal plants, diet, and Ever since, scientific experience has become
other regimes to prolong life and to study the effect a systematic effort of interfering with nature,
of large lenses and mirrors to kindle fires, to make changing conditions, and observing the effect.
optical instruments like telescopes, and so forth. A scientific experiment is a precise question put
E 828 Experience
to nature. The result of the experiment is an microscope or nuclear magnetic resonance spec-
answer in the form of a minute piece of experi- troscopy that allow us to probe the constituents of
ence. It is produced by controlling conditions, more complex structures such as complex biolog-
where possible, and introducing one changed ical material up to brain activity.
condition, or sometimes a series of them, to All these instruments are nothing else but aids
observe the difference. Sometimes, scientific for human sense perception which, together with
experience is also just about observation, where a clever experimental setup, put a question to
conditions cannot be manipulated, such as in nature and find the answer. Again, we see the
astronomy. Here, the experiment is the whole general structure already laid out by Aristotle:
cosmos, and scientists use their knowledge to sense experience, in the modern case – data,
create situations or questions that are similar to together with memory, in the modern case –
real experiments. Sometimes, the experiments theoretical structures, comprises experience.
are performed by nature herself, such as in
biological species that led Darwin to his ▶ theory
of evolution, or in serendipitous observations, as The Role of Theoretical Structures and
in Jenner’s observation that dairymaids who had Presuppositions
had cowpox did not contract real pox, or in
Fleming’s observation that moldy bread could Natural scientists, empiricist philosophers, naı̈ve
cure some diseases, thereby discovering penicil- realists, and positivists often forget about the
lin. Always, it is the same structure: a defined second part in this equation, the theoretical struc-
change is introduced by the scientist into a clearly tures that are necessary to make sense out of the
describable and comparatively controllable sys- data of sense perception. Nearly everybody in
tem, and the result is observed vis-à-vis an science agrees that data without a theory are
unchanged control condition. Normally, quanti- useless. The theory, really, has several layers of
tative analysis is used to support the soundness of theoretical structures. The surface structures are
the conclusions or scrutinize them, although this normally comparatively innocent, and consensus
is not always necessary and rarely is in the large on them is not difficult to reach. These are current
breakthroughs. Thus, experience as a receptive theories that predict certain phenomena that can
interaction with nature has become a highly be empirically tested. Although also here a lot of
structured and highly manipulative interaction. theory competition prevails, the answers can nor-
The original limitation of all our senses has mally be found empirically and, once found, set-
been overcome through the invention of new tle the debate about appropriate theories. For
instruments and methods that extend our senses instance, in physics, it was a century-long debate
and aid them into the realms of the infinitely whether light was a particle, as already supposed
small, the infinitely large, and the infinitely com- by Grosseteste, or whether it had to be conceived
plex. This development had started with the as a wave. Modern experiments showed that light
invention of the telescope and the microscope in is both, depending on the setup of the experiment.
the sixteenth/seventeenth century, which was And a new theoretical structure, quantum
already foreshadowed by Roger Bacon’s discus- mechanics, could also make sense of this double
sions about the power of lenses and reflecting nature. On this level of discourse, science is nor-
mirrors in the thirteenth century. And it is carry- mally comparatively peaceful and consensus
ing on today with the construction of huge hadron driven, even though the consensus is often only
colliders that allow physicists to peep into the reached through manifold structures of social
minute constituents of matter and the interface interactions that are not always rational.
between energy and matter, as well as with the Now, a deeper layer of theoretical structure is
construction of enormous telescopes that allow us often neglected: the preconditions that are sup-
to expand our knowledge of the universe. The posed to be true and that are needed for any
same is true for instruments such as the electron science, whichever kind it is, to proceed and be
Experience 829 E
able to operate. Such basic theoretical structures itself. In the same sense, it can be imagined that
are often quietly presupposed and not debated different absolute presuppositions or paradig-
and analyzed further. Various philosophers have matic assumptions might lead to different types
pointed to the fact that such preconditions of experiences. However, Kuhn and many theo-
are always operative by necessity. Robin reticians and historians of science have pointed
Collingwood called them absolute presupposi- out that such paradigmatic shifts only happen,
tions. Pepper called them world hypotheses. once the current model has come to a dead end.
Kurt Gödel showed that even the strictest formal We do not discuss and reflect today on how we
system possible, an algebraic formalism, has to arrive at such paradigms, world models, or sets of
make presuppositions that cannot be proven absolute presuppositions that inform our theoret-
E
within the system itself; hence, it has to make ical models and by the same token our experi-
an assumption. Thomas Kuhn, building on these mental work. The consensus opinion today seems
thinkers, coined the phrase of a “scientific para- to be that such paradigms grow out of the general
digm,” meaning thereby all the hidden, culture and are historically determined which is
undiscussed assumptions that are taken for to say there is no rational process behind it.
granted. Thomas Kuhn had also built on Ludwik
Fleck, who had observed that the scientific pro-
cess of coming to grips with a scientific experi- Inner Experience
ence is not just a straightforward matter of data
deciding on theories but a highly complex social Here, we turn back to Roger Bacon. In his model
process. Hence, Fleck coined the phrase: of science, the spiritual experience or insight
“A scientific fact is the convention to stop would have provided the basic understanding or
thinking.” structures onto which to build the scientific-
These various and similar analyses point to a experimental enterprise. During his time, how-
simple yet deeply unsettling and often neglected ever, this strand of thinking was not really taken
fact: all scientific reasoning makes presupposi- up. A contemporary of his, the mystical writer
tions that are hardly openly discussed, not neces- Hugh of Balma, a Carthusian (flourished around
sarily rational and not necessarily true, but the 1260), even had tried to implement experiential
result of a historical process, of societal conven- knowledge of God, i.e., spiritual experience
tion, or just of tradition. Such absolute presuppo- derived from a mystical contemplative practice,
sitions undergird the scientific process. In our as a formally accepted way of knowledge into
modern days, we assume, for instance, that matter theological learning. However, it remained, as
is primary and that everything else can be built up we all know, a sidetrack. Apart from some rever-
from it and that complex processes can be under- berations – Thomas Aquinas acknowledged it in
stood in terms of interactions of fundamental the final part of his Theological Sum, Johannes
building blocks. Our virtual exchange particles Gerson, Denys the Carthusian, and his better
are no more real or unreal than medieval intelli- known friend Nicolaus Cusanus spoke favorably
gences or angels which were a clear consequence about it – theology remained firmly grounded on
of the favored world model then and in the same its two main pillars: revelation in the scriptures
sense necessary and consistent with the general and interpretation through the church and its offi-
theory as our “virtual particles” are with modern- cials. Direct, experiential, inner experience and
day physical theory. The difference certainly knowledge derived thereof did not sit well with
is that our modern-day physical worldview is the authorities. During the time following Bacon
informed by a multitude of empirical knowledge and Hugh of Balma, inner mystical experience
which in turn proves itself useful through the way became ever more suspect. The council of Vienne
it is applicable. But the generic theoretical struc- 1313, for instance, declared many of the lay
ture is the same: it has to rest on certain assump- groups that advocated such direct access as
tions that are not within the scope of the system potentially heretic. The Franciscan fraction of
E 830 Experience
the spirituals who, following what they felt was experience of the senses into the systematic tool
Saint Francis’ true legacy, also advocated such of science to unravel the secrets of the material
direct access to inner experience of God, was universe, we have seen only scattered,
finally crashed and marginalized. Meister unsystematic, often unrelated, and mostly limited
Eckhart (1260–1328), the last of the academic efforts at installing a corresponding epistemology
scholastics who might have been in a position of inner experience in our culture. What might
to install mystical access to knowledge in an such a culture of inner, spiritual, and perhaps,
academic environment, was blackmailed and even religious experience look like? What pre-
had to defend himself, appealing to the Pope, conditions would it make? What promises and
but dying on his way there. Mysticism had to what pitfalls should we be aware of?
turn into private piety. It was relegated to reli- If we turn back for a moment to the thirteenth
gious orders and smaller groups, but was not part century, when some minds were active to install
of the official, academic structure of acquiring such a mode of gaining knowledge, inner experi-
knowledge, which was mainly based on cognitive ence, in our academic system, we see, in a highly
learning and not on inner experience. sketchy and abbreviated fashion, the following:
Various reform movements tried to bring this the medieval psychology had one conceptual tool
element back into the church. Some were driven on offer that might lend itself to an epistemology
out, such as Luther and other figureheads of ref- of inner experience – an inner sense that was
ormation. Some managed to implement it within directed toward experiencing God directly. It
the official church, such as Ignatius of Loyola was variably termed sensus cordis – the sense of
(1491–1556). He developed his own way of the heart, sensus interior – inner sense, affectus –
inner experience, which he called “spiritual exer- affect and its highest part, scintilla synderesis –
cises.” Interestingly, directly and indirectly, he the spark of the synderesis or the spark of the
had drawn on some of the ideas proposed by soul, or apex mentis – the summit of the mind. All
Hugh of Balma in the thirteenth century. These those terms, though used by different writers in
exercises are a systematic way of fostering inner, different contexts, meant, basically, one thing:
spiritual, and religious experiences and are there is an organ in the soul whose sole purpose
modeled along the lines of Ignatius’ own inner it is to be affected by God and to touch on God.
path of experience, which led him through This being touched by God, which in the Chris-
a contemplation of his own shortcomings; the tian tradition is of course only possible through
life of Christ in imaginative meditations to an grace, was termed mystical union. A case can be
imageless, contemplative presence; and finally, made that, although not fully worked out, those
into a deep experience of mystical union which writers had an epistemological process in mind
he describes in his autobiography The Way of the which was considered similar and in parallel to
Pilgrim. Since these exercises became the pillar the experience of the outer senses: while the outer
of the order of Jesuits which Ignatius founded, senses are directed toward the world and bring us
inner or religious experience came at least indi- knowledge about it in outer experience, the inner
rectly back through some of the teachers who the sense is directed toward God and brings us
Jesuits provided at the newly founded schools knowledge about the deep structure of the world
and universities across Europe and in the in a kind of inner experience of rapture or enlight-
New World. enment. This was what Roger Bacon had in mind
However, this should not disguise the fact that when he said that such spiritual experience would
until now, inner, spiritual, or religious experience be the foundation of all sciences, even theology.
has not really had a systematic place within our This was what later writers, such as Hugh of
society. And it certainly has had no systematic Balma or Meister Eckhart, had in mind when
place in our structures of learning, in the aca- they thought that real wisdom, real knowledge,
demic world, or in schools. While our culture was derived from such inner experiential
has invested huge efforts into developing outer insights. As we know, this strand of tradition
Experience 831 E
was cut short. While we have a comparatively happiness of more people around the person, to
clear epistemology of outer experience in the name but a few prominent criteria. But apart from
canon of methods of science, we have practically that, not much of a critical epistemology exists.
no understanding of the epistemology of inner There is a great danger here, which is not very
experience. This would be a task of the future, often recognized: one is tempted to take all con-
should one find the concept useful in the first tent of inner experience at face value. This is also
place. what often happens in modern revivals of spiri-
Various Eastern traditions have placed a lot tual experiences, such as in some strands of trans-
of emphasis on inner experience, such as the personal psychology. How do we know that the
Buddhist tradition and also the tradition of Yoga voices which Jeanne d’Arc heard were in fact
E
and Vedanta, the experientially oriented arm of the voices of Saint Michael and Saint Catherine,
Indian philosophy. They have also derived elab- among others? She was convinced, but what
orate bodies of theory about the human mind out could convince us? There is not much by way of
of such inner experience. We do not have any- criteria we could use to make such a judgment.
thing comparable in the West. But we can glean She seems to have been in contact with some
from those traditions that it is possible to elabo- reality, or her conviction was so strong that she
rate on an epistemology of inner experience. overcame a lot of obstacles; else, she would not
have succeeded to help drive back the English
from France and eventually help ending the 100
Epistemology of Inner Experience years war. What if someone has an ayahuasca
experience and sees the snake god of the jungle?
While in science proper it is difficult enough to Is this the snake god then? Or just an idle image?
reach consensus about facts of the outer world, What if someone says he or she has seen God, or
which principally speaking can be observed by the Virgin Mary, or Shiva, or Buddha? Do they
most people, it seems next to impossible to find fantasize? Is it real? Who can tell us? And how do
consensus about the experiential realities of inner we tell? These problems are unsolved and would
experience. While science has developed clear be part of the program of an epistemology of
criteria of correspondence, of testing of truth inner experience.
claims, etc., nothing of the like exists in most They point us to two important problems or
religions and only in a few spiritual traditions. distinctions, which we will now turn to: one is the
Wherever such epistemological methods exist, problem of the independent causal agency of
they are very pragmatic and are about pragmatic consciousness, and one is the problem of lan-
consequences. The test then is in the guage, or the distinction between spiritual and
transformatory potential of an experience. In the religious experience.
case of Ignatius of Loyola, he was transformed
from a vain knight to a very productive and
extremely efficient reformer of the church, inau- The Status of Inner Experiences
gurating a clerical order that helped shape the
world after him, for better or worse. However, Clearly, inner experience is structurally different
we are very far from a systematic understanding from outer, scientific experience of the world in
on how such tests would have to be performed that in inner experience there is no real “sense
and what criteria would be the right ones. Within organ.” Rather, the organ of inner experience is
the Christian tradition, the so-called discernment consciousness itself. And contrary to outer expe-
of spirits is a first step. Here, the criteria of an rience, where we have a comparatively clear ref-
experience are whether it helps an individual to erent of a sense experience, say a tree, in inner
live his or her life better, whether it sets someone experience, the referent of an experience is
free, whether it helps him or her to be more loving unclear, say the voice of Saint Michael. While
and compassionate, and whether it improves science has found some ways round the
E 832 Experience
ambiguity problem of the outer referent – con- Interpretative Framework of Inner

sensus about what we see, multiple experiments, Experiences, Language, and the
replication of results, and coherence with other Distinction Between Spiritual and
theoretical structures – no such thing exists in the Religious Experiences
realm of inner experience. If we assume, with
mainstream science, that all conscious activity Many scholars have pointed to the fact that expe-
is just derived from and contingent on brain activ- rience comes mostly in language structures, and
ity, then an inner experience that should be able some even say there is no such thing as experi-
to tell us something about the outer world as such ence outside and beyond language. This latter
does not make any conceptual sense. In such claim has been effectively criticized since there
a mainstream view, any inner experience can, are a lot of phenomenological reports about
by definition, only be about the system itself. It contentless states of consciousness, experiences
can either be the result of such a complex system that were ineffable for a long time until language
idling, and it has self-generated meaning and and meaning structures offered themselves to
hence devoid of any reference to the outer express those experiences. But by and large at
world. In order to gain ground for inner experi- some point, experiences have to be expressed in
ence as a real relationship with a reality outside language if they are to be communicated in some
ourselves, we need to presuppose as a minimum way or another. Even if one only writes the expe-
precondition that consciousness has some reality rience down in one’s diary for one’s own sake and
and dignity in itself apart from and over and reflection, language has to be used. And even if
above the fact that it is somehow correlated with an experience is painted or transformed into
brain activity. This does not mean that we are music, some sort of cognitive structure is being
forced to commit to a dualist view. used to express the experience.
A transcendental monist view would also do. It is at this interface that spiritual experience is
But we need to presuppose that consciousness converted into religious experience. We can think
has its own mode of existence. Then we can of spirituality and religion like the content and the
craft consciousness and conscious inner experi- form of a poem. While religion provides the
ence into a separate mode of access to reality, forms – the theological structures, rituals, and
namely, from the inside. While outer experience mythological narratives – to make sense of expe-
teaches us about the world from the outside, inner riences, experiences provide religions with the
experience tells us something about its deeper life to carry the rituals and narratives through
structure if, and only if, consciousness can have the ages. If an inner or spiritual experience is
its own access to reality in such an inner or interpreted within the framework of a religion, it
spiritual experience. For them, such an experi- is called a religious experience. And most reli-
ence is really about a transcendent reality that gions can be either traced back to deep spiritual
reaches beyond the individual, as is implied by experiences, or are direct results of experiences
the notion of spiritual experience. of the founder, such as Buddhism. Although
There may be several ways of cultivating such normal religious discourse prefers the term
direct access to reality through inner experience – ▶ revelation, if probed for its real meaning, it is
meditation, contemplation, active imagination, not very difficult to see revelation as a chiffre for
shamanic journeys, trance rituals, psychedelic the deep spiritual experience of a religion’s
ritual drugs, or other ways of shaping and training founder(s). Arguably, this point can be made for
consciousness. But they all make the implicit historical figures such as Moses and the Jewish
assumption that for consciousness to be in touch prophets, for the historical Jesus and the fol-
with reality by a separate route of inner experi- lowers who converted this particular Jewish
ence, it has to have its own status of reality apart Rabbi’s teaching into a new religion, as well as
from being a result of brain activity. for Mohammed.
Experience 833 E
Religious experience then is a subcategory of hence, we only have to practice, meditate, repli-
inner or spiritual experience, namely, that kind cate the experience, and that is it, then is in the
of inner experience that fits within and is same way simplistic, inadequate, and positivist as
interpreted by religious language and narratives. saying: simply observe, do the experiment, and
It goes without saying that some such experi- you will know. You will only know what you can
ences also alter the religious narratives them- see within the framework of the theory you are
selves as was the case with the experience of willing to accept as true. The challenge of inner
the historical Jesus which altered the classical experience and of scientific creativity is to move
Jewish narrative into what we know today as the us beyond that boundary of the known. Hence,
Christian narrative. Arguably, such inner expe- also the framework of religion will ultimately
E
riences can also be interpreted within several have to be flexible to accommodate such new
frameworks. What Ignatius of Loyola experience. The same is true for science: if it
interpreted as a revelation of the Holy Trinity, prohibits certain experiences and decrees certain
a modern-day Zen teacher might equate with ways of looking at the world as a priori wrong,
a Sartori or Kensho experience, saying it has then science is not science any longer but scien-
the same quality. tism, a religion of materialism. It then has the
same structure as dogmatic religion. Hence,
inner, spiritual experience, or spirituality, and
Inner and Outer Experience: Science and good science are actually very similar. They are
Spirituality both about expanding the horizon of what we
know and understand through experience. By
Inner experience is the bridge between science the very virtue of this process, they will always
and spirituality. We have seen that all science has modify the theoretical structures that are used to
to rest on theoretical structures and it has to refer interpret these experiences, whether we call them
back its experiential knowledge to theories that religion, in the case of inner and spiritual experi-
make sense of them. The theories themselves are ences, or science, in the case of outer experience.
not found in the data. They are found in and by Ultimately, the driver both of scientific progress
the mind of great scientists. Normally, this crea- and of religious fervor is the same: it is experi-
tive process that is at the root of scientific theories ence of our world, from the inside and the outside
is completely neglected. But it is structurally very that gives us knowledge and insight. John Duns
similar to inner experience: it is sudden insight Scotus (1265–1308), the Franciscan scholastic
into a potential theoretical structure that gives writer and contemporary of Meister Eckhart,
meaning. The same is true for spiritual experi- puts it in those words: expertus infallibiliter
ence: it is the sudden insight into some deep novit – who has had an experience has flawless
structure of reality, be it in general, or of the knowledge.
reality of one’s own life. What is different is the
consequence: while in science we then move
outward, to looking for further experiential sup- Cross-References
port, in spirituality and religion, these inner expe-
riences normally have consequences for further ▶ Consciousness
conduct and behavior, if the experiences were ▶ Consciousness (Buddhist)
profound. And similar to science, there is the ▶ Epistemology
need for distinguishing real experiences and true ▶ Meditation
consequences from fake ones. This is nontrivial, ▶ Mysticism
and we have no epistemology to help us. ▶ Perception
We simply have to assert that inner experience ▶ Religious Experience
is structurally equivalent to scientific experience, ▶ Ritual
E 834 Experiential Philosophy
References other disciplines that uses experimental methods

with the objective of addressing philosophical
Aristotle. (1960). Metaphysics. (R. Hope, Trans.). questions.
University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbour.
The emblem of the recent experimental
Bacon, F. (1990). Neues Organon. Lateinisch-deutsch.
Hrsg. und mit einer Einleitung von. Hamburg/Meiner: philosophy movement is the armchair in flames,
W. Krohn. which symbolizes a move away from reliance on
Bacon, R. (2000). The Opus Majus of Roger Bacon. “armchair philosophy” alone. This movement,
(R. B. Burke, Trans.). Thoemmes Press, Bristol
which became prominent around the turn of the
(Orig. 1928).
Collingwood, R. G. (1998). An essay on metaphysics twenty-first century and is becoming increasingly
(revised ed.). Clarendon Press, Oxford (Orig. 1940). well established, emerged as a reaction to philo-
Collins, H., & Pinch, T. (1993). The Golem. What every- sophical practice in the late twentieth century.
one should know about science. Cambridge:
Philosophy was perceived to have distanced itself
Crombie, A. C. (1953). Robert Grosseteste and the origins from practical experimentation, yet philosophers
of experimental science 1100–1700. Oxford: were making claims thought to be empirical
Clarendon Press. claims, and these were supported only by their
Forman, R. K. C. (1998). The innate capacity: Mysticism,
own intuitions or those of their associates. Exper-
psychology, and philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University
Press. imental philosophers sought to test some of these
Hackett, J. (1995). Scientia experimentalis: From Robert claims empirically, or in some cases to investi-
Grosseteste to Roger Bacon. In J. McEvoy (Ed.), gate questions of their own, using experimental
Robert Grosseteste: New Perspectives on his Thought
methods rather than relying on some combination
and Scholarship (pp. 89–119). Turnhout: Brepols.
Kuhn, T. (1955). The structure of scientific revolutions. of introspection, conceptual analysis, and a priori
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. reasoning.
Walach, H., & Runehov, A. L. C. (2010). The epistemo- The 2008 volume, Experimental Philosophy
logical status of transpersonal experiences – The data-
(Knobe & Nichols 2008), sets out an “Experi-
base argument revisited. Journal of Consciousness
Studies 17(1–2), 145–165. mental Philosophy Manifesto,” clarifying exper-
imental philosophy’s aims and explaining how it
is a continuation of traditional philosophical
practice, rather than a departure from it. Appiah
makes the same point in his book, Experimental
Experiential Philosophy Ethics: “What’s novel isn’t the experimental
turn; what’s novel was the turn away from it”
▶ Phenomenology (Appiah 2008).
Leading figures in the movement include
Joshua Knobe, widely known for his ground-
breaking work on intentional action; Thomas
Experimental Philosophy Nadelhoffer, coordinator of the Experimental Phi-
losophy blog (http://experimentalphilosophy.
Bryony Pierce typepad.com); Stephen Stich, who has used
Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol, cross-cultural studies to challenge the assumptions
Bristol, UK of traditional analytic philosophy; and Shaun
Nichols, coeditor, with Knobe, of Experimental
Philosophy. Some philosophers were inspired by
Description these researchers or others to use experimental
methods; others, in various disciplines, saw
Experimental philosophy, or “x-phi,” applies the a need for empirical studies to investigate
methods of experimental psychology to the study philosophical questions, independently of existing
of intuitions. In a broad sense, experimental phi- work in the field, though often becoming aware
losophy encompasses any work in philosophy or of the movement subsequently. The blog
Experimental Philosophy 835 E
(http://experimentalphilosophy.typepad.com) pro- investigating questions that may or may not be
vides details of other leading experimental philos- of scientific interest. The philosophical focus of
ophers, and links to experimental philosophy labs the research carried out in this field is an essential
and organizations. component, so work in this area is never exclu-
The movement has been viewed as controver- sively scientific, but the methods and statistical
sial and faces opposition from some, but there is analysis are expected to meet the same standards
arguably a growing acceptance of experimental as those required in the sciences. Experimental
philosophy’s claim that statements about philos- philosophers can be scientists, philosophers, or
ophers’ and the folk’s intuitions, or about folk other nonscientists interested in investigating
concepts, require empirical support, if arguments philosophical questions using experimental
E
that appeal to these are to be widely accepted. methods.
Some experimental philosophers identify with
the “negative project,” also called “experimental
restrictivism (or restrictionism),” which seeks to Characteristics
demonstrate that many existing claims are based
on suppositions that can be shown to be false. Experimental philosophy is considered
Others are part of the “positive project,” which a radical departure from standard philosophical
views experimental philosophy’s scope as wider methods by those who think that the practice of
and investigates philosophical claims that are philosophy necessarily precludes empirical
considered empirically testable, designing exper- research. It is the only branch of philosophy in
iments to confirm or refute hypotheses. This which empirical research is viewed as essential
distinction is not uncontroversial and is perhaps and philosophers are involved in investigating
less relevant in 2011 than in the early years of empirical questions, often, but not exclusively,
experimental philosophy. through the use of surveys. Other methods
Research groups holding regular meetings include functional neuroimaging, behavioral
include the Metro Experimental Research Group experiments, and computational modeling. It
(MERG, pronounced “merge”) in the USA (http:// differs from other contemporaneous types of
www.yale.edu/cogsci/MERG.htm) and the philosophy in incorporating experimental
Experimental Philosophy Group UK (http://sites. work. It differs from straightforward scientific
google.com/site/experimentalphilosophygroupuk). research in focusing on philosophical rather than
There are a number of experimental philosophy scientific questions, and in attempting to draw
labs, an Experimental Philosophy Society (XPS), philosophical conclusions from experimental
Facebook groups, an experimental philosophy page results.
(http://pantheon.yale.edu/~jk762/Experimental-
Philosophy.html), providing links to a wealth of
papers and other resources, and an experimental Relevance to Science and Religion
philosophy blog (http://sites.google.com/site/
experimentalphilosophygroupuk), providing Experimental philosophy uses scientific methods
information and a forum for announcements in conjunction with the analytic skills of philoso-
and discussion. phy; it is allied with and dependent upon science,
and independent of religion. It can include scien-
tific work or support interdisciplinary work
Self-identification involving the sciences, especially in areas relating
to concepts, moral psychology, the mind, or
Science human behavior. It is relevant to and interested
Rather than self-identifying as a science, experi- in religion only insofar as it sometimes studies
mental philosophy is a branch of philosophy that attitudes to religion, the effects of religious belief,
adopts scientific methods in the course of or intuitions about religious questions.
E 836 Experimental Philosophy
Sources of Authority Conceptualization
Sources of authority for this subdiscipline have Nature/World

emerged in various forms within the experimen- The terms are not explicitly defined within exper-
tal philosophy community. The authority of these imental philosophy, although specific concep-
sources is not absolute; it derives from their tions of the world, such as naturalistic versus
widespread acceptance within the research com- supernatural world views, are investigated in
munity. Prominent sources of authority include: some experiments.
Experimental Philosophy (Knobe & Nichols
2008) Human Being
The Experimental Philosophy Page (http://pan- The term is not explicitly defined within experi-
theon.yale.edu/~jk762/ExperimentalPhilosophy. mental philosophy, but a key notion that can be
html) inferred is that of a being with intuitions about the
The Experimental Philosophy Blog (http:// application of concepts, about moral judgments,
experimentalphilosophy.typepad.com) and about related theoretical positions, which can
Other sources would be university research be investigated by the presentation of hypotheti-
groups, courses and lectures, the experimental cal scenarios.
philosophy literature, and individual researchers
in the field. Life and Death
The terms are not explicitly defined within exper-
imental philosophy.
Ethical Principles
Reality
The main guiding ethical principles are those for The term is not explicitly defined within
any academic research: that work should meet experimental philosophy, although some
certain criteria or standards, acknowledging thought experiments presented in vignettes
sources and recording data accurately, for exam- may specify a particular version of reality to
ple. In experimental philosophy, there will gauge participants’ responses within that
normally be an additional requirement that context.
experimental work comply with applicable
rules and regulations concerning research on Knowledge
human subjects. Projects involving this kind of There is no fixed definition of this term within
research will normally need to be approved by experimental philosophy, as a subdiscipline, but
an Ethics Committee (or a representative folk and philosophers’ intuitions about what con-
thereof), and to meet specific criteria stipulated stitutes knowledge are investigated in some
by the academic institution where the research is experiments.
to be carried out.
Truth
The term is not explicitly defined within experi-
Key Values mental philosophy, but folk and philosophers’
intuitions about what constitutes truth are inves-
Key values are the acquisition and dissemination tigated in some experiments.
of knowledge, supported by empirical data;
methodological rigor (both philosophical and Perception
scientific); and the development of theoretical The term is not explicitly defined within experi-
frameworks and testable hypotheses. mental philosophy.
Experimental Philosophy 837 E
Time within and across different groups. Attempting to
The term is not explicitly defined within experi- discover the nature of folk concepts by
mental philosophy. conducting surveys is one strategy used by exper-
imental philosophers, either to seek support for
Consciousness positive claims or to demonstrate that certain
The term is not explicitly defined within concepts are incoherent or contingent. Concepts
experimental philosophy, although folk and phi- that are applied in some areas of scientific work
losophers’ intuitions about consciousness are may need to be revised in the light of this
investigated in some experiments. inconsistency.
E
Rationality/Reason Action
The terms are not explicitly defined within exper- Many experiments investigate aspects of action,
imental philosophy, although the rationality of such as when it is conceptualized as intentional,
behavior and folk and philosophers’ intuitions what factors cause particular responses, or the
about reasons and rationality are investigated in extent to which behavior can be viewed as ratio-
some experiments. nal. This work can be interdisciplinary, some-
times with the objective of finding scientific
Mystery explanations of action or action causation.
The term is not explicitly defined within experi-
mental philosophy. Free will
The folk concept of free will has been investi-
gated in the experimental philosophy literature,
Relevant Themes along with the question of whether the concept is
compatibilist or incompatibilist. Related con-
Other topics that are relevant to experimental cepts under investigation include agent-causation
philosophy’s engagement with “Science and and moral responsibility. Work in neuroscience
Religion” and are critical, in that they constitute has also been undertaken that has implications for
a significant proportion of the topics under inves- theories of freedom of the will.
tigation in the contemporary literature, include:
Morality
Intuitions Experimental philosophy is interested in moral
Concern about assumptions that were made in the judgments, how they influence thoughts and
philosophical literature about intuitions, whether behavior, and how they are influenced by other
of the author or attributed to the folk, was instru- factors. It investigates interactions between
mental in starting up the experimental philosophy moral and other types of judgment, such as judg-
movement, and they are the focus of much of the ments about intentions, at the conceptual level,
survey-based work undertaken by experimental and the effects of different variables on the
philosophers. Scientific work also relies at times degree to which people behave morally.
on assumptions about what is intuitively obvious
and the findings of experimental philosophy
could have implications for scientific Cross-References
methodology.
▶ Cross-cultural Psychology
Concepts ▶ Experimental Psychology
Concepts of various kinds have been shown by ▶ Free Will
work in experimental philosophy to diverge, both ▶ Game Theory
E 838 Experimental Psychology
▶ Methodology in Psychology Description

▶ Neuroethics
▶ Neuroscience Until quite recently, our conceptions of mind, self,
▶ Philosophical Anthropology and soul have held these to be internal to the
▶ Philosophy of Mind central nervous system of our biological organism,
an internal/external boundary which has its roots
as far back as the early modern emergence of
References science. Rejecting both the individual possession
and locational internalism of Descartes, there is
Appiah, K. (2008). Experimental ethics. Cambridge, MA: a growing externalism within scientific and philo-
sophical studies of mind which view it as embod-
Knobe, J., & Nichols, S. (Eds.). (2008). Experimental
philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. ied, enactive, encultured, and interwoven with
a social and technical web and as a construction
not limited to the boundaries of the individual
organism (Wilson 2004). Originating a generation
ago in the content externalism of Hilary Putnam
Experimental Psychology and Tyler Burge (1986), that the semantic content
of mental states is often dependent on factors
▶ Cognitive Science Psychology external to the subject, the last decade has seen
the emergence of a substantially stronger process
or vehicle externalism, Andy Clark and David
Chalmers’ view that the structures or mechanisms
Explanation making various mental states possible may them-
selves extend beyond the skin (Clark and Chal-
▶ Attribution/Attribution Theory mers 1998). Many of our mental states are hybrids,
spread across internal and external materials, bio-
logical or not. Vehicle externalism can also be
rooted in a relational ontology of self, which has
Extended Cognition implications for a number of religious themes,
from the nonduality of enlightened Buddhist
▶ Externalism and Internalism views (Rockwell 2005; Thompson 2007) to the
Western theological understanding of redemption,
which may be better understood as originating in
our relational externalities.
Externalism and Internalism
John A. Teske Externalism

Esbenshade 265C, Elizabethtown College,
Elizabethtown, PA, USA Externalism is, quite simply, the view that “the
mind ain’t in the head.” It is the claim that the
mind is constituted by the mechanisms and
Related Terms resources with which we use to think. It asserts
that the constitution of thoughts, beliefs, and
Cognitive niche; Extended cognition; Individual- desires often include, even require, states and pro-
ism; Intentionality; Interiority; Mental events; cesses external to our biological organism. This is
Mental representations; Mind; Relationality; Self not unlike the extended phenotype in evolutionary
Externalism and Internalism 839 E
biology. In the case of human beings, our cogni- actually have different effects on our brains, as
tive niche includes many things by which we brain changes in literate populations show and
extend our minds into the environment, like imi- historical and cultural differences in the uses of
tation, symbol use, as well as external artifacts, such artifacts suggest. As Clark (2008) points out,
and even social practices and structures, from the questions about the range and variety of cog-
which emerge the possibilities of distributing cognitive scaffolding and the different ways they can
nitive tasks across individuals or accumulating enhance (or damage) performance are empirical
knowledge across generations. That does not questions. The nonlinear, complex, and iterated
mean that the mind’s location is separate from couplings between brain and external resources,
heads and bodies, as these are proper parts of in which each may have effects on the other,
E
a mind. Mental phenomena are hybrids that couple render any boundary highly permeable, even the
events in the world to physical processes in the extent of context dependence varying widely
nervous system. According to Mark Rowlands across contexts and tasks. Such couplings may be
(2003), this is the most important development in precisely what make us the kind of creatures we
the philosophy of mind in the latter half of the are, easily extending our minds onto the environ-
twentieth century, rooted in the phenomenological ment, including the shared social space with which
philosophy of Husserl, the linguistic philosophy of we are so mimetically adept. Indeed, given our
Wittgenstein, and the existentialism of Sartre. extended childhoods, and the extensive shaping
The parity principle states that “if something of our neuroplasticity during socialization, they
plays a role in cognitive activity, such that, were make human history and civilization possible.
it internal we would have no difficulty in con-
cluding that it was part of the mind, it should be
counted as part of the mind whether it is internal Internalism
or not” (Clark and Chalmers 1998). If Inga and
Otto both set out for the Museum of Modern Art, Externalism has been the subject of lengthy con-
Inga by recalling its location on 53rd Street and troversy, and one can defend a more conventional
the Alzheimer-suffering Otto by consulting his internalist view, that the mind and all properly
notebook, there is no reason to treat their memo- cognitive processes are contained within the
ries differently, as both are just as accessible, brain. Adams and Aizawa (2008) argue that the
reliable, and transparent in use. Even paradigmat- “mark of the mental” has other necessary condi-
ically mental events, like biologically instanti- tions for events to count as cognitive. They must
ated memory, are not constantly available, not involve intrinsic content, and they must be caus-
always easily accessible, and not automatically ally individuated. A third suggestion is that they
endorsed and can be implicit or procedural. It can must be informationally integrated.
also include the downloading to external artifacts Intrinsic content refers by virtue of the natural
which distributes the cognitive load of a task, capacities of mental events rather than by con-
from paper and pencil to the electronic prostheses ventional aspects of human symbols, which must
of calculators or cell phones. be finally rooted in the natural to avoid an infinite
Parity may only be a special case of a much regress. If the meanings of words depend upon the
wider complementarity principle which argues, conventions of language, then their externalizations
on grounds of both individual differences and should not count as properly mental states. The
historical variations, that the advantages of exter- problem is that even if this were true, proper mental
nal resources, both physical and symbolic, might states are not limited to such content, and there are
be in not merely duplicating internal functions plenty of examples of ordinary thought that does
but in developing capacities otherwise use such conventional systems. There are also clear
unavailable. Different cognitive artifacts do cases of internal representations lacking intrinsic
E 840 Externalism and Internalism
content, which we do in fact count as mental con- a conventional rather than a natural kind, and
tent. In which case, why not count those which there is no sharp border between mind and world.
include external representations and artifacts. Evan Thompson’s Buddhist view is that it is the
The requirement of causal individuation is egocentric attachment to a mentally imputed self
that proper mental states must be able to be dis- that is the source of all suffering, and it suggests
tinguished in terms of causal regularities, and the ethical practices of empathic imagination, to open
set of potential external tools and resources which oneself to a primary intersubjectivity prior to the
might be coupled with brains is simply too large imputation of “self” and “other” (Thompson 2007).
and disparate to ever form the object of a science. There are deep and historical contributions of
Unfortunately, this may be one of the very points Christianity to the understanding of interiority as
of contention: Even if neurological events and separate, individuated, and bodily restricted and of
processes can be individuated as a natural kind, redemption as a private, individual relationship
this does not entail that mental events can be. Is with the sacred. There are, nevertheless, contem-
the mind identical to an entity closed under porary theological resources for an externalist
a relatively low level of causal regularities, if it view, including Barth’s conception of the imago
is not so closed at the functional level of mental dei as existing not in individuals but in relationship
states, and their ineliminable intentionalities? itself and Karl Rahner’s anti-Platonist view that
Moreover, even putatively internal distinctions, the substantial unity of the human person is not
e.g., between automatic and controlled processes, merely in praesenti statu vitae but that we are
suggest that the mind itself is compounded of inescapably wedded to the world. Stanley Grenz’s
more than one natural kind, as are the objects of encyclopedic work, The Social God and the Rela-
a number of other sciences. tional Self (Grenz 2001), sees a person not as
A third objection is that while certain external a static entity, determined by its boundaries, but
supports contain information which guides as a drive toward both integration and self-tran-
behavior in the same way that beliefs do, they scendence, and we are ourselves only in commu-
lack informational integration. Beliefs are nor- nion. What we are about is outside ourselves, is
mally updated holistically, interconnected to other. What we are even as individual selves are
a wide network of beliefs. When Inga discovers not internal spaces, connected to each other, but
that my car has broken down, she is likely to also literally, and externally, composed of each other.
update her belief that I will be driving the carpool
tomorrow. An Alzheimer’s patient who adds the
former belief to a list in a notebook may be Cross-References
surprised when tomorrow’s schedule no longer
holds. Nevertheless, such integrations also have ▶ Cyborgs
a time course that can be interrupted, attention ▶ Empathy
which must also be sustained, and connections ▶ Epistemology
which are not always made, leaving beliefs with ▶ Memory
varying degrees of separation. Hence, while this ▶ Philosophy of Mind
may be a normal characteristic of ordinary ▶ Plasticity
beliefs, it is not a necessary one. ▶ Relational Ontology
▶ Theoretical Psychology
Religious and Theological Implications

References
Teed Rockwell (2005), drawing on the hypothesis
Adams, F., & Aizawa, K. (2008). The bounds of cognition.
of extended cognition, has explicitly endorsed Malden: Blackwell.
a nondualist model, arguing that even if the brain Burge, T. (1986). Individualism and psychology. Philo-
has enduring substance, the mind itself is sophical Review, 95, 3–45.
Eyewitness Memory 841 E
Clark, A. (2008). Supersizing the mind: Embodiment, Wilson, R. A. (2004). Boundaries of the mind: The indi-
action, and cognitive extension. New York: Oxford vidual in the fragile sciences. New York: Cambridge
University Press. University Press.
Clark, A., & Chalmers, D. (1998). The extended mind.
Analysis, 58, 7–19.
Grenz, S. J. (2001). The social god and the relational self:
A Trinitarian theology of the imago Dei. Louisville: Extraterrestrials
Westminster John Knox Press.
Rockwell, T. (2005). Neither brain nor ghost: A non-
▶ UFO Cults
dualist alternative to mind-brain identity theory.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Rowlands, M. (2003). Externalism: Putting mind and
world back together again. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s E
University Press.
Thompson, E. (2007). Mind in life: Biology, phenomenol-
Eyewitness Memory
ogy, and the sciences of mind. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press. ▶ Forensic Psychology
F
Fable Description
▶ Myth A belief is a mental state (or thought) that has

a propositional content (i.e., being either true or
false) and which can function as a motivation or
justification for someone to behave in accordance
Faculty of Innovation with that belief. If John believes that it is going to
rain today, this belief explains why he takes an
▶ Imagination umbrella with him. Beliefs are different from
knowledge in the sense that beliefs have the char-
acter of being slightly uncertain or provisory (i.e.,
liable to revision). If I believe I have left my
Fairytale jacket in the garage, I reckon with the situation
that my jacket is not in the garage. However,
▶ Myth when I go to the garage and find my jacket
there, I know that I have left it in the garage, and
if after having found my jacket in the garage
I would say that I still believe I have left my
Faith jacket in the garage will be taken as silly or as
misunderstanding the concept of knowledge.
▶ Hope, Theology of “Faith,” “belief,” and “religious belief” are
sometimes used interchangeably and treated as
being synonymous, while in other contexts
“faith” and “belief” are seen as opposites. So,
Faith and Belief e.g., in the cognitive sciences of religion, cogni-
tive scientists and anthropologists are said to
Taede A. Smedes study religious belief, where they in fact study
Faculty of Theology, Radboud University the faith – the beliefs and practices – of religious
Nijmegen, Hillegom, VN, The Netherlands people (Atran 2006). Moreover, many languages
have only one word which in some contexts
denotes “belief” and in others “faith” (compare
Related Terms the Dutch geloof and the German glaube).
However, there is a difference in connotation
Belief; Religious faith between “faith” and “belief,” where “belief”

F 844 Faith and Belief
refers quite obviously to a propositional content, said: ‘I believe in a Last Judgment,’ and I said:
but where speaking about “faith” emphasizes an ‘Well, I’m not so sure. Possibly.’ You would say
attitude of trust and confidence, which can be that there is an enormous gulf between us. If he
compared to trust in another human person. Con- said ‘There is a German aeroplane overhead,’ and
sequently, a belief can be proven false, but this is I said ‘Possibly. I’m not so sure,’ you’d say we
not the case with faith. For example, someone were fairly near” (Wittgenstein 1978, p. 53).
claiming that “Jesus died around 30 A.D.” is Although at first sight the two claims about the
expressing a belief that could be checked in prin- Last Judgment and about the aeroplane overhead
ciple and that is either true or false. Someone who have identical grammatical structures and thus
says “Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior” may confuse someone, we could say that the first
expresses a certain attitude of reverence and wor- example is a matter of faith, while the second is
ship toward the person of Jesus Christ which a matter of belief. We could check in principle
cannot be said to be either true or false. Thus whether the aeroplane overhead was of a German
a belief can be true or false; faith cannot be said type to verify the propositional content of the
to be true or false but can be sincere, (dis-)honest, belief “There is a German aeroplane overhead.”
deluded, misplaced, and so on. However, someone who believes in the Last Judg-
Faith does, however, presuppose certain ment has not simply a belief about the Last Things.
beliefs. In both of the aforementioned examples, Wittgenstein says: “But he has what you might call
the person speaking presupposes a belief in the an unshakeable belief. It will show, not by reason-
existence or reality of Jesus, although the beliefs ing or by appeal to ordinary grounds for belief, but
in both examples may have different content. In rather by regulating for all in his life” (Wittgen-
the first case, the person may presuppose the belief stein 1978, p. 54). Believing in the Last Judgment
in a historical person who died around 30 A.D. In entails an attitude toward one’s entire life, and
the second case, the person presupposes the belief facts have only limited influence in that they nei-
that Jesus Christ is the historical person who was ther verify nor falsify faith.
crucified around 30 A.D. but who is also the risen Another example of the relatedness and differ-
Son of God. Depending on the faith of the person ence between belief and faith is John Wisdom’s
who makes the second claim, there may be (1904–1993) parable of the gardener (Wisdom
presupposed a whole set of other religious beliefs 1951, p. 192 ff.). Two people return to their
about the existence and attributes of God, the long neglected garden, and find between the
Trinity, etc., although the person does not have to weeds a few of their old plants in very good
be conscious of those beliefs at the moment she condition. One of them infers that there must
makes her claim about Jesus Christ. have been a gardener who took care of these
The difference between faith and belief is plants, whereas the other denies the existence of
sometimes also expressed in terms of “belief such a gardener. Both start an elaborate investi-
that” (belief) and “belief in” (faith). The first gation as to the presence and activity of
expresses propositional content, such as a gardener. As Wisdom (p. 193) emphasizes,
“I believe that two and three makes five.” The “Each learns all the other leans about this and
second expresses an attitude, such as in the case about the garden,” which means that they have
of “I believe in him,” which may express, e.g., equal access to the relevant facts (i.e., the propo-
Jane’s conviction that John is capable of writing sitional content of their beliefs is identical). But
his first novel. In that case, we say that Jane has in the end, whereas for the one the faith in the
faith that John will succeed. presence and activity of a gardener remains
However, often the distinction between faith despite the facts, the other believes that there is
and belief is not so clear. The philosopher Ludwig no gardener because of the facts. The facts are the
Wittgenstein (1889–1951) gives the following same, but the attitude of the two persons toward
example: “Suppose someone were a believer and the facts is different.
Fallacy 845 F
Although matters of faith and of belief are not References
often discussed explicitly in literature on science
and religion, they are often underlying discus- Atran, S. (2006). The scientific landscape of religion:
Evolution, culture, and cognition. In P. Clayton &
sions of religion versus science. For example,
Z. Simpson (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of religion
creationists believing in the literal truth of the and science (pp. 407–429). Oxford/New York: Oxford
Genesis story have a different attitude toward University Press.
the confession “I believe in God, Creator of Hick, J. (1967). Faith. In P. Edwards (Ed.), The encyclo-
pedia of philosophy (Vol. 3, pp. 165–169). New York:
heaven and earth” than other believers. For
Macmillan.
a creationist, the confession expresses the belief Plantinga, A. (2000). Warranted Christian belief.
that God is the cause behind the Big Bang and the New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press.
source of life on earth. This belief can be verified Smith, W. C. (1998). Faith and belief: The difference
between them. Oxford: Oneworld.
or falsified. The controversy over Darwinian evo- F
Wisdom, J. (1951). Gods. In A. Flew (Ed.), Logic and
lutionary theory arises from the underlying belief language (pp. 187–206). First Series. Oxford: Basil
that evolutionary theory is in direct confrontation Blackwell.
with the belief that God is the Creator of life. Wittgenstein, L. (1978). Lectures and conversations on
aestetics. In C. Barrett (Ed.), Psychology and religious
Creationists thus fear that Darwinian evolution
belief. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
falsifies religious belief. Consequently, strategies
have to be found (e.g., Intelligent Design) that
falsify Darwinian theory and that prove the plau-
sibility or even the truth of the creationist beliefs.
For many other religious believers, however,
the biblical Genesis narrative and the confession Faith and Reason
“I believe in God, Creator of heaven and earth” is
taken to give religious expression to the experi- ▶ Catholic Sociology
ence of the contingency of all-that-is, that the
entire world ultimately depends for its existence
on something (or someone) else that is not cre-
ated. While the creationist belief may result in an
attitude toward science, the second interpretation Fallacy
of the expression results in a faithful attitude
toward the world as a whole. Yet, similar to the Gonzalo Serrano1 and Clara H. Sánchez2
1
case of Wittgenstein’s example of the Last Judg- Department of Philosophy, Universidad
ment, both creationists and more liberal believers Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia
2
refer to the same expression. Departmento de Mathemáticas, Universidad
Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
Cross-References
In general, arguments which are faulty or
▶ Epistemology wrong, arguments that seem to be good but
▶ Epistemology, Reformed have some kind of error, bias, or ambiguity.
▶ Existentialism Fallacies are arguments that transgress either
▶ Meaning, the Concept of formal rules of logic (against deduction), or
▶ Philosophy of Religion some precept of scientific method (against
▶ Realisms in Philosophy of Religion induction, statistics, probability) or some crite-
▶ Religiosity rion governing dialogue (against good persua-
▶ Theological Anthropology sion dialogue). The last kind is known as
▶ Truth informal fallacy.
F 846 Falsafa/hikma
Falsafa/hikma Fate
▶ Philosophy in Islam ▶ Eschatology
Falsifiability Feeling
René Rosfort ▶ Emotion

Department for Systematic Theology, Faculty of
Theology, University of Copenhagen,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Feelings
A very influential theory developed by ▶ Passion and Emotion, Theories of

Karl Popper (1902–1994). Only propositions,
hypotheses, and theories that can be falsified
can be considered scientific. Theories that do
not admit of empirical counterexamples have no Feminism in Judaism
criteria on which they can be judged true either.
Whereas it is easy to find some kind of empirical Melissa Raphael
support for a theory, it remains much more diffi- Department of Humanities, University of
cult to avoid an empirical contradiction of a the- Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, UK
ory. Only theories that risk such contradictions
can be considered scientific. Theories that put
forward claims and arguments that cannot be Related Terms
contradicted remain ungrounded speculations.
Jewish feminism
In 1972, a group of ten feminists from New York

calling themselves Ezrat Nashim (a Hebrew term
Fancy for the women’s section of a traditional syna-
gogue) petitioned the Conservative movement’s
▶ Imagination rabbinical convention, demanding that Jewish
women’s sexual equality should entail their
being subject to the same religious obligations
as men. Underpinning this petition for women’s
Fantasy full participation in prayer and study was the
argument that Jewish women labor under
▶ Imagination a double social marginalization: that of being
Jewish and female, and that masculine values
and experiences have alone authorized Judaism’s
history, religious knowledge, and leadership.
The 1972 petition was but one instance of how
Fatalism the advances won by the Women’s Liberation
movement and other countercultural forces, in
▶ Causality in Physics concert with increasing levels of advanced
Feminism in Judaism 847 F
religious, political, and historical education for But it is important to note that Jewish femi-
women, were being imported into liberal syna- nism is not something espoused by women alone.
gogues, consciousness-raising groups, academic Seldom is it acknowledged that liberal Jewish
curricula, and other fora, by feminist rabbis, his- religious feminism’s agenda had already been
torians, theologians, philosophers, artists, and set by male leaders in the late eighteenth and
novelists, as well as by women with less public early nineteenth centuries when the Reform
roles in communities all over the world, but movement, with its spirit of early egalitarianism,
especially among well-educated, middle-class sought to make services more spiritually attrac-
Ashkenazi Jews (of central and eastern European tive and relevant to women (Meyer 2011). And
origin) in Canada, the United States, and Britain. more immediately, Jewish feminism developed
Since then, resistance to intra-Jewish sexual disas both praxis and discourse in a postwar context
crimination has centered on rereading scriptural, of gendered change affecting men as well as F
halakhic, liturgical, and other classic texts and women: not least the traumatization of Jewish
reclaiming and creating sexually inclusive rituals masculinity in the Shoah; the emergence of
and rites of passage, as well as vastly expanding new, more macho, Israeli masculinities, and by
historical, sociological, ethnographic, and cul- the erosion of traditional masculine roles and
tural knowledge of Jewish women’s lives. Jewish identities in the wake of the sexual revolution
feminist art and literature’s expressive contribu- and increasingly disproportionate numbers of
tion to the reimagining of women’s past and women in many liberal congregations and rab-
future has, from the outset, been central to the binical training schools. Jewish feminism has
project of rendering women the speaking subjects also influenced the sexual-political commitments
and agents of their own experience. of men in the neo-hasidic pro-feminist ▶ Jewish
Because Jewishness also encompasses Renewal Movement, and among generally non-
a culture that exceeds its own religious founda- orthodox male rabbis, some of whom are also gay
tions, not all Jewish feminists are inclined to the activists in other Jewish sexual-political arenas.
reform of Judaism as a religion alone, but focus Jewish feminism is also found among those on
instead on the ethical, political, and artistic par- the Jewish fringes of neo-paganism, and on the
ticipation of women in a Jewish life that is con- left wing of Modern Orthodoxy. Its influence is
sidered separable from its devotional forms. felt even among some in Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox)
Indeed, some Jewish feminists repudiate reli- circles, even if, collectively, the Haredim would
gious observance altogether as being irredeem- strenuously deny it. It is, nonetheless, arguable
ably incompatible with feminist values, and that renewed Haredi insistence on women’s tra-
others still may principally identify as Jewish ditional maternal and other enabling priorities, as
feminists in solidarity against perceived well as ever more stringent requirements for
antisemitism and antisemitic anti-Zionism in the female modesty, has constituted something of
wider women’s movement. That being so, Jewish a contemporary backlash against the perceived
feminism is also unified by a conviction that the threat of feminist ideas.
full humanity of women is the function of an The different ways in which feminists use
essentially Jewish universalistic prophetic ethic, gender as a category of analysis to fund altered
not a secular post-Enlightenment one. All Jewish and renewed religious practice fall into three
feminists are concerned, to a lesser or greater main categories. Operating under the Orthodox
degree, with the re-narration of Jewish history rubric that Jewish law is divine in origin, and that
and the reconceptualization of tradition in ways their gendered difference from men is divinely
that recognize women to be agents and resistors, ordained, Modern Orthodox feminists, such as
not merely the victims of patriarchy and those within JOFA, the Jewish Orthodox
antisemitism, and as having an evolving, Feminist Alliance, founded by Blu Greenberg in
dynamic history of their own that is not always 1997, have sought to adapt Jewish law to better
domestic and ancillary to that of men. serve women’s interests, though only so far as
F 848 Feminism in Judaism
men (effectively) consider Torah might permit. More liberally inclined feminists tend to be of
Since they would consider Judaism to be the view that Orthodox feminists can do little
a practical and social religion before it is more than master a male-governed, masculinist
a speculative one, the view that Jewish feminist halakhah that has actually made rather few con-
goals will be achieved by halakhic (religio-legal) cessions to women. Young Orthodox women, it is
reform rather than through a revised theology has widely felt, are not transforming the tradition or
predominated in these quarters. Orthodox femi- learning to speak in their own halakhic voice. In
nism, therefore, tends to focus on specific 1998, in her book Engendering Judaism, the for-
halakhic problems, such as inequalities in the merly Orthodox Rachel Adler argued that
initiation of divorce; the possibility of developing halakhah should be true to its Hebrew etymolog-
forms of marriage that are not grounded in kinyan ical root and take the form of an open-ended path-
(acquisition of the wife by the husband); the making, rather than remaining the closed
requirements of women’s tstnius (modesty) in halakhah of patriarchal norms and assumptions.
dress, and fostering women’s religious education, She has not been alone in thinking that when
leadership, witness in religious courts, and time- women merely inherit halakhah without chang-
bound ritual observance. ing it they continue to defer to its androcentric
Although hardly indifferent to the rectifica- narratives and requirements. It is futile for
tion of halakhic inequalities, liberal feminists, women to attain hermeneutical excellence when
qua liberals, are far less bound by the rule of law such does not methodologically and ethically
and custom and have been differently preoccu- challenge the texts’ existing patriarchal prece-
pied. Supporting Judith Plaskow’s early and dents, priorities, and norms.
well-known claim that the reform of the Jewish In her recent response to Adler, Tamar Ross,
theological imaginary must take logical priority from an Orthodox Israeli perspective, explained
over the reformulation of halakhah, the revision that she cannot subscribe to a Reform commit-
of theological language, as well as the language ment to the creation of a (rather than “the”)
of prayer books toward gender-inclusive or gen- halakhah, because such would fail to acknowl-
der-neutral language has typically accompanied edge the divine origin of a tradition that is essen-
efforts to retrieve or create new liturgical tially consensual in character and that derives its
sources and theological traditions (e.g., power as a cumulative revelation. If Orthodoxy is
Plaskow 1990; Adler 1998; Raphael 2003). patriarchal, she claimed, it is not only oppressive,
Misogynistic texts and traditions, however but also enables the transmissive continuity of the
canonical their status, are considered to have tradition and preserves the Jewish home and fam-
forfeited their sanctity on those grounds alone. ily that is the primary locus of the lived tradition
Non-orthodox feminists have also devoted (Ross 2004; Hartman 2007).
much of their energy to reclaiming rituals con- With their emphasis on the possibility of
sidered to have been commandeered by men historico-ethical progress, liberal types of Jewish
such as those attending the celebration of the feminism are, inevitably, the most historically
new moon (Rosh Chodesh). Women’s seders, informed. As Paula Hyman and other Jewish
with the story of liberation from slavery re- feminist historians have always insisted,
narrated in texts written for the occasion by reclaiming unrecorded women’s histories of
and for women, have also been a social and leadership, learning, and activism changes the
symbolic focus of Jewish feminist activism paradigm of what constitutes Jewish tradition
since 1976 when the novelist E. M. Broner and community. Liberal feminists, without any
first held one in her Manhattan apartment, sense that traditional gender roles are divinely
joined by other prominent Jewish feminists of ordained by God, are keenly aware of how the
the day such as Gloria Steinem and Bella antisemitic feminization of Jewish men’s other-
Abzug, using her own and Naomi Nimrod’s ness has historically complicated the gendering
The Women’s Haggadah. of Jewish identity and practice, or how the history
Feminism in Judaism 849 F
of modern Jewish identity has tended to dramatic changes in their organizational, ritual,
overestimate the extent of “assimilation” because and educational spaces. In the liberal denomina-
it fails to recognize that women’s appointed role tions, women’s recently acquired access to
as domestic guardians of a family’s Jewishness advanced religious education has driven liturgi-
allowed men to acculturate in public but retain cal revision and increased opportunities and
their Jewish identity at home. spaces for women to study Talmud and other
Thirdly, and overlapping in some respects classic sources in seminaries and universities
with liberal Jewish feminism, there are also toward rabbinic ordination or academic posts
types of “postmodern,” post-traditional, Jewish in Jewish Studies. But Orthodox women, while
feminism that have rejected what they see as the excluded from the rabbinate, are also now able
tendency of both Modern Orthodox and Reform to study and teach Talmud in women’s yeshivot
feminisms to foster the kind of sexual equality (seminaries), with some of them becoming F
that renders Jewish women merely honorary halakhic advisors, though not decisors
Jewish men. Postmodern Jewish feminism, (poskim), particularly with regard to laws
drawing on the radical cultural feminism of the governing the intimate aspects of women’s
late 1970s and 1980s, as well as elements of lives, such as menstrual purity. In the United
contemporary Third Wave feminism, has taken States especially, female cantors and synagogue
a more eclectic, self-defining direction that is, presidents are now commonly accepted in all but
inevitably, the least concerned about women’s the most conservative congregations. It remains
exclusion from a canonical tradition written by to be seen whether the grandchildren of the
and for men. More irreverent in approach, and Jewish feminists active in the closing decades
with a greater willingness to embrace denomina- of the twentieth century will explicitly identify
tional fluidity, ethnic hybridity and queer or themselves as Jewish feminists, but there is little
nonbinary sexualities, Third Wave Jewish femi- doubt that Jewish girls’ expectations of their
nists have demoted the classic Second Wave her- spiritual and intellectual choices and entitle-
meneutic of a priori suspicion in favor of one in ments have been changed irrevocably by the
which a text or observance is not rejected on the movement.
assumption of its discriminatory misogyny, but
reread for the ambiguities, multivocalities, insta-
bilities, and suppressed possibilities in its con- References
struction of gender (Ruttenberg 2001, 2009).
This approach, careless of any charge of syncre- Adler, R. (1998). Engendering Judaism: An inclusive the-
tism or heresy, might therefore include elements ology and ethics. Boston: Beacon Press.
Greenberg, B. (1981). On women and Judaism: A view
of contemporary Goddess feminist spirituality from tradition. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Soci-
and a vernacularized Jewish mysticism. ety of America.
In short, the classic Second Wave feminist Hartman, T. (2007). Feminism encounters traditional
affirmation of the full humanity and rational, Judaism: Resistance and accommodation. Waltham,
Mass.: Brandeis University Press.
moral and spiritual competence of women has Heschel, S. (Ed.) (1983 and 1995). On being a Jewish
to varying degrees transformed all but the most feminist: A reader. New York: Schocken.
Orthodox personal and communal Jewish rela- Meyer, M. A. (2011). Women in the thought and practice
tionships. Women have now joined almost all of the European Jewish reform movement. In
M. A. Kaplan & D. Dash Moore (Eds.), Gender and
Jewish learning communities. And although it Jewish history (pp. 139–157). Bloomington: Indiana
remains the case that most Jewish women still University Press.
know traditional Jewish thought and practice Plaskow, J. (1990). Standing again at Sinai: Judaism from
from the perspective of canonical texts in a feminist perspective. San Francisco: Harper and
Row.
which women are the marginal, nonnormative Raphael, M. (2003). The female face of God in Auschwitz:
Other, attitudes to women in even relatively A Jewish feminist theology of the holocaust. London/
traditional communities have seen some quite New York: Routledge.
F 850 Feminism in Islam
Ross, T. (2004). Expanding the palace of Torah: Ortho- was a form of social security for women whose
doxy and feminism. New Hampshire: University Press husbands had died and left them without resources
of New England.
Ruttenberg, D. (Ed.). (2001). Yentl’s revenge: The next to provide for themselves and their children.
wave of Jewish feminism. Berkeley: Seal Press. Women’s rights to happiness in marriage were
Ruttenberg, D. (2009). The hermeneutics of curiosity: On further protected by a contract that allowed them
reclamation. In E. Goldstein (Ed.), New Jewish femi- to stipulate what they expected from their partner.
nism: Probing the past, forging the future (pp. 59–65).
Woodstock: Jewish Lights. If they did not relish the thought of sharing their
man with another woman, they could write such
a clause into their contract. Women could demand
a man’s right to sexual pleasure. Any violation of
the contract would liberate them from the bonds of
Feminism in Islam marriage. Women are declared equal with men,
created at the same moment out of a single soul,
Miriam Cooke and not wrought out of a man’s rib. The introduc-
Asian and Middle East Studies, 203 Franklin tion of evil into the world is not blamed on
Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA a woman, but it is the fault of humanity writ
large. Such were the laws sent down from heaven.
They were practiced and supplemented in the life
Women, Islam, Qur’an, Traditions, Veil, of the Prophet.
Secularism Muhammad loved women, none more so
than his first wife Khadija. She was 15 years his
In the seventh century, an Arabian trader senior and his boss, and it was she who proposed
launched a revolution in social norms that was to him. She was the first person to believe in
to shape a faith-based community for 14 centu- his message and to reassure him that the voice
ries. He was the Prophet Muhammad, the first he was hearing was not Satan’s but the Angel
feminist in Islam. In his life and in the revelations Gabriel’s. His tenderness toward their daughter
that he began to receive in 610 when he was 30 Fatima was legendary. He did not marry other
years old, Muhammad became the vehicle for a women until after Khadija’s death in 619,
religion that paid particular attention to the rights and most of the nine women he married were
of women. in need. His last and youngest wife Aisha became
The Qur’an and the Sunna, or the sayings and his greatest confidant, and it is from her that we
actions of the Prophet as witnessed by his com- now have the largest number of traditions that
panions and passed on through the ages, guarantee make up the Sunna.
women life, wealth, and happiness. Before the The revolution was betrayed within the first
advent of Islam, female infanticide was years of the caliphate. The four so-called rightly
a practice among the Arabian tribes. Muhammad guided caliphs or successors to the mantle of the
forbad it. In a chapter dedicated to women, the Prophet did not follow his lead in caring for
Qur’an mandates a woman’s right to a dowry and the welfare of women. The most noteworthy
to a half share of inheritance that will remain in her example can be found right in the heart of the
name. Polygyny that was rampant in what has family of the Prophet. Upon the death of her
come to be called the Age of Ignorance was father, Fatima expected to be given her share of
severely curtailed. The number of women that the inheritance, but she was denied. Abu Bakr and
a man might marry was reduced to four, and the his entourage claimed that the members of the
conditions surrounding the right to marry more family were exempt from conditions prevailing
than one woman at a time were spelled out. for others. When Fatima protested, she was told
Beyond the first wife, a man might only that her share was to be divided among needy
marry one or more women if they were widows Muslims. Social welfare was invoked to deprive
with children. In other words, polygyny a woman of one of her sacred rights.
Feminism in Islam 851 F
That was the beginning of a decline in the members of the rulers’ households, like the
moral and social well-being of Muslim women. Valide Sultan or mothers of the Ottoman rulers
The swift spread of Islam across Asia and Africa during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
brought Muslims into contact with other cultures In most cases, their knowledge did not
and religions that were less solicitous of the rights trickle down to the masses, and the oppression
of women. For the Byzantines, Sassanians, and of women in Muslim societies became
Jews, women were second-class citizens without institutionalized.
basic rights. Whenever possible they were to be It was only toward the end of the nineteenth
kept out of the public eye, expected to devote century that middle-class women began to
themselves to domestic duties. When women, research and assert their rights in Islam.
especially middle- and upper-class women, ven- And they did so in tandem with women around
tured out of the house, they were to be shrouded the globe. Modernity was marked above all by the F
in an all-encompassing garment that indicated visibility of women in public places, and
their status as possessions of men who could the contact established between Europe and
afford to keep their women at home. As Muslims Muslim majority countries emphasized to
adapted to these new environments, they adopted progressive and conservative Muslims alike
some of their norms and values. That was how the role women should play for a society to be
the veil became coded Islamic, the right to considered modern. The veil and gender segrega-
knowledge basic to the message of Islam was tion came under attack as reformists tried to
obfuscated, and the misogynist tradition understand why it was that their societies
concerning women’s lack in religion and reason appeared to be so much less developed than
was invented. those in Europe. Was the absence of half the
The manufacture of false traditions, especially population from the public sphere a reason to
ones connected with women, became a cottage consider?
industry, and in the ninth century two legal Obviously it was, but there was a major
scholars started to clean house. Abu ‘Abdallah problem in answering this question. Women’s
al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj devised complaints of gender discrimination seemed to
a way to distinguish the weak and false traditions echo the colonizers’ criticism of the societies
from the sound, or sahih, ones: “They sifted they wanted to control and whose resources they
through 360,000 Traditions to come up with wanted to own. Indeed, the advent of colonialism
no more than 10,000 sound ones, thereby with its so-called feminist civilizing mission
invalidating 350,000” (S&H, 234). jeopardized the call for women’s education and
Their compilations of sound traditions, known presence in public affairs. Muslim men asserted
as Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim or The Two the need to protect national honor, aka women,
Sounds, became the unquestionable source for from the prying eyes of French, British, and
information about the Prophet’s life and therefore Italian men. At a time when it was clear that
the sure foundation for the Islamic legal system. women had to play a major role for a society to
Nonetheless, many continued to invoke false modernize, the civilizing missions of Europe into
traditions and to invent new ones to justify Asian and African countries led to a further
their blatant abuse of women. seclusion of women and renewed insistence on
Literacy was central to the vouchsafing of the Islamic imperative of the veil. Women had
women’s rights. As long as women were denied to be circumspect in articulating any criticism
education, they remained ignorant of their rights, of Islamic norms and values lest their criticism
and men could continue to fashion a world serves the purposes of the enemy.
of privilege for themselves. Over time, it was While it is nineteenth-century male reformists
primarily women from the upper classes who in Lebanon and Egypt who have been recognized
learned to read and write and to demand equal for their efforts to change misogynist norms and
opportunities with the men. They were often values, women were also active even if in less
visible ways. The feminist encyclopedist Zaynab After her husband’s departure into exile in
Fawwaz and the writers Mayy Ziyada and 1919, Safiyya continued to hold meetings in
Aisha Taymuriya were pioneers of a women’s their home, the so-called house of the nation.
movement in the Arab world. In 1892, the People named her “mother of the Egyptians,”
first official women’s magazine was published and she in turn addressed Egyptians as “devoted
in Lebanon, and during the following 30 years, sons.” Less than a year after the end of World
several more women’s journals appeared. War I, Egyptian women were widely acknowl-
The women’s press provided space for women edged to be essential to the success of the anti-
to explore the possibilities of participation in colonial struggle (Baron 2005, 135–161). These
the public sphere. Biographies of famous pioneers foreshadowed the New Woman who did
foremothers in Islamic history inspired women not veil, who did not live in a harem, and whose
to go against convention and to demand the marriage was not arranged. She was educated and
same rights that women at the time of the Prophet happy in her bourgeois family with a loving hus-
Muhammad had enjoyed. He had said that all band by her side. When this loving husband died,
Muslims should seek knowledge even if it as did Safiyya’s in 1927, the wife was expected to
meant that they had to travel as far as China, fight for both women’s rights and the rights of the
and these women reiterated his call. nation that were then conflated. To counter this
Muslim feminists were careful not to compare secularized image of the New Woman, the Mus-
themselves with western women. They knew they lim activist Labiba Ahmad introduced the image
would be accused of cultural betrayal if they held of the “new Islamic woman” (190) who took part
up colonial societies as being in any way worthy in society even if behind the veil. Her paper Al-
of emulation. Further, colonial leaders had used Nahda al-Nisa’iya (Women’s Awakening) took
local men’s bad treatment of their women as an the lead in promoting the image of a modern,
excuse to intervene in the private lives of citizens believing woman.
in countries they wanted to dominate. Their Women were revealing the patriarchal
superficially feminist position was transparent, assumptions at the core of nationalist and reform
and anyone calling for a transformation in gender movements whether European and secular or
relations in order to become more western might male dominated and Islamic. Founding clubs
be suspected of being in collaboration with the and associations, they demanded reforms in
outside oppressors. both religious and civil laws and campaigned
In the turn of the century, Egypt women began for women’s rights to education, suffrage, and
to participate collectively in political culture. In labor.
March 1919 Sa‘d Zaghlul had asked the British, In order to dispel doubts and accusations
who were then occupying Egypt, to send an that all they wanted was to become western and
Egyptian delegation, or wafd, to Versailles secular, some feminists justified their demands
where the Arab world was to be carved into using the language and argumentation of Islamic
European spheres of control. His request was reformers. Concerned not to raise anxiety about
denied, and he was deported. Immediately, dem- their demands for greater equality and visibility,
onstrations were held in many Egyptian towns, they used family-oriented and socially conserva-
and the Wafd Party came into existence. Among tive language. Far from derailing moral norms,
the many protests, a “ladies’ demonstration” in their revolution would enhance them and contrib-
Cairo hit the headlines. Most of the participants ute to economic and political progress.
were wives of prominent men, and their leader Many promoted a modern even if still patriarchal
was Safiyya Zaghlul, Sa‘d’s wife. Calling them- bourgeois nuclear family.
selves “mothers of the nation,” women national- The face veil became inordinately important
ists drew an empowering parallel between family in the debate over Muslim women’s rights, and
and nation that demanded attention to women’s elite women were at the vanguard of the fight to
roles in the political arena. remove it. By the end of the nineteenth century,
Feminism in Islam 853 F
Christian women had generally unveiled, and so Like Egyptian women 8 years earlier, Syrian
the veil acquired a religious meaning when it was women took to the streets and a 19-year-old Leb-
Muslim women only who were expected to wear anese Druze named Nazira Zayn al-Din
it. Feminists were careful not to link the veil with (1908–1976) to her pen. Citing Qur’an, Sunna,
Islam lest they empower the shaykhs to use coun- and religious authorities on almost every page,
terarguments. Instead, they might couch their she declared that the veil was not Islamic, but
opposition to the face veil in physical terms – it rather a custom. She wrote over 300 pages about
was bad for women’s health – or in social terms – the harm to society of covering women’s faces
segregation was bad for society as a whole. and argued for women’s equality with men.
Throughout the twenties, women were testing Within a few months she was done, and in April
reactions to unveiling. In 1920, the Syrian Nazik 1928 she published Unveiling and Veiling: The
al-‘Abid took off her veil in order to fight the Liberation of Woman and the Renewal of the F
French in the battle of Maysoloun. In 1923, Islamic World. The second half of the title was
Huda Shaarawi, president of the Egyptian Femi- a clear salute to Qasim Amin, the Egyptian law-
nist Union, shocked the Muslim world when she yer who in 1899 had published The Liberation of
stepped off a train in the Cairo railway station with Woman, a book that had caused a stir across the
her face uncovered. About the same time in Tur- Muslim world (Zayn al-Din 1928/1998, 1929/
key, the father of the new republic Ataturk 1998).
launched his secularism campaign with an attack In all her writings, Zayn al-Din insisted on the
on Islamic symbols, including turbans and veils. In need for ijtihad, or independent reasoning, when
the 1930s the Shah of Iran outlawed the face veil. dealing with matters of faith. Her passionate
Whatever their approaches to women’s public plea to women to use their minds, to develop
assertiveness, there was no denying that individual powers of reasoning, and not to obey
a feminist revolution was under way. Technology blindly the dictates of the shaykhs comes from
was transforming the house, and social arrange- her readings of reformers like the Iranian Jamal
ments in urban arenas were changing as rural al-Din al-Afghani (1839–1897) and the Egyptian
migrants used to gender integration moved to Muhammad ‘Abduh (1849–1905), the respected
the cities. modernist reformers in Egypt who had said that
The feminist revolution, especially against Islam demands the use of reason. They believed
misogynist religious authorities, was underwritten that faith without reason was not true faith. Like
by a widespread attack on religious stagnation and them, she declared that women’s invisibility
corruption among the shaykhs. In 1926, the blind drags a whole society down and makes it lag
Egyptian scholar Taha Husayn caused an outcry behind others that have included women in public
when he published his autobiography entitled The space. No society can be just as long as women
Days. It uncovered corruption pervading religious are not respected and their rights are not
education. He was harshest on the Azhar scholars protected. That is the universal message she
who were outraged at such an assault on the central frames in the particular language of the veil and
institution of Islamic education. the seclusion of women. The veil is not the sign of
Muslim women in Asia and Africa began to lack and inferiority; it is its instrument. Unveiling
appear in public their faces uncovered, the upper and Veiling created a furor around the world.
classes in the Levant and Egypt wearing elegant Letters poured in and the book was reviewed in
turbans, flapper dresses, silk stockings, and high major journals and newspapers around the world.
heels. Such were the provocations that drove Some loved it; some hated it. Zayn al-Din
some Syrian shaykhs in the summer of 1927 to collected the letters and reviews and published
pressure the French mandate authorities to order them the following year in The Girl and the
women to veil. Their pronouncement encouraged Shaykhs (1929).
some zealots to throw acid on women who dared During the middle decades of the twentieth
to leave the house unveiled. century, wars of independence from European
rule in Muslim countries, like Algeria, Palestine, a harsh patriarchy in which women could appear
and Niger, engaged women as combatants. Some in public only if covered with the black chador. In
called themselves mujahidat, thus linking their order to combat the imposition of discriminatory
action to spiritual and martial struggle in Islam. laws in the name of Islam, some Iranian women
The importance of women’s contributions to have been training to become Islamic scholars in
national liberation created concern about their women-only seminaries. Others have spoken
power and influence. A backlash ensued similar out against the theocrats and have established
to the Rosie the Riveter syndrome in post-World transnational feminist coalitions to fight for
War II America. gender justice at home.
In the 1960s Muslim women burst on to the In 1979 also the Pakistani General Zia-ul-Haq
literary scene. Writers like the Egyptian Nawal El promulgated the Hudood Ordinances as part of the
Saadawi, the Pakistani Qurrat al-Ayn, and the Islamization of the country. Hudood included the
Algerian Assia Djebar wrote angrily about the Zina (or, adultery) Ordinance that criminalizes sex
conditions in which their countrywomen lived. outside marriage with stoning to death as punish-
They criticized the male nationalists who did ment. The “legal definition of zina blurs the lines
not fulfill their promises of a social revolution in between adultery [among the married], fornication
the wake of the colonial expulsions. Another path [among the unmarried] and rape” (Khan 2006, 8).
was chosen by a Muslim sister, called Zaynab Rape is defined as forced zina, with the burden of
al-Ghazali. Closely connected with the Muslim proof falling on the woman to produce four wit-
Brothers, she established in 1936 the Association nesses to attest to her violation. If “coercion cannot
for Muslim Ladies, and 30 years later she found be proved, the victim becomes an offender who
herself in prison with some of the brothers for has enjoyed illicit sexual activity” (9). It has been
suspected conspiracy to overthrow the Nasser professional women who have opposed the Islam-
regime. The memoir that she wrote after ist Jamat-i-Islami and organized resistance against
her release has all the trappings of a feminist the Zina Ordinance in the name of a well-
hagiography. She is a saint whose spirituality is understood Islam. They are “the daughters and
so great that she can overcome obstacles granddaughters of women who participated in
like torture that defeat mere men. She attacked the struggle for Pakistan from colonial Britain . . .
Nasser, his regime that was too western and (who wanted) to expose these laws as having no
secular for her liking, and even the brothers basis in Islam” (86, 87).
with her in prison for their weakness and insuffi- Islamic feminists in Iran, Algeria, Pakistan,
cient faith (Cooke 2001). Sudan, Yemen, Indonesia, Egypt, and America
In this early independence period, women believe that misogynist laws promulgated in the
experimented with multiple critiques that name of Islam must be resisted, often with argu-
allowed them to target the colonizers, the nation- ments articulated within an Islamic paradigm.
alists, the Islamic extremists, and patriarchy Some resist individually. The American religious
without falling into cultural betrayal. The louder studies scholar Amina Wadud, like Zayn al-Din
these women’s voices rose, the more virulent did before her, has been at the forefront of
the Muslim men’s responses become. Feminist a movement to provide a textual interpretation
writings were censured and banned. of the Qur’an from a feminist perspective. Others,
The tension between Muslim political extrem- like the Revolutionary Association of the Women
ism and Islamic feminism has grown over the of Afghanistan and the Pakistani Women Against
course of the twentieth century. 1979 was Fundamentalism, resist collectively by forming
a crucial year in this battle. In Iran Ayatollah associations that advocate Islamic feminist
Khomeini brought an Islamic theocracy to agendas.
power. Once a bastion of liberal modernity that In 1982 El Saadawi founded her Arab
boasted one of the highest levels of education and Women’s Solidarity Association with an
skilled employment for women, Iran became unveiling agenda: the veil is not merely a piece
Feminist Philosophy of Religion 855 F
of cloth over the face; it is a shroud for the mind. Zayn al-Din, N. (1928/1998). Al-sufur wa al-hijab.
Six years later the government closed the associ- Damascus: Dar al-Mada.
Zayn al-Din, N. (1929/1998). Al-fatat wa al-shuyukh.
ation under pressure from Islamists. Ten years Damascus: Dar al-Mada.
later, infuriated by her continued defiance in
books, articles, and interviews, Islamists took El
Saadawi to court for apostasy. She won. In 1996
the Revolutionary Association of Women of
Afghanistan immediately acted against the Feminist Philosophy of Religion
misogynist laws the Taliban imposed. More
recently, Indonesia, long thought to be a haven Erica Appelros
for Muslim women, is becoming a battleground Centre for Theology and Religious Study, Lund
for struggles between women and religious University, Lund, Sweden F
extremists.
In their debates with Islamists and others over
whether Islam gives women rights to education, Description
work, and control over their bodies, the veil has
been central. Turkish and French feminists are Feminist philosophers of religion may self-identify
fighting their secular governments for the right with analytic or continental philosophical traditions
to cover, while Afghan, Indonesian, and Iraqi or combinations thereof and adhere to any one of
women are mobilizing against it and their Islam- a multitude of feminist positions. Feminist philos-
ist regimes. Islamic feminists are uncompromis- ophy of religion does therefore not represent one
ing in their opposition to individuals, institutions, single philosophical or feminist position. What
and regimes that claim exclusive authority over characterizes feminist philosophy of religion as
their lives and bodies. a discipline in its own right is rather its being
a philosophical discipline with religion as its object
of study (making it a subdiscipline of philosophy of
Cross-References religion) that employs feminist perspectives and
insights in its choice of material, philosophical
▶ Critical and Cultural Theory problems, methods, and theories (thus making it
▶ Cultural Studies a feminist philosophy of religion).
▶ Feminist Philosophy of Religion Its emergence as a subject in its own right is
▶ Humanism in Islam fairly recent. For several reasons, feminist philo-
▶ Islam: An Overview sophical reflections on religion took place within
departments of theology and religious studies
long before they reached the departments of phi-
losophy where neither religion nor gender was in
References high priority. Eventually, feminist philosophers
Badran, M. (1995). Feminists, Islam, and nation: Gender
began interesting themselves in the subject of
and the making of modern Egypt. Princeton: Princeton religion, in spite of feminism’s in general critical
University Press. stance toward religion, largely identifying reli-
Bardran, M & Cooke, M (2004). Opening the gates, an gion with patriarchal oppressive systems. Also
anthology of Arab feminist writing. Bloomington:
Indiana.
the need rose within feminist theology for more
Baron, B. (2005). Egypt as a woman nationalism, gender, philosophically stringent work.
and politics. Berkeley: University of California Press. Publications from within the emerging special-
Cooke, M. (2001). Women claim Islam: Creating Islamic ization feminist philosophy of religion have been
feminism through literature. New York: Routledge.
increasingly forthcoming since the 1990s. As late
Khan, S. (2006). Zina, transnational feminism and the
moral regulation of Pakistani women. Vancouver: as 1994, Nancy Frankenberry could urgently ask
University of British Columbia Press. “Where are all the feminist philosophers of
F 856 Feminist Philosophy of Religion
religion?” in Hypatia, a journal of feminist philos- and discovering new facts, and so, then, conse-
ophy (Nancy and Marilyn 1994). The body of quently, is feminist philosophy of religion.
literature, self-identified as feminist philosophy
of religion, is rapidly growing though, with two Religion
monographs tentatively delineating a feminist phi- Philosophical problems and questions arising
losophy of religion, by Pamela Sue Anderson from religion as a human phenomenon, with its
(1998) and Grace Jantzen (1999) (Anderson doctrines, scriptures, rituals, activities, beliefs,
1998; Jantzen 1998), a couple of anthologies on language, sociological settings, etc., including
the subject (Anderson and Sue 2009; Anderson the discussion of how to conceptualize religion
and Clack 2004), and a growing number of articles itself and the divine, are the object of study for the
on feminist philosophy of religion in collected feminist philosopher of religion, who may or may
works and journals of general philosophy, philos- not be religious him/herself. The results from the
ophy of religion, feminist and ▶ gender studies, field of feminist philosophy of religion may of
and feminist theology. An inclusion of the entry course be useful for theologians in general and for
feminist philosophy of religion in encyclopedias of feminist theologians in particular and may shed
philosophy (of religion) is also a sign that the new light on issues for individual religious
discipline is maturing (Nancy 2005). There is believers, but feminist philosophy of religion in
not though yet a journal specifically dedicated to itself does in no way self-identify as a religion.
feminist philosophy of religion.
Feminist philosophy of religion currently tries
out different avenues in its critical and constructive Characteristics
work, allying itself with and utilizing methods
from psychoanalytical or poststructuralist schools, Feminist philosophy of religion is distinctive
pragmatism, and postcolonialist feminism, among among other philosophical subdisciplines in
others. What unites the different paths is the empha- its awareness of and focus on feminist and
sis on difference, and that difference matters for ▶ gender issues. Examples include making
how to do philosophy of religion, be it difference in visible and analyzing women’s situations regard-
gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, ing, for instance, power and oppression in
nationality, class, or age. What also unites feminist language, symbolic and praxis, and introducing
philosophers of religion of different standings is an philosophical questions and methods originating
interest in topics such as the concept of God, ratio- in women’s experiences of, for instance,
nality and epistemology, the human – divine rela- giving birth, or existing in a marginalized
tion, and the relation between humans. The position. While feminist philosophy of religion
constructive contributions toward these topics are thus widens the scope of philosophy of religion
multifaceted, and the critical and deconstructive theoretically, materially, and methodologically,
focus on traditional patriarchal models and pre- it also questions and deconstructs traditional
sumptions is the same. philosophical presumptions underlying concepts
such as rationality, subject, god, knowledge, and
objectivity, as being male prejudiced.
Self-identification Among other feminist academic disciplines,
such as feminist theology or gender studies, and
Science among feminist-influenced religious traditions,
In as far as philosophy is considered to be a science, such as goddess religions, feminist philosophy of
so, consequently, is feminist philosophy of religion. religion is distinctive in its strict adherence to phil-
Philosophy is, however, often considered to be osophical standards of argument and methods of
more of a metascience, characterized by its analyz- criticism and deconstruction. Its purpose lies in
ing, deconstructive, criticizing, and reconstructive formulating and analyzing philosophical problems
activities, rather than by seeking new knowledge arising from a religious context, certainly
suggesting alternative solutions and constructive Academic works from within the emerging
ideas, but nevertheless leaving matters of applica- specialization feminist philosophy of religion
tion in the religious/theological context to others. have been published for scarcely two decades,
but the number is growing. As there is not as yet
a journal specifically dedicated to feminist phi-
Relevance to Science and Religion losophy of religion, articles will be dispersed in
journals of closely related fields within philoso-
Some feminist philosophers, such as Sandra Har- phy, theology, and feminist and gender studies.
ding and Lynn Hankinson Nelson, have analyzed Generally, as the discipline is in its forming
how the methods, models, and underlying world- stage, the more recent a publication is, the more it
view of natural sciences are characterized by male should have been able to accumulatively further
language and traditional epistemology, where man the development of the discipline. More recent F
is a rational objective subject and nature is an publications thus have the potential to become
object to be seized and subjugated, a hierarchical more authoritative than older ones, unless the
relation mirrored in the relation between man and latter have achieved the status of having become
woman, male and female. Feminist philosophy of classics within the discipline, as, for instance,
religion has, in their turn, indicated how these Anderson (1998) and Jantzen (1999) presumably
hierarchical models together with religion’s have (Anderson 1998; Jantzen 1998).
likewise hierarchical model of the God-man
relation create a destructive potential not only
for the male–female relation but also for our Ethical Principles
environment. This has led feminist philosophers
of religion to reconsider the concept of God/the Scholarly work within feminist philosophy of
divine and criticize the standard philosophical the- religion is guided by the same general ethical
istic concept of God. principles as other academic work: it should dis-
As feminist philosophy of religion is generally play intellectual honesty, not succumb to plagia-
more interested in the implied issues of power rism, account openly for all material, and give
and male bias in the existing debates in philoso- credit where credit belongs.
phy of religion than in the debates themselves,
this is true also for the debates concerning science
and religion, which then become interesting only Key Values
in as far as they actualize such issues.
Justice and equality are key values of feminist
philosophy of religion and are expressed in the
Sources of Authority ambition to ensure a fair voice to the marginal-
ized in different contexts, who often are women.
As feminist philosophy of religion is a fairly new Other key values are to stand by sound philosoph-
discipline, it still relies heavily on academic works ical principles and methods and to further femi-
from other disciplines/subdisciplines, in particular nist progress.
continental philosophy (Jacques Derrida, Michel
Foucault, Luce Irigaray, and Julie Kristeva), fem-
inist philosophy (Genieve Lloyd, Sandra Har- Conceptualization
ding), feminist and gender studies (Simone de
Beauvoir), and feminist theology (Elisabeth John- As feminist philosophy of religion is
son, Daphne Hampson, and Mary Daly). Needless a philosophical discipline where several philo-
to say, since feminist philosophy of religion does sophical schools and traditions are represented,
not self-identify as a religion, it does not view several disparate understandings of the following
religious texts as sources of authority. concepts will coexist within the discipline.
F 858 Feminist Philosophy of Religion
Feminist philosophy of religion will furthermore Life and Death

relate to the following concepts primarily as The issue of life and death is generating some gen-
constituting grounds for philosophical analysis, eral discussion within feminist philosophy of reli-
analyzing their use and the implications and gion, though not by way of the traditional interest in
consequences thereof, rather than presenting life after death. For instance, Grace Jantzen calls
discipline-specific definitions of the concepts attention to traditional religion’s focus on death and
in question. Therefore, the emphasis in the immortality and argues how/why that might be
following will be on the philosophical issues a result of religion’s male origin and dominance.
actualized by the concepts for feminist philoso- Jantzen suggests, inspired by the psychoanalytic
phers of religion. Some examples will also be works by Julie Kristeva and Luce Irigaray, that
given of how feminist philosophers of religion a feminist philosophical understanding of religion
have developed conceptualizations of their own. should rather promote the love of life and focus on
the fact that we are all born, making use of the
Nature/World feminist symbolic of natality (Jantzen 1998).
Nature/world is significant as a member of a typical
Enlightenment hierarchical dichotomy, and nature/ Reality
culture is mirroring the underlying view that one of For feminist philosophy of religion as influenced by
the two is more valuable and has power over the continental and postmodern philosophical thinking,
other. As culture is viewed as superior to nature, so reality is conceptualized as a social and/or linguistic
man is viewed as superior to woman and God as construction. Metaphysical realism is generally
superior to man. Dichotomies such as these and criticized, which leads to a potential conflict with
their interdependence are a prime target for the the feminist political agenda where realism regard-
deconstructive activities of feminist philosophy of ing the real existence of men and women, moral
religion, especially since woman is associated with values, and oppressive situations is presumed in
nature in contrast to man which is associated with order to be able to make claims for changes and
culture. reforms. Non- or antirealism, at least with regard to
these entities, is for that reason for many feminist
Human Being philosophers of religion not a viable option. It is not
Human being understood as a generic male, uncommon for feminist philosophers of religion to
where the male and the masculine pronoun are advocate some kind of critical or pragmatic realism
taken to unproblematically represent the whole that enables us to speak of a reality and of real
human race, men and women alike, as is often the injustices, but without having to embrace the prob-
case in religious and philosophical discourse, is lematic God’s eye view of metaphysical realism.
questioned by feminist philosophy of religion, as Another philosophical issue actualized by the
having far-reaching consequences. Human being concept of reality is how descriptions and con-
as understood as being divided into two distinct ceptualizations of reality in religion (including
separate genders/sexes may also be questioned. God and other religious entities) are colored by
The dualistic view of sex and gender predomi- their male and patriarchal context and origin, how
nantly presupposed within religion is, according that in its turn reflects on what we can say or not
to feminist philosophy of religion, simplified and say about reality apart from human experience,
does not reflect the more recent developments and how women’s experience when conceptual-
within feminist theory and medical science. The ized and allowed in to the religious view of ulti-
view of human being as an undivided rational, mate reality will affect it.
objective subject/mind, finally, is questioned by
foremost continentally influenced feminist phi- Knowledge
losophy of religion and is replaced with a view The Enlightenment view of knowledge as the
of human being as divided, irrational, subjective, product of the isolated rational subject is rejected
bodily, relational, and changing. and instead is emphasized that knowledge is
relational, communal, divided, and multifaceted. Rationality/Reason
Feminist standpoint epistemology is one way, One of feminist philosophy’s main criticisms of
though not the only one, of expressing the analytic philosophy of religion is its deeply rooted
thought that what is possible to know depends association of rationality/reason with man and male-
on where you stand. Those in the margin (often ness and its dichotomy between the rational mind
women, poor, or oppressed ethnical or religious and the sensual body. Feminist philosophy of reli-
groups) have a privileged access to knowledge gion maintains that we cannot separate mind/ratio-
that those in the center (typically wealthy West- nality from the body; as bodily creatures, we need an
ern white men) do not have access to. Ramifica- embodied concept of rationality. Anderson argues
tions of this for religious knowledge and for specifically that our experiences of desire and yearn-
whose knowledge is counted as authoritative ing must be incorporated into the concept of ratio-
in a religious context are subject to analyze by nality (Anderson 1998). It is also a matter of concern F
feminist philosophers of religion. that rationality has traditionally been viewed as
being the property of the isolated rational subject,
Truth whereas feminist philosophy of religion emphasizes
Depending on the training and context of the indi- the role of human relations for rationality.
vidual feminist philosopher of religion, the con-
ceptualization of truth may differ accordingly, Mystery
encompassing most current philosophical views Religion often has a mystic dimension with pur-
of truths. The issue of truth as such is seldom portedly ineffable experiences of the divine and is
discussed in works of feminist philosophy of of interest to feminist philosophy of religion only
religion. See also reality. in so far as it actualizes feminist issues. From
another point of view, one might say that feminist
Perception philosophy of religion revels in the mystery of
Feminist philosophy of religion finds it important to religion, if mystery is understood as that which
reintroduce the embodied and gendered subject into analytic rationality cannot grasp, that which dwells
philosophy of religion and to view sense perception in the presymbolic in unarticulated experiences.
not only as a useful parallel to justify religious
experience, as does philosopher of religion William
Alston, but as a valuable part of being human and Cross-References
a religious subject, contributing to how theologies
are shaped and philosophy of religion is done. ▶ Concept of God in Contemporary Philosophy
of Religion
Time ▶ Critical Realism in Theology and Science
Feminist philosophy of religion is not especially ▶ Epistemology
interested in the concept of time. ▶ Sex and Gender
▶ Transcendence and Immanence
Consciousness
A well-known feminist concept from feminism’s
early days in the late 1960s is the concept of References
consciousness-raising, denoting an activity
Anderson, P. S. (1998). A feminist philosophy of religion:
designed to make women politically conscious The rationality and myths of religious belief. Oxford:
of their own oppression. Feminist philosophy of Blackwell.
religion often has an implicit or explicit aim to Anderson, P. S., & Clack, B. (Eds.). (2004). Feminist philos-
contribute to this consciousness-raising process. ophy of religion: Critical readings. London: Routledge.
Anderson, P. S. (Ed.) (2010). New Topics in Feminist
Feminist philosophy of religion is otherwise Philosophy of Religion: Contestations and Transcen-
not especially interested in the concept of dence Incarnate: Resistance and Spiritual Practices.
consciousness. Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London and New York.
F 860 Fiction
Jantzen, G. M. (1998). Becoming divine. Towards Fire-walking is the ▶ ritual practice of walking
a feminist philosophy of religion. Manchester: Man- barefoot over fire, hot embers, ashes, or rocks.
chester University Press.
Nancy, F. (2005). Feminist philosophy of religion. In Accounts of fire-walking are found in early histor-
E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopaedia of ical records, such as Stabo’s descriptions of such
Philosophy (Spring 2005 edn.). http://plato.stanford. rituals in Italy and Cappadocia (Georgraphy 5.2.9;
edu/archives/spr2005/entries/feminist-religion/. 12.2.7). Contemporary fire-walking ▶ rituals are
Nancy, F., & Marilyn, T. (Eds.). (1994). Feminist philos-
ophy of religion: Special issue (Hypatia: A journal of performed in many parts of the world, including
feminist philosophy, Vol. 9, No 4). Bloomington: Indi- Greece, Bulgaria, Spain (Fig. 1), Fiji, South
ana University Press. Africa, Paraguay, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore,
Mauritius, the Seychelles, Hawaii, India, Japan,
Brazil, Haiti, and Papua New Guinea.
In some cultures, fire-walking is an act of deep
Fiction religious devotion, such as in the ▶ Anastenaria of
Greece and Bulgaria, who perform this ▶ ritual in
▶ Creative Writing honor of saints Helen and Constantine (Danforth
1989; Xygalatas 2012), or the Tamil Hindu festi-
val of ▶ Theemithi. Participants in such rituals
often consider fire-walking as a miracle, claiming
Fictional Tale that they do not get burned due to divine protection
(for a study of a secular fire-walking ritual, see
▶ Myth
Xygalates et al. 2011). In other cases, most prom-
inently in the USA, fire-walking is part of various
New Age movements or performed by profes-
sional instructors as a technique for team-building,
Fine Art
self-empowerment, fear-control, etc.
However, although it might seem counter-intui-
▶ Art, Studio
tive, it is generally possible to fire-walk unharmed,
without any special technique or preparation, phys-
ical, mental, or otherwise. The explanation lies in
Finitude physics: Hardwood, embers, and volcanic rock are
very poor conductors or heat. Thus, contact for
▶ Death a short period of time does not usually harm the
skin. This is why you do not get burned if you
quickly pick up a glowing ember and throw it
back into the fireplace. Think of the following
Fire-Walking example: when baking bread in the oven at high
temperatures, you can insert your hand and touch
Dimitris Xygalatas the bread for 1 or 2 s without getting a blister
LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental (although you will feel the heat). However, if you
Research of Religion, Masaryk University, Brno, touch the metal racks for the same length of time,
Czech Republic you will get a blister. The bread and the rack have
Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus the same temperature, and, for that matter, so does
University, Aarhus, Denmark the air in the oven when you first open it. The reason
for not getting burned is that the air and the bread
have low thermal conductivity, while the metal rack
Related Terms is an excellent conductor of heat (Leikind an
McCarthy 1985). Thus, walking at a normal pace
Anatenaria; Religious ritual; Theemithi on burning embers is not likely to cause any damage
Firewall 861 F
Fire-Walking, Fig. 1 A fire-walker traversing a coal-bed measured at 677 degrees Celsius (1250 Fahrenheit) while
carrying his father on his back, in the Spanish village of San Pedro Manrique
to the feet, although sometimes fire-walkers do get Xygalatas, D. (2012). Cognition and culture in the fire-
burned, most commonly when an ember gets stuck walking rituals of the Anastenaria (Religion, cognition
and culture). London: Equinox.
between their toes, they step on a sharp piece of Xygalatas, D., Konvalinka, I., Roepstorff, A., &
burning wood, they walk too slowly, etc. Bulbulia, J. (2011). Quantifying collective efferves-
cence: Heart-rate dynamics at a fire-walking ritual.
Communicative & Integrative Biology, 4(6), 735–738.
Cross-References
▶ Anastenaria
▶ Experience Firewall
▶ Pain (Suffering)
▶ Religious Experiences Andrew J. Neel
▶ Religious Studies Department of Computer Science,
▶ Ritual The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
References A security tool that breaks the normal behavior of

data transfers in a way that provides a defense from
Danforth, L. M. (1989). Fire-walking and religious threats. Firewall examples include application fire-
healing. The anastenaria of Greece and the American walls (breaks data transfers to/from applications
fire-walking movement. Princeton, New Jersey:
where the data is dangerous to the application or
Princeton University Press.
Leikind, B. J., & McCarthy, W. J. (1985). An investiga- its users), network firewalls (firewalls that break
tion of firewalking. The Skeptical Inquirer, 10(1), 23–34. high-risk and unauthorized network traffic), and
F 862 First Order
host firewalls (firewalls that limit applications on and are the minimal qualifications for what a
desktops, laptops, and servers to behaviors that are Muslim is. They are as follows: (1) Shahada, or
explicitly defined or expected). the “Declaration of Faith,” which states, “I bear
witness that there is no god but God, and that
Muhammad is his Messenger.” (2) Salat, or the
five daily ritual prayers. (3) Zakah, or almsgiving
First Order to the poor. (4) Sawm, fasting during the entire
month of Ramadan, and (5) Hajj, or the pilgrim-
Xavier Caicedo age to Mecca in today’s Saudi Arabia.
Department of Mathematics, Universidad de los
Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Fixed Action Pattern

Logical languages that allow atomic predicates
and quantification over individuals of the uni- Jörg-Peter Ewert
verse only, and not over subsets, predicates, or Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of
relations. If the latter is allowed we have second- Kassel, Schauenburg, Germany
order logic, and so on.
A first-order structure is a set together with a
family of subsets of its Cartesian powers. It may According to a classical concept of ethology, a key
also have distinguished individuals and func- stimulus activates an innate releasing mechanism
tions, but these are reducible to relations. that triggers the adequate fixed action pattern.
Higher-order structures, allowing relations These terms were critically discussed, particularly
among first-order relations, etc., are reducible to the prefixes key, innate, and fixed. Fixed action
particular first-order structures with an extra pattern refers to an inherited movement coordina-
binary relation symbol (membership). tion that is characteristic to the species. These
movements need not be learned and suggest a
genetically fixed ability. “Fixed” misleadingly
may denote a rigid and invariable motor perfor-
First Philosophy mance which, however, has not been observed yet.
▶ Ontology
Flow of Time
First-Order Logic
▶ Time
▶ Logic, Predicate
Flowcharts
Five Pillars
Dustin Byrd
Olivet College, Olivet, MI, USA
fMRI
The Five Pillars are the basic foundational points
in Islam. All five are mandatory for the Muslims ▶ Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Force of Attraction 863 F
think and feel. Intersubjective relationships are
Focalization formed and developed by means of folk psychol-
ogy. When people talk about their mental life,
▶ Attention they use words such as “belief,” “idea,” “convic-
tion,” “joy,” “sadness,” “happiness,” and so on.
These terms are all part of folk psychology. There
is an intense dispute over the status of folk psy-
Folk Physics chology. Some philosophers and cognitive scien-
tists believe folk psychology to be an outdated
René Rosfort and ontologically wrong theory of human psy-
Department for Systematic Theology, Faculty of chology. We need to substitute the theory with a
Theology, University of Copenhagen, scientifically more precise theory that can be F
Copenhagen, Denmark applied to the physical and biological constitu-
tion of the mind. Others contest this as being an
expression of a narrow scientific view on human
A term for people spontaneously understanding nature. In their eyes, human psychological nature
the workings of the physical world. Contrary to is best explained by means of an elaborated folk
scientific physics, folk physics is based on imme- psychology.
diate human understanding of the nature of phys-
ical objects and intuitive human prediction of
physical events in nature. It can be seen as a Cross-References
naı̈ve or common sense approach to human envi-
ronment. Human interaction with the physical ▶ Theory of Mind
environment is normally based on habits and
practical understanding that are very different
from the theoretical approach of scientific phys-
ics. Thus, insights gained by folk physics are
Folklife Research
often characterized as contrary to those of scien-
tific physics, and are therefore deemed wrong and
▶ Ethnology
misleading with respect to a scientific under-
standing of the physical world.
Folkloristics
Folk Psychology
▶ Ethnology
René Rosfort
Department for Systematic Theology, Faculty of
Copenhagen, Denmark Folktale
▶ Myth
A term for people intuitively understanding and
talking about human psychology. Humans have
an immediate understanding of themselves and
other people. People behave and talk with other Force of Attraction
people on the immediate assumption that they
generally understand, more or less, how persons ▶ Gravity: From Classical to Quantum
F 864 Forensic and Legal Medicine
commented that “forensic medicine [cannot be

Forensic and Legal Medicine thought of] as an entity. . . until a stage of civili-
zation is reached in which we have . . .
▶ Forensic Medicine a recognizable legal system . . . and an integrated
body of medical knowledge and opinion” (Smith
1951).
The specific terms forensic medicine and med-
Forensic Medicine ical jurisprudence (also referred to as juridical
medicine) in the English language date back to
Jason Payne-James the early nineteenth century. In 1840, Thomas
Cameron Forensic Medical Sciences, Barts & the Stuart Traill (1840), referring to the connection
London School of Medicine & Dentistry, between medicine and legislation, stated that
London, UK “it is known in Germany. . . . . . by the name of
Forensic Healthcare Services Ltd, Southend-on- State Medicine, in Italy and France. . . . . . Legal
Sea, Essex, UK Medicine; . . . . . . [in the United Kingdom] it is
usually denominated Medical Jurisprudence or
Forensic Medicine.” However, there are many
Related Terms previous references to the use of medical experts
to assist the legal process in many other jurisdic-
Forensic medicine; Forensic pathology; Forensic tions; these physicians would be involved in
and legal medicine; Legal medicine criminal or civil cases as well as public health.
There is much dispute as to when medical exper-
tise in the determination of legal issues was first
Description utilized. In 1975, Chinese archaeologists discov-
ered a number of bamboo pieces dating from
Forensic medicine is that medical speciality that about 220 B.C. (Qin dynasty) with rules and regu-
embraces all medical matters involving the law lations for examining injuries inscribed on them.
and all kinds of judicial process. Two main Other historical examples of the link between
branches exist, clinical forensic medicine, which medicine and the law can be found around
deals predominantly with the living person and is the world.
undertaken by forensic physicians and forensic In the Roman Republic, the “Lex Duodecim
pathology, undertaken by forensic pathologists Tabularum” (laws drafted on 12 tablets and
which deals predominantly with the dead. Foren- accepted as a single statute in 449 B.C.) had
sic pathology is a branch of pathology concerned minor references to medicolegal matters, includ-
with determining the cause of death by examina- ing punishments dependent on the degree of
tion of a cadaver. The autopsy is performed by the injury caused by an assailant, and poisoning
pathologist at the request of a coroner usually (Brittain). Papyri, related to Roman Egypt, dating
during the investigation of criminal law cases from the latter part of the first century to the latter
and civil law cases in some jurisdictions. Table 1 part of the fourth century A.D., contain informa-
gives examples of the potential roles for forensic tion about forensic medical examinations or
physicians. The training, structure, and delivery investigations (Amundsen and Ferngren 1978).
of forensic medicine varies around the world, The “Constitutio Criminalis Carolina,” the code
and in some countries both clinical and patholog- of law published and proclaimed in 1553 in
ical aspects of forensic medicine are dealt with by Germany by Emperor Charles V, is considered
the same medical practitioner (Payne-James to have originated Legal Medicine as a specialty:
2011). expert medical testimony became a requirement
The origins of forensic medicine go back rather than an option in cases of murder,
many centuries, although Smith rightly wounding, poisoning, hanging, drowning,
Forensic Medicine 865 F
Forensic Medicine, Table 1 infanticide, and abortion. Beginning in the latter
Potential roles of a forensic physician part of the eighteenth century, a number of books
• Determination of fitness to be detained in custody and treatises were published in English
• Determination of fitness to be released concerning forensic medicine and medical juris-
• Determination of fitness to be charged: competent to prudence. John Gordon Smith writes in 1821 in
understand charge the Preface to his own book (Smith 1821) “The
• Determination of fitness to transfer earliest production in this country, professing to
• Determination of fitness to be interviewed by the police treat of Medical Jurisprudence generaliter, was
or detaining body
an abstract from a foreign work, comprised in
• Advise that an independent person is required to ensure
rights for the vulnerable or mentally disordered a very small space. It bears the name of
• Assessment of alcohol and drug intoxication and “Dr Farr’s Elements, &c and first appeared
withdrawal above thirty years ago.” In fact, it was translated F
• Comprehensive examination to assess a person’s ability from the 1767 publication Elemental Medicinae
to drive a motor vehicle, in general medical terms and Forensis by Fazelius of Geneva. Davis (1974)
related to alcohol and drug misuse
refers to these and to Remarks on Medical Juris-
• Undertake intimate body searches for drugs
prudence by William Dease of Dublin, as well as
• Documentation and interpretation of injuries
• Take forensic samples
the Treatise on Forensic Medicine or Medical
• Assess and treat personnel injured whilst on duty
Jurisprudence by O. W. Bartley of Bristol.
(e.g., police personnel) including needle stick injuries Davis considers the latter two works of poor
• Pronounce life extinct at a scene of death and undertake quality, stating that the “first original and satis-
preliminary advisory role factory work” was George Male’s Epitome of
• Undertake mental state examinations Juridical or Forensic Medicine, published in
• Examine adult complainants of serious sexual assault 1816 (second edition, 1821). Texts on forensic
and the alleged perpetrators
medicine began to appear more rapidly and with
• Examine alleged child victims of neglect, physical or
sexual abuse much broader content. John Gordon Smith
• Examine victims and assailants in alleged police assaults (9) stated in The Principles of Forensic Medicine
Additional Roles Systematically Arranged and Applied to British
• Expert opinion in courts and tribunals Practice (1821) that “Forensic Medicine—Legal,
• Death in custody investigation Judiciary or Juridical Medicine—and Medical
• Complaints against government officers (e.g., police, Jurisprudence are synonymous terms.” Having
security, army) referred in the Preface to the earlier books,
• Pressure group and independent investigators in ethical he notes, “It is but justice to mention that the
and moral issues
American schools have outstripped us in atten-
• Victims of torture
tion to Forensic Medicine”; he may have been
• War crimes
referring to the work of Theodric Romeyn Beck
• Female genital mutilation
and others. Beck published the first American
• Refugee medicine (medical and forensic issues)
• Asylum seeker medicine (medical and forensic issues)
textbook 2 years later in 1823 and a third
• Implement principles of immediate management in (London) edition had been published by 1829
biological or chemical incidents (8). Prior to this, in 1804, J. A. Stringham, who
For all these examinations a forensic physician must accu- was trained in Edinburgh being awarded an MD
rately document findings and when needed produce these in 1799, was appointed as a Professor in Medical
as written reports for appropriate civil, criminal or other Jurisprudence at the College of Physicians
agencies and courts. The forensic physician will be also
and Surgeons of New York and given a Chair in
able to present and interpret the information orally to
a court or other tribunal or forum 1813 (11).
Thus, by the end of the nineteenth century,
a framework of forensic medicine that persists
today had been established in Europe, the UK,
America, and related jurisdictions.
F 866 Forensic Medicine
The recent growth in awareness of abuses Relevance to Science and Religion

of human rights, torture, disappearances, and
civil liberties has directed attention to the Forensic medicine is practiced throughout the
conditions of detention of prisoners and to world and as such works within judicial systems
the application of justice to both victim and in which religion, culture, and related values may
suspect. Examples of injustice and failure to play a greater or lesser part. Thus, medical
observe basic human rights or rights enshrined knowledge may impact on religious issues in
in statute in which the input of medical pro- implicit or explicit variable ways (e.g., euthana-
fessionals may be considered, at least, of poor sia, judicial killing) and there may thus be sub-
quality and, at worst, criminally negligent stantial interest by theologians in aspects of
have occurred and continue to occur forensic medicine and religion.
worldwide.
Self-Identification
Key sources for medical information should lie
Science predominantly with peer-reviewed studies of
Forensic medicine is predominantly a science as randomized, controlled research that have
it is based on medical knowledge. The basic been published and are accessible to all. Foren-
training which underpins forensic medicine sic medicine, perhaps uniquely among medical
derives from a knowledge of anatomy, physiol- disciplines, does not look at how interventions
ogy, biochemistry, and pathology, all scientific (such as drugs, operations, or procedures) may
disciplines. impact on an individual patient’s clinical out-
come, but looks at how previous (often
nonmedical) interventions, such as stabbing,
Characteristics shooting, sexual assault, drug misuse have
affected the person or deceased who is being
Forensic medicine is distinctive from other med- assessed. There are substantial ethical prob-
ical disciplines in that it requires knowledge and lems with undertaking research in patient
understanding related to subjects outside medi- groups assessed by forensic medical practi-
cine, namely, law and forensic science. Forensic tioners, because of issues of getting true fully
medical practitioners are required to utilize their informed consent, or in the case of the
medical knowledge and interpret it in the con- deceased, consent from families or coroners.
text of other nonmedical major disciplines. Thus, much research is based on historical
Additionally, forensic medical practitioners are data. There are however substantial written
often faced with moral and ethical decisions texts (e.g., Encyclopedia of Forensic and
related to their professional duties and how Legal Medicine; Forensic Medicine: Clinical
they apply those to, for example, complainants, and Pathological Aspects) that give informa-
perpetrators, families, employing bodies (e.g., tion on forensic medical issues, and increasing
the state), lawyers and judges, without amounts of research are now available and
compromising the basic medical duties of con- being published which explore clinical issues
sent and confidentiality. The balancing act of such as medical findings after sexual assault,
duties to the patients and duties to others who and pathological issues such as findings after
may be involved within a legal or judicial pro- deaths from drug use. Increasingly sophisti-
cess can be complex, but this is part of the day- cated techniques are being applied, for exam-
to-day responsibilities of forensic medicine ple, identifying genetic causes for sudden
practitioners. unexplained adult or child deaths.
Forensic Medicine 867 F
The majority of peer-reviewed forensic med- Forensic Medicine, Table 2 Good medical practice –
ical journals (e.g., Journal of Forensic and General Medical Council (United Kingdom – 2006)
(the complete documents may be viewed at http://www.
Legal Medicine, Forensic Science Interna- gmc-uk.org/guidance/good_medical_practice/index.asp)
tional, Legal Medicine, American Journal of (Below are reproduced the introductory paragraphs at the
Forensic Medicine and Pathology) are now time of uniting. Updates are issued on a regular basis)
also electronically published. Forensic medicine The duties of a doctor registered with the General Medical
by its very nature links closely with other disci- Council
plines such as forensic science, forensic anthro- Patients must be able to trust doctors with their lives and
pology, and forensic toxicology and there is health. To justify that trust you must show respect for
human life and you must:
considerable overlap in the sources of current
• Make the care of your patient your first concern
information. Credibility of such work is depen-
• Protect and promote the health of patients and the public
dent on appropriate independent peer review in F
• Provide a good standard of practice and care
publications cited in major citation indices (e.g., • Keep your professional knowledge and skills up to date
Pubmed and ISI). • Recognize and work within the limits of your
competence
• Work with colleagues in the ways that best serve
Ethical Principles patients’ interests
• Treat patients as individuals and respect their dignity
The overarching principles of forensic medi- • Treat patients politely and considerately
cine would be generally accepted as the princi- • Respect patients’ right to confidentiality
• Work in partnership with patients
ples espoused by Hippocrates. However, not all
• Listen to patients and respond to their concerns and
doctors take the “Hippocratic Oath.” The prin- preferences
ciples in general have been enhanced and clar- • Give patients the information they want or need in
ified by both international and national a way they can understand
initiatives. An example of the former would • Respect patients’ right to reach decisions with you
be the Declaration of Helsinki. Medical bodies about their treatment and care
in many countries define how doctors should • Support patients in caring for themselves to improve
and maintain their health
behave – Table 2 shows the current guidelines
• Be honest and open and act with integrity
for “Good Medical Practice” provided by the
• Act without delay if you have good reason to believe
General Medical Council that apply to all reg- that you or a colleague may be putting patients at risk
istered medical practitioners working as doc- • Never discriminate unfairly against patients or
tors in the UK. It will be noted that relationships colleagues
with and responsibilities to not only patients, • Never abuse your patients’ trust in you or the public’s
but also professional colleagues are explained. trust in the profession
It is to be expected that the medical profes- You are personally accountable for your professional
sional organizations in all countries should practice and must always be prepared to justify your
decisions and actions
have published ethical principles to which
others can refer.
without allowing personal, religious, moral, or

Key Values other issues to affect treatment or conclusions,
(b) where conflicts occur (e.g., employment
The key values espoused by practitioners or status, coercion by authorities) to ensure that
forensic medicine are: (a) to provide appropri- duties as a medical practitioner are not
ate medical care, or interpretation of medical compromised, (c) by fulfilling the values in
issues within a legal, judicial, or police setting (a) and (b) ensuring that medical issues do not
in an independent and unbiased manner – contribute to potential miscarriages of justice.
F 868 Forensic Medicine
Conceptualization can retrieve from memory voluntarily, or by

being cued.
It should be emphasized that as forensic medical
practitioners are derived from a wide variety of Truth
cultures, societies, and religious background, the Truth as a concept in forensic medicine embodies
definitions and concepts of the terms described that which is scientifically correct, and that which
below will vary according to the individual’s may be determined following legal or judicial
personal construct. The comments below are not process, and there may be apparent conflict
rigid and may reflect the author’s personal between the two.
interpretations.
Perception
Nature/World Perception reflects what is interpreted by an
The forensic medicine concept of nature and the individual from the sensory input supplied to
world is that of the all medical disciplines and them. In forensic medicine, perception may
reflects striving for a scientific understanding of also be influenced by what others have
the world and those that inhabit it. observed.
Human Being Time

The forensic medical approach to the concept of Forensic medicine has no particular definition or
a human being reflects the belief that humans are concept of time beyond that of the ordinary sense.
sentient and in general are autonomous beings with Timing of events may have particular relevance
rights and duties to each other conferred by a variety within the forensic medical setting.
of moral, ethical, and societal frameworks.
Consciousness
Life and Death Consciousness in the medical sense is the respon-
Origins of life are not defined by forensic medical siveness of subjects to any external physical or
practitioners and will be dependent on their own other stimulus. It can vary dependent on many
background. Death can be interpreted and defined factors including use of drugs, injury, and medi-
in a medical sense by a number of means, which cal treatment.
range from brain death with a functioning body,
to skeletonized remains. The definitions used Rationality/Reason
will be dependent on the context for which the Forensic medicine has no particular definition or
determination of death is required (e.g., in organ concept of rationality beyond that used in the
donation). ordinary sense. Reason may be applied to events
or medical findings in the contexts of observation
Reality or perceptions of others, in order to arrive at
Reality reflects that which can be perceived by a conclusion – for example, in the causation of
humans using the sensory and intellectual func- injury.
tions which they possess.
Mystery
Knowledge Many would argue that the role of forensic
Knowledge is understood to have an objective medicine is to assist in solving mysteries.
dimension, such that it is the wisdom that can
be transferred in a verbal form from one person
to the next, or has been written down in books or Relevant Themes
libraries. However, knowledge is also understood
to have a subjective dimension, which is taken The most important current themes regarding
to be the amount of information a person forensic medicine relate to a need for increased
Forensic Psychology 869 F
awareness and respect for the living and
deceased individual in terms of human rights Forensic Psychology
and medical ethics in the context of duties of
doctors. These themes embrace not only David F. Ross1, Dorothy F. Marsil2, Richard
healthcare and forensic issues of convicted and Metzger1, Justin T. Sullivan1 and Anna Henley1
1
nonconvicted detainees in any type of custody, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga,
the detection and documentation of torture, TN, USA
2
appropriate recovery and autopsy processes, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw,
but also any setting in which those temporarily GA, USA
or permanently deprived of liberty are in contact
with medical practitioners in any setting within
legal or judicial process. Related Terms F
Eyewitness memory; Legal psychology; Psychol-
References ogy and law
Amundsen, D. W., & Ferngren, G. B. (1978). The foren-

sic role of physicians in Ptolemaic and Roman
Egypt. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 52,
Description
336–353.
Brittain, R. P. (1967). Origins of legal medicine. Roman Forensic psychology is the application of psycho-
law: Lex Duodecim Tabularum. Medico-Legal logical principles to problems faced by the legal
Journal, 35, 71–72.
Davis, B. T. (1974). George Edward Male, M. D., the
system whereby psychologists intend to help the
father of English medical jurisprudence. Proceedings legal system arrive at fair and unbiased decisions.
of Royal Society of Medicine, 67, 117–120. In a joint publication by the American Psychol-
Payne-James, J. J., & Stark, M. M. (2009). Clinical foren- ogy and Law Society and the American Academy
sic medicine worldwide: history development. In:
of Forensic Psychology, forensic psychology is
Stark, M. M. (Ed). Clinical Forensic Medicine: A
physician guide (3rd edn.). Human Press, 2011. defined as “all professional practice by any psy-
Payne-James, J. J., Busuttil, A., & Smock, W. (2003). chologist working within any sub-discipline of
Forensic medicine: Clinical & pathological aspects. psychology (e.g., clinical, developmental, cogni-
London: Greenwich Medical Media.
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Payne-James, J. J., Henderson, C., Byard, R., & Corey, T.
(2005). Encyclopedia of forensic and legal medicine. cal, or specialized knowledge of psychology to
London: Elsevier/Academic. the law” (p. 3) (Ogloff 1999). Some scholars have
Payne-James, J. J., Jones, R., Karch, S. B., & Manlove, J. described the purpose of forensic psychology is
(2011). Simpson’s forensic medicine (13th edn.).
to further the cause of social justice in the legal
London: Hodder Arnold.
Smith, J. G. (1821). The principles of forensic medicine system. Shah, one of the early pioneers in this
systematically arranged and applied to British prac- field, described it eloquently when he wrote, “a
tice. London: Thomas & George Underwood. basic challenge for psychology in its interactions
Smith, S. (1951). The history and development of
with legal and social process is to bring relevant
forensic medicine. British Medical Journal, 1,
599–607. knowledge and skill to bear on major social
Traill, T. S. (1840). Outlines of a course of lectures on inequities so that the policies and practices in
medical jurisprudence (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Adam & our society can more truly comport with the
Charles Black.
deepest notions of what is fair and just” (p. 5)
(Ogloff 1999).
Historically, research in this field has focused
on the topic of eyewitness accuracy. Hugo
Forensic Pathology Munsterberg, who is considered a founding father
in forensic psychology, published a seminal piece
▶ Forensic Medicine entitled On the Witness Stand (Munsterberg 1908).
F 870 Forensic Psychology
Eyewitness research has continued to be important Sources of Authority

because of the conviction and wrongful imprison-
ment of innocent persons due to errors in eyewit- Forensic psychologists rely on empirical evi-
ness testimony (Lindsay et al. 2006; Toglia et al. dence from many areas of psychology to support
2007). The magnitude of the problem was their work. This empirical evidence is published
documented by a study that reported 28 cases in stringent peer-reviewed journals that require
where DNA testing exonerated the accused; 90 % scientific rigor. Examples of highly respected
of the wrongful convictions were due to errors in journals that publish forensic psychology articles
eyewitness identification (Conners et al. 1996). include, but are not limited to, Law and Human
This is a particularly troublesome result given Behavior, Psychology, Public Policy and Law,
that research has found that eyewitness memory Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied,
or identification evidence is perceived to be the Behavioral Sciences and the Law, and Applied
most believable evidence that can be offered in Cognitive Psychology (Helms 2009).
a criminal trial (Wells and Bradfield 1998).
The field of forensic psychology has expanded
to include direct consultation with attorneys Ethical Principles
working on both criminal and civil cases. In
criminal cases, for example, psychologists may In 1991, the American Academy of Forensic Psy-
help with determinations of mental status, exam- chology (AAFP) in conjunction with the Ameri-
ination of the quality of the evidence, and assist can Psychology-Law Society developed a set of
with jury selection. Civil cases offer psycholo- ethical principles for forensic psychologists.
gists the opportunity to assist with the preparation Those guidelines were published in Law and
of a case to maximize jury understanding, deter- Human Behavior (Committee on Ethical Guide-
mine the impact of events on the long-term psy- lines for Forensic Psychologists 1991). The Com-
chological status of the plaintiff, and also assist in mittee on the Revision of the Specialty
jury selection among other duties. Guidelines for Forensic Psychology has been
revising those guidelines, and the most recent
draft, 2008, is awaiting approval (Committee on
Characteristics the Revision of the Specialty Guidelines for
Forensic Psychology 2008).
Forensic psychology is distinctive because no
other subdiscipline of psychology includes as
part of its purpose the improvement of legal pro- Key Values
cedures. While other disciplines may be inter-
ested in social justice, forensic psychology is The primary value within forensic psychology is
unique in that its practitioners look at social jus- to seek the truth about how individuals behave in
tice issues within the legal system. legal settings. However, because forensic psychol-
ogy involves a marriage between psychology and
law, there are important, fundamental differences
Relevance to Science and Religion between how that occurs in the two disciplines.
The legal arena is an adversarial system whereby
Forensic psychology is specifically designed to through cross-examination and presentation of the
empirically test assumptions about human psy- evidence the truth will emerge. In psychology, the
chology that are made by the legal system. There- truth is sought through experimentation, observa-
fore, the issues and questions in this field emerge tion, and testing hypotheses about human behavior
from a scientific and legal foundation, not in legal settings. The search for the truth is scien-
a religious one. tific and not adversarial. The outcome is an
Forensic Psychology 871 F
explanation of what and why humans behave the a defendant is convicted of the crime, then the trial
way they do in the legal arena. enters the penalty phase whereby the prosecution
and defense present additional information to the
jury used to determine whether or not to give
Conceptualization a penalty of death. During the penalty phase, the
prosecution typically has the family of the
Nature/World deceased testify to talk about the pain of their
Forensic psychology defines the world in two loss in hopes that it will provide justification for
ways. First, it involves the various settings the jury to give the death penalty. The defense will
where forensic psychologists collect information use a mitigation specialist, who is typically
that is used to assist problems faced by the legal a forensic psychologist who has done an extensive
system. This would include, for example, the background analysis of the life of the defendant F
laboratory where psychologists conduct empiri- and can report on “mitigating” circumstances that
cal research, or therapeutic settings. The second may help explain the defendant’s behavior. For
“world” in forensic psychology is the courtroom instance, the mitigation specialist may explain
or any other legal setting where psychologists that the defendant came from a very violent and
attempt to provide information related to prob- broken home and was physically and sexually
lems experienced by those in the legal system. abused as a child. The presentation of the mitigat-
ing circumstances by the forensic psychologist
Human Being will be used by the defense attorney to argue that
Human being is defined by all of the people the defendant’s life should be spared.
involved in the field of psychology and the law In a civil case that involves a wrongful death,
from the forensic psychologists who collect a forensic psychologist may be employed by the
information that is presented to the legal system, plaintiff to evaluate the family of the deceased.
as well as those in the legal system that are the The psychologist would then testify about the
recipients of that information (judges, lawyers, psychological injury suffered by the loss of
jurors, defendants, etc.). love, affection, and companionship that resulted
from the death – a concept referred to in the legal
Life and Death arena as loss of consortium. In many wrongful
In forensic psychology, the terms life and death death cases, the monetary damage award that
are very different depending on whether the case a jury is allowed to give involves a separate allo-
is criminal or civil. For instance, in a criminal case cation for loss of consortium. Therefore, the way
that involves the defendant being charged with the concept of death and life is viewed by forensic
a crime punishable by death, the trial is held in psychologists differs dramatically depending on
two parts, the guilt phase and the penalty phase. In whether the case is criminal or civil in nature.
the guilt phase, a forensic psychologist may con-
duct a clinical evaluation to determine whether or Reality
not the defendant is competent to stand trial – Reality is defined by the observable action of
meaning that he or she is aware of the legal humans in the physical world and the self-
process and can assist his or her lawyers in reported thoughts they use to describe their moti-
defending the case, a clinical evaluation to deter- vation for that behavior. From a psychological
mine the mental status of the defendant, and/or perspective, reality evolves slowly through the
a neurological evaluation to determine whether or scientific process of collecting and analyzing
not the defendant has brain damage that may data and drawing conclusions. In the legal con-
impact his or her ability to stand trial. Therefore, text, reality is the result of an adversarial process
a forensic psychologist could participate in sev- whereby both sides present their case to the
eral ways during the guilt phase of the trial. If court.
F 872 Forensic Psychology
Forensic psychologists describe knowledge as There is a great deal of research in human cognition
originating in two forms. Psychologists rely on that indicates that much of the information that we
the evidence from scientific descriptions to cre- observe and process can be done deliberately or
ate the corpus. The legal system relies on the consciously with effort, or unconsciously or auto-
addition of the logical analysis of the text of the matically with little to no effort. Understanding the
rules developed by cultural institutions, includ- role of conscious/deliberate or unconscious/auto-
ing the previous understanding reflected in matic processing in the legal arena is vital. Often
presidents. individuals, like jurors and witnesses, have a poor
understanding of their own thought processes and
Truth the factors that influence their thoughts. This lack of
Truth is what forensic psychologists seek from awareness can lead to biased decision-making and
conducting empirical research. Truth in the legal distorted memories. Thus, the role of consciousness
system is the result of an adversarial process of is very important to forensic psychologists.
both sides presenting their case in court; truth is
the outcome of the institutional structures that Rationality/Reason
develop the law. Rationality and reason are defined by forensic
psychologists who work on criminal cases which
Perception involve understanding the mental processes used
Forensic psychologists define perception as the by the defendant. As stated earlier, considerable
way in which an individual looks at the world as time is spent on understanding mens rea or the
a function of his or her beliefs, attitudes, and psychological status of a defendant at the time
experiences. Reality is what we perceive to be the alleged crime took place. Forensic psycholo-
true and is often highly individualistic and gists may be asked to evaluate a defendant and
variable. conduct a competency evaluation to determine if
the defendant is aware of the charges and can
Time participate in his or her own defense. A battery
Time has multiple meanings to forensic psychol- of mental tests may be given to provide an estima-
ogists depending on their subspecialty. Of inter- tion of the defendant’s IQ, ability to engage in
est here is how time is measured. For cognitive mental reasoning, and to determine the source of
psychologists who use the concept of time to any mental disease that is detected.
determine the accuracy of an eyewitness, two
critical concepts are related to time. They are Mystery
(1) exposure duration, the length of time that the A mystery is merely a challenge to resolve the
witness had to see the perpetrator and (2) retention unknown or to clarify information or situations
interval, the amount of time between observing that are difficult to understand. Forensic psychol-
the crime and being presented with the lineup. ogists seek to remove that which is mysterious by
(3) Additionally, a forensic psychologist may providing empirically or clinically based explana-
also be interested in reaction time, or the amount tions. However, every forensic psychologist might
of time that an eyewitness took to complete an not arrive at the same conclusion to a given mys-
eyewitness identification task. Each of these three tery, thus the mystery remains. The problem of not
aspects of time (exposure duration, retention knowing can be transferred from a laboratory to
interval, and reaction time) is critical to evaluat- the courtroom, and the mystery can be perpetu-
ing the accuracy of an eyewitness. Therefore, in ated. The problem is that there are many aspects of
terms of estimating or evaluating the memory human behavior that fall outside of scientific
function of an eyewitness, the concept of time is understanding that then land in the courtroom
critical. and must be evaluated by the trier of fact.
Formal Logic 873 F
Relevant Themes Conners, E., Lundregan, T., Miller, N., & McEwan, T.
(1996). Convicted by juries, exonerated by science:
Case studies in the use of DNA evidence to establish
Forensic psychology is based on a foundation of innocence after trial. Washington, DC: National Insti-
science, not religion. However, some of the tute of Justice.
issues that are examined by forensic psycholo- Helms, J. (2009, March). Forensic psychology journal
gists have moral overtones. Perhaps the single rankings. Poster presented at the annual
American Psychology Law Society Conference,
most important moral issue in the field involves San Antonio, TX
the question of how society can justify having Huff, R., Rattner, A., & Sagarin, E. (1986). Guilty until
a legal system that administers the death penalty proved innocent: Wrongful conviction and public
when it is clear that the system makes mistakes. policy. Crime and Delinquency, 32(4), 518–544.
Lindsay, R. C. L., Ross, D. F., Read, J. D., & Toglia, M. P.
There are DNA exoneration studies that indicate (2006). The handbook of eyewitness psychology
that many wrongful convictions were based on (Memory for events, Vol. 1). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence F
eyewitness errors, and some involved individuals Erlbaum.
were convicted of capital crimes and given the Munsterberg, H. (1908). On the witness stand. In C. G.
Green (Ed.), Classics in the history of psychology.
death penalty (Huff et al. 1986). It is certainly Retrieved from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/
a moral and to some a religious issue of how can Munster/Witness/
we have a system that invokes the ultimate pun- Ogloff, J. R. P. (1999). Law and human behavior:
ishment when it is clear that the system makes Reflecting back and looking forward. Law and
Human Behavior, 23(1), 1–7.
mistakes, and under the constitution if a mistake Toglia, M. P., Read, J. D., Ross, D. F., & Lindsey, R. C. L.
is made, it should favor the accused and not the (2007). The handbook of eyewitness psychology
state. Additionally, how does one further justify (Memory for people, Vol. 2). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
the use of the death penalty when it is not distrib- Erlbaum.
Wells, G. L., & Bradfield, A. L. (1998). Good, you
uted equally in states that have the death penalty, identified the suspect: Feedback to eyewitnesses
as research has demonstrated that demographic distorts their reports of the witnessing experience.
factors such as race of defendant, race of the Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 360–376.
victim, and geographic location impact the like-
lihood of receiving the death penalty? Addition-
ally, how does society justify having the death
penalty in one state and not the other? Therefore,
forensic psychologists who study these issues
work diligently to do so with an objective eye Formal Logic
focusing only on the science, but the outcome of
the research certainly has moral, if not ethical, Gonzalo Serrano1 and Clara H. Sánchez2
1
and perhaps even religious connotations that may Department of Philosophy, Universidad
result in society looking into a mirror and evalu- Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia
2
ating its own sense of what is right and wrong. Departmento de Mathemáticas, Universidad
Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
References The abstract study of deductive arguments. The

Committee on Ethical Guidelines for Forensic Psycholo-
discipline abstracts from the content of the
gists. (1991). Specialty guidelines for forensic psy- propositions of the argument the structures or
chologists. Law and Human Behavior, 15(6), 655–665. logical forms that they embody. For doing this it
Committee on the Revision of the Specialty Guidelines for customarily uses a symbolic notation to express
Forensic Psychology (2008). Specialty guidelines for
such structures clearly and unambiguously and to
forensic psychologists: Fourth draft. Retrieved
December 18, 2008, from http://www.ap-ls.org/links/ enable manipulations and tests of validity to be
92908sgfp.pdf more easily applied.
F 874 Formalism
contribute to social change. Many scholars within

Formalism this field held/hold traditional Marxist beliefs, but
could not appropriately utilize Marx to explain
▶ Functionalism the growth and changes in capitalism during the
twentieth century.
Foundational Theology Cross-References
▶ Fundamental Theology ▶ Critical and Cultural Theory

▶ Critical Theory
Four Noble Truths

Free Action
Dustin Byrd
Olivet College, Olivet, MI, USA ▶ Free Will
The Four Noble Truths are the basic formulation

about suffering that was developed by the Free Choice
Buddha. They are as follows: (1) All of life is
suffering. (2) Suffering is caused by attachment. ▶ Free Will
(3) The cessation of suffering is possible. (4) The
Eight Fold Path can bring the cessation of suffer-
ing. These four statements represent the founda-
tion of Buddha’s understanding of human Free Will
existence.
Atle Ottesen Søvik
MF Norwegian School of Theology,
Oslo, Norway
FPGA
▶ Electronic Circuits in Computers Related Terms
Autonomy; Free action; Free choice
Frankfurt School
Description
Jill Dierberg1 and Lynn Schofield Clark2
1
Communication and Digital Media, Carthage Can humans have free will when it seems that all
College, WI, USA events on the macro level of human action are
2
University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA determined by preceding causes (Searle 2007)?
The problem of free will is of fundamental impor-
tance because many would argue that all human
A school of thought associated with neo-Marxist endeavors lose their rationality if humans do not
social theory. These scholars were/are mainly have free will. The aim of this entry is to give an
interested in circumstances in society that overview of the main positions held in the
Free Will 875 F
English-speaking philosophical discussion of happen with necessity so that only one future is
free will over the last 50 years. possible. However, it is physical determinism
What is meant by the term “free will”? Opin- which is mostly discussed within the philosophy
ions vary, but most philosophers accept that free of free will today. Physical determinism means
will implies that an agent being in a decision- that the laws of nature together with the other
making situation can choose between different basic physical constituents of the world deter-
alternatives, and that she is the cause of her mine one future with physical necessity.
choice so that it was up to her which alternative Is the world determined? Determinism has
was chosen. This condition must at least apply to been a very fruitful presupposition for scientists
some of our choices, even if not all. As will be to work with. A common understanding is that
shown below, some reject that freedom requires Newtonian and relativity physics are determinis-
the choice between alternatives, and argue that tic, while quantum mechanics is indeterministic, F
such a choice can be understood in different but this view needs to be nuanced. John Earman
ways. The relationship between an agent and shows that there is indeterminism also in Newto-
her choice can also be understood in different nian and relativity physics (Earman 1986).
ways. Concerning quantum mechanics, the most com-
Most people will say that they experience mon interpretation is the Copenhagen Interpreta-
from their first-person perspective that they tion and it is indeterministic. But there are also
have free will. But this experience of having other interpretations, like the deBroglie-Bohm
free will seems to be incompatible with both interpretation, which is deterministic.
determinism and indeterminism at the macro Most likely we will never know for certain
level of human action. On the one hand, if the whether or not the world is determined, for
world is determined, it seems that everything that there can always be a deeper and unknown level
happens was determined before our birth, so that of reality which makes the world at more super-
no choices are up to us. On the other hand, if ficial levels seem either deterministic or not. But
indeterminism is part of our choices, it seems to in the free will debate focus is on whether our
be a matter of chance or luck what we choose, and current data support determinism at the macro
so again the choice seems not to be up to us. level of the brain or not. Some, like Max
Faced with this problem, some believe that there Tegmark, argue that the micro indeterminism of
is no free will. But the compatibilists believe that quantum mechanics cancels out at the macro
free will is compatible with determinism, and the level of the brain. Others, like Stephen Kellert
libertarians argue that free will is only compati- and Henry Stapp, argue that quantum indetermin-
ble with indeterminism. An important question in ism at the micro level can be amplified to the
the debate about free will is hence whether the macro level of the brain. Yet others, like Roger
world is determined or not. Penrose and David Hodgson, try to use quantum
mechanics to solve the problem of free will by
Determinism and Indeterminism arguing that quantum mechanics can explain first
There are many different definitions of “deter- how consciousness arises and then how it gives us
minism,” but in philosophical discussions of free will.
free will today, it is mostly understood as Many remain critical that it would support free
a metaphysical hypothesis referring to the belief will to show that there is indeterminism in the
that everything that happens necessarily must brain. But one should note that there are two very
happen exactly as it does, because of previous different understandings of indeterminism. One
causes, so that there is at any time only one implies a chaotic and random “swerve of atoms”
possible future. These previous causes may be where things happen without causes. But indeter-
understood as destiny, God’s predestination, log- minism need not mean causelessness, but may
ical necessities, or physical causes, but they all instead mean that causes are probabilistic. Thus
have in common that they determine what will understood, all events have a cause, but they are
F 876 Free Will
not caused with necessity – there is a slight will), but not freedom of will (that we can will
chance that something else might happen instead. what we will). Harry Frankfurt criticized classi-
It is this kind of indeterminism that libertarians cal compatibilism (Frankfurt 1971) by arguing
mostly ascribe to (Kane 1996). Critics neverthe- that it is also important to take into consideration
less hold that indeterminism makes choices what causes your willing. For example, it could
a matter of luck. be that God has decided what your desires and
Since determinism and indeterminism are intentions are at every moment of life or that your
important for the free will discussion, this desires are caused by a machine, an addiction,
means that other related concepts may also a phobia, etc. In such cases, you are not free.
strongly influence how one understands free Contemporary compatibilists agree that clas-
will. How should one understand the laws of sical compatibilism is no solution to the problem
nature or the concept of causality? And what is of free will. A trend among these is to reject or
a human being? Is everything that happens in the redefine what it means to say that freedom
human mind the effect of physical causes, or is requires alternative possibilities. A main argu-
agent-causation a unique kind of causation which ment against the requirement of alternative pos-
gives humans the ability not to be determined by sibilities comes from the Frankfurt-style
natural laws and previous physical states of examples, originally introduced by Harry Frank-
affairs? These questions will not be discussed furt: Imagine that someone has full control over
here, but show that the problem of free will is your brain, and wants you to perform an evil act.
complex and addresses several disciplines. If a prior sign shows that you are about to choose
There are many positions in the free will by yourself to do the act, then the control person
debate trying to present a coherent theory of will not interfere. But if you do not choose to do
what free will is. Some scholars reject that free the act, the control person will manipulate your
will exists, because they believe it is incompati- will in order to make sure you choose and per-
ble with either determinism or indeterminism or form the act.
both. Others again believe that we have free will, What conclusions can be drawn from the
but do not understand how it is possible that we Frankfurt-style examples have been heavily
do. Other revisions and alternatives also exist, but discussed. For if the world is indeterministic, it
this entry focuses on the two main positions in the seems that the evil controller cannot know what
debate: compatibilism and libertarianism. the person will choose before she has chosen, but
if the world is deterministic, then there were no
Compatibilism alternative possibilities anyway. Nevertheless,
The majority of philosophers working with the there is a group of contemporary compatibilists
problem of free will are compatibilists, however who do not think that having free will and respon-
in different ways. A first distinction should be sibility requires alternative possibilities in the
made between classical and contemporary sense that several futures must be possible. The
compatibilism. The classical compatibilists, like two main positions among contemporary
Thomas Hobbes, understood free will as the free- compatibilists are mesh theories and reasons-
dom to do what you want to do. The requirement responsive theories.
that one should be “able to do otherwise” they
interpreted conditionally in the sense that one Mesh Theories
“could have done otherwise if one had wanted Mesh theories claim that a person is free when
to.” They considered this to be compatible with she has the right connections or “mesh” between
determinism, because they did not think it impor- internal parts of her mental life. One subcategory
tant what causes the things we want, only that we is known as hierarchical mesh theories, such as
are free from constraints when we act. Harry Frankfurt’s and also Gerald Dworkin’s
This understanding should rather be called theory. Frankfurt argues that we have several
freedom of action (that we can do what we desires whose object is an action or a state,
Free Will 877 F
which he calls first-order desires. But we also But weakness of the will is still a problem in
have desires whose object is the first-order desire, Bratman’s theory, since such actions would
and these he calls second-order desires. A person not count as free in his theory, but intuitively
may have a first-order desire for drugs, and they are.
a second-order desire which either approves or
disapproves that first-order desire. According to Reasons-Responsive Theories
Frankfurt, we are free when our second-order Apart from mesh theories, contemporary
desires approve our first-order desires, because compatibilists adapt reasons-responsive theories,
only then do we have the will we want. Such which hold that a person is free when her actions
a mesh between first- and second-order desires are based on a rational response to reasons for
is the mesh required for free will. action. This approach is meant to solve the prob-
Frankfurt’s theory has been criticized in dif- lem that a correct mesh in mesh theories may F
ferent ways. For example, it seems that the right have been manipulated, as for example, by way
mesh can be manipulated into fit by external of brainwashing techniques.
means, which according to Frankfurt implies Defending such a theory, Susan Wolf argues
that one is free, but this position seems counter- that one is free when one does the right things for
intuitive. Another critique concerns so-called the right reasons, i.e., a person is free when she
weakness of the will, since it seems we can acts morally good. This theory has been criticized
approve our first-order desires not to smoke, and for the problematic consequence that when peo-
still smoke. In this case we are not free and ple act morally bad, they are not free.
responsible Frankfurt maintains, but critics dis- A recently much discussed reasons-responsive
agree. A third critique is that it is unclear why theory is the semi-compatibilist theory by John
second-order approval makes it the will of the Martin Fischer and Mark Ravizza (1998). They
agent – what is so special with second-order agree that the freedom to act on alternative pos-
approval if this is as determined as anything else? sibilities is incompatible with determinism. But
There are other kinds of mesh theories besides they accept Frankfurt-style examples, believing
the hierarchical theories. For example, Gary Wat- that freedom with alternative possibilities is not
son argues that people are free if their first-order necessary in order to be responsible. Hence, they
desires are in agreement with their values. Simi- distinguish between two different types of free-
lar critique as that raised against Frankfurt can be dom called regulative control and guidance con-
raised here: Is the person then not free when trol. Regulative control is the strongest type of
acting against her values, or is she free if the freedom and includes alternative possibilities.
agreement has been manipulated? Is the person However, Fischer and Ravizza do not believe
not free if acting out of weakness of the will? And that humans have such control. Instead, they
why are the person’s values most important? argue that only guidance control is necessary in
Michael Bratman has developed a hierarchical order to be responsible, and that this is all the
mesh theory which tries to answer much of the freedom we need: freedom enough to be
critique against Frankfurt, Dworkin, and Watson. responsible.
Bratman focuses on higher-order intentions and But how can one be responsive to reasons
how different desires fit into a larger plan of an without having alternative possibilities? Is not
agent, and argues that it is the mesh with the reason-responding all about being able to do oth-
greater plan that makes the agent free. These erwise in different circumstances? Fischer and
larger plans are created and held over time and Ravizza argue that the process that leads an
give the agent her identity. This means that the agent to action may include responding to reasons
agent creates her identity through choices over as part of the process even if the agent could not
time, so that one cannot criticize Bratman’s the- have done otherwise due to, for example, an evil
ory by saying that an evil scientist could have controller as in Frankfurt-style examples. This
created the condition that makes the agent free. seems to be correct, but requires that the process
F 878 Free Will
that leads to action is part of or owned by the commonly criticized for making choices
agent. Critics argue that guidance control is not a matter of luck.
enough to qualify as free will. Fischer and Different strands of libertarianism can be clas-
Ravizza should clarify how the reason- sified according to how its proponents think
responsive process works and what makes it actions are caused. Non-causalists believe that
owned by the agent. free actions are not caused at all, but intelligible
in light of the purpose of the action. Agent-
Libertarianism causalists believe that there is a unique and irre-
Libertarians believe that we have free will and ducible kind of causation that only free agents
that free will is incompatible with determinism. can employ. Event-causalists reject that actions
In order to argue that this view is correct, they have special causes, but believe instead that all
have both to defend that free will is incompatible causes are of the same kind. They argue that
with determinism and that the world is not deter- events cause events, both in the mind and in the
mined. After having rejected compatibilism, they world in general. These views will now be
need to show how free will is compatible with presented and criticized.
indeterminism. A common argument against
compatibilism is the Consequence Argument, Non-causalism
which states, in basic terms, that if determinism Non-causalists like Carl Ginet believe that
is true, then what happens in the future is deter- actions are not caused at all. Agency is a kind of
mined by laws of nature and events that took event different from how other events in the
place in the distant past. Since the future was world are caused. Human action can be explained
determined before our birth, it cannot be up to by intentions instead of causes, and these are
us what happens, and therefore we cannot have totally different things. A classic charge against
free will (Van Inwagen 1983). This argument has such a view derives from Donald Davidson
been thoroughly debated. Does it follow from (1963). He pointed out that even if a person has
determinism that we cannot change the future a reason for doing something, this does not mean
even if we cannot change the past and the laws that his reason is what actually led the event to
of nature? And can a person still be the cause of happen. There often are several reasons pointing
an action at one level of description even if the in different directions in the course of acting. The
Big Bang and the laws of nature are the causes of challenge to non-causalists is to explain what
the same action at another level of description? links the personal reason to the action.
Despite criticism, the Consequence Argument is
still a main reason for libertarians to reject Agent-Causalism
compatibilism. Agent-causalists like Timothy O’Connor and the
In addition to defending indeterminism and early Randolph Clarke hold that agents are endur-
incompatibilism, the greatest challenge for lib- ing irreducible substances who have a unique
ertarians is the intelligibility question – to give ability to cause actions. This line of thinking
a positive account of how free will is possible in does not have to imply substance dualism, even
an indeterministic world. The problem for liber- though, for example, Richard Swinburne is
tarians is that in the case of indeterminism, it a substance dualist and agent-causalist.
seems to be a matter of chance whether an event A substance dualist view is that it is the soul
occurs or not. But as chance events are not under that chooses among undetermined options. But
control of an agent, can then an action be free one may as well conceive of the agent as emerg-
and responsible? It is important to recall that ing from physical parts, as long as the agent is
there are two quite different understandings of understood as an irreducible entity different from
indeterminism, and libertarians defend the kind the sum of its physical parts.
which does not preclude that events can be When agent-causalists explain action, they
caused. Nevertheless, libertarian theories are refer to the reasons the agent has for choosing
Free Will 879 F
one action. A similar critique as raised against Free Will and Neuroscience
non-causalists is relevant here as well, namely the Neuroscientists do not generally participate in the
problem of explaining how the reason makes an philosophical discussion of free will, so when
action happen. Persons often have some reasons they do speak of free will, it is often ambiguous
for doing A and other reasons for not doing A at which sense of “free will” they refer to. However,
the same time, so what is it that makes a reason the neurosciences have brought forth important
actually lead to action? Agent-causalists are typ- data and experiments that the philosophers need
ically criticized both for appealing to to take into account. In particular, two kinds of
a mysterious agent and a mysterious form of findings are often mentioned. The first is data
causation, and for not explaining how reasons which suggest that the brain determines what
can make actions happen. a person does before the person is conscious of
having a desire and making a choice. The second F
Event-Causalism is data which suggest that persons do not know
Event-causalists hold that mental events can the real causes of their actions, but invent a false
cause free actions. Different opinions on how reason which they believe was their actual reason
this happens can be sorted according to when in for action.
the deliberation process indeterminism occurs. As regards the first kind of data, the most
The advocates of centered event-causal theories famous experiments were done by Benjamin
believe that there is indeterminism until and in Libet in 1983 and later. His experiments showed
the moment of choice (e.g., Robert Kane 1996). that what participants reported as free voluntary
The advocates of the deliberative event-causal acts were preceded by a specific electrical charge
theories hold that there is indeterminism early in beginning 550 ms before the act, while they
the deliberation process creating different ideas reported being conscious of their desire to act
in the mind (alternative possibilities), but that the 350–400 ms after this. Since that leaves around
rest of the deliberation process is determined 200 ms before the motoric act, Libet concluded
(e.g., the two-stage model of Bob Doyle, inspired that free will was not disproved since the subjects
by Daniel Dennett and Alfred Mele). could still veto the act before it started (Libet
The luck-objection is the most common objec- et al. 1999).
tion against centered event-causal theories. Let us Libet’s experiments have been criticized on
say there is a 70 % probability that Jack will many points by philosophers like Alfred Mele.
decide to have pancakes for breakfast. If history Firstly, the participants were given an assignment
had been rolled back a hundred times and played where they consciously chose to prepare to flex,
again up to the moment of choice, it seems that so consciousness is already involved in the pro-
Jack would decide to have pancakes 70 times and cess. Secondly, the act in question was to flex
not 30 times. But if the exact same history up to a finger whenever they wanted. Since this is
the moment of choice can give completely differ- a choice which does not matter to people, it is
ent choices, it seems to be a matter of luck what hard to conclude from such indifferent choices
Jack decides to do. The same point can be made that the same applies to other choices. Thirdly,
with identical worlds up to the moment of choice, the machines only registered when persons
where Jack1 and Jack2 make different choices. flexed, so we do not know if the same electric
Deliberative event-causal theories are meant charge was present when the persons did not flex.
to evade this problem by moving the indetermin- Fourthly, the participants flexed when they felt an
ism to an earlier point in the deliberation process. urge, and Libet uses terms like “intention,”
But if what happens at the first stage is “urge,” “wanting,” “decision,” “will,” and
undetermined and outside of the agent’s control, “wish” as imprecise terms for this desire to
and then everything is determined at the second move the finger, whereas Mele thinks that there
stage, the choice still seems outside of the agent’s is a great difference between an urge and
control, and a matter of luck. a decision. Fifthly, the test only applies to choices
F 880 Free Will
to do something now, not to choices to do some- started walking. He was then asked why, but the
thing later. language center is in the left hemisphere, which
Even if it is difficult to draw general conclu- had not seen the word “walk.” He answered that
sions from Libet’s experiments, it seems likely he wanted to go and get a coke (Gazzaniga 2005).
that there are nonconscious predecessors to at Experiments like these are relevant because they
least some of our choices. Chun Siong Soon fit well with other experiments, suggesting that
et al. set up an experiment similar to Libet’s, but all persons confabulate, and this raises the ques-
designed to counter some of the criticism of his tion of how often we do.
test method. They wanted to investigate more Several experiments have been done where
what happens in the brain before making more people were electrically stimulated in the motor
complicated choices than in the Libet experi- area of the brain without knowing it, and the
ment. A group of subjects were asked to press stimulation made them move their fingers.
either a left or a right button when they wanted to. When asked why they moved their fingers, they
At the same time they were shown a slide show of answered that they had chosen to do so of their
letters K, T, D, etc., in random order. They were own free will. There are even some experiments
asked to note which letter they saw at the same where scientists stimulate an area of the brain and
time as they consciously decided to press either people say that they feel an intention to perform
the left or the right button. All this were done a certain act. When more electricity is put to the
while their brains were monitored using fMRI- same area, they report that they have actually
scanning. The scientists discovered patterns in performed the act, even if they have not.
the brains consistent with their choices up to Gazzaniga argues that there is an interpreter in
10 s before they reported that they were conscious the brain which gives us the sense of a self in
of making the choice. It was also possible for the charge. And there are many examples of how
scientists to predict (with 70 % reliability) brain damage can influence personality, areas of
the choices about to be made up to 5 s before the brain can be triggered to cause various
the test persons reported being conscious of desires, and other examples which suggest that
a desire to act (Soon et al. 2008). consciousness is totally dependent on what hap-
Both of these experiments have been criticized pens in the brain. This raises the question of
for their dependence on the memory and report whether or not the self is just an epiphenomenon
from the test persons. An experiment designed to with no causal influence. On the other hand, it
avoid this critique was done by Masao seems that evolution must have selected con-
Matsuhashi and Mark Hallett in 2008. They sciousness for a reason, so that it actually must
asked their participants to extend their finger as contribute somehow.
soon as they felt an intention to move. While they To sum up, there are many positions to choose
also found a readiness potential happening before between in the free will debate, and all of them
the conscious intention to move, sometimes it have their problems. With all the new information
was the other way around, and this suggests coming from the neurosciences, there is every
a more complex relation between readiness reason to believe that the debate will continue.
potential and intention than earlier suggested
(Matsuhashi and Hallett 2008).
The second kind of data concerns examples of Cross-References
confabulation, meaning that a person invents
a reason to act differently from his or her actual ▶ Action Control
cause of action. Experiments by Michael ▶ Cognitive Neuroscience
Gazzaniga and others on split brain patients ▶ Determinism and Indeterminism
have given many such examples. For instance, ▶ Freedom
one patient was shown the word “walk” only to ▶ Relativity
the right hemisphere, and he got out of bed and ▶ Self
Freedom 881 F
References sense is to be independent from legal control (or
oppression) that comes from outside the individ-
Davidson, D. (1963). Actions, reasons and causes. The ual (or the group). This implies that there is an
Journal of Philosophy, 60(23), 685–700.
underlying, basic notion of freedom: To be free is
Earman, J. (1986). A primer on determinism. Boston:
Reidel. to be able to realize one’s desires without external
Fischer, J. M., & Ravizza, M. (1998). Responsibility and constraint. In this sense, one is free when one
control: A theory of moral responsibility. Cambridge: takes the job one wants or chooses what kind of
clothes one wears. Philosopher Robert Kane calls
Frankfurt, H. (1971). Freedom of the will and the concept
of a person. Journal of Philosophy, 68, 5–20. freedoms such as these surface freedoms. But
Gazzaniga, M. S. (2005). The ethical brain. New York: there is also a deeper kind of freedom,
Dana Press. a freedom to have an influence on one’s own
Kane, R. (1996). The significance of free will. New York:
desires and beliefs. F
Libet, B., Freeman, A., & Sutherland, K. (1999). The To see the difference between surface free-
volitional brain: Towards a neuroscience of free will. doms and deep freedom, consider the following
Thorverton: Imprint Academic. case. Imagine that there is a man, let us call him
Matsuhashi, M., & Hallett, M. (2008). The timing of the
Thomas, who has always wanted to be a fighter
conscious intention to move. European Journal of
Neuroscience, 28, 2344–2351. pilot. Given the notion of surface freedom, we
Searle, J. R. (2007). Freedom and neurobiology: Reflec- would say that Thomas is free, if he can become
tions on free will, language, and political power. a fighter pilot and is not coerced to do something
New York: Columbia University Press.
else. But the fact that Thomas has this surface
Soon, C. S., Brass, M., Heinze, H.-J., & Haynes, J.-D.
(2008). Unconscious determinants of free decisions freedom does not mean that he is free in a deeper
in the human brain. Nature Neuroscience, 11(5), sense. Let us further imagine that his father,
543–545. a fighter pilot himself and a big Top Gun fan,
Van Inwagen, P. (1983). An essay on free will. Oxford:
had had Thomas genetically engineered to be
Clarendon.
extremely responsive to his wishes. Of course
his father wants Thomas to become a fighter
pilot and makes him watch Top Gun all the
time. Thus, Thomas forms an unstoppable desire
Freedom to be a fighter pilot. Now, it seems that Thomas
is not free in the deeper sense that we just
Aku Visala described. In what follows, we will be discussing
Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, the nature and the possibility of freedom in this
Kellogg College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK deep sense.
The Problem of Free Will

Related Terms Discussions and debates of this kind are often
conducted under the heading of “free will.” The
Free will issue, however, far exceeds individual choice.
What we are interested here are issues such as
the criteria for moral responsibility, determinism
Description in nature, the nature of alternative future possi-
bilities, causation, and rationality. Thus, there is
By freedom we can refer to several different no single “problem of free will.” Instead, we have
things. When we can talk about freedom in a cluster of problems and a cluster of answers
a political or social sense, we are referring to (Kane 2002 has essays on all the relevant issues).
the autonomy of individuals or certain human Having said that, we can present the following
groups to set their own legal and moral standards basic outline of the problem of free will. Nor-
or form their own government. To be free in this mally, humans think that they are free to choose
F 882 Freedom
what they want. The implicit assumption here is to control one’s own behavior according to
that there are alternative possible futures, say, reflected reasons.
a future in which Thomas is a fighter pilot and 3. Some libertarians hold that free will requires
another where he is not. Further, it is Thomas’ the freedom of self-determination. What they
choice that makes the difference (among many mean by this is that one is free to the extent one
other things, of course) between these alternative has the power or ability to act on the grounds
futures. The problem is that given what we know of the character, beliefs, and motivation
about the natural and physical world through that one have oneself influenced. The idea is
science, it seems that human beings are part of that the person herself is the one who is ulti-
that physical world and that the future events of mately responsible of her character and
the world are determined by the past and the laws motivation.
of nature. Further, the choices we make should be 4. Finally, many libertarians claim that the pre-
based on good reasons: Should those reasons not vious type of freedom includes a deeper kind
determine our choices? In the case of Thomas, it of freedom, the freedom of self-formation.
seems that Thomas’ reasons for his choice are not This freedom entails that one has the power
in his control. Instead, they are determined by his to shape one’s own will in a way that is
psychology and his environment. undetermined by the past self-forming deci-
A further question can then be proposed: How sions or actions.
could Thomas be morally responsible for his We can now look at these positions in more
actions, if they are caused by events that are out detail.
of his own control? Our basic intuition is that
a necessary condition for moral responsibility is Compatibilism
the power to do otherwise. Further, this power There are many types of compatibilist analysis of
can only be realized by rational reflection of free will. I will briefly examine two: classical
different alternative actions. If a person has no compatibilism and what we might call “new
choice, then it seems that he or she is not morally compatibilism.” Compatibilists agree that (a) all
responsible. This is the reason why we normally human actions are determined by antecedent
do not hold animals morally responsible. They causes (past events) and laws of nature, that is,
lack the power of rational reflection and, thus, they believe that determinism is true, (b) that free
cannot choose between alternative actions. But will and moral responsibility exists, and that (c)
can we really choose between alternative actions free will and determinism are compatible.
if our actions and choices are determined by past For the classical compatibilist, there are only
events (be they reasonable or not)? surface freedoms, no deep freedom. The only
Several solutions to these problems have been freedom is the freedom of self-realization: We
presented. We can sort out the positions by exam- are free to the extent that we have the power to
ining the kinds of freedom they allow: do what we want and are not constrained by
1. According to classical compatibilism, we are external factors. Notice how this way of defining
free if we have the freedom of self-realization. freedom says nothing about alternative futures.
In other words, we are free to the extent we No alternative possible futures are required to be
have the power or the ability to do what we free. To be free is to act on the basis of one’s own
want and we are not subject to any external beliefs and desires and not be constrained.
constraints. It is easy to see how such a freedom is com-
2. Many “new compatibilists” hold that free patible with determinism. Consider the following
will entails the freedom of rational self-con- example. Let us say that Thomas decides to cycle
trol. What this means is that to be free is to to work by bus one morning. Was this a free act?
understand and reflectively evaluate the rea- The classical compatibilist would analyze the
sons that one has for wanting to act in situation as follows. Did Thomas want to go to
a certain way. Further, one needs to be able work by bike? If he did and was not constrained
Freedom 883 F
by anything external to him, then the act was free. power to evaluate his reasons for wanting what he
It need not be possible that Thomas had had the wants and adjust his behavior according to such
power to do something else, say, take the bus second-order desires. Given that Thomas is both
instead of cycling. It is enough that if Thomas genetically and socially programmed to become
had decided to take the bus, it would have hap- a fighter pilot, he does not have such control and,
pened (given that there had not been any external therefore, is not free.
constraints). But given Thomas’ beliefs, desires,
and his character (Thomas hates pollution and Libertarianism
cars), it was impossible for him to choose any A libertarian is a person who believes that (a)
other means of travel than his bike. This way of indeterminism is true and determinism is false,
understanding Thomas’ freedom to choose is (b) free will is not compatible with determinism,
sometimes called hypothetical freedom: Thomas (c) and that we can make sense of indeterministic F
cycled to work because he wanted to and if he had free will (O’Connor 1995 has essays for and
different desires, he could have acted upon them, against libertarianism). So the libertarian has to
since there was no external constraint. advance two kinds of arguments: arguments for
The major problem with classical the fact that compatibilist freedoms are not
compatibilism is that it does not accommodate enough or are incoherent and forward a theory
compulsive or otherwise engineered desires and of indeterministic free will.
motivations. We see this, if we return to our earlier The most famous argument for the incompat-
example of Thomas, the fighter pilot. In that case, ibility of free will and determinism is the conse-
Thomas is free to become a fighter pilot in the quence argument (van Inwagen 1983). The
sense of self-realization, but Thomas has no con- argument can be summarized like this:
trol over his desires and motivations. The same 1. There is nothing we can do to change the past
thing can be said about pathological desires as and the laws of nature.
well. Let us say that Thomas gets a metal fragment 2. Our present actions are the necessary conse-
in his brain in a training accident that makes him quence of the past and the laws of nature
to want ice cream all the time. He then goes and (determinism).
gets ice cream. This sort of compulsive behavior 3. Therefore, there is nothing we can do to
would be considered free on classical change the fact that our present actions occur.
compatibilism. To put it in another way, we are unable to do
Several contemporary compatibilists, such as otherwise than we actually do. It follows from
Harry Frankfurt and Daniel Dennett, have argued this that if determinism is indeed true, no one ever
for a deeper compatibilist freedom to avoid the has the power to do otherwise.
problems of classical compatibilism. It is not The most common way to respond to this
enough to have the power to act on one’s desires, argument is to insist that the power to do other-
one also need the power to reflect, evaluate, and wise is not a necessary condition of having free
control one’s own reasons and the subsequent will. Compatibilist freedoms, such as the afore-
behavior (see, e.g., Dennett 2004). This involves mentioned freedom of self-realization and free-
a distinction between first-order and second- dom of rational self-control, do not require the
order desires. Let us return to Thomas, the fighter power to do otherwise. The libertarian response
pilot. The contemporary compatibilist would say at this point is that even if the power to do other-
that Thomas has a strong first-order desire to wise is not necessary for free will, the notions of
become a fighter pilot and nothing prevents him control and responsibility are. Compatibilists,
from choosing to become one. But this does not they argue, cannot make sense of the deep seated
mean that he is free. He is free in the sense of self- intuition that to be free is to be the agent of one’s
realization, but not in the sense of having rational own actions. For the libertarian, the person her-
self-control. For Thomas to be free in the sense of self must be ultimately responsible for her char-
having rational self-control is for him to have the acter and motivations that are underdetermined
F 884 Freedom
by past events. And this is what compatibilism this sounds like compatibilism. What the event-
cannot offer. causal libertarian adds to this is that the agent
The second problem that libertarians have to must be responsible for the sufficient reason or
deal with is that indeterminism does not seem to motive for the action occurring. This immedi-
give any more support to free will than determin- ately raises the problem of endless regress. If
ism. If there is genuine indeterminacy in nature, Thomas needs to be responsible for A, he needs
say, quantum indeterminacy of some kind, the to be responsible for his reasons to do A. To be
outcomes are random, that is to say, nothing responsible for these, he needs to do B and be
determines them. This does not help free will responsible of his reasons for B and so on. Event-
either: To have free will is to have the power to causal theorists attempt to sever the regress by
influence what possible future actualizes. If inde- introducing choices that determine the agent’s
terminism is true, possible futures are realized will and character for subsequent events. These
randomly, not by human deliberation. are called will-determining choices. Will-
The first issue in a libertarian theory of free determining choices are choices that we make in
will is whether libertarian free actions have conditions of uncertainty about what we want and
causes or not. The compatibilist argues that if where there is the possibility to do otherwise.
actions do not have causes (reasons, desires, Once such a choice is made, it causes the agent
etc.), actions are merely random and completely to make similar choices in the future.
irrational. Thus, to be rational, actions need to Finally, many philosophers, such as Roderick
have causes of the right kind. The so-called non- Chisholm, have argued for agent-causation to
causal libertarians (sometimes called simple give robust content to the freedoms of self-
indeterminists) claim that free actions do not determination and self-formation. The event-
have causes in any meaningful sense. Volitions causal theorist, as we have seen, argues that free
are, according to this view, basic mental states actions are caused by antecedent will-
that are not caused by anything. determining choices, will-determining events.
Most libertarians, however, affirm that free Contrary to this, the agent-causal libertarian
actions do have causes. They reject non-causal argues that it is not enough that our actions are
libertarianism, because it is not able to explain caused by antecedent events that we have control
how basic, non-caused volitional states are over, they have to be caused by the agent itself in
related to reasons for actions. Free will cannot some more robust sense. Thus, freedom must
simply appear from nothing without any reason. involve some kind of basic or brute fact agent-
What the libertarian must do here is to show how causation between the agent itself and the body of
free actions are caused, but not determined by the agent. The nature of the agent itself can be
factors that are out of the control of the agent. understood in terms of the soul, in which case the
One possibility is to say that some extra factor – agent-causal theory would be an extension of
a nonnatural factor – comes in at the point of dualism, or in terms of some materialistic theory
decision making that causes one alternative of what persons are, so far as the theory does do
future to be realized. Usually, this is achieved presuppose that persons are identical to their
by arguing that there exists a nonphysical and bodies.
nonnatural soul that can have physical influence Agent-causal theories are open to criticisms as
without being itself part to the causal nexus of to the exact nature of the causation between the
past events. agent and her body. It seems that the agent-causal
Another possibility is to argue for what are theorist must introduce a new factor into the
usually called event-causal theories of free will. causal mix, a factor that is not part of the ordinary
The event-causal theorist admits that there is flow of natural events. Be this new factor
a chain of causes leading up to the free act of a materially constituted agent or essentially
the agent. The agent’s reasons, motivations, and nonphysical agent (a soul), one still has to explain
character are indeed causally efficacious. So far how this nonnatural thing can have physical
Freedom 885 F
effects. The nature of causation involved, the Determinism is usually defined in terms of laws
critic claims, is mysterious. of nature: Determinism is true if at time t, every-
thing that has happened in the past in conjunction
Hard Determinism and Mysterianism with the laws of nature make only one future
There are those who reject both libertarianism possible. But this way of defining determinism
and compatibilism. The so-called hard determin- has some serious problems.
ist (contrary to compatibilists who are sometimes It is not the case that universal determinism is
called soft determinists) will claim that (a) deter- supported by contemporary physics. Quantum
minism is true and indeterminism is false, (b) free indeterminacy, complexity, and chaotic systems
will is incompatible with determinism, and, suggest that there is some indeterminacy in phys-
therefore, (c) there is no such thing as free will. ical systems. This, one thinks, is good news for
Free will in any meaningful sense of moral the libertarian: Science does not support deter- F
responsibility, they claim, is not compatible minism. Things are not that simple. Most philos-
with determinism and determinism is what sci- ophers and scientists still believe in determinism
ence requires us to believe. Thus, science trumps in human behavior, because of developments
our everyday idea of free decisions and responsi- outside physics. The progress of biology, social
bility. We need to learn to live without the idea of sciences, neurosciences, and psychology has pro-
free will. duced massive amount of information about the
Another, more popular, position is one that we genetic, cognitive, social, and neurological
could call mysterianism. The classical causes of human behavior. There might be inde-
mysterians, such as Immanuel Kant, and contem- terminacy at the fundamental physical level, but
porary mysterians, such as Peter van Inwagen, the more we find out about human behavior, the
argue that (a) either indeterminism or determin- more we see how it is driven by causes that are
ism is true, (b) free will is incompatible with both outside human control. The main issue, it seems,
determinism and indeterminism but (c) we cannot is not really whether determinism or indetermin-
help but to believe in free will anyway (van ism is supported by contemporary physics, but
Inwagen 1983). Free will, according to van rather the suggestion of contemporary neurosci-
Inwagen, is the power to do otherwise on the ences, biology, and social sciences that there are
basis of rational deliberation. As the consequence many different kinds of non-voluntary causes that
argument concludes, if determinism is true, then influence our decisions.
we have no power to do otherwise. But, for the Consider the following argument for neurobi-
reasons already mentioned before, we lack that ological determinism. If we reject the existence
power to otherwise even if indeterminism is true. of nonnatural factors influencing human organ-
At this point, the compatibilist would say that we isms (souls, etc.), then we must conclude that
should give up the idea of free will as being able human brains are physical systems. As all other
to otherwise. Van Inwagen argues that we really physical systems, everything that goes on in the
cannot do this. The problem is that free will as brain has sufficient physical causes – causes that
a power to do otherwise is constitutional to our are explicable in terms of neuroscience. Since
everyday understanding of ourselves and our every mental event is also a physical event with
actions in the world. We cannot live without it. sufficient physical causes, the mental events
So, we find ourselves in a situation where we themselves make no difference to what happens
have no idea how free will is possible, but must next. Our thoughts and acts are, thus, necessitated
believe in it nevertheless. Free will is, therefore, by the physical functions of our brains, not our
a complete mystery. choices, reflections, or deliberations.
One way of responding to the problem of
Science, Determinism, and Free Will neurobiological determinism is to argue that psy-
As we can see, ideas about the laws of nature are chological theories do not provide laws in the
crucial for the whole free will debate. sense of universal generalizations. Instead, they
F 886 Freedom
produce idealized models of certain, very specific however, that if the argument works, it can be
causal relationships. Instead of one single “com- applied to all human actions.
plete picture” of what happens in the mind, psy- 1. God knows at t1 that Thomas will read Crime
chological sciences give us laws that track the and Punishment by Dostoyevsky at t2.
truth in one very particular area of human cogni- 2. God’s beliefs are infallible, that is, God’s
tion and brain. But because of the piecemeal beliefs cannot be false.
nature of these laws, they do not, all by them- 3. Thomas is free to read Crime and Punishment
selves, rule out the possibility of other factors at t2, if he can choose not to read Crime and
influencing the brain in some way. Another pos- Punishment at t2.
sibility is to argue that the complexity of our 4. Given 1. and 2. Thomas cannot choose not to
brains as physical systems, higher-level events, read Crime and Punishment at t2.
or systems can have influence on lower-level 5. Therefore, Thomas is not free: He is deter-
events or systems. This is usually called top- mined to read Crime and Punishment at t2.
down influence. Top-down influence, the argu- This argument is rather similar to the conse-
ment goes, makes complex interaction between quence argument discussed earlier. Premise 1 is
thinking, action, and deliberation possible to such based on the classical notion of omniscience,
an extent that the human action and decision according to which, God’s knowledge is perfect.
making is not subject to any clear-cut laws. In other words, God knows everything that can be
Both these solutions claim that given the sciences known. Premise 2 is based on another standard
we now have, we do not know whether all mental component of classical theism, that is, God pos-
events have sufficient physical causes that can be sesses his properties, omniscience in this case,
given in terms of low-level neuroscience. Thus, necessarily. If God is necessarily such that He
when we understand what science actually tells knows everything that can be known, then it
us, we see that neurobiological determinism is follows that God’s beliefs cannot be false. God
a philosophical position rather than something is, therefore, infallible in all possible worlds.
simply flowing out of the sciences of the mind Premise 3 invokes the idea that alternative possi-
themselves (Horst 2011). bilities are necessary for free will. That is, if it is
not possible for Thomas to realize the states of
God, Freedom, and Future affairs of reading Crime and Punishment at t2,
It seems that if the traditional theistic God were to then Thomas is not free. But if 1 and 2 are correct,
exist, certain analysis of what free will is would then Thomas cannot choose not to read Crime
be ruled out. Traditionally, one of the biggest and Punishment at t2, because that would mean
problems has been the seeming incompatibility that one of God’s beliefs is wrong.
of God’s foreknowledge and human freedom. There have been several attempts to solve this
One way to look at the problem is this: If God problem in the history of theistic philosophy and
knows the future and is omnipotent, then free theology (see Zagzebski 1991). First, according
creatures cannot choose otherwise than what to hard theological determinism, the argument is
God has intended. Further, if God exerts provi- sound and humans are not free. Second, soft
dential control over the world and knows what is theological determinism accepts 1 and 2, but
going to happen because of this, it seems that the denies 3. Instead, it claims that God indeed
future will be set regardless of how we decide to knows that Thomas will read Crime and Punish-
act. This is a view known as theological fatalism. ment at t2 and Thomas cannot do otherwise, but
There are several different ways to steer clear this does not impinge upon Thomas’ freedom.
of theological fatalism. We can get the best grip Both soft and hard theological determinism
on these solutions, if we present them as have been relatively popular in Christian philos-
responses to the following simplified argument ophy and theology. According to thinkers such as
for theological fatalism. The argument here is Augustine and Jean Calvin, nothing in the created
based on one single human action. Notice, world happens by chance. Instead, everything
Freedom 887 F
that happens is both ultimately determined and truths that are, similarly as His free knowledge,
known by God. If the theological determinist contingent, but not dependent of His will. In our
does not want to reject free will altogether (as case, God would have access to middle knowl-
the hard theological determinist must do), edge that would be something like this:
a compatibilist analysis of human freedom If Thomas is put in circumstances C, he will
seems to be the only option. freely choose to read Crime and Punishment.
Contrary to this, some have claimed that it As we can see, middle knowledge is presented
might be possible to hold onto libertarian free here in a counterfactual form. In the literature on
will and theological determinism at the same Molinism, such propositions are often referred to
time. This solution invokes the atemporality of as counterfactuals of freedom (or counterfactuals
God, namely, the idea that God does not have of creaturely freedom). By knowing the truth of
temporal properties. Let us call this the Boethian such propositions, God could know that Thomas F
solution (after Boethius). An advocate of this will read Crime and Punishment at t2 without
view would deny 1 and claim that since God is removing Thomas’ free choice.
atemporal, God does not know anything at t1. Fifth, many contemporary philosophers and
Instead, God has all his beliefs “timelessly,” theologians, such as Richard Swinburne, Keith
that is to say, God’s having the belief that Thomas Ward, and John Polkinghorne, defend a group
reads Crime and Punishment at t2 is not related to of views usually called Open Theism. Open The-
our time in any way. Further, this allows Boethius ism accepts 2 but denies 1: According to Open
and other eternalists (such as Aquinas) to say that Theism, God does not know at t1 that Thomas
since God does not have his infallible belief at will read Crime and Punishment at t2. But does
any time before (or after), Thomas actually reads this result in denying God’s omniscience? No,
Crime and Punishment, Thomas is free to make says the open theist, because omniscience
the choice and whatever that choice may be, God requires only that God knows everything that
knows it eternally. can be known. Propositions of future free choices
Fourth, the so-called Molinist solution (after do not have a truth value before those choices are
Luis de Molina, sixteenth century Jesuit) denies 3 actually made and thus there are no truths to be
and argues that God’s knowledge does not known about them. In this way, God’s omni-
remove Thomas’ freedom to choose, because science as well as libertarian free will is pre-
God knows what Thomas would freely choose served. If one accepts Open Theism, one must
in all possible circumstances. In other words, also accept that God is, at least to some extent,
God knows that Thomas will read Crime and temporal and does not determine the future
Punishment at t2, but he knows this by not deter- completely.
mining the event, but by knowing what Thomas All these solutions have their distinctive
will freely choose in circumstances that He puts problems. The problems of theological deter-
him. Thus, Molinism is committed to the exis- minism have to do with the problem of evil. If
tence of a special type of knowledge, that is humans do not have libertarian free will, then it
usually called middle knowledge. Medieval might seem that they are not responsible for
thinkers distinguished God’s free knowledge moral evil, but God is. In other words, theolog-
from his natural knowledge. God’s natural ical determinism sets the bar of a successful
knowledge has to do with abstract truths (mathe- theodicy very high. The Boethian solution is
matical and logical truths) that are necessary and believable if one has independent reasons to
independent of God’s will. God’s free knowledge believe that God is atemporal and one can
is His knowledge of contingent truths that are make sense of God’s atemporal believing. The
dependent on His will (truths about the created biggest obstacle of Molinism is the so-called
world). To these two types of knowledge, Molina grounding problem. If Molinism is true, then
added a third way of knowing: middle knowl- there will be truths of what all possible free
edge. Middle knowledge is knowledge about entities would do in all possible situations even
F 888 Fulguration
if God does not create a world at all. What makes

middle knowledge true? It is not God’s nature, Fulguration
nor is it his choices, but there is nothing else left.
Further, the critic of Molinism can ask how God ▶ Emergence, Theories of
knows these truths. They do not resemble
abstract and necessary truths of logic and math-
ematics that God could know by knowing his
own nature and mind. Neither are they truths that Function
God knows on the basis of what he has created.
Finally, Open Theism has its own problems as ▶ Functionalism
well. One problem is that many do not recognize
the existence of propositions about future
actions whose truth value is indeterminate.
Another problem is that on Open Theism, it Functional Explanation
looks as if God’s promises could fail to be real-
ized. Since God does not know the future (as ▶ Functionalism
there are no truths to be known about future free
choices), it is possible that some free choice will
thwart God’s plan. For many theists, preserving
libertarian free will by giving up God’s absolute Functional Magnetic Resonance
providence is a price too high to pay. Imaging (fMRI)
Robert Turner
Cross-References Department of Neurophysics, Max-Planck-
Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain
▶ Determinism and Indeterminism Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
▶ Divine Action
▶ Free Will
▶ Metaphysics Related Terms
▶ Philosophical Anthropology
▶ Philosophy of Mind fMRI
▶ Rationality (Philosophical)
▶ Self
▶ Soul Description
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is

the term used in general to describe a group of
References
MRI techniques that are capable of tracking phys-
Dennett, D. (2004). Freedom evolves. London: Penguin. iological changes in living tissue, as well as delin-
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MIT Press. Moonen and colleagues (1990) to denote MRI
Kane, R. (Ed.). (2002). The Oxford handbook of free will.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
methods for the detection of the motion of water
O’Connor, T. (Ed.). (1995). Agents, causes, and events: in processes such as vascular flow, capillary flow,
Essays on Indeterminism and free will. Oxford: Oxford diffusion, and exchange, and also for measuring
University Press. the concentrations of various metabolites involved
van Inwagen, P. (1983). An essay on free will. Oxford:
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Clarendon.
Zagzebski, L. (1991). The dilemma of freedom and fore- When Ogawa et al. (1990), Williams et al. (1992),
knowledge. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Turner et al. (1991), and Kwong et al. (1992)
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) 889 F
developed noninvasive methods in 1990–1992 that of atomic nuclei in the 1940s and 1950s. Funda-
enabled MRI to localize brain areas associated with mentally, the observable phenomena arise from
specific functional activity, the term “fMRI” rapidly the fact than some nuclei, such as protons, have
became specialized almost exclusively to denote a net spin, which means that their energy states
MRI techniques for the study of brain function. are dependent on an applied magnetic field. This
Entirely noninvasive, using only a set of carefully fact can be readily demonstrated using suitable
controlled magnetic fields, fMRI methods map easily constructed apparatus. The physics of con-
local variations over time in either cerebral blood densed matter and basic thermodynamics are also
oxygenation or cerebral blood flow. The observed involved in the quantification of the NMR signal,
signal arises from the nuclear magnetic resonance of and hence in the creation of the cross-sectional
the proton nuclei of hydrogen atoms in the water grey scale images of brain tissue that form the
molecules which make up most of the volume of raw materials of fMRI science. F
brain tissue. The biophysical relationship between the MR
Because the international availability of MRI image intensity changes and underlying changes
scanners capable of performing these special- in brain activity is not so straightforward. Con-
ized MRI techniques has rapidly increased, the siderable work has been devoted in recent years
use of fMRI has expanded dramatically in the to understand the mechanisms of neural control
fields of cognitive science, neurology, psychol- of blood flow, and the process of oxygen extrac-
ogy, neuroradiology, and psychiatry. Never tion from the blood by metabolizing brain tissue.
before has there been a noninvasive technique Some effort was also required to model accu-
for studying the human brain which combines rately the important effect of deoxygenated
a spatial resolution of better than 1 mm with blood, which is more paramagnetic than oxygen-
a temporal resolution of about a second (mainly ated blood, on the MRI signal. This effect is
limited by the slow response of blood flow to utilized in the most popular form of fMRI,
changes in neural activity). Typical research blood oxygen level-dependent contrast (BOLD).
themes extend from the exploration of visual- Empirical work, however, notably by Logothetis
processing brain areas mapped according to et al. (2001), comparing recordings from elec-
where light falls on the retina, to the spatial trodes implanted in living animal brains with
organization of brain areas responding to the changes in fMRI signal occurring nearly
rewarding experiences. Recent studies measure simultaneously in the same location, has given
how learning and memory processes remodel researchers great confidence that what they
brain tissue, both in functional activity and observe is not artifactual.
even physical dimensions. It is now possible, The design of fMRI experiments and the anal-
by studying the functional brain activity of ysis of fMRI data, on the other hand, are far more
a given human volunteer subject in a task dependent on culturally dependent assumptions.
involving choice, to predict the outcome of the For instance, early work in imaging neuroscience
choice sooner than the subject is aware of their assumed that there are no interactions among the
decision (Soon et al. 2008). cognitive components of a task, so that to identify
brain areas important to a particular task one
would need only to provide two experimental
Self-identification conditions, with and without the task, and per-
form a simple subtraction of the functional
Science images thus obtained. In time it was realized
The experimental techniques of fMRI are entirely (e.g., Friston et al. 1996) that a mammalian
derived from the physics of nuclear magnetic brain is never idle, so that much better defined
resonance. This is a very well-established area experimental conditions, and more sophisticated
of science, which arose from the greatly (e.g., factorial) analyses are required unambigu-
increased understanding of the quantum physics ously to isolate brain areas with specific
F 890 Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
functions. Methods for analysis of brain imaging techniques to be applied with humans. The reason
data are still undergoing rapid development. for this focus on human subjects is the excellent
Beyond this, what still underlies much of noninvasiveness of fMRI, which allows human
imaging neuroscience consists of an uneasy and subjects to be scanned indefinitely frequently. In
usually unreflective combination of naive empir- the study of cognition and psychology, use of
icism, positivism, behaviorism, materialist reduc- human subjects is highly desirable because
tionism, and philosophical idealism. The choices humans are uniquely compliant in performing
of explanatory concepts and models are inherited experimental tasks, and because most of the
largely from experimental psychology, and other important theoretical questions in these fields
relevant human sciences – anthropology, sociol- relate primarily to our species.
ogy, developmental psychology – are often The second respect in which fMRI is distinctive
ignored. The term “neurophilosophy” has unfor- within neuroscience is its dependence on the “big
tunately come to denote (in the hands of science” of MRI physics. Scanners are expensive,
Churchland and others) the use of the findings and the researchers that invent and optimize fMRI
of fMRI and other neuroscientific results to jus- techniques are highly skilled and highly paid scien-
tify a sometimes intolerant and fundamentalist tists, invariably with PhDs in physics or related
atheism, but it can be strongly argued that such subjects. Major multinational high-technology
an activity, in the true meaning of the term “phi- companies, such as Siemens and Philips in Europe,
losophy,” is greatly needed to clarify and refine and GE in the USA, produce thousands of MRI
the conceptual bases for imaging neuroscience. scanners per year in a highly profitable business,
Be this as it may, fMRI is now very well mostly supplying radiology departments of hospi-
accepted as a methodology within cognitive sci- tals with instruments for clinical diagnosis and
ence, neurology, experimental psychology, and monitoring. Use of fMRI is an offshoot of this
psychiatry. Presentations relating to fMRI form business, which allows brain scientists an otherwise
about 20% of the proceedings of the annual meet- inaccessible opportunity to use reliable, very pow-
ings of the International Society for Magnetic erful, and highly developed scanners to address
Resonance in Medicine, and perhaps 70% of the fundamental questions of brain organization.
annual International Conferences on Human This second aspect makes fMRI also distinctive
Brain Mapping. Results based on fMRI are within neuropsychology and cognitive psychol-
presented uncontroversially at meetings of the ogy, where typically the experimental equipment
Society for Neuroscience and the Society for required is relatively simple and inexpensive.
Cognitive Neuroscience, and at all major neurol-
ogy and psychiatry conferences. Two journals,
NeuroImage and Human Brain Mapping, have Relevance to Science and Religion
a high proportion of fMRI-based publications,
and the high-impact journals Science, Nature, Because the brains of populations of normal
Nature Neuroscience, Journal of Neuroscience, human subjects can be studied easily using the
Neuron, and Cerebral Cortex often publish techniques of fMRI, a number of brain scientists
fMRI-derived results. have been attracted to the possibility of finding
objective material correlates for mental states
that have traditionally been associated with reli-
Characteristics gion. It is commonly assumed that, to any mental
state, or mental act, there corresponds respec-
FMRI is distinctive within the field of neurosci- tively a brain state, or change in brain activity.
ence in two respects. Firstly, most of the experi- Thus, several types of meditation have been stud-
ments involve human subjects. Much basic work ied (well reviewed in Pagnoni et al. 2008), where
has been performed with experimental animals, skilled and unskilled meditator subjects lay in the
but this primarily addresses validation of scanner while meditating, with a variety of
control conditions. One carefully performed experimental results (Ogawa et al. 1990; Turner
recent experiment (Wiech et al. 2008) investi- et al. 1991; Williams et al. 1992; Kwong et al.
gated the effect on pain thresholds and regional 1992; Ogawa et al. 1992) showing that changes in
brain activation when symbolic religious images cerebral blood flow and oxygenation can be
were shown to religious and nonreligious sub- observed using the NMR methods. These exper-
jects, lying in the MRI scanner while a painful imental results have been replicated very fre-
stimulus was applied. Another study (Schjødt quently in labs worldwide. Correlations between
et al. 2008) showed activation specific to the such changes and the neural activity they are
caudate nucleus, part of the dopaminergic reward considered to indicate have been studied
system, when volunteer subjects were silently invasively in monkey brain (Logothetis et al.
praying while being scanned. 2001) and often in rat brain (e.g., Yang et al.
Generally speaking, when subject groups have 1996). As available magnetic field strengths F
been carefully characterized in religion-related increase, and MRI methods improve, the
studies, significant fMRI-observable differences colocalization of fMRI signals and neural electri-
relating tasks to various brain areas were indeed cal activity becomes more precise. Combining
found. The causal interpretation of such differ- observed changes in blood flow and blood oxy-
ences, associating them with religious training or genation with an appropriate calibration tech-
socialization, of course remains difficult, but nique (Zappe et al. 2008) has enabled the
insight can perhaps be gained by referring to mapping of oxygen extraction, a reliable index
other simpler tasks that these brain areas are of neural work.
known to perform. The data analysis methods that are now mostly
There remains the deeper problem of how to used are those of classical parametric analysis,
define the term “religion.” If this term is taken which is standard across the quantitative sci-
generally to denote coherent systems of belief ences, together with a growing use of Bayesian
and accompanying ritual actions, as is common statistics. Various reasonably well-validated
in anthropological studies of non-Western socie- methods are used for data mining, and for infer-
ties, it perforce includes much of what one would ring effective connectivity between brain areas.
more normally call “science” in the context of All of these methods are made authoritative by
Western culture. testing their mathematical correctness and
While this interdisciplinary discourse between consistency.
the neurosciences and the humanities is still in its Interpretation of fMRI results rests on the
infancy, the anthropologist Victor Turner wrote known neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and
presciently (1985) that “ritual can perhaps be neurology of the brain. Authoritative knowledge
thought of, however crudely, as given its momen- in these areas derives from the same sources as
tum by brain neurophysiology.” A deeper under- the science of Neurology (q.v.)
standing is currently being built of the brain
systems dealing with reward and the emotions,
through the work of Critchley et al. (2004), Schultz Ethical Principles
et al. (1997), and others, which often entails the use
of fMRI, and it is to be hoped that these insights The ethical principles guiding fMRI work on
will permeate fresh thinking about the prevalence human subjects are those common to the medical
and necessity of human ritual action. profession – subjects are only examined after
they have given fully informed consent. Since
the technique has an exceptionally good safety
Sources of Authority record, with no dangers apart from the obvious
ones such as ballistic ferromagnetic objects,
As regards the experimental techniques of fMRI, human subjects very happily volunteer to be
the primary sources of authority are the published scanned for periods sometimes up to 90 min.
F 892 Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Most experimental paradigms involve presenta- Human Being

tion of stimuli or performance of a task while the The human being is considered as a biological
subject is in the scanner bore, and generally these being equipped with a highly developed complex
are fully described beforehand. For a few exper- brain, which enables unique functions including
imental paradigms, where it is an important com- speech, abstract thinking, creativity, and the
ponent of the neuropsychological enquiry for the development of ethical categories such as moral-
subject not to anticipate a particular task or stim- ity, science, and art. Thus, humans are considered
ulus, mild deceptions can be used. to be distinctive from the rest of the animal world
Use of animals for validation or development in virtue of the unique capacities of the human
of fMRI techniques is governed by widely shared brain.
legislative regulations that prohibit wanton inflic-
tion of pain. Life and Death
Life is conceptualized as the presence of physical
functions in biological systems ranging from bac-
Key Values teria over plants and animals to humans. In the
human body, it includes functioning of the differ-
The first, most specific key value of fMRI is ent organs, including the nervous system. Death
making the best use of the historically unprec- is considered the cessation of such physical func-
edented opportunity of making explicit, in the tions. A special case, which has raised ethical
form of images, the activities that take place challenges for Medicine, is that of so-called
within a person’s skull. On the distance scale brain death, which is observed in intensive care
of a few millimeters that is accessible to MRI, medicine. Here, non-brain bodily functions are
it has become clear that our understanding of maintained, but there is no evident brain activity.
the relationship between the mind and the
brain can be greatly enhanced. This has pro- Reality
found implications for the medical fields of Reality is considered the physical world around
psychiatry and neurology. It is likely to have us that humans can observe with their senses.
a considerable impact on educational theory,
microeconomic theory, anthropological the- Knowledge
ory, and linguistics. Knowledge is understood to have an objective
Otherwise fMRI shares its values with many dimension, such that it is the wisdom that can be
other sciences – integrity, scholarship, truthful- transferred in a verbal form from one person to
ness, and explicitness. the next, or has been written down in books or
libraries. However, knowledge is also understood
to have a subjective dimension, which is taken to
Conceptualization be the amount of information a person can
retrieve from memory voluntarily, or by being
Nature/World cued.
fMRI uses the physicist’s conception of nature,
comprising the range of entities that are amenable Truth
to precise quantitative measurement. This Truth is conceptualized as the supreme reality
includes material objects down to the scale of underlying facts and rules. Accordingly, truth is
the electron, the different forms of energy, and assumed to be absolute or universal, which
all well-established physical forces, such as elec- humans can grasp only partially.
tromagnetic and nuclear forces.
For fMRI scientists, the world is the physically Perception
known universe. Of course, there is a significant Perception is the conscious sensation of the
focus on living matter. forces and influences the external physical
world exerts on living beings. Diseases of Relevant Themes
the human brain may disrupt or impair
perception. A critical issue in fMRI, as indeed with the
other subdisciplines comprising brain science,
Time in the context of “Science and Religion,” is the
Time is the fundamental category of ongoing notion of subjectivity. Subjectivity includes the
change in the world. Humans can measure time individual’s perception of the outside world
objectively and perceive it owing to the changes and their own body, as well as their individual
observed in the surrounding environment. reasoning and evaluation of personal experi-
Human perception of time can be affected by ences, short-lived thoughts, and long-standing
the focus of attention or impaired by diseases of ethical categories. An increasing number of
the brain. fMRI studies have successfully used the sub- F
jective reports of experience as a useful param-
Consciousness eter, localizing brain areas specific to such
Consciousness is the responsiveness of subjects conscious percepts.
to any physical stimulus in the outside world. It
can be graded in different levels of alertness
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comprises crystal clear orientation concerning
location, time, situation, personal biography, ▶ Anatomy of the Brain
and full mental capability. Diseases can impair ▶ Cognitive Neuroscience
consciousness globally, or in differentiated ▶ Cognitive Psychology
fashions. ▶ Neuroimaging
Rationality/Reason
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Functionalism 895 F
applicable to nearly all complex systems, Brown) underscore the context in order to explain
according to which each and every part of the nature and function of a given social institu-
a system fulfills a necessary, though not always tion: The adaptability of this to the circumstances
explicit, function for the system as a whole. In this amounts to its functionality. A second emphasis
sense, functionalism has significant teleological, is on the organic unity of society, which high-
finalistic, or at least etiological connotations lights the homeostatic nature of social systems,
(Huisinger 2003). Other authors defien function- that is, their tendency to maintain equilibrium
alism as the ontological thesis that function is and return to it when external shocks disturb the
all-important and stuff (or composition) irrele- balance among social institutions. Functionalist
vant. In this sense, functionalism is a basic ontol- theories have been criticized for their equilibrium
ogy which intends to offer a (modern) bias and social conservative orientation.
philosophical alternative to the classical type of But modern neo-functionalism, which takes F
metaphysics, that is, to substance metaphysics. cybernetic concepts into account, and autopoietic
The triad system-structure-function substitutes systems theories, like those of Niklas Luhmann,
for the old noble concept of substance. Function- show that functional analysis need not be static.
alism and structuralism are therefore akin to phil- Functional analysis has also been applied
osophical positions, even though sometimes they to religion. Different authors highlight different
are seen as opposed to each other as a dynamic to functions of religious institutions for society,
a static approach (Ferrater Mora 1994, p. 412). ranging from its power of integration (e.g., Durk-
In any case, the precise relationship between heim) to its ability to cope with experiences of
these two views of functionalism, the teleological contingency and reduce complexity (e.g.,
(or better, quasi-teleological) and the ontological, Luhmann). They contribute to the survival of
can only be determined through a careful analysis the social system as a whole. American sociolo-
of the use of the concept of function as well as gist Robert Bellah fruitfully combines
functionalist accounts and explanations (for an a structural-functional approach to religion
attempt in this direction, see Bunge and with the historic-genetic study of human social
Mahner 2001). evolution. In science and religion dialogue,
Functionalism is important in at least five functional approaches are advocated above all
intellectual domains: social science, biology, by Ralph W. Burhoe, whose scientific theology
architecture/technology, psychology, and philos- intends to be a functional equivalent of religion in
ophy of mind. After saying some words about the development and survival of human culture.
each one of the first four areas, we will focus Theologian Philip Hefner suggests that Burhoe’s
our attention on the fifth, where functionalism is view must be complemented by a functional
one of the major doctrines. This expository understanding of science within a religious or
sequence has an additional benefit: In areas 1–3 theological framework (Meisinger 2003).
the quasi-teleological view of functionalism In biology, functionalism usually also takes
(let’s call it adaptationist functionalism) prevails, the form of adaptationism. This is the thesis that
whereas in area 5, the ontological view of all (or at least most) phenotypic traits in biolog-
functionalism (say formalist or black-box ical populations are ultimately adaptive, that is to
functionalism) predominates, psychology (area 4) say, a solution to a hypothetical design problem
being a transitional ground from one sort of assuring the satisfaction of individual or group
functionalism into the other. needs. The main difference between functional
Let us begin with social science. Here explanations in sociology and biology (apart
functionalist views (represented, among others, from the sense of intention, purpose, or goal
by sociologists Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons characteristic of human life) is that the latter can
and Robert Merton as well as by anthropologists furnish a concrete mechanism which selects
Bronislaw Malonowski and A.R. Radcliffe- adaptive traits, that is, natural selection, whereas
F 896 Functionalism
no specific mechanism of cultural selection Successful technology is only moderately func-

is known. As a matter of fact, biological tionalist. Then, efficiency is not all-important,
adaptationism is a program which, in contradis- and other values, such as social profit, play
tinction to biological pluralism, views natural a balancing role (Bunge and Mahner 2001, p. 92).
selection as the only important cause of the In psychology, the functionalist school of
evolution of a trait. In some cases, like in Daniel Chicago, inspired by William James and founded
Dennett’s thesis of evolution as a substrate- by James Rowland Angell at the turn of the
neutral algorithmic process, evolution is reduced nineteenth into the twentieth century as reaction
to natural selection to such an extent that critics to the psychological structuralism of Wilhelm
speak of panselectionism (Bunge and Mahner Wundt, adopted an adaptationist approach to
2001, p. 87). Other outspoken advocates of mental activities. Mental life and behavior were
biological adaptationism are Ronald Fischer, John conceived as an active adaptation to the person’s
Maynard Smith, William Donald Hamilton, and environment in order to satisfy the needs of the
Richard Dawkins. Critics of adaptationism (most organism. Pragmatists John Dewey and
notably Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin, Georg Herbert Mead shared this view. (Radical)
who in 1979 published together a very influential behaviorism is also often characterized as
paper on the matter, but also Sewall Wright already functionalist. But in spite of J.B. Watson having
in the 1930s) contend that the power of natural been a close disciple of Angell, the behaviorist
selection to shape individual traits to an evolution- concept of function has different connotations
ary optimum is thus overemphasized and the role than that of the Chicago functionalists: These
of developmental constraints and other genetic retained an emphasis on conscious experience,
factors ignored. Selection is a sorting process, not underlined continuous interaction of environ-
a source of qualitative novelty. ment and organism, and accepted the existence
Regardless of specific differences among of mechanisms of action and reaction not deter-
them, all sorts of technology tend to be adapta- mined by conditioning; moreover, controlled
tionist-functionalist because technologists’ tasks experiments played almost no role in their theo-
consist of designing artifacts that perform ries (Ferrater Mora 1994, pp. 410–411).
well-defined, preassigned functions. The con- The most important contemporary descendant
crete mechanisms which realize those functions of this form of psychological functionalism is
are moreover of the outmost importance. Users of evolutionary psychology, a discipline based on
artifacts, however, need not care about such the idea that studying the evolutionary functions
mechanisms and may adopt a more formalist, of consciousness is necessary for the complete
still functionalist stance. Adaptationist function- understanding of the human psyche. Its best
alism in technology can be radical or moderate, known advocates are Leda Cosmides and John
depending on whether everything is subordinated Tooby. According to them, the main theses of
to a key function or other considerations are also evolutionary psychology are: (1) rather than
taken into account. A good example of radical with organs, psychology deals with functions or
adaptationist functionalism is found in architec- purposes, with every function susceptible of being
ture, where starting in the 1920s Louis Sullivan instantiated in a variety of systems; (2) psycholog-
and Frank Lloyd Wright advocated the principle: ical functions are subject to natural selection;
“Form follows function,” which captures the (3) there are innate psychological mechanisms,
belief that all characteristics of a building must all of which are information-processing programs
be driven solely by its function. This program that map informational input into behavioral
was taken even further by the Bauhaus, which output; (4) the psychological mechanisms in
celebrated an austere functionalism with little or charge of learning special tasks are Darwinian
no ornamentation. Postmodern architecture was algorithms which organize experience into adap-
a reaction against such a latent utilitarianism. tively meaningful schemas or frames. This
Functionalism 897 F
combination of adaptationist and formalist func- meanings of mental terms, the latter see them
tionalism, akin to Dennett’s, has been seriously instead as substantive scientific hypotheses (for
challenged. Not all types of functions are sub- these categorizations of functionalists, see Block
strate independent. Furthermore, it is not clear 1978, pp. 266–271; for an outstanding overview
what “psychological mechanism” is supposed to of functionalism see van Gulick 2011).
mean, since a mechanism is a process within In order to understand functionalism’s core
a concrete thing: There are brain mechanisms, idea more deeply, it may be helpful to remember
but not psychological ones. There is, finally, that in the 1960s, functionalism was initially pro-
no evidence for the algorithmic nature of all posed as a solution to the mind-body problem,
cognitive processes, which turns evolutionary which at that time seemed stuck in a dead end.
psychology into a merely speculative theory Cartesian dualism postulates a special mental
(Bunge and Mahner 2001, p. 88). The proposals substance; behaviorism identifies mental F
of evolutionary psychology and the criticism they states with behavioral dispositions; and identity
have provoked lead us directly into our next item. physicalism reduces mental states to brain states.
Functionalism in the philosophy of mind is the Fundamentally avoiding dualism, functionalists
doctrine that asserts what makes something intended to follow a middle road between
a mental state of a particular type is not its inter- behaviorism and physicalism, which were the
nal constitution, but rather the way it functions, or two materialist alternatives to dualism. On the
in other words: not what it is made of, but what it one hand, (logical) behaviorism argues that
does. Mental states are thus functional entities, mental terms are synonymous with dispositional
whose functions are usually taken to be those of terms (which mediate between stimuli and behav-
mediating between certain stimuli (inputs) and iors, inputs and outputs), offering thus a relational
given mental states on the one hand, and certain account of mental properties, but at the cost of
behaviors (outputs) and resulting mental states on ultimately depriving them of all causal import.
the other. It was Hilary Putnam’s and Jerry A. On the other hand, identity physicalism sustains
Fodor’s converging contribution to model these that mental terms refer to neurophysiological
functions using computing machines and pro- states, so that mental processes must have the
grams, initially Turing’s machine, as inspiration causal properties of the corresponding neuro-
(see, for example, Putnam 1975). Mental states physiological processes. For the identity theorist,
are just like the states of an automaton and can be the concept of mental causation is therefore as
characterized in terms that involve only logico- rich as the concept of physical causation. But for
mathematical language (for relations between him mental concepts are not interdefined; the
states) and terms for input signals and behavioral relations among them are not constitutive. Func-
outputs, that is, in entirely nonmental terminol- tionalism can make sense of both the causal and
ogy. Both machine and non-machine versions of the relational character of the mental. And the
functionalism insist on such nonmental charac- way to do it is to tie both aspects together or, in
terizations of mental states. Non-machine ver- other words, to construe the concept of causal
sions turn to psychological theories instead of role so that a mental state can be defined by its
computers as a guide in their depiction of func- causal relations to other mental states (for this
tional identities. A priori or analytic functional- depiction of functionalism as capturing the best
ists (e.g., David Lewis, Sydney Shoemaker) features of the materialist alternatives to dualism,
appeal to common-sense psychological theory, see Fodor 1981, pp. 119–121; see also Lycan
whereas empirical functionalists (e.g., later pro- 2003).
posals of both Putnam and Fodor, also Gilbert This move gives mental states a degree of
Harman) appeal rather to one or other scientific objective reality which cannot be accounted for
psychological theories. Moreover, the former by behaviorism. But at the same time, it questions
regard functional analyses as elucidations of the the one-to-one correlation between mental and
F 898 Functionalism
brain states which forms the backbone of identity Chinese. Would the person in the room really be
physicalism. Mental states are not uniquely said to understand Chinese? The point is that the
realized (in human brain states), as identity system including the person, the books, and
physicalism requires; rather, they can be multiply the written materials is functionally, but not
realized, not only in (terrestrial) biological psychologically, identical to a person who really
systems, but also in other kinds of systems (say, understands Chinese. Since functionalism
computers or Martian brains), provided they still holds that two functionally equivalent systems
play the same causal role, i.e., function. This should also be the same in regard to their
thesis, known as multiply realizability, comes mental states, this is incompatible with function-
originally from the computer-science distinction alism. However, functionalists reply that Searle
between hardware and software: The mind is like begs the question when he asserts the whole
software which can be run on different types of system lacks understanding.
hardware. Many of the strengths of functionalism Some other critics of functionalism sustain that
in the philosophy of mind (and its very character the problem for functionalism lies rather in the
of formalist or black-box functionalism), but also characterization of feelings, sensations, and other
many of its weaknesses, are connected with such conscious mental states, since it cannot capture
a claim. Multiple realizability as such has been their distinctive “qualitative” or “phenomenal”
strongly criticized (for example, Bunge and character, which seems to be intrinsic and non-
Mahner 2001), but most troubling are some of relational. This concern was at first discussed
its consequences, graphically pointed out by under the name “absent qualia” (see Shoemaker
critics of functionalism. Before going on to deal 1975). Another version of the argument poses the
with that point, we would like to observe that, all problem of “inverted qualia”. Recently, the dis-
in all, functionalism has succeeded in advancing cussion has been cast rather in terms of “zom-
a very compelling version of non-reductive mate- bies”: There might be two creatures functionally
rialism, which has fostered the development of identical, but differing in their mental states, since
fields like cognitive psychology and artificial one of them has a normal conscious life and the
intelligence. other none. This second twin would be the philo-
The main objection against functionalism is, sophical “zombie.” This possibility implies, to the
of course, that it does not adequately characterize non-functionalist, that the functionalist view is
mental states. According to their content, the inadequate. Although such a criticism may also
traditional view in the philosophy of mind divides be pre-supposing the thing it is arguing for –, i.e.,
mental states into intentional and qualitative. the existence of proper qualia–, the problem of
Some critics of functionalism contend that inten- conscious life, of consciousness itself, remains an
tional mental states (beliefs and desires) cannot ongoing controversy and probably represents the
be completely characterized in functional terms greatest challenge for functionalism in the philos-
since that leaves out the distinctive “intentional- ophy of mind.
ity” or the “aboutness” of the mind. This is also All advocates of functionalism are persuaded
the intent of John Searle’s famous “Chinese that intentional mental states can be adequately
room” argument. Someone who does not under- explained from a functional point of view. Some
stand Chinese is placed, well equipped with functionalists consider functionalism to apply also
books and writing materials, in a room with two to qualitative mental states; other maintain it does
hatches. Through one hatch Chinese symbols are not. So, it is possible to distinguish between strong
handed to this person, who, following the instruc- and weak versions of functionalism. According
tions laid down in the books, arranges on a paper to the strong versions, every mental state is
a different combination of Chinese symbols and completely constituted by its relations to inputs,
sends it out through the other hatch. It turns outputs, and other mental states; no mental state
out that she has correctly answered questions in exists therefore on its own. William Lycan seems
Functionalism 899 F
to hold this view. Weak versions allow for some, functional concept of knowledge that p, or
most frequently qualitative mental states to be purpose to bring about R, could be applicable to
basic and nonfunctional. That could be the view God and to man, even though the realization of
defended by Jaegwon Kim in his latest writings. that function is radically different” (Alston 1985,
Strong versions of functionalism are exposed in p. 225). He aims to assert a certain degree of
a higher degree to the criticism that functional univocity in divine-human predication without
characterization of mental states is holistic. Weak compromising the otherness of God.
versions of functionalism do not succeed in
explaining the mental in nonmental terms.
Furthermore, Ned Block (1978, pp. 310–314) Cross-References
says that all versions of functionalism are doomed
to be guilty either of “liberalism” or of “chauvin- ▶ Cognitive Psychology F
ism.” Theories are liberal when, building on func- ▶ Complex Systems
tional equivalence, they (potentially) ascribe ▶ Consciousness, The Problem of
mental properties to things that do not in fact ▶ Evolution
have them, for instance, to the entire population ▶ Philosophy of Mind
of China connected per radio among them and ▶ Relational Ontology
with an artificial body or robot, of which it plays ▶ Religion, Sociology of
the role of an external “brain” (this is also put ▶ Self
sometimes as the problem of the “brain in the
vat”). Theories are chauvinistic insofar as they
falsely deny that certain systems have mental References
properties. And that happens whenever, in order
to avoid liberalism, we include too much of human Alston, W. P. (1985). Functionalism and theological
language. American Philosophical Quarterly, 22,
neurophysiology in our theory. The resulting func-
221–230.
tional description will not apply to (eventual) intel- Block, N. (1978). Troubles with functionalism. Minnesota
ligent Martians, whose neurophysiology would Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 9, 261–325.
probably be different from ours. All this has to Bunge, M., & Mahner, M. (2001). Function and function-
alism: a synthetic perspective. Philosophy of Science,
do with the difficulty, not to say impossibility, of
68, 75–94.
finding a description of inputs and outputs which is Ferrater Mora, J. (1994). Funcionalismo. In J. Ferrater Mora
specific enough to avoid liberalism, yet general (Ed.), Diccionario de filosofı́a (Vol. 2, pp. 1410–1412).
enough to avoid chauvinism. Barcelona: Ariel.
Fodor, J. A. (1981). The mind-body problem. Scientific
Functionalism in the philosophy of mind
American, 244, 114–125.
offers interesting possibilities for the dialogue Lycan, W. G. (2003). The mind-body problem. In S. P.
with theology. The most obvious regards, Stich & T. A. Warfield (Eds.), The Blackwell guide to
of course, the mind-body problem. Insofar as philosophy of mind (pp. 47–64). Oxford: Blackwell.
Meisinger, H. (2003). Functionalism. In W. J. Wildman
functionalism intends to be a non-reductive
(Ed.), Encyclopedia of science and religion. Indepen-
materialism, there is no a priori incompatibility dence: Macmillan Reference USA (Digital Edition).
between it and non-dualistic theological Putnam, H. (1975). Mind, language, and reality: Philo-
positions. It is not clear, however, whether sophical papers (Vol. II) (especially, “The mental life
of some machines”, pp. 408–428; “The nature of men-
functionalism can account for what we take to
tal states”, pp. 429–440, both first published in 1967).
be the causal efficacy of mental states, an Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
important point for any theological depiction of Shoemaker, S. (1975). Functionalism and qualia.
mind. Another thought-provoking proposal Philosophical Studies, 27, 271–315.
van Gulick, R. (2011). Functionalism. In B. P. McLaughlin
has been advanced by William Alston, who tries et al. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of philosophy of
to capitalize on the principle of multiple mind (pp. 128–151). Oxford/New York: Oxford
realizability in order to show that “the same University Press.
F 900 Functionalism in Sociology
between it and the needs of the social organism”

Functionalism in Sociology and proposes to replace in this definition the word
“needs” with the expression “necessary conditions
Paolo De Nardis for existence.” Let us see how he emphasizes the
Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy themes of cohesion and stability.
These issues (cohesion and stability) are the
most evident limitations and targets of criticism
Description that this school of thought has suffered. Among
them, the most common is the claim that this
Although Functionalism was at one time consid- system can only explain how to reduce or elimi-
ered the most typical expression of contemporary nate conflicts but it can never say why they came
American sociology, it did not originate in the out or how and why they are increasing.
United States since we can find its earliest formu- Another critique to Structural-Functionalism
lations in British anthropology. is that it is structurally related with the interests
In particular, Bronislaw Malinowski, a Polish- of the British colonial power for which these
born British anthropologist, proposed the func- scholars worked.
tional analysis as a solution to the tendency of It is also worth noticing that both Social
interpreting social situations through intuition Anthropology and the History of Sociological
rather than through observation. The functional Thought focus their attention on normative and
analysis, according to Malinowski, brings cultural aspects of social life rather than on eco-
a scientific attention in the study of cultures that nomic or technical ones.
have to be different from the ones of observers. Hence, the method of Functionalism is to
Therefore, according to this school of thought, explain any social institution through the role it
before analyzing a social phenomenon that is plays in the maintenance of society.
typical of a given culture (an institution,
a material object, an idea); you must first think
of what function the phenomenon fulfills within Talcott Parsons: From the Theory of
this culture. Social Being to the Social System. The
So the Malinowskian assumption of Function- Functional Prerequisites
alism is that in every type of civilization, every
custom, every material object, idea, or opinion Parsons is perhaps the best-known representative
fulfills a vital function, meaning with “vital func- of Structural-Functionalism, as the foundation of
tion” the contribution that each cultural path his sociology is the idea of integration understood
gives to the maintenance of the entire culture, in terms of cultural and normative aspects,
that is, to the integration of the whole social although it has assumed different shades over
system. the years.
The core of functionalist theory is, therefore, Many European scholars including Malinow-
the problem of integration. ski and Weber influenced Talcott Parsons
Another anthropologist, Radcliffe-Brown, (1902–1979). His sociological orientation seems
specifies, “the function of each recurrent activity to be related to the practical needs of American
is the part it plays in the social life as a whole and society and it is not, as it has been argued by
therefore the contribution it makes to the mainte- many, an ideological justification of the current
nance of the structural continuity.” He explicitly economic, political, and cultural situation but
refers to Durkheim, according to which “the func- rather – and above all – an attempt to identify
tion of a social institution is the correspondence the minimum requirements of integration in
a society composed of different ethnic groups,
with their traditions and cultures, in which inte-
Translated by Isabella Strippoli. gration appears as a need and a goal to reach. This
Functionalism in Sociology 901 F
explains why cultural integration becomes the Action and are defined as the features that give
central problem of most of the American society. shape to the finality.
In his essays, which were mostly produced in According to Parsons, people do not only
the period from the 1930s to the 1960s, he built respond to stimulations but also try to conform
a theory that claimed to be extremely general, and their action to specific models, which are consid-
which sometimes has been called “The Grand ered desirable by the actor and by other members
Theory”. While Functionalism, especially in the of the community.
medium-range theories held by Robert Merton, An action is a social action only when social
produces ad hoc explanations of everything that purposes and standards are identified in a context
exists and happens in a particular time, Parsons of interactions that consider such finalities and
aims at a general formulation of how all social such rules an integral part of the social situation.
systems work. According to Parsons, also Pareto, Durkheim F
The Grand Theory has been very successful and Weber arrived at the same conclusions. Even
for a certain period of time, especially in the though the conclusions resulted from different
1950s, but later has been heavily criticized by ways and were based on different theoretical pre-
Neo-Marxism, by the Conflict Theory, and by mises, this testifies the correctness of the volun-
the Microsociology theories like Symbolic taristic conception of Action.
Interactionism and Social Phenomenology. How- From Parson’s point of view, a society is pos-
ever, in the 1970s, the Grand Theory gained new sible only in the presence of finalities and com-
fame, especially among German sociologists like mon standards: In this perspective, the
Niklas Luhmann, J€ urgen Habermas, and Richard importance of the integration problem is clear.
M€unch. More recently, some American sociolo- Parsons tries to identify the key issues of the
gists led by Jeffrey Alexander have taken up and above-mentioned authors in order to build
reworked on the Grand Theory in a revised form. a general theory. From Durkheim, he revisits the
concept of “heritage of common values” and the
The Structure of Social Action (1937) problem of integration as a moment and imple-
Parsons, opposing the positivist conception of mentation of the so-called collective conscience,
action (understood in terms of a reaction to an symbol of social solidarity.
external stimulation), tries to emphasize the vol- From Marshall and Pareto, he revisits the idea
untary aspects of action itself. He identifies some of theoretical system and synthetic sociological
necessary elements for a social act that are listed theory supported by integrated values.
below: From Weber, he renews the concept and the
1. There is someone who performs the action theory of the social action.
(the actor). We have Parsons structural-functionalistic
2. Each action must necessarily have a “finality” theory by the confluence of the three elements
(a future condition toward which the action is (unhistorical by nature) which follow:
oriented). • Parsons takes Weber’s action theory (that in
3. Every action begins in a “situation” (whose Weber itself moves from a methodological
lines of development can be different thinking point of view to an empirical-inductive analy-
of the situation toward which the action is sis) and gives it a new meaning that does not
directed). include all the historical elements; it has
In every situation, you can find elements that a meta-temporal connotation and therefore is
cannot be transformed by the Action (these are taken from a deductive point of view.
the conditions) and elements that can be • Durkheim’s heritage of common values is
transformed from it (the means). To choose the taken up in Parsons perhaps more aprioristic
most appropriate means to achieve a goal, you meaning; this could validate Luciano Cavalli’s
need to conform to certain rules: These rules theory on Parsons’s hostility toward philosophy
must be considered a necessary element of the of history and its background of irrationalism.
• The system concept is necessary to integrate choices: This is the “evaluation” element. These
these assumptions and to give some meaning three moments of the action can be distinguished
and boundaries to Parsons’s primary problem: only in an analysis but are indistinguishable in
“The Hobbesian question of order.” reality.
Because of these basic aporias, Parsons struc- The individual’s personality therefore can
tural-functionalistic theory is produced as only arise in a context of social relations, which
a crystallization of the theory of action, in itself is able to develop a system of common signs and
partly unhistorical, in an undisputed and extem- symbols, namely, in a cultural context.
poraneous system of values, tending to the con- The social system is thus defined in terms of
servation of a social structure model. This interaction, but the interaction is taking place not
happens because at its base there is an between individuals, on the contrary in mutual
unhistorical concept of the theory of action relations among people acting in terms of status
becoming stiff as it is projected in an extra- (social position of the agent) and roles (agent’s
historical and meta-temporal scheme of values. activities related to his/her social position).
The status defines the position that a person
The Social System (1951) occupies in a system of relations considered as
The integration problem is central and introduces a structure, regardless of the personality of the
the notion of system. Parsons says that since individual him/herself.
individuals perform their actions not in On the contrary, the role relates to what the
a random way but according to defined princi- subject does in its relations with others and it is
ples, as the agent has certain expectations from typical of a certain status.
objects and from other individuals, you can talk Example: I am a teacher (in society, since I am
about “personality system.” System is as well the a teacher a certain position is assigned to me,
coordinated set of symbols that make the interac- regardless of whether I am a good teacher or
tion possible and the network of relationships not, or if I am more or less sympathetic, etc.)
between people that do not act in an and I behave in a certain way during my work.
uncoordinated way but according to the positions I exercise my role (I will hold a certain behavior –
assigned to them in this network of relations. as a professor – with my students); my students
The cultural system, the personality system, (as students and therefore regardless of their indi-
and the society system have to be congruent with vidual personality), for their point of view, expect
each other. from me a certain behavior, linked to the teaching
The culture, in particular, has the fundamental profession.
task of attending directly in the creation process According to Parsons, a person (ego) always
of people’s personality through the development has expectations in another person (alter), and the
of an internalization of rules and values in second person always has a set of expectations
a society (where internalizing means to own and regarding the behavior of the first. Alter, how-
deeply assimilate them). ever, is not a particular individual but is
The internalization of cultural models guaran- a “generalized other” (a concept already pro-
tees order and gives stability to the system posed by George Herbert Mead). Alter’s reac-
because all the people tend to behave in a way tions can also be considered like “sanctions”
that conforms to society’s expectations. against ego, which consequently will tend to
In every action there is a finality, a goal to behave according to the related expectations and
reach and, of course, negative consequences to the specific roles they (Ego and Alter) perform.
avoid: This is what Parsons calls a “cathectic” To sum up, expectations are linked to roles.
element; in addition, to conduct an action you A single person in his/her life may occupy of
must also have knowledge of the situation, and a series of status and exercise the related roles.
this is the “knowledge” element; finally you have The reciprocal expectations and sanctions
to be able to pick out among the many possible related to the single roles create the institution
that is defined by Parsons as “a social structure The modern industrial society is constituted
unit, whose level is higher than the one of the role by a system of universalistic, neutral, profitable,
because it is composed by a plurality of and specific roles.
interdependent role models and their own Parsons’s theoretical conclusion is that every
components.” social system, in order to survive, must necessar-
According to this definition, however, you ily resolve a fundamental functional problem,
cannot understand why and how in reality there defined as the “problem of allocation,” which
exist several systems different from each other. has three characteristics: the allocation of the
Parsons replied that the systems differ from staffs (including the ones acting among the
each other following the alternatives of roles that roles), the assignment of resources, and the attri-
the actor has to choose between: During the bution of gratifications.
action, the actor receives a series of different Parsons deconstructs and reconstructs its F
alternatives that are always limited and defined structural variables with the aim of building dif-
in any way. ferent models of the possible “structural type,”
These alternatives are the “structural vari- which means different types of social systems
ables,” as follows: and societies, and explaining his interpretation
(a) Dilemma between reward and discipline: of the foundations to the various social sciences.
affectivity – emotional neutrality (need of In his works that followed The Social System,
choice between immediate satisfaction Parsons abandons his explanation scheme based
according to the emotional impulse or on structural variables and elaborates
renunciation) a “functional square” scheme where each frame
(b) Alternative between private and collective represents a “functional prerequisite.”
interests: egoistic orientation – altruistic ori- The two dichotomous dimensions of internal/
entation (namely toward community) external very abstractly generate this scheme and
(c) Choice between universality and particular- means/finalities: Anything inside the system can
ity: depending on whether the actor considers be considered as operating or in the direction
the object that is in relation with in the fea- toward the inside or outside the system and can
tures that make it common to an entire class be either a mean or finality.
or in its singularity By crossing these two dimensions, we obtain
(d) Difference between construction and attribu- the four quadrants that Parsons calls “AGIL”:
tion: depending on whether the object is con- A for Adaptation, which is equivalent to adjust-
sidered for what it produces or what it is in ment, and it refers to the way the system main-
itself, for its intrinsic qualities tains itself as a physical entity in connection
(e) Quandary between specificity and diffusion: with the material environment. Here we can
if the actor considers some aspects of the find Economics.
object or its totality G for Goal Attainment, which is the quadrant of
Parsons adds that these structural variables achieving the objective. It deals with the fact
do not combine with each other in a random that each system has a certain purpose and it
way but they follow certain rules, as they must tries to achieve it in relation to its environment –
be integrated into a system that has to be coher- relating to the society, here we find Politics.
ent in order to guarantee itself in time: For the I for Integration, which is the quadrant by which
survival of the system, some functional require- the system keeps actively together its different
ments have to be fulfilled. For example, in parts – here we find all the institutions that
a system like the family, the roles have to be promote social integration and the corpus of
affective, particularistic, pervasive, and attrib- laws and rules under which all the members
utive, while in a company they will have to be behave.
universalistic, pervasive, profitable, and L for Latency, which is the quadrant of the latent
specific. model. It means that every system needs to
have some basic models: This quadrant rewarding the ones who comply, and by
involves all those institutions that produce punishing those who violate them.
basic cultural models and that transmit them To sum up, values are specified in norms,
to the individuals (by family, education, modeled in roles and reinforced by sanctions.
religion).
L and I are both subsystems within the system as
they deal with the relationships inside the Robert K. Merton and the Middle Range
society: L are the means, I are the finalities. Theories
A and G are both external subsystems: A is
a mean, G is a finality (achieving the purpose). While Parsons builds his “Grand Theory” as an
Each of these quadrants can be divided in its explanatory system based on the functional anal-
own set of dials. Hence, you can go to the larger ysis, with general and unhistorical characteris-
system rather than to the smaller one, as it is tics, Functionalism in the United States takes
shown below: very different directions from his position. The
most important representative approach that dif-
External
fers from Parsons’s Functionalism is the one pro-
posed by Robert K. Merton, who asserts the need
Means Finalities
for sociology to build “medium-range theories”
that differ from large generalizations. These are
Internal not verifiable in empirical terms and differ from
empiricism that only collects data without fram-
In this way, Parsons’s system provides a grid ing them in a theory.
of the basic elements that each organization must These mid-range theories occupy an interme-
realistically own. These functions are analytic diate position between general theories of social
(then, abstract) and apply to all the levels of systems (too far away from particular categories
analysis: individual personality, special organi- of behavior, organization, and social changes to
zations, institutions, communities, nations, or the provide an explanation of what is observed) and
whole world. detailed descriptions of facts that are not mini-
Furthermore, the different elements of the sys- mally generalized.
tem operate together in order to ensure that peo- The mid-range theories deal with limited
ple carry out their role in an appropriate way. aspects of social phenomena and refer to the
There is, anyway, a hierarchy of control within summation of results from empirical surveys.
the system, as we indicate below: Rather than considering only each single
research for itself or building sociological theo-
Values
ries not sufficiently supported by surveys,
Norms thinkers should build theories that are more
Roles
than the single result of a research, but at the
same time, they do not have to be unverifiable
Sanctions theoretical constructions.
Empirical research should be organized so that
More generally, the system elaborates partic- they, when you have empirical uniformities,
ular values; in the specific interaction situation, when and if they are discovered, directly influ-
this general value is specified in certain norms, ence the theoretical system.
which are structured in roles, according to the With this innovative position, Merton criti-
position held by individuals in an organization. cizes the first Functionalism by opposing
People guarantee the respect of norms attached to a critique from within: He does not reject the
the various roles by applying sanctions, by interpreting key but the postulates (statements
that lie outside the empirical testing). Hence, he Merton tries to apply his medium-range theo-
implicitly criticizes Parsons. ries to concrete societal problems, so he deals
Merton identifies, in particular, three postu- with issues such as anomie, reference groups,
lates of the first functionalists: and sociology of knowledge.
1. Postulate of Functional Unit: all the elements Talking about anomie, Merton says that it
of a culture and all the social activities are comes from the discrepancy between the cultural
functional to the whole social or cultural structure of a society (which sets the goals to be
system. pursued as well as the norms you have to follow
2. Postulate of Universal Functionalism: every in order to achieve these goals) and the social
aspect of a social or cultural system plays structure (organization of roles and status) of the
a positive role toward social integration. same society. According to Merton, in this situa-
3. Postulate of Indispensability: each element tion you can have different reactions. To properly F
existing in a society or culture is indispensable analyze the problem you must make a threefold
to perform a specific function as well as every distinction and understand that: (1) on the one
specific function is essential to the whole hand, in a social system, there are certain cultural
system. goals, purposes, finalities, and aspirations that are
He criticizes them in the following way: based on the prevailing values of a specific “cul-
(a) The fact that every society presents some tural structure”; (2) on the other hand, there are
integration is assumed. However, it is not “norms” that prescribe the means that individuals
true that all societies show the same high can legitimately use for achieving their goals;
quantity of integration so that every action (3) a third order of elements are the institutional-
and every conviction is functional to society ized methods arising from the concordance
as a unit and at the same time is functional to between the possible means for achieving goals
the people who live in it. and the opportunity to achieve goals in a way that
(b) You cannot say that everything that exists, does not disobey norms.
because of its existence, has a positive role If a fracture occurs between these three vari-
toward social integration. ables, there can be deviant behavior in individ-
(c) It is not assumed that in every society you uals or in social units that compose a particular
have the indispensable elements to perform social system.
certain functions, which may be performed The cultural structure prescribes the goals to
by different elements or by way of the same be achieved: It may prescribe similar or different
elements always playing the same functions. goals for all the individuals of a system;
Without any doubt, Merton’s conception of according to Merton, American society almost
Functionalism admits the presence, together universally prescribes for its members the goal
with integration factors, of dysfunctional factors: and the myth of success, mainly under the eco-
They tend to disintegration rather than to integra- nomic point of view.
tion or they do not have any function. In addition, This goal involves a wider sensibility and
the functional analysis is considered a heuristic frustration for members of the lower classes,
method. which have reduced access to institutionally
Merton also introduces the distinction between approved means. According to Merton, it is
manifest and latent functions: The former are just in the opening between means and goals
wanted and recognized consequences of the (with the resulting tension that arises) that we
action; the latter are the unconscious ones. How- may see a weakening of commitment in people
ever, Merton does not specify that the functional toward both the goals that result from the values
analysis makes sense as a specific method only if prevailing in a certain social system and the
you search the latent functions, because it would institutionally accepted means: You can assist
not add anything new to the already known. at various degrees of anomie that produce
various forms of deviant behavior. The conse- asserts instead that it is related to certain socio-
quence can be acceptance or rejection, again cultural structures: For example, the conflict
depending on the circumstances, on cultural between social and cultural structures is one of
goals (finalities), or on means (institutionalized the common causes of deviance.
on norms as for analytical convenience “insti- Merton therefore assumes that originally,
tutionalized means” and “norms” are inserted in there always is some correlation on cultural
a single category; the “means” category which goals and on finalities that culture considers
refers to the social structure of the analyzed worthy of being achieved; he considers anomie
system). a consequence of the impossibility imposed
Merton elaborates his famous synoptic mirror from the social structure to reach all the cultural
that refers to “an example of individual ways of goals, if not in violation of institutional norms.
adaptation.” Depending on the attitude toward Thus, anomie is equal to lack of the above-
the two variables (means and goals), we can mentioned norms. However, Merton fails to crit-
have the positive values of “acceptance,” which icize the cultural norms proposed by society that
are indicated by the symbol (+), or “rejection” are considered as uncritically given and
that are listed with the symbol ( ) or even the accepted.
rejection of current values (the “status quo” Talking about sociology of knowledge, Mer-
values) and the substitution with new ones, ton does not accept the European approach with
which is indicated by the symbol (+/ ). The all its great ideas of the world, of political theo-
scheme is described in the table below: ries, of philosophical guidelines, etc., and prefers
to join, even if with some doubts, to his North
Ways of adaptation Cultural goals Institutional means American tradition, more thin and poor, that aims
Compliance + + to study public opinion relating it to the mass
Innovation +
media conditioning.
Ritualism +
Merton’s choice to follow empiricism origi-
Refusal
nates C. Wright Mills’s critique to “abstract
Rebellion +/ +/
empiricism” in general, where the word abstract
means the poor consideration for the wider his-
• Compliance: when you accept both cultural torical and social context of problems and the
goals and institutional norms. focus of attention beyond this context. Hence
• Innovation: when you give more importance the risk of an empiricism which falls into ideol-
to goals then to norms. ogy is generated.
• Ritual: when you accept institutional norms to
achieve certain goals, but you do not bother if
you actually reach them or not. Critiques to the Functional Analysis in
• Refusal: when neither norms nor goals are Sociology
accepted (artists, psychotics, homeless, alco-
holics, drug addicts). The functional analysis in Merton’s and
• Rebellion: when you refuse both cultural goals Parsons’s expression, often called “Structural-
and institutional norms and you try to establish Functionalism,” is one of the most discussed ori-
new goals and norms considering them most entations in contemporary sociology. To be hon-
fair and valid. est, the critique is more focused on Parsons than
Merton goes from his considerations on ano- on Merton.
mie to a wider analysis of the deviant behavior. 1. From many parts, Parsons was accused of
He criticizes the psychoanalytic approach that considering only or mainly the issues of inte-
explains it as an expulsion of too long repressed gration and social order rather than on prob-
by the society biological impulses (Freud) and lems of social change and conflict.
2. Dahrendorf criticizes that the emphasis on the that society naturally regulates itself not
internalization of order inside the individual through the political force but through values
leads Parsons to neglect the repressive and shared among its members.
coercive power of society over individuals. 7. Parsons’s mistakes are due to the conservative
3. The research of a general sociological scheme orientation of his sociological theory.
is at the expense of the analysis of specific Other critiques consider Functionalism from
social-historical configurations. a general point of view and are all designed to
4. Parsons sees the conflict as a disintegration invalidate its formal-logic correctness:
factor: This is not always true; indeed, some- (a) Carl Hempel contests functional analysis’s
times the conflict may also strengthen integra- effective explanatory power since it can only
tion within the group and make it stronger in dogmatically be assumed that, since a system
the fight with outside groups. In Parsons’s only works under certain conditions that are F
defense, it should be noted that he looks for satisfied only by certain elements, these ele-
the minimum necessary conditions for the ments are actually present in the system.
existence of a social system: The conditions (b) Hempel always criticizes the lack of preci-
that allow its existence although the presence sion in the terms used by functionalists.
of disintegration factors. Therefore, he cannot (c) Again, Hempel criticizes the inability of func-
emphasize these factors, among which there tional analysis to not arbitrarily make specific
should be conflict. It is also true that the con- predictions because the hypothesis of a system
flict expresses itself only in the presence of that regulates itself is not sufficiently clarified.
a minimum legitimacy that allows the conflict The above-mentioned critiques work on
to be recognized as it is between the opposite a methodological level and could be joined to
positions. the ones, which, under a substantial point of
5. Some say that behind Parsons’s “Grand The- view and since Parsons is still alive, stressed the
ory,” there is an uncritical mirror of the risks of both an ontological hypostatization and
prevailing North American society. an apodictic theoretical model.
6. Alvin W. Gouldner tries to show how the
different phases of Parsons’s thought are in
line with the changes occurring in American Cross-References
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Structure of Social Action – he operates in ▶ Critical Theory
a political situation still dominated by individ- ▶ Cultural Studies
ualistic and competitive values and is there- ▶ Deviance and Social Control, Sociology of
fore linked to the idea of individual action as ▶ Epistemology
a fundamental element of society. When he ▶ Ethics
writes The Social System, the emphasis ▶ Functionalism in Sociology
moves from the individual will to the social
system mechanisms through which the system
maintains itself. With the advent of the Wel- References
fare State, Parsons abandons the idea of soci-
Albert, H. (1969). Traktat u€ber Kritische Vernunft (2
ety as a system that individually regulates and
Aufl). Tübingen: Mohr.
maintains itself balanced and accepts the prin- Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Oxford:
ciple of State intervention: This means admit- Oxford University Press.
ting that the State is the main source of power De Nardis, P. (1978). Teoria sociale e analisi socio-
istituzionale. Roma: Carucci Editore.
and initiative in society and the stabilizing
De Nardis, P. (1988). L’equivoco sistema. Soggetti,
factor of it. This goes against the basic princi- istituzioni e struttura sociale nelle prospettive
ple of Structural-Functionalism that believes funzionalistiche. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
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De Nardis, P. (1988). L’equivoco sistema. Soggetti, Selznick, P. (1969). Law, society and industrial justice.
istituzioni e struttura sociale nelle prospettive New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
funzionalistiche. Milano: FrancoAngeli. Wright Mills, Ch. (1959). The sociological imagination.
Durkheim, E. (1962). La divisione del lavoro sociale. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Milano: Comunità.
Gerhardt, U. (2002). Talcott Parsons: An intellectual
biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gouldner, A. W. (1970). The coming crisis of western
sociology. New York: Basic Books. Fundamental Theology
Habermas, J. & Luhmann, N. (1971). Theorie der Gesell-
schaft oder Sozialtechnologie. Was leistet die
Paul L. Allen
Systemforschung? Frankfurt a. M: Suhrkamp.
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and other essays in the philosophy of science. New University, Montreal, QC, Canada
York: Free Press.
Malinowski, B. (1927), Sex and repression in savage
society. London: Kegan Paul.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago: Related Terms
Chicago University Press.
Merton, R. K. (1949). Social theory and social structure. Foundational theology
New York: The Free Press.
Merton, R. K. (1967). On theoretical sociology: Five
essays, old and new. New York: The Free Press.
Merton, R. K. (1976). Sociological ambivalence. New Description
York: The Free Press.
Merton, R. K. (1979). The sociology of science: An epi-
Fundamental theology refers to a field within
sodic memoir. Carbondale: University of Southern
Illinois Press. ▶ Christian theology in which philosophical,
Merton, R. K. (1982). Social research and the practicing anthropological, scientific, and theological catego-
professions. Cambridge: Abt Books. ries are deployed to mediate religious ▶ faith and
Merton, R. K. & Lazarsfeld, P. F. (1950). Continuities in
the meaning of faith in culture. Theological reflec-
social research: Studies in the scope of method of “The
American Soldier”. New York: The Free Press. tion becomes a fundamental theology when it pro-
Parsons, T. & Shils, E. (1951). Toward a general theory of poses a metaphysical or existential way of
action. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. interpreting reality, including natural reality. In
Parsons, T. (1951). The social system. Glencoe, IL: The
the twentieth century, following the rise of exis-
Free Press.
Parsons, T. (1954). Essays in sociological theory. Glen- tential philosophy in Europe, fundamental theol-
coe, IL: The Free Press. ogy became more prominent as a discourse about
Parsons, T. (1960). Structure and process in modern soci- human history and the way that faith understands
eties. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.
history. Since the 1980s, the dialogue between the
Parsons, T. (1964). Social structure and personality. New
York: The Free Press of Glencoe. natural sciences and theology has made an impor-
Parsons, T. (1966). Societies: evolutionary and compara- tant impact on the character of fundamental theol-
tive perspectives. Englewood Cliffs (N.J.): Prentice- ogy, with more Christian theology written as a
Hall.
reflection upon nature and the subjects of scientific
Parsons, T. (1967). Sociological theory and modern soci-
ety. New York: The Free Press. inquiry.
Parsons, T. (1971). The system of modern societies. Engle- As a historical development primarily within
wood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. the Christian tradition, fundamental theology
Parsons, T. & Bales, R. F. (1955). Family,
refers to particular categories and concepts that
socialization and interaction process. Glencoe, IL:
The Free Press. are found on the edge of philosophy and theology.
Parsons, T. & Smelser, N. J. (1956). Economy and society: The term emerged as a more explicit form of
A study in the integration of economic and social discourse in the twentieth century. Prior to the
theory. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.
mid-twentieth century, the discourse known in
Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. (1952). Structure and function in
primitive society, essays and addresses. London: Christian theology as apologetics was the more
Cohen & West. popular approach to describing Christian faith in
Fundamental Theology 909 F
terms of categories drawn from other disciplines. Categories are not merely normative objectifi-
One classical source for traditional apologetics cations which arise spontaneously. Foundational
written from a Catholic perspective and published categories are authentic or worthwhile if they fol-
in 1910 is the four-volume Dictionnaire apologé low from transcendental method, a way of formu-
tique de la foi catholique. Fundamental theology is lating theology on the basis of a normative way of
different from apologetics in its methodological understanding self-consciousness. Lonergan inter-
clarity, its acknowledgement of cultural and reli- prets human intentional consciousness as
gious pluralism, and its lack of a defensive attitude a compound set of four distinct levels: empirical,
toward the findings of science. intellectual, rational, and responsible. ▶ Self-aware
Also referred to as “foundations” or “▶ founda- or self-transcendent intentional ▶ consciousness is
tional theology,” fundamental theology uses spe- the basic criterion for a theological method
cific interdisciplinary categories to identify and and hence the categories of fundamental theology. F
shape the meaning of theological doctrines and Fundamental theology needs to be rooted in
systematic theology. The categories of fundamental the theologian’s own awareness of his/her
theology identify conceptual frameworks through recurring, dynamic experiences, understandings,
which the diverse meanings of religious traditions judgments, and decisions as these are changed by
are expressed, at least heuristically. The practice of religious love.
fundamental theology nevertheless remains largely Karl Rahner is another theologian who con-
a Christian ecclesial and academic enterprise. curs that fundamental theology is a way of
Fundamental theology is often equated with sys- apprehending both faith and the general form of
tematic theology or doctrinal theology. However, it human experience. According to Rahner, general
is important to distinguish certain tasks that are human experience is already an experience and
specific to fundamental theology in order to avoid understanding of God because God’s creation of
confusion. Philosopher and theologian Bernard the world and of human beings renders all expe-
Lonergan argues that fundamental theology is rience in the world religiously suggestive. He
a set of tasks that follow from a personal commit- stipulates that “every ground of faith is also an
ment to a theological inquiry. Fundamental theol- object of faith, although the converse relationship
ogy does not precede personal commitments. In is not true (Rahner 1982).” Rahner, along with
this regard, fundamental theology resembles the Lonergan, shares an outlook that is termed “tran-
more traditional discourse of apologetics. However, scendental” for its resemblance to Kant’s philos-
as Lonergan and others conceive it, fundamental ophy, which stressed the conceptual frameworks
theology should engage with the history of particu- from which all human inquiry (but not Christian
lar traditions of textual interpretation. There are two conversion) invariably originate.
basic types of categories available to fundamental In contrast, British theologian Aidan Nichols
theologians, which are distinguished as general and specifies that fundamental theology addresses the
special categories. General categories refer to those question “What is faith based on?” a definition of
that are general in all human experience while fundamental theology that resembles apologetics.
special categories refer to those which arise from Leading twentieth-century Reformed, Protestant
what Lonergan terms “religiously differentiated theologian Karl Barth also claims that all
consciousness.” Special categories arise from theological categories must be at the service of
Christian religious, moral, and intellectual conver- revelation and be firstly informed by revelation.
sion by which he means the ways that Christian Contrary to the transcendentalist viewpoint,
faith guides and changes human living. Special Barth develops a fundamental theology that
theological categories are derived from the perspec- does not begin with human conceptual frame-
tive of one who is converted to a fundamental out- works, whether philosophical or theological. For
look of love, a religious horizon that nevertheless Barth and most evangelical theologians, God
allows that natural knowledge informs the ground communicates a message which is witnessed by
of faith. the Bible and identified with the person of Jesus
Christ. This way of understanding fundamental interdisciplinary outlook of systematic theology,

theology is rather different because of its insis- which aims to express an understanding of Chris-
tence on the divine origin of all theological cate- tian doctrine in the context of contemporary ques-
gories. For instance, the category of personhood tions and debates in church and society.
cannot be developed apart from the revelation of Fundamental theology is also distinct from church
the personality of God made known in the person, doctrines since it does not aim to explain God with
life, and death of Jesus Christ. reference to concepts adapted for use by the Chris-
The different directions taken by theologians tian church. Fundamental theology is thus seen as
in the mode of fundamental theology suggest a preface to the doctrinal task.
a divergence on two related questions – rational-
ity and revelation. On rationality, there is a basic
disagreement on whether a fundamental theology Self-Identification
draws on a shared epistemology with that of other
sciences and those of other religious traditions or The idea that theology is a science originates espe-
whether Christian theology springs from a unique cially with Thomas Aquinas and the medieval
kind of rationality. Taking the former perspec- scholastics in Western Europe. In the famous first
tive, many twentieth-century theologians hold article of his Summa theologiae, Aquinas asks
that critical realism is an epistemological outlook whether a theological science ought to be consid-
in which theology and the sciences affirm equiv- ered in addition to philosophy in making enquiries
alent qualities of objectivity through the use of about God. He answers his own question in the
inference, imagination, metaphor, and judgment. affirmative by saying: “Thus there is nothing to
But among those who adopt the latter perspective prevent another science from treating in the
are those philosophers and theologians who light of divine revelation what the philosophical
adhere to “▶ Reformed epistemology,” a view disciplines treat as knowable in the light of human
which claims that religious experience is suffi- reason.” (Summa theologiae, Ia, q. 1, a., ad 2).
cient by itself to justify certain beliefs so long as Theology, like the physical sciences, proceeds
the believer’s mind is functioning well, from a set of principles to discover and express
a sufficient warrant for those beliefs to be rational the properties of a certain object or set of objects.
and therefore plausible. In this case, the object of inquiry is God, but unlike
The other main issue in fundamental theology the philosopher’s sole resort to reason, Aquinas
is revelation, which, according to Avery Dulles, relies upon the sources contained in revelation,
can be modeled in five ways: as doctrine in itself, especially the principles he adduces from scripture.
as history, as dialectical presence, as inner expe- More recently, Thomas Torrance, a theologian
rience, or as a new form of awareness. Coherent in the Reformed tradition, has sketched an epis-
with most of these models of revelation is the temology whereby theological inquiry mirrors
experience of conversion, which is at the very scientific inquiry by taking place along three
least understood to be an experience of oneself levels. As science proceeds according to experi-
confronting a new and urgent reality. This expe- ence, theory, and an overall worldview, theology
rience of conversion is especially prominent in resembles this process by proceeding from wor-
the famous work by William James, The Varie- ship to creedal formulation to theological elabo-
ties of Religious Experience. As Barth’s theology ration. What renders theological science
shows, however, revelation is taken by theologi- decisively different however is the way this three-
cal realists to refer to an objective reality that fold activity correlates with God as a threefold
does not need prior qualification or conceptualiz- being. God’s revelation, revealed for us in medi-
ing within an originally human perspective. ated human form, is received and expressed by
Regardless of the positions adopted concerning the church in three ways – proclamation, cateche-
either rationality or revelation, the terms of funda- sis, and liturgy. In addition, Alister McGrath,
mental theology are not those of the explicit a British theologian and scientist, has completed
a three-volume study of scientific theology that scope and meaning of theological terms, includ-
outlines a fundamental theology on the basis of ing the Eucharist and moral doctrines. Evangeli-
key categories shared by scientists, notably the cal Protestants, on the other hand, have avoided
category of critical realism in epistemology. a natural metaphysics altogether until recently,
out of deference to the principle of sola scriptura
in theological method. Mainstream Protestant
Characteristics theologians, however, have relied on metaphysi-
cal categories, although their preferred categories
Fundamental theology reflects on the fundamen- have remained mainly historically oriented
tal justifications that are offered for interrelating schools of thought, such as Paul Tillich and Rud-
the four sources of theology – scripture, tradition, olf Bultmann’s reliance upon existentialist
reason, and (personal) experience. Whereas philosophy. F
systematic theology is a subdiscipline that Since 1960 especially, theologians have been
analyzes particular doctrines for their congruence increasingly inspired by the work of philosophers
or merit in light of scientific knowledge, funda- of science Stephen Toulmin, Thomas Kuhn, Imre
mental theology reflects on the methodological Lakatos and Michael Polanyi. Thinkers such as
presuppositions behind such proposals for Ian Barbour, Robert Russell, John Polkinghorne,
congruence and the basis for establishing their Arthur Peacocke, Thomas Torrance, Langdon
merit. Whereas doctrinal theology purports to Gilkey, Holmes Rolston, Wolfhart Pannenberg,
explain a theological reality on the basis of Ted Peters, John Haught, and Nancey Murphy to
a theoretical explanation, fundamental theology provide conceptual frameworks for fundamental
provides the grounds for that explanation, the theological inquiries based in part on the work of
general horizon of meaning within which those these philosophers of science. As a consequence,
doctrines are claimed. more fundamental theologies are taking into con-
sideration both philosophical and scientific per-
spectives in the orientation of theological
Relevance to Science and Religion concerns. Theology is being undertaken in new
ways that place greater emphasis on the scientific
Fundamental theology bears significant rele- significance of categories like “embodiment,”
vance to the field of science and religion which is an important feature of the Christian
inasmuch as fundamental theologians take an doctrine of the incarnation. Embodiment thus
active interest in metaphysical and natural or mediates a theology of the Incarnation and the
scientific categories that form the basis for further neuroscientific research into the relationship
theological reflection. Inasmuch as fundamental between the mind and body. This is
theologians are only interested in an interpreta- a fundamental inquiry that serves the doctrinal
tion of human history, the science and religion task of establishing the difference between divine
field is not implicated. The reliance upon and human persons. Another category that
a metaphysic and a philosophy of nature is often receives some attention is that of the “research
seen as counterintuitive for the theologian. For program,” a concept developed by philosopher of
instance, many Catholic theologians have inten- science Imre Lakatos and applied by some theo-
tionally avoided metaphysical categories since logians as a methodological tool to describe how
Vatican II because for them ▶ metaphysics is theology proceeds in a scientific manner.
associated strongly with the neoscholastic
approach that was taught in seminaries prior to
the 1960s. This approach strongly identified the Sources of Authority
philosophy of Thomas Aquinas with the natural
categories of substance, accident, potency, and The following English language academic
act, which were employed to determine the journals devote significant space for articles in
the field of fundamental theology: International prominent through the necessarily clarifying role of
Journal for Systematic Theology, Philosophy and philosophy in framing fundamental theological dis-
Theology: Marquette University Journal, Faith course. Coherence is a key value for establishing
and Philosophy (Society of Christian Philoso- the epistemological horizon and metaphysical
phers), Modern Theology, Theological Studies, grounds for doctrinal explanations and systematic
Gregorianum, Scottish Journal of Theology, theology, which is dedicated to a correlation or
Journal of the Evangelical Theology Society, comparison of doctrinal/creedal statements in light
and The Journal of Psychology and Theology. of other knowledge of the world.
Ethical Principles Conceptualization
Fundamental theology is not guided by any one Nature/World

particular ethical principle, although it is cer- Nature is conceptualized by many fundamental
tainly plausible to think of fundamental theology theologians as one pole within a dialectical
as a basic discourse of those who are committed understanding of reality, with God as the being
to expressing the implied ethics of the Christian who is the author of nature. Fundamental theol-
faith. Two principles, which stand out in the ogy is most interested in categories that deal with
history of Christian thought and in biblical texts, God and God’s communication to and in the
are the principles of beneficence (aid and com- world. Yet, nature is seen as playing a key role
passion directed toward others) and of reciprocity in describing what God is like. For fundamental
(do unto others as you would have them do unto theologians such as Thomas Aquinas, features of
you). A preethical or metaphysical principle with nature assist in helping us understand God anal-
significant moral implications is the principle that ogously and through telling us what God is not
human persons have unique ontological worth like (apophatic theology). In one of Thomas
and equal value before God. Especially important Aquinas’ arguments for the existence of God,
is the tradition of this principle in the history of the good that is known in nature can help us
the interpretation of the Genesis creation narra- understand the goodness and perfection of God.
tives. Yet, personhood is affected by the empiri- However, the finite limits of nature aid us in
cal studies that are cited in the science and understanding the infinity of the eternal God.
religion field on neuroscience and cognitive psy- Beyond analogous language, nature is also
chology. These disciplines, in a theological her- understood as having its own structure that fun-
meneutic, can contribute to the understanding of damental theologians deploy in their efforts to
persons as made in the image of God (imago dei). conceptualize God from the standpoint of crea-
The moral principles of beneficence and reciproc- tion, a genre of fundamental theology that is
ity are deeply impacted by evolutionary psychol- identified as natural theology. In natural theology
ogy studies in kin selection and altruism. that is affected by the science and religion field,
the concepts of emergence and creativity, com-
plexity science, and the disciplines of cosmology
Key Values and mathematics bear more weight in communi-
cating the order and patterns that one would
The key values of fundamental theology are unity expect to see in the world if there is a God.
and coherence. The value of unity is implied
through the commitment of fundamental theolo- Human Being
gians to categories that take into account concepts In order to present a portrait of fundamental
and historically identifiable priorities from the four anthropology, theologians adopt certain motifs
theological sources of scripture, tradition, reason, or concepts to account for why human beings
and experience. Reason becomes somewhat more are spiritually and religiously oriented. Karl
Rahner developed the idea that human beings are Knowledge
“the hearers of the Word.” That is, human beings Fundamental theologians view their task as the
are created with the precise relational, communi- establishment of grounds for doctrinal and sys-
cative, and value-seeking capacity to which tematic theological affirmations. Knowledge in
God’s revelation is a response. Going on the this view entails the employment of analogies,
paleoanthropological record, other thinkers inferences, metaphors, interpretive tools, allego-
beginning with Teilhard de Chardin and more ries, and moral frameworks in order to set out the
recently, J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, have shown basic categories for fundamental theology. This
that human beings are inherently religious diversity of methodological tools differentiates
beings. Inherent religiosity is linked with sym- theology from the natural sciences, which rely
bolic communication and the moral disposition to on a complex set of deductive and inductive
expand an evolutionary epistemology that does inferences, experimental, and verification tech- F
not reduce our cognitive and emotional capacities niques. While the frameworks constructed by
to being survival mechanisms. the mind are the only subjective means to knowl-
edge, the authenticity of that subjective media-
Person tion is a guarantee of the achievement of
See “Ethical Principles” objectivity that is, in turn, subject to ongoing
revisions at the level of fundamental categories,
Life and Death doctrines, and systematic theology.
Fundamental theologians see life as a creation of
God and the gift that God has given in anticipa- Truth
tion of a response. Such a response is solicited Seen through the prism of Pontius Pilate’s ques-
from humanity in the form of faith. Death is thus tion to Jesus in Matt. 18:38 “What is truth?”
understood not as the end but as the potential Christian theologians have understood truth to
passage to eventual new life. Fundamental theol- be a fundamental category with which the
ogy already has recourse to the general category claims of Christian faith are concerned. Follow-
of hope and cognate concepts to initially express ing the debates over critical realism and objec-
what is meant by the traditional doctrine of tivity in theological knowledge, fundamental
heaven. This new life is characterized as theologians believe that truth claims are made
a corporate reality by most contemporary Chris- in doctrinal statements. However, hermeneuti-
tian fundamental theologians. This corporate cal, historical, and linguistic critiques over
aspect of new life is seen as a corrective to foundationalism ensue. The problem of
many historical and contemporary individualistic foundationalism raises the critical realist debate
interpretations of heaven or afterlife. which is exemplified in the statement: Are we
granted some immediate access to the truth of
Reality particular states of affairs? Following the tradi-
Fundamental theologians understand reality to be tion of Friedrich Schleiermacher, the answer is
grasped as a given that exists prior to the human no because the truth of any religious claim is
experience of it and as the spatiotemporal work of a function of personal interiority, of religious
an eternal God. But in light of the methodological emotions, and of self-consciousness. Following
success of the natural sciences since the seven- the critical realism of fundamental theologians
teenth century, fundamental theologians increas- in the Thomist, Reformed, evangelical tradi-
ingly view the selection of general and special tions, and among those influenced by the sci-
theological categories in critical realist terms. ence-theology dialogue, truth is expressed by
Reality is assumed to be given but known, as Christian beliefs even though the linguistic
the philosopher Immanuel Kant emphasized, expressions of Christian faith in beliefs and doc-
through our own categories and conceptual trines undergo developments in tandem with
frameworks. cultural developments.
Time science-religion discourse. The first is the ques-

At issue here is whether we understand temporal- tion of the “laws of nature.” For fundamental
ity as a part of God. Traditional models of God theology, this question has become intensified
place eternity and time as conceptually dialecti- ever since philosopher David Hume expressed
cal. Karl Barth builds on this opposition in his twin doubts over whether physical phenomena
own “dialectical theology.” Augustine and are actually caused and whether miracles exist,
Thomas Aquinas concur by describing God’s preferring to think of miracles as implausible
eternity as timeless. On the other hand, beginning violations of a law of nature. To this day, the
with the Cappadocian Fathers in the early church, question of miracles persists among fundamental
other traditions in Christian theology have theologians as possible events conceptualized as
stressed the temporal character of the Christian exceptions to the regularities described by the
God, going on the presentation of God as a trinity laws of nature. This view lies contrary to the
of persons. On this reading, change, relation, consensus among many western Protestants
incarnation, and spiration connote a temporal since Schleiermacher (d. 1834) that a miracle is
character to God’s being. Thus, some fundamen- “simply the religious name for event.” What mat-
tal theologians speak of God’s eternity as the ters for advocates of this view is neither the
“fullness of time.” objective character of laws of nature nor the
grounds for establishing whether those laws
Rationality/Reason have been violated but rather the subjective per-
See “Description” spective on nature taken by individuals. Yet,
a resolution of interpreting miracles depends, in
Mystery fact, upon a prior resolution of the meaning of the
The categories of fundamental theology are “laws of nature.”
intended to help us grasp the mystery of God as Throughout most of its history, Christian theo-
an objective reality in its many facets. Mystery is logians have contested that the reality of nature’s
one of the basic fundamental theological categories, laws matters as a form of testimony to God’s
and Augustine speaks of it from its basic anthropo- creation. Beginning in the Middle Ages within
logical perspective when he claims that humans are Christian theology and among Islamic philoso-
a mystery unto themselves. With the human ana- phers as well during this time, the question arose
logue as a starting point, fundamental theologians whether it was fitting for God to intervene in the
speak of the mystery of God. Mystery is further natural processes of creation which God
taken as a conclusion to cognitive psychological established in the first place. Theological volunta-
studies from which theology may begin its reflec- rists have affirmed the distinct possibility of God
tion on the human experience of transcendence. being one who is able to willingly intervene. Wil-
Bernard Lonergan approaches the mystery of God liam of Ockham (1285 ca. – 1347), through his
by speaking of the mystery that is experienced in opposition to Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas’ the-
our encounter with the realm of transcendence, ology, attacked the idea of things having common
a conscious experience. Paul Tillich, by virtue of essences. Instead, he substituted the natural inde-
his method of correlation, sees mystery, mystical pendence of natural laws with the idea of God’s
experience, and transcendence as the ties that relate total omnipotence and freedom. The world, as
general human existential categories with special a created reality, is dependent upon God’s will,
Christian categories, understood as symbolic. not independent natural laws. Today, the theolog-
ical affirmation of the laws of nature is set against
the view that nature and its laws constitute
Relevant Themes a necessary reality opposed to God’s power.
Whether through statistical probabilities, evolu-
Three themes are especially critical for tionary chance, or other natural process which
a fundamental theology in the context of the depend on lower order physical laws, fundamental
theologians such as Keith Ward see natural laws as world’s natural processes. On that assumption,
the structures within which God’s purposes are there is a sharp choice to be made between
forged. Miracles are thus allowed because they a compatibilist and an incompatibilist view of
are seen not as violations but rather as transforma- the relationship between the laws of nature and
tions of natural laws, foreshadowing or echoing divine action. A compatibilist view sees God as
the spiritual foundations of created reality. working through nature, on which science can
A second theme that characterizes the work of give an account, provided that this account is
fundamental theology is the issue of divine action. understood as pertaining to secondary causes,
Robert J. Russell of the Center for Theology and not the ultimate “primary” cause of the world
Natural Sciences (Berkeley, CA., USA) is a lead- and everything within it. Thomas Aquinas pro-
ing proponent for the view of God as an objective, vides the most significant compatibilist account
noninterventionist actor in nature and history. of divine action based on his inheritance of F
Divine action is understood to be problematic not Aristotle’s philosophy of nature. On the other
in the sense of God’s general providence, as hand, an incompatibilist view stipulates that
a creator God, but in the sense of God’s special God’s action in the world be given some kind of
providence, which is a way of speaking about evidential demonstration. An incompatibilist sees
God’s ongoing relationship and communication an inherent potential conflict between the claims
with the creation. The view that God is an objec- of divine action in the world and the scientific
tive actor whose action is still noninterventionist is web of explanations for the world.
meant to counter the prevailing influence of two A third theme that has appeared in the work of
older views about God’s action in the world: a number of fundamental theologians is the con-
(1) that God’s action is objective and therefore cept of process, a category which made its initial
intervenes in the laws of nature or (2) that God’s important impact through the work of philoso-
action is subjectively felt by humans only and God pher Alfred N. Whitehead and later, theologian
does not need to intervene in the laws of nature. John Cobb and then Ian Barbour, who is regarded
Both of these older views are discredited to the as an early founder of the science-religion dia-
extent that they each presuppose a mechanical, logue in the United States. Barbour has been
deterministic portrait of the laws of nature. a strong advocate of the category of process,
Interpreting the laws of nature is widely seen as conceived as a form of society or network within
ultimately important for fundamental theological which God is a cosmic leader. Process is deliber-
categories. Implied with regard to whether God ately viewed as an alternative way of modeling
acts in the world are the fundamental categories of God and nature in contrast with the hierarchical
communication and revelation. If God is and monarchical models that characterized tradi-
communicating with human beings in the world tional Christian models for God and nature.
through the biblical witness, the person of Jesus Accordingly, Whitehead termed God as “the
Christ, and so on, does this communication simply poet of the world” (Whitehead 1978). Charles
bypass biological, chemical, and other laws of Hartshorne is another process philosopher
nature? Does this communication imply an objec- whose concept of God has been influential
tive intervention in the laws of nature (option 1), is among fundamental theologians, especially in
it merely subjectively felt through the mediation of light of his analogy for the God-World relation-
nature (option 2), or is God’s communication made ship as like that which exists between the human
possible by the laws of nature while being both mind and the body. The basic intuition of process
objective and noninterventionist (option 3)? theology in this regard is that God is internal to
While no consensus over divine action in or the natural process of the universe, an idea which
through the laws of nature yet exists, there is provides science and religion with a means for
general acknowledgement of a related problem articulating the overall coherence of nature, his-
concerning divine action, a problem which arises tory, and God’s personal revelation. Critics on the
on the assumption of a causal closure within the other hand claim that process is neither amenable
F 916 Fundamentalism
to science nor to theology, or at least classical Pannenberg, W. (1990). Metaphysics and the idea of God
theology, and so it is a category that cannot be (trans: Clayton, P.). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B.
Eerdmans.
verified or falsified according to either scientific Rahner, K. (1982). Foundations of Christian faith: An
practice or theological tradition. introduction to the idea of Christianity. New York:
Crossroad.
Rahner, K., & Vorgrimler, H. (1988). Dictionary of theology
(2nd ed.). New York: Crossroad.
Cross-References Russell, R. J., et al. (1988). Physics, philosophy and the-
ology: A common quest for understanding.
▶ Concept of God in Contemporary Philosophy Vatican City State/Notre Dame, IN: Vatican Observa-
of Religion tory/University of Notre Dame Press.
Russell, R. J. (1993). Quantum cosmology and the laws of
▶ Hermeneutics, Theological nature: scientific perspectives on divine action. Berke-
▶ Historical Theology ley, CA/Vatican City State: CTNS & Vatican Obser-
▶ Meaning, the Concept of vatory/University of Notre Dame Press.
▶ Natural Theology Russell, R. J. (1995). Chaos and complexity. Berkeley, CA/
Vatican City State/Notre Dame, IN: CTNS & Vatican
▶ Philosophy of Religion Observatory/University of Notre Dame Press.
▶ Practical Theology Russell, R. J. (1998). Evolutionary and molecular
▶ Revelation biology: Scientific perspectives on divine action.
▶ Systematic Theology CTNS & Vatican Observatory/University of Notre
Dame Press.
Russell, R. J. (1999). Neuroscience and the person: Scien-
tific perspectives on divine action, CTNS & Vatican
Observatory/University of Notre Dame Press.
References Shanks, A. (2007). Faith in honesty. The essential nature
of theology. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
Aquinas, T. (1964–1973). Summa theologiae. Blackfriars Torrance, T. F. (1969). Theological science. Oxford:
(edn.), (Vol. 60). Cambridge: Blackfriars/New York: Oxford University Press.
McGraw Hill. Tracy, D. (1981). The analogical imagination: Christian
Barbour, I. (1991). Religion and science: Historical theology and the culture of pluralism. New York:
and contemporary issues. New York: Harper Crossroad.
San Francisco. Vanhoozer, K. (2002). First theology: God, scripture and
Bracken, J. (2001). The one in the many: A reconstruction hermeneutics. Downers Grove, IL: IV Press.
of the God-world relationship. Grand Rapids, MI: Ward, K. (1996). God, chance and necessity. Oxford:
W.B. Eerdmans. Oneworld.
Crowe, F. E. S. J. (1978). Theology of the Christian world: Whitehead, A. N. (1978). Process and reality (p. 346).
A study in Christian history. New York: Paulist Press. New York: The Free Press.
d’Alès, A. dir. (1910). Dictionnaire Apologétique de la foi William, J. (1999). The varieties of religious experience.
catholique. Paris: Beauchesne. New York: Random House (Modern Library edn.).
Dulles, A. (1983). Models of revelation. Garden City, NY:
Doubleday.
Huchingson, J. E., & Tremendum, P. (2001). Chaos and
mystery in the life of God. Cleveland, Oh: Pilgrim Press.
Lonergan, B. (1971). Method in theology. New York:
Seabury Press.
Marshall, B. (2000). Trinity and truth. Cambridge, UK:
Fundamentalism
McGrath, A. (2002–2003). A scientific theology, Vols. Catharina Stenqvist1 and Anne L. C. Runehov2
1–3. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans. 1
Centre for Theology and Religious Studies,
Moore, A. (2003). Realism and Christian faith.
Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2
Nichols, A. (1988) What is theology? New Blackfriars Department of Systematic Theology,
69(819), 383–392, 388. Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark
O’Collins, G. & Latourelle, R. (1982). Problems and per-
spectives of fundamental theology (trans: O’Connell,
M. J.). New York: Paulist Press.
Pannenberg, W. (1991). Systematic theology (Vol. 1). This concept received its name from the
Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans. American journal The Fundamentals which
Fundamentalism 917 F
appeared between the years 1910 and 1915, The Gap-creationism, Day-Age creationism, Progres-
fundamentals were branch of American Protes- sive creationism, Evolutional creationism and
tantism but took the scripture literary. In Scientific creationism.
other words, whatever is written in the Bible is
true, for example, that God created heaven and
Earth in 6 days. The term fundamentalism is now
used in different ways. Closed to the original References
meaning is ▶ Creationism (Ewald 1999; Beskow
Runehov, A. L. C. (2012). Om religiös respektive
1999). There are different forms of religious fun-
vetenskaplig fundamentalism. In: Att Undervisa om
damentalism, Flat-Earthism, Geocentrism, Young religion och vetenskap, (Eds.), Olof Franck och Mikael
Earth creationism, Old Earh creationism, Stenmark (pp. 113–136). Lund: Studentliteratur.
F
G
Game Theory cooperation and conflict through game theory,

and in 2007, Hurwicz, Maskin and Myerson
Conrado Manuel obtained the Prize for their contributions to the
Department of Statistics and Operational mechanism design theory and, in 2012, Shapley
Research III, Facultad de Estudios Estadı́sticos, and Roth were awarded for his work, theoretical
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, and empirical, respectively, explaining the
Spain market behaviour.
Related Terms Self-Identification
Theory of games Science

Game theory is an area of mathematics and thus
has self-identified as a formal science. This clas-
Description sification is a consequence of the debate under
which some thinkers admit mathematicians are
Game theory is a set of mathematical models and scientists for whom the experiments are the math-
techniques developed to analyze interactive deci- ematical proofs while others do not see mathe-
sion processes, to identify optimal strategies, and matics as a science since it is not necessary to
to predict the outcomes of these interactions. experimentally test the theories, as formulas and
From the beginning, game theory found interest- theorems are logically obtained from a set of
ing applications in the social sciences, especially axioms. The knowledge of the theory of games
in economics, but in the warfare too. The seminal is similar to empirical sciences in that it involves
work in this field is debt to John von Neumann a systematic study of a discipline: the interactive
and Oskar Morgenstern. In 1944, their book decision process, in this case. But it differs
Theory of Games and Economic Behavior because it uses a priori rather than empirical
established game theory as a field. During the methods. Nevertheless as a formal science, it is
last two decades, the advances in this discipline vital to empirical sciences. The advances in game
have been recognized with several Nobel Prizes theory have lead to major advances in natural and
in Economic Sciences. In 1994, Nobel Prize was social sciences: economics, sociology, politics,
awarded to Nash (Nash equilibrium), Harsanyi biology, philosophy, and psychology and even
(Bayesian games), and Selten (subgame perfect in how people think and act.
equilibrium). Aumann and Schelling got the 2005 As it is said, game theory was initially devel-
Prize for having enhanced our understanding of oped to understand firms, markets, and

G 920 Game Theory
consumers’ behavior, but its use has expanded. areas of mathematics. Just as understanding spa-
Now it is applied too in political science (social or tial relations motivated geometry or to under-
public choice, fair division, war bargaining, polit- stand the uncertainty motivated probability, the
ical economy), biology (evolutionary game the- theory of games is born to understand the com-
ory, fighting behavior, biological altruism), plexity of the interactions among individuals and
philosophy (interactive epistemology, ethics, the economic behavior. Nevertheless, its use
psychological egoism), computer science (inter- nowadays has expanded. Moreover, game theory
active computations, multiagent systems, online is a distinct way of thinking within mathematics
algorithms, computational complexity), and logic and economics. Compare the intuition of game
(game semantics). theory in the optimization process with the tradi-
tional approaches. Because of this special intui-
Religion tion, it generates tools and techniques that are
This discipline is, within mathematics, a formal relevant to other areas of mathematics, econom-
science devoted to analyze the conflicts in which ics, and sociology or philosophy.
each actor’s success depends on the choices of the
others. The aim of game theory is to tell us what
the best strategies are to produce a positive out- Relevance to Science and Religion
come in a conflict situation. For many individ-
uals, religion is useful in the sense that they From Pascal’s wager, game theory is interested in
follow the religious norms to conduct themselves science and religion. The Pascal’s wager belongs
in order to live positive lives. In recent years to decision theory, a branch of game theory, and
some scholars have thought that, if game theory gives the different outcomes of the strategies of
is really valid, it must necessarily have some the atheist and the believer in mathematical
connections between the solutions proposed by terms. It is the most famous Christian apologetic
the theory and the moral behavior derived from game. But game theory is a powerful way of
trusting in God. thinking to be used by religion apologetics:
• Prisoner’s dilemma has an outcome that
agrees with the traditional Christian morality.
Characteristics • Religion responses to reality and morality can
be explained by game theory and evolutionary
Game theory differs from the other areas of math- psychology in terms of strategic behavior.
ematics in several aspects. • There are many scholars that use the rational
First, game theory has a significant role to play choice in economics to understand religious
in almost every branch of science and for many behavior.
scholars can be considered the language for social • The mathematics of evolutionary game theory
sciences. Moreover, scientists have two different helps us to study the emergence of altruistic
points of view using game theory. Those (specially behavior, forgiveness, and unselfish love.
economists) who interpret game theory in terms of
revealed preference theory regard game theory as
the part of mathematics that permits to model Sources of Authority
process with the objective of maximizing a utility
function. Other scholars look at normative aspects The sources of authority in this discipline are
of game theory which, for them, provide an mathematicians and economists interested in
explanatory account of strategic reasoning. In developing a rationality useful for the analysis
this case, the game theory logic is used to recom- of interactive behavior. In 1838, Cournot in his
mend several actions as the rational ones. book Recherches sur les Principes mathé
Second, game theory is a way of thinking that matiques de la Théorie des Richesses
is distinct from the modes of thought in other (Researches into the Mathematical Principles of
Game Theory 921 G
the Theory of Wealth) considered the problem of awarded for their contributions to explain the
duopoly and introduced a solution that is market behavior from a game theoretical
a particular case of the concept of equilibrium approach.
defined by Nash a century after. In 1938, Borel in
Applications aux Jeux de Hasard (Applications to
Hazard Games) proved the minimax theorem for Ethical Principles
two-person zero-sum matrix games (only for the
case of symmetric payoffs). Nevertheless, it is Even in its origins, game theory was based on
considered that the foundational work in game individualist ideas, especially in the environ of
theory is debt to the mathematician John von zero-sum games but also in the definition of the
Neumann. This work culminated in the book value for cooperative coalitions in a TU game;
that he wrote with the economist Oskar today Game Theory has already contributed to
Morgenstern, Theory of Games and Economic the study of collective choice and of certain kind
Behavior (1944). of “fairness”; it may be helpful in clarifying those G
The 1950s was ages in which game theorists ethical constrains that affect people’s expecta-
developed many interesting contributions: the tions about each other and in working out the
prisoner’s dilemma (this game has fascinated social-behavioral implications of different ethi-
them and scholars of different disciplines from cal systems. Examples are lying, breaking prom-
its definition), the Nash equilibrium, the concept ises, coercive threats and the possible social
solution for cooperative games or TU games inefficiency of selfishness or altruism (Shelling
known as the core, the extensive form of the 1968, page 34).
games, the repeated games, and the Shapley Considering the influence and use of game
value (the most famous point solution for TU theory in ethics, it is possible to distinguish
games). Moreover, the first applications to polit- three types of contributions in the literature:
ical science and philosophy appeared. (a) The contribution functionalist under which
In 1965, Selten introduced a refinement of the the function of morality is analyzed. The con-
Nash equilibrium concept, the subgame perfect sequences (problems, paradoxes, and
equilibrium. dilemmas) that would occur in the absence
Later, he refined this new idea introducing the of morality are described and, simultaneously
trembling-hand perfect equilibrium as well. remedial to avoid them, are prescribed.
Harsanyi, in 1967, introduced the concepts of (b) The second one comes from the evolutionary
complete information and Bayesian games. Nash, game theory and concludes that morality is
Harsanyi, and Selten obtained the 1994 Nobel the unintended side effect of the interaction
Prize. of agents, emerging as an evolutionary stable
Another great step was done in the 1970s strategy from a series of repeated interactions
when Maynard Smith applied game theory to between small groups of actors.
biology introducing the evolutionary games and (c) The so-called contractarianism that uses
the concept of evolutionary stable strategies. At bargaining theory to establish the social con-
this time, the ideas of common knowledge and tract theory under which rational agents agree
correlated equilibrium appeared. with norms and political institutions under
In 2005, Schelling and Aumann became Eco- suitable conditions.
nomics Nobel laureates: Schelling, because of his We cannot avoid mentioning the implications
work in dynamic models, and Aumann, because that the results of game theory have on the behav-
of his contributions to the equilibrium theory. ioral recommendations of moral theorists. As
In 2007, Myerson, Hurwicz and Maskin there exist in many models and especially in
obtained the Economics Nobel Prize for having repeated games a great variety of equilibria,
lead the foundation of mechanism design theory game theory has reason to contradict moral theo-
and, finally, in 2012, Roth and Shapley were rists that claim generality, universality, and
G 922 Game Theory
uniqueness for their specific recommendations. that can involve to distinguish between the out-
Moreover, in any population we can assume and comes of individual and collective rationality,
accept determinate mixes of individuals with dif- selfishness, and altruism.
ferent behavioral dispositions. This is the frame-
work in which strategies (and particularly the Life and Death
ethic ones) evolve. Life is conceptualized as the presence of physical
Finally, a classical criticism to the relation functions. These functions appear as an optimiz-
between game theory and ethics is that the man ing process based on the fitness. Death is not
proposed by game theory is completely charac- conceptualized in game theory.
terized in his decisions by his ranking of prefer-
ences over outcomes, and thus, moral distinctions Reality
have no place in this portrait. Reality is considered as the environment in which
interactions occur and actors develop their strat-
egies and obtain their outcomes. The reality is
Key Values then viewed as something strategic where all
players involved try to optimize its rewards.
The key of game theory is to analyze the behavior
of actors in conflict situations, helping them to Knowledge
adopt useful strategies. The normative point of Knowledge is the amount of information the
game theory prescribes efficient strategies that in actors can retrieve as a consequence of their
many situations lead to an ethical behavior. It is participation in the interactive conflicts. It is iden-
possible to say with confidence that game theory tified with information and can be partial or com-
is the most important tool whenever analyzing plete. The concept of information, the different
situations in which the best action of each actor possibilities that are given to actors, and the
depends on the best actions of the rest. changes that are introduced in games are of
Besides its initial conception as a method to extreme importance in the description and pre-
thinking of conflict situations, today its applica- scription of behavior in game theory.
bility has spread to a wide set of areas as political
science, philosophy, logic, or biology and includ- Truth
ing models not only for human behavior but also Truth is not seen in game theory as a supreme
for nonhumans as computers or irrational concept but as a relative one. Truth is the reality
animals. of each interaction, the mathematical model used
to describe it. But this model changes if the envi-
ron changes too. Nevertheless, in all cases it used
Conceptualization the truth of mathematics to obtain the solution or
solutions that are considered rational.
Nature/World
Nature is conceptualized as the biological foun- Perception
dation of our planet in which all processes occur. Perception is conceptualized as the information
World compresses the material space where all that actors receive from the actions taken by other
interactions take place, and thus, it is the frame- actors. Sometimes players can know the strategy
work in which actors interact and in which theory of the others, and sometimes they only perceive
of game models can serve to explain or to pre- the outcome corresponding to the use of this
scribe player’s behavior. strategy. Of course, the perception is related to
the information that players have, and as
Human Being a consequence, the reality is assumed to change
The human being is considered individually completely as a function of the perception and
rational and having the capacity to take decisions information. Some optimal behavior with certain
Game Theory 923 G
type of perception can be a disaster if the infor- hyperrationality is not now as central in game
mation differs. Recently, different game theoret- theory as in the past.
ical models, in which misperception is Finally, different models assuming subjective
considered, are developed to analyze the behav- rationality are considered in game theory. Under
ioral implications and even the possibility of evo- subjective rationality, agents are assumed to
lutionary advantage. choose the behavior that maximizes their per-
ceived payoffs.
Time
Time too plays a central role in game theory. Mystery
Interactive processes change deeply on the basis Mystery in game theory is this type of dilemma or
of the conceptualization of time. Things can be paradox that can describe problems in conflicts but
very different if players take their decisions for which a normative prescription is of very diffi-
simultaneously or sequentially or when the cult implementation. Typical examples are the
game is a static one instead of a repeated-in- prisoner’s dilemma (individual vs. collective ratio- G
time one. Also different models are developed nality), the mystery of Talmud (division of insuffi-
in which time is discrete, but others are consider- cient funds of a dead man among his creditors), and
ing continuous time. the battle of the sexes (how a man and a woman can
agree in the case of opposite interests).
Consciousness
The consciousness in this discipline coincides
with the perception and information that players Relevant Themes
have of the others and others’ actions.
A critical aspect of game theory regarding “science
Rationality and religion” is to explain the religious responses to
At its origins, game theory was created assuming reality. Science and religion have often been placed
a very high rationality of the actors involved in in the opposite sides of rationality spectrum. Nev-
conflicts of interests. Agents then act with the aim ertheless, in recent years the former tries to approach
of maximizing their outcomes. As in the real the latter, explaining its existence. So, some scholars
world, sometimes this behavior leads to conflicts are interested in taking into account the hypothesis
with the collective behavior (rationality) of God refusing the very famous answer of Laplace
appearing paradoxes or dilemmas such as the to Napoleon when this one showed his surprise by
prisoner’s one. On the other hand, experimental the fact that a large book on the system of the
results in applied sciences have shown that the universe was written by Laplace having never men-
behavior of real human subjects cannot be tioned its creator: “I have no need of that hypothe-
described under this strong rationality. In exper- sis.” Experiments are done to prove that, in general,
imental situations, the lack of transitivity of pref- people trust more in those who believe in God, to
erences and some behavior that ignores the establish the links among different religions and the
typical assumptions involved in the solution of relation between the level of cooperation and
games is relatively frequent. whether such cooperation brings collective benefits
From the 1970s, the evolutionary game theory not only to the religious community but to those
developed by Maynard Smith successfully outside it. Based on the results of these studies,
explains the stability of certain behavior of irra- many scholars argue that religion promotes fitness
tional animals. Moreover, this evolutionary game as a consequence of within-group collaboration,
theory has expanded its applicability to topics a typical idea of evolutionary games.
that include altruism, moral and social behavior Wright (2009), using a game theoretical point of
or signaling systems, and private property con- view, argues that religion is a rational response to
flicts, to name only a few. So we can conclude nonzero encounters, those in which all actors can
that the original assumption of actors’ win. Primitive men tended to view worthy of moral
G 924 Games, Computer
consideration only the members of their tribe. As the entertainment using a computing device as
cooperative interactions expanded to other clans, the a medium. Most recent developments are cen-
moral considerations affect different ethnic groups, tered around the introduction of new genres
then nations, and finally all human beings. and new forms of play made possible by
In sum, the use of game theory, in this context, advancing technology. Relatively new genres
tries to emphasize an economic interpretation of include first person shooters, simulation
the religious behavior: people want rewards from games, and serious games. The most signifi-
low costs. cant recent development has been the intro-
duction of motion sensing game controllers,
which have made new forms of game play
Cross-References possible by allowing the game to act using
the player’s movements.
▶ Collective Behavior
▶ Graph Theory
▶ Mathematics, Modern Self-identification
▶ Utilitarianism Science
Computer games are art forms – they are
designed to trigger emotions such as happiness,
References anger, and fear – and therefore, do not identify
with science. Computer games do utilize science
Shelling, T. C. (1968). Game theory and the study of from computer programming, psychology, and
ethical systems. Journal of Conflict Resolution,
economics, among other disciplines, in their
12(1), 34–44.
Von Neumann, J., & Morgenstern, O. (1944). The theory development.
of games and economic behavior. Princeton: Princeton
University Press. Religion
Wright, R. (2009). The evolution of god. New York: Little,
There is some relationship between computer
Brown and Company.
games and religion. Many computer games –
role-playing games, in particular – include refer-
ences to religion. Computer games occasionally
Games, Computer feature religion in a central role; the active
subdiscipline of Christian video games is
Evan Drumwright a product of the intersection of computer games
Computer Science Department, The George with religion.
Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
Characteristics
Related Terms
As art forms, computer games are inherently dis-
Computer science; Console games; PC games; tinct from the majority of other disciplines in
Video games Computer Science; Fractal Art (i.e., creating
fractal artwork with computers) is a similar
distinctive discipline that combines art with
Description Computer Science. Computer games are also
interactive by nature (unlike Fractal Art), and
Computer games are art forms, which encom- nearly universally contain components for fun,
pass nearly all forms of interactive learning, or both.
Games, Computer 925 G
Relevance to Science and Religion can be grouped into blogs and online-only
periodicals.
Computer games may see itself relevant to the
interaction between science and religion when
a computer game incorporates this theme into Ethical Principles
the play. A recent game that includes this theme
is Spore. Computer games require significant production
effort, and their development is typically
restricted to commercial entertainment studios,
Sources of Authority large academic laboratories, and government
institutions. Adherence to ethical guidelines is
Computer game development is a relatively new generally not of interest to the institution that
phenomenon. There are, as of yet, no authorita- develops the game; financial and public relations
tive journals dedicated to computer game devel- interests are dominant. The lack of ethical guide- G
opment. However, the Game Developer’s lines occasionally results in games like Muslim
Conference (which concentrates solely on Massacre (Clarke 2008) and RapeLay (Alexan-
video games) presents advanced techniques der 2009), which feature themes that are distaste-
used to create the latest games. This conference, ful to the general public. The issue of ethics
which is recognized as the largest annual gath- within computer games is being studied by
ering of video game developers, was first held in some scientists (Sicart 2009).
1988. A European version of this conference –
Game Developer’s Conference Europe – was
formed in 2001. Key Values
Several trade publications also provide
information for game developers. The most As art forms, computer games are capable of
prominent print and online publications in this representing the most magnanimous and also
area are Game Developer Magazine, most base human behavior; as such, there are no
Gamasutra, MCV, and GamesIndustry.biz. The values intrinsic to the discipline.
oldest periodical in this area, Play Meter,
focuses on the coin-operating gaming industry,
but also contains news of interest to game Conceptualization
developers.
Video game universities also serve as an Nature/World
authority for video game development. Such Nature has no discipline-specific definition, so
“universities” consist of both dedicated institu- the definition remains “the non-man-made
tions (e.g., DigiPen Institute of Technology, Full world around us, including plants, animals, and
Sail University) and schools within traditional geography.” A world is the player’s environment
universities (e.g., “The Guildhall” at Southern within a video game (in the context of many
Methodist University, the Interactive Media adventure and role-playing games), a planet (in
Division at the University of Southern the context of space-faring games), or both.
California).
For consumers, periodicals and websites Human Being
are the sources of authority on this discipline Within computer games, the term human beings
and typically contain reviews of video games, is typically used to distinguish players of the
rumors of impending video game releases, and species Homo Sapiens from other – typically
publicity for games that are soon to be mythical – anthropomorphic creatures, including
released. The consumer-oriented websites dwarves, elves, and giants.
G 926 Games, Computer
Life and Death by an inability of the player to perceive the

Life may be a commodity in the genres of action environment) if the character is injured too
and shooter games; three to five “lives” – which heavily (e.g., the recent shooter game
are expended when a player “dies” by taking too Killstrike).
much damage from enemies, traps, falls, etc. –
are typically allocated to the player in games that Rationality/Reason
use this system. Origins of life are not considered, Good sense and sound reason, a sound motive (no
unless this component is made a theme of the discipline-specific definition).
game (as in the game Spore).
Mystery
Reality In the context of computer games, mystery is
Reality, in the context of computer games, is a component of some adventure games
typically the player’s real environment (external (e.g., Myst).
to the game).
Knowledge Relevant Themes

The sum of what is known (no discipline-specific
definition). Computer games have the ability to engage reli-
gion, in both positive and negative ways, via
Truth religion’s portrayal within the game (e.g., Clarke
Accuracy, a verified fact, or conformance to real- 2008). Respect for religious beliefs has generally
ity (no discipline-specific definition). been treated carefully by computer game devel-
opers in the relatively short history of computer
Perception games.
Perception is the understanding of sensory infor-
mation by humans; the computer game acts as
a medium between the virtual environment and Cross-References
the human, so the game is able to skew the
human’s perception of this environment. ▶ Brains, Artificial and Computational
▶ Collective Behavior
Time ▶ Control Theory
Time is the measurement of the number of repe- ▶ Cyborgs
titions of a cyclical event (e.g., the oscillations of ▶ Game Theory
a crystal). In the natural world, units of time and ▶ Robot Programming
time of day are typically determined using the
speed of the rotation of the Earth as a standard
reference. Within computer games, time is gen- References
erally not synchronized to the actual time of day
(flight simulation games can be an exception); Alexander, L. (2009). Should the United States ban
RapeLay, a Japanese “rape simulator” game? Slate
time within computer games may be scaled such
Magazine. http://www.slate.com/id/2213073/.
that more or fewer units of time pass within the Accessed 9 Mar 2009.
same period as passed in the external world. Clarke, J. (2008). “Muslim massacre” computer game
condemned. The Independent. http://www.indepen-
dent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/muslim-
Consciousness
massacre-computer-game-condemned-926085.html.
In the context of some action and shooter Accessed 11 Sept 2008.
computer game genres, a player’s human Sicart, M. (2009). The ethics of computer games. Cam-
character may lose consciousness (illustrated bridge: MIT Press.
Geography in Islam 927 G
Gautama Buddha Geography in Islam
▶ Buddha (Historical) James E. Montgomery

Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies, University of
Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Gene
Rudi D’Hooge and Detlef Balschun Related Terms

Laboratory of Biological Psychology,
Department of Psychology, Katholieke Astronomy; Cartography; Chorography;
Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Cosmography; Geodesy
G
Commonly defined as the basic unit of heredity. Description
Also, a stretch of DNA that encodes a sequence of
amino acids for a protein. The textual consolidation of Muslim geographical
knowledge began in the ninth century (under the
patronage of the Abbasid dynasty, r. 750–1258) and
persisted until the demise of the Ottoman Empire.
Gene Flow This fluid and compendious body of knowledge,
which included geodesy (al-Biruni [d. ca. 1050]
Saverio Forestiero measured the length of a degree of latitude); car-
University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy tography, including an early map of the Earth made
for the caliph al-Ma’mun (r. 813–833) considered
superior to those of Ptolemy and Marinus of Tyre;
A DNA sequence coding for an RNA molecule astronomy; topography; and chorography, came to
which may or may not code for a polypeptide be known in Arabic as Jughrafiya, a calque from
chain, a protein. The genetic information is stored Greek. The verbal description of regions proved
in the genes and corresponds to the specific a perennial genre, concentrating on either the pro-
alignment, the ordered succession of nucleotides vision of global accounts or confining itself to the
along a DNA chain. dominions under Muslim sovereignty. Its origins
The exchange of genetic factors between were, as the textual commentary to the world maps,
populations through migration of individuals the nucleus of the Islamic geographical tradition,
from one population to another. and its appeal was due to the importance to Mus-
lims of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, accounts of
which by the twelfth century developed as
a recognized genre (rihla). The importance of accu-
General Divine Action rately determining the direction of prayer to Mecca
(qibla) and the times or prayer created maps which
▶ Divine Action were centered on Mecca, the most significant being
two brass seventeenth-century (Safavid) dials
which use a cartographic grid of latitude and longi-
tude to enable their user to determine the distance to
Geodesy Mecca from anywhere in the then Muslim world.
This aspect of geographical thinking is still prac-
▶ Geography in Islam ticed in the Muslim world today.
G 928 Geometry in Islam
Self-Identification Relevant Themes
Science For many moderns, any form of “religion” nec-

In Islam, the geographical tradition did not develop essarily delimits any form of “science.” The tra-
into a distinct science in its own right so as to be dition of geography in Islam allows us the
formally taught as such in the Islamic educational opportunity to study a discipline in which scien-
system. It remained a loose conglomeration of sys- tific accuracy and discovery remained consistent
tems of knowledge, some of which were discrete with the belief system of Islam while also consti-
but most of which overlapped. Thus, al-Biruni tuting a reaction to how the system interpreted its
(d. ca. 1050) combined descriptive geography sacred scripture.
with geodesy and astronomy, while Ewliya’ Celebi
compiled a ten-volume travel account compiled
over some 40 years (1631–1670) of travel through Cross-References
the Ottoman lands, in the employ of ambassadors
and governors or with the armies, and the maker of ▶ Anthropology in Islam
one of the Safavid qibla-disks seems to have ▶ Architecture in Islam
learned his mathematics from his father. ▶ Astronomy in Islam
▶ Physics, Science in Islam
The distinction between “science” and “religion” References

would not have presented itself to those working in
the Muslim geographical tradition, for whom all Ahmad, S. M., & Taeschner, Fr. Djughrafiya. In: The
encyclopaedia of Islam (New Edition, Vol. 2,
science was essentially a response to God’s gift of pp. 575–590).
creation and to the Qur’anic injunction to study King, D. A. (1999). World-maps for finding the direction
creation. This led on occasion to the composition and distance to Mecca. Innovation and tradition in
of books of mirabilia, marvels of creation. Islamic science. Leiden: Brill.
Miquel, A. (1975–1988). La géographie humaine du
monde musulman jusqu’au milieu de 11e siècle
(4 vols). Paris: Mouton.
Sources of Authority Neuwirth, A. Geography. In: The encyclopaedia of the
Qur’an (Vol. 2, pp. 293–313).
The most important source of authority is the
Qur’an, the word of God as revealed to man by
His messenger Muhammad. The Qur’an sketches
a basic geography of sacred and non-sacred space
and a cosmology of seven heavens, and equal Geometry in Islam
number of layers of earth, with earth being
surrounded and covered by two oceans, which Jeffrey A. Oaks
informed all geographical thinking in Islam. Department of Mathematics and Computer
Translations of the works of Ptolemy and Science, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis,
Marinus provided thinkers with the terrestrial IN, USA
division into climes (though this was not the
only division they employed: they also used the
Persian division into seven, equal, concentric cir- Related Terms
cles). Central to astronomy were the Indian com-
putational tables translated from Sanskrit. Mensuration
Geometry in Islam 929 G
Description Inspired by Archimedes’ Measurement of the
Circle (tr. Thābit ibn Qurra) and On the Sphere
Mensuration in any premodern culture was and Cylinder (tr. Ishāq ibn Hunayn, revised by
˙
a fundamental part of the training of surveyors, Thābit), the Banū Mūsā and others in their circle
architects, and other professionals. By found areas and volumes of curved regions and
representing lines, areas, and bodies by their solids. The Banū Mūsā derived formulae differ-
numerical measures, geometrical problem solv- ently from Archimedes, by expressing their
ing becomes a part of calculation, or hisāb in the results as products of given magnitudes. Thābit,
˙
Arabic tradition. We first encounter practical in his Book on the Measurement of the Conic
geometry in a chapter of al-Khwārizmı̄’s Algebra Section called Parabola, proved Archimedes’
(early ninth century) and in later texts it appears formula for the area of a segment of a parabola,
both in stand-alone treatises as well as in chapters and he gave the volumes of several regions
in books on calculation. One example of the latter obtained by rotating such segments around par-
is al-Karajı̄’s seminal Sufficient [Book] on Cal- ticular lines. These proofs were later improved by G
culating (early eleventh century). These books Ibrāhı̄m ibn Sı̄nān, al-Kūhı̄, and Ibn al-Haytham
provide the basic rules of calculating sides, (Rosenfeld and Youschkevitch 1996).
areas, and volumes, utilizing quadratic methods This high level of work with conic sections
like the Pythagorean theorem as well as was continued in the tenth century by geometers
approximations. including al-Sijzı̄ and al-Qūhı̄. One of al-Qūhı̄’s
Most practical books are devoid of proof, but more remarkable results was to “construct
by the latter tenth century the Greek tradition is a spherical segment whose [spherical] surface is
found integrated into some texts. In his impor- equal to that of one segment and whose volume is
tant Book on What is Necessary from Geometric equal to that of another” (Berggren 1996, 140).
Construction for the Artisan (ca. 990) Abū al- He also wrote a treatise on the “perfect compass,”
Wafā’ relies on Euclidean geometry as an instrument he designed for drawing conic
a foundation for the techniques useful in the sections. Other problems, such as trisecting the
trades. One notable application of geometry to angle and constructing the regular heptagon,
architecture is the construction of domes in were solved using conic sections.
Islamic architecture. Ibn al-Haytham (965-ca. 1041, known as
Geometers working in the scientific direction Alhazen in the Latin west) is best known for his
adopted the philosophical and logical framework work in optics, but he also made significant
of Greek geometry. The first translation of contributions to geometry and astronomy. His
Euclid’s Elements was made sometime before most famous result in geometry is his solution
805. This was followed by translations of the to “Alhazen’s problem”: given a reflective
more advanced works of Archimedes, Apollo- surface (which can be planar, spherical, cylindri-
nius, Theodosius, Menelaus, and others. The cal, or conical) and two points off the surface,
Banū Mūsā (ninth century) in particular were to find the point(s) on the surface such that
eager to read and understand Apollonius’ Conics. light shined from one of the two points will reflect
They could not make sense of their corrupt copy to the other. The six lemmas which form the
of the Greek text, so al-Hasan ibn Mūsā derived foundation for his solution exhibit a mastery of
˙
the basics of the theory of conic sections on his conic sections. Ibn al-Haytham also wrote
own. After his death his brother Ahmad traveled Completion of the Conics, his reconstruction
˙
to Syria, where he found Eutocius’ commentary of the lost eight book of Apollonius’ treatise
on the first four books. From this he was able to (al-Haytham 1985).
understand Apollonius’ treatise, which allowed Various criticisms of the foundations of
him to supervise the translation of all seven Euclidean geometry were challenged by Arabic
extant books. geometers. One important debate concerned
G 930 Geometry in Islam
Euclid’s parallel postulate. Briefly, Greek postu- discussed briefly by a few Greek mathematicians
lates were ideally simple, self-evident truths (Pappus in particular). Arabic authors devoted
which require no proof. But the fifth postulate in considerably more attention to the problems.
the Elements reads like a proposition: “That, if The first treatise devoted to this topic in any
a straight line falling on two straight lines make language is Ibrāhı̄m ibn Sinān’s tenth century
the interior angles on the same side less than two Treatise on the Method of Analysis and Synthesis
right angles, the two straight lines, if produced (Bellosta 1991).
indefinitely, meet on that side on which are the Beginning with al-Khwārizmı̄, we frequently
angles less than the two right angles” (Euclid find geometric problems solved numerically by
1956, 202). It was only in the early nineteenth algebra. For example, Abū Kāmil’s On the
century that mathematicians showed that this Pentagon and Decagon (latter ninth century)
postulate is in fact independent of the others, gives algebraic solutions by naming an unknown
and cannot be proven. line “thing” and setting up and solving a quadratic
Criticism of the parallel postulate began in equation. Also in the ninth century al-Māhānı̄ used
ancient Greece, and continued in the Islamic algebra to analyze a problem of Archimedes which
world. Three approaches were taken to address yielded a cubic equation. This led ultimately to al-
the problem: Some geometers tried to prove it Khayyām’s geometric treatment of algebra (See
outright, others redefined the word “parallel,” the entry “▶ Algebra in Islam”).
while still others came up with a more intuitively Most geometers were also astronomers.
appealing alternative (Jaouiche 1986). Ptolemy’s geometric models were adopted and
Euclid defined two lines to be parallel if, when adjusted, plane and spherical trigonometry were
produced indefinitely, do not meet in either direc- developed from both Greek and Indian ideas, and
tion. Thābit ibn Qurra and Ibn al-Haytham both the construction of instruments relied on stereo-
substituted Euclid’s definition with one which graphic projection (astrolabes) and conic sections
defines two lines to be parallel if they are equi- (sundials) (See the entries “▶ Astronomy in
distant, and from this they were able to prove the Islam” and “▶ Mathematics in Islam General”).
fifth postulate. But in their proofs both mathema-
ticians generated a second line parallel to a given
line by the motion of a point. Euclid, following Cross-References
Aristotle, had banned motion from geometry, and
on this ground al-Khayyām rejected Ibn al- ▶ Algebra in Islam
Haytham’s solution. ▶ Arithmetic in Islam
In another proof Ibn al-Haytham proposed ▶ Astronomy in Islam
a postulate to replace Eucid’s fifth: that two ▶ Mathematics in Islam General
intersecting lines cannot both be parallel to ▶ Mathematics, Ancient and Medieval
a third line. This became known as Playfair’s ▶ Science in Islam, Classification
postulate when it was reinvented by European ▶ Science in Islam, Transmission
mathematicians. Al-Khayyām also replaced
Euclid’s postulate by one equivalent, which
asserts that two converging lines must intersect.
References
Arabic geometers also criticized and reworked
Euclid’s definition of proportional magnitudes al-Haytham, I. (1985). Ibn Al-Haytham’s completion of
(Book V, def. 5), rearranged the definitions and the conics. Translated and Edited by J. P. Hogendijk.
the propositions in Book I, and composed new New York: Springer-Verlag.
books 14 and 15 to be appended to Euclid’s Bellosta, H. (1991). Ibrāhı̄m ibn Sinān: On analysis and
synthesis. Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, 1, 211–232.
treatise. Berggren, J. L. (1996). Al-Kūhı̄’s ‘Filling a Lacuna in
The roles of analysis and synthesis in proofs, Book II of Archimedes’ in the version of Nası̄r al-
Dı̄n al- Tūsı̄.” Centaurus 38, 140–207. ˙
and even the definition of the former, were ˙
Geriatrics 931 G
Euclid (1956). The thirteen books of Euclid’s elements, defined by age, but primarily deals with the typ-
translated from the text of Heiberg, with introduction ical multimorbidity in elderly patients. Most
and commentary by Sir Thomas L. Heath (2nd ed., rev.
with additions). New York: Dover. patients in geriatrics are beyond 65 years of age;
Jaouiche, K. (1986). La Théorie des Parallès en Pays however, the typical geriatric conditions of dis-
d’Islam: Contribution à la Préhistoire des Géomé ease mostly develop in the age range of the eight-
tries Non-Euclidiennes. Paris: Vrin. ies and even beyond.
Rosenfeld, B. A., & Youschkevitch, A. P. (1996). Geom-
etry. In R. Rashed (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the history of There is a broad range of diseases associated
Arabic science (Vol. II, pp. 447–494). London: with older age, particularly stroke, heart disease
Routledge. and syncopes, infections, diabetes, mobility
disorders like parkinsonism, as well as delirium
and dementias. With the sociodemographic
development and longevity, the importance of
Geriatrics neurogeriatric diseases is becoming more and
more obvious. However, geriatric medicine not G
Herbert F. Durwen only focuses on particular diseases but also on
Klinik f€
ur Akut-Geriatrie, complex functional syndromes like immobility,
St. Martinus-Krankenhaus, D€
usseldorf, Germany instability, incontinence, and impaired intellect.
The term “geriatrics” was proposed for the
first time in 1909 by Dr. Ignatz L. Nascher from
Description Vienna, the “father” of modern geriatrics, who
later on became the Chief of Clinic in the Mount
According to the definitions of the EUGMS Sinai Hospital Outpatient Department in New
(European Union Geriatric Medicine Society), York. In 1914, he wrote the first modern geriatric
geriatrics is the medical discipline that is partic- textbook with the title “The diseases of old age
ularly concerned with physical, mental, func- and their treatment.” In the United Kingdom,
tional, and social aspects of disease as well as modern geriatrics started with Dr. Marjorie
its acute, chronic, rehabilitative, or preventive Warren, the “mother” of geriatrics who empha-
treatment and care in patients with old or older sized that also rehabilitation was essential to the
age, including the end of life period. These care of older people. In Germany, Geriatrics was
patients are characterized by their high degree promoted by the internist Max Buerger who
of frailty and multimorbidity needing a holistic founded the “German Society for Geriatric
approach of treatment. The presentation of dis- Research” in 1938 in Leipzig. However, it lasted
ease in elderly patients can be different from that over 30 years, until the first chair for geriatric
in younger age because of changing physiology medicine in Germany was established at the
with older age. Therefore, diseases in the elderly University of Erlangen-N€urnberg.
can be difficult to diagnose and sometimes diffi- Thus, in Germany, geriatric medicine started
cult to treat properly. In addition, it often to be established only after World War II. The
demands for social support measures. Geriatric development of Geriatrics, however, was differ-
medicine follows the principles of the interna- ent in different European countries, including the
tional classification of impairments, disabilities, modalities and forms of organization of geriatric
and handicaps and provides additional treatment medicine. In some countries, geriatric medicine
offers in a multidisciplinary team setting. The became a discipline by its own, whereas in other
main goal of geriatric medicine is to promote countries, it is still a subdiscipline of internal
health by preventing and treating diseases and medicine, even if geriatric medicine asks for
disabilities in older adults. It attempts to optimize a multidisciplinary approach and competence.
the functional status in elderly patients, to Today, in most countries, geriatric care is
improve their quality of life as well as their represented on the level of community hospitals,
autonomy. Geriatric medicine is not specifically whereas the representation of geriatrics on
G 932 Geriatrics
an university level is not the same in every coun- concepts in geriatrics are based on insights from
try. In most countries, geriatrics at an university a broad range of science specialties in basic
level still has to be developed further. In recent research fields.
years, research in geriatrics has primarily focused However, particular research fields in geriat-
on care. Furthermore, in several countries, spe- rics focus on health care as well as on specific
cial centers for age research have been founded, conditions. An important issue in clinical geriat-
integrating clinical geriatrics, but primarily being ric research is the treatment and prevention of
devoted to molecular biology. “delirium,” the investigation of the different
In the future, the importance of geriatrics will aspects of frailty as well as the fact of different
increase continually as the population ages and pharmacological constitutions with older age.
the aging population lives longer. Further important topics are mobility and the
risk of falls in older age as well as the manage-
ment of cognitive disturbances and other
Self-Identification neurogeriatric issues.
The scientific basis of geriatrics is reflected by
Science different national as well as European scientific
Geriatrics is related to the science of Gerontol- societies, which run their regular scientific meet-
ogy, which is the study of the aging process in all ings and in the majority have their own scientific
its aspects, social as well as biologic. Thus, it is journals. These societies show an increasing
the medical branch of health care dealing with the number of members over the recent years.
problems of aging and particularly with the dis-
eases of the aged and has its origin from internal Religion
medicine. According to these roots, geriatrics has There are close relationships of geriatrics to eth-
always self-identified, from the very beginning, ical and/or religious questions, particularly in
as an integral part of natural science. Even if very old age and in the end of life period.
geriatrics primarily focuses on care research and Elderly persons often cannot make decisions
has certain religious as well as philosophical for themselves. Therefore, they need people
implications at the end of life period, it sees itself around them, who take care for them in a very
as a scientific endeavor with the aim to enhance responsible way. In this context, the geriatrician
the knowledge about the organization and func- plays an important role providing guidance for
tion of the human body in older age as well as the patients as well as for their relatives in
their disease-related abnormalities. This also a situation where they do not understand what
means that geriatrics knows to integrate scientific happens to them or do not have the competence
evidences from neighboring disciplines into its to understand the facts and make the right deci-
own concepts of multidisciplinary approach, sions. Furthermore, it is very well known that for
diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in the most of the elderly, religion plays an important
elderly. These evidences are derived from tradi- role in their life. In addition, there is evidence that
tional scientific methods of the natural sciences religion correlates with improved physical and
for clinical and basic research, applied in the mental health. If religion by itself is helpful or if
classical medical subdisciplines of anatomy, concomitant psychological benefits and social
pathology, pathophysiology, and physiology. In support or encouragement of healthful practices
general, the disease concepts and practices of may be relevant is not yet clear until today.
clinical investigation were developed in the In any case, the geriatrician ought to support
twentieth century and continuously substantiated the patient and his relatives in the best interest of
by clinical research. Over the recent decades, the patient according to medical guidelines, but
the methodological repertoire was extended to also to legal, social, ethical, or religious aspects.
chemistry, immunology, radiology, pharmacol- Particularly, in the end of life period, social,
ogy, and molecular biology. Thus, the medical remedial, palliative, ethical, or religious issues
Geriatrics 933 G
are becoming more and more important. There- response to treatment, and requirements for
fore, in this specific period of life, geriatrics tries social and spiritual support call for special
very much to integrate the personal ethical or medical skills.
religious views of a patient into the medical treat- A geriatrician should have profound knowl-
ment concept. This means indeed that geriatrics is edge in the wide range of diseases in older age
more often influenced by ethical and religious and their social implications as well as specific
questions than any other medical discipline. skills to treat older patients with sensitivity and
dignity. Furthermore, the complex aspects of
geriatric medicine require a comprehensive
Characteristics assessment of illness and disability and therefore
an interdisciplinary approach, meaning that the
Geriatrics differs from standard adult medicine geriatrician will work with other physicians,
and the other medical disciplines because it nurses, social workers, dieticians, physical thera-
focuses on the particular and complex needs of pists, occupational therapists, and other health G
the patients in older age and emphasizes professionals as well as family members, in
maintaining functional independence. However, order to provide comprehensive care for these
the presentations of illness in old age are often patients with multiple needs. Thus, geriatric
nonspecific, because the aged body is different medicine is by its very nature a discipline that is
physiologically from the younger adult body, and multidisciplinary, community oriented, and
the clinical characteristics of diseases are con- particularly family centered.
taminated by the decline of various organ systems According to its holistic views, geriatric med-
with age. This means, that older persons react to icine is not only interested in the treatment of
illness and diseases differently than younger acute or chronic diseases by pharmacological or
adults. Furthermore, previous health issues and interventional approaches but also in the patients’
lifestyle choices produce a different constellation physical and cognitive training as well as their
of diseases and symptoms in different people. In psychological and social well-being. Further-
addition, functional abilities, independence, and more, the primary or secondary prevention of
quality of life issues are of great concern to disease is also an important issue in geriatrics,
geriatricians and their patients. Therefore and focusing on suitable exercise, rest, adequate
different from other medical disciplines, geriat- nutrition, and maintenance of proper body
rics focuses not only on single disease entities but weight. In addition, regular and thorough medical
also on functional syndromes, mostly caused by examinations are another essential factor in the
several different diseases. The major categories control of illness in older age.
of these impairments in the elderly Thus, geriatrics includes medical, rehabilita-
are immobility, instability, incontinence, and tive, preventive, social, and ethical or religious
impaired memory. They are also known as the aspects.
“four geriatric giants.” Furthermore, geriatrics
takes care of not only acute illnesses in later age
but also of chronic diseases, as well as health Relevance to Science and Religion
promotion and disease prevention in later life.
Different from other medical disciplines, geri- Geriatrics understands itself as natural science;
atrics chooses a holistic approach to medical however, there are many ethical or religious
questions in the elderly and therefore is simulta- implications, particularly concerning with loss
neously concerned with clinical, preventive, of autonomy, aspects of beneficence, and non-
remedial, palliative, social, and ethical or reli- maleficence, as well as justice. Particularly in
gious aspects of illness in old age. The various geriatrics, questions like decisional capacity and
challenges of frailty, complex comorbidity, competence, identification of decision makers,
different patterns of disease presentation, slower decisions about long-term care, resolution of
G 934 Geriatrics
conflicts about care, or the termination of treat- increasingly important. Based on this rapidly
ment at the end of life are of special ethical growing body of knowledge, the geriatric scien-
importance. Furthermore, aging by itself as well tific organizations have established guidelines for
as the end of life period with questions like qual- good clinical practice and evidence-based guide-
ity of life, palliative care, euthanasia, death, and lines, often together with the scientific organiza-
dying, as well as beliefs in postmortem life are tions of the neighboring disciplines. They are
highly relevant in geriatric medicine. constantly updated for therapeutic protocols of
Thus, more than any other medical discipline, the major geriatric disease entities.
geriatrics is involved in ethical, religious, philo-
sophical, psychological, and social questions.
Therefore, the geriatrician should be prepared to Ethical Principles
answer his patients’ questions of this kind and to
integrate their views and those of their families As for every medical subdiscipline, geriatrics is
into his medical treatment strategies. Further- guided by the oath and law of the ancient Greek
more, the geriatrician must have high ethical or physician Hippocrates, who is considered to be
religious standards, because the elderly, more the father of medicine. The oath is considered all
than patients of younger age, are often physically over the world to be the rite of passage for all
or psychologically dependent and require profes- practitioners of medicine. This Hippocratic Oath
sional guidance or assistance for the management has been supplemented by the Declaration of
of their personal needs in their own best interest. Geneva in 1948 and later on by the rules of the
Declaration of Helsinki. Thus, the basic ethical
principles, which also guide the discipline of
Sources of Authority geriatrics, are autonomy, beneficence, non-
maleficence, and justice.
The authorities in geriatrics are those scientifi-
cally interested physicians who are also instru-
mental for the establishment of dedicated clinical Key Values
a well as academic institutions. The first modern
geriatric hospital was founded in Belgrade, The key values in geriatrics are the same as in
Serbia, in 1881 by Dr. Laza Lazarevic, whereas other medical subdisciplines. The primary inten-
the term “geriatrics” was coined for the first time tion of geriatric activities is to alleviate human
by Dr. Ignatz Leo Nascher in 1909 who edited the sufferings in older age, resulting from acute and/
first textbook in geriatrics in 1914. He is consid- or chronic diseases as well as from end of life
ered to be the father of modern geriatrics. Later, problems and even death. These sufferings
he became Chief of Clinic in the Mount Sinai usually result from different diseases
Hospital Outpatient Department in New York. (multimorbidity) and implicate multiple func-
Other important geriatricians are Max Buerger, tional impairments of different kind. Therefore,
who founded the German Society for Geriatric the geriatric approach is multidisciplinary and
Research in 1938, Dr. Marjorie Warren, who includes medical, rehabilitative, preventive,
emphasized on rehabilitation in older patients, palliative, and social aspects. Usually the geria-
and Dr. Bernard Isaacs, who described for the trician employs and seeks to refine science-based
first time the syndrome character of geriatrics therapies that are able to alleviate or even cure the
with the so-called four geriatric giants (immobil- underlying diseases and syndromes. Further-
ity, instability, incontinence, and impaired more, geriatrics is very much involved in the
intellect). counseling and guidance of patients and their
With the advent of the internet, electronic relatives during and after acute disease as well
publishing, and electronic libraries, original pub- as during the course of chronic impairments.
lications in scientific journals have become Particular responsibilities are requested in
Gifford Lectures 935 G
patients with physical and mental handicaps,
personal dependence, and with very individual Germanistik
aspects in the end of life period.
▶ Language and Literature, German
References
Barton, A., & Mulley, G. (2003). History of the Geropsychology

development of geriatric medicine in the UK.
Postgraduate Medical Journal, 79(930), 229–234.
Beers, M. H. (Ed.). (2007). The Merck manual of ▶ Aging, Psychology of
geriatrics. USA: Merck & Co Inc. ISBN 978-3-437-
21761-6.
Brocklehurst, J. C. (1997). Geriatric medicine in Britain –
the growth of a specialty. Age and Aging, 26(Suppl. 4),
5–8. Gibbs Energy G
Bundesverband, G. (Ed.). (2010). Weißbuch geriatrie: Die
Versorgung Geriatrischer Patienten: Strukturen und ▶ Chemical Thermodynamics
Bedarf – Status Quo und Weiterentwicklung. Stuttgart,
Germany: Kohlhammer.
Halter, J. B., et al. (Eds.). (2009). Hazzard’s geriatric
medicine and gerontology (6 Revised Editionth ed.).
New York, USA: McGraw-Hill Publ Comp. ISBN Gifford Lectures
ISBN 0071488723.
Howell, T. H. (1987). Avicenna and his regimen of old
age. Age and Aging, 16(1), 58–59. Neil Spurway
Kanungo, M. S. (1980). Biochemistry of aging. London/ University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
New York/Toronto/Sydney/San Francisco: Academic.
ISBN 0-12-396450-4.
Makary, M. A., Segev, D. L., Pronovost, P. J., et al.
(2010). Frailty as a predictor of surgical outcomes in This series of lectures, unquestionably the world’s
older patients. Journal of the American College of most highly regarded in their field, was initiated in
Surgery, 210(6), 901–908. 1888 under the bequest of Adam, Lord Gifford,
Masoro, E. J. (Ed.). (1981). CRC handbook of physiology
a judge of Scotland’s Court of Session, who had
of aging. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN ISBN
08493-3143-9. died the previous year. The bequest was distributed
Platt, D. (Ed.). (1988). Pharmakotherapie und Alter – (not quite evenly) between the four Scottish
Ein Leitfaden f€ ur die Praxis. Berlin/Heidelberg/ universities of the time: Aberdeen, Edinburgh,
New York/London/Paris/Tokyo: Springer. ISBN
Glasgow and St Andrews, and the academic
3-540-18491-0.
governing bodies (Senates) of the four universities
have operated their own series of Gifford Lectures
independently and usually biennially ever since,
except during the Second World War. Thus, to
represent a volume as “The Gifford Lectures for”
German Philology a particular year is never correct: one should always
add “in the University of. . .”
▶ Language and Literature, German
The Will
Lord Gifford defined natural theology in the widest

German Studies terms: “The Knowledge of God, the Infinite,
the All, the First and Only Cause . . . and the
▶ Language and Literature, German Knowledge of . . . the Relations which men and
G 936 Gifford Lectures
the whole universe bear to Him, the Knowledge of James (Edinburgh, 1900–1902), on The Varieties
the Nature and Foundations of Ethics or Morals, of Religious Experience, had broadly such subject
and of the Obligations and Duties thence arising.” matter; James, however, built upon it an edifice
Even wider, and strikingly liberal, was the of psychological and philosophical insight
specification as to who might be invited to take up unmatched by any other lecturer of the period.
this challenge: “The Lecturers appointed . . . shall The other main groups of early lecturers were
not be required to . . . subscribe any declaration of philosophers, more or less heavily influenced by
belief . . . they may be of any religion or way of Hegel. Edinburgh’s second lecturer, however,
thinking, or . . . of no religion . . . provided only that was the physicist Sir George Stokes, a latter-day
they be able and reverent men, true thinkers . . . and Paley, who elegantly restated the argument from
earnest enquirers after truth,” for “nothing but good design (1890–1892). This certainly was natural
can result from free discussion.” Nevertheless, theology, but it was to be the next century before
there was a constraint: “I wish the lecturers to another scientist was invited.
treat their subject as a strictly natural science, the
greatest of all possible sciences, . . . that of Infinite
Being, without reference to or reliance upon Scientists in the Twentieth Century
any supposed special exceptional or so-called
miraculous revelation.” Tall order though this The German biologist Hans Driesch, the last
was, he finally required that the lectures be “public great exponent of vitalism, opened this account
and popular . . . open not only to students of the (Aberdeen, 1907–1909). The next biologist was
Universities, but to the whole community without Lloyd Morgan, presenting a philosophy of evo-
matriculation.” lution and emergent mind in St Andrews (1921–
1922). The greatest biological lectures, however,
were surely those of Sir Charles Sherrington,
Early Lecturers whose Man on His Nature (Edinburgh, 1937–
1938) was a towering account of mind and
The first series of Gifford Lectures was given in brain, and their interactions with the environ-
Edinburgh by a freelance philosophical writer, ment, as understood at the time. Later biologi-
James Hutchison Stirling. He was a popularizer, cally trained lecturers included an Anglican
and his lectures met the last of Lord Gifford’s churchman, Charles Raven (Edinburgh,
conditions better than almost any since – probably 1950–1952), with an admirable overview of
only Carl Sagan (Glasgow 1985), who filled three science and religion, and Sir Alister Hardy
lecture theaters by video link, matched him in this (Aberdeen, 1963–1965) who was researching
respect, and regrettably Sagan’s lectures were religious mysticism as objectively as he had
never published. Of the opening group of lecturers, previously researched marine organisms.
however, the great philologist and Vedic scholar, In Edinburgh again, the Australian neuroscien-
Max M€ uller (Glasgow, 1888–1892), German by tist, Sir John Eccles (1977–1979), was more
birth and training but by then an eminent dualist (and therefore anachronistic?) than his
Oxford professor, made the most lasting mark teacher Sherrington. Far better neurophilosophy
with his 4-volume series on Natural Religion (the was presented by Donald Mackay (Glasgow
first volume’s title). Much the same 1985–1986), whose memorable Behind the Eye
theme recurred frequently till 1911–1913 presents “I-story” and “brain-story” as accounts
(Sir James Frazer, St Andrews), after which of the same system from opposite sides. Equally
Senates (or their lecturers) faced up to the notable, as the century neared its close, was
difference between natural religion and natural the biochemist-theologian Arthur Peacocke
theology, and adhered more consistently to Lord (St Andrews, 1992–1992), whose lectures
Gifford’s intention. Nevertheless, one of the became part of an enlarged edition of Theology
greatest series ever, by the American William for a Scientific Age.
Gifford Lectures 937 G
One of the greatest physical scientists was Sir The borderline between philosophy and theol-
Arthur Eddington (Edinburgh, 1926–1927), ogy is no firmer than that between philosophy and
whose Nature of the Physical World tinged quan- science – witness Alvin Plantinga’s two volumes
tum physics with mysticism in limpid prose. on the warrants of belief (Aberdeen, 1986–1987).
Neils Bohr (Edinburgh, 1949–1950) did not pub- Only in the 1920s did the Senates begin frequently
lish, but Werner Heisenberg (St Andrews, 1955– to invite theologians to lecture, and among the
1956) did so with both lucidity and depth, while most notable in the early group was the Anglican
his fellow German, Carl von Weizs€acker, Archbishop William Temple’s Nature, Man and
a Kantian and theistic cosmologist, presented God, a commanding attempt at an overall natural
perhaps an even more rounded viewpoint to his theology (Glasgow, 1932–1934). Even more
audience in Glasgow (1959–1961). The next prominent was the Swiss theologian Karl Barth’s
physicist to deliver a full series was the last of attack on the very possibility of natural theology
the century, Sir John Polkinghorne (Edinburgh, (The Knowledge of God and the Service of God:
1992–1993) in the well-known Science and Aberdeen, 1937–1938) – another volume which G
Christian Belief. spurned the benefactor’s last requirement yet has
attained an influence inversely proportional to its
accessibility. The Swedish Archbishop Nathan
Philosophy and Theology Söderblom (Edinburgh, 1930–1931) had been
immensely more liberal, while Edwyn Bevan’s
There was, as already implied, much philosophy Symbolism and Belief (Edinburgh, 1932–1934)
in the great scientific series. Reciprocally, at least was among the most elegant individual contribu-
two mainstream philosophers drew strongly upon tions to the series. Albert Schweitzer also lectured
science. Samuel Alexander’s account of a still- during this period but did not publish.
unfolding Space, Time and Deity (Glasgow, Replies to Barth came after the Second World
1916–1918) provides an archetypal Gifford title! War, the most direct being from a fellow Swiss,
Yet more lastingly influential has been A.N. Emil Brunner, in the two volumes of Christianity
Whitehead’s Process and Reality (Edinburgh, and Civilization (St Andrews, 1946–1948). From
1927–1928) – not an easy read, despite Lord the USA Paul Tillich (Aberdeen, 1952–1954) and
Gifford’s wishes, but the central text of process from Germany Rudolph Bultmann (Edinburgh,
thinkers ever since. Still more extensively quoted 1954–1955) also stand out at this time, while
has been the ex-scientist, Michael Polanyi’s, a little later The Openness of Being, by the
exposition of the tacit and prerational Anglican Thomist E.L. Mascall (Edinburgh,
dimensions of all Personal Knowledge 1970–1971), was a notable theological edifice.
(Aberdeen, 1951–1952). Less widely known, yet In the latter part of this period, several lecturers
to its admirers one of the most systematic natural considered non-Christian religious thought.
theologies the benefaction has ever elicited, was Notable among these were R.C. Zaehner
John Macmurray’s assertion of the primacy, first (Concordant Discord: St Andrews, 1967–1969),
of The Self as Agent over the self as thinker, and Ninian Smart (Beyond Ideology: Edinburgh,
then of Persons in Relation over persons as indi- 1979–1980), and Seyed Nasr, the first Muslim
viduals (Glasgow 1952–1954). The first woman lecturer (Knowledge and the Sacred: Edinburgh,
lecturer, Hannah Arendt, considered The Life of 1980–1981).
the Mind in Aberdeen (1972–1974); simulta-
neously in Edinburgh, A.J. Ayer’s Central Ques-
tions of Philosophy excluded the possibility of Then and Now
theology, but in counterpoint Richard Swinburne
(Aberdeen, 1982–1984) offered a closely argued, The above account is a condensation of that by
modern-traditionalist account of The Evolution of Spurway (1993). More detail, up to the mid
the Soul. 1990s, is provided by Jaki (1995).
G 938 Gift
The Gifford Lectures continue undiminished

in all four universities. To give selective promi- Global Christianity
nence to any very recent ones would be invidious,
but they are listed and in most instances Jonas Adelin Jørgensen
summarised at www.giffordlectures.org. Instead, Department of Systematic Theology, University
let this article end with two quotes from Max of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark
M€uller to which Lord Gifford would surely have
assented:
It is truth which makes revelation, not revelation Related Terms
which makes truth. (Physical Religion, p. 361)
What is natural is divine, what is supernatural is Globalized Christianity; Transnational
human. (Preface to Collected Works, p.xv) Christianity
Jaki, S. (1995). Lord Gifford and his lectures: A centenary The study of Christianity as a global religion has
retrospect (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic in recent years occupied a number of scholars in
Press. contemporary Christian systematic theology
Spurway, N. (1993). 100 years (and more) of natural
theology. In N. Spurway (Ed.), Humanity, environ-
(Kim and Kim 2008; Schreiter 1997), historical
ment and god: Glasgow centenary Gifford lectures studies (Stackhouse 2000; Jenkins 2002a;
(pp. 1–30). Oxford: Blackwell. 2002b), as well as sociology of religion (Robert-
son 1992; Kurtz 1995; Beckford 2003; Beyer
1994, 2003, 2006). During the last century, Chris-
tianity has undergone a number of fundamental
shifts demographically, socially, and culturally:
Gift
whereas a typical Christian in the year 1908 was
a white, European, literate, middle-class man
▶ Grace
from an industrial city, the typical Christian in
year 2008 is a colored, African, illiterate, poor
woman from a village in Nigeria. In this situation,
the main scholarly question has been what kind of
Glia changes Christianity’s globalization brings about
– that is, by its changing geographical, cultural,
Randolph J. Nudo and social parameters – and how these changes
Department of Molecular and Integrative affect the very nature and theology of Christian-
Physiology, Landon Center on Aging, University ity itself. This is a complex question and has been
of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA discussed mainly within three major theoretical
concepts, namely, “globalization,” “postcolonial
theory,” and “pluralism.”
(Also called neuroglia) Non-neuronal elements
of the nervous system that are involved in nutri-
tion, homeostasis, and signal transmission in Fundamental Shifts Accompanying the
the brain. While once thought to be involved Globalization of Christianity
only in support of the neuronal network (glia
means glue), glia are now recognized as playing The transformation within Christianity during the
a varied and sophisticated role in brain last century has resulted in its globalization and
function. caused a fundamental shift in two areas.
Global Christianity 939 G
First, even if the historical spread of Christian- denominations in year 1900 was approximately
ity has been eastward and southward as well as 560 million or 33% of the world’s population.
westward, Christianity was to a large degree Within the last 30 years, developments in Africa
a European and subsequently American religion and Asia show a dramatic increase in numbers of
until the start of the twentieth century. In the Christians. African Christians were 63 million in
course of the last century, Christianity has gained 1970, but in 1995 they numbered 151 million
a new presence across the globe in countless local (Barret et al. 2001, p. 4). If the same rate of
expressions which are linked by crisscrossing net- growth is projected to 2025, the total number of
works. Christianity outside of Europe and North Christians in Africa will then be 600 million. This
America is not uniform or united but is made up by would in other words be a tenfold increase in the
a number of Christianities, ranging from Orthodox number of Christians in Africa in merely
churches over Roman Catholic and various Prot- 55 years. Also in Asia does Christianity show
estant churches to a plurality of Pentecostal and high growth: from 52 million in 1975 to 148
charismatic churches. At present, there are many million in 1995. Projected to 2025, this growth G
global networks bringing churches and leaders would mean an increase to 460 million. Again,
together, but the prospect of a single world Chris- this would be a tenfold increase in the numbers of
tianity seems very remote. Global Christianity is in believers (Barret et al. 2001, p. 4). Turning back
fact a plurality of Christianities. to Europe, the number of Christians is by large
Second, while European and to a lesser degree unchanged: from 326 million in 1975 to 370
American Christianity has been declining in the million in 1995, but the percentage of Christians
last century, there has been a marked growth in has clearly gone down in Europe over the last
Christianity, especially in sub-Saharan Africa 60 years from more than 75 % self-declared
and in Asia. This simultaneous decline in Euro- Christians in Western European countries to
pean Christianity and growth in African and merely 40 %. However, because of general
Asian Christianity has caused a historical shift growth in population during the same period of
which means that there are now more Christians time, this means that the total number of
living outside of Europe and North America than Christians has remained somewhat stabile,
within these regions. Consequently, the strength around 32–34 % of the world’s population.
of Christianity now lies outside the old strong-
holds of Christendom. Outside of Europe and
North America, Christianity has been spread by Themes Arising in Globalized
Roman Catholic missions since the sixteenth cen- Christianity
tury and by Protestant missions since the eigh-
teenth century. However, the present spread of The expansion of Christianity has brought up
Christianity is primarily caused by local believers different themes in various social and cultural
and in forms developed by them in local ways; settings. Whereas the historical European Chris-
thus, Christianity’s globalization has also meant tianity has emphasized certain themes, new
its indigenization. Attention to the activities of points have emerged according to the spread of
foreign missionaries has tended to obscure this Christianity. Even if it is impossible to give
fact, but the present diversity of global Christian- a comprehensive overview of these themes in
ity is a testimony of it. a single entry, a few keywords and regional con-
cerns might be mentioned.
Historically, European Christianity has
Statistics on the Globalization of mainly been made up by Roman Catholicism
Christianity and various Protestant forms of Christianity and
only to a lesser degree by the presence of Ortho-
Statistics confirm these two fundamental shifts: dox Christianity. Each of these forms of Chris-
The total number of Christians of all tianity emphasizes their own aspect of the
G 940 Global Christianity
Christian tradition: While Orthodox forms theo- major impulse in and from the Latin American
logically emphasize the Trinitarian theology and Christianity has been in political forms of theology,
the fundamental unity of faith, Roman Catholic most notably in the so-called liberation theology
forms focus on Jesus as Christ and the Church as and in its formation of base communities, opposing
his body and bride, and Protestant forms on the the alliance between conservative military dictator-
contemporary significance of the Bible for soci- ships and the Roman Catholic Church and calling
ety and life. for political as well as spiritual liberation.
Somewhat in contrast to these focal points, In Asia, Christianity has long been present and
African Christianity seems to have been espe- one might distinguish between a Nestorian,
cially concerned with the relationship between Syrian, Catholic, and Protestant period in Asian
indigenous African traditions and Christian reli- Christianity. The diversity and struggle in South
gion, and especially the large revivals in East and Asia between ethnic and religious groups has also
Central Africa has brought out the question of the involved Christianity. Especially in the Indian
relationship between ancestors and Christ. All subcontinent has Christianity been used also
over Africa, a large number of independent politically by so-called dalits (outcasts) who
African churches have arisen, the so-called through mass conversions from Hinduism try to
AICs, African independent churches. These are overcome what they experience as the oppressive
interesting especially in the light of globalization features of caste society. More than any other
because they in their practice and theology single Christian group, the churches emerging
formulate a conscious alternative to European from this type of Christianity have put poverty as
forms of Christianity. Recently, the experiences a theme on the agenda. In China, Christianity finds
of apartheid and reconciliation in South Africa itself between Cultural Revolution and neoliberal
have given rise to new forms of indigenous capitalism, and the developments there seems to
theologies, especially focusing on reconciliation. bring out new relations between Asian cultures
North American Christianity has always been and the Christian Gospel, and therefore, Chinese
popular and multiple. In the twentieth century, Christianity seems destined to become a dominant
especially the Evangelical consensus, the influ- form in the future.
ence from black churches on spirituality and The Middle East needs special mentioning
entrepreneurial forms of church life has formed because it is an exception in the history of Chris-
a large part of popular Christianity, resulting in tianity as a global religion in the twentieth century.
fundamentalism on the one hand and the Social The Muslim countries in the Middle East are the
Gospel movement on the other. Furthermore and major exception because although Christianity
of utmost importance is the emergence of Pente- was born in this region, its globalization has not
costalism on the West Coast of America in the brought about significant number of conversions
very start of the century, a form of Christianity to Christianity. For centuries, Christians lived as
which now has a global following of more than a minority under the protection of Islamic rulers,
350 million peoples (Barret et al. 2001). but during the last century, these minorities have
The spread of Pentecostalism in Latin American experienced increasing discrimination along with
Christianity has shifted the church demographics the resurgence of militant Islam. The future of
from a large Roman Catholic majority and a small Christianity in the region is uncertain, and the
Protestant minority to a more complex picture. number of Christians is decreasing each year
Whereas Spanish-Portuguese Catholicism and mostly because of emigration.
indigenous forms of religions have coexisted The variety of themes arising in the globaliza-
since the Christianization of the Americas in the tion of Christianity shows that Christianity is not
sixteenth century, the Pentecostal and charismatic a monolithic extension of a single Western form
forms of Christianity have caused a new awareness of Christianity but that it is a plurality of forms
of the mix between cultural and religious elements which each has their own political, economical,
in Latin American Catholic Christianity. A second and cultural agendas. What is common in all
Global Christianity 941 G
these forms of Christianity is only their commit- the tension is not between core and periphery
ment to Jesus as Christ. but rather between traditional and modern
forms of social organization (“community” versus
“society”). This model does not focus so much on
Interpretation of Christianity’s economical or material conditions as upon
Globalization symbolic forms and cultural processes such as
modernization. According to this model, the
The globalization of Christianity as wittnessed in globalization of Christianity is facilitated by
statistics and themes arising in global Christianity a shift from community forms to society forms of
has been interpreted according to three different social organization, and conversion to Christianity
approaches, each tied up with one of the three might be viewed as part of a continuity of
theoretical frameworks mentioned initially, modernization on a global level. The
namely, “globalization,” “postcolonial theory,” system-theoretical model views global society as
and “pluralism.” a large number of social systems related to each G
First, a number of scholars have interpreted the other. Each system develops independently
globalization of Christianity according to theories and refers to itself through special “codes,”
of globalization. At a minimum, “globalization” which in Christianity’s case is the binary code
describes the awareness of interconnectedness and “immanence/transcendence.” Even if any social
interaction between peoples and societies and the system develops independently, any system is in
simultaneous perception of the world as a whole constant interaction with other (equally closed)
(Robertson 1992, pp. 8–18; Beckford 2003, systems. From this somewhat complex viewpoint,
pp. 118–119). It has been argued that in the case the global society is the system which encom-
of Christianity, globalization theory is especially passes all communication between systems.
appropriate because Christians consciously have The contribution from this model toward an
been trying to globalize Christianity as part of their understanding of Christianity as a globalized
mission strategy (Beyer 2003, 2006). Therefore, religion consists mainly in reminding us about
through application of globalization theory, the complexity of the task of understanding any
a deeper understanding of the changes which system.
accompany globalization of Christianity might be Second, many scholars – mainly from the
reached. global North – refer to postcolonial theory in
However, a deeper understanding depends order to explain Christianity’s globalization. On
upon the model of globalization applied to the a basic level, “postcolonial theory” refers to
data, and here, one must distinguish between the analysis of the predicaments involved in
three basic types of models: (a) the core-periphery formation of identities in postcolonial societies.
models, (b) the multiple-center models, and (c) the These scholars point out factors such as
system-theoretical models (cf. Beyer 1994). The economic poverty, disempowerment, or crises
core-periphery models focus on dependence, of modernity as main motivations for conversion
exploitation, and hegemony between the periphery to Christianity and the consequent globalization
and core in the process of globalization. According of Christianity as a religion (e.g., Asad 1993;
to this model, the relation between the core and the Veer 1996). Although this approach seldom
periphery is fundamentally unjust and consists in simply leads to a materialistic critique of religion,
economic or material exploitation and mental it is often accompanied by a core-periphery
colonization. Applied on the globalization of model of globalization, leading to a critique of
Christianity, this model would lead to a critique Christianity in its globalization as an expression
of the mental colonization and hegemony involved of spiritual colonization.
in conversion to Christianity. The multiple-center Third and somewhat related to both globaliza-
models focus on the interrelatedness and particu- tion theory approaches as well as to postcolonial
larization of universals. According to this model, theory, a number of scholars – many from the
G 942 Global Christianity
global South – have pointed about the pluralism consequences of globalization are for Christian-
as the most appropriate theoretical framework for ity (Robertson 1993; Beyer 1994; Riis 1999;
interpretation of the effect of Christianity’s Luke 1999). A central feature of this discussion
globalization (Schreiter 1997; Hedlund 2000; is whether globalization of Christianity increases
Bevans and Schroeder 2003). In this connection, or decreases the homogeneity and plurality of
“pluralism” contrasts certain aspects of identity, Christianity. According to the most recent contri-
most clearly to the continuity aspect of identity. butions in this discussion, the answer seems to be
Even if pluralism often seems to remain a rather somewhat counterintuitive: globalization causes
abstract concept, it seems to imply the notion that a “globalization” of religion, it is argued, in the
the cultural, moral, and religious conditions in the sense that in globalization both universalization
global era are best described as “pluralistic.” of particulars and particularization of universals
Without denying that material conditions have take place (Robertson 2000). According to this
effect on spiritual experiences and conversion, interpretation of globalization, the globalization
scholars arguing for this approach point out that of Christianity might be seen as implying an
as the earlier universalism of Christian theology understanding of Christianity as a universally
has been replaced by a plurality of Christianities accessible form particularized in various
and theologies, the nature of Christianity itself geographical, social, and cultural settings. Each
must be plural and contextual, determined within manifestation of Christianity alters it a little bit
particular historical, social, and cultural contexts. and over the course of time; Christianity’s nature
This approach often goes together with the sec- and theology is itself changed through its
ond type of globalization models mentioned globalization.
above, the multiple-center model.
From my point of view, the second type of
globalization models – the multiple-center model Effects of Christianity’s Globalization on
– is better suited for analyzing the globalization of Christian Self-understanding
Christianity for three reasons: (a) because Chris-
tianity seems to be more than social and cultural On the basis of this condensed presentation, there
epiphenomenon of material conditions, (b) seem to be three interrelated effects of Christian-
because global Christianity does not have a core ity’s globalization on Christian self-understanding.
and a periphery in the economic or material sense First, there is a clear change from Eurocentric to
of the word, and (c) because viewing the globali- a polycentric self-understanding. If one view uti-
zation of Christianity in terms of cultural processes lizes the multiple-center perspective on Christian-
such as modernization makes more sense than in ity’s globalization, the Eurocentric attempts to
terms of economic dependency, political oppres- understand what real Christianity is have to give
sion, deprivation, or development. Furthermore, away to a polycentric view on present Christianities
this third type of globalization theory – the plural- in its variety of forms and emphases.
ism type – goes well together with the multiple- Second, according to Christianity’s globaliza-
center model, which emphasizes the contextual tion, there is a significant change in sociopolitical
particularization of globally accessible ideals, relationship. The European models of historical
something which might help express the relative interrelatedness between churches and states
success of Christianity as a global religion in the have to give away to new forms of relationship.
twentieth century. If modern and traditional forms of social organi-
zation clash with each other in modernizing
states, Christianity might serve new functions in
Effect of Globalization on Christianity bringing about new relations between individ-
uals, just as modernity brought about new rela-
A much debated question is how exactly global- tions between states, religions, collectives, and
ization affects Christianity and what the full individuals.
Globalization, Sociology of 943 G
Third, and on the most fundamental level, glob- Robertson, R. (1992). Globalization. Social theory and
alization of Christianity changes Christian identity. global culture. London: Sage.
Robertson, R. (2000). Globalization and the future of
The changing center of Christianity and the chang- traditional religion. In M. L. Stackhouse (Ed.), God
ing sociopolitical relationship pose a question of and globalization. Harrisburg: Paris Trinity Press.
identity for global Christianity. The question is Schreiter, R. (1996). The new catholicity. Maryknoll:
what types of Christianities will we see in the Orbis.
Schwöbel, C. (2001). Interreligious encounter and the
future, and at this point, more empirical research fragmentary experience of god. In W. G. Jeanrond
into forms of globalized Christianity is needed. (Ed.), Concilium 1/2001 (pp. 107–119). London:
SCM.
Stackhouse, M. (Ed.). (2000). God and globalization.
Harrisburg: Paris Trinity Press.
References van der Veer, P. (Ed.). (1997). Conversion to modernities:
The globalization of Christianity. New York:
Asad, T. (1993). Genealogies of religion. Baltimore: Routledge.
John Hopkins University Press.
Barret, D. B., Kurian, T., & Johnson, T. (2001). World
G
Christian encyclopaedia. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Beckford, J. (2002). Social theory and religion. Global Governance
Berger, P. L., & Huntington, S. P. (2003). Many global-
izations – Cultural diversity in the contemporary ▶ Globalization, Sociology of
world. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bevans, S., & Schroeder, R. (2004). Constants in context:
A theology of mission. Maryknoll: Orbis.
Beyer, P. (1994). Religion and globalization. London:
Sage. Global Psychology
Beyer, P. (2003). De-centring religious singularity: The
globalization of christianity as a case in point. Numen, ▶ Cross-Cultural Psychology
50, 357–386. Brill, Leiden.
Beyer, P. (2005). Religions in global society. London/New
York: Routledge.
Hedlund, R. (2000). Quest for identity, India’s churches of
indigenous origin: The “little tradition” in Indian Globalization, Sociology of
Christianity. Delhi: MIIS/ISPCK.
Jenkins, P. (2002a). A new christendom. In The chronicle
of higher education. http://chronicle.com/free/v48/ Francesco Del Pizzo
i29/29b00701.htm. Mar 2002. Pontificia Facoltà Teologica dell’Italia
Jenkins, P. (2002b). The next christendom. Oxford: Meridionale sez. S. Tommaso, Naples, NA, Italy
Jørgensen, J. A. (2008). Jesus Imandars and Christ
Bhaktas: A study of interreligious hermeneutics and
identity in global Christianity. Frankfurt am Main: Related Terms
Peter Lang.
Kim, S. C. H., & Kim, K. (2008). Christianity as a world Global governance; Production and distribution
religion. London: Continuum Books.
Kurtz, L. R. (1995). Gods in the global village – The of goods and finances; World economy
world’s religions in sociological perspective. Thou-
sand Oaks: Pine Forge Press.
Luke, T. W. (1999). Identity, meaning and globalization. Description
In P. Heelas, Lash, S. & Morris, P. (Eds.), Detraditio-
nalization (pp. 109–133 ). Oxford: Blackwell, (org.
1996). Globalization was initially a financial and
McGrath, A. (2001). The future of Christianity. Oxford: economic phenomenon, and then became social,
Blackwell. cultural, political, and philosophical. A true
Riis, O. (1999). Modes of religious pluralism under con-
dition of globalization. MOST Journal on Multicul- multidisciplinary system which, as a result of
tural Societies, 1(1). New York: UNESCO. technology and the development of mass
G 944 Globalization, Sociology of
communications (Technologies of Information If in the past, the combination of “social con-

and Communication, or TIC), has reshaped social sensus state-compulsion” (Ajani 2007) held for
relations through a model of global the legitimacy of the rules of law, now this legit-
interdependence. All this could be verified thanks imation is found in functionalism: the old pro-
to the clearing of barriers, which has allowed, day cedures based on the political utility and,
by day, an easier and free movement of people, therefore, on a legitimation that, according to
knowledge, information, and ideas. this principle, established its majority consensus
Marshall McLuhan, referring to this commu- to legitimize its action, are replaced by
nicative environment, defines “global village” as a functional approach, that is, the fact that the
the world which is the size of a village easily usefulness of the rule must be determined by
explored, in which physical and cultural dis- assessment of its validity and necessity for the
tances fall and new lifestyles are born. In such proper functioning of the market.
an environment new patterns of thinking; con- Always Ajani observes how lawmakers
sumption and production emerge and become become guarantors of the proper functioning of
more uniform, converging toward a single their economies both to the citizens and to those
model in the global village. organizations like the International Monetary
According to the semantic magnitude of the Fund, World Bank, the European Central Bank,
term that involves various disciplines, from eco- the World Trade Organization, which, precisely,
nomics, philosophy, geography, religion, social aim the exercise of the powers’ comprehensive
sciences in general, it is necessary, testing an review on the action of regional markets.
acceptable definition, to limit the range of interest There is in a sense, as Ulrich Beck would say,
and refer to the meaning that more commonly is the crisis of the principle nation-state. You could
given to the term. For the purpose of this article, say that what was for the workers of the nine-
“globalization” refers primarily to the business teenth century the question of class, today is for
sector and how the production and distribution of companies that act at transnational level the issue
goods and finances goes beyond the borders of of globalization with this difference, however,
nation-states. that while the former operated by “countervailing
Production and distribution have to do with power”, now the global companies act, “without
the interests of different sectors that pass through a counterpower (transnational)” (Beck 1999). It
material goods and, so, tied to agriculture, is interesting how Beck, from the analysis of the
mineral and forest resources, craft industry, and Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels,
intangible assets related to education, health, shows that in fact class-based debate is more
public administration, justice, tourism, informa- current than it seems, in particular as regards the
tion, and finance. They are all linked by the pos- role of the revolutionary bourgeoisie, exploita-
sibility of trade and commerce, indeed, globally, tion of the world market, the similarity of the
in the sense that there is a new model of basic assumptions of the neoliberal and Marxist
accumulation of capital mainly by the USA, and, finally, the questioning of the nation-state
Japan, and the European Union. This model perspective, guilty, according to the sociologist,
tends to control the market and resources avail- of the trappings of the social sciences until today.
able to make a profit on a global scale and is the Beck’s analysis stresses on this latter point, that is
result of what is known as global development. to say globalization is understood as a breaking of
What is certain is that globalization, in the the unity between the nation-state and national
words of Gianmaria Ajani, focuses on the ques- society, which means, on the one hand, the crea-
tion of the world economy and consequently trig- tion of new competitive relationships and power
gers other issues about the lack of a Global “conflicts and intersections between unity and
Governance with respect to the formation of national-state actors” and the other “actors, iden-
rules, fearing also new forms of democracy and tities, social spaces, transnational processes and
participation. conditions” (Beck 1999).
Globalization, Sociology of 945 G
The problem is that a world society takes world; rather, it may suffice if it reaches all con-
shape without a World State, which would mean tinents and most regions of those continents.
to have no politically organized community so to On the other hand, even Westernization real-
create new opportunities for transnational action izes the inclusive action at the global level of
and power without any democratic legitimacy. globalization, that is, a phenomenon which
In a way it would require a synthesis, based on exports ideas and products from one side of the
a “re-localization” that would not be a return to world to another and that causes a real expansion
tradition, but rather a necessary synthesis of a part of it. Again, no one can pretend that all
between global and local. This is called parts of the world give a contribution of equal
“glocalization” a term borrowed from Roland size, but it is necessary however, Luke Martell
Robertson and which means, at the same time, says, that globalization, to be global, must not be
de-localization and re-localization. a discriminatory process in any way to predict the
This line of interpretation gives rise to the inputs from the all continents and countries that
possibility of forming a transnational state with constitute them. Another point that defines glob- G
an “inclusive sovereignty,” a state, which, even if alization is the interdependence and not only the
it does not set the elimination of the national interconnection.
state, it would be beyond it. This is achieved This means to assess the relationships and
through a policy organized on several levels: in trade between countries: to achieve
a position to interpret and redefine both the gen- interdependence, is necessary, in case of trade
eral and the particular, and according to crisis between two countries, to assess the real
a worldwide point of view, a policy of coordina- consequences on workers and on the economy of
tion of a plurality of transnational states. the exporting and importing company. So, the
A crucial role in this sense is attributed to civil reports must “create a structure or a system,”
society that, even before the political institutions, that is to have some stability and regularity.
is already projected in a global context: the world Finally, globalization must involve not only the
society is not the annulment of the national soci- elite but also the masses. This is because a global
eties, but in fact a new horizon, that distinguishes consciousness can only rise when people have the
the global from globalization. Globalization, as perception of the world as one place. However,
a dynamic process, finally takes on the character these criteria are too strict because a phenomenon
of the reciprocity of global-regional relations, can completely fall, giving historians and skep-
including the further report and self-defined by tics of globalization the opportunity to say that
the mass media. They redefine the social spaces today the phenomenon internationally wide-
and their understanding and representation at spread is not real globalization. Actually Martell
all levels: cultural, political, financial, military, asserts again, that one must consider globaliza-
and economic. tion not as an aim, but as a process that comes
In this way, Martell summarizing the different close to these criteria in order to understand it
positions of sociologists such as Waters, Giddens, and, especially, to say that it is really taking
Holton, Held and historians as Osterhammel and place. But it is even more necessary to talk
Petersson, poses, as a condition of globalization, about globalization because, from a sociological
the understanding of space and the development of point of view, this notion, is able to underline
international relations. aspects as power, inequality, and conflict inherent
So, if it is true that globalization should have a in the phenomenon itself. While the optimists
global extension, it is necessary to reflect the argue that globalization is a positive, democratic,
extent to which an economy, a policy, or and profitable process that, thanks to the cultural
a regional culture with transnational extension contamination gives rise to a new form of cosmo-
should be considered global. It means that politanism, through which is also possible to
maybe an exaggeration to say that, to talk about spread positive values such as fundamental and
globalization, it must necessarily reach the whole universal rights of man, it is also true that, in
G 946 Globalized Christianity
analyzing this phenomenon, there are striking Obviously, in this perspective, the problem
themes of power, inequality, and conflict in areas are those relating to the actual dialogue
world relations. In this sense, you can think how between religions and faiths that tend to be exclu-
some actors play a greater role than others, some sivist, rather than inclusivist.
are more integrated than others who, sometimes,
are even excluded.
Saskia Sassen, for her part, offers a perspective Cross-References
according to which globalization would not erase
all of the nation-states, but rather change their ▶ Economic Sociology
work at best. That’s because the states would ▶ Ethics
emerge in a position of “strategic dominance” for ▶ Global Christianity
the development of globalization. So, the concept ▶ Justice (Philosophically)
of sovereignty is changing, not the state, which is ▶ Pluralism (Religious)
structured on the relationship between global and ▶ Political Theory
local; in this relationship based on hierarchies, ▶ Utilitarianism
streams, links, the national state not only favors
globalization, but also creates its geography com-
posed of networks of global cities, regions special- References
izing in the production of certain goods, interstate
relations based on continental flows of capital and Ajani, G. (2007). Globalizzazione. Globalization/
mondialisation, globalisation. In M. Flores, T. Groppi,
information through the Internet.
R. Pisillo Mazzeschi (Eds.), Diritti umani. Cultura dei
The question is how far a nation-state is willing diritti e dignità della persona nell’epoca della
to cede some of its prerogatives, especially in globalizzazione. (Dizionario Vol. 1 A–G,
matters of law, so that the metamorphosis of sov- pp. 659–668). Torino: UTET.
Beck, U. (1999). Che cos’è la globalizzazione. Rischi
ereignty takes place marked by mutable exchange
e prospettive della società planetaria. Roma: Carrocci
between the local-global and vice versa. Finally, editore.
one can’t no touch the relationship between reli- Beyer, P. (2009). Religions in Global Society. Roland
gion and globalization, in particular in their rela- Robertson.
Giddens, A. (2006). Fondamenti di sociologia. Bologna: il
tionship, in the words of Ignazio Sanna, including
Mulino.
planetary Company and assertion of identity. So Martell, L. (2011). Sociologia della globalizzazione.
there is a phenomenon of cosmopolitanism, Torino: Einaudi.
a phenomenon more virtual than substantial, as it Sanna, I. (2011). Società planetaria e rivendicazione
identitaria. In I. Sanna (Ed.), I fondamentalismi
is dominated by the tyranny of finance capital, in
nell’era della globalizzazione (pp. 105–131). Roma:
which you witness the progressive monetization of edizioni Studium.
human relationships, the banning of the subjectiv- Sassen, S. (2008). Una sociologia della globalizzazione.
ity and of the person. This cosmopolitanism Torino: Einaudi.
appeared not only in the social and cultural, but
also in the more specific case of law, in which you
can see a fundamental ambiguity of the concept of
“universal law,” where it refers to a sort of cosmo- Globalized Christianity
politan legal unit that, in contrast, is not within the
shared perspectives, and even, most likely, present ▶ Global Christianity
in human desires. Sanna, then, hopes to overcome
the simplifications of identity, now active in vast
areas of the planet through a kind of “anthropo-
logical ecumenism,” (Sanna 2011) a unification of Gnostic
humanity founded on religious freedom and uni-
versal brotherhood. ▶ Gnosticism
Gnosticism 947 G
nature and the social order. Gnosticism, finally,
Gnosticism has been compared to the general, postwar move-
ment known as “existentialism,” an outlook that
Carl Raschke was highly fashionable among Western intellec-
Department of Religious Studies, tuals during the 1950s and 1960s and stressed the
University of Denver, human being’s fundamental alienation as well as
Denver, CO, USA autonomous human striving in the face of
a hostile and “absurd” universe. The Gnostic
Religion by German-born philosopher Hans
Related Terms Jonas, which first appeared in 1958, compared
convincingly ancient Gnostics to modern
Gnostic existentialists.
The study of Gnosticism is not a field or
Gnosticism is a general term that has been used a discipline, but a general subject matter that is G
by many scholars over the last several centuries often a special subdiscipline of research within
to typify certain belief systems and practices that certain recognized fields. Since about 1980
were regarded by early Christianity from about “Gnostic” studies has burgeoned as a broad,
150 C.E. onward as “heterodox.” The word Gnos- interdisciplinary area of inquiry, mostly in the
ticism comes from the Greek word gnosis, which humanities. Subspecialties in the study of Gnos-
connotes a secret, privileged, and mystical form ticism, therefore, have proliferated in a variety of
of “knowledge,” contrasting with the more con- fields, predominantly religious studies, Biblical
ventional expression episteme, which refers to studies, history of religions, and Middle Eastern
knowledge gained by sound, rational demonstra- and Asian studies. Because of the obvious
tion, and argument. It was initially used as a term similarity of the worldviews of classical Gnosti-
of derogation by its early orthodox Christian cism and certain Oriental philosophies, a search
antagonists. for possible Asian links through the trading
At the same time, the word “Gnostic” has been networks in the ancient world between the Levant
employed in an extended sense by intellectual and India and China has been one trajectory of
and cultural historians to identify certain com- investigation over the years. However, Gnostic
mon hereditary strings of thinking in Western studies have for the most part concentrated on
and Middle Eastern civilizations that persist up a Mediterranean provenance for the general
until the present day. Gnosticism has been phenomenon. Since Gnosticism is almost by def-
associated not only with libertarian, Bohemian, inite a world view rather than a self-designated
antinomian, and anti-authoritarian attitudes community of religious believers or practitioners,
among both countercultures and certain cultural and in lesser degree a philosophy of human nature
elites throughout modern historian as well as with and values, those academic methodologies which
certain revolutionary and totalitarian ideologies start from material remains are less consequential
in the nineteenth century. The work of the late for research in this subdiscipline than those which
political philosopher Eric Voegelin has been crit- are primarily concerned with textual artifacts and
ical in this regard. In most of his major works, symbols.
including his multi-volume magnum opus enti- The issue of how to identify “Gnostic” strains
tled Order and History, Voegelin analyzed how per se in history, thought, and culture – and
what he called “Gnostic” thought – the notion increasingly whether the Gnostic “label” itself
prevalent in Marxism, fascism, and even various really designates anything of importance –
“human potential” philosophies that are often remains an ongoing item of contestation. In his
well received within liberal democracy that Rethinking Gnosticism: An Argument for
special human insight and bold expertise can Dismantling a Dubious Category (1996) Michael
bring about a utopian transformation of human Allen Williams systematically takes apart what
G 948 Gnosticism
he considered the overextension and overuse of this period, was wholly dependent on the well-
the term in modern scholarship. He suggests that known anti-Gnostic polemics that are found
what was originally a polemical term deployed as throughout the writings of the early Church
a catch-all against a spectrum of deviants from fathers. The standard view until very recently
the fledgling Christian consensus about who was that Gnosticism must be seen a foreign “gos-
Jesus was and what kind of salvation he offered pel” that covert insinuated its way into the early
late morphed into a pseudo-taxonomical cate- Christian congregations around the Mediterra-
gory. Williams makes the case that Gnosticism nean basin, particularly during the second and
has become a largely useless locution to lump third centuries. Harnack summed up this domi-
together countless and diverse forms of novel nant perspective by depicting Gnosticism as the
Hellenistic religious movements, similar to the “acute Hellenization” of Christianity.
promiscuous category of “New Age” that is More than any other scholar of the nineteenth
routinely invoked nowadays. and first half of the twentieth century Harnack
Thus the study of Gnosticism, if Williams’ was responsible for the spread of the notion
argument holds, is neither a field nor Christianity was religiously unique and could be
a subdiscipline, but a generic descriptor boiled down to the simple message behind Jesus’
encompassing a wide-ranging and helter-skelter preaching of the Kingdom of God in Galilee
array of phenomena for something that does not during the first century. Harnack was bent on
really cohere conceptually, or possibly even exist showing how Christianity’s “essential” teachings
in the genuine theoretical sense. Williams, who were impervious to the process of syncretism, the
was praised for his own erudition and the preci- genetic blending of different cultural ideological
sion of his line of reasoning, may represent an streams. According to Harnack, neither the
extreme academic reaction to debasement of the “Judaizers,” whom the Book of Acts portrays as
coinage of the word in recent popular culture and St. Paul’s chief antagonists, nor the “Hellenizers”
among those scholars who have bedded down – that is, the Gnostics, were able to corrupt Jesus’
with its enthusiasts. But he has put his figure on essential message, even up until the present day.
something that is troubling among partisans of Like much of what the Germans called
what might be called contemporary “Gnostic ▶ Religionswissenschaft (the “science” of reli-
studies.” gion) throughout the nineteenth century, over-
What might be called the “definitional” and whelmingly liberal Protestant in character,
“typological” difficulties with research into Harnack was committed to the view that the
Gnosticism have extended even to the limited new historical-critical method would ultimately
subject matter that religious historians once took not undermine Christian doctrine, but relativize
for granted. Even the interrelationship between and explain away all its competitors, leaving the
Gnosticism and what we now regard as “ortho- pure “essence” of Christianity untouched. Thus
doxy” is not as clear as was presupposed until early research into Gnosticism was colored
recently. Scholarship surrounding Gnosticism strongly by a hidden agenda to preserve
took root during the nineteenth century under a certain kind of Protestant orthodoxy under the
the influence of the new historical-critical schol- pretense of mapping out new methodologies of
arship concerning ancient Christian texts preva- research in the study of religion.
lent in mostly German universities. The leading This paradigm, however, was both challenged
researcher into ancient Gnosticism was the and began to shift dramatically after the end of
German historian of ideas Adolf von Harnack World War II. The period between the two world
(2009), best known for his extensive writings on wars was a kind of interregnum dominated, at
the history of church dogma. However, Harnack least in Europe, by a dogmatic, albeit erudite,
was limited in the scope of his research because form of Protestant theology known as “neo-
of the lack at the time of original early sources. orthodoxy,” which not only did not purport to
Harnack’s work, like most scholarships during be any kind of Wissenschaft, or “science,” but
Gnosticism 949 G
also held any “science” of religion as a whole became a veritable industry, popular as well as
largely in contempt. All sciences of religion, scholarly, that churned out numerous (largely
Barth suggested, should be dismissed exclusively conjectural) interpretations of who the Gnostics
as the “word of man” as opposed to the true and were and what their texts actually meant. The rise
transformative “Word of God.” But in December of New Age religions from the late 1970s onward
1945 some peasants living around the city of Nag even led a number of groups to adopt contempo-
Hammadi on the Nile in Upper Egypt acciden- rary “Gnostic” beliefs and practices that may, or
tally stumbled upon a collection of ancient papy- may not, have any actual correlation with what
rus fragments in earthen jars that dated back to went on in the ancient world. The density and
the second century of the Christian era. The obscurity of the Gnostic writings themselves,
papyrus documents turned out to be an actual deliberately fostered by the elitist and secretive
library of original Gnostic texts, which had most nature of the tight little societies who produced
likely at some time during the Constantinian them, encouraged wild and often fanciful scenar-
era or later been squirreled away by local Chris- ios that are as much fiction as fact. Dan Brown’s G
tian monks, who were forbidden to possess such 2003 runaway best seller The ▶ Da Vinci Code,
“heretical” writings. The so-called Nag subsequently made into a movie, for example,
Hammadi Library, like the even more famous propounds the canard that the ancient Gnostics
Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Palestine 3 years were actually goddess-worshippers who were the
later, revolutionized scholarly understanding of true disciples of Jesus, a “secret” tightly guarded
Gnosticism and led to a revaluation of who the and suppressed at all costs by the Catholic
ancient authors of such texts actually might be. Church. There is virtually no historical evidence
Although the texts offered little clue to their for any of the suppositions of Brown’s novel, but
historical or social identity, they called into ques- it illustrates the growing confusion today in the
tion the prevailing scholarly consensus and popular understanding of Gnosticism that mirrors
opened the way for trajectories of hypothesis a somewhat less, but substantial, divided mind
and speculation that left behind the model that among credible scholars.
had been institutionalized by Harnack. The ▶ Da Vinci Code fantasies were, unfortu-
As is customary for major archeological finds, nately, the natural outgrowth of one influential,
it often takes decades for new textual discoveries “revisionist” strand of scholarship that arose
to bring about a significant change in the opera- among the new breed of feminist academics
tive theories themselves. For one thing, the during the 1980s. In her The Gnostic Gospels
fragments of manuscript need to be translated, (1989), which was also a best seller in its own
dated, and compared with other known texts. right, Princeton University religion professor
Because the Gnostic library at Nag Hammadi Elaine Pagels insisted that Gnosticism merely
had been translated into Coptic from Hellenistic numbered among various, divergent trends
Greek at some point, it was not clear at first when within early Christianity. Pagels actively
they had actually been composed. Finally, the promoted the view, based on an inferential and
peasants who first found the jars with the first not a transparent reading of church history, that
papyri were not aware immediately of their sig- Gnosticism did not gain ascendancy in the church
nificance. A few years later the Egyptian govern- and was ultimately stamped out, chiefly because
ment seized what was then in circulation and kept of the persecuting zeal of orthodox clerics, who
them largely from scholars outside Egypt. It was also happened to be misogynist. Pagel’s argu-
through some contraband segments of the papyri, ments, while based on real and plausible circum-
smuggled into Europe, that interest in the manu- stantial information, are nevertheless flawed
scripts first awakened during the late 1950s. because they confuse outcomes with causal
The papyri were mostly recovered and trans- factors. Roman civilization, not just Christianity,
lated into English, however, by the mid-1970s. At was generally misogynist (Christianity of all
that point the fascination with Gnosticism kinds was far less so than patriarchal paganism),
G 950 Gnosticism
and there is strong indication that the Gnostics’ What Harnack referred to “acute Helleniza-
elevation of the feminine in their curious, tion” had already, therefore, affected Judaism
baroque forms of mythology was contrary to before it had an impact on early Christianity.
their real-life contempt for women. The history We know now that Christianity in the first
of religions provides countless examples (espe- 100 years after the death of Jesus was almost
cially in the stories and traditions of South Asia) exclusively a form of heterodox Judaism, and
of a religious imagination that exalts the feminine with the end of the Jewish establishment in
on the one hand, and mistreats them in social Jerusalem after the two failed revolts against
custom and practice. This same compensatory Rome in 66 and 132 A.D., these two heterodox
mechanism can be found in many feudal streams most likely merged. Furthermore, it was
contexts. the non-Jewish factions in the early persecuted
Much of the current “revisionism” about the church that led the charge against denouncing the
sources and significance of Gnosticism turns out “heretics” who came to be called Gnostics. More-
to be more a kind of wish-fulfillment than the over, the sizable Jewish population in Egypt was
result of the discovery of any major material far more intellectually influential throughout the
artifacts. As is obvious with the outsize popular- empire and among the non-Palestinian Jews, who
ity of The ▶ Da Vinci Code, the more sensational made up the bulk of the first century. As Judaism
and counter-traditional a theory turns out to be, declined in prestige after the revolts and Roman
the more credibility it seems to garner with persecution became ever more fierce, the dark,
a credulous, media-saturated public. pessimistic world view of Gnosticism among the
At the same time, Harnack’s “acute Helleni- Jewish and Christianized Judaic intelligentsia
zation” hypothesis – at least from a scholarly became increasingly attractive. Inasmuch as
perspective – probably has more going for it Roman authorities had a hard time differentiating
than today’s pop Gnosticist mania enjoys. Christians in the first two centuries from Jews, the
Harnack’s thread of analysis has ironically in perception that of Gnosticism as a major form of
quite recent decades been bolstered by some Christianity was not entirely unfounded. The
scholars who look upon Gnosticism not so much anti-Gnostic movement in the church that puta-
as a Christian heresy as a kind of heterodox tively resulted in the triumph of “orthodoxy,” in
Judaism that first appeared in Egypt and then fact, may indeed have been part of a widespread
spread throughout the Mediterranean world de-Judaizing trend from the second century
through Hellenization. The leading scholars onward.
who have advanced this perspective are Birger Whereas there is little of what could be legit-
Pearson and Kurt Rudolph (1983). In Judaism, imately designated “scientific” (other than
Gnosticism, and Egyptian Christianity (1990) a reliance on empirical data) in Gnostic studies,
Pearson showed that not a few motifs from one field of investigation that has maintained
Gnostic cosmology are simple knockoffs from over the years a certain theoretical rigor is Jung-
Rabbinic midrash – that is, textual interpretation ian psychology (Jung and Segal 1992). The
of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. movement, which began early in the twentieth
Researchers with this bent have focused on the century and has burgeoned since the Vietnam
isomorphism between Jewish apocalyptic litera- era, was an outgrowth of the meticulous clinical
ture, which was written as a secret “underground” investigations and voluminous publications of
coded set of communications to those resisting C.G. Jung, a renegade Swiss disciple of Sigmund
Gentile domination and Gnostic themes, Freud who, like his mentor, wrote in German and
and symbology. The Gnostic preoccupation had a significant impact on avante-garde
with ambivalent Scriptural personalities, some German-speaking culture right after World War
perhaps entirely mythical, – for example, Cain, I. Jung rejected complete Freud’s “pan-sexual”
Seth, Enoch, and Judas – offers a hint of this interpretation of clinical symptoms and
Jewish provenance for Gnostic thinking. postulated in its place a theory of “archetypes” –
Gnosticism 951 G
universal and ahistorical patterns of imagery and sense of modern empirical science, although he
symbolism found in religious rituals, dreams, and was convinced his work with patients yielded
myths – that have survived since time immemo- immense usable data for the understanding of
rial in the collective memory of the human race. the human personality and human religion in
It is the job of the psychoanalyst, Jung general. Jung considered his approach a form of
maintained, to help the patient identify these scientia in the classical meaning of the term – the
patterns and to shepherd them skillfully into an deliberate and focused pursuit of both general
integration of the archetypes with the client’s and individual “wisdom” (one translation of the
own personal experience, a process Jungians German Wissenschaft).
have termed “individuation.” Jungian psychology, at least since the 1930s,
But Jung’s theories have gone far beyond clin- has had a negligible effect on Gnostic research.
ical practice, which remains far more accepted But ironically it has been one of the key ideolog-
than Freud’s to this day. Their central impact has ical underpinnings for popular Gnosticism, which
been on not so much myth and ritual studies, has come to regard itself as an actual religion. As G
including pre-eminently the fields of comparative it turns out, some of these “religious” groups have
religions, psychology of religion, and religious been instrumental in both aggregating and
studies as a whole in its early phases, as on the disseminating Gnostic scholarship and writings.
investigation of Gnosticism. Jung was enamored The most important of these groups is the Gnostic
with what was known about ancient Gnosticism Society in Los Angeles, founded in 1928 by John
ever since about the time he broke with Freud on and James Prise, theosophists and followers of
the eve of World War I, and wrote at length the Russian mystic Helena Blavatsky. The Gnos-
throughout his life on the subject. tic Society, even at present, is centered around the
Indeed, it can be said that Jung fashioned his work and ideas of Jung, but its primary mission
own version of a neo-Gnostic philosophy or recently has been to promote ways in which
“theology,” which was at times hardly distin- Gnosticism can be cultivated by the average per-
guishable from his psychological models. Jung son as a personal religious philosophy and style
closely tied Gnosticism to ancient Egyptian of life. Dr. Stephen Hoeller, the main luminary
wisdom traditions (known as “hermeticism”) as and teacher of the Gnostic Society, is also bishop
well as to alchemy, a historically dubious associ- of the Ecclesia Gnostica, which describes itself
ation. Within this highly personal conceptual on its website as “the oldest sacramental Gnostic
universe Jung evolved from his study of Gnostic body in the United States.”
texts, Jung was able to elaborate a theory to
support his clinical practice of letting the collec-
tive unconscious speak and manifest itself to his Cross-References
patients. Jung termed this technique the “active
imagination.” The active imagination is the Jung- ▶ Astrology
ian correlate to what Freudians term the “talking ▶ Christian Cosmology
cure,” where the free-wheeling discourse and ▶ Dualism
insights of the client with the assistance, and ▶ Incarnation
sometimes the direct intervention of the analyst, ▶ Soul
are assumed to generate a self-regulating proce-
dure resulting in psychological growth and
healing. Jung was of the opinion, unsupported
by any direct evidence from the Gnostic texts or References
the reports of their critics, that the experience of
Barnstone, W., & Meyer, M. (2008). The Gnostic Bible.
gnosis was akin to the successes of his own treat-
Boston: Shambhala.
ment of patients. Jung regarded his own method- Green, H. (1985). The social and economic origins of
ology as a “science” (as did Freud) but not in the Gnosticism. Atlanta: Scholars Press.
G 952 Goal
Jonas, H. (2001). The Gnostic religion (3rd ed.). Boston: at least one criterion. This contradicts the ratio-
Beacon. nality of the decision maker, in choosing an alter-
Jung, C., & Segal, R. (1992). The Gnostic Jung. London:
Routledge. native when a better one may exist, difficulty that
Pagels, E. (1989). The Gnostic gospels. New York: can be overcome with different techniques.
Vintage Books.
Pearson, B. (1990). Judaism, Gnosticism, and Egyptian
Christianity. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Rudolph, K. (1983). Gnosis: The nature and history of
Gnosticism (trans: Wilson, R. M. et al.). San Francisco: God
Harper & Row.
von Harnack, A. (2009). What is Christianity? Charleston: ▶ Allah
Forgotten Books.
Williams, M. (1996). Rethinking Gnosticism: An argu-
ment for dismantling a dubious category. Princeton:
Princeton University Press. God and Devil in Buddhism
Bhikkhu Anālayo
Center for Buddhist Studies, University of
Goal Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
▶ Eschatology Related Terms
Brahmā; Māra
Goal Programming
Description
M. Teresa Ortuño
Department of Statistics and Operational The role of the denizens of the ancient Indian
Research I, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, pantheon in Buddhist texts can in general be
Madrid, Spain understood as part of a tendency to include, albeit
in a subordinate position and at times with some
significant modifications, central elements of rival
Goal programming is a branch of multiobjective institutions or movements into the framework of
optimization, which in turn is a branch of multi- one’s own system.
criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Its main char- An instance of such “inclusivism” can be
acteristic is that for each of the criteria relevant to observed in the case of the ancient Indian god
the problem, a goal or target value to be achieved Brahmā, who in Buddhist texts features in
is established. These values are determined by the a plurality of manifestations. The inclusion of
decision maker and are usually subjective. the god Brahmā in Buddhist texts occurs in two
Unwanted deviations from this set of target distinct modes. Several passages mock the claim
values are then minimized in an achievement that a Brahmā could be an all-knowing and
function. The technique looks for the satisfaction eternal creator god, while in other discourses
of the target, not for the optimization of the a particular Brahmā acts as a guardian of
objective, and then, an underlying satisfying phi- Buddhism.
losophy is assumed. A discussed weakness of The tendency to satirize Brahmā is exempli-
goal programming is the possibility to produce fied in a discourse which professes to explain how
solutions that are not Pareto efficient, that is, the notion of a creator god came into being in the
without the property of not existing other solution first place. This explanation is based on the
not worse for all criteria considered, and better in ancient Indian cosmological notion that the
God and Devil in Buddhism 953 G
world goes through repeated cycles of dissolution Buddha over Brahmā and thereby implicitly of
and evolution. Once a period of dissolution is the Buddha’s teaching over Brahminical beliefs.
over, the Brahmā world reappears, and In contrast to this particular Brahmā, who
a particular being, in accordance with its merits, behaves as a guardian protector of Buddhism, the
is reborn in this world (Carpenter and Rhys devil in Buddhist texts acts as an antagonist to the
Davids 1890–1911, I 17). This being feels lonely Buddha and his disciples. The Buddhist devil
and develops a wish for company. In due course carries the name Māra, a name that literally sig-
of time, other beings are also reborn in this nifies “death.” According to Buddhist cosmology,
Brahmā world, again in accordance with their Māra dwells in the highest of the heavens that still
merits. The living being that arose first in belong to the sensual realm, inferior to the celestial
the Brahmā world now thinks that his wish for realms of the nonsensual heavens, where Brahmā
company was the cause for those other beings to dwells. In Buddhist texts, Māra’s role is to advo-
come to the same location. This mistaken idea cate the enjoyment of sensual pleasures in contrast
then becomes the basis for the first being’s claim to renunciation and striving for awakening. The G
that he is the creator of the others, a claim those need to defeat Māra and to go beyond his reach is
other beings accept as fact and truth. In this way, therefore a recurrent topic in Buddhist discourse.
the idea of a creator god is parodied as being the In his role as a tempter, Māra tries to impede
outcome of a deluded Brahmā’s belief that beings the future Buddha Gotama’s progress to awaken-
arose in his realm in compliance with his wish for ing by recommending the acquisition of merit
company. and the performance of fire sacrifice instead of
Besides the satirical attitude toward Brahmā as striving for liberation (Andersen and Smith 1913,
a creator, evident in the above passage, the early Stanza 426ff). Later tradition presents a more
Buddhist discourses also feature a Brahmā in the dramatic version of his attempts to prevent the
role of a Buddhist disciple. In a range of texts, the Buddha’s awakening. At the head of a frightening
role of this Brahmā is to do what he can in order to army, Māra attacks the Buddha-to-be, who in turn
further the growth and continuity of the Buddha’s calls the goddess earth to witness for his right to
dispensation. A particularly prominent instance remain on the seat where he shall win awakening.
occurs in the Buddha’s autobiographical account This scene became another favorite theme in
of his own awakening. According to this account, ancient Indian art.
when the Buddha had just gained awakening, he A series of Buddhist discourses report various
was hesitant to teach what he had discovered to attempts by Māra to disturb the Buddha and his
others. Brahmā, who had become aware of the disciples (Feer 1884–1898, I 103ff). At times, he
Buddha’s disinclination to teach, was alarmed at does so by taking on a frightful appearance, such
this prospect and decided to intervene (Trenckner as a great elephant or a huge snake. Alternatively,
and Chalmers 1888–1896, I 168). He appeared he creates a loud noise by shattering some rocks.
before the Buddha and requested him to teach, Such attempts to frighten the Buddha are from the
proclaiming that there would be those who under- outset doomed to failure, as according to
stand. Following this intervention, the Buddha did Buddhism a fully awakened one is beyond fear.
indeed decide to teach, so that this episode func- The same holds for a series of temptations that
tions as the starting point of what we now refer to has Māra’s daughters as its protagonists
as Buddhism. (Feer 1884–1898, I 124). The text reports that
The scene of Brahmā standing with palms they assumed various beautiful shapes in order
together in reverential salutation to one side of the to arouse sensual desire in the Buddha, the arising
Buddha who is seated in meditation has become of which is similarly held to be an impossibility in
a favorite topic of ancient Indian iconographical the case of one who has reached full awakening.
representations, vividly illustrating the theme that Māra also accosts Buddhist nuns who are med-
underlies this episode: the superiority of the itating in solitude, trying to tempt them to give up
G 954 God as Semper Creator
their life of renunciation and enjoy sensual traditions, the pantheon of such deities expanded
pleasures instead, or else wanting to confuse by incorporating various celestial bodhisattvas
them with doctrinal arguments. In each of these and Buddhas, which serve a variety of functions
instances, he is recognized for being Māra and in a ritual and meditative context.
thereon has to vanish in discomfiture.
It appears to be an invariable pattern that Māra
has to disappear as soon as he is recognized by Cross-References
those he is attempting to disturb. Especially
remarkable are those episodes which involve ▶ Concept of God in Contemporary Philosophy
attempts to lure arahant nuns or the Buddha with of Religion
sensuality. Since according to early Buddhist ▶ Evil, Problem of
doctrine an arahant has forever eradicated sensual ▶ Names of God
desire, such attempts are from the outset doomed
to failure. This would make it clear that in
such contexts Māra does not represent References
a personification of inner defilements. Rather, in
these tales, challenges the Buddha and his disci- Primary Sources
ples presumably had to face are represented as the Andersen, D., & Smith, H. (Eds.). (1913). The Sutta-nipāta.
work of Māra. The didactic function of such tales
Carpenter, J. E., & Rhys Davids, T. W. (Eds.).
would thus be to indicate by way of example how (1890–1911). The Dı̄gha Nikāya (3 vols). London/
such challenges should be handled. Oxford: Pali Text Society.
In its early Buddhist use, the term “Māra” does Feer, L. (Ed.). (1884–1898). The Samyutta Nikāya
˙
not stand just for the individual Māra that lived at
Trenckner, V., & Chalmers, R. (Eds.). (1888–1896).
the time of the Buddha, but rather represents an The Majjhima Nikāya (3 vols). London/Oxford: Pali
“office” that is taken up by a succession of indi- Text Society.
viduals. This reflects the general position taken in
Buddhism toward any god or celestial being, in Secondary Sources
that they are held to be subject to death and Anālayo. (2004). The role of Brahmā in the Pāli
discourses. The Sri Lanka Journal of the Humanities,
rebirth, just like human beings. Thus, an arahant
29/30, 157–166.
and chief disciple of the Buddha is on record for Bailey, G. (1983). The mythology of Brahmā. Delhi:
having in a past life been a Māra himself Oxford University Press.
(Trenckner and Chalmers 1888–1896, I 333). Bloss, L. W. (1978). The taming of Māra: Witnessing to
the Buddha’s virtues. History of Religions, 17,
While in early Buddhist texts Māra continues to
156–176.
act as an antagonist of the Buddha and his disci- Boyd, J. W. (1975). Satan and Māra, Christian and
ples, according to a later tale, after the Buddha’s Buddhist symbols of evil. Leiden: Brill.
passing away Māra is eventually tamed and Ling, T. O. (1962). Buddhism and the mythology of evil,
a study in Theravāda Buddhism. London: Allen &
converted to Buddhism by a fully awakened
Unwin.
Buddhist monk (Strong 1992). In this way, with Strong, J. (1992). The legend and cult of Upagupta,
Māra eventually converted and at least one Sanskrit Buddhism in North India and Southeast
Brahmā acting as a faithful protector of Asia. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Buddhism, both god and the devil assume their
specific Buddhist roles and functions.
Besides Brahmā and Māra, Buddhist thought
recognizes a range of other superhuman beings,
which up to the present day have their place in God as Semper Creator
local cults in the various Buddhist countries.
With the Mahāyāna and especially the Vajrayāna ▶ Divine Creativity
God of the Gaps 955 G
provides an example. Such a dramatic device
God of the Gaps was called by the Romans ▶ deus ex machina,
god from a machine or vehicle.
John R. Albright The literature refers to Henry Drummond as
Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, IL, USA the one who coined the term. He was a Scottish
Purdue University Calumet, IN, USA evangelist. 1894 he wrote:
“There are reverent minds who ceaselessly scan the
fields of Nature and the books of Science in search
of gaps – gaps which they will fill up with God. As
Related Terms if God lived in the gaps? What view of Nature or of
Truth is theirs whose interest in Science is not in
Argumentum ad ignoratiam; Deus ex machina; what it can explain but in what it cannot, whose
quest is ignorance not knowledge, whose daily
Intelligent design
dread is that the cloud may lift, and who, as
darkness melts from this field or fram that, begin G
“God of the gaps” refers to the argument that gaps to tremble for the place of His abode? What needs
in scientific knowledge are evidence for God’s altering in such finely jealous souls is at once their
existence and direct intervention. One example view of Nature and of God. Nature is God’s
writing, and can only tell the truth; God is light,
of the God of the gaps argument is the argument and in Him is no darkness at all” (1894, 333).
from ignorance or argumentum ad ignoratiam.
The argument goes as follows: If a proposition Perhaps the most famous example of the God of
has not been disproven, then it cannot be consid- the gaps argument came about when Isaac Newton
ered false and must therefore be considered true. If considered the question of the long-term stability
a proposition has not been proven, then it cannot of the solar system. He was not able to calculate
be considered true and must therefore be consid- whether the small gravitational forces between
ered false. However, this argument is a fallacy, pairs of planets would cancel on the average or
because it says that true things can never be accumulate. He considered that in the latter case,
disproven and false things can never be proven the unstable behavior would be avoided by the
but this implies that true things can never be gentle action of God, applying small forces at the
proven and false things can never be disproven. right times and places. A century later, Pierre
Today, the God of the gaps argument comes in Simon de Laplace showed that the solar system
two variants, namely, an epistemological and an is indeed stable against such perturbations. When
ontological one. The former represents a lack of his former student, Napoléon Bonaparte, asked
scientific explanatory power; in other words, why Laplace’s treatise on celestial mechanics did
more scientific work is needed in order to fill not mention God, Laplace answered “I did not
the gaps. The latter, represents a lack of the need that hypothesis.”
possibility of falsification; for example, interpre- Another famous example of the God of the
tations of quantum mechanics are not amenable gaps argument comes from chemistry at the
to refutation, and so are unscientific. In either beginning of the last century.
case, the use of the term “God of the gaps” is The question was whether it would be possible
often used in a derogatory sense. to make organic compounds out of inorganic
The God of the gaps argument has its roots in ones. At that time, many believed that inorganic
ancient Greece. Indeed, dramatists sometimes compounds contained some kind of nonmaterial,
ended the plot of a story by letting a human- supernatural life-substance. This theory is known
powered vehicle (the machine) appear with an as Vitalism. This was so because until then
actor or actress on board playing a God or nobody had been able to produce organic com-
Goddess whose will provides the solution to the pounds out of the inorganic ones. However, this
difficulties. The play Orestes by Euripedes theory was soon to be put aside. Indeed, in 1828,
G 956 God’s Foreknowledge
the German chemist Friedrich Wöhler succeeded ▶ Myth

in synthesizing urea from inorganic compounds. ▶ Religion and Pseudoscience
Once again, God had to retreat.
In more recent times, the gaps in the narrative of
biological evolution have sometimes been filled References
with claims for direct divine action, especially for
what concerns human evolution. While most have Dembski, W. A. (1999). Intelligent design: The bridge
between science and theology. Downers Grove:
accepted Darwinian evolution as the principle of
InterVarsity Press.
the origin of all species including human beings, Henry, D. (1894). The ascent of man. New York: James
some accept evolution for plants and other animals, Pott & Co.
but they reject it for human beings. The advocates Polkinghorne, J. (2001). Physical process, quantum
events, and divine agency. In R. J. Russell, P. Clayton,
of this view lean often on the theory of intelligent
K. W. McNelly, & J. Polkinghorne (Eds.), Quantum
design. Irreducible complexity also appears in this mechanics: Scientific perspectives on divine action.
context. The argument goes that an organism (such Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory Publications.
as a cell) has many components, all of which are Pollard, W. G. (1958). Chance and providence: God’s
action in a world governed by scientific thought. New
essential to its proper functioning. Evolution by
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
natural selection of the properties of the organism Tracy, T. F. (1995). Particular providence and the God
could not proceed, because there is no intermediate of the gaps. In R. J. Russell, N. Murphy, &
stage that would permit the organism to live A. R. Peacocke (Eds.), Chaos and complexity:
Scientific perspectives on divine action. Vatican City
(Dembski 1999, 146–49, 237–41).
State: Vatican Observatory Publications.
With the arrival of quantum mechanisms on
the scientific scene, the predictability of classical
physics gave way to indeterminacy and probabi-
listic principles. William Pollard suggested that
God’s Foreknowledge
God could influence events in human lives by
manipulating outcomes of random events at the
▶ Relativity
atomic or molecular scale. Such small changes
can lead to macroscopic results but without mak-
ing manifest changes in the distribution of large
numbers of such events (Pollard 1958, ch. 4).
Chaos theory, the descriptor of classical Golem
systems that turn out to have unpredictable
long-range behavior, can also be seen as a locus Robert M. Geraci
for God’s action in areas where detailed explana- Associate Professor of Religious Studies,
tions are not forthcoming. There have been care- Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY, USA
ful and informed critiques of the approaches of
both quantum mechanics and chaos theory to
provide the locus of God’s action (Polkinghorne Related Terms
2001, 188–90). Studies along these lines have
been made and published with particular atten- Robotics and religion
tion to avoiding the pitfall of the God of the gaps
(Tracy 1995, 290 and especially 320–21). A magical humanoid in Judaism. Very holy
rabbis can allegedly produce golems out of clay
or dirt through magical incantations, the inscrip-
Cross-References tion of divine names on a parchment or the
creature’s head, or occasionally, through other
▶ Intelligent Design methods. In the early twentieth-century Europe,
▶ Magic Jews described golems as having protected them
Grace 957 G
from persecution by Christians, and told tales of
such exploits, apparently as a palliative against Grace
renewed persecution in Germany, Poland, and
elsewhere. Lluis Oviedo
Pontifical University Antonianum, Rome, Italy
Cross-References
Related Terms
Robotics and Religion
Eternal life; Gift; Love; Mistery
“Grace” is a theological concept within the Chris-

Good Clinical and Good Laboratory tian tradition that broadly expresses the beneficial
Practice (GCP) relationship with the divine. This is hardly G
a definition, but trying to get closer to the topic
Christian Lange-Asschenfeldt becomes a hard endeavor. Indeed harsh discus-
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, sions characterize the history of this word; it tries
Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University, to describe a dimension as mysterious as the
D€usseldorf, Germany divine itself; its content is manifold and resists
clear unification or distinction. Nevertheless
▶ Christianity – and perhaps other universal reli-
Good clinical practice is an internationally gions – would lose its identity without this word
accepted quality standard for the regulation of and the experience it reflects.
clinical trials on human subjects as defined by In theological terms, the concept of “grace”
the International Conference on Harmonization firstly refers to God, or is associated to His
(ICH). GCP advocates the protection of human reality, as a source of life and blessing; secondly
rights in clinical studies and provides assurance it is applied to humans and the renewing or
of the safety and efficacy of substances under regenerating effect consequent to a relationship
investigation. with the divine. This theology makes sense
Good laboratory practice then, this is an inter- inside an anthropological framework in which
nationally accepted quality standard within humans are characterized as creatures, and as
which laboratory studies are conducted and con- such, similar to and close to God; as sinners, or
trolled in order to ensure their consistency and limited and subjected to negative drives; and as
reliability, uniformity, quality, and safety. potentially redeemed and transformed by
“grace.” Christian narrative tradition claims
that this renewal is rendered possible by Christ’s
death and resurrection, and is available to every-
body through faith and the means of the Church.
Good Life However this last sentence might be subjected to
confessional disputes. The effects or reach of
▶ Happiness this divine influence is no less disputed, and
the answers span between minimalist solutions,
limited to a general “clearance” of ▶ sins,
allowing for eternal life, and a true renewal
that points to sanctity or excellence in ▶ virtue.
GoodWork Project Furthermore issues concerning grace and per-
sonal ▶ freedom have been part of this long
▶ Intelligences, Multiple argument, since some interpretations portray
G 958 Grace
an idea of grace that substantially limits human recognized as a condition of social order. Think-
freedom. ing in terms of “value” means to be able to
One essential aspect of the theology of grace is account and to decide on the basis of costs and
its character of “gift”: It is given by divine dis- benefits. The idea of “grace” would distort this
pensation, not deserved because of human merits, pattern since it introduces something that has at
efforts, or sacrifices. This aspect is shared by the same time a great value, but is costless, and as
other religions, which point in some of their writ- a consequence becomes unmanageable inside
ings and authors to a similar experience of the a human order of things. This problem finds
divine generosity, “gratis” dispensing its blessing a solution – always in cognitive terms – pointing
and gifts. The inherent logic of “grace” chal- to the benefits that could result from an alterna-
lenges therefore the dominant logic of rational tive order of things, a form of “reframing” that
gain, of self-interest and calculation, of influences human relationships. In this new
a material view of reality. It sets up a different frame, the constraints of the value pattern can
realm and an alternative perspective that is able to be overcome or at least momentarily suspended
transform everything and to subvert the current to allow for unaccountable mercy and donation.
order of things. This aspect renders the idea of Its function would be similar to a “psychological
“grace” clearly counter-intuitive and harder to buffer” allowing for a view less entrapped in the
conceive by a mentality formed on the pattern logic of counting and having, less distressed by
of rational choice or utility. the amount of human debt.
The religious idea of “grace” clearly defies This proposed analysis might explain the close
some of our most established cognitive schemas, link between religious mind and attitude, on the
such as the one of agency, and the one of value. one hand, and the principle of “grace” pointing to
Regarding the first, opinions among specialists are divine dependence, on the other. However, the
divided. On the one hand, the idea of favorable religious mind does not always follow such
divine action cannot be easily grasped in the cur- a schema. Indeed the ideological history of
rent conditions of life in a natural setting. Causes grace reveals tensions with an alternative model
and effects can be seen as merely natural phenom- of conceiving religious attitude. This different
ena not requiring a supernatural explanation, approach resorts to a pattern of exchange, sacri-
which would become something unnecessarily fice, and “trade-like” relationship: The human
“added” through some psychological trick. On person gives to God, as a condition to receive
the other hand, cognitivist scholars have pointed blessings or benefits from the Divine. Merit
to the “agency” or “intentional stance” to explain becomes paramount in this model that recovers
religious beliefs (McCauley 2011): Some positive the logic of value and accounting. A hypothesis
surprising events would claim a kind of external arising from this contrast points to the temporal
agency to understand their unexpected happening precedence of the “trading pattern” and to the
and to make sense of that “good luck.” The human consecutive form of a “religion of grace.” In
mind is so made to such an “agency pattern” that it a similar vein, the first model would reflect
hardly could assume the existence of very positive a simpler, cognitively easy or comfortable
and very negative events without such an expla- schema, while the idea of grace would represent
nation; without agency they would become its “costly form” (Whitehouse 2004). Many ten-
unbearable, and would nourish a feeling of exces- sions inside Christian tradition mirror the intrin-
sive contingency. In popular terms, the “nothing sic difficulties at proposing and conceiving
happens for nothing” adage expresses a somewhat a “religion of grace” against a more simple pat-
similar logic. tern of merit and “trade with the Divine.” Besides
The second cognitive problem comes from this, dangers of disengagement and “free riding’
what can be called “value principle”: Things could loom when the message of grace goes too
and actions have a value and need to be far and completely displaces the idea of merit.
Grace 959 G
Difficulties at conceiving grace are increased implies a transformation as a condition of its
in a more secularized society, in which this idea therapeutic effect.
becomes more and more external to the dominant The former statements can suggest an idea of
culture, and to an increasingly scientific mental- grace as therapeutic instance provided by reli-
ity. There are nevertheless attempts to translate gious bodies, and in concurrence with other
this traditional notion into more friendly modern more secular or “technical” therapeutic means.
categories. New spiritualities, for instance, point This is hard to assess; in most cases, “grace” does
to the existence of “positive energies” somewhat not compete with psychological or physical ther-
available in our environment, and able to trans- apies, but clearly can help healing processes
form or to uplift persons. Similarly the idea of implemented by medical resources. “Grace” can-
“connectedness” that is paramount to new spiri- not be seen as a substitute for standard therapeu-
tual proposals could be understood as expressing tic procedures, but as an instance of human
what the old concept of grace made in traditional renewal or regeneration. Its meaning can be bet-
religions: Being linked to the deep reality, to the ter appreciated inside of a frame of human full- G
“ultimate being” provides positive influence. ness, or providing purpose, meaning, and
Beyond the realm of spiritual developments, reconciliation.
the very idea of grace can find other ways to fit “Grace” is a very specific concept, in the sense
into a more scientific and technical worldview. that it is clearly placed into the semantics of
Research in the specialized field of “religious “transcendence,” as do concepts like God, soul,
▶ coping” and “religious human flourishing” eternal life, or the sacred. However, some
tries to highlight positive effects of religious atti- attempts have been made to naturalize it,
tudes on many aspects of personal and social life. resorting to the idea of “events of grace” or expe-
In general, the therapeutic meaning of religious riences of “creative transformation” inside an
beliefs and practices could be understood as immanent frame (Hardwick 1996). How success-
something akin to the idea of grace. This ful this proposal may be is still a question of time
approach might be linked with what in the classic and cultural acceptance; in any case, it seems
theological jargon was designed as the chapter on unlikely that the category of “grace” can survive
“effects of grace.” However, some distinctions outside of a horizon of transcendence or the per-
need to be kept as a condition to preserve the spective of a divine agent and the cognitive frame
original content of the concept of “grace.” of ▶ love and donation that God inspires.
Christian spiritual tradition has tried since old The main challenge for theological reflec-
times to overcome a too functional or utilitarian tion is perhaps how to update that concept in
conception of divine grace, as something useful a cultural context predominantly influenced by
to cope with uncertainty and to deal with current a scientific view of reality. The question
dangers and threats. Such a mentality would dis- touches the recent discussion on the levels of
tort the original meaning of this experience: “enchantment” and “disenchantment” per-
Grace could become a punctual help matching ceived in Western cultures, a discussion greatly
human interests, and God would become enhanced by Charles Taylor (2007). To per-
a “provider of benefits” useful for human self- ceive a world in sheer physical or material
management. The experience of grace is deeply parameters would mean accepting
linked to the ones of forgiveness and conversion; a completely disenchanted reality, something
this means that the main scope of divine grace is dull and dreary, as Max Weber noted at the
not to supply what is required each time for beginning of the twentieth century. The idea
human self-realization, but to offer a new men- of “grace” would represent the possibility of
tality, a new way of living, away from the old opening an alternative space.
selfish or self-centered condition, and more The German philosopher Habermas already
focused on love of God and other people. Grace complained in 1971 that
G 960 Grace
Philosophy [. . .] has not been capable of mastering have the idea of “displacement,” or of moving
by means of consolation and trust the de facto into a distinct realm in which our views and
meaninglessness of death in its contingency, that
of individual suffering, or that of the private loss of experiences acquire specific meaning, to the
happiness – in general the meaninglessness of the point of reversing what is usually deemed good
negativity of the risks built into life – in a way that and bad. Such a new perspective can provide
had been possible for the religious hope in salva- a way to understand reality in a deeper and more
tion.” (Habermas 1971, 17 f)
liberating form from the more dominant material
The religious hope in salvation is a way to perspective. This transformation is not only cog-
speak about grace. The open question is still, nitive, nor just emotional. In a part of Christian
four decades after this gloomy prediction, tradition, it becomes a dynamic of “divinization”
whether developed societies can survive without or assuming a condition and orientation closer to
resorting to a horizon of transcendent grace, just how God sees, judges, and behaves.
fitting into a complete immanent frame. At the end, what can be proposed under the
The elaboration of the concept of grace might label of “religious grace” to a scientific mental-
take into account these challenges and try to find ity is to assume a “variable,” a “factor” that
new space in the scientifically driven mentality. hypothetically can change many things or trans-
To this end, some conditions and suggestions can form for the best many aspects of a dull and
be mentioned. gloomy reality. What counts is what changes or
In the first place, the idea of grace requires which effect has divine grace as a possible
some more explicit content in order to connect dimension of human reality and the cosmos as
with modern secular sensitivities, not used to the we know it; whether this “addiction” can
traditional framework in which such idea made improve things or render them less valuable by
sense and related to a quite well-known Christian themselves. The theological view, deeply
horizon. This content has to do with the tradi- engaged with the concept of grace, assumes the
tional idea of “salvation,” which becomes prob- wager of looking to reality assuming the pres-
lematic as well. Some suggestions come from ence of transforming divine grace to assess its
sociological and psychological studies pointing consequences; or to test the effects of its
to religion as a way of “empowerment” and absence.
a mean for “human flourishing.” However, it
seems that alternative experiences would be
more fitting in this case, like the one of forgive- Cross-References
ness, of extensive love, or the one suggested by
Taylor’s idea of “human fullness” (Taylor 2007). ▶ Christianity
In any case it seems that these proposals remain ▶ Coping
somewhat fuzzy and require further concretion. ▶ Freedom
In the second place, the religious proposal of ▶ Love
the experience of grace comes in a plural milieu ▶ Sin (Vice, Human Limits, Negativity)
in which many other proposals of full life and ▶ Virtue
love can be found and followed. Its specificity
appears to be linked to its predominantly reli-
gious character, even its mostly confessional set- References
ting in Christian Churches, and its program of
reversing one’s own interest and the logic of Habermas, J. [1971] (1983). Philosophical-political pro-
sheer merit. files. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
In the third place, the concept of grace intends Hardwick, C. D. (1996). Events of grace: Naturalism,
existentialism, and theology. Cambridge: Cambridge
to play a different game, in a different place or University Press.
with different rules as the one usually played McCauley, R. N. (2011). Why religion is natural and
inside the dominant human categories. Here we science is not. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Graph Theory 961 G
Taylor, C. (2007). A secular age. Cambridge, MA: Har- Recently, other areas or disciplines have
vard University Press. received the attention of the graph theory com-
Whitehouse, H. (2004). Modes of religiosity: A cognitive
theory of religious transmission. Walnut Creek, CA/ munity as biology (with the development of cel-
Lanham, MD: Altamira Press. lular networks representations), sociology (social
networks, the calculation of centrality measures,
cohesiveness measure), linguistics (natural lan-
guage often lends itself well to discrete structure),
Graph Theory chemistry and physics (atoms structure underlies
in a graph structure), marketing (the diffusion of
Gómez González Daniel an idea can be analyzed from a graph theory point
Universidad Complutense De Madrid, Madrid, of view), and medicine (among other problems,
Spain the spread of a particular disease are analyzed
from a graph theory point of view). In addition
with these recent developments and applications, G
Description in pure mathematics, graphs are useful in geom-
etry and topology (see Harary 1967 for more
Graph theory is the field or topic in mathematics details).
related with the study of some particular mathe- To conclude, it is important to make emphasis
matical structures usually called ▶ graphs. again in the importance that has received the
Graphs are structures that represent the pairwise study of complex networks in the recent years
relations (usually denoted as links or edges) and the new developments in this research area.
among a set of elements (usually referred to as The understanding of complex networks and its
nodes or vertices). See Bondy and Murty (2008), derived problems is actually a requirement in
for more details about graph theory. different disciplines of Science as: sociology
Since the origins of the graph theory in 1736 (social networks as Facebook, Tuenti, or Twitter
with the paper written by Leonhard Euler entitled among others have a great impact in society),
“the Seven Bridges of Königsberg” too many physics (among other disciplines), community
papers have been written in this topic. Some of detection problems (which requires a sensible
the most well-known problems in graph theory decomposition of the graph into subgraphs,
are routing problems (as the shortest path prob- where, in some reasonable sense, the nodes in
lem or the traveling salesman problem), covering each subgraph have more to do with each other
problems, matching problems, planar graph prob- than with outsiders), biology, computer science,
lems, enumeration problems, network flow prob- medicine, marketing, economics, mathematics,
lems, visibility graph problems, graph coloring, literature, politics, and almost all science
and partition graph problems. The problems stud- disciplines.
ied in graph theory have had a great impact in the
recent years involving different areas; see, for
example, Mahadev, N.V.R., and Peled, U.N. Self-Identification
(1995), Newman (2006) or Newman (2010). In
mathematics, operation research, computer sci- Science
ence, logistics, industry, or statistics among other Yes, this discipline/subdiscipline self-identifies
disciplines, graphs are used to model networks of as a science. Nevertheless, there are some
communication, data organization, flow process, researchers that consider graph theory as
control theory, etc. Some examples of the real a mathematical science, while others consider it
situations that are studied from the graph theory as a branch of mathematics. Because of its
are (among others) the structure of a website, focus on applications, graph theory is usually
road transport maps, airplane network routes, considered to be a distinct mathematical science
train routes problems, and chip design. rather than a branch of mathematics.
G 962 Graph Theory
Characteristics Combinatorial Theory, Series B, Graphs and

Combinatorics, Journal of Graph Algorithms
Graph theory is distinguished from the other and Applications, SIAM Journal on Discrete
disciplines as mathematics, computer science, or Mathematics, Combinatorics, Probability, and
operation research, by its focus on the mathemat- Computing, Discrete Mathematics, Australasian
ical structures that can be modeled by means of Journal of Combinatorics, Ars Combinatoria,
graph and the problems involve in these The Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics
structures. Nevertheless, it could be said that and Combinatorial Computing, Bulletin of the
actually most of the disciplines of mathematics Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications,
require the new developments in graph theory for Discrete Applied Mathematics, European
the understanding of the complex networks. Journal of Combinatorics, Electronic Journal of
Combinatorics, Annals of Combinatorics,
Combinatorica, Discrete Mathematics and
Relevance to Science and Religion Theoretical Computer Science, SIAM Journal
on Computing, Diskretnaya Matematika, Journal
Although mathematics has had a considerable of Combinatorial Theory, Series A.
impact in the development of logic and philoso- The authority of these sources is self-derived
phy, which in turn has been very influential by the peer-review process of the researchers
in theology, few interest can be founded in “Sci- more important in the field of graph theory.
ence and Religion” among graph theory Some of the more important graph theory
researchers. In order to find some relevant pure researchers are (among others): Alon,
relations among these two topics and taking into Noga; Berge, Claude; Bollobás, Béla; Chung,
account that too many religious symbols as Fan; Dirac, Gabriel Andrew; Erdős, Paul;
4-point Star, Star of David, 5-point Star, 6-point Euler, Leonhard; Faudree, Ralph; Golumbic,
Star (Christianity), 6-point Star (Judaism) can be Martin; Graham, Ronald; Harary, Frank;
represented as a standard graph, we could include Heawood, Percy John; Kőnig, Dénes; Lovász,
some questions as: What are the mathematical László; Nesˇetrˇil, Jaroslav; Rényi, Alfréd;
properties of the classical religious symbols? Ringel, Gerhard; Robertson, Neil; Seymour,
Is there any relation between math & symbols in Paul; Szemerédi, Endre; Thomas, Robin;
a similar way as happen with art & math or beauty Thomassen, Carsten; Turán, Pál; Tutte, W. T.;
& math? What have in common the language of Whitney, Hassler.
religion, arts, and graph theory? Obviously,
the possible religious implications of such
discoveries are typically not considered profes- Ethical Principles
sionally by graph theory researchers.
As any discipline that affects the human life
and improves the quality of the society,
Sources of Authority nonmaleficence is also an ethical principle for
graph theory community.
The sources of authority in graph theory are the
results published in peer-reviewed journals with a
relevant impact in the area of graph theory or its Key Values
applications. Actually, there exist too many
journals that deal with the pure and applied The key values of graph theory are the same that
impact of the study of graphs. Some of these any field in mathematics that are close to the
journals (pure graph journals mainly) among values of publication works in mathematics. The
others are: Discussiones Mathematicae, Graph American Mathematical Society, recently
Theory, Journal of Graph Theory, Journal of resume these key principles in the following
Graph Theory 963 G
way . . .the correct attribution of mathematical a graph represents the conditional indepen-
results is essential, both because it encourages dence structure between random variables.
creativity, by benefiting the creator whose career Another interesting application can be found
may depend on the recognition of the work and in ▶ cooperative game theory. In this field,
because it informs the community of when, where, usually it is assumed that all the players can
and sometimes how original ideas entered communicate without restriction. Recent
into the chain of mathematical thought. Others studies included a standard graph in their
key values are thoroughness, rationality, honesty, models to represent the communication in
and curiosity. a more realistic way.
Human Being
Conceptualization The understanding of the human being (specially
his mind) has been received too much attention
Nature/World in the Mathematical and Computer Science G
During the nineteenth century, most of the community. In complex/intelligent systems, it
scientists focused their efforts on modeling and seeks to understand and replicate the learning
accurately modeled many natural phenomena. It that takes the human mind to solve complex
is for this reason that many modern historians of problems. In this research line, or discipline
science consider the classical deterministic (among others) we find the neural networks the-
physical, among others, the kings of science ory (also addressed as ▶ Artificial Neural Net-
during this century. However during the work theory). Neural network theory has served
twentieth century, one of the most remarkable both to better identify which is the behavior of the
discoveries in science was, in my opinion, the neurons in the brain and to provide the basis for
complexity of nature/world when you want to efforts to create artificial intelligence. The funda-
model it and understand it. Nothing is easily mental-mathematical tools that represent the
predictable (e.g., chaos theory) exactly. One of structure of neural network theory are graphs
the many factors that make this nature/world structures.
terribly complex is the number of relationships Following the fact that graph theory is consid-
between factors, causes, phenomena, ideas that ered beyond all the strategies that intend to repro-
in earlier times were considered unrelated duce and understand the human mind, we could
or independent. Graph theory is the natural conclude that human being (we focus here in the
mathematical tool that allows us to model, human mind that is what establish the main dif-
analyze, and to change methodologies/previous ferences with other species) can be modeled by
analysis to take into account that these relation- means of a complex graph.
ships exist. Many branches of mathematics that
model the real world/nature problems have Life and Death
included the graph theory as a key element In mathematics, the Markov Chain models are
when it comes to modeling the complexities asso- represented by means of graphs. In this disci-
ciated with relationships between entities that pline, the terms of life (also denoted as birth)
were previously considered independent or and death is usually addressed with a special
unrelated. case of continuous-time Markov process where
It can be found that too many disciplines of the states represent the current size of
mathematics have developed different method- a population and where the transitions are lim-
ologies and models to incorporate the relations ited to births and deaths. Birth-death processes
that exist among items by means of a graph. For have many applications in demography, queu-
example, in statistics and probability theory, ing theory, performance engineering, or in biol-
new recent studies have defined “the probabi- ogy, for example, to study the evolution of
listic graphical models.” In these models, bacteria.
G 964 Graph Theory
Reality Mystery
See section “Nature/World.” Mystery is an unusual concept in graph theory.
When there exist something that is yet unknown
Knowledge it is usually referred to as open problem, or as
The knowledge is the conclusions or results that a conjecture.
you obtain after an empirical study or after some
mathematical proofs.
Relevant Themes
Truth
As in any mathematical discipline, truth is some- An important issue partially addressed in graph
thing that is proved (from mathematical point of theory (especially in artificial neural networks) as
view) under some assumptions or hypothesis. regard to “Science and Religion” is the under-
standing of human mind. The human mind for
Perception many researchers is the main difference from the
The perception in mathematics is usually rest of the animal in the world. From a religion
addressed as conjecture. Something that could point of view, these differences have other expla-
be truth but still is not proved. nations (e.g., the soul that the human has instead
of any animal). Taking into account the new
Time developments in this area (artificial intelligence
Time is a fundamental topic in graph theory. could be close to human intelligence in a future) it
Time is one of the fundamental factors that would be necessary to establish some ethical and
represent the quality of an algorithm that solves moral questions about the differences between
a graph theory problem and also shows the “artificial intelligence” and human intelligence.
difficulty of the problem that it is solving. In Taking into account previous problems, in
graph theory, a problem is regarded as inherently graphs and artificial intelligence it has developed
difficult if its solution requires significant a new discipline addressed as “the ethics of arti-
resources of time, whatever the algorithm ficial intelligence.” Here it is included the ethics
used. Many of the mathematical models can be of technology specific to robots and other artifi-
classified into hard or nonhard problems cially intelligent beings. Some critics have
depending on the amount of resources needed to argued that artificial intelligence has the potential
solve them, such as time and storage. In terms of to introduce some new dangers and malaise. For
▶ computational complexity the problems in these reasons, there are some researchers that
graph theory can be divided into P class problems think that there exist some positions/jobs that
(those problems that can be solved on have to be done by humans as a judge, police,
a deterministic Turing machine in polynomial among others. Nevertheless, it is clear for every-
time) and NP class problems (those that can be body the possible advances that could give us
solved on a nondeterministic Turing machine in these new methodologies.
polynomial time). For more details, see Garey
and Johnson (1979).
Cross-References
Consciousness
See section “ Human Being.” ▶ Applied Mathematics (Mathematical Physics,
Discrete Mathematics, Operations Research)
Rationality/Reason ▶ Artificial Intelligence, General
Rationality is a key topic and concept in mathe- ▶ Complex Systems
matics and also in graph theory. Rationality in ▶ Computer Science in Human Learning
terms of logic is the way in which the knowledge ▶ Game Theory
is built and the truth is found. ▶ Mathematics in Human Learning
Gravity: From Classical to Quantum 965 G
▶ Mathematics, Modern are usually called as edges) or undirected (sym-
▶ Operations Research in Applied Mathematics metric, then these relations are usually called
▶ Statistics and Probability as links).
References
Gravity
Bondy, J. A., & Murty, U. S. R. (2008). Graph theory.
New York: Springer.
▶ Relativity
Garey, M. R., & Johnson, D. S. (1979). Computers and
intractability: A guide to the theory of NP-complete- ▶ Space
ness. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.
Harary, F. (1967). Graph theory and theoretical physics.
London: Academic.
Mahadev, N. V. R., & Peled, U. N. (1995). Threshold
graphs and related topics. Amsterdam: North- Gravity: From Classical to Quantum G
Holland.
Newman, M. E. J. (2006). The structure and function of Roumen Borissov
complex networks. Siam Review, 45, 167–256.
Department of Physics, Sofia University
Newman, M. E. J. (2010). Networks: An introduction.
Oxford: Oxford University Press. “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
Related Terms
Graphic and Plastic Arts Force of attraction
▶ Art, Studio Gravitation is the first type of force according to

the way force is defined by modern physics. If
you release an apple, it moves toward the ground;
hence, there is a force that makes it move that
Graphs way. The astronomers in the ancient world tried
to first record the movement of the stars and then
Gómez González Daniel to explain it. It has been quite puzzling (until
Universidad Complutense De Madrid, Madrid, Galilean times) that on the night sky, there were
Spain zillions moving in a regular way, as well as a few
other “stars” that were moving in a funny way
and that were named after some of the gods of the
In mathematics, a graph is an abstract represen- time – Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. One of
tation of a set of objects where some pairs of the the main tasks of science about two millennia ago
objects are connected by a relation. The was to describe the motion of the planets. Then,
interconnected objects are called vertices, and for nearly 1,500 years, not much happened until
the relations that connect some pairs of vertices the time of Copernicus who replaced the Earth by
are called edges or links. Typically, a graph is the Sun as the center of the Universe. Soon after-
depicted in diagrammatic form as a set of dots ward, Tycho Brahe performed the most accurate
for the vertices, joined by lines or curves for the measurements of the motion of the stars and the
edges. Graphs are one of the objects of study in planets of his time. These became the “data set”
discrete mathematics. A standard graph is then from which Johannes Kepler deduced his famous
defined by a set of nodes N and a set on links L. laws of planetary motion. And then came Sir
The relations among the nodes in a graph can be Isaac Newton. The simple law of universal grav-
directed (asymmetric, then these relations itation he wrote down not only makes Kepler’s
G 966 Gravity: From Classical to Quantum
laws simply a collateral outcome, a matter of the objects present tell the space-time how to
mathematical manipulation. Much more impor- curve and at the same time the curved space-
tantly, he realized that the force which makes time tells the objects how to move.” A simple
apples fall down and the force which makes the thought experiment, based on the principle of
planets revolve around the Sun is one and the general relativity, tells us that light should bend
same force, the force of gravity. when passing near a massive object and soon
As far as the forces are concerned, the nine- after Einstein’s general theory of relativity was
teenth century is the century of electromagnetism proposed this effect was observed.
with the triumph of Maxwell equations. These One could say that the special theory of rela-
equations managed to explain all known electro- tivity of 1905 has two progenies – the general
magnetic phenomena, but they had a major theory of relativity of 1916 and quantum theory
“flaw” – they did not transform properly under with Schrodinger’s equation written down in
the Galilean transformations, they did not respect 1926. And these are the most important, ground-
the law for addition of velocities. Instead, they breaking achievements of twentieth-century
predicted the existence of a limiting speed, the physics. And for the last already 50 years, the
speed of propagation of the electromagnetic theoretical physicists try to reconcile these two
waves and in particular, the speed of light. Well, theories or to find a unification, which we will call
the story is well known, the Maxwell equations quantum gravity.
were here to stay, and the Galilean transforma- Quantum gravity self-identifies as a science.
tions had to give the way to a different procedure It is a natural science, part of theoretical phys-
for adding velocities, known as the Lorentz trans- ics, dealing with the physical world around us. It
formations. And then Einstein enters into the should be pointed out, however, that quantum
picture with his special theory of relativity gravity is not a full-scale theory yet. Rather, it
named after the special principle of relativity. could be considered as a long-term project
The special principle of relativity states that aimed at developing a new physical theory by
physical laws should be the same in every inertial focusing on the nature of space, time, and the
frame of reference, that is, in all frames of refer- gravitational interaction and intertwining them
ence, which move with respect to one another with a quantum picture of the world. Quantum
with constant velocities. What interests us here gravity seeks to find general truths and the oper-
is the second part of this definition. What would ation of all encompassing laws, obtained and
happen if we compare a physical law in two verified through the commonly accepted scien-
reference frames, one of which moves with accel- tific method that is used in the natural sciences
eration with respect to the other. After 10 years of and in particular in physics. Although quantum
hard work, Einstein figured out the answer – gravity, among all other natural sciences, is, to
nothing would happen if we take into account the biggest extent, concerned with the nature
the force of gravity. The general principle of and the beginning of the Universe, it does not
relativity states that “all systems of reference consider the Universe as the creation of
are equivalent with respect to the formulation of a superhuman agency; it takes it as all that is
the fundamental laws of physics.” In another and as if there was nothing outside of it (Smolin
words, there does not exist a physical experiment, 2002). In particular, quantum gravity does not
which will allow us to distinguish motion, say contain any moral code, governing the conduct
with acceleration g ¼ 9.8 m/s2 in deep space of human affairs other than the one that is typ-
away from any massive body and state of rest at ically used in the pursuit of science itself. The
Earth’s surface. issues of life and death in their everyday sense
This simple statement, through a long line of as well as of human ultimate destiny in general
reasoning, led Einstein to the ideas of curve are not considered in the theory. The only way
space-time and to his law of gravitation. This these concepts enter into the framework of the
law can be formulated roughly as “the masses of discipline is through the question about the
origin of the Universe, which is currently elements we find in the periodic table, how they
labeled as the Big Bang. mature, and what their ultimate fate is. Yet, these
Considered most generally, quantum gravity two theories, general relativity and quantum the-
is a quest for a theory that will, in some appropri- ory, describing one and the same world, are
ate way, unite the two most celebrated achieve- completely different – they speak different lan-
ments of physics of twentieth century, namely, guages and produce completely different out-
the general theory of relativity and quantum the- comes. Quantum theory speaks the language of
ory. Indeed, almost all of the progress in physics operators and wave functions, of uncertainties
in the last century is grounded in these two and cross-sections, and produces probabilities
theories. for various outcomes. General relativity relies
The general theory of relativity led to pro- on precise geometric constructions like the met-
found developments in human understanding of ric tensor and connections and leads to predic-
the solar system and the Universe as a whole. tions about the exact trajectories of free-falling
Now we know a lot about the stars, these myste- observers. G
rious lights on the night sky that have puzzled us One can say that there is no problem. The two
from the very dawn of our existence as humans. theories have their respective domains, and
We know how they are born, how they evolve, within those domains, they have achieved pro-
while they burn their nuclear fuel, and how they found success. There are certain theoretical con-
die. We know how they pile into galaxies and siderations as to why some sort of unification
galaxy clusters and how all they run away from should occur, but we can say that currently there
each other. We even can convincingly speculate is no experimental data that demands univocally
on the possible answers to the question about how that a new theory should replace general relativ-
the Universe came into existence (the Big Bang ity and quantum theory. Still, since the middle of
has become almost a household term). the twentieth century, many scientists have
On the other hand is quantum theory. The undertaken the task of finding a middle ground
theory was developed in order to explain how for the two theories, and a lot of work has been
the world of the small things works, how protons done.
and neutrons combine into nuclei, how electrons There are two main approaches to find a theory
wander around these nuclei to form atoms, and unifying or replacing relativity and quantum the-
how atoms combine into molecules. Quantum ory, which roughly can be classified as (1) the
theory tells us a lot of puzzling stories, for exam- approach of general relativists, who try to quan-
ple, about how atoms, nuclei, and elementary tize gravity, and (2) the approach of the special-
particles manage to behave both as waves and ists in elementary particle physics who seek
as particles. But we learned how to work with it a unification of all four fundamental interactions
and managed to reconstruct theoretically the in physics.
world around us from bottom up. Over the course The most successful theory in the first
of the twentieth century, quantum theory has approach is the so-called loop quantum gravity
proliferated into a variety of disciplines – from (Rovelli 2004; Thiemann 2007; Ashtekar and
fundamental theories such as those of the electro- Lewandowski 2004). It starts from general rela-
weak interaction and quantum chromodynamics tivity and repeats the main steps of quantization
to the myriads of applications – lasers, microelec- of a classical system with given coordinates,
tronics, and quantum chemistry, to name just velocities, and a Lagrangian. Then one defines
a few. momenta, performs the transition to
We should say that the two theories are not a Hamiltonian description, and proceeds with
complete strangers to each other. They have turning the basic coordinates and momenta into
worked together successfully in certain cases. operators. There exist various modifications of
For example, they combine in order to explain this procedure, but in all of them, the Schrödinger
how stars produce all the heavier than hydrogen equation turns out to be represented by some set
of quantum constraints, reflecting the coordinate quantum gravity is that in its final form, it should
invariance of the classical theory. Among the be background independent. Thus, quantum
main results of this first approach are the defini- gravity could be considered as a result of
tion of geometric operators of area and volume a quantization, in which space and time are to
and the introduction of spin-network quantum be treated in some sense on equal footing with all
states where these operators are diagonal. The the other fields.
most successful representative of the other, the The second important distinction between
elementary particle physicists, approach is string quantum gravity and most of the other modern
theory (Becker et al. 2007; Greene 2003; Dine natural sciences is the fact that its predictions
2007), which was recently redefined as the M- cannot easily be verified in an experiment.
theory. It replaces the point particles of ordinary Simple arguments suggest that because of the
quantum field theory (particles like photons, elec- nature of gravitational interaction, the effects of
trons, etc.) with one-dimensional extended and quantum gravity would become relevant only in
vibrating objects called strings. The various experiments in the so-called Planck regime. In
modes of vibration of the strings correspond to general, all individual particles obey the laws
various particles, one of which is the graviton, quantum mechanics, and there are many relevant
a massless “spin-two” field propagating on flat quantum effects. When we make the transition to
Minkowski space-time. String theory aims at large systems of particles, the quantum effects
describing all four known fundamental forces as progressively cancel out and the laws of classical
well as the matter in a mathematically consistent physics prevail. In all considerations of quantum
way. There are other approaches to quantum mechanics though, we neglect the gravitational
gravity as well – among those are twistor theory interaction altogether. This is because for any two
(Witten 2004), noncommutative geometry elementary particles, the gravitational force of
(Connes 1994), and causal dynamic triangulation attraction is much smaller than any other force
(Ambjørn et al. 2008). acting between them, and this is in part because
But stepping back and looking at the current of their small masses. Now, the question is what
overall results, we should say that there is a long will happen if we manage to squeeze much larger
way to go before we can say that we have built the mass into a region of space which is typically
theory we are looking for. In any case though we occupied by an elementary particle. The expec-
can point out at certain features of the theory, tation is that the conventional logic is correct –
whatever it turns out to be. There are two most the gravitational interaction will become impor-
important differences between quantum gravity tant, and at the same point, we will need to work
and the other natural sciences. The first one is in within the setup of quantum theory. There is one
the way it treats space and time. Most of the caveat though, which makes the situation very
natural sciences (with the notable exception of challenging. A typical length scale corresponding
classical general relativity) study their respective to an elementary particle is its Compton wave-
subjects assuming that they have on their disposal length, which is equal to the wavelength of
ever present and all encompassing space and a photon having energy equal to the particle’s
time. We can easily build a reference system energy at rest, that is, the energy which is due to
using physical objects in order to measure dis- its mass. It is at this length scale that the quantum
tances and look at the clock on the wall to mea- effects should be taken into account. The larger
sure time intervals. In particular, the standard the particle’s mass, the smaller its Compton
procedure of quantization in conventional quan- wavelength. But if we try to compress certain
tum mechanics relies on a set up, in which space mass in smaller and smaller region of space, say
and time serve as a stage where quantum fields corresponding to its Compton wavelength, the
exist and evolve. When we turn to quantization of gravitational force becomes stronger and stron-
gravity though, the situation becomes completely ger, and, at some point, the mass would collapse
different. One of the most important features of and form a black hole with a certain characteristic
size which is defined by the so-called consistency and noncontradiction with the
Schwarzschild radius. The Schwarzschild radius existing experimental data. Actually, this is one
denoted the radius of a massive spherical object, of the most typical and important critiques that
depending on its mass, such that if the object are being usually directed at people dealing with
shrinks beyond this radius, it becomes a black quantum gravity research, namely, that they do
hole. Roughly speaking, the Plank regime corre- not produce experimentally verifiable predictions
sponds to a situation when the Compton wave- so it is impossible to judge the relevance of their
length of a particle becomes approximately equal scientific contributions to the “real” physics
to its Schwarzschild radius, and in that case, the world.
expectation is that its dynamics would be In general, the ethical principles guiding quan-
governed by quantum gravity. Actually, it is tization of gravity are those in place for any
believed that quantum gravity will get rid of the theoretical natural science – comprehensive
commonly expected singularity at the “center” of referral to all the scientific sources used in the
a black hole or will explain the many unknown process of developing the new constructs. Some- G
processes, which we tend to hide behind the term thing specific for quantum gravity is the fact that
Big Bang. the lack of experimental data and verifiable pre-
The Planck regime is quite inaccessible for dictions by the various approaches to quantiza-
any modern or foreseeable in the near future tion of gravity has led to a somewhat strange from
experiment, and this is what makes the develop- an ethical-point-of-view situation. Any modern
ment of quantum gravity so difficult – there are science requires substantial financing, and in
no experimental results to guide it. There is most cases, the financing is related to the effec-
a hope though, in the recent years, that the exper- tiveness of solving specific problems. Since in
imental data accumulated via the observation of quantum gravity it is difficult to judge objectively
the Universe with most advanced technologies the merits of any one of the approaches, the
would provide us with some of the lacking financing is provided on the basis of better mar-
guiding data. keting and advertisement, rather than on success
Among the many questions quantum gravity is in experimentally verifying the fundamental laws
supposed to answer are those about the beginning of nature. As a result, since some of the existing
(and possibly the end) of the Universe and about approaches in theoretical physics are much better
the nature of space and time. However, these off financially, many more young people are
questions are not analyzed from a religious encouraged to work on them rather than on
point of view. In general, people working on the others. This creates substantial tensions between
quantization of gravity do not consider it as being the approaches. But nevertheless, the key values
relevant to the “science and religion” scholarly of quantum gravity are curiosity and determina-
area. More specifically, quantum gravity does not tion in pursuing the goal of understanding how
try to answer questions it does not pose (Smolin nature works at its most fundamental, according
2002). to our current understanding, level.
As for any natural science, the source of In the framework of quantum gravity, nature
authority for quantum gravity lies within the sci- comprises of space and time (actually of space-
entific system of publication of peer-reviewed time) and all fundamental elementary particles of
articles. In case of quantum gravity, these articles matter (fermions) and energy (bosons) entangled
contain primarily theoretical derivations and very in an ever-changing configuration. On the other
few, if any, predictions to be verified by experi- hand, the human being enters into the consider-
ment. Since currently experiments for verifica- ations of quantum gravity in its role of an
tion of the predictions of quantum gravity are observer. In standard quantum theory, unlike in
impossible to perform, the theoretical construc- classical physics, the process of observation
tions that are published are judged in the peer becomes part of the theory since it influences its
reviews mostly on the basis of mathematical predictions – the most famous example of this
situation being the story about the Schrödinger’s is to extract somehow the usual, familiar to every-
cat. But still, in the standard quantum theory, the body time from the theory.
observer can be thought of a human being sepa- Quantum gravity relies on the understanding
rated from the system that he or she observes. In that the physical world can be studied and
quantum gravity, such a separation is impossible, comprehended outside the concept of conscious-
and the observer is part of the picture. To put this ness. The consciousness enters into quantum
simply, in classical theory, the system under gravity framework only in the sense that in
study evolves on a fixed stage, observed by the quantum measurements, the observer affects
audience. In quantum theory, the stage is still the evolution of the measured quantum system.
fixed, but the audience participates in the evolu- Rationality is a cornerstone in quantum gravity.
tion. In classical general relativity, the audience It is firmly believed that starting from the
is outside the system and the stage, which evolve established, experimentally tested theories
together. In quantum gravity, there is nothing through deep thinking and reasoning a new the-
fixed and left outside, everything evolves ory could be developed that will produce verifi-
together, and this poses substantial philosophical able predictions. In quantum gravity, “mystery”
and technical problems. is a term used to denote the fact that there is
Quantum gravity defines the reality as the something puzzling, something we do not
totality of all objectively existing events and understand yet. It is generally believed that
things, which are susceptible to being observed, nothing can prevent science from uncovering
measured, understood, and explained. It concep- the laws of nature. Usually, “mystery” is not
tualizes knowledge as the set of all facts or the used as a term that denotes the impossibility of
entirety of truth, information, and principles understanding and describing in scientific terms
acquired by humankind via its simple experience some finding.
or the study of reality. Truth is considered as For quantum gravity, as regards “science and
being the property of a statement of religion,” the critical issue is the origin of the
corresponding to or being in accord with reality. Universe. Currently, the widely accepted
Since quantum gravity deals with fundamental hypothesis among scientists is that some
questions about space, time, and all physical 13.6 billion years, the Universe started with the
interactions, some scientists consider it as being so-called Big Bang. With this term, we hide our
the quest for finding the ultimate truth in physics. lack of precise understanding as to what exactly
This is reflected in the fact that string theory has had happened at that instant. The expectation is
as one of its goals building the theory of that quantum gravity will provide us with that
everything. understanding and eventually would answer the
In quantum gravity, perception is considered question about the Universe before the Big
as being related to the objective reality and as Bang. Clearly, this theme has direct relevance
such is a consequence from observations and to the way any religion would talk about the
measurements. While it is understood that it is Beginning.
never complete and always refracted through
ones personality, it is also believed that we can
strive to make our perception ever closer to the Cross-References
reality.
Time has a special place in quantum gravity, ▶ Astrophysics
which is quite different from its everyday use. It ▶ Christian Cosmology
is one of the main ingredients of space-time, and ▶ Electromagnetism and optics
as such, because of the coordinate invariance of ▶ Energy in Physics
general relativity, time is just a label on events. ▶ Particle Physics
One of the biggest challenges in quantum gravity ▶ Physics
Guidance 971 G
References
Group Altruism
Ambjørn, J., Jurkiewicz, J., & Loll, R. (2008). The self-
organizing quantum universe. Scientific American,
▶ Altruism
299, 42–49.
Ashtekar, A., & Lewandowski, J. (2004). Background
independent quantum gravity: A status report. Classi-
cal and Quantum Gravity, 21, R53–R152.
Becker, K., Becker, M., & John, H. (2007). Schwarz,
string theory and M-theory: A modern introduction.
Group Dynamics
Connes, A. (1994). Non-commutative geometry. Boston: ▶ Social Psychology
Academic.
Dine, M. (2007). Supersymmetry and string theory:
Beyond the standard model. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Greene, B. (2003). The elegant universe: Superstrings, Group Processes G
hidden dimensions, and the quest for the ultimate the-
ory (Reissue Edn.). New York: W.W. Norton.
▶ Social Psychology
Rovelli, C. (2004). Quantum gravity. Cambridge:
Smolin, L. (2002). Three roads to quantum gravity.
New York: Basic Books.
Thiemann, T. (2007). Introduction to modern canonical
quantum general relativity. Cambridge: Cambridge
Group Theory
University Press.
Witten, E. (2004). Perturbative gauge theory as a string ▶ Altruism
theory in twistor space. Communications in Mathemat-
ical Physics, 252, 189–258.
Guidance
Gross Body Language ▶ Counseling Psychology USA/Europe
Sidney D’Mello
Departments of Psychology and Computer
Science, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame,
IN, USA
Patterns of bodily movement that are more fluid

and dynamic than particular postures.
H
Hadith or state of affairs. This is a subjective sensation or

mood linked to the fulfillment of expectations or
Dustin Byrd the achievement of desires, but it can be associ-
Olivet College, Olivet, MI, USA ated with a state of serenity or internal peace as
well. Indeed, part of the difficulty in the study of
happiness regards its very fuzzy contours and
The hadith are the official collections of plural status, which is a consequence of its
Muhammad’s sayings and doings. The hadith are subjective and to a large extent unverifiable
viewed as the second most authoritative source of character.
Islamic teachings. They are also used to under- The study of happiness has traditionally been
stand the Qur’an in its proper historical context. a subject of the philosophical and literary
Any given hadith can be labeled from weak to wisdom; religions have often played a role of
authentic depending on how sure the scholars are normative regulation on what should be deemed
that Muhammad actually said and or did what the a good life. In any case, it has until recently been
hadith reports. This oftentimes depends on the considered a “humanistic topic” (Bok 2010).
strength of the chain of transmission (silsilah). However, it has become more and more
a subject of scientific enquiry, opening the doors
to the application of more empirical and experi-
Happiness mental methods, providing rigor and data.
“Happiness studies” is a well-established field
Lluis Oviedo of research that has delivered to this date
Pontifical University Antonianum, Rome, Italy a considerable amount of essays and specialized
papers. Science aims to understand what renders
human beings happy, or which factors weigh
Related Terms more in achieving a fulfilling life.
Several interests are involved in this research
Eudemonia; Good life; Hedonism; Pleasure; program, justifying its efforts, as for instance,
Salvation; Vital satisfaction social policy, educational systems, and even eco-
nomic planning. Indeed, many governments see
as one of their roles facilitating the achievement
Description of the highest levels of life satisfaction for their
constituencies. Being such an important and sen-
Happiness can be broadly described as a positive sitive issue, it is to be expected that the scientific
feeling in a subject regarding his/her current life approach enters the arena by providing a large

H 974 Happiness
amount of data, often calling for meta-analysis looking for very gratifying experiences, or culti-
and in-depth reviewing. vating satisfying relationships and, at the same
The described interests and the recent arrival time, avoiding pains and sadness. On the other
of the scientific approach could mean some mar- side, we have a model recovering the classical
ginalization of the traditional treatment of the ideal of “virtuous life,” which could be expressed
issues related to human life satisfaction. Some in modern times as “fulfilling life” or “meaning-
disciplines are competing now, when the issue ful life.” In this case, we talk about a sense of
has become less a subject of humanistic and reli- global satisfaction beyond the passing good
gious study, to offer a better understanding and moments of pleasure, an experience of gratitude
means for dealing with the general striving for for the whole life, even one assuming negative
happiness. In any case, the current status of the times and distress into a constructive all-
study of happiness invites deeper analysis and encompassing view.
that takes into account the different and some- Even if a consensus has grown regarding the
times competing perspectives. heuristic value of that distinction, scholars
The first issue at stake in the study of this devoted to the study of happiness continue to be
complex experience is the semantic one. An divided in their focus and the characteristics of
interdisciplinary program studying “good life” each pattern. Many studies report the first model
might help to clarify the ground and to give as more selfish and temporal, while the second
more accurate descriptions of the terms used would be more lasting and generalizable, in the
and the different contents and ideals referring to sense of being able to be proposed as ideal for
the best human aspirations and positive models of everybody. However, some analysts distrust the
life. Indeed, a part of the research is trying to embellished image of the eudemonic model, as
distinguish models and to better understand the too fuzzy and indeterminate to be taken as
characteristics of the main proposals. In that a serious topic for rigorous research (Feldman
sense, the scientific research on happiness con- 2010). The discussion is giving place to two
nects with a humanistic tradition deeply different research programs but still more to
concerned with the improvement of human applications of this dual model to diverse set-
beings. When the ground has been cleared, then tings. For example, some authors point to the
the study of the factors involved in the achieve- distinct cultural backgrounds associated with
ment of happiness becomes paramount. each form: the hedonistic ideal could be associ-
ated with a more consumerist and individualist
Distinctions and Models culture while the eudemonic to more socially
The reader of the abundantly available literature oriented ideals, presided over by empathy and
on happiness studies will notice that the special- alternative models of satisfaction. Something
ized treatment of this issue points to similar can be deduced at the level of social
a fundamental distinction, giving place to what policies and the prescriptions that can be deduced
can be called a “dual pattern” of human happi- from each form for therapeutic practice and edu-
ness. The basic distinction discriminates between cational programs, since both apparently reflect
a subjective concept of happiness, seen as contrasting ideas concerning the human person
a positive balance in one’s own affects and expe- and social integration. It is not easy to understand
riences (hedonic dimension), on the one hand, both as complementary, since they often may
and a more objective and global meaning of per- appear as competing ideals of human fulfillment.
sonal satisfaction in one’s own existence At the end, the basic distinction is not only
(eudemonic dimension) on the other. The issue about happiness as something that can be isolated
is not only semantic but concerns the contents or from other human or social dimensions. At issue
ideals of good life. On one side, we find the is an entire conception of life and meaning and
expressivist ideal of living life with intensity, purpose in society and morality; in that sense,
taking advantage of the opportunities to enjoy, a circularity arises between ideals of a good life
Happiness 975 H
and its perception or realization between the reveal that in the long run, earning significantly
descriptive and the normative levels and more than average confers some sense of per-
between what is defined and what is looked for. sonal achievement; since in modern societies,
The study of happiness cannot be disconnected income is related to social status.
from the study of the ultimate questions affect- As could be expected, a positive correlation
ing human nature; and this issue seems arises between indicators of health and happi-
hardly distinguishable from social and ethical ness; perhaps, it is less clear in which direction
dimensions. this positive influence works: is the perceived
health what helps to be happy, or is it happiness
Factors that Influence the Perceived that renders people more healthy? By the same
Happiness token, the variable of social capital relates posi-
The scientific study of happiness has contributed tively with happiness. However, in the case of
in large measure to better knowledge regarding education, things are more disputed, and the evi-
which variables might be linked to personal sat- dence is less clear, even if recent research finds
isfaction. These studies are mainly empirical in a similar pattern as with income: that variable is
method: once indicators of happiness can be iso- relevant in the cases of lowest perceived happi- H
lated or identified through self-assessing surveys, ness or for more destitute people.
other series of data help to compare variables and Several studies point to the great dispersion of
calculate correlations between them. Even if this happy persons in different societies. It is rela-
approach presents many limits and can be easily tively easy to identify what renders – on average –
debunked, nevertheless, many lessons can be people unhappy and miserable, but it becomes
learned from the large amount of available harder to find broadly shared patterns about
research papers published in the last 20 years. what makes most people happy: too many factors
The following cases make reference rather to appear involved. In other words, even if policies
the hedonic model, even if not exclusively. can be designed to tackle forms of unhappiness, it
The most studied variables have been income, is much harder to find a formula that could ensure
health, social relations, especially marital state, happiness for everybody.
and work or unemployment. Demographic vari-
ables are also considered, like age, gender, and Happiness as a Lifestyle
levels of education. The research tries to ascertain Focusing now on the eudemonistic version, some
in which measure each of these variables affect attempts have been made to better describe what
levels of happiness. is associated with a fulfilling life, correcting the
Take income as an example. A lot of research general or fuzzy elements, and achieving more
has tried to understand the complexities that link empirical standards. Carol Riff (1989), for
economic income and happiness. The bulk of instance, has proposed a widely used model
published papers point to a similar pattern: based on six factors that contribute to reaching
income has a positive influence in the perceived a good level of life satisfaction. The model is
happiness for those at the lowest level or strug- inspired by the tradition of “humanist psychol-
gling to cope with their elementary needs. This ogy.” These six points are:
influence decreases or becomes nonsignificant • Self-acceptance
when earnings increase. From a different per- • Positive relations with others
spective, those very happy are unaffected by • Autonomy
increases of income. Then this variable weighs • Environmental mastery
in a comparative way: it depends on contexts and • Purpose in life
forms of life. Discussion arises about which • Personal growth
model of happiness would be more related to A second attempt at categorizing this seem-
material income. The intuitive answer points to ingly fuzzy idea of “life satisfaction” reduces the
the hedonistic orientation; however, some studies number of factors to four:
H 976 Happiness
• Pursuing intrinsic goals and values for their These results are in line with previous expec-
own sake, including personal growth, relation- tations: the religious factor only weighs in a form
ships, community, and health, rather than of happiness, more linked to its set of values, and
extrinsic goals and values, such as wealth, depends on contexts. It could be stated that
fame, image, and power Christian faith – and in other religions alike –
• Behaving in autonomous, volitional, or con- determines its own pattern of happiness. Reli-
sensual ways, rather than heteronomous or gious approaches cannot ignore the value of
controlled ways sacrifice, expiation, and grace, which often get
• Being mindful and acting with a sense of their meaning beyond ideals of happiness. How-
awareness ever, even such concepts might be integrated
• Behaving in ways that satisfy basic psycho- inside a broad program of the pursuit of happi-
logical needs for competence, relatedness, and ness, or at least of one of its possible and com-
autonomy (Ryan et al. 2008) peting versions.
The collected data after distributing these
questionnaires reveal some interesting patterns Discussion and Prospective
about which factors are more dominant in males The current research on happiness offers interest-
or females or which age cohorts feel higher levels ing contributions but at the same time, confronts
of satisfaction. The data point to significant var- some limits calling for further revision and
iations in time and cultural milieus. For example, a more interdisciplinary approach. The following
in the 1980s, people in their middle age were the are a list of questions arising in the reception of
most satisfied, while recent surveys show that the published material.
more mature people appear as the most satisfied. • “Happiness” is a subjective, hardly observable,
However, some doubts persist. In both models, concept. As a result, virtually all scientific data
a mix of self-determination and social aptitudes on human happiness is based on self-report,
appear as relevant; the problem is that in real life which is subject to self-deception and therefore
both goals become less compatible. becomes less reliable. Nevertheless, some
efforts have been made to correct that restraint,
Happiness and Religion for example, resorting to hormonal indicators
In many cases, religion has been considered as and neurotransmitters associated to well-being.
a variable influencing happiness. Its absence in • There are too many factors involved in trying
the former lists of factors linked to a fulfilling life to measure happiness, an increasing complex-
might be suspicious, but this is part of the prob- ity that cannot be reduced to few variables;
lem: is religion involved in that ideal of life? people can feel happy even in harsh
Some studies reveal positive correlations conditions.
between indicators of religiosity and those of • The empirical approach has to recognize that
quality of life in the USA (Stark and Maier happiness continues to be a too elusive con-
2008); the explanations mostly point to the social cept, and its statistical treatment becomes of
character of religious activity and its beneficial limited scope, requiring hermeneutic analysis
effects. However, in Europe, the correlations or taking into account the cultural background
hardly emerge. Take the cases of Denmark and allowing for a better understanding of what
Sweden: both come out as the less religious and renders people happy in some place and time.
the happiest countries in world surveys. In any • There is a suspicious absence of the dimension
case, fresh studies propose an influence, on the of alterity: often our happiness depends
condition that we assume a slightly different ver- strongly from the happiness of people close
sion of happiness: religious intensity influences to us; the problem is broader and reflects the
in a life perceived as purposeful and committed to flaws of a too reductivist program.
others, which to some can be considered as • The consequences at the normative level are
“authentic happiness” (Headey et al. 2011). dubious; should we opine about which kind of
Happiness 977 H
happiness is better? Should we discourage the meaning of the Christian promises of salvation
some of them as too selfish? fades away, once departed from their former dom-
inant eschatological dimension. This revision or
Relevance of Happiness for Science and latent dropping of more eschatological views are
Religions Dialogue not the only causes of concern affecting Christian
The scientific approach provides interesting data promises. Furthermore, the attempts of politically
but can hardly displace or substitute some other inspired theologies that aim to overcome material
forms of traditional wisdom related to this and socially unbearable conditions collapse when
topic. From a theological point of view, however, they come close to western environments with
more needs to be done to integrate this knowl- higher levels of equality and good welfare systems;
edge into an updating of the Christianity’s and salvation cannot in that context be described in
other religions’ promise of salvation. Or, by the terms of material collective improvement; such
same token, more needs to be done by the scien- strategy soon becomes redundant. The great chal-
tific program to integrate traditional religious lenge now for theology is to adjust the message of
contributions. salvation to the social and cultural conditions of
The question is how useful all of this corpus of advanced societies, with different sources of con- H
scientific research on the correlates and causes of cern and distinct and varying aspirations. Knowing
human happiness is for theology and religion in more about these issues might help to make better
general? At first sight, its relevance is apparent: and more fitting answers.
theology deals with salvation, and whatever the In any case, the religious reception of happiness
meaning of this term is, the usual understanding studies needs to be nuanced. As a first step, it is
of happiness and a good life, and the means to necessary to account for a spectrum of models of
achieve them cannot be left outside the theolog- happiness beyond the reductive dual model; such
ical vision as to what is believed to “save” spectrum could range between the extremes of
humans and render them better off. On the other pleasure born from satisfying desires, and Buddhist
hand, some apprehension may be justified. Theo- appeals to silencing desires. Then, second, there are
logical concepts about salvation belong to some insights from Christian tradition, which can
a rather different “linguistic game,” to say the correct some one-sided views; issues like guilt or
least, as compared to the semantics of happiness moral failure are apparently aspects deeply related
and the secular ideals of a good life. However, to a good life and ignored in the current treatment.
this is part of the problem: whether this is the In this sense, religious views can help to comple-
case, whether we can really develop a theology of ment the reductive program of scientific research
salvation apart from a consideration of the empir- and offer insights from their wisdom traditions, of
ical factors helping to live a better and full life, or value beyond historical contexts.
to overcome suffering and misery. As happens in
many other settings, theology divides between
a more intratextual, self-referential approach;
Cross-References
and a more open, externally related effort of
steady dialogue with contemporary reason. This
▶ Christianity
second approach could obtain some advantages
▶ Empathy
engaging in a constructive dialogue with the
empirical, scientific happiness studies.
Probably, the scientific treatment of happiness
and a good life can supply theological reflection References
with an interesting input when theologians try to
Bok, S. (2010). Exploring happiness: From Aristotle to
update and renew the Christian discourse on salva- brain science. Yale: Yale University Press.
tion; the same can be said concerning other reli- Feldman, F. (2010). What is this thing called happiness?
gious proposals. This is a point badly needed, since Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
H 978 Health Science
Headey, B., Schupp, J., Tucci, I., Wagner, G.G. (2011). Set-
point theory, authentic happiness theory and religion, Hedonism
in: www.diw.de/sixcms/detail.php/237595, (opened
3.8.2011).
Riff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? ▶ Happiness
Explorations of the meaning of psychological well-
being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
57, 1069–1081.
Ryan, R. M., Huta, V., & Deci, E. L. (2008). Living
well: A self-determination theory perspective on Hegel’s Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis
eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, Model
139–170. here 139.
Stark, R., & Maier, J. (2008). Faith and happiness. Review
of Religious Research, 50(1), 120–125. Sarah A. Schnitker1 and Robert A. Emmons2
1
School of Psychology, Fuller Theological
Seminary, Pasadena, CA, USA
2
Psychology Department, University of
Health Science California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
▶ Occupational Therapy
A dialectic method of historical and philosophi-
cal progress that postulates (1) a beginning
proposition called a thesis, (2) a negation of
Heart that thesis called the antithesis, and (3) a syn-
thesis whereby the two conflicting ideas are
▶ Cardiology reconciled to form a new proposition. Although
this method is commonly referred to as the
Hegelian dialectic, Hegel actually attributed
the terminology to Immanuel Kant. Moreover,
Heaven’s Gate many scholars argue that the dialectic is
represented of German idealism as developed
▶ UFO Cults by Johann Gottlieb Fichte.
Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) Hegemony
Jill Dierberg1 and Lynn Schofield Clark2

▶ Language and Literature, Hebrew 1
Communication and Digital Media, Carthage
College, WI, USA
2
University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
Hebrew Christianity
Imperial domination by one group over another.
▶ Messianic Judaism Antonio Gramsci refers specifically to cultural
hegemony, which refers to domination by one
social class over another through the manipula-
tion of mainstream society’s beliefs about
Hebrew Literature social norms and values, which subsequently
contributes to a dominant worldview that rein-
▶ Language and Literature, Hebrew forces the status quo.
Hermeneutics, Theological 979 H
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle Hermeneutics
Russell Stannard ▶ Biblical Studies

Department of Physics and Astronomy, ▶ Ecclesiology
Open University, Milton Keynes, UK ▶ Theoretical Psychology
The uncertainty principle is the recognition that a

precise, simultaneous measurement of some Hermeneutics and Hermeneutic
complementary variables - such as the position Philosophy
and momentum of a subatomic particle, or its
energy and the time at which the energy was Karsten R. Stueber
measured - is impossible. Contrary to the princi- Department of Philosophy, College of the
ples of classical physics, the simultaneous Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, USA
measurement of such variables is inescapably H
limited; the more precisely one is measured, the
less one can learn about the other. One of the Hermeneutics is the theory of interpretation
consequences of this is that one can have small concerned with a theoretical exploration of the
fluctuations in energy for short periods of time. manner in which we grasp the significance or
meaning of texts, utterances, or actions. Herme-
neutic philosophers from the nineteenth century
Cross-References onward generally think that the human sciences
concerned with facts of significance and meaning
▶ Space has to be methodologically distinguished from
the natural sciences. Traditionally, this distinc-
tion has been expressed as the distinction
Hellenization between understanding versus explanation.
Carl Raschke
Denver, Denver, CO, USA Hermeneutics, Theological
Frederiek Depoortere
The process whereby an ancient religion, or Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies,
culture, such as Judaism was “Hellenized” with KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
the result that it lost many of its indigenous char-
acteristics and was made to conform to the
dominant Greek norm. The historian of Christian Related Terms
doctrine Adolf von Harnack famously explained
the rise of Gnosticism as the “acute Interpretation theory
Hellenization” of Christianity.
The Problem of Hermeneutics
Helmholtz Energy The word “hermeneutics” can be etymologically

linked to the Greek verb hermeneuô and the
▶ Chemical Thermodynamics Greek noun hermeneia. Hermeneuô refers to the
H 980 Hermeneutics, Theological
act of explaining, expressing, and translating; of Alexandria (c. 25 BCE–50 CE), who felt
hermeneia is an interpretation or translation. uneasy about the all too anthropomorphic picture
The word “hermeneutics” can also be linked to of God in their Scriptures. Also, the rabbis were
Hermes, who was in Greek mythology the mes- confronted with the issue of how to apply the
senger of the gods and the one who not only Scriptures to the present-day situation, which
transmitted but also explained or translated their often posed new challenges unknown at the time
messages for humankind. The verb hermeneuô when the texts were first written down. It may not
thus refers to activities which are typical for all come as a surprise then that, both in ancient
human beings. Humans are interpreting beings, Greece and in Judaism, hermeneutics emerged,
that is, beings that experience consciously, inter- that is, reflection on how to interpret authoritative
pret their experiences, try to give meaning to texts. Christianity, in which the Greek and
them, and express these interpretations and Jewish heritage merged, of course inherited the
meanings in language. In a certain sense, the problem of how to interpret old texts, especially
whole of human culture can be understood as because it claims to offer a new interpretation
the outcome of the interpreting way of existing of the Hebrew Scriptures in light of the Christ
that is so typical for humankind. “Hermeneutics” event. Early Christian reflection on this issue
is then the discipline that reflects on human eventually culminated in the publication of De
beings qua interpretative. It is an interpretation doctrina christiana by Augustine (354–430).
theory. As such, it is of course at least as old as (For an extensive overview of the early history
Western civilization. The need for hermeneutics of hermeneutics, see the second chapter of
emerges from the moment a culture ascribes (Jeanrond 1991).)
authority to a body of texts which are handed
down from the past. For, when a culture does
this, it is unavoidably confronted with the prob- The Emergence of Philosophical
lem of the gap which separates present-day Hermeneutics and the Transition to
readers of these authoritative texts from the time a Hermeneutical Philosophy
and context in which these texts were written
down. This gap results from the fact that history Until the end of the eighteenth century, there
inevitably goes on and that things inescapably were a number of specialized hermeneutics,
change. As a result, presuppositions of the each with a rather limited scope and concerned
authors of a culture’s authoritative texts are with formulating rules to guide the interpretation
most often no longer shared by those who read of a particular set of texts. Biblical hermeneutics,
the texts in a later age, and things which were for instance, dealt with the interpretation of
self-evident and unquestionable at the time that biblical texts, and legal hermeneutics dealt with
the texts came into being have become strange legal texts. It was thought that the special char-
and objectionable for later readers. But precisely acter of, for instance, the biblical text as revealed
in so far as a culture’s identity is founded on these by God necessitated separate rules to interpret it.
texts that shape private and public life to This changed with Friedrich Schleiermacher
a considerable degree, it cannot simply dismiss (1768–1834) who conceived hermeneutics as
them as distant relics of the past without rele- the discipline which should deal with the under-
vance to the present. This is why the issue of standing of texts in general and who denied the
how these texts should be interpreted and under- need for a special hermeneutics when reading the
stood becomes inescapable. This happened in Bible: no matter whether we read a biblical text or
ancient Greece, where the age-old narratives, any other text, the same rules should apply. This
and in particular Homer’s work, were judged also entails that the hermeneutical problem, as we
by later generations to contain acts that were have sketched out in the previous section, pops
morally reprehensible. The same was the case in up, not only when we read certain authoritative or
Alexandria among educated Jews, like Philo classic texts, but each time when we read a text.
Or, to put it differently, the hermeneutical prob- Heidegger was its father. After Heidegger,
lem has a universal scope, and therefore we need hermeneutics was developed further, first, by
a general theory of what it means to understand a Heidegger’s disciple Hans-Georg Gadamer
text. Schleiermacher was the first to offer such (1900–2002) and, subsequently, by Paul Ricœur
a theory and can, for this reason, be designated as (1913–2005). Ricœur’s merit was that he devel-
the grandfather of contemporary hermeneutics. oped a hermeneutics that aims at recovering the
Yet, this innovation remained relatively meaning of the tradition (as Gadamer aimed to do
unnoticed, and it was only toward the end of the as well) while also being critical of the tradition.
nineteenth century that hermeneutics as a general This move beyond Gadamer had become neces-
theory of understanding was revived. This was sary by the critique of J€urgen Habermas
the merit of Wilhelm Dilthey (1833–1911), who (b. 1929). According to Habermas, Gadamer’s
conceived hermeneutics as a foundational theory hermeneutics ran the risk of merely continuing
for all the humanities (in German: Geisteswis- the oppressing elements of tradition. (For further
senschaften, in French: les sciences humaines), details on Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger,
a foundation which was urgently needed to be Gadamer, and Ricœur, see Chap. 3 of (Jeanrond
able to respond to the impact of the natural sci- 1991).) A prominent contemporary hermeneuti- H
ences, which understood themselves as the only cal philosopher is Gianni Vattimo (b. 1936), who
way to truth and objective knowledge, dismissing draws on the work of Heidegger, Nietzsche, and
the humanities as inferior disciplines. Dilthey Gadamer.
attempted to secure a role for the Geisteswis-
senschaften by distinguishing between their
supreme verstehen (interpretative understanding) The Emergence of a Hermeneutical
and the ordinary erkl€ aren (causal explanation) Theology
of the natural sciences. The concern to counter
nineteenth-century positivism was also shared by Hermeneutics and Christian theology are inextri-
Edmund Husserl (1859–1938), the founder of cably bound up with each other. As previously
phenomenology, who attempted to safeguard noted, Christianity was, from its beginnings,
the independence of philosophy via the claim confronted with the question how the texts of
that philosophy should concern itself with the the Bible were to be understood. Yet, a theology
role played by the human subject in the constitu- which explicitly understands itself as being her-
tion of all knowledge, both in the humanities and meneutical has only come into existence in the
in the natural sciences. Phenomenology was course of modernity when, thanks to the work of
transformed into a completely hermeneutical phi- the aforementioned philosophers, continental
losophy by Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), philosophy became conscious of the linguistic
Husserl’s most important student. It was Heideg- character of every experience of reality. As
ger who established hermeneutics as we know it a result, hermeneutics is no longer the specialized
today. Many basic ideas that are common sense study of particular texts (as it was before
for hermeneutical thinkers were developed by Schleiermacher) and also no longer that part of
Heidegger. In this regard, we can, for instance, philosophy which concerns itself with the study
refer to the view of language as not merely an of the interpretation of texts in general (as it
instrument to express prelinguistic thoughts but still was for Schleiermacher), but the discipline
as the very medium of thinking itself and to the which makes clear that humans are interpretative
stress on the decisive role of presuppositions in beings, that being human means living an
understanding as well as the circular character of interpreting existence (cf. Section “The Problem
understanding, the so-called hermeneutical circle of Hermeneutics”). In the wake of the develop-
(see below Section “The Hermeneutics Circle”). ments wrought by the aforementioned philoso-
This suggests that if Schleiermacher was the phers, Christian theologies that explicitly
grandfather of contemporary hermeneutics, understand themselves as hermeneutical have
also come into being. This first happened in the or hermeneutical philosophy for theology. As
Protestant tradition, with the first major step in pointed out by Jeanrond, even Bultmann’s
this direction having been taken by the Lutheran students Fuchs and Ebeling moved in the direc-
theologian Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976), who tion of a Barthian “inner-theological hermeneu-
fell back on Schleiermacher, Dilthey, and Hei- tics.” (For the debate between Bultmann and
degger. Bultmann has presented the basic princi- Barth on hermeneutics and its aftermath, see
ples of his hermeneutical theology in an article Chap. 6 of (Jeanrond 1991).) In the same line,
which was published in 1950 in the Zeitschrift f€ur we can also situate George Lindbeck (b. 1923),
Theologie und Kirche (Rudolf 1950). Following Hans Frei (1922–1988), and other theologians
the lead of Bultmann and his disciples, like connected to the so-called Yale School of theol-
Ernst Fuchs (1903–1983) and Gerhard Ebeling ogy, all of whom reject the Enlightenment belief
(1912–2001), as well as in the wake of the Second in the universality of reason which would enable
Vatican Council (1962–1965) in its turn to the Verst€andigung (agreement) across all borders. Of
world, hermeneutical theologies also came into course, this does not mean that these theologians
being among Catholic theologians. In this do not accept the need for interpretation, but they
respect, we can refer to Edward Schillebeeckx claim that theologians should concern themselves
(1914–2009) (Schillebeeckx 1972), Francis with a specifically theological hermeneutics,
Sch€ussler Fiorenza (Sch€ ussler Fiorenza 2002), which aims at the intra-textual interpretation of
and David Tracy (Tracy 1989). More recent Christian texts. (See for further details on this
developments include Ricœur becoming the Sect. 7.1 in Jeanrond (1991) and Sch€ussler
most important source of inspiration for herme- Fiorenza (2002).) Moreover, the rejection of the
neutical theologians (cf. Geffré (1983) and universalist claims of reason and the stress on the
Geffré (2001)) and the impact of deconstruction- irreducible particularity of religious narratives
ist thought, which was founded by Jacques and traditions would probably also be shared by
Derrida (1930–2004) and has given rise to many theologians, like Boeve (Boeve 2005), who
attempts, by, for instance, John D. Caputo nonetheless, to put it in the words of Jeanrond,
(Caputo (1987) and Caputo (2000)) and Richard “favour an open-ended dialogue between Chris-
Kearney (Kearney 2001), to integrate deconstruc- tian interpreters and other thinkers interested in
tionism into the legacy of hermeneutics. Against hermeneutics” (Jeanrond 1991). This suggests
this, other theologians, like Lieven Boeve, have that the distinction in contemporary theology
defended that these attempts are not radically between a “Bultmannian” line (which holds on
hermeneutical enough because they do not to the attempt to reach universal Verst€ andigung)
take sufficiently into account the particularity of and a “Barthian” line (which stresses the speci-
religious narratives and traditions. Being radi- ficity of the Christian “grammar”) should not be
cally hermeneutical entails, Boeve claims, that considered as being absolute. While Christians
the deconstructionist search for universal, but may in fact use a particular grammar, this does
empty and formal, structures should be aban- not entail that they should not try to reach
doned. Religious truth happens, not despite of, Verst€andigung with non-Christians: it is always
but thanks to particularity (Boeve et al. 2005). possible to translate. But this is only possible to
This does not mean, however, that all theologians a certain degree: absolute Verst€ andigung is
have adopted philosophical hermeneutics/ impossible. A language can never be rendered
hermeneutical philosophy. Ever since Karl into another without at least some of the nuances
Barth (1886–1968) rejected the hermeneutical or meanings being lost. The same is the case with
tradition begun by Schleiermacher because he Christianity: Christians can and should explain
considered it to be a threat for the recognition of what is at stake in Christianity but can only do so
the Bible as God’s self-revelation, there has been to a certain degree; to grasp what it is all about in
a strong line of theologians denying the impor- Christianity, one has to experience Christianity
tance of a general, philosophical hermeneutics from within. The distinction between the
“Bultmannian” and “Barthian” line then concerns that we first experience “pure,” “non-interpreted”
a different emphasis: “Bultmannians” will stress facts and that only afterward, we integrate these
the explainability of Christianity while facts into a theory or frame of interpretation. It is
“Barthians” will stress what remains inexplicable precisely the other way around: what we experi-
for those who are not involved in the mystery of ence as facts is to a large degree determined by
which Christianity speaks. the theory with which we approach the world.
Most often, we only see what we are expecting
to see or have learnt to see. The knowledge we
The Hermeneutical Circle already have acquired, the models, schemes, and
categories which we already have and which are
One of the most important concepts, if not the result of previous experiences, determine
the most important concept of philosophical the way we approach the world, and we will
hermeneutics as it has been adopted by the always attempt to integrate new experiences in
hermeneutical theologians is without doubt that that already-existing framework. But at the same
of the “hermeneutical circle.” (a) In a primary time, experiences also challenge our frame of
and restricted sense, the concept refers to the interpretation and this sometimes to such H
dialectic between the whole of a text and its a degree that only a radical reorientation of that
parts: we can only understand the whole of frame makes it possible to deal with the newness
a text by reading its different parts but at the we experience. All this shows that hermeneutics
same time the different parts only receive their rejects any naı̈ve empiricism which considers the
meaning by their place in the whole. This sug- human mind as a “mirror of nature,” while, on the
gests that the “whole” and its “parts” both inform other hand, not falling victim to a pure subjectiv-
and elucidate the other and as a consequence, ism and relativism because it accepts the
what we have here is actually a never-ending stubbornness of reality, which cannot be reduced
hermeneutical spiral. (b) In its general sense, to whatever we make of it but always continues to
however, the hermeneutical circle/spiral refers question our interpretations and theories. (c) The
to the interaction between a text and its readers. hermeneutical circle can also be applied to the
Readers cannot but approach a text from their relation between a religious tradition and con-
particular pre-understanding, that is, their ques- temporary religious experiences. From the given
tions, concerns, expectations, and prejudices, that experience and interpretation always go
which will color how they will read the text. On together, it follows that the distinction between
the other hand, however, a text always has a believer and a nonbeliever is not merely
a certain objectivity and therefore resists to a a matter of interpreting the same experiences
certain degree to our attempts to mold it differently, as if the believer and the nonbeliever
completely in line with our pre-understanding: share the same experiences and the believer, in
there are limits to the interpretations allowed by contrast to the nonbeliever, is making all kinds of
the text. This is what hermeneutics means when it fanciful interpretations of what he or she experi-
speaks about reading as a “transformative” act: ences. To a certain degree, the believer and the
by reading a text, that text questions and changes nonbeliever have different experiences because
our pre-understanding. Furthermore, what is the they approach the world from within different
case when we read a text is also applicable frames of interpretation. This shows that
with what we experience in general. Hermeneu- a religious frame of interpretation is important
tics rejects any clear-cut distinction between in order to have religious experiences: religious
experience and interpretation and stresses experiences do not occur out of the blue but can
that experience and interpretation go together: only take place when people share in a tradition
experiencing is always interpreting, when we which gives them a religious way of looking at
experience reality we do so from within things. This entails that being part of
a particular pre-understanding. It is not the case a community in which a religious narrative is
brought into practice is of utmost importance to activity which has to be controlled by practical
have religious experiences. reason. Neither does Ricœur question the distinc-
tion between exact and interpretative sciences
because his hermeneutical method is explicitly
Hermeneutics and Natural Science developed with only the humanities in mind
(O’Murchadha 1997). It is, however, precisely
As the examples of Dilthey and Husserl suggest, the very opposition between natural science as
the hermeneutical tradition is rooted in a exact and the humanities as interpretative that has
countermovement against the all-pervading become questionable today. This is the case
scientism of the Enlightenment as it reigned because recent developments have shown that
supreme in the positivism of the nineteenth the positivist-Enlightenment view of science is
century. Hermeneutics began as part of Roman- no longer tenable, though it still is the way many
ticism, which was an attempt to protect the daily scientists and ordinary people think of science.
life world and the reflection on it against the The positivist-Enlightenment view entailed the
invasion by a modern natural science which conviction that science is the “mirror of nature”
understood itself in an aggressive way as the which offers humankind a unique and privileged
sole way to truth and objectivity. As the examples access to reality as it really is in itself. Science
of Dilthey and Husserl show, hermeneutics did was thought by the positivists to be an excep-
this by making the natural-scientific understand- tional human activity: a disinterested search for
ing of truth in terms of objectivity and correspon- knowledge, objective, neutral, value-free, and
dence subservient to a more original and more primarily theoretical-conceptual. A first develop-
fundamental type of truth which can only be ment which contributed to the problematization
grasped by the philosopher. This kind of distinc- of this rather naı̈ve view of science was the work
tion is also to be found in the work of Heidegger, of a number of philosophers of science in the
who considered truth qua correspondence Anglo-Saxon tradition, namely, Karl Popper
between proposition and thing as only (1902–1994), Thomas Kuhn (1922–1996), Imre
a secondary type of truth, subsidiary to a more Lakatos (1922–1974), and Paul Feyerabend
fundamental truth qua Weltoffenheit, that is, truth (1924–1994). For instance, Kuhn, in his The
qua horizon in which the many factual truths can Structures of Scientific Revolutions (1962),
appear. When Gadamer adopted Heidegger’s dis- negated the common view of science as the linear
tinction between truth as opening and truth as accumulation of ever more accurate knowledge.
correspondence, he did this in order to confirm, Instead, he defended the view that in the devel-
as Dilthey and Husserl had done before him, the opment of science periods in which scientists
superiority of the humanities vis-à-vis the natural work within a paradigm alternate with periods
sciences, who are in need of legitimization by “a of crisis in which a paradigm shift takes place.
thinking which relates them back to the logos, to These ideas of paradigms and paradigm shifts
the common consciousness expressed in the nat- have been applied to the history of theology by
ural-historic language of a society and in its Hans K€ung and have also been linked to
shared culture, whose continuity . . . is assured Heidegger’s truth as opening. Also, the develop-
precisely by the human sciences and by philoso- ment of the so-called science studies, which
phy in particular” (Vattimo 1994). In this way, investigate science from a sociological, histori-
however, Gadamer leaves unquestioned the cal, and/or cultural perspective, has contributed
opposition between Naturwissenschaften and to the critique of the positivist-Enlightenment
Geisteswissenschaften, and, by doing so, view of science. It is argued that the sciences
he actually subscribes to the positivist- have not developed in isolation from their histor-
Enlightenment view of science which considers ical, political, social, and cultural context and that
the natural sciences to be an exceptional human such sciences are not so objective, neutral, and
activity, though it is, according to Gadamer, an value-free as the positivist-Enlightenment view
naı̈vely thought. The critiques have even gone so recognize science and religion as two activities
far as to claim that science is actually deeply of humankind by which it attempts to deal with
gender-biased and Eurocentric. This post- the mystery of its being in this world. This sug-
positivist view of science, which has come into gests that at the basis of both science and reli-
being in the wake of the aforementioned devel- gion is a shared sense of wonder and
opments in contemporary thought, suggests amazement. In this respect, we can speak, fol-
that it is no longer possible nor desirable to lowing Boeve, of “a ‘kind of unity in tension’
uphold the traditional distinction between that characterizes both faith and science, that is,
Naturwissenschaften and Geisteswissenschaften a fundamental passivity, openness, receptivity,
when it comes to their interpretative character. which drives both faith and science forward.”
Fundamental insights of hermeneutics – such as Science and religion, moreover, also share
the impossibility of a noninvolved neutral another structural similarity, namely, their
observer, the theory-ladenness of all observation “pathos for truth, the urge to search for meaning
and experimentation as well as the nonexistence and understanding.” At the same time, however,
of “pure” facts (see Section “The Hermeneutical a hermeneutical-theological perspective on the
Circle” above) – not only apply for the humani- relation between science and religion will also H
ties but for the positive sciences as well. Despite stress the irreducible “specificity and incom-
this, however, contributions in forming mensurability” of both. They may both be inter-
a hermeneutical philosophy of science (by, for pretative enterprises which share their sense of
instance, Joseph Kockelmans and Patrick wonder and pathos for the truth; this does not
Heelan) have not yet entered mainstream philos- mean that we should strive for an integration of
ophy of science and have until today remained them. This suggests that a hermeneutical-
largely invisible for the broader philosophical theological perspective on the relation between
and theological community. (For examples of science and religion only allows for a moderate
philosophical reflection on science from or limited dialogue between science and reli-
a hermeneutical point of view, see, for instance, gion, that is, a dialogue that limits itself “to
Kockelmans (1993), Crease (1997), Ginev situat[ing] the independence of both language
(1997), Heelan (1998), Fehér et al. (1999), registers while seeking structural affinities.”
Ihde (1999), Babich (2002), Kockelmans Only in this way, Boeve claims, unnecessary
(2002), Eger (2006)). conflict between and hegemonic unity of science
and religion can be avoided, and he concludes
that what the dialogue between science and reli-
Science and Religion from gion has to do is “to reflect . . . on what it means
a Hermeneutical-Theological to be a human person in today’s multifaceted
Perspective world” (Boeve 2007).
The conclusion that even natural science shares

in the interpretative character of human exis- Cross-References
tence also unfolds a new perspective on the so-
called conflict between science and religion. In ▶ Biblical studies
particular, the interpretative character of natural ▶ Classics
science is bringing natural science and religion ▶ Experience
much closer to each other than ever possible ▶ Humanities
within a positivist view. Rather than considering ▶ Meaning, the Concept of
natural science as the sole way to objectivity, ▶ Phenomenology
truth, and knowledge on the basis of which we ▶ Philosophy of language
have to dismiss religion as belonging to an ear- ▶ Religious experiences
lier phase of human civilization, we have to ▶ Scientism
H 986 Hierarchy
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philosophical essays of Martin Eger. In A. Shimony Edingburgh: T&T Clark.
(Ed.). Chicago, IL: Open Court. Vattimo, G. (1994). Oltre l’interpretazione: Il significato
Fehér, M., Kiss, O., & Ropolyi, L. (1999). Hermeneutics dell’ ermeneutica per la filosofia (Lezioni Italiane;
and science: Proceedings of the first conference of the Rome and Bari: Laterza and Figli). English translation:
International Society for Hermeneutics and Science Beyond interpretation: The meaning of hermeneutics
(Boston studies in the philosophy of science, for philosophy (Webb, D., Trans.; Cambridge: Polity
Vol. 206). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Press, 1997).
Geffré, C. (1983). Le christianisme au risque de l’interpré
tation (Cogitatio fidei, Vol. 120). Paris: Editions du
cerf.
Geffré, C. (2001). Croire et interpréter: Le tournant Hierarchy
herméneutique de la théologie. Paris: Editions du cerf.
Ginev, D. (1997). A passage to the hermeneutic philoso-
phy of science (Poznań studies in the philosophy of the
Stanley N. Salthe
sciences and the humanities, Vol. 53). Amsterdam: Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton
Rodopi. University, Binghamton, NY, USA
Heelan, P. A. (1998). The scope of hermeneutics in natural
science. Studies in the History of the Philosophy of
Science, 29(2), 273–298.
Ihde, D. (1999). Expanding hermeneutics: Visualism in Hierarchies order entities, processes, or realms
science (Northwestern University studies in phenom- into a system of levels. The ordering principle
enology and existential philosophy). Evanston, IL: (“is-a-part-of” for the compositional hierarchy
Northwestern University Press.
Jeanrond, W. G. (1991). Theological hermeneutics:
and “is-a-kind-of” for the subsumptive hierarchy)
Development and significance (Studies in Literature is transitive across levels. In both of these
and Religion. London: Macmillan (Reprint 1993, hierarchies, when used to model systems, higher
Hindrances (Buddhist) 987 H
levels control (regulate, interpret, integrate, har- concentration and therewith also obstruct the
ness) lower levels, whose behaviors are made growth of wisdom. The presence of any of these
possible by properties generated at still lower five hindrances is held to obstruct the proper
levels. It is important to realize that only some functioning of the mind to such an extent as to
users of hierarchical forms would insist that par- make it difficult to remember properly what hap-
ticular levels exist in actuality. Levels are pened earlier or to understand what is for one’s
discerned from hierarchical analysis, aimed at own benefit or for the benefit of others.
discovering Nature’s “joints” with respect to The standard list of these hindrances to the
given projects. development of meditation covers the following
five:
• Sensual desire
• Ill will
High Art • Sloth and torpor
• Restlessness and worry
▶ Art, Studio • Doubt
The above listing of five hindrances actually H
comprises seven distinct mental qualities. The
circumstance that these are subsumed under
Highest Point a fivefold presentation would be due to the simi-
larity in effect on the mind of sloth and torpor as
▶ Pāramitā well as of restlessness and worry.
The nature of these five hindrances finds illus-
tration in two sets of similes. The first set depicts
a bowl filled with water that is used to see the
Hindrances (Buddhist) reflection of one’s own face (Feer 1884–1898,
V, 121). In the context of this simile, the effect
Bhikkhu Anālayo of sensual desire is similar to water that is mixed
Center for Buddhist Studies, University of with dye, ill will resembles water that is heated up
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany and boiling, sloth and torpor is comparable to
water overgrown with algae, restlessness and
worry is like water stirred by the wind, and
Related Terms doubt is like muddy water placed in the dark. In
each of these five cases, one is unable properly to
Nı̄varana (Pāli); Nivārana (Sanskrit) see the reflection of one’s own face.
˙ ˙
This set of similes thus illustrates the effect
each hindrance has on the mind: sensual desire
Description colors the way on perceives things, with ill will
one gets quite literally heated up, sloth and torpor
The approach taken in the Buddhist traditions to result in stagnation, restlessness and worry toss
meditation and mental culture is fairly methodi- the mind around, and doubt obscures.
cal, a feature exemplified in the singling out The other set of similes illustrates the absence
of specific mental states or conditions as of the hindrances (Carpenter and Rhys Davids
“hindrances” to the cultivation of meditative 1890–1911, I, 71). In this set, overcoming sensual
calm and insight (▶ Buddhist Meditation desire is compared to being relieved from debt;
Practices). Buddhist texts identify five particular removing ill will is like recovering from
mental states as “hindrances,” in the sense that a disease; abandoning sloth and torpor is similar
these five prevent the gaining of deeper levels of to being released from prison; going beyond
H 988 Hindrances (Buddhist)
restlessness and worry is as if one has been will, mentioned frequently in Buddhist texts, is
liberated from slavery; and leaving behind the development of loving kindness (Sanskrit
doubt is akin to having crossed a dangerous desert maitrı̄, Pāli mettā), an attitude of friendliness
safely. and companionship extended impartially toward
In this way, this set of similes indicates that all living beings, without making any distinctions
sensual desire affects the mind comparable to or exceptions.
being heavily in debt, ill will afflicts body and Sloth appears to stand predominantly for men-
mind like a disease, sloth and torpor imprison the tal boredom and lack of inspiration, whereas tor-
mind, the agitation of restlessness and worry can por would correspond to physical lethargy, such
completely control the mind, and doubt leaves as may manifest after overeating, oversleeping,
one in a condition of deplorable insecurity. etc. Besides the self-evident need to avoid over-
In the case of the first of these five hindrances, eating, oversleeping, etc., a remedy to sloth and
according to Buddhist meditation theory, close torpor could be found in making an effort and in
inspection shows that sensual desire arises not developing clarity of the mind.
simply because of external stimulation, but to Restlessness may arise because of excessive
a considerable extent is the outcome of an incli- striving and a pushy attitude, whereas worry is
nation of the mind toward searching for satisfac- usually related to concern with something not
tion in sensual pleasures. The dynamic of sensual done properly in the past or something still to be
desire is such that, with every instant of its satis- done in the future. In both cases, calming and
faction, the tendency to have sensual desire tranquilizing the mind will help remedy the situ-
becomes strengthened. Hence, the way to inner ation, together with focusing on the present
peace, according to the early Buddhist analysis, moment instead of getting lost in the past or in
requires overcoming this never-ending vortex of the future.
desire and gratification and thereby gaining inner Doubt as a hindrance is mainly due to lacking
freedom from its incessant pull. a clear understanding of the difference between
According to an intriguing analysis provided what is wholesome or skilful and what is
in one passage, the search for satisfaction through unwholesome or not skilful. To overcome
a partner is intrinsically related to one’s own doubt, introspective analysis helps discerning
identification with the characteristics and the skilful from its opposite. This takes place in
behavior of one’s own gender (Morris and particular through investigation of phenomena,
Hardy 1885–1900, IV, 57). In other words, to the second of the seven so-called factors of awak-
search for union externally implies that one is ening, bojjhaṅga.
still caught up in the particulars of one’s own These factors of awakening present a set of
gender role and identity. mental qualities diametrically opposed to the hin-
Methods for going beyond sensual desire are drances, being of particular relevance to progress
thus a diminishing of one’s sense of identification to awakening. The first factor in this set is mind-
with external aspects of one’s gendered behavior fulness, followed by investigation of phenomena,
and a sober appreciation of the nature of the body energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equa-
as something whose beauty is only skin-deep. nimity. Overcoming the five hindrances and
Moreover, developing an inner sense of peace developing the seven factors of awakening,
and joy will counter one’s tendency to search then, could be considered the heart of Buddhist
for happiness outside. meditation practice.
In the case of ill will, patience needs to be
developed, ideally coupled with a closer exami-
nation of what tends to arouse one’s ill will. Here, Cross-References
too, the sense of identity often plays
a considerable role in stimulating anger and ill ▶ Passion and Emotion, Theories of
will. An important remedy for overcoming ill ▶ Sin (Vice, Human Limits, Negativity)
Hinduist Anthropology 989 H
References for needs and instead concentrate on what really
matters: the understanding of ātman as identical
Primary Sources with brahman, the absolute, one supreme,
Carpenter, J. E., & Rhys Davids, T. W. (Eds.). all-pervading Spirit. This realization leads you
to moksha, the liberation of rebirths (samsāra)
Feer, L. (Ed.). (1884–1898). The Samyutta Nikāya and all that binds you to the profane life. Yoga
(5 vols). London/Oxford: Pali Text Society. is seen as a method of both realizing the ātman-
Morris, R., & Hardy, E. (Eds.). (1885–1900). The brahman identity and restraining the bodily needs
Anguttara Nikāya (5 vols). London/Oxford: Pali Text
or mentally disorders coming from the senses, but
Society.
it also outlines an anthropology, where the ideal
seems to be asceticism and a world and life denial
Secondary Sources
Anālayo (2003). Satipatthāna, the direct path to realiza- ethics. This outlined anthropology is developed
˙˙
tion. Birmingham: Windhorse. in the Upanishads from around 600–300 B.C.E.
Gethin, R. (1992). The Buddhist path to awakening: and further elaborated in different Hindu
A study of the Bodhi-Pakkhiyā Dhammā. Leiden: Brill.
philosophical schools called the Darshanas.
But the development of a special Hindu H
anthropology is an ongoing process modified to
the new circumstances, and in later texts, we also
Hinduist Anthropology find an explicit emphasis on the worldly life as
well. Here, the primary goal (moksha) is woven
Marianne C. Qvortrup Fibiger into a worldly committed ethics which could be
Study of Religion, Institute for Culture and called “one thing at the right time and place
Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark ethics.” This has a strong impact on the under-
standing of Man because, first of all, it empha-
sizes that the goal or ethics (dharma) of life
Related Terms depends on varnāshramadharma, the social class
(varna) you belong to and your stage of life,
Anthropology in Hinduism implicitly also your sex. Secondly, it underlines
the importance of human existence as such.
The Hindi poet Tulsidas (c. 1532–1623)
Description rewrote the Sanskrit text Rāmāyana to Hindi in
the sixteenth century and gave the text the name
Rāmacharitamānas. It is today one of the most
Interwoven in his creation, the Spirit (ātman or influential texts in popular Hinduism, especially
purusa) is beyond destruction. No one can bring
to an˙ end the Spirit which is everlasting in North India, and the following quotation gives
For beyond time he (ātman or purusa) dwells in an example of how the understanding of the
these bodies, though these bodies have ˙ an end in
human is seen as a necessary stepping stone for
their time; but he remains immeasurable, immortal attaining moksha:
(The Bhagavad Gı̄tā, 2, 17–18)
It is a great and good fortune that you have secured
This quote refers to the Hindu philosophical a human body, which – as all the scriptures
understanding of Man as a compound of two declare – is difficult even for heavenly beings
elements: (1) the eternal element either called to attain. It is a tabernacle suitable for spiritual
discipline and the gateway to liberation
ātman or purusa and (2) the mortal element
˙ (Rāmacharitamānas, pp. 720–21)
consisting of matter or nature often referred to
as prakriti. The latter is something you should not This means that, while the Hindu tradition
strive for, idolize or worship, because that will upholds liberation (moksha) as the ultimate goal,
carry you away from the process of realization. it also underlines that human existence is the only
Instead, it is important to ignore its ongoing call gateway. But only if you follow the specific
H 990 Hinduist Anthropology
dharma in relation to varna and āśrama – which primary goal is moksha. But to gain this goal, the
can be called a relativistic dharma. Hindu tradition underlines that it is necessary to
have been living through the other stages of life
with other ideals of life. In other words, you
Four Goals of Life cannot leave the desire for fulfilling your plea-
sures, and the desire for achieving material gains
The relativistic dharma mentions four goals of before you know the limits of these goals:
life or ends, which can be seen as necessary
Not by non performance of actions does a man
steps toward the ultimate one. They are meant
attain freedom from action, nor by mere renuncia-
to cultivate the mind in relation to the position tion of actions does he attain the spiritual goal
you have in the world according to your stage of (Bhagavad Gı̄tā, 3, 4)
life (āśrama), but they are also meant to legiti-
mize worldly needs and strives and, in doing so,
to underline the need for engaging in the world The Unclean Body
before turning the back to the world. The four
goals or ends are called purusārtha and are as As an overall framework, the Hindu tradition sees
follows: kāma (pleasure), artha (wealth or the human as a microcosmos containing all the
worldly success), dharma (ethic, right conduct), elements and processes of which macrocosmos
and moksha (liberation from samsāra). or the Universe is constituted, including the
In a person’s first stage of life as brahmacārin transcendent or divine entity. This leads to
(student), the primary goal is to get to an under- a categorization of the body as consisting of two
standing that dharma is the fundamental guide- different substances: matter and spirit. While
line for your life and that dharma has both spirit is the everlasting and clean part, matter
a universal expression as well as a relativistic is the ever changing and unclean part. To culti-
one. It can be called an introduction to the core vate spirit, it is important to cultivate the matter
of the Hindu tradition. as well. That can be done by rituals through
The next stage of life as grhastha which the unclean substances of matter are puri-
˙
(male householder) or grhini (woman householder) fied or by isolating a person or persons in impure
˙
in the dharmaśāstra literature is seen as the most periods (menstruation, death in the family,
important stage of life because the other stages of childbirth).
life are depending on it. To fulfill this stage of life, Yoga can be seen as a thoroughly thought out
it is necessary to be engaged in the world: get method of cultivating the body or isolating the
children, work hard, socialize, and so forth. And two substances of the body. The method or
it is in this stage of life that kāma and artha are seen methods that are pointed out include bodily posi-
as primary goals. The Hindu recognition of kāma tions, hand gestures, the understanding of the
and artha as valid human pursuit tells strongly subtle body, and breath control.
against the common characterization of Hinduism
being life negating. It is true that Hinduism does
not uphold these two goals as the highest goals– Cross-References
and they should always be strived for in the light of
conducting dharma – but the goals at least approve ▶ Anthropomorphism
fulfilling some bodily pleasures and a strive for ▶ Biology of Religion
wealth. The latter is implementing a strong work- ▶ Body
ing ethics, which can be seen among Hindus all ▶ Personalism
over the world. ▶ Philosophical Anthropology
In the last two stages of life as vanaprastha ▶ Psychology of Religion
(a forest dweller) and as samnyāsin (ascetic), the ▶ Reality in Buddhism
Histology, Cytology 991 H
References contexts, however, are used somewhat inter-
changeably, and cytology in medical terminology
Brockington, J. L. (1996). The sacred thread. Hinduism in is also used to refer to cells used in pathology
its continuity and diversity (2nd ed.). Edinburgh:
which can be easily removed from the body for
Edinburgh University Press.
Brown, W. N. (1966). Man in the universe: Some microscopic examination such as vaginal or oral
continuities in indian thought. Berkeley: University scrapings. Most of the earlier work in histology
of California Press. and cytology focused on describing structure, but
Eliade, M. (1969). Yoga: Immortality and freedom.
these disciplines are increasingly integrated with
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Flood, G. (1996). An introduction to Hinduism. genetic, biochemical, and molecular studies on
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. cells and tissues. The “cell theory” is the major
Klostermaier, K. K. (1994). A survey of Hinduism. generalization in this area and holds that “all
Albany: State University of New York Press.
living things are made up of cells and the prod-
Klostermaier, K. K. (2000). Hinduism: A short history.
Oxford: One World. ucts of cells.”
Lipner, J. (1994). Hindus: Their religious beliefs and
practices. London: Routledge.
Michaels, A. (1998). Der Hinduismus: Geschichte und
Self-identification H
gegenwart. M€unchen: C.H. Beck.
Olivelle, P. (1993). The ās´rama systems: The history and
hermeneutics of a religious institution. New York: Science
Oxford University Press. These disciplines unashamedly identify as sci-
Sharma, A. (2002). Modern hindu thought: The essential
ences with their emphasis on empirical observa-
texts. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
tions of cells and tissues.
Characteristics
Histology, Cytology
Histology and cytology are distinguished by the
Chris Murphy emphasis on the microscopic structure of cells
School of Medical Sciences, The University of and tissues.
Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Related Terms
These disciplines are not generally interested in
Cells; Tissues the study of “science and religion” scholarly or
otherwise, although some practitioners of the dis-
ciplines may be and may seek to find “god” in the
Description amazingly detailed structure of cells as seen in
the microscope.
Histology and cytology seek to describe espe-
cially the structure of the tissues (histology) and
cells (cytology) of animals and plants especially Sources of Authority
at the microscopic level. Technically, histology
(Greek, histos ¼ woven fabric ¼ tissue) is the Repeatable and verifiable observations are the
study of the macrocellular arrays of cells which cornerstone of histology and cytology, and such
make up animal and plant tissues, and cytology data are published in peer-reviewed journals and
(Greek, kutos – cytos ¼ receptacle ¼ cell) refers are summarized in numerous student texts for
to the study of cells. The two terms in some science and medical students.
H 992 Histology, Cytology
Ethical Principles Perception

Is the conscious sensation the physical senses
As with most branches of science, the ethical produce. In histology and cytology in particular,
principle underlying these disciplines is full there is an awareness that what is seen in micro-
reporting of observations and methods in antici- scopic images may only imperfectly correspond
pation that others can reproduce and thereby cor- to the living entity, so our perceptions may be
roborate them. incomplete in this sense.
Time
Key Values Not dealt with as such but consistent with scien-
tific world view.
Curiosity, betterment of the human condition,
detailed observation. Consciousness
An “emergent” property of the human brain aris-
ing from neural complexity.
Conceptualization
Rationality/Reason
Nature/World Our key tool in understanding the physical
Physical matter and the energy needed to keep it world and manipulating it to our own ends.
organized. Adherence to rules of evidence, objective
reporting, and conclusions supported by
Human Being evidence.
A member of the species Homo sapiens.
Mystery
Life and Death Not a useful concept in dealing with cells and
The “cell theory” holds that “all living things are tissues. This word may be used loosely to
made up of cells and the products of cells.” Life is describe something presently unknown, but
a product of preorganic evolution plus organic there is an assumption that if it is part of the
evolution and natural selection. All present physical world, it can be known and eventually
life arises from preexisting life by cell division, will be. If it is unknowable, it is not relevant to
and life consists of metabolism, homeostasis, science and is probably fantasy as well.
and reproduction. Death is the irreversible
cessation of these functions in the individual
organism. Relevant Themes
Reality Histologists and cytologists are centrally inter-

Not specifically dealt with as such but consistent ested in microscopes and microscopy both at the
with other science – empirical, reproducible light and electron levels since these instruments
observations produce much of the data we have about
cellular structure and function. Frequently in the
Knowledge past, the hand of God has been seen in these
Nature of knowledge not specifically dealt with images, but this is increasingly a “god of the
but only empirical observations are considered gaps.” As with much of science, our increasing
“real.” understanding of cellular function and capacity to
manipulate to our own ends (genetic engineering,
Truth stem cell technology) brings ethical concerns
Empirically derived knowledge is our best and concerns that we are “playing god for some
approximation to truth. people.”
Historical Theology 993 H
References the historical development of theology and ana-
lyzes the most significant movements and person-
Eroschenko, V. P. (2008). Di Fiore’s atlas of histology alities marking the history of Christian thought
with functional correlations (11th ed.). Philadelphia:
and orienting it toward a specific direction. This
Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Junqueira, L. C., & Carneiro, J. (2010). Basic histology is a valuable approach but, critically speaking,
(12th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. merely defines (or tell) a story, leaving theologi-
Kuhnel, W. (2003). Color atlas of cytology, histology, and cal issues open.
microscopic anatomy (4th ed.). Stuttgart: Thieme.
HT is also different from the Theology of
Murphy, C. R. (2004). Uterine receptivity and the
plasma membrane transformation. Cell Research, 14, History which, according to a definition by
258–267. W. Kasper, is rather a reflection on the structures
Ross, M. H., & Pawlina, W. (2011). Histology: A text and of Salvation history and their historical and theo-
atlas (6th ed.). Baltimore: Lippincott Williams and
logical consequences (Kasper 1964). Then, its aim
Wilkins.
is to develop deeper theological understanding of
History. In this way, theological statements are
used as criteria for assessing what has happened.
Focusing on Theology in History, HT is the H
Historical Theology only theological discipline that, by nature, con-
siders the history as a theological history, that is,
Gaetano Iaia a locus where the understanding of the faith in the
Seminario Permanente di Studi Storico-Filosofici diversity of the thought-forms of its ages is
“Pasquale Orlando”, Pontificia Facoltà Teologica processed (Lafont 1994). It does not describe
dell’Italia Meridionale, sez. “S. Tommaso nor analyze the past as past but, remaining in
d’Aquino”, Napoli, Italy the present, it allows the scholar to approach
customs and modes of thought in some cases
foreign or completely far away from his own
Description context. It is a discipline that keeps memory
alive, recalling the tradition and its parts, some-
Christianity cannot but refer to the event giving times still valuable in our contemporary era but
rise to its history, the coming of Christ in the too often forgotten.
world. In the light of the biblical view of history – At least as currently understood, HT finds its
that assigns even a revelatory value and meaning origin in the late nineteenth century, within
at the time, the reinterpretation of this event German theological (Protestant) Schools; its
allows us to consider the whole human story, final development and dissemination took place
since that moment, as Christian time. thanks to the French and German Catholic
Historical Theology (HT) focuses its interests Schools of Theology in early twentieth century.
on the theological doctrines and their develop- Protestant thought aroused considerable
ments over the centuries as an outcome of both debates, especially around both the meaning of
the biblical interpretation and the consolidation the authenticity of Christianity and the bond
of the ecclesiastical tradition. In other words, between modern Churches and the primeval
following the history of the Christian thought, Christian community. Important consequences
the HT is mainly interested in the history of the of these debates were both the gradual acquisition
making of speculative theology. Studying theo- of an historical consciousness and a clearer and
logical issues, HT takes into account social, his- clearer understanding of Patristic doctrines, and
torical, and cultural ideas and contexts in which their supposed alteration in the Middle Ages.
they arose in space and time; as far as possible, it During the nineteenth century, especially in
looks for a pure objective review (Hart 2000). Germany, HT research area enjoyed further
Hence, HT is epistemologically different from developments thanks to the exegetical schools,
the History of Theology, which is concerned with interested in the History of the Dogma.
H 994 Historical Theology
Affirming that the doctrinal formulations were development. It must be recognized that von
also a result of social and cultural conditions, Harnack highlighted a fundamental element for
these Schools stated that a survey done in accor- the subsequent development of HT: History pro-
dance with the criteria of historical analysis vides methods and tools useful for a better under-
allowed to consider these doctrinal formulations standing of the theological thought, allowing to
as inappropriate to the changed conditions of the define the HT as a critical consciousness of
Church in modern times. Therefore, the Church theology.
had basically the task of reformulating these doc- In the Catholic area, one of the main authors of
trines in order to make them more understandable. the T€ubingen School was J. A. Möhler, who con-
Originally established by G. S. Steinbart, these sidered theology as a science of an external and
ideas were received in the writings of F. C. Baur, historical reality animated by an inner principle.
the founder of the Protestant exegetical School of He explained his method and his ideas in an
T€ubingen. Influenced by the ideas of Schleierma- analytical way in the Symbolik, published in
cher and Hegel, in his book Die Lehre von der 1832, which generated many debates (particu-
christliche Dreieinigkeit Menschwerdung Gottes larly with Baur). For Möhler, HT’s primary
und Entwicklung in Ihrer geschichtlichen he tasks are the analysis and the re-understanding
established a new standard for the study of the of the theological tradition not as a representation
history of Christian doctrine. After him, the ideas of the past (nowadays elapsed and set aside), but
of Steinbart reach their maturity in Adolf von as a living reality (Dulles 2005).
Harnack, and, especially, in his The History of Theological ideas of different past ages are not
Dogma. Von Harnack stated that the dogma, con- only past, but they are part of a tradition that
sidered in se, was not a genuine Christian con- endures and lives in rituals and devotions, in the
cept, but derived from the progressive move (or acts of Councils, in theological discussions. Then
detachment) of Christianity from a Palestinian HT seeks to shed light not only on tradition –
and Jewish environment to an Hellenistic – which goes beyond any possible and manifold
especially Alexandrian – one. In order to articu- concrete expression in history – but also on
late the transmission of both the faith and the ideas and systems of theological thought, includ-
Gospel, in practice Christian writers absorbed ing those which are totally dependent on the
the Hellenistic outlook, especially in its dialecti- esprit du temps and are therefore outside the
cal and metaphysical aspects. This concept led contemporary context.
von Harnack to assert that even the doctrine of the Beyond more specifically controversial issues,
Incarnation as a result of the Hellenistic influence the method, along with its typical approach, is
should be refused, taking, on the contrary, in what makes Historical Theology special: First of
greater account the historical Jesus and the all, in fact, it puts the life of the Christian com-
impact that both his action and his preaching munity in the middle, examining it in all its
had on a specific, chronologically and geograph- aspects and considering it as a response to what
ically circumscribed, portion of humanity. The has been received by the Christian community as
removal of metaphysics from theology, he said, presence and will of God.
may produce nothing else than a greater aware- While remaining within the boundaries of the
ness of the soteriological aspects already present Anselmian fides quaerens intellectum, it must
in the historical life of Jesus (Gonzalez 1987). take into account liturgy and worship, discipline
Although this view was later questioned, its and ethics, ecclesiastical organization, biblical
general methodological principles can still be interpretation, and theological thought. The
considered valid for the approach of HT, since Christian community remained true to his voca-
many aspects of the Christian faith were tion, but his thoughts, however, assumed many
influenced by the Hellenistic metaphysics which forms, also as a result of historical and geograph-
must necessarily be taken into account for a more ical changes. They were transcribed into the cor-
serene and complete analysis of the doctrine’s pus of Christian doctrines, transfused in the
Historical Theology 995 H
theology or theologies of the Christian commu- historical investigation’s criteria and sources
nity (or, following schisms, of one or more of its (ecclesiastical, intellectual, political, cultural, or
divisions). social). Rather, it is a peculiar form of theology
Tradition and theology, in turn, found further and therefore it must consider its approach as
fixation in dogmatic formalizations, expressions well as its own hermeneutic method in an osmotic
of faith of a portion of Christian people in a given exchange with other branches of human knowl-
context and promulgated as rules for members of edge – such as psychology, sociology, philoso-
the community. Apparently, the scholar may phy of religion – and with a strict and due
bring only an analysis of the main current or attention to biblical studies. Theology is
main formulations and not all the theologies and a discipline based and dependent on the Word
the doctrines of the Church. Therefore, the HT of God, which is beyond any historical process
focuses only on the historical development of and, for good reason, can judge their degrees of
Christian doctrine – putting at the center of its correctness.
attention the living but strict structure of dogma – For HT scholars, the Christian theology is not
and its main factors that, on occasions, have pro- a tabula rasa, but rather a research area already
moted new formulations or changes. In this sense, occupied by traditions. Of these, in some ways, H
it offers the possibility to formulate a clear status they are only caretakers and (sometimes critical)
quaestionis on events and circumstances that interpreters; at most, they can reform them or
contributed to the major theological themes, help reviewing them, but cannot supersede
helping to identify not only the subject of previ- them, since freshness and newness are hidden
ous analysis or debate, but also the most signifi- within them, and have yet to be discovered.
cant personalities of various historical periods Therefore, in the light of new scientific discover-
and their key documents. ies, the approach of HT scholars makes possible
In order to consider certain visions with equa- continuous reassessment of the Christian thought.
nimity – even if they are different and sometimes Moreover, it makes human beings aware of
conflicting with each other – and without making origins, causes, continuities, and discontinuities
any preliminary judgment on them, the efforts of of human events and ideas, relativizing in a right
the theologian must link with those of the histo- way what previously was seen as absolute.
rian, because in order to shed light on theology Above all, it is a constant reminder that human
and history both the disciplines must operate in beings and their communities are historical.
synergy. The aim is to provide a correct and vivid The HT method and approach can be useful
description made up, as far as possible, with for accessing and understanding the science-
objectivity, knowing that the terminus ad quem religion intersection, considering conflicts and
can only be defined in accordance with rigid interactions arose in the course of time.
space-time parameters: What happened in Indeed, considering the path of science, from
a given geographical area and in a given histori- its rise in the medieval West up to the scientific
cal period is the edge to which the scholar of HT revolution, HT must regard not only major even
should strive as far as possible, balancing scien- theological shifts – marked by discoveries such as
tific objectivity with own personal involvement. those by Copernicus, Galileo, and Isaac Newton –
This feature in some ways is the most difficult to and the Catholic and Protestant reactions to them,
define and maintain: HT is in fact necessarily but also the cultural improvement occurred dur-
conditioned by the historical period and the con- ing the eighteenth and nineteenth century, with
text of the scholar. Consequently, even though the changes in geology, cosmology and biology,
the scholar may strive to be objective, he cer- as well as the scientific revolutions of the twenti-
tainly cannot be neutral. eth century, that produced answers and reactions
It is also for these reasons that HT cannot be from both mainstream religious groups and
said simply history; in fact, it does not share its newer movements such as evangelicalism and
purposes nor it can be limited to the application of fundamentalism.
H 996 Historiography (Classical)
Consequently, for a complete and systematic Cross-References

analysis of the various theological positions of
the contemporary era, HT must take into account ▶ Cultural Studies
even the theological implications of scientific ▶ Ecclesiology
research while evaluating recent approaches
such as environmentalism, social construction,
postmodernism, which are at the center of current References
debates.
Historical analysis, if considered from the Dulles, A. (2005). A history of apologetics. San Francisco:
Ignatius Press.
point of view of the Christian faith and its theol-
Gonzalez, J. (1987). A history of christian thought. rev.
ogy, let us highlight that there are both an ulti- ed., 3 vols. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
mate purpose of the historical process and a vital Hart, T. (ed.). (2000). The dictionary of historical theol-
objective of human life, which all continuities ogy. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Hill, J. (2003). A history of Christian thought. Oxford:
and discontinuities of human experience make
Lion Publishing.
reference to. Kasper, W. (1964). «Grundlinien einer Theologie der
Christian faith, in fact, cannot accept the his- Geschichte», Theologische Quartalschrift, 144,
torical relativity (an idea historically unverifiable pp. 129–169.
ung, H. (2000). Reforming the Church today: keeping
K€
but rather philosophical) as the ultimate explana-
hope alive. London: T&T Clark.
tion of human condition. When placed within the Lafont, G. (1994). Histoire Théologique de l’Eglise
theological discipline, historical research is not catholique: itineraire et formes de la Théologie,
merely a description and interpretation of the past Paris: Cerf.
McGrath, A. E. (2012). Historical theology: An introduc-
as past, although it may be valuable. While living
tion to the history of Christian thought. Malden, MA-
in his own present, the scholar of history – and Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
especially the scholar of HT – may highlight Pelikan, J. (1971–1989). The Christian tradition:
practices and ways of thinking nowadays A history of the development of doctrine. 5 vols. Chi-
cago: University of Chicago Press.
unknown to his contemporaries. The Church, as
Schaff, P. (1910). History of the Christian church. New
Hans K€ ung pointed out some years ago, keeps York: C. Scribner’s Sons.
alive memory of its past but sometimes, unfortu- Wilken, R. L. (2005). The spirit of early Christian
nately, loses it. It must be helped to remember the thought: Seeking the face of God. New Haven, CT-
London: Yale University Press.
things it forgot (K€ ung 2000). This is the role of
the historian and, more specifically, the role of
the scholar of HT. In describing or interpreting
ideas and practices, the scholar acts as a memory
of a tradition and, as the intellectual revival Historiography (Classical)
movement called nouvelle théologie – arisen in
France after the First World War – reminds us, Martin Ebner
sometimes can have a leading impact on contem- Seminar f€ur Exegese des Neuen Testaments
porary theologies. In some cases, like the one just Katholisch-Theologische Fakult€at, Westf€alische
mentioned, a history of tradition helps making Wilhelms-Universit€at M€unster, M€unster,
judgments about the present, to correct or rejuve- Germany
nate both theological thought and religious life.
Therefore, the scholar of HT must be honest
about what happened, presenting evidences Until recently, historiography has referred simply
emerging from historical facts and not from his to the “writing of history,” and is to be distin-
own concern about the present era, realizing, guished from the modern “science” or “academic
finally, that his attempt to be objective is related study of history” (in German Geschichtswis-
and certainly not indifferent to the Truth. senschaft). Historiography in Greco-Roman
Historiography (Classical) 997 H
antiquity sought to ascertain the rational causal In them the motives and underlying reasons for
connections between events of the more distant history are to be laid bare.
past and the immediate present by forging them In Hellenistic times, two strands of histori-
as a narrative. It exposes myth decidedly as fic- ography were set forth: (1) melodramatic
tion. According to Aristotle, the goal of fiction, historiography, which like fiction or drama
especially drama, is to articulate what can peren- portrayed the universal validity of certain basic
nially happen, what are termed “paradigms.” In human situations in their true-life particularities
contrast, historiography accounts for the special, (mimesis) and thus might move the reader, or
individual case (Aristotle, Poetics, 9). Myth viewer, emotionally; (2) pragmatic historiogra-
explains the processes of nature and the actions phy, which concentrates quite strictly on the estab-
of human beings in terms of the influences of the lishment of causal linkages between events. From
gods. It thinks in cycles of time and originates in the beginning onward two ways of selecting mate-
those realms that are outside human control. His- rial could be distinguished – universal history,
toriography, however, seeks this-worldly expla- which deals with large spans of time and aims to
nations and sees history as the totality of connect the present with cultural and political
autonomous individual experiences, which are developments in the past (e.g., Herodotus, Polyb- H
patterned after human design. It thinks in linear ius, Livy); treatises or monographs, which illu-
time sequences and stems from a technical way of mine specific events from contemporary history
thinking using measurable criteria. Important (e.g., Thucidydes, The Peloponessian War;
considerations for the historiographer are the Sallust, The Conspiracy of Catiline).
epos (which relates the outcome of events), jour- Reflections concerning one’s own specialty of
neys of discovery (which secure the empirically historiography are to be found here and there,
determinable data about geographical areas), and mainly in the prefaces of historical writings
the Ionian philosophy of nature (which looks for (e.g., in Herodotus) as well as in chapters on
rational explanations for incidents in the world of methodology (e.g., Thucidydes, Polybius). From
appearances). Lucan can be obtained an essay on “how one is
Herodotus (ca. 484–424 B.C.E.), the “father of supposed to write history,” or how to manage and
historiography,” set down three goals for the dis- render materials. Only the modern “science” of
cipline: (1) events should be rescued from obliv- history starting in the nineteenth century takes the
ion (memoria); (2) only important and decisive constructivity of its own historical reconstruc-
facts should be chosen (“selection”); and (3) the tions as its theme.
causes of events, especially wars, should be
explicated (“theory”). Thucydides (c.a. 455–400
B.C.E.) introduced the securing of historical data Cross-References
(“autopsy”) as the criterion of truth for historiog-
raphy. The sites of occurrences must be investi- ▶ Christianity
gated and the events themselves that are reported ▶ Classics
must either be experienced, or their eyewitnesses ▶ Cultural Studies
interviewed (Greek historia¼“witnesses”). The ▶ Historical Theology
object of this primary investigation includes the ▶ History of Ideas (Intellectual History)
different versions of the accounts of eyewit-
nesses, which compares their subjective experi-
ences as related to their memory capacity with References
independent reckonings of the same occurrences,
Backhaus, H., H€afner, G. (2007). Historiographie und
as well as to prove their likelihood. The single
fiktionales Erz€ahlen. Zur Konstruktivit€at in
fictive element in the account given by the histo- Geschichtstheorie und Exegese (BThSt 86),
rian, according to Thucidydes, are speeches. Neukirchen-Vluyn.
H 998 History
Evans, R. J. (1998). Fakten und Fiktionen. Uber € die Description

€
Grundlagen historischer Erkenntnis (Ubers. U. Speck),
Frankfurt am Main.
Lorenz, C. (1997). Konstruktion der Vergangenheit. Eine History of ideas is the interdisciplinary inquiry
Einf€uhrung in die Geschichtstheorie (Beitr€age zur into the workings of human thought as it trans-
Geschichtskultur 13), Köln. gresses conventional categorization according to
Mehl, A. (2001). Römische geschichtsschreibung. Eine historical period, geography and ethnicity,
Einf€uhrung, Stuttgart, Berlin, Köln: Grundlagen und
Entwicklungen. schools and -isms, and the division between
Ricœur, P. (2002). Geschichtsschreibung und high and low culture. Targeting a mixed aca-
Repr€asentation der Vergangenheit (Konferenzen des demic audience rather than specialists in
Centre Marc Bloch [Berlin] 1), M€ unster. a single field, the historian of ideas rejects the
R€usen, J., Straub, J. (1998). (Hrsg.), Die dunkle Spur der
Vergangenheit. Psychoanalytische Zug€ange zum compartmentalization and departmentalization of
Geschichtsbewußtsein. Erinnerung, Geschichte, post-Enlightenment thinking. Instead, the tradi-
Identit€at 2 (Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft tion examines synthetic complexes, or “unit
1403), Frankfurt a. M. ideas,” that may seem superficially dissimilar
Schröter, J., Eddelb€uttel, A. (2004). (Hrsg.), Konstruktion
von Wirklichkeit. Beitr€age aus geschichtstheoretischer, due to their different expression across philo-
philosophischer und theologischer Perspektive sophical and cultural temperaments but neverthe-
(Theologische Bibliothek Töpelmann 127), Berlin. less possess resonant congruities.
Straub, J. (1998). (Hrsg.), Erz€ahlung, Identit€at und Recent contributions of the history of ideas
historisches Bewußtsein. Die psychologische
Konstruktion von Zeit und Geschichte. Erinnerung, include the growth of humanities centers in
Geschichte und Identit€at 1 (Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch contemporary universities, which extend the
Wissenschaft 1402), Frankfurt a. M. tradition’s effort to corral together scholarship
Timpe, D. (2007). Antike geschichtsschreibung. Darm- in literature, philosophy, religion, foreign lan-
stadt: Studien zur Historiographie.
White, H. (1973). Metahistory. Baltimore: The historical guages, the fine arts, and the history and rhetoric
imagination in nineteenth century Europe. of science. The history of ideas has also raised
questions about the relevance of periodicity as
a substantive marker of textual and conceptual
History similarities and differences, advocated an
approach to “comparative literature” attendant
▶ Ecclesiology to the international and interlinguistic dialogue
of ideas, and interrogated identity-based divi-
sions of texts and cultures that can be better
understood in more global contexts. The empha-
History of Chemistry in Islam sis among historians of ideas on comparison and
synthesis has offered an antidote to postmodern
▶ Alchemy in Islam tribalism and its insistence on the logic of cultural
difference.
The holistic approach to thought adopted by
the history of ideas facilitates treating the meth-
History of Ideas (Intellectual History) odologies of science and religion not as antithet-
ical but as inextricable from one another,
Colbey Emmerson Reid inaugurating a postpositivist approach to science
Department of English and Humanities, York that is deeply critical of the common valorization
College of Pennsylvania, York, PA, USA of empiricism and rationality as the sole viable
modes of intellectual inquiry. The intellectual
historian assumes instead that human nature and
Related Terms experience is vastly complex and that no element
of it can be understood independent of its
Intellectual history relations to all other things. The tradition’s
History of Ideas (Intellectual History) 999 H
assumption of the impossibility of complete systems, and notes profound variations within
knowledge contrasts sharply with the scientific presumably monolithic systems. G. B. Vico,
“man of action” confident in the power of sometimes named as an antecedent historian of
human understanding to produce certainty ideas, wrote of theology as the “new science” of
through empirically verified knowledge. modernity. Vico’s representation of theology was
Thus, the history of ideas proffers a critique of an antidote to Cartesian rationalism in its own
science as it is conventionally constructed, one era, contending that unifying structures of
invested in the discovery not merely of informa- thought could become apparent through the
tion but of the formative theoretical concepts that intercultural study of art, mythology, and rituals.
shape the gathering and interpretation of infor- Theology preserved an important component
mation. Prominent religious unit ideas, for of thinking, one considerate of relationships
instance, can structure systems of thought under- between ideas, to complement the discrete and
lying and even enabling scientific discoveries. particular modes of knowledge accessed through
Science is thereby treated as an extension of the scientific method.
metaphysics and not metaphysics’ opposite. Vico’s “new science” was antimodern in its
Thus intellectual history is a way of introducing insistence upon the continued relevance of theol- H
scientific invention to the conditions for its own ogy, but it nevertheless resembles the critique
existence and imagining the new conditions in waged from within modernity by numerous
which future inventiveness might exist. thinkers who have questioned the value of many
Intellectual historians have also used scientific of modernity’s conditions. For instance,
practices to critique the humanities, however, as Nietzsche’s theorized poetry as the “gay science”
in Franco Moretti’s Graphs, Maps, Trees: of experiences that exceed the limiting medioc-
Abstract Models for a Literary History (2007). rity of the rational. Claude Levi-Strauss’s struc-
Moretti’s study bears mentioning for its assertion tural anthropology took seriously the persistence
that the humanities might profitably adopt scien- of transcendent cultural forms. And Foucault
tific methodologies like counting, graphing, and relied upon the spiritual art of revelation as an
mapping as antidotes to the ubiquity of reading in antidote to the soul-deadening construction of
humanist inquiry. Moretti believes that reading selfhood orchestrated by institutional power. In
relies upon too limited a body of evidence insofar each case, mystery or “spirit” is not that which
as it is mainly confined to canonical books and must be overcome to pursue ideas but that which
authors and unable to account for multiple texts at must be recovered to facilitate a more authentic
once. Graphs, maps, and trees, however, could and contextualized intellectual culture.
unveil a mass cultural spectrum of ideas and The distinctiveness of the history of ideas thus
suggest global continuities scholars are unlikely pertains to its insistence upon the relevance of
to see due to the normalizing and exclusionary metaphysics and aesthetics to the modern pursuit
influence of existing and elite transmissions of of knowledge. Rather than trying to eliminate the
knowledge. Within the history of ideas, scientific ambiguities of affective modes of perception, the
empiricism can paradoxically be a vehicle of historian of ideas studies the meanings, associa-
public opinion, an element of collective thought tions, and even obscurities therein suggested.
too commonly lost in the humanities’ tendency to One of the unique key values of the tradition is
focus exclusively upon ideas expressed within error, insofar as the historian of ideas is interested
a small number of masterpieces composed by in human thought even when it is confused or
a few eminent writers. absurd. Another key value can be found in the
The history of ideas takes inspiration from persistent defense of universalism, in that
religion no less than science, however, as when the history of ideas tends in its active sense for
it emulates certain practices in comparative the vast entanglement of ideas with one another
religion which trace the structures underlying to view cultures and people as fundamentally
deeply divergent religious practices and belief syncretic. Though ethics is not an explicit
H 1000 History of Ideas (Intellectual History)
component of the tradition, one can extrapolate Lovejoy, who founded the “History of Ideas
critiques of nationalism, essentialism, and the Club” at Johns Hopkins University in 1940, is the
institution, which manages thought by penning most immediate source of the terminology and
it within stable categories that limit challenges to theory of the history of ideas. Nevertheless,
the institution’s structural integrity. within continental philosophy, Nietzschean
Sources of authority within the field include “genealogy,” Foucauldian “archaeology,” and
Arthur O. Lovejoy’s “Introduction to the Study of Derridean “etymology” all similarly destabilize
the History of Ideas” in The Great Chain of Being the natural appearance of conceptual common-
(2007), which theorizes before practicing the places by tracing their invention and evolution.
tradition in the analysis of a religious unit idea The history of ideas conceptualizes the world
and also coins the terms “history of ideas” and as structurally connected by the limited diversity
“unit ideas.” Lovejoy critiqued pragmatism for of ideas across cultures. Nature, reality, knowl-
importing scientific positivism into the humani- edge, and truth are perpetually reconstructed by
ties, but the influence of William James, who was the individual perceiving them, thus placing the
Lovejoy’s teacher, in his pupil’s invention of the human being and human consciousness at the
history of ideas can be discerned in James’s center of the tradition. Notions of the origins of
“A World of Pure Experience” (1904), which life and the function of death are not relevant to
theorizes a Weltanschauung, or unified world, the history of ideas, except insofar as they might
that can be recovered through “radical empiri- serve as unit ideas. Time is rejected as a valid
cism,” the registry even of the transitions and marker of unity or difference, as the historian
conjunctions between ideas as important compo- of ideas might find profound variation within
nents of experience. On science and religion, chronologically simultaneous ideas while tracing
important texts include G. B. Vico’s New Science the continuity of other ideas over centuries.
(2002), especially accompanied by Mark Lilla’s The history of ideas should be understood as
G. B. Vico: The Making of an Anti-Modern a critique of the modern ascent of rationality as
(1994). Also see Jeremy Carrette’s edited selec- the ultimate value and insists upon permitting
tions on Religion and Culture: Michel Foucault the reemergence of mystery as an essential
and Foucault’s “Nietzsche, Genealogy, History.” component of thinking through engagement
Important recent contributions include Mieke with theology and art.
Bal’s Travelling Concepts in the Humanities
(2002), Franco Moretti’s Graphs, Maps, Trees
(2007), and Carlo Ginzburg’s “Minutiae, Cross-References
Close-Up, Microanalysis” (2007), which dis-
cusses the importance of the “microanalysis” of ▶ Humanities
historical minutiae in uncovering significant ▶ Pragmatism (Theological Interpretations)
“macroconcepts” otherwise lost to historians. ▶ Transcendence and Immanence
Ross Posnock’s Color and Culture: Black ▶ Worldview
Writers and the Making of the Modern Intellec-
tual (2000) brings the history of ideas into critical
contact with identity politics. Finally, Susan
References
Sontag’s Against Interpretation and Other
Essays (1994) explains how art and literary Bal, M. (2002). Traveling concepts in the humanities:
criticism might better attend to intuition and A rough guide. Buffalo: Toronto University Press.
affect in their readings of texts, and her essay, Carrette, J. (Ed.). (1999). Religion and culture: Michel
“Fascinating Fascism” (2002), models the intel- Foucault. New York: Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1984). Nietzsche, genealogy, history. In The
lectual historian’s attentiveness to conceptual Foucault reader (pp. 76–100). New York: Pantheon.
unities in its analysis of extant and thriving fascist Ginzburg, C. (2007). Minutiae, close-up, microanalysis.
unit ideas in western constructions of beauty. Critical Inquiry, 34(Autumn 2007), 174–189.
History of Medicine 1001 H
James, W. (1904). A world of pure experience. In particular. The impact of religion on the history
Essays in radical empiricism. Longman Green: New of science, in its broadest sense as well as in some
York. URL: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/
experience.htm. of its specific disciplines, is reflected in the his-
Lilla, M. (1994). G.B. Vico: The making of an tory of changing concepts of health and disease.
anti-modern. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. The roles and responsibilities of medical practi-
Lovejoy, A. O. (2007). The great chain of being: A study tioners, while affected by changing scientific
of the history of an idea. Intr. Peter Stanlis.
Piscataway: Transaction Publishers. concepts, are less features of the history of sci-
Moretti, F. (2007). Graphs, maps, trees. New York: Verso. ence than of social, religious, moral, legal, and
Posnock, R. (2000). Color and culture: Black writers and economic history.
the making of the modern intellectual. Cambridge:
Sontag, S. (1994). Against interpretation and other essays.
New York: Vintage. Self-identification
Sontag, S. (2002). Fascinating fascism. In Under the sign
of Saturn: Essays (pp. 73–108). New York: Picador. The study of the history of medicine in America
Vico, G. B. (2002). The first new science. (L. Pompa, Ed.
& Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. owes its beginnings not to professional historians
but to physicians, who were in many cases men of H
broad culture and classical education. In the first
half of the twentieth century, American medical
History of Islamic Medicine schools produced a distinguished group of physi-
cians, like the neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing
▶ Medicine in Islam (1869–1939), who were not only enthusiastic stu-
dents of the history of medicine but who
published in the field. It would be unfair to call
them (as they have been termed) amateurs. But
History of Medicine they were clinical specialists, not professionally
trained historians. Most prominent was
Gary B. Ferngren Cushing’s mentor, William Osler (1849–1919),
Department of History, Oregon State University, one of the four founding members, in 1893, of the
Corvallis, OR, USA School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
Osler believed that the study of medical history,
of great doctors, of the history of disease and
Related Terms therapy, and of the classics of medical literature
from Hippocrates to the present would illuminate
Medical history; Restoring health modern medicine by placing it within its broader
cultural context. But more than that, he believed
that it had the potential for humanizing medicine
Description and for maintaining the proper balance between
the art and science of medicine. Osler incorpo-
Medicine may be defined as the art of preserving rated the history of medicine into the clinical
or restoring health and treating disease, illness, or courses that he taught rather than treated it as
physical dysfunction by means of drugs, surgical a separate subject for study. In the first half of
procedures, or manipulations. The history of the twentieth century, courses in medical history
medicine is the history of both the changing con- expanded in American medical schools, reaching
cepts of health and disease and the greatly varied their peak in the 1950s, then declining rapidly. In
social roles and ethical responsibilities of those the 1970s, the newly emerging field of bioethics
who seek to preserve or restore health. The for- brought to the public consciousness a whole
mer is properly an aspect of the history of science series of urgent questions. Like many new disci-
in general and of the biological sciences in plines, it quickly expanded, producing new
H 1002 History of Medicine
journals, departments, and symposia. Courses in relationship between science and religion.
medical ethics began to proliferate in American Two historiographical perspectives that have
medical schools, replacing courses in the history influenced, even revolutionized, scholarship pro-
of medicine. Paradoxically, during the same vide the orientation of the discussion. The first is
period that the history of medicine was being the reaction against what is commonly called
dropped from the curriculum of medical schools, Whigism. The term denotes a perspective that
courses in medical history were proliferating in views the past through the lens of the present
history departments at many universities. But and sees history as moving progressively toward
their approach was very different from that the ideas and institutions of a later age, particu-
adopted in medical schools. They taught the social larly one’s own. Many historians of medicine
history of medicine primarily to undergraduate or writing today attempt to avoid its correlatives,
graduate students in history (Burns 2000). presentist and essentialist approaches, which
have traditionally influenced the historical under-
standing of both religion and science. Presentism
Characteristics is the tendency to shape the past by employing
modern definitions and understandings. Essen-
Scores of universities today offer courses in the tialism assumes that an idea or a discipline is
history of medicine. They are nearly always basically the same in all ages and that the history
taught by professionally trained historians with of medicine is distorted by imposing modern
Ph.D.s rather than M.D.s, and their approach is definitions on the study of the past or by admit-
sociological. Some departments of medical ting as truly scientific only what a modern
humanities in schools of medicine now hire pro- medical scientist would regard as such. Social
fessionally trained historians to teach medical constructionism provides the second modern per-
history as well, with the result that new historio- spective that informs much recent writing in the
graphical methods are penetrating medical history of medicine. Social constructionism is
schools. As a specialized field of historical a methodological orientation that views the pur-
research, history of medicine in the United States suit of scientific knowledge not as an autonomous
is quite healthy today, but as a field of history, not but as a human endeavor that reflects social back-
of medicine. It has, like the history of science, grounds and conditions as well as the prevailing
come under the strong influence of social spirit of the age. It marks a reaction to the previ-
constructionism and Kuhnian ideas of the sociol- ous dominance of positivism in the history of
ogy of knowledge. This professionalization has medicine (Ferngren 2002: ix–xiv).
itself been partially responsible for the decline
of the teaching of medical history in schools of
medicine. And it has widened the gap between Sources of Authority
physicians who teach medical history and aca-
demically trained historians. By applying the Social constructionism as an intellectual
methods of cultural studies to medicine and by movement was inspired by Thomas Kuhn’s The
placing it within the context of the new social Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), which
history, historians have rendered the subject more accounted for major transformations in science
naturally suited to departments of history than to (Kuhn termed them “paradigm shifts”) as the
medical schools. result of social and psychological factors.
Kuhn’s approach owed much to antirationalistic
and relativistic notions and marked a reaction
Relevance to Science and Religion to the long-standing emphasis on the autonomy
and rationality of traditional science. It
In the past generation, historical scholarship unintentionally created an agenda for the next
has devoted a good deal of attention to the generation of scholars, who pursued what came
to be called science studies. Their research pro- exceptions rather than the rule. Christian clergy-
gram emphasized the sociology of knowledge and men, for example, actively supported the intro-
the contextual and socialcultural setting in which duction of inoculation and anesthesia.
new science developed. Positivistic scientists and
intellectual historians of science and medicine
reacted vigorously in defense of older views, how- Ethical Principles
ever, and the resulting “science wars” came
to characterize the last two decades of the twenti- Postmodernism has injected a radical, though
eth century. Adding to the ferment was the emer- hardly pervasive, influence in the modern study
gence of feminism and postmodernism. Feminism of medical history. Postmodernists reject all
became a major force in the scholarship of many “totalizing” systems, arguing that no human
academic disciplines, including history of medi- endeavor, not even medicine, can claim to be
cine, with its study of gender as a factor in the based on universal truths or on Enlightenment-
construction of medical knowledge and its explo- based assumptions, such as rationality. Hence,
ration of women’s participation in medicine. they deny the universal claims of both medicine
Another major factor has been the rejection of and religion, which have found themselves H
the thesis formulated by John William Draper deprivileged and attacked for their authoritarian
(1874) and Andrew Dickson White (1896) that pretensions (Ferngren 2002: 381–387). Assump-
Christianity has had a long history of opposing tions of cultural and ethical relativism are wide-
scientific progress. White, the first president of spread in the modern social history of medicine.
Cornell University, argued that the early church But recognition that medicine and religion have
had hindered the progress of science both by developed historically and have been influenced
denigrating the investigation of nature and by by their historical and cultural context does not
subordinating observation and reasoning to the necessitate acceptance of relativistic assump-
authority of scripture and theology. The Draper- tions. Nor need it deny the claims of Christianity
White or “conflict” thesis, as it is called, became or other religions to special (i.e., divine) revela-
enormously influential in America in both popu- tion. It does, however, require an awareness of
lar and academic circles. During much of the the cultural limitations that are imposed on all
twentieth century, it dominated the historical societies, ideas, and disciplines, including our
interpretation of the relation of religion and sci- own. And it should persistently strive to avoid
ence (Lindberg and Numbers 1986: 1–18). In the the comfortable assumption that modern Western
late twentieth century, the thesis underwent cultural values or current theoretical constructs
a systematic reevaluation. The result has been constitute the bar before which all other values
the growing recognition among historians of sci- are to be judged. The modern age is a historical
ence and medicine that relations between religion period like any other, limited in its perspectives
and science have been much more positive than is by time and culture, and subject to the constraints
often thought. John Brooke suggests that of its own zeitgeist. Understanding that we, too,
a “complexity thesis” is a more accurate model have historical limitations should force us to view
than the familiar conflict thesis (Brooke 1991). the past in a manner that is neither patronizing nor
Although popular images of controversy con- disparaging, but appreciative of the power of
tinue to exemplify the supposed hostility of ideas and practices that we do not always share
Christianity to new scientific and medical theo- or fully understand.
ries, recent studies have shown that Christianity
has often nurtured and encouraged scientific and
medical endeavor, while at other times, the two Key Values
have coexisted without either tension or attempts
at harmonization. If Galileo and the Scopes trial Every language employs a variety of words, some
come to mind as examples of conflict, they were precise and some imprecise, to express the
H 1004 History of Medicine
manifestations of physical disability and dys- concept is the absence of disease. The spectrum
function. When imprecise terms are used to indi- of disease includes sickness, infirmity, illness,
cate that someone is ill, the language is usually mild physical discomfort, dysfunction, disability,
not scientific and does not denote a particular and deformity. Disease, like health, can be
medical condition. One often employs general used metaphorically and applied to body, mind,
terms to express merely the perception that one and soul.
is not (in the commonly accepted understanding
of the term) in good health. Hence, words like
illness and sickness carry with them a social or Relevant Themes
cultural rather than a scientific medical connota-
tion. Among medical anthropologists, disease is Posing questions to sources that are separated
usually taken to describe a pathological condi- from the modern interpreter by a considerable
tion, while illness denotes a subjective feeling of spatiotemporal as well as cultural and imagina-
physical discomfort. But even when a specific tive distance is a familiar problem to the scholar
(i.e., medical) vocabulary is employed, if it is who seeks to interpret historical texts. In the
symptomatic rather than pathological, it normally study of the historical relationship of medicine
reflects the particular culture that created it rather and religion, several issues are relevant for the
than indicates a scientific description. And when modern student who wishes to adopt a balanced
the vocabulary of disease becomes pathologically approach to understanding the evidence.
specific, it reflects a particular classification of (1) Though recent scholarship has rendered
disease or medical model that is culture-specific untenable the Draper-White (conflict) thesis, it
and cannot be taken as necessarily consistent with continues to underlie some modern studies of
modern theories of disease (Kleinman 1980: 72). the historical relationship of medicine and reli-
gion. Yet it reflects a dated positivist outlook,
viewing biomedicine as continually progressing
Conceptualization and overcoming the entrenched antagonism of
religious opinions, which invariably retreat
Given the emphasis in the current study of the before its advance. That view is simplistic and
history of medicine on contextualism over earlier will not stand close examination of the context in
traditions that shared assumptions of essentialism which the supposed conflict arose. (2) Many
and presentism, it is impossible today to provide modern historians who have adopted the theories
precise definitions of key terms in the history of and models of the social sciences, such as social
medicine. Indeed, contemporary writing in the anthropology, view theological or ideological
field tends to avoid general definitions in favor factors in history as mere epiphenomena, choos-
of carefully nuanced and temporally conditioned ing to employ cultural or material explanations of
conceptualizations. An example is the variety of a sociological nature. While the insights of the
definitions of health that have been given at dif- social sciences can be helpful, they provide pit-
ferent times and in different cultures. Health is an falls as well as benefits. Ideologically laden with
imprecise concept. The words for health in many Western cultural assumptions, as they are, the
languages are semantically related to ideas of methods of social anthropology need to be used
wholeness and are virtually synonymous with to complement – not to replace – the textual-
wellness and even well-being. They may refer philological historical method. A synthetic
to the body, the mind, and the soul. The World approach, which assumes a mutual interaction in
Health Organization has defined health as which ideas contribute to the shaping of cultural
a “state of complete physical, mental, and social and social phenomena, just as cultural and social
well-being, and not merely the absence of disease phenomena contribute to the shaping of ideas,
or infirmity.” Metaphorical uses of health are provides greater balance (see Ferngren 2009: 8).
virtually limitless. The basic definition of the (3) The past several decades have seen the rise of
poststructural and postmodernist theories, which Cooter, R. (2007). After death/after-life: The social his-
reflect the influence of French scholars such as tory of medicine in post-modernity. Social History of
Medicine, 20 , 441–464.
Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Conrad, L., Neve, M., Nutton, V. R., Porter, R., & Wear,
Foucault. Poststructuralists argue that discourse A. (1995). The western medical tradition, 800 BC to
reflects no reality other than its own and cannot AD 1800. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge Univer-
be taken as an accurate portrayal of the events sity Press.
Draper, J. W. (1874). History of the conflict between
(“pretextual reality”) it describes. Truth is not religion and science. New York: Appleton.
discovered but made, historical events not Fee, E., & Brown, T. M. (Eds.). (1997). Making
reconstructed but constructed. The meaning of medical history: The life and times of Henry E.
any ancient text is not to be found in the author’s Sigerist. Baltimore/London: Johns Hopkins University
Press.
world of thought, but rather in the interpreter’s Ferngren, G. B. (Ed.). (2000). The history of science and
own world, where, appropriately deconstructed, religion in the western tradition: An encyclopedia.
it can be constructed in a manner that is free from New York/London: Garland.
the controlling function of the cultural or literary Ferngren, G. B. (Ed.). (2002). Science and religion: A
historical introduction. Baltimore/London: Johns
world that gave rise to it. The notion of history as Hopkins University Press.
a process of cause and effect receives short shrift Ferngren, G. B. (2009). Medicine and health care in early
H
in a historical quest that focuses on modes of Christianity. Baltimore/London: Johns Hopkins
discourse as the nearest one can come to “real University Press. Chapter 1.
Ferngren, G. B. (2013). Medicine and religion: A histori-
historical processes” or “extralinguistic realities cal introduction. Johns Hopkins University Press,
(Ferngren 2009: 8–9).” For a critique, (see Baltimore.
Strenski 1998). Foucault, M. (1970). The order of things: An archaeology
of human sciences. New York: Vintage Books.
Hayward, R. (2005). Much exaggerated: The end of the
history of medicine. Journal of Contemporary History,
Cross-References 167–178.
Herzlich, C., & Pierret, J. (1987 [1984]). Illness and self in
▶ Bioethics in Christianity society (trans: Forster, E.) . Baltimore/London: Johns
Hopkins University Press.
▶ Bioethics in Judaism Huisman, F., & Warner, J. H. (Eds.). (2004). Locating
▶ Bioethics in Islam medical history: The stories and their meaning.
▶ Christian Healing Cultures Baltimore/London: Johns Hopkins University Press.
▶ Medical Sociology Hudson, R. P. (1983). Disease and its control: The shaping
of modern thought. Westport: Praeger.
▶ Medicine in Islam Jackson, M. (Ed.). (2011). The Oxford handbook of the
▶ Pain (Suffering) history of medicine. Oxford/New York: Oxford Uni-
▶ Social Constructivism versity Press.
Kiple, K. F. (Ed.). (1993). The Cambridge world history of
human disease. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
References Kleinman, A. (1980). Patients and healers in the context of
culture: An exploration of the borderland between
Brooke, J. H. (1991). Science and religion: Some histori- anthropology, medicine, and psychiatry. Berkeley:
cal perspectives. New York: Cambridge University University of California Press.
Press. Lindberg, D. C., & Numbers, R. L. (Eds.). (1986). God
Burns, C. R. (2000). Teaching the humanities in American and nature: Historical essays on the encounter
Medical Schools during the twentieth century: between Christianity and science. Berkeley/
A commentary on the two dominant models. In Los Angeles/London: University of California Press.
D. C. Thomasma & J. L. Kissell (Eds.), The health Numbers, R. L., & Amundsen, D. W. (Eds.). (1998).
care professional as friend and healer: Building on the Caring and curing: Health and medicine in the west-
work of Edmund D. Pelegrino (pp. 259–266). ern religious traditions. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. University Press.
Bynum, W. F., & Porter, R. (Eds.). (1993). Companion Porter, R. (1998). The greatest benefit to mankind:
encyclopedia of the history of medicine (Vol. 2). A medical history of humanity. New York:
London/New York: Routledge. W.W. Norton.
H 1006 Holism
Rosenberg, C., & Golden, J. (Eds.). (1992). Framing dis- During the first years of the twentieth century,
ease: Studies in cultural history. New Brunswick: the erosion of the classical analytic and
Rutgers University Press.
Strenski, I. (1998). Religion, power, and final Foucault. reductionistic paradigm opened from the
Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 66(2), epistemological side, favored the discussion
345–367. about the opportunity to study nature – in partic-
White, A. D. (1896). A History of the warfare of science ular the living phenomena – with a global, or
with theology in Christendom. New York: Appleton.
holistic, approach. Many philosophers and scien-
tists, especially in the field of biology, considered
the following problems:
Holism 1. To affirm the independence and autonomy of
biological science in comparison with physi-
Silvana Procacci cal and chemical sciences.
Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Letters and 2. To show the limits of the method of analysis to
Philosophy, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy study a complex phenomenon – i.e., a living
organism – and to discuss the applicability of
a global or holistic method to nature.
Related Terms 3. To explain the marvelous and incessant
increasing toward complexity showed by nat-
Whole ural phenomena, from inorganic to organic,
from matter to mind, and from individual to
social, as the result of a natural principle, as
Description a tendency in the universe to form wholeness
more and more complex.
The term “holism” derived from the Greek 4. To develop a philosophy of the interconnec-
“hòlon,” “whole,” and designed the doctrine of tion of all the parts with the whole and a vision
global interconnection and dependence. Holism of nature as a big organism able to self-
focuses on two notions: the first is that wholeness organizing and self-evolving.
“is more than the sum of its parts” and the second 5. To overpass the metaphysical division and the
is that if “these parts are taken to pieces, the more incommunicability between natural science
the phenomenon is complex, the more the infor- and human science, matter and spirit, inorganic
mation and the knowledge about it are lost”. and organic, and naturalism and spiritualism. In
A whole is not simple but is an organic unity in this sense, holism is seen able to develop
which the parts cooperate in the function for the a monistic but a nonreductionistic approach
stability of the system. A whole is more than the and an openness to the spirituality and religios-
sum of its parts, i.e., demonstrates an inner rela- ity. In this perspective, some philosophers
tion among the parts and a degree of information conceived the sacred not as a metaphysical con-
of the system particularly important in the case of struction but as a result of the cultural evolution
the complex phenomena. On the contrary, the of humankind, i.e., a constitutive tendency of
mechanical approach obtains its major results reality toward an increasing of hierarchical
only analyzing the parts, and doing this loses levels toward complexity.
that more. In this way, the whole is not something During the second half of the twentieth cen-
additional to the parts: it is these parts but so tury, the holistic vision is near and supported by
strictly interconnected that the characteristics the science of complex systems. The systemic
and the activities of them are changed by the paradigm recognizes four principles for
synthesis. In this respect a whole possesses an explaining reality in its essence (both material
autonomous power of causation, regulation, and and immaterial): hierarchy, emergence, commu-
correlation: it forms a system qualitatively differ- nication, and control (Prigogine 1989; von
ent from the sum of the parts. Bertalanffy 1969). Hierarchy is able to explain
Holism 1007 H
reality as a system of systems, whose main char- Wholes are exemplified in minds or psychic
acteristics are openness and connectedness. structures, which appear among higher organ-
Emergence denotes an evolutionary state of realisms, in particular in the human personality, that
ity which manifests itself as creativity, i.e., the is considered by Smuts the supreme embodiment
occurrence of novelty (emergence) in its becom- of holism, but even atoms and molecules are
ing. There are many levels of organization. Each wholes, but much simpler. In the sphere of spir-
level produces (causes) a kind of reality that itual values the holistic process in nature shows
cannot be broken down into more basic elements. its clearest importance.
In conclusion, there is a pluralism of realities and Smuts refused the division among matter, life,
properties, correspondent to regional ontologies. and mind, while suggested a genetic interrelation
Communication, or transmission of informa- and rise with each other throughout the course of
tion, is the principle that confirms the ontological natural evolution. So, life is developed from mat-
need of connecting components in the unity of ter, and mind has an evident physical basis. But
system. Control is the principle that set constraints from this thesis is illegitimate to infer, like the
by a system against its subsystem components. materialists do, the primacy and self-sufficiency
The general framework for explaining reality of matter and to reduce life and mind to H
according to a system paradigm is to represent it a subsidiary and subordinate position as mere
as an unfolding, evolutionary, self-organizing epiphenomena of the unique reality, matter.
universe. Reality appears as a continuing devel- This erroneous and reductionistic viewpoint
opment process characterized by a series of derived from the influence of the hard physical
nested levels of organization of increasing com- concept of cause and effect, elaborated in the
plexity and autonomy. Autonomy manifests itself science of the nineteenth century, that sustains
as the capacity to last in a state of dissipative there could be nothing more in the effect than
structure governed by an autopoietic regime. there was already in the cause; and if matter
The origin of the debate on the relation caused the soul, there could be nothing more in
between the whole and the parts is obviously the soul than there always was in the matter. In
immemorial, but the notoriety of holism is due this respect, the spiritual phenomena were con-
to General J. C. Smuts – a South African states- sidered merely appearances and not a real
man, Prime Minister of South Africa, soldier, advance on matter, and at the same time, the
scholar, and philosopher – who published in complex systems were obscured to privilege the
1926 Holism and Evolution, a book that elementary and the simplex.
concerned the debatable borderland between For this reason, the evolutionary theory,
science, philosophy and religion (Procacci 2001, assured as a metaphysical-philosophical interpre-
2003; Smuts 1926). tation of nature, is for long time considered as the
Smuts created the term holism to distinguish origin of the opposition between materialistic and
wholes in the strict sense from mere aggregates, spiritualistic. On the contrary, conceiving nature
mechanical assemblies, and chemical com- as an evolution of wholeness and complexity, we
pounds. These kinds of phenomena can be stud- can overlap a universe as a purely physical mech-
ied analyzing their parts and simplifying the anism to award importance to the psychical and
interconnections among the parts as much as spiritual causes.
possible. In a true whole, the parts lose their The atom, the cell, and the mind are the great
prior identity, while in aggregates, the identity fundamental structures of the holistic universe. In
of the parts of elements is not lost but is always particular, the mind is a continuation of the sim-
recoverable. He conceived reality as a hierarchi- ple and linear behavior of the inorganic level and
cal level of complexity: at the bottom of the of the capacity of self-organization of the organic
ladder, mechanistic features and the ontology of level. The conscious acts are the emergence of
the part predominate, while at the top, there are a complex level of organization of the matter.
holistic features. From a biological point of view, human
H 1008 Hominins
personality is a new synthetic system in which the that is not governed merely from the lower level
material and the psychical elements are incorpo- of the gene but from a purpose, values, and mean-
rated in a new complex whole. The mind is able ing. In this way, it is possible to restore the human
to coordinate all the experiences and is an instru- dignity, freedom of choice, and the inner creativ-
ment of individuality and of socialization through ity against the reductionistic, dualistic, and mate-
the language and the abstraction faculty. But the rialistic approach. For these reasons holistic
major character of the mind is its partial freedom reflections pertain to the gap between science,
from external determination. In fact, while the philosophy, as well as religion.
inorganic is approximately governed by deter-
ministic constraints and animal is conditioned
by its hereditary characters, the human personal- Cross-References
ity is oriented by the cultural evolution and
social environment. The mind is so a new system ▶ Complex Systems
of organic regulation and interrelation with ▶ Freedom
the world. ▶ Life
The holistic vision considers wholes not mere ▶ Ontology
artificial constructions of human thought, an ▶ Religiosity
epistemic results of the human knowledge, but an ▶ Spirituality
ontological aspect connected with the evolution-
ary process of the natural world. Therefore, uni-
verse is governed by an intrinsic whole-making or References
“holistic factor,” and holism is the term coined to
describe from a philosophical point of view this Caporali, F., Cordelli, A., Galleni, L., Rizzacasa, A., &
Procacci, S., (2008). Is there a hierarchical conscious-
tendency to create novelty and organization. Every
ness? Individual, social and cosmic consciousness. In
natural element, even an atom, is a whole, with Transdisciplinarity in science and religion (Issue No 4,
specific internal organization and self-direction. pp. 117–134). Bucuresti: Curtea Veche Publishing.
Holism expresses an evolutionist paradigm. Evo- Prigogine, I. (1989). Exploring complexity. New York:
W. H. Freeman.
lution is properly the progressive development of
Procacci, S. (2001). Alle origini dell’olismo. La filosofia
wholes in different stages, from the inorganic to della natura in J. C. Smuts. Napoli: Esi.
the most organized phenomena, like the human Procacci, S. (2003). Holism: Some historical aspect. In
mind and the social organism. V. Benci, P. Cerrai, et al. (Eds.), Determinism, holism,
and complexity. New York: Kluwer Academic.
A critical issue in holism as regards “science
Smuts, J. C. (1926). Holism and evolution. London/
and religion” is the notion of personality and New York: Macmillan.
subjectivity (Caporali et al. 2008). Subjectivity von Bertalanffy, L. (1969). General system theory.
includes the individual perception of the outside New York: George Braziller.
world and the own body as well as the self-
consciousness, or experience of the self. The
personality is based in the experience of the indi-
viduality as a whole capable of reasoning and Hominins
valencing. Holism is a vision which supports
a coevolutionary relational ontology of person- Matt Rosano
hood, an integrated model of the different aspects Psychology Department, Southeastern Louisiana
of reality in which ethical and spiritual values University, Hammond, LA, USA
have their role and dignity. Human values are
treated as not eliminable causal factors. In this
sense, subjective values have objective conse- All the species that emerged along the evolution-
quences in the brain. This holism implies an ary branch that diverged from chimpanzees about
emergent evolution of the human personhood 6 million years ago and ultimately produced
Hope (Life After Death) 1009 H
anatomically modern humans. These species religion and philosophy even in this area. Of
include all the Australopiths (e.g., Australo- particular interest for science are people’s expe-
pithicus ramidus, A. anamesis, and A. africanus) riences at the border of life and death.
and the members of the genus Homo including ▶ Near-death experiences (NDEs for short)
Homo habilis, H. erectus, H. neanderthalensis, are life-transforming experiences which some-
and H. sapiens. The Australopiths emerged times occur when a person is near death. NDEs
about 5 million years ago and went extinct have been the subject of much scientific interest
about 1 million years ago. Homo emerged about ever since the publication of Raymond Moody’s
2½ million years ago with Homo sapiens emerg- study Life After Life in 1975 (Moody 1975).
ing about 150,000 years ago. The last non- Research has been carried out, for example, to
sapiens members of the genus Homo (Neander- determine the common features of such experi-
thals and some derived forms of Erectus) died out ences and whether they can be explained natural-
between 30,000 and 20,000 years ago. istically (Bailey and Yates 1996; Holden et al.
2009). Near-death experiences typically involve
hovering over one’s body in immaterial form,
traveling through a tunnel, seeing a light, H
Homunculus experiencing a sense of peace, meeting deceased
persons, and a life review. Research has focused
▶ Robotics and Religion mostly on positive NDEs which leave a feeling of
peace and have positive aftereffects, but there are
also negative NDEs which include feelings of
aloneness and judgment. There have been many
Hope attempts at explaining NDEs naturalistically, but
this has proven difficult. No positive correlation
▶ Hope, Theology of of NDEs with medication or mental illness has
been discovered, and proposed physiological and
neurochemical explanations do not account for
the details of the experiences or fit the diverse
Hope (Life After Death) situations in which they occur. Furthermore,
there are many intriguing accounts of NDEs that
Rope Kojonen contained accurate information, for example,
Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki, about doctors’ and relatives’ behavior from the
Helsinki, Finland time the experiencer was clinically dead. Many
researchers believe that near-death experiences
give at least some reason to hope for life after
Related Terms death (Moreland and Habermas 1998). There
have also been studies on, for example, people’s
Afterlife; Life after death deathbed visions (Osis and Erlendur 1997) and
cases where people claim to have memories of
Human beings die and their bodies decay. But earlier lives (Stevenson 1980).
could it be that humans will still continue to live The possibility of life after death is dependent
in some form after death or return to life? There is on the nature of the human person. Assuming
a widespread belief in a life after death, and all ▶ dualism of the mind (soul or spirit) and the
major religions provide their own views on the body, it seems easy to conceive of life after
subject (Obayashi 1991). It has traditionally been death. However, if human persons are completely
thought that the question of life after death cannot material, many feel that conceiving of survival
be studied by science. However, science has without a body is more difficult. Even supposing
emerged as an important dialogue partner for that a completely identical human person were
H 1010 Hope, Theology of
created later, there does not seem to be anything Kurzweil, R. (2005). The singularity is near: When
to bridge the spatiotemporal gap between the humans transcend biology. London: Viking Penguin.
Moody, R. (1975). Life after life. New York: Bantam/
body that died and the resurrected body. If this Mockingbird.
understanding of the problem is correct, then Moreland, J. P., & Habermas, G. R. (1998). Beyond death:
scientific evidence in favor of a materialistic Exploring the evidence for immortality. Wheaton:
understanding of human persons would also Crossway Books.
Obayashi, H. (Ed.). (1991). Death and afterlife: Perspec-
count against the possibility of life after death tives of world religions. Westport: Praeger.
(Hasker 1999). Osis, K., & Erlendur, H. (1997). At the hour of death:
As a materialistic account of human persons A new look at evidence for life after death (3rd
has gained ground, many hope that in the future revised ed.). Norwalk: Hastings House
Stevenson, I. (1980). Twenty cases suggestive of reincar-
science will allow us to prolong our lives indefi- nation (2nd ed., revised and enlarged). Charlotsville:
nitely. Supposing that consciousness can be University of Virginia Press.
understood in fully materialistic terms, ▶ mind
uploading should be theoretically possible. This
means uploading one’s consciousness into
a computer or a mechanical brain to ensure Hope, Theology of
survival. Perhaps in the future, it will also be
possible to stop the process of aging and heal all Hans Schwarz
physiological conditions (Kurzweil 2005). Institute of Protestant Theology, University of
Cryonics is the practice of low-temperature pres- Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
ervation of human bodies or at least brains in the
hope that just such ways to prolong our lives will
be found, as well as some way to bring people out Related Terms
of cryopreservation alive (Ettinger and Tanly
2005). While this possibility still seems very Faith; Hope
far-fetched, it is an interesting example of the
way the hope for life after death is expressed
through both religion and science. Description
The term “Theology of Hope” is associated with

Cross-References J€urgen Moltmann and his book Theology of
Hope. In this seminal publication, Moltmann
▶ Hope, Theology of defines eschatology as the doctrine of Christian
▶ Near-Death Experiences hope “which embraces both the object hoped
▶ Philosophy of Mind for and also the hope inspired by it” (Moltmann
▶ Soul 1967, p. 16). He no longer wants to confine
▶ eschatology to a discourse about the so-called
last things which will happen in the end but to
References consider the whole cause which drives toward
this end. This book signalled the change from
Bailey, L. W., & Yates, J. (Eds.). (1996). The near death
a static to a dynamic eschatology, from one that
experience: A reader. New York: Routledge.
Ettinger, R. C. W., & Tanly, C. (Eds.). (2005). The pros- waited for the end to one that, inspired by the
pect of immortality. Pala Alto: Ria University. future promise, attempted to inaugurate some of
Hasker, W. (1999). The emergent self. Ithaca: Cornell that hope in the present. During the social unrest
University Press.
of the 1960s, this book spawned a whole
Holden, J., Greyson, B., & James, D. (Eds.). (2009). The
handbook of near-death experiences: Thirty years of movement of theological reflection on social
investigation. Santa Barbara: Praeger. involvement such as Theology of the World
Hope, Theology of 1011 H
(Johannes Baptist Metz 1967), Theology of Characteristics
Liberation (Gustavo Gutiérrez 1972), and even
a Theology of Revolution (late 1960s with Distinctive for the theology of hope is the
various authors). Today, it is widely accepted rediscovery of eschatology as a dynamic category
that the Christian hope is not just otherworldly which allows anticipating proleptically something
but has (social and ethical) implications for of the envisioned goal on account of the resurrec-
the present. tion of Jesus Christ. Moltmann distinguishes
between the Israelite religion of promise and the
static epiphanic religions in the environment of
Self-identification Israel. After the Israelites’ conquest of Palestine,
Yahweh still appeared as the promising God who
Science pointed to a new future. This meant that the Old
Insofar as theology has traditionally been Testament promises were never superseded by
understood to be an academic discipline, historic events but were constantly modified and
theology of hope is an academic discipline too. expanded. Of course, some were realized in his-
In the German context out of which the theology tory. These “fulfilled” promises to which Israel H
of hope originated, one distinguishes between the owed its existence (the Exodus, the Promised
Naturwissenschaften (natural sciences) and the Land, David’s kingship) proved, amid all the
Geisteswissenschaften (intellectual sciences). upheavals of history to be a continuum in which
In this way, a theology of hope is part of the Israel was able to recognize the faithfulness of its
intellectual sciences and therefore a science. God. Yet, the promises were not completely
Moreover, a theology of hope employs exegetical resolved in any event, but there remained an over-
and historical studies which aim at scientific spill that pointed to the future. Moltmann declared:
rigor. With regard to its societal implications, “The tension between promise and fulfilment was
one should not forget that precise social analysis not left behind by the simple progression of Israel’s
is required which again points in a scientific history, but was much more strongly creative of
direction. Wolfhart Pannenberg has pointed Israel’s historic progress” (1967, p. 111).
out in his book Theology and the Philosophy Moltmann sees the same feature in the New
of Science that especially in its eschatological Testament because the revelation in Christ is
direction, theology fulfils the three minimal at the same time good news and promise. This
criteria which Heinrich Scholz has adduced revelation presupposes the law and promise of
for a discipline to be regarded as scientific: the Old Testament since Yahweh (the God of
(1) It makes assertions which are regarded to be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of promise)
true, (2) these assertions must be related to resurrected Jesus and Jesus was a Jew. This is
the object matter with which this science is taken to mean that Jesus is not to be understood as
concerned, and (3) one must be able to examine a particular case of humanity in general but rather
the truth-value of these assertions. from the perspective of the Old Testament history
of promise and in conflict with it. Jesus is not
Religion understood as a theios aner (divine man) who
Theology of hope is a theological discipline descended from heaven and whose life on earth
and therefore is part of the intellectual exercise is only a temporary episode. On the contrary,
of the study of the Christian religion. More Jesus life, work, death, and resurrection
narrowly defined, the theology of hope is part have utmost significance and are described in
of systematic theology. It has been promulgated the categories of expectation appropriate to the
by Christian theologians, especially in Germany, God of promise.
of both Protestant and Roman Catholic The Old Testament history of promise does
persuasion. not simply find its fulfilment in the gospel, but it
finds its future in the gospel. Because the gospel might expect it to. The task and the mission of the
is promise, it is a guarantee of the promised church is determined by its own peculiar horizon –
future. Here, the centrality of Christ’s resurrec- the eschatological expectation of the coming
tion for the Christian faith becomes evident. The kingdom of God, the coming righteousness and
resurrection of Christ is a “history-making event” the coming peace, and the coming freedom and
from which all other history is enlightened, dignity of all humanity. This means, according to
questioned, and transformed (Moltmann 1967, Moltmann, “the realization of the eschatological
p. 180). Pannenberg claims that in the resurrec- hope of justice, the humanizing of man, the
tion of Christ, the end of history has occurred in socializing of humanity, peace for all creation”
proleptic anticipation. This means that what had (1967, p. 329).
been anticipated as the end and fulfilment of
history, the resurrection of the dead, in fact hap-
pened in a proleptic way in and with Jesus. At the Relevance to Science and Religion
end of the world, there will only occur on
a cosmic scale what happened in and with Jesus J€urgen Moltmann as the progenitor of the theol-
on an individual scale. According to Moltmann, ogy of hope was not interested in the science and
the stories of the resurrection stand in the line of religion dialogue since his main interest was not
prophetic and apocalyptic expectations, hopes, nature but history. Moreover, his philosophical
and questions about what is bound to come roots were in Hegelian progressive dialectic and
according to the promises of God. Cross and in Ernst Bloch’s neo-Marxist analysis of history
resurrection point toward the future in promising and society as put forth especially in Bloch’s
the righteousness of God, the new life as a result magnum opus The Principle of Hope. Relevant
of the resurrection from the dead, and the king- for the science religion dialogue, however, is one
dom of God “in a new totality of being” aspect of the theology of hope which Moltmann
(Moltmann 1967, p. 203). put forth against Marxist varieties of hope:
Moltmann understands the Easter experiences “All utopias of the kingdom of God or of man,
as call appearances in which recognition of Christ all hopeful pictures of the happy life, all
coincides with the recognition of his mission and revolutions of the future, remain hanging in thin
his future. He concludes that for theology, the air and bear within them the germ of boredom and
reality of the world becomes historic in that its decay – and for that reason also adopt a militant
mission to the world is seen to be the field of the and extortionate attitude toward life – as long as
missionary charge and is examined in a search there is no certainty in face of death and no hope
for real possibilities for the world-transforming which carries love beyond death.”
missionary hope. Moltmann claims that The physicist Frank J. Tipler vigorously,
“the call to obedient moulding of the world albeit quite speculatively, addressed the question
would have no object, if this world were immu- of life beyond death in his book The Physics
table” (1967, p. 288). The world must be open to of Immortality. Tipler asserts that “theology is
the future for good or ill. Secularization has real- a branch of physics, that physicists can infer
ized these Christian expectations in the field of by calculation the existence of God and the
world history and has outstripped the Christian likelihood of the resurrection of the dead to
hope in a ▶ chiliastic way. Thus, we cannot reject eternal life in exactly the same way as physicists
the evolutionary progressiveness of the modern calculate the properties of the electron” (1994,
age; we must incorporate the open horizon of p. ix). He also assumes that all forms of life,
modern history into the true eschatological hori- including human life, are subject to the same
zon of the resurrection and thereby disclose to physical laws as electrons and atoms. A human
modern history its true historic character. The being is nothing “but a particular type of
church cannot confine itself to serving individ- machine,” the human brain only “an information
uals and acting as a conservative force, as society processing device,” and the human soul
“a program run on a computer called the brain” human beings to information-processing entities.
(1994, p. xi). Tipler wants to describe in this book Yet his position showed that a theology of hope
the omega point theory, which he calls a testable can also be relevant to the science and religion
physical theory entailing that one day in the dis- dialogue.
tant future an all-present, all-knowing, and all-
powerful God will resurrect each of us to an
eternal life which in all its essential features will Sources of Authority
correspond to the Judeo-Christian heaven. This
God will exist primarily at the end of time. God’s word and actions understood as reflected
Tipler knows that the future course of upon in Scripture are the sources for the theology
the universe is such that life as an information of hope. In his widely discussed “Dogmatic
process cannot continue forever in its present Theses on the Doctrine of Revelation” (1961),
form, that is, as a carbon-based organism. If Pannenberg claims that God’s self-disclosure, as
life as an information process that can sustain reflected in the biblical documents, does not
communication is to continue at all, it must occur in a direct way as a theophany but indi-
continue to exist on some other basis. Tipler is rectly through God’s acts in history. Furthermore, H
convinced that in the not too distant future Pannenberg observes that “revelation is not
computers will possess the capability for comprehended completely in the beginning, but
autonomous information processing and commu- at the end of the revealing history” (1968b,
nication and finally will even be able to reproduce p. 131). History discloses its full meaning as
themselves. Since Tipler understands a person as God’s history only at the end. This is due to the
an entity capable of autonomous information fact that the individual historical acts are trans-
processing and communication, and since parent for God not in themselves but only if
computers will be able to assume these functions, perceived in the universal historical context.
he sees the only possibility of future “life” on the This can be seen especially well in the Old
basis of computers. Testament when, in the course of history, the
On this premise, the physical mechanism of content of revelation ascribed to various histori-
the individual resurrection is the emulation of all cal events had to be developed and expanded
persons who have long since died, including their according to the historical progression.
worlds, in computers of the distant future. The Pannenberg rejects a historical relativism that
dead will be resurrected as soon as the capacity of might result from the simple progression of his-
all computers in the universe is so large that the tory and the necessary revisions of our perception
capacity required for the storage of all possible of God’s self-disclosure derived from history
human simulations is only an insignificant claiming that the universal revelation of the
fraction of the total capacity. Tipler sums up deity of God is not yet realized in the history of
his argument: “The Omega Point-Theory is the Israel but first in the destiny of Jesus of Nazareth
first physical resurrection theory to be fully insofar as in him the end of history has occurred
consistent which totally agrees with the Christian in proleptic anticipation. What had been antici-
resurrection theory. It is also the first redemption pated as the end and fulfilment of history, the
theory justified by reason, not by faith” (1994, resurrection of the dead, in fact happened in
p. 247). Pannenberg pointed out that “Tipler’s a proleptic way in and with Jesus.
exposition of a future resurrection of the dead is One might question why Pannenberg
particularly worthy of note in a time when the attributes so much significance to the resurrection
Christian expectations concerning the future are of Jesus since up to now it has been an
most often judged to be irreconcilable with the exceptional event without any precedent or
modern scientific worldview” (Pannenberg 1995, consequence in other resurrections. Pannenberg
p. 477–78). Yet others accused Tipler of advanc- responds that one must perceive it in its proper
ing physical reductionism because he reduces context, the time of ▶ apocalyptic and the
expectation of the resurrection of the dead are accessible to everyone. The peculiar ethical
prevalent during that time. If we consider Jesus’ emphasis of the theology of hope is that the hope
resurrection in the apocalyptic context in which for eschatological completion allows and engen-
Jesus lived, it becomes clear that the resurrection ders a present lifestyle congruent with the
must bear the significance of foreshadowing the expected completion.
eschaton. It is, on the one hand, the validation of
the claim Jesus is understood to have made before
Easter that he represents and carries the authority Key Values
of God. But it also means that in his destiny, the
end has started and God is revealed in him. Jesus The theology of hope brought eschatology from
therefore becomes the focal point for our under- the theological periphery back to the center stage
standing of eschatology. He is the paradigm and of theological reflection. Moltmann claimed that
the anticipation of our own future and at the same Christianity in its totality is eschatological. More-
time the inspiration and possibility of living over, through the emphasis on proleptic anticipa-
toward that future. tion of the goal of history, theology of hope made
Yet how much credibility does the statement eschatology relevant for present-day life.
carry that Jesus was resurrected? In his first major Moltmann and Pannenberg made clear that
work, Jesus – God and Man, Pannenberg claimed eschatology is not some pipe dream about some-
that the resurrection of Jesus “is a historical thing that might occur somewhere in the distant
event” (1968a, p. 97). The reason for this claim future but that in the Christ event, the end had
is that the origin of early Christianity can be already occurred in a proleptic way without nul-
properly explained only in the light of the escha- lifying the hoped for universal completion. In
tological hope in the resurrection from the dead discerning the newness of the Christ event, that
based on the appearances of the resurrected one. is, Christ’s resurrection, we can inaugurate some-
For Pannenberg, Christ’s resurrection is not thing of this in the present. In his later book, The
a faith statement but one based on historical Coming of God, Moltmann still insists that
research insofar as historical research can ascer- Christian eschatology is not about apocalyptic
tain the truthfulness of events like those involving final solutions because its subject is not the end
resurrection. at all. “On the contrary, what it is about is the new
creation of all things” (1996, p. xi). Eschatology
does not focus on some kind of cataclysm but
Ethical Principles again on hope, hope for eternal life, for the king-
dom of God, for a new heaven and a new earth,
The events from which the theology of hope and for the glory of God and what this hope
draws its inferences are events within the univer- effects. The eschatological goal is the cosmic
sal historical horizon of humanity. Especially indwelling of God in his creation. Therefore,
Wolfhart Pannenberg argued that the distinction Moltmann puts forward “Advent as eschatologi-
between a special salvation history and the rest of cal category, and the category Novum as its his-
history is obsolete. “God’s redemptive deed took torical reverse side” (1996, p. 6). This means that
place within the universal correlative connections the emphasis is not on what is going to happen
of human history and not in a ghetto of somewhere in the future, but the decisive facet is
redemptive history” (1970, vol. 1, p. 41–42). God’s coming and his arrival. God’s future com-
Consequently, Pannenberg affirms: “In contra- ing enables a new human becoming. The arriving
distinction to special appearances of the kingdom of God makes possible the conversion
Godhead, revelation in history is open to every- to this future. We notice here a summons to
one. It has universal character” (1968b, p. 135). action yet a summons contingent on God’s initia-
The material with which the theology of hope tive. It comes as no surprise that this theology of
deals and the conclusions it draws from them hope not only instilled hope in Christian believers
but also proved fertile for further theological God is a reality both in and beyond space and
reflection. Therefore, Latin American theology time. As Pannenberg affirmed, God is the
of liberation, feminist theology, and black theol- all-determining reality. The theology of hope
ogy is directly or indirectly related to and insists that reality transcends all possible
influenced by the theology of hope. rearrangements of our space-time continuum.
This includes the hope for a totally new creation.
The basis for talking about this as reality, and not
Conceptualization as a projection of the human mind, is seen in the
resurrection event. There, the possibilities of this
Nature/World? world were transcended through the dawning of
The world including nature is seen as God’s cre- a new reality.
ation which is subjected to finitude, decay, and
death. Especially in living beings, one can dis- Knowledge
cern a yearning to be freed from the bondage to Knowledge is gained through the study of reality.
decay. Theology of hope affirms that there will be Since history is continuously progressing and
a new creation which entails a total transforma- new insights are gained, all knowledge whether H
tion of this world. As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin in the natural sciences or in the humanities is
contends: The whole evolutionary process is provisional. It can be superseded by new insights,
directed toward and finds its fulfilment in the and it must wait for its eschatological verification
parousia (advent) of Christ, in the creation of at the end of time.
a new heaven and a new earth.
Truth
Human Being For humans, full truth is unattainable. As the
A human being is seen as part of the world and Apostle Paul asserted: “For now we see in
therefore subjected to the same conditions as the a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to
world. The hope which is set forth for the world face” (1 Cor 13:12). The attainment of full
is also given to humans. Moreover, since as Chris- truth is an eschatological promise to be fulfilled
tians they know about the new world to come, this when we will see God, the all-determining real-
hope incites them to inaugurate already now ity, face to face. This eschatological proviso
something of that hope. They are encouraged not holds for all facets of truth both religious and
to let things go their usual ways but to strive for nonreligious.
a new world and a new liberated social arrange-
ment though mindful that the new world to come Perception
is not a human achievement but a divine gift. The perception of reality is restrained by the
eschatological proviso (see: truth). It is restricted
Life and Death further by the respective socio-geographic stance
Life is not a human possession but a divine gift. of the one who is engaged with the theology of
Because of the fallen character of creation, life is hope. For instance, someone in Latin America
bounded by death. Since the resurrection of will perceive reality different from one who is
Jesus Christ death is no longer the inevitable engaged with it in Western Europe. Even the
boundary. There is the prospect and promise of social analysis constitutive of perceiving the pre-
new everlasting life beyond death. sent reality will yield different results depending
of the social locus of the one who conducts and
Reality applies this analysis. Since the theology of hope
Reality is not just that which is located within our is not only focused on the reality of this world but
space-time continuum. Since God is not perceives it in the wider horizon of God’s escha-
a phenomenon of space and time but the creator tological promise, the varying perceptions are
of that which is expressed by these categories, relativized or rather brought and bound together
by the common hope of the new world to come Relevant Themes

and its proleptic anticipation in the present.
Since the theology of hope is fundamentally
Time concerned about the future and the present
Time is one of the important categories of the arrangement of creation, ecological issues cannot
theology of hope. Time is not circular and repet- be avoided. Liberation does not just pertain to
itive but linear. Since time is fleeting, it shows the humanity but to all created beings. Creation or
transitoriness of the present age. At the same time, nature is not viewed as something static but as
it beckons us to the future, a future enabled by a dynamic arrangement projecting itself toward
God’s redemptive activity. Time is not a never- the future. One can even speak of a historization
ending configuration but will find is completion in of the cosmos. A strictly naturalistic interpreta-
God’s eternity. The so-called last day “is at the tion of the cosmos is no longer possible.
same time the beginning of eternity: a beginning
without end. That is the ‘fulfilled time’, the aeonic
time, the time filled with eternity, the eternal Cross-References
time,” says Moltmann in The Coming of God
(p. 295). ▶ Altruism
▶ Anthropic Principles
Consciousness ▶ Biblical Studies
Especially Paulo Freire in his classic Pedagogy ▶ Christianity
of the Oppressed emphasized consciousness, ▶ Faith and Belief
raising as an important facet of liberation theol- ▶ Hope (Life after Death)
ogy. The oppressed people must first perceive ▶ Physics in Christianity
the actual situation in which they live in order ▶ Self
to evaluate steps and possibilities in which
direction they could change that situation. The
actual consciousness then leads to potential
consciousness. References
Bloch, E. (1986). The principle of hope (3 vols, trans:

Rationality/Reason Plaice, N. et al.). Cambridge, MA: MIT. (German
Reason is the primary mental tool with which 1959).
the investigation of the present reality is Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York:
conducted and with which the future hope is Seabury.
Gutièrrez, G. (1973). Theology of liberation (trans: Inda,
elucidated on the basis of this reality. Faith C. & Eagleson, J.). Maryknoll: Orbis.
does not replace reason, but it is the trust that Metz, J. B. (1969). Theology of the world (trans:
the one, that is, God, who has proven to be trust- Glen-Doepel, M.). New York: Herder and Herder.
worthy in the past, will also be trustworthy in (German 1967).
Moltmann, J. (1967). Theology of hope: On the ground
the future. and the implications of a Christian eschatology (trans:
Kohl, M.). New York: Harper and Row.
Mystery (German1964).
Mystery is a term which is not used in the theol- Moltmann, J. (1996). The coming of god: Christian escha-
tology (trans: Kohl, M.). Minneapolis: Fortress.
ogy of hope. The only mystery, meaning some- (German 1995).
thing unexplainable, would be the reason why Moltmann, J. (1968). Hope and confidence. A conversa-
God has always been faithful to humanity regard- tion with Ernst Bloch. Dialog, vol. 7.
less of its alienation from God, with God Pannenberg, W. (1968a). Jesus – God and man (trans:
Priebe, D.). Philadelphia: Westminster. (German
demarking a history of promise including the 1964).
promise of a totally new creation including Pannenberg. W. (1968b). Dogmatic theses on the doctrine
a redeemed humanity. of revelation. In: W. Pannenberg (Ed.). Revelation as
Hopi Religion and Anthropology 1017 H
history (trans: Granskou, D.). New York: Macmillan.
(German 1961). Hopi Religion and Anthropology
Pannenberg, W. (1970). Redemptive event and history. In:
Pannenberg. W. (Ed.). Basic questions in theology.
Collected essays. 2 vols. (trans: Kehm, G. H.). Armin W. Geertz
Philadelphia: Fortress. (German 1967). Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus
Pannenberg, W. (1976). Theology and the philosophy of University, Aarhus C, Denmark
science (trans: McDonagh, F.). London: Darton,
Longman and Todd. (German 1973).
Pannenberg, W. (1995). Breaking a taboo: Frank Tipler’s
The physics of immortality. Zygon, vol. 30. Related Terms
Schwarz, H. (2000). Eschatology. Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans.
Tipler, F. (1994). The physics of immortality: modern Indigenous religions; North American Indian
cosmology, god, and the resurrection of the dead. religions; Pueblo Indian religions
New York: Doubleday.
Description
H
Hope-Healing Communities The Hopi Indians have a Pueblo culture in
Southwestern United States, at the northeastern
Augustine Nwoye corner of Arizona, east of the Grand Canyon in
School of Applied Human Sciences, University the Painted Desert Region. Approximately
of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 12,000 Hopis live in 12 villages on the southern
South Africa edge of Black Mesa, which is a part of the
Colorado Plateau. With the exception of one
town near Tuba City, the villages rest on or at
The concept of hope-healing communities is used the base of three mesas called First, Second, and
by the present author elsewhere [9b] to refer to Third mesas. In the fertile sand valleys, the Hopis
those interfaith (Christian) prayer-healing grow a variety of crops, primarily maize, beans,
ministries aimed at using the power of the melons, and squash using floodwater farming
Christian prayer and other rituals of religion to methods. In the grassy areas, they herd sheep
bring God’s intervention and healing to the and cattle as well. Many have jobs on and off
needy. The bulk of the members of those com- the reservation, but they still supplement their
munities are the sick, the disabled, the poor, economy and subsistence with farming and
the jobless, the childless, the old, and the other gathering.
categories of the general society who are deeply The Hopis speak a language belonging to the
troubled by how their lives have been going. Uto-Aztecan language family. Today most Hopis
The leaders/organizers of such communities are also speak English. They have been living in the
typically ordained religious ministers, most of area at least since 1000 A.D. The villages of
them well trained in the ramifications of African Songoopavi and Orayvi both claim to be the
thought and culture and in the art and practice of oldest continuously inhabited villages in North
the healing sciences. They include some charis- America. They were under the influence of Spain
matic Catholic priests as well as bishops and from 1600 to 1700, independent until a brief
other ordained ministers of the African Indepen- period under Mexico (1821–1848) and since
dent/Pentecostal churches. Others, particularly 1849 under the United States. The Hopi Reserva-
those popular in the rural areas, are lay members tion was established in 1882, and in 1935, the
(some of them well trained in the science of Hopis established a Tribal Council. The Council
modern counseling practice) who claim to have was disbanded in 1940, but reestablished in 1951
received the “call” to intercede and act as a chan- in order to receive monetary compensation under
nel of healing for the sick. the Indian Claims Commission Act.
H 1018 Hopi Religion and Anthropology
The Hopi social system is based on matrilin- village and they established the villages of Hotvela
eal, exogamous totemic clans grouped in phratry and Paaqavi. Since the late 1940s, the conservative
coalitions. Children are members of their elements started a neo-traditionalist movement
mother’s clan by birth. Clans are subdivided which led to a lot of factional strife on the reser-
into lineages, and the core social group is the vation. The Traditionalists were often supported
household which consists of the mother, her by outside Anglo-American fringe groups and
children, her husband, and elderly grandparents. new religious movements who have unwittingly
Each clan has its own oral tradition, ritual prac- but consistently misrepresented Hopi religious tra-
tices, and property with privileges related to spe- ditions in terms of their own romantic notions.
cial places and (animal and/or supernatural) Today, many wrong ideas about Hopi religion
creatures in the environment. The clan performs are being promulgated by New Age and other
rituals and ceremonies that are conducted in the groups, especially on the Internet (Geertz 1994).
kivas (buildings that serve as chapels as well as The Hopi Tribe has implemented an aggressive
men’s clubs) that are the men’s domains. The policy to correct such ideas and prevent further
ceremonial year is orchestrated by a large number interference from outside groups. They are also
of secret sodalities. The leaders of sodalities and adamant about regaining all Hopi ritual and funer-
leaders appointed by the clans govern the village ary items found in museums around the world.
under the guidance of the village chief.
The Hopis still practice their traditional reli-
gion; however, only one village (Songoopavi) Self-Identification
performs the entire ceremonial calendar.
Remnants of ceremonies and rituals are still Religion
performed at the other villages. The popular The Hopis identify themselves as a religious and
masked dance ceremony (Katsina) is performed cultural group and practicing the Hopi way of
at virtually every village. All children must be living (hopivewa) as dictated by their tutelary
initiated into either the Katsina or the Powamuy deity Maasaw in primordial times. For the
sodality in order to perform the Katsina celebra- Hopis, the ideal way of life is the ritual way of
tions when they grow older. The other sodalities life (Geertz 1986).
are more restricted and require their own initia-
tion rituals. The Hopis are well known for their
colorful and elaborate ceremonies which consist Characteristics
of at least 12 major and a number of minor cere-
monies. They are conducted in sets of 4 days Hopi religion is only practiced by the Hopis.
(4 being a sacred number), thus: 4, 8, 16, and Some Hopis are members of other traditions,
exceptionally 20 days. such as Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and
One of the most spectacular ceremonies is the various Christian denominations, but by far, the
Snake Dance, celebrated in August, during which majority are either passive participants or active
the Snake priests dance with live snakes in their practitioners of the Hopi religion.
mouths. Since these are dangerous rattlesnakes
and bull snakes, the Hopis have been inundated
with curious tourists ever since the end of the Relevance to Science and Religion
nineteenth century. During the middle of the
twentieth century, the Hopis began to bar the The Hopi Tribe is not interested in the scholarly
presence of non-Indians, although the Tribe is area called science and religion. The Tribe is in
split on the issue. In 1906, the village of Orayvi fact very much against scholarly interest in their
split over the issue of whether to accept Anglo- religion and have attempted to prevent scholarly
American ways (Titiev 1992; Whiteley 1988). studies of their culture and religion, although
The conservative element was forced out of the individual Hopis may be interested in such
Hopi Religion and Anthropology 1019 H
studies (Geertz 1996). The Tribe is, however, in other words, a person who follows Hopi pre-
interested in the sciences, especially where the cepts, is hardworking, industrious, peaceful, and
sciences can help improve conditions on the res- kind. Such a person is also initiated into clan and
ervation. The Hopis have their own anthropolo- sodality knowledge and is thus able to perform
gists and archaeologists who take care of Hopi the rituals necessary to maintain life and social
needs on the reservation in a culturally sensitive harmony. There are people who try to destroy
fashion. There are also Hopi anthropologists and social harmony. They are the wizards and
linguists employed at American universities who witches, called powaqa (pl. popwaqt) (Malotki
serve as cultural resource persons for scholars and Gary 2001).
interested in Hopi culture. The Hopi dictionary
project was an excellent example of collaboration
between cultural resource persons, other scholars, Key Values
the Hopi Tribe and elders, and specialists among
the Hopis (The Hopi Dictionary Project 1998). The Hopis place great emphasis on family and
clan. The elders often identify themselves with
their mythical ancestors. For example, during H
Sources of Authority a BIA commission visit to the reservation in
1955, a leading clan member addressed the
The sources of authority are either Maasaw or the commission chairman as if both the chairman
ancestors. Each clan has a special relationship and he were the original White and Hopi brothers
with a particular creature or deity. For instance, just after the emergence of mankind. The
the Bear Clan, which controls the Village Chief Hopis place great value on their land. They have
office, has a special, that is, ritual relationship intimate knowledge of the land and identify
with the bear, bear spirits, and a mythical person with it.
called Matsito. Tradition, however, is generally
passed down from generation to generation by
nameless ancestors. The traditions concern the Conceptualization
wanderings of the clan after the emergence of
mankind from the earth (physically located by Nature/World
the Hopis in a tributary channel of the Grand As mentioned, each clan as a special relationship
Canyon), who they met, and where they stayed with creatures, animals, and natural phenomena.
on their travels to Hopiland. Upon approaching Thus, there are clans such as Bear, Badger,
Hopiland, they were given permission by the Antelope, Spider, Snake, Sand, Cloud, Water,
Chief to move into the village and allotted por- and Corn. Each clan has ritual responsibilities to
tions of farmland on the condition that they con- their particular totem. By performing rituals and
tribute to the collective ceremonial calendar with ceremonies, the Hopis feel that they can influence
their ritual knowledge and songs. All the clans, the weather and other aspects of the world.
furthermore, share in the expectation that their
White Brother, who left them shortly after the Human Being
emergence, will return and signal the onset of The ideal human being is a ritual human being –
the end of the world, a day of purification effec- a person who has a good heart and purpose, who
tuated by Maasaw (Geertz 1984). serves as ceremonial host, and who “works for
life” (pam qatsit aw hintsaki); a person who
lives a good life, passes through the four life
Ethical Principles stages, and ideally dies peacefully in his or
her sleep. The ideal human being through his
Hopi ethics can be summed up in their name: or her personal behavior can also influence
Hopi means “a person who behaves properly,” the weather.
H 1020 Hopi Religion and Anthropology
Life and Death semi-academic publications. His major claim

There are no known creation myths. Those that was that the Hopi language is timeless. He
have been published in the early ethnographic wrote that the Hopis have no general notion or
literature are most likely influenced by eastern intuition of time and that their language contains
Pueblos. There is, however, an overwhelming “no words, grammatical forms, constructions or
number of emergence myths, in other words, expressions that refer directly to what we call
myths about how humans have lived inside the ‘time,’ or to past, present, or future, or to endur-
earth and emerged through three prior worlds to ing or lasting” (Carroll 1956, 57). He made sim-
this fourth world. Usually each world begins as ilar claims about Hopi conceptions of space and
a paradise, but ends by destruction ultimately of reality, all of which have been directly
caused by evil humans, thus forcing the popula- disproven with thousands of examples by linguist
tion to travel up to the next world level. Ekkehart Malotki (1979, 1983).
Reality Consciousness
There are no specific notions about reality, The Hopis are not philosophically concerned
despite Benjamin Lee Whorf’s claims that the with consciousness.
Hopi cosmic forms “manifested/manifesting”
replace our notions of space and time (see Rationality/Reason
below on time). The Hopis are not philosophically concerned
with rationality or reason.
Knowledge
Knowledge is a key notion in Hopi thought. As Mystery
mentioned above, clans have in their possession The Hopis have a very clear idea of the forces that
knowledge about their origins, the world, various influence the course of events in the world. The
creatures and beings in the world, as well as worlds of nature and society are under the influ-
specific rituals, songs, and paraphernalia which ence of deities controlling death, fertility, and the
serve as Hopi social currency. Knowledge is in earth. They also conceive of approximately 250
a fundamental sense, the basis for social status. beings called Katsinas, which particularly influ-
ence the weather and are performed by costumed
Truth and masked dancers during the growing season.
The Hopis are not particularly interested in The Hopis also place great emphasis on their
“truth” in a philosophical sense. Their knowledge ancestors. There are also a variety of lesser crea-
of the world has been truthfully passed down tures that influence Hopi life to a greater or lesser
through generation after generation. degree. Sodality priests and medicinemen and
medicinewomen attempt to control or influence
Perception these nonhuman beings.
Perception plays no particular role in Hopi
thought.
Cross-References
Time
The study of Hopi culture and language was ▶ Myth
greatly influenced by the primitivism of the first ▶ Native American Religions
decades of the twentieth century. One of the main ▶ Native American Studies
contributors to romanticized ideas about the ▶ New Age Religions
Hopis was philosopher and linguist Benjamin ▶ Polytheism
Lee Whorf. His theory of linguistic relativity led ▶ Ritual
him to make absurd claims about the Hopi lan- ▶ Space and Time
guage, which are still with us in popular and ▶ Worldview
Human Intelligence 1021 H
References which are lethal to non-exposed flatworms. Simi-
larly, plants which are slowly exposed to cold (a
Carroll, J. B. (1956). Language, thought, and reality: process called “hardening”) become inured and
Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. Cambridge:
can withstand temperatures which would kill
The MIT Press.
Geertz, A. W. (1984). A reed pierced the sky: Hopi Indian indoor plants. This process may be generalized to
cosmography on third mesa, Arizona. Numen. Interna- stress in mammals as well. While still controver-
tional Review for the History of Religions, 31(2), sial, the evidence is growing that exposure to mod-
216–241.
erate levels of stress, combined with rest periods,
Geertz, A. W. (1986). A typology of Hopi Indian Ritual.
Temenos. Studies in Comparative Religion Presented can result in what Dienstbier called “physiological
by Scholars in Denmark, Finland, Norway and toughening.” Indeed, a growing number of
Sweden, 22, 41–56. researchers have demonstrated this physiological
Geertz, A. W. (1994). The invention of prophecy. Conti-
toughening in humans – especially those who
nuity and meaning in Hopi Indian religion. Berkeley/
Los Angeles/London: University of California Press. report psychological stress–related growth.
Revised and abridged, orig. 1992.
Geertz, A. W. (1996). Contemporary problems in the
study of native North American religions with special H
reference to the Hopi. The American Indian Quarterly,
20(3&4), 393–414. Horoscope
Malotki, E. (1979). Hopi-Raum: Eine sprachwis-
senschaftliche Analyse der Raumvorstellungen in der ▶ Astrology
Hopi-Sprache. T€ubingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.
Malotki, E., & Gary, K. (2001). Hopi stories of witchcraft,
shamanism, and magic. Lincoln/London: University
of Nebraska Press.
Malotki, E., & Time, H. (1983). A linguistic analysis of the Hostility
temporal concepts in the Hopi language. Berlin:
Mouton.
▶ Violence
The Hopi Dictionary Project. (1998). Hopi Dictionary.
Hopıìkwa Lavàytutuveni. A Hopi-English dictionary
of the third Mesa Dialect. Tucson: The University of
Arizona Press.
Titiev, M. (1992). Old Oraibi: A study of the Hopi Indians Human Brain
of Third Mesa. Albuquerque: University of New
Mexico Press. Reprint of 1944 Original.
Whiteley, P. M. (1988). Deliberate acts: Changing Hopi ▶ Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
culture through the Oraibi split. Tucson: The Univer-
sity of Arizona Press.
Human Development
Hormesis ▶ Ecological Psychology
Carolyn M. Aldwin and Michael R. Levenson

Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Human Genetics
OR, USA
▶ Medical Genetics
While stress is generally considered to have

harmful effects, in small doses it may have
positive effects. For example, flatworms exposed Human Intelligence
to sublethal heat are better able to withstand
subsequent heat exposures, including ones ▶ Intelligence
H 1022 Human Limits
were absorbed as part of the booty of conquest.

Human Limits There was useful medical and alchemical data
and astrological technique. But with this came
▶ Sin (Vice, Human Limits, Negativity) challenging ideas, thoughts about naturalism,
free will, the eternity of the world.
Arabic culture, of course, had native sources
of humanistic thinking – in the traditions of tribal
Humanism in Islam councils, the desert and the hunt, the experiences
of love and loss, and the odes of the sensuous and
Lenn E. Goodman spirited pre-Islamic poets who celebrated such
Philosophy Department, Vanderbilt University, themes and often pictured their joys, their pride,
Nashville, TN, USA and their hopeless struggles with fate. Nor was
all that issued from Byzantium, Damascus,
Alexandria, or Iran unequivocally humanistic:
Related Terms Greek antiquity could condone and encourage
infanticide and pederasty in ways jarring to the
Sanctity of the individual; Qur’an sensibilities of prophetic moral monotheism.
The monarchies and satrapies of ancient Iran
Like the other Abrahamic religions, Islam and the East, the castes of India, the resignation
makes strong moral claims, rooted in the sanctity of Buddhism, and the metempsychosis of Hindu-
of the individual and in the bonds that ism would not settle perfectly comfortably into
unite a community not only synchronically but a Muslim soldier’s, merchant’s, or Sufi’s saddle.
historically, linking past and future generations But conquest was broadening, and it was not long
with the living present. Muhammad’s revelatory before Muslim, Jewish, and Christian physicians,
experience, articulated in the Qur’an, is rooted under the aegis of an Islamic state, were explor-
in such moral claims, his God commanding ing and enlarging the boundaries of Platonic and
allegiance but also rectitude. Beyond the Aristotelian philosophy and logic, Galenic phys-
obligation of support for one’s brethren in the iology, Ptolemaic cosmology, Euclidean and
umma, the nexus to a transcendent God fostered Apollonian geometry, and the sciences that
reverence for nature and gratitude for culture, underlay the useful arts of medicine, astrology,
conceived as gifts of God’s benevolence. Greek architecture, and mechanics.
science, philosophy, medicine, and other arts Here the conquests were intellectual. The
were welcomed as the heirs of the Muslim casualties were the commitments of an
conquerors settled down. So was the Hebraic unexamined faith. Thinkers in the nascent
heritage that illuminated the Quranic backstory. Islamic civilization needed logic if they were to
Also welcomed were Indian mathematics and debate successfully with Greek thinkers in
astronomy; Byzantine art and engineering; Damascus. They needed mathematics for all
Persian epic traditions and administrative sorts of practical purposes. But logic and mathe-
practices; Christian and Hellenistic moral, matics opened vast new potentials for under-
mystical, and ascetic ideas and practices; and standing. Here the motto that Bacon would
even the making of paper, first learned from frame in the English renaissance proved effective
Chinese prisoners of war after the Battle of in reverse: Power was knowledge! But knowl-
Talas in 751. From China too came sericulture. edge brought with it issues of intellectual honesty
Silk garments challenged the puritan side of the and responsibility: the historian’s dedication to
faith. But paper posed a subtler challenge; fact, the belle lettrist’s love of significant detail,
as works of Greek and other cultures were the philosopher’s commitment to accept
increasingly and eagerly translated into Arabic truth where one could find it and follow where
in the ninth and tenth centuries, their contents the argument might lead. Muslim thinkers
Humanism in Islam 1023 H
and scholars became not just men of letters world and the necessity of Aristotle’s world by
and learning or practitioners of technique but viewing nature as contingent in itself but neces-
intellectual explorers and adventurers for whom sary by reference to its Cause; al-Biruni (d. ca.
the world was a laboratory and man himself was 1050), the mathematician, cosmologist, historian,
both the problem and the solution, the inquirer and mineralogist who learned Sanskrit and
and the repository of many a hidden answer and wrote a pioneering ethnography of the newly
discovery. conquered realms of northern India; Ibn Tufayl
Among the great figures of Islamic humanism (d. 1185/6), the Andalusian physician/philosopher
were al-Khwarizmi (ca. 800–850), the mathema- who experimented in fiction with the image of a
tician who had worked in the Bayt al-Hikma self-taught man, Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, growing up
(House of Learning) founded by the Caliph innocent of language, culture, and tradition, who
al-Ma’mun as a center of scholarship and trans- would discover, without the aid or interference of
lation and went on to lay out the scheme of human contact or institutions, the moral and spir-
arithmetic using what we now call Arabic itual truths that religions could only shroud in
numerals and to found key tools of algebra, symbols and stud with the most minimal and
bequeathing to posterity not only the name undemanding norms; Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), the H
al-jabr, literally “forcing into place,” but also Maghribi historian, failed politician, and political
his own name, the root of our word algorithm, consultant on tribal affairs, who founded what he
a mathematical procedure; al-Farabi (d. 950), the called a new science of civilization in seeking to
brilliant logician and social theorist who asked understand the cultural underpinnings of human
himself how scripture could argue cogently by history.
way of threats of retribution and came to under- What is humanistic about the traditions in
stand prophecy as the mediation of the higher which such figures as these and many others like
truths of reason to a mass audience by way of al-Kindi, al-Razi, Sijistani, or Tawhidi stand out?
the symbols that imagination could supply to These men do not typically resent or reject the
rhetoric and law under the name of religion; the religion which they grew up in or even chose.
Ikhwan al-Safa or Brethren of Purity (fl. ca. 970), They are not secularists, nor are they liberal for
whose collection of encyclopedic essays popular- the most part in any typically modern sense. But
ized the new learning and embedded there a fable, they pursue the value of personhood that they find
The Case of the Animals vs Man before the King in their religion, and they balance its asperities
of the Jinn, as the vehicle of a trenchant Aesopian with a lambent commitment to intellectual free-
critique of human institutions and pretensions dom and personal creativity. Their values, literary,
and a call to a higher, more cosmopolitan intellectualist, scientific, courtly, medical, even
vision of human potential; Hamadhani mercantile, leaven their spiritual heritage and
(d. 1008), literary virtuoso and satirist, the self- allow them to interpret the obligations of the
styled “Innovation of the Age” who invented the faith in ways affirmative of humanity. They and
maqamah or “encounter,” a mixed genre of their achievements represent powerful alternatives
poetry and prose, centered on the japes of to an outlook that has today made itself all too
a trickster antihero whose verbal pyrotechnics prominent as a reading of Islam and its relation to
and irreverences light up the dark corners of other faiths and practices, the salafist movement
obscurantism and hypocrisy that Hamadhani that seeks to recapture Islamic hegemony by
saw around him; Miskawayh (d. 1030), the returning to the practices of an imagined past.
historian, minister of state, and ethicist who
sought in literature and learning the keys to
a cultivated way of life and a mature and humane Cross-References
character; Avicenna (Ibn Sina, d. 1037), the phi-
losopher/physician who sought to resolve the ▶ Ethics
conflict between the contingency of the Qur’anic ▶ Historiography (Classical)
H 1024 Humanistic
▶ History of Ideas (Intellectual History)

▶ History of Medicine Humanistic Movement/Values
▶ Judaism: An Overview
▶ Mathematics, Early Sarah A. Schnitker1 and Robert A. Emmons2
▶ Monotheism 1
School of Psychology, Fuller Theological
▶ Mysticism Seminary, Pasadena, CA, USA
▶ Qur’an 2
Psychology Department, University of
California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
References
Arkoun, M. (1982). L’humanisme arabe au IVe/Xe siècle: A movement in American Psychology popular-
Miskawayh, philosophe et historien (2nd ed. Rev.). ized in the 1960s and 1970s, humanism empha-
Paris: Vrin. sized the realization of the full potential of the
Arkoun, M. (2005). Humanisme et Islam: Combats et self by healthy persons. The movement arose as a
propositions. Paris: Vrin.
Bell, J. N. (1979) Love theory in later Hanbalite Islam. reaction against the deterministic and pessimistic
Albany: SUNY Press. approaches of the behaviorist and psychoanalytic
Goodman, L. E. (1999) Jewish and Islamic philosophy: camps, which reigned in the field for much of the
Crosspollinations in the Classic Age. Edinburgh and twentieth century prior. The humanists empha-
New Brunswick, NJ: Edinburgh University Press and
Rutgers University Press. sized human freedom, choice, potential, and self-
Goodman, L. E. (2003). Islamic humanism. New York: actualization.
Goodman, L. E. (2006) Avicenna. Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press.
Ibn Khaldūn (1958) The Muqaddimah: an introduction to
history (3 vol) (F. Rosenthal, Trans.). New York: Humanities
Pantheon.
Ibn Tufayl (2009) Hayy Ibn Yaqzān (L. E. Goodman, Carl Raschke
Trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ikhwān al-Safā (2009). (The Brethren of Purity), The Department of Religious Studies, University of
case of the animals vs man before the king of the Jinn Denver, Denver, CO, USA
(L. E. Goodman & R. McGregor, Ed. and Trans.).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kraemer, J. (1986a). Humanism in the renaissance of
Islam: The cultural revival during the buyid age. Lei- Related Terms
den: Brill.
Kraemer, J. (1986b). Philosophy in the renaissance of Humanistic; Paideia
Islam. Leiden: Brill.
Makdisi, G. (1990). The rise of humanism in classical Islam
and the Christian West: With special reference to scho- The “humanities” is a term that can be traced all
lasticism. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. the way back to the ancient Greeks, where it
Miskawayh (1968). The refinement of character (C. originated as a method of educating youth,
Zurayk, Trans.). Beirut: American University of Beirut. known as paideia. In antiquity such education
Monroe, J. T. (1983). The art of Badı̄˓ al-Zamān
al-Hamadhānı̄ as Picaresque Narrative. Beirut: centered on seven major subject areas, which
American University of Beirut. consisted of grammar, rhetoric, and logic
Zayd, N. H. A. (2004). Rethinking the Quran: Towards (known in Roman times as the “trivium”) and
a humanistic hermeneutics. Utrecht: University of geometry, arithmetic, music, and astronomy
Humanistics.
(referred to as the “quadrivium”). Whereas
paideia was almost exclusively practical in
nature, later these seven fields came to be consid-
Humanistic ered the core of what we now term the liberal
arts. The first formulation of what later came to
▶ Humanities be dubbed the humanities can be found in Cicero,
Humanities 1025 H
a Roman philosopher and political thinker who innovation, which laid the groundwork for the
lived and wrote in the first century B.C. A prolific industrial revolution over two centuries later.
scholar and translator of the Greek legacy into In the wake of the Baconian transformation of
Latin, Cicero promoted the notion of the studia the scientific enterprise, the humanities rapidly
humanitatis, or “study of all things human,” as evolved into a separate domain of study, focusing
a means of achieving the ideals of intellectual and primarily on history, philosophy, literature,
moral perfection ensconced in the strategies of drama, rhetoric, and study of the arts. By the
paideia. late eighteenth century, the divorce was virtually
At the same time, the concept of the humani- complete, except in countries at the time that
ties per se did not really crystallize until the were relatively backward technologically such
Renaissance, when it came to connote the totality as Germany, where so-called Naturwissenschaft
of the new “humanistic” knowledge that had been (the speculative “philosophy of nature”) played
recently discovered in the multitude of newly a significant role in the flowering of what came to
translated ancient texts. This new knowledge at be known as “German idealism.”
times challenged, and routinely expanded, the German scholars, however, were also instru-
medieval worldview, founded largely on the mental throughout the nineteenth century in H
authoritative teachings of the Catholic Church reviving from the Renaissance the technical
and the opinions of the ancient clerical fathers. study of languages and word origins. This inten-
Renaissance humanism encompassed not only sive preoccupation led to the rise of the field of
literature and language studies but as much of linguistics, which from its inception has gener-
scientific knowledge and speculation – whether ally be considered both a science and a discipline
ancient or contemporary – that was either plausi- within the humanities. Linguistic studies of many
ble or feasible at the time. What we now under- non-European and ancient, but nonclassical,
stand as “science” per se was then considered sacred texts by these scholars sparked about the
“natural philosophy,” a term that endured same time both the emergence of the so-called
up through the nineteenth century. Natural higher criticism of the Bible, concerned with the
philosophy was not separate from humanistic historical rather than the theological meaning of
learning, but an integral branch of it. passages from Judeao-Christian Scriptures, and
It was only with the rise of empirical science the systematic study of non-Western religions.
in the waning years of the Renaissance, first The latter was known in the nineteenth century
outlined as a radical new approach to the study as Religionswissenschaft (literally, “the
of nature and to philosophy itself by the English science of religion”) and eventually grew into
philosopher Francis Bacon in his Novum what is now one of the major disciplines in the
Organon (1620). Bacon proposed that science humanities – “religious studies.”
should not proceed by deductive syllogism, as it In addition, the linguistics revolution has had
had in the past, but by an “inductive” method of a powerful influence on the humanities in general
examining a variety of situations or circum- in the twentieth century. The impact initially was
stances in which a phenomenon could be felt in philosophy, which became concerned
observed, then by inferring the nature or behavior almost exclusively with problems of language
of the phenomenon by comparing these situations and logic after the First World War. The influence
or circumstances. These now obvious principles pervaded not only in the English-speaking world,
became the cornerstone of what today we would where it dominated what came to be known as
deem the “scientific method.” “analytical” philosophy, or “language philoso-
Because Bacon focused on the practical or phy,” but on the continent of Europe where it left
worldly outcomes of scientific inquiry, as its mark on the movements known as “phenome-
opposed to their purely theoretical value, his nology” and “structuralism,” the latter deriving
“new organon” inspired the close alliance from the school of “structural linguistics”
between scientific discovery and technological pioneered by the French thinker Ferdinand de
H 1026 Humanities
Saussure. By the 1960s, structuralism and its a dualistic mentality about the nature of knowl-
rebellious stepchild “post-structuralism” had edge for almost two generations. But at the turn of
begun to make major inroads into literary criti- the millennium, the distinction was finally break-
cism, which by a decade or so later had colonized ing down. In the past decade, many leading-edge
most of the humanities. Both structuralism and theorists in the humanities have somewhat
post-structuralism, which soon came to be identi- gingerly sought an alliance between certain seem-
fied with the technical strategy of reading texts ingly relevant scientific subdisciplines, including
invented by the French philosopher Jacques sociobiology with its Darwinist emphasis on the
Derrida known as deconstruction, had no interest random and evolutionary nature of moral values
in either the historical-critical context, or content, and spiritual ideas and cognitive and neuropsy-
of the humanities as a whole. So-called decon- chology with their fresh perspectives on how key
structive readings of unfamiliar as well as familiar problems of mind, historically the province of
texts were all the rage. They often combined philosophy, can be investigated. The swift decline
highly arcane and jargon-ridden discourse lifted in the prestige of Marxist theory as a consequence
from post-structuralist theories of meaning and of the worldwide collapse of communism during
signification with Marxist and other kinds of the last quarter century has prompted many youn-
trendy academic forms of political critique. ger humanities scholars, who yearn for some kind
The popular stereotypes of the new “deconstruc- of social legitimacy and broader academic respect-
tionist” humanists promoted in the media and by ability for what they do as a matter of course, to
newly enfranchised conservative critics through- seek out new kinds of partnership with presently
out the 1980s were either that of aging political fashionable strands of materialist science.
radicals left over from the 1960s, who had turned Ironically, it has been this flirtation with those
their “nihilistic” contempt for the social order into subfields of the sciences that has been used or is
a siege of the genteel traditions of liberal learning, currently used to downgrade the importance of or
or that of self-indulgent intellectual poseurs who to explain away religious phenomena and
sought to dazzle the public with what was in reality religious experiences that have propelled
pure nonsense. a renewed interest for the humanities in the
The stereotypes were grossly misleading and relationship between science and religion.
reflected in huge measure the right-wing, A century ago, it was the hope that advances in
anti-intellectual backlash of the period. But like the sciences might serve to sustain rather than
all stereotypes, there was a kernel of truth in undermine common religious assumptions and
them. Today the general consensus among theological surmises. But today the same interest
humanists is that the post-structuralist (or what seems to be motivated by the suspicion that many
eventually was referred to as “postmodernist”) of the so-called transcendental or semireligious
revolution in the humanities is over and that in presuppositions of the humanities, particularly
retrospect it did more damage than good to the the claim that canonical texts, works of art, and
reputation of the field. Nevertheless, because of ethical reasoning have a peculiar spiritual or irre-
the de facto convergence of technical linguistics, ducible significance in their own right, all add up
Marxist-tinged “materialist” social science, and to something like the Wizard of Oz, who
traditional inquiry into the meaning and values of commandeers a grand machinery of pretense
culture that the deconstructionist movement and illusion to mystify, if not entertain, the
sealed, the humanities as a result were far more breadth of humanity. Many humanities scholars
prepared to engage in conversation with the have come perhaps to secretly see themselves as
sciences. The English physicist and novelist C.P. the little dog Toto, innocently sniffing behind the
Snow’s famous distinction, pronounced in the screen with the hope that they might at least
late 1950s, between the “two cultures” of the serendipitously reveal the humanities for the
science and the humanities had sustained hoax that it has always been. Such views in
Humanities 1027 H
many cases may be born of a sense of doubt, and mid to late twentieth century, was founded on the
low professional self-esteem for which the recent paradigm of material reality as matter in motion
hollowing out of the humanities by Marxist crit- originating with Newtonian physics in the early
ical theory is largely responsible. But there is also modern era.
a positive curiosity as to how the religious and Yet, in the wake of Albert Einstein’s theories
spiritual qualities of humanistic thought might be of relativity and the advent of quantum physics
reconciled with new scientific discoveries. What during the last century as well, Newtonian
might be considered strong “Manichean” per- mechanics seemed less and less relevant to the
spective about the irreconcilability of the sci- effort to apply scientific method to the study of
ences and the humanities arose in an era when human cognition. The quantum paradigm of
a triumphal scientism had basically made such a universe unfolding in accordance with indeter-
a rapprochement well-nigh impossible. Snow’s minable and at times incalculable subatomic
views found a receptive audience among that fluctuations that seem almost “random” has in
learned segment of the culture who did not acqui- recent years engendered a suspicion that the
esce in the age of Sputnik to the dogma that brain does not obey iron-clad laws of matter in
scientific and technical advance was the end-all motion, but can only be comprehended as follow- H
and be-all of human aspiration. But now that the ing similar nondeterministic precedents. What is
rabid anti-scientism that set in as a response to the now known as quantum mind theory has evolved
Vietnam debacle a decade later has long since run from both empirical research and higher-order
its course, humanities scholars as a rule are far speculation on the part of such well-respected
more open to the Renaissance vision of the unity scientists as David Bohm, Roger Penrose, and
of all knowledge. Henry Stapp, who argue that known neurological
Since the humanities historically have always interactions and phase changes in the brain evi-
been preoccupied in different ways with the ques- dence something that is not reducible to these
tion of the health and integrity of the human interactions and changes. Bohm calls this
“soul,” it is only natural that today it would irreducible x the “implicate order” of the
continue to keep a close eye on what the cognitive universe. The implicate order is a postulate Bohm
and neurosciences tell us, especially about the offers to explain the feedback loops between the
wonders of the brain and the mysterious different levels of structural manifestation in what
production of the phenomenon we call “mind.” we deem material reality and cognitive and sym-
From the late nineteenth century up until the bolic interventions.
mid-twentieth, science by and large had for its While many scientists during the last quarter
own reasons excluded the contributions because century, therefore, have developed models that
of its dubious conviction that conscious processes can accommodate humanistic notions of mind, or
are nothing more than perturbations of an easily the nonmaterial order of things, certain thinkers
definable material reality. The so-called mind/ in the humanities have started to challenge the
brain duality, first characterized by the French traditional notion that what they study is purely
philosopher René Descartes in the 1600s, has corporeal. This movement has its roots in the
propelled the modern prejudice that we must German scholarship of the nineteenth century,
understand thought and cognition either as an which consistently preserved remnants of the
“epiphenomenon” of the brain’s machine-like Renaissance ideal that the humanities and
operations or as something entirely independent the sciences comprised an integral synthesis, if
of the laws and regularities of the material world, not a unity. One of the reasons for this fidelity to
which science scrutinizes. Science of course pre- the Renaissance prototype is the expansive
ferred the former approach. Such a “mechanistic” meaning of German word Wissenschaft, which
psychology, which reached its high water mark in can be translated not only as “science” in the
the radical behaviorism of B.F. Skinner during the technical sense but as the “pursuit of knowledge”
H 1028 Humanities
in the broader sense. German thought has never considered neither materialists nor “idealists” in
been bedeviled by Cartesian dualism in the same the classic sense. Nor have they stuck with the
way that Anglo-Saxon letters have been, perhaps now overworked template of neo-Marxist social
because of this very linguistic discrepancy. constructivism that has also been dubbed
Modern German philosophers for centuries “cultural Marxism” – the view that the objects
have emphasized the inseparability of the body- of investigation within the humanities are always
world from conscious subjects. The nineteenth- best interpreted as projections of underlying
century thinker Wilhelm Dilthey, who located the social formations, whether those be class
discipline of the humanities in the historical interests, patterns of social domination, or
imagination and its ability to discern the inter- ethno-cultural competition.
connection between material and spiritual The intermingling of cultural Marxist and
factors, and the twentieth-century philosopher post-structuralist rhetoric in the discourse of the
Martin Heidegger, whose concept of human humanities throughout the last quarter of this
existence as Dasein implied consciousness as century has created a certain confusion
a non-dualistic relationship between subject and concerning whether the humanities are
world, are examples that come immediately to something special in their own right or a mere
mind. A third recently influential figure is the extension of the social or linguistic sciences
French phenomenologist Maurice Merleau- themselves. But these new cultural theorists,
Ponty, whose notion of mind and body not as taking up where Latour and Bourdieu have left
a disjunction but as what he named a chiasmus off, who are recognizable, at least on Anglo-
(in rhetoric, a cross structuring of equally code- American grounds, neither as social scientists
pendent clauses or variables) has had a major nor as “humanists” with the grand, almost
impact on contemporary gender studies, cultural Ciceronian connotations that the expression
studies, and what are known as “body studies.” conjures up, have less of an interest in culture as
The German word Geisteswissenschaft, a general anthropological category within
commonly translated as “the humanities,” a general theory of social organization, behavior,
derives from the nearly untranslatable term and transformation than as the key to how mind
Geist, which can mean “spirit” in the itself is subtly and effectively “embodied.”
disembodied sense but also the entirety of intel- The exploding science of complexity theory has
lectual capacities and functions. With the decline also had tremendous repercussions for this kind
of post-structuralism in the humanities as an of undertaking.
enterprise preoccupied with texts and semantic Edward Slingerland, whose training is in the
configurations, the old impulse of Geisteswis- humanities, has been one of the most vocal
senschaft has been taken up anew with implicit advocates of both an embodied science and
attention to the latest developments in the a new horizon for a scientific humanism. In his
somatic, cognitive, and neurosciences. What Science Offers the Humanities (2008),
The French social theorists Bruno Latour and Slingerland argues that both the humanities and
Pierre Bourdieu represent two prominent critics sciences have always confronted a “grounding
of post-structuralism, who have laid the ground- problem” which they can never resolve without
work for a realignment of the humanities with the serious cross talk between the two. The older
sciences. The growing significance of cultural conundrum of embodied mind ultimately boils
studies, which approaches familiar questions in down to “how ‘symbols in the head’ can connect
the humanities with hybrid methodologies drawn with things in the world (Slingerland 2008,
from the conventional social sciences, has pro- p. 17).” Slingerland traces the trajectory of evolv-
vided an important context for this realignment. ing theories of how these connections take place
Figures like Latour and Bourdieu can be from philosophical pragmatism through Jean
Humanities 1029 H
Piaget’s “genetic psychology” to the subdivisions harmony with the world around us. Slingerland,
of cognitive science known as “mental space,” a Sinologist and Chinese linguist by training,
“conceptual metaphor,” or “conceptual blend- offers his own distinctive theory of how East
ing” theory. These theories do not regard Asian culture and thought unfolded through
cognitive processes, including the symbolic what he refers to as the “vertical integration” of
imagination, either as an autonomous series of cultural, historical, and religious studies with
events that adhere to their own internal logic, as cognitive psychology and material geography.
structuralism and post-structuralism might pre- Prior to the post-structuralist revolution, the
sume, or as what the philosopher Gilbert Ryle humanities were more interested in celebrating
once called the “category mistake” of confusing the way in which their field served as a gate-
mind with the material organization of the brain. keeper to those relatively privileged forms of
Instead they look upon them as discrete types of symbolic communication that fostered apprecia-
dynamic and fluctuating spatial mappings, which tion of what was most distinctively “human.”
depend on changes in the physical location, ori- Humanities scholars often relished the “imprac-
entation, agency, goal directedness, and move- tical” nature of their field, following the hierarchy
ment of human bodies in their environments. of intellectual values and pursuits defined in the H
Cartesian “parallelism” is therefore replaced ancient world by Aristotle and revered as the
with a sophisticated kind of interactionism. Lin- mainstay of the truly contemplative life.
guistic and cultural differences, including vary- Post-structuralism and cultural Marxism sought,
ing worldviews among human groups, can be however, to stress the humanities as an avant-
thus been seen at the same time as unique in garde strategy of sophisticated theory and praxis
some sense and also as the immediate or long- concentrating on a sustained critique of power
term consequence of distinctive environmental relationships and ideological formations with
circumstances. the aim of engendering, or at least abetting,
Material culture thus becomes as important as meaningful social transformation.
its symbolic counterpart. Slingerland himself The new “embodied humanities” has more
gives special consideration to Jared Diamond’s complex and not so obvious goals, insofar as it
exploration of what might be dubbed “cognitive appears to have a clear idea for both upgrading
geography” in his award-winning book Germs, the social prestige and intellectual relevance of
Guns, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies, the field while offering it up as an occasional
published in 1997. Diamond argues that such handmaiden to the medical, social service, and
seemingly minor factors, as whether certain helping professions. Thus, the general venture of
human beings in certain parts of the world domes- practical and professional ethics has become
ticated animals early or whether they lived in a guiding thread for the new generation of
relative isolation from other societies, over time humanists. While scientists ask the question
have had an enormous influence on how cultures of “what is going on,” humanities scholars pose
developed, what symbolic productions they the accompanying query: “why is it important to
retained or were responsible for, which concep- know?” The humanities continue to propose
tual metaphors they used, whether they pros- larger questions or, as Derrida puts it, the
pered, and how they fare in the political and “question of the question,” involving the mean-
economic pecking orders of civilization. ing of life and death in ways the sciences cannot
Diamond’s theories are neither reductionist nor or should not. But it has begun to recognize that
deterministic in the strict sense, but go a long way these questions cannot really be addressed with-
toward showing how cultural diversity and envi- out the knowledge supplied by the sciences them-
ronmental variation interact closely and fatefully selves. The ultimate question of what is real, or
with cognitive efforts at explaining and living in “what is the meaning of Being” in Heidegger’s
H 1030 Human-Machine Organism
argot, is the kind of metaquestion that neither the

sciences nor humanities can answer on their own. Hyperstructures
On the contrary, they can only begin to approach
such a metaquestion through close collaboration, Victor Norris
mutual respect, and fine-tuning of their respective Department of Biology, University of Rouen,
argots and vocabularies in such a manner that the Mont Saint Aignan, France
Renaissance vision of a convergence of the
totality of knowledge pathways that ultimately
give us a glimpse of the summum bonum, the Many functions in bacteria are performed by
highest good for humanity itself. large structures (known as hyperstructures
(Norris et al. 1999), modules (Hartwell et al.
1999), metabolons (Srere 1987), SOWAWN
Cross-References (self-organizing-whenever-and-wherever-needed
machines) machines (Ji 2012), etc.) in which
▶ Critical Theory small molecules, macromolecules, and ions are
▶ Cultural Studies physically associated (Norris et al. 2007). In the
▶ Physics case of Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis,
▶ Physics in Protestantism Caulobacter crescentus, and other model bacte-
▶ Semiotics ria, examples of such hyperstructures include: the
array of chemotaxis-specific receptors (Tar, Tsr,
Trg, Tap, and Aer); dynamic, coupled
References transcription-translation and transcription-
translation-insertion (transertion) hyperstructures
Bourdieu, P. (1999). Language and symbolic power (trans: comprising active RNA polymerases and ribo-
Raymond, G. & Adamson, M.). Cambridge, MA:
somes along with the nascent mRNAs and
Brockman, J. (Ed.). (2003). The new humanists: Science at nascent proteins and indeed the highly expressed
the edge. New York: Barnes & Noble. genes themselves; the cytoskeletal filaments
Derrida, J. (1999). Of grammatology, Corrected Edition MreB, CreS, and FtsZ; filaments of elongation
(trans: Spivak, G.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
factor EF-Tu; filaments of the degradosome
University Press.
Diamond, J. (2005). Germs, guns, and steel: The fate of (comprising RNA helicase B, polynucleotide
human societies. New York: W. W. Norton. phosphorylase and enolase) (Taghbalout and
Goodheart, E. (2007). Darwinian misadventures in the Rothfield 2007); metabolons of glycolytic
humanities. London: Transaction Publishers.
enzymes (Velot et al. 1997); foci of the enzymes
Jaeger, W. (1986). Paideia: The ideals of Greek culture
(2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. E1 of the phosphoenolpyruvate: sugar phospho-
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1969). The visible and the invisible transferase system; clusters of secretion enzymes
(trans: Lingis, A.). Evanston: Northwestern University such as SecA; nucleofilaments of recombination
Press.
enzymes such as RecA; the cell division machin-
Penrose, R. (1996). Shadows of the mind: A search for the
missing science of consciousness. New York: Oxford ery (comprising a lipid domain and proteins
University Press. such as FtsZ, FtsA, FtsI, FtsK, and AmiC); the
Slingerland, E. (2008). What science offers the humani- DNA replication factory (comprising enzymes
ties. New York: Cambridge University Press.
such as PolC, DnaB, DnaG, and DnaE as well as
Snow, C. P. (1993). The two cultures. London: Cambridge
University Press. enzymes responsible for the synthesis of precur-
sors such as ribonucleoside diphosphate reduc-
tase); cellulosomes (massive assemblies of
enzymes on the outside of the bacterium that
Human-Machine Organism digest molecules such as cellulose) and
polycellulosomes. Ambiquitous enzymes can
▶ Cyborgs occupy two different positions in the cell
Hypnosis 1031 H
(Nemat-Gorgani and Wilson 1980) and some Nemat-Gorgani, M., & Wilson, J. E. (1980). Ambiquitous
hyperstructures depend on such enzymes and behavior–a biological phenomenon of general
significance? Current Topics in Cellular Regulation,
are functioning-dependent structures that assem- 16, 45–54.
ble only when functioning and that disassemble Norris, V., et al. (1999). Hypothesis: Hyperstructures
when no longer functioning (Thellier et al. 2006). regulate bacterial structure and the cell cycle.
Other hyperstructures are equilibrium or quasi- Biochimie, 81, 915–920.
Norris, V., Blaauwen, T. D., Doi, R. H., Harshey, R. M.,
equilibrium structures that remain even in the Janniere, L., Jimenez-Sanchez, A., Jin, D. J.,
absence of a flow of energy or nutrients. It has Levin, P. A., Mileykovskaya, E., Minsky, A.,
been proposed that hyperstructures constitute Misevic, G., Ripoll, C., Saier, M., Skarstad, J. K., &
a level of organization intermediate between Thellier, M. (2007). Toward a hyperstructure
taxonomy. Annual Review of Microbiology, 61,
macromolecules and the bacterial cell itself 309–329.
(Norris et al. 2007). Communication between Srere, P. A. (1987). Complexes of sequential metabolic
hyperstructures would then take the form of enzymes. Annual Review of Biochemistry, 56,
changes in: DNA supercoiling, ion condensation 89–124.
Taghbalout, A., & Rothfield, L. (2007). RNaseE and the
on charged filaments, signaling molecules, water other constituents of the RNA degradosome are
structures, and distribution of membrane components of the bacterial cytoskeleton. Proceedings
H
domains. At this intermediate level of organiza- of the National Academy of Sciences of the United
tion, hyperstructures would control the phenotype States of America, 104, 1667–1672.
Thellier, M., Legent, G., Amar, P., Norris, V., & Ripoll, C.
and, in particular, the bifurcations that occur, as (2006). Steady-state kinetic behaviour of functioning-
during the cell cycle, so that events take place in dependent structures. The FEBS Journal, 273,
the right place, at the right time and in the right 4287–4299.
order. Exploration of the hyperstructure concept Trinei, M., Vannier, J.-P., Beurton-Aimar, M., &
Norris, V. (2004). A hyperstructure approach to
may also prove useful for understanding eukary- mitochondria. Molecular Microbiology, 53, 41–53.
otic cells and, for example, interactions between Velot, C., Mixon, M. B., Teige, M., & Srere, P. A. (1997).
hyperstructures have also been invoked to explain Model of a quinary structure between Krebs TCA
the structure and functioning of mitochondria and cycle enzymes: A model for the metabolon.
Biochemistry, 36, 14271–14276.
to explain the existence of mitochondrial DNA
(Trinei et al. 2004).
Cross-References Hypnosis
▶ Biology Quinton Deeley

▶ Biology, Theoretical Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences,
▶ Complex Systems Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London,
▶ Dualism London, UK
▶ Evolution
▶ Hyperstructures
▶ Medical Microbiology Related Terms
Absorption; Animal magnetism; Hypnotisability;

References Mesmerism; Suggestibility; Suggestion; Trance
Hartwell, L. H., Hopfield, J. J., Liebler, S., &

Murray, A. W. (1999). From molecules to modular Description
cell biology. Nature, 402(Suppl. 6761), C47–C52.
Ji, S. (2012). Molecular theory of the living cell: Concepts,
molecular mechanisms, and biomedical applications. In a report on hypnosis for the British Psycholog-
New York: Springer. ical Society, hypnosis was defined as:
H 1032 Hypnosis
An interaction between one person, the different types of suggestion – ideomotor sugges-
“hypnotist,” and another person or other people, tions involve automatic movements (e.g., arm
the “subject” or “subjects.” In this interaction, the levitation), challenge suggestions involve an
hypnotist attempts to influence the subjects’ inability to complete an action when instructed
perceptions, feelings, thinking, and behavior by to do so (e.g., eye opening), while cognitive sug-
asking them to concentrate on ideas and images gestions involve significant alterations in experi-
that may evoke the intended effects. The verbal ence (e.g., hallucinations, amnesia, anesthesia).
communications that the hypnotist uses to Most suggestions are intended to be effective at
achieve these effects are termed “suggestions” the time of their administration, but posthypnotic
(Heap et al. 2004). Autosuggestions refer to suggestions influence behavior at a later time
suggestions that are self-administered, while the (e.g., the suggestion in the Harvard scale that
“classic suggestion effect” entails that responses the participant will touch their ankle when hear-
elicited by suggestions are experienced as invol- ing a tapping sound but will forget having been
untary and effortless (Heap et al. 2004). given the suggestion).
Verbal suggestions to relax and focus atten- Induction of the hypnotic state appears to
tion, typically administered in a standardized way facilitate responses to further suggestions (e.g.,
as a “formal induction procedure,” are used to of arm levitation), although some individuals
establish a hypnotic state or “trance.” In keeping respond to the same suggestions without
with the content of commonly used suggestions a formal induction procedure (Nash and Barnier
in the induction procedure, the hypnotic trance is 2008). Nevertheless, the associations and expec-
characterized by attentional absorption, tancies built up around the term “hypnosis” in
disattention to extraneous stimuli, and relaxation. societies familiar with the term appear to be sug-
However, “active-alert” inductions conducted gestive in their own right. For example, labeling
during physically active states such as riding an induction procedure as “relaxation” produces
a stationary bicycle indicate that suggestions of a modest increase in suggestibility, while label-
physical relaxation per se are not necessary for ing the same procedure as “hypnosis” signifi-
a state of absorption and suggestibility to be cantly increases suggestibility (Nash and
established (Heap et al. 2004). Hypnotic trance Barnier 2008). This suggests that the term and
is similar to other more everyday states of absorp- concept of “hypnosis” should be regarded as
tion, such as immersion in reading, a film, or a “cultural representation” with its own history
music, but the focus of attention is directed by and cognitive effects (Deeley 2006).
the content of the relevant suggestion – for exam- At the present time, hypnosis is principally
ple, sensory foci (a spot on the wall or the voice of employed in the treatment of medical and psy-
the hypnotist) or imagery (walking down steps chological disorders and in psychological
into a garden), while the “depth” (intensity) of the research (Nash and Barnier 2008). Intrinsic
experience is often profound in highly suggest- hypnosis research investigates the nature of the
ible individuals. hypnotic state or trance. By contrast, instrumen-
A variety of scales have been developed tal hypnosis research employs suggestions to
to measure individual responsiveness to create experimental models of phenomena of
suggestions, such as the Harvard Group Scale of psychological interest, such as analgesia, hallu-
Hypnotic Susceptibility (Shor and Orne 1962). cinations, or limb paralysis (Nash and Barnier
These scales generally include a hypnotic induc- 2008).
tion followed by test suggestions and an Different theories of hypnosis or suggested
assessment of the subject’s response to each. effects can be broadly labeled as either “special
“Hypnotisability” or “hypnotic suggestibility” is state” or “sociocognitive” theories. “Special
typically defined as the number of suggestions state” (or “state”) theories consider responsive-
that an individual responds to on a standard ness to suggestions to be explained by the dis-
scale of this type. A distinction is drawn between tinctive properties of the altered state of
Hypnosis 1033 H
consciousness, hypnotic condition, or “trance” Firstly, a distinction can be drawn between the
produced by the induction procedure. Recent use of suggestions or suggestive processes to
“state” theories based on neuropsychological influence experience and behavior and theories
models of executive function (such as “dissoci- of hypnosis. Indeed, individuals can effectively
ated control” or “neodissociation” theories) employ what from the perspective of hypnosis
emphasize the role of “high-level” processes in theory and practice are suggestions without
the control of action, particularly in circum- interpreting them as such. For example, a report
stances where novel, complex, or flexible from 1775 about the Austrian exorcist Father
responses are required. Executive processes Johann Joseph Gassner (1727–1729) describes
include attention, working memory, planning, how he asked a nun suspected of possession
response selection, and inhibition, while their whether she agreed that anything he should
engagement in the generation of controlled action order would happen. She agreed, and then, he
is typically accompanied by awareness and ordered any possessing spirit to manifest itself –
a sense of voluntary control. The key claim is which it did (Ellenberger 1994). Gassner’s writ-
that hypnosis involves an inhibition of executive ings make it clear that he believed these effects
function and corresponding overreliance on situ- were supernaturally caused, but his practice H
ational cues (particularly those conveyed by sug- resembles nonreligious applications of hypnosis
gestions) for the control of behavior. The in which a subject hands over executive control to
inhibition of high-level executive control is held a special agent (the “hypnotist”) and conforms
to account for the lack of awareness or involun- their behavior to expectations established within
tariness of suggested effects (with theories differ- the hypnotic context (Oakley 1999). Similarly,
ing as to how or in what respects this occurs). By Gassner’s contemporary Anton Mesmer (1734–
contrast, sociocognitive theories reject the idea 1815) developed many suggestive techniques for
that a special state of executive inhibition is the purpose of healing, such as passes of the hand
required for suggested effects to be generated, over the patient’s body to produce “crises”
citing evidence of hypnotic responding in the (swooning, convulsions, shaking, crying, hyster-
absence of trance induction in some high hypno- ical laughter, among other signs), followed by
tizables. The broad thrust of sociocognitive a stupor. However, Mesmer interpreted these
approaches is to emphasize the role of normal effects in terms of his quasi-physical theory of
psychological processes and influences to “animal magnetism.” He even believed that
account for hypnotic responding, such as imagi- Gassner had unwittingly used animal magnetism
nation, motivation, expectancy, role playing, to effect his cures, confiding to an associate that
compliance, and attributions which reframe the “Gassner possessed magnetism to an extraordi-
active contribution of the subject to the suggested nary degree and his own powers were not so
effects to diminish the sense of agency in their great” (Ellenberger 1994). Successors such as
generation. These processes are also considered Marquis de Puysegur (1751–1825) adopted and
relevant to the very establishment of the “hyp- developed Mesmer’s techniques, while rejecting
notic state” itself in response to the suggestions in the quasi-physical theory of animal magnetism in
the induction procedure, with increase in favor of psychological theories which are the pre-
responding to suggestions after induction attrib- cursors of contemporary theories of hypnosis
uted to changes in expectancy and motivation (Ellenberger 1994). Puysegur dispensed with the
rather than a uniquely altered state of conscious- dramatic crises of Mesmer, producing a more
ness involving executive inhibition (Heap et al. quiescent “perfect crisis” or “artificial somnam-
2004; Nash and Barnier 2008). bulism” comprising apparent wakefulness, obe-
The history of hypnosis is relevant to under- dience to the commands of the magnetizer, and
standing current debates about the nature of hyp- then amnesia after being “disenchanted” by
nosis, as well as the relationships between kissing a tree (Ellenberger 1994). The wakeful-
hypnosis and religions. ness and obedience (suggestibility) of “artificial
H 1034 Hypnosis
somnambulism” are prototypes of subsequent extrasensory perception; knowledge of the past,

hypnotic conditions, although the induction and future, and “world soul”; and other exalted noetic
deinduction techniques, presence of subsequent states could be attained (Ellenberger 1994). The
amnesia, and interpretations of the condition boundaries between hypnosis, spiritualism, mys-
have changed with time. For example, Abbe de ticism, hysteria, and possession were – in some
Faria (1756–1819) produced the related condi- cases – very fluid. For example, the German
tion of “lucid sleep” with the command “sleep!” physician Justinius Kerner (1786–1862) consid-
rather than mesmeric passes (Ellenberger 1994). ered possession a “demonic-magnetic disease”
The term “hypnosis” was coined in 1832 by and treated it with a mixture of exorcism and
James Braid (1795–1860), who viewed it as magnetism (Ellenberger 1994). The appropria-
a distinct physiological state characterized by tion of hypnosis or suggestive techniques by
fixed stare, relaxation, suppressed breathing, and new religious or spiritual movements and view
fixed attention to the words of the hypnotist that it gives access to special knowledge (such as
(Heap et al. 2004). Despite these and subsequent knowledge of past lives) has continued to the
changes in both the theories and practices of present day.
mesmerism and hypnosis, their advent brought An alternative trajectory saw hypnosis
increasing awareness of the existence and possi- employed as a secular method of medical treat-
bilities of suggestions, to the extent that in con- ment and object of scientific inquiry. This trend
temporary practice, suggestions are explicitly was reinforced by the rise of positivism and sci-
designed to produce specific effects – for exam- entific rationalism in the mid-nineteenth century
ple, as part of psychological treatment or research and forms the background to the contemporary
(Nash and Barnier 2008). Further, historical var- scientific study and clinical applications of hyp-
iations in the hypnotic condition illustrate the nosis (Ellenberger 1994). Surgery under mag-
extent to which it is constituted by specific sug- netic anesthesia was employed by Recamier as
gestions which vary with the hypnotist and the early as 1821 (Ellenberger 1994). The neurolo-
“school” to which they belong, in conjunction gist Jean Martin Charcot (1825–1893) and the
with the social learning and expectancies of the philosopher and psychiatrist Pierre Janet (1859–
subject. Nevertheless, the responses elicited by 1947) used hypnosis as a way of understanding
suggestions in these diverse hypnotic conditions and treating hysteria (quasi-neurological signs
are experienced as involuntary, effortless, and and symptoms in the absence of tissue pathology
realistic in keeping with the “classic suggestion that could adequately explain them) (Bell et al.
effect.” 2010). In particular, it was noted how hysterical
Familiarity with religious practices and pre- (dissociative) symptoms such as paralysis, amne-
suppositions appears to have influenced develop- sia, anesthesia, involuntary movements, convul-
ments in hypnosis theory and practice in different sions, and hallucinations could be produced by
ways in the late eighteenth and throughout the suggestions, while suggestions could also be used
nineteenth centuries. For example, Mesmer’s to remove hysterical symptoms. Charcot and
“crisis” recalled the convulsive crisis attending Janet considered both hysteria and hypnotic
the onset of possession (Ellenberger 1994). effects to result from unconscious “fixed ideas”
Mesmerism and hypnosis were also often con- that were the result of (auto)suggestions, with
ceived as giving access to special knowledge in Janet postulating “narrowing of the field of con-
“lucid” subjects – such as the diagnosis and cure sciousness” as the basis of dissociation of nor-
of illnesses and clairvoyance – resembling the mally integrated cognitive functions in both
disclosures previously called forth from the inter- hysteria and hypnosis (Ellenberger 1994). Draw-
rogation of possessing demons. The special ing on cognitive neuroscience evidence of shared
knowledge made possible through mesmerism neural mechanisms underlying dissociative and
and hypnosis inspired an “experimental meta- suggested phenomena, Oakley similarly pro-
physics” among German Romantics, in which posed that both dissociative and hypnotic
Hypnosis 1035 H
phenomena belong to a supertype of suggestive hypnotic) may share the efficient causal mecha-
processes – in other words, dissociative phenom- nisms of suggestive-dissociative processes at
ena are generated by processes of autosuggestion a cognitive and neural level. One category (such
that resemble the processes producing hypnotic as clinical dissociation, possession, or hypnosis)
phenomena (which are usually allo-suggestive, cannot be reduced to another because all acquire
but can be auto) (Oakley 1999). At a neural context- and tradition-specific extended mean-
level, there is increasing evidence that symptoms ings, values, and purposes by virtue of their dis-
in both hysteria (clinical dissociation) and their tinctive histories. Indeed, the meanings,
suggested analogues in hypnosis are associated expectancies, and differing local interpretive
with increased activity in overlapping prefrontal frameworks of terms such as “possession,” “hys-
cortical regions, suggesting that intervention by teria,” and “hypnosis” are likely to powerfully
the executive system in both automatic and vol- shape and differentiate the phenomena in ques-
untary cognitive processing is common to both tion. For example, most suggestions employed in
hysteria and hypnosis. However, comparable hypnotic contexts involve ideas that temporarily
brain regions involved in motivation and contravene ideas of reality and would otherwise
processing stimuli related to the self may also be regarded as imaginary or false by both hypno- H
be engaged (Bell et al. 2010). tist and subject (such as a suggestion of an arm
Similarities between features of possession rising because it is attached to a helium balloon).
trance (identity change with or without amnesia By contrast, arm levitation in the case of posses-
and other dissociative symptoms); sense of sion would typically be attributed to the action of
altered identity in dissociative identity disorder a truly existent agent such as a god, spirit, or
and method acting, respectively; and suggested demon, with ramified conceptual, affective, and
effects of identity change, amnesia, and other practical associations that are widely shared by a
features in high hypnotizables have led to the relevant social group (Deeley 2004). The pres-
proposal that suggestive-dissociative processes ence of strongly held beliefs and authoritative
may also underlie many instances of possession social practices as opposed to temporarily imag-
(Deeley 2003; Taves 2006). By extension, sug- ined scenarios may affect the threshold for
gestions in high hypnotizables are likely to be experiencing the respective phenomena, quite
relevant to modeling cognitive and neural mech- apart from differences in their attributed signifi-
anisms enabling other culturally or religiously cance (Deeley 2003). Similarly, in modern prac-
recognized forms of experience and behavior – tice, suggestions in hypnosis are predominantly
in particular, any alterations in the control, verbal in form, whereas with exceptions (such as
awareness, or ownership of thought, perception, the case of Gassner noted above), cues engaging
speech, and actions (as in mediumship, prophecy, suggestive-dissociative processes in possession
or other types of inspired speech or writing); trance are more likely to be nonverbal (such as
states of profound attentional focus and psycho- the musical motto signifying the descent of
somatic quiescence such as absorptions (Skt. a specific possessing agent in possession rituals,
dhyanas, Pali. jhanas) in concentrative medita- quite apart from expectancies engaged by the
tion; anesthesia in ascetic mortifications or ritual overall context). Hence, cognitive or social neu-
ordeals such as self-piercing; and vivid visionary roscience approaches to suggestive-dissociative
experience such as shamanic spirit journeys or processes require a more extensive analysis of the
tantric visualizations. prior enculturation and range of cues and contexts
Nevertheless, this proposal does not entail that that inculcate and/or elicit them (Seligman and
possession or other forms of religious experience Kirmayer 2008). This will involve a continuing
are nothing but hypnosis or even due to hypnosis. dialogue with anthropological and other perspec-
Rather, the claim is that similar alterations in tives on how the forms of experience made pos-
experience and behavior encountered in distinct sible by suggestive-dissociative processes are
contexts (clinicopathological, religious, artistic, interpreted and affect human lives.
H 1036 Hypnotisability
Cross-References Heap, M., Brown, R. J., & Oakley, D. A. (2004). The

highly hypnotisable person: Theoretical, experimen-
tal, and clinical issues. London/New York: Routledge.
▶ Buddhist Meditation Practices Nash, M. R., & Barnier, A. (2008). The Oxford handbook
▶ Neuropsychology of hypnosis: Theory, research, and practice. Oxford/
▶ Revelation New York: Oxford University Press.
▶ Ritual Oakley, D. A. (1999). Hypnosis and conversion hysteria:
A unifying model. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 4(3),
243–265.
Seligman, R., & Kirmayer, L. (2008). Dissociative expe-
References rience and cultural neuroscience: Narrative, metaphor,
and mechanism. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry,
Bell, V., et al. (2010). Dissociation in hysteria and 32, 31–64.
hypnosis: evidence from cognitive neuroscience. Shor, R. E., & Orne, E. C. (1962). Harvard group scale of
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, hypnotic susceptibility, form A. Palo Alto: Consulting
82(3), 332–339. Psychologists Press.
Deeley, P. Q. (2003). Social, cognitive, and neural Taves, A. (2006). Where (fragmented) selves meet
constraints on subjectivity and agency: Implications cultures. Culture and Religion, 7, 123–128.
for dissociative identity disorder. Philosophy,
Psychiatry, & Psychology, 10(2), 161–167.
Deeley, Q. (2004). The religious brain: Turning ideas
into convictions. Anthropology and Medicine, 11(3),
245–267. Hypnotisability
Deeley, Q. (2006). The Power of Belief. In P. W. Halligan
& M. Aylward (Eds.), The cognitive anthropology of ▶ Hypnosis
belief. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellenberger, H. F. (1994). The discovery of the uncon-
scious: the history and evolution of dynamic psychia-
try. London: Fontana Press.
I
I suggesting that mind and brain are identical.

This early identity theory quickly encountered
▶ Self criticism, as every brain is slightly different,
and human brains are different from animal
brains. If having a pain or computing an addi-
tion operation is just a particular kind of brain
Idea of Holy event, then identity theory was committed to the
view that it must be the exact same brain event
▶ Das Heilige, Concept of
in every individual. Identity theorists thus
argued for what came to be called type-type
identity, that is, for every type of mental event
Idealism there is one and only one type of physical event.
An approach to philosophy of mind known as
▶ Constructivism (Philosophy of Mind) philosophical functionalism came to reject
this thesis, arguing instead for token-token
identity, which denies that it is necessarily the
case that for each type of mental event there is
Identity
one and only one type of physical event, arguing
instead that for any individual mental event
▶ Personality Psychology
(a mental “token”), there is a physical token or
▶ Self, From a Psychological Perspective
set of tokens that are said to realize the mental
▶ Sex and Gender
token. On this view, having a pain always is
realized physically, but having a pain can be
realized differently in different organisms.
Identity (Philosophy of Mind) Thus, the affirmation of token-identity and
the denial of type-identity gives rise to
Gregory Peterson multiple realizability, the view that any given
Department of Philosophy and Religion, South type of mental property can realized by differ-
Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA ent physical systems. Multiple realizability
arguments have been particularly important in
In philosophy of mind, a major issue is the rela- debates about the possibility of artificial
tion of mind and brain, with early theories intelligence.

I 1038 Ihsan
Ihsan Imagination
Rabie E. Abdel-Halim Lars Sandbeck

FRCS Ed, Kuwait Prize Laureate (2005-History University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen,
of Medicine), Medical Humanities, AlFaisal Denmark
University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Professorial Fellow, Foundation of Science
Technology and Civilization, Manchester, UK Related Terms
Creativity; Faculty of innovation; Fancy; Fantasy

Ihsan (good personal conduct), the third aspect of
the Islamic creed (first is Islam itself, second is
Iman) is described as the act of worshipping Etymology
Allah as if you see Him, knowing that even if
you do not see Him, He sees you. This goes much The Greek and Latin terms for imagination reveal
beyond the ritual prayers, and every good action that imagination, from the beginning of Western
performed by a believer is seen as an act of thought, has been conceived as a kind of second-
worship. This is commonly expressed by ary, internal perception or sight. The Greek word
Muslims as doing what is pleasing to Allah, phantasia is derived from phainesthai, meaning
who is present, ever watchful. “to make oneself visible or seen,” and the under-
lying assumption seems to be that what makes
itself seen through the imagination is something
akin to but nonetheless different from sense per-
ceptions. According to Aristotle (384–322),
‘Ilm al-falak
imagination makes images or representations
appear, and these images (phantasmata) “are
similar to objects perceived except that they are
without matter” (432a9-10). Aristotle even sug-
gests that phantasia (imagination) ultimately is
derived from pháos (light) (429a3-4), since noth-
‘Ilm al-hay’a ing, in Aristotle’s view, can appear to the per-
ceiving mind without light. Thus, on this account,
▶ Astronomy in Islam imagination is, metaphorically speaking, an inter-
nal light that makes mental images appear.
The Latin correlates to phantasia and phan-
tasma are imaginatio and imago. These terms
emphasize stronger than their Greek counterparts
‘Ilm al-nujūm
the visual, image-making character of the imag-
ination: the mind is like a screen on which the
imagination is able to “paint” its images.
In everyday discourse imagination is often
used psychologically to describe the mind of
either a particularly innovative or delusional
Image of God (About the Human human being, that is, in the most extreme cases,
Being) the artist and the madman. Accordingly, there
exists a certain ambiguity in ordinary talk
▶ Imago Dei about imagination/fantasy. On the one hand,
Imagination 1039 I
imagination refers to originality and outstanding human dignity, humans are beginning to be
inventiveness (i.e., to be imaginative and fantas- regarded as masters over nature and history
tic), and, on the other hand, it refers to various and capable of controlling their own fate
pathologies of the mind (i.e., “it is only in his (Soulen and Woodhead 2006, 8 ff.). This turn
imagination”). In both cases, however, imagina- toward human potentiality is reflected in
tion is supposed to be a subjective and somewhat the emerging romantic notion of the creative
excessive phenomenon of no particular impor- imagination, transforming, as it were, the
tance in the practical life of ordinary people. previously held view that imagination was
essentially mimetic and reproductive. Simulta-
neously, the skepticism of the enlightenment
History toward imagination was gradually replaced
by the romantics’ affirmation of creative imag-
From antiquity to the enlightenment, the dominant ination as humanity’s most exalted power.
theories of imagination in Western thought have S. T. Coleridge (1772–1834) even turns the
stressed the essentially imitative and reproductive imagination into a theological concept regard-
nature of the imagination (Kearney 1988). As ing it as a repetition in the human mind of the
a power only capable of imitation, the imagination divine act of creation (Coleridge 1817, 304 f.).
I
was regarded as inferior to other powers of the In romanticism, science, art, and religious
mind, especially those of reason and perception. insight is generally interpreted as expressions
The implicit danger of any act of imitation is, of of true genius, and imagination, thus, becomes
course, that it opens up the possibility of serious the human locus of divine inspiration and
misrepresentation and distortion of the original epiphany.
(i.e., ideas or sense perceptions) that is imitated. Several modern philosophical theories of
Consequently, the imagination was treated with imagination are deeply imbedded in this romantic
considerable suspicion by philosophers and theo- tradition of creative imagination, although the
logians alike. theological and epiphanic associations are left
The basic philosophical and theological suspi- out. In Jean-Paul Sartre’s (1905–1980) existential
cion of imagination concerns the imagination’s philosophy, imagination is closely related to
ability to distort reality and trick reason into human freedom. Freedom is the ability to negate
attending false beliefs. For the main part of the reality, and, according to Sartre, this is exactly
thinkers of both Platonic and Aristotelian orien- what the act of imagining does. It replaces reality
tation, imagination must be controlled by and with imaginings of something that are not real
subdued the judgment of reason, for only through (Sartre 1940). The hermeneutical philosopher
the exercise and cultivation of reason, philosophy Paul Ricoeur (1913–2005) stresses the linguistic
(science) will be able to lead us toward truth and aspect of imagination relating it, as it were, to
trustworthy grasp of reality. In relation to this poetic discourse and the creation of new meaning
endeavor, imagination is either unnecessary or, (“semantic innovation”) through innovative use
at its worst, a direct threat. of metaphor (Ricoeur 1975). Finally, the notion
Although theories of imagination seem some- of creative imagination reaches its strongest
what varied in the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- expression in the philosophy of Greco-French
turies (Engell 1981), the enlightenment generally philosopher and psychoanalyst Cornelius
continued the suspicious attitude toward imagina- Castoriadis’ (1922–1997) concept of “radical
tion and mental images (Daston 2005, 17 ff.). How- imagination.” According to Castoriadis, the
ever, the enlightenment and early romanticism also imagination is radically creative and as such
witnessed two epoch-making shifts in the philo- capable of creating new forms “ex nihilo,” “out
sophical appraisal of imagination: of nothing” (Castoriadis 2007).
(a) As this period celebrates rationality, auton- (b) During the period of enlightenment and
omy, and freedom as the chief expressions of romanticism, the imagination also undergoes
I 1040 Imagination
a change from a one- to a multidimensional (a) Imagination has no role to play in neither
concept. The multidimensionality of imagina- science nor religion. Generally, scientific
tion finds expression in many different ways. and religious thinkers have been suspicious
The German psychologist Johan Tetens of any use of imagination in relation to
(1736–1807), for instance, distinguishes human attempts to comprehend objective
between perceptive, associative, and creative reality and/or religious truths. As earlier
functions of the imagination (Engell 1981, noted, the prevailing assumption of imagina-
118 ff.). Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), whose tion in Western thought has been that it
influence in these matters is unprecedented, belongs to the domain of the unreal, and
understands imagination (Einbildungskraft) since both science and religion claimed to
as both an empirical and transcendental fac- reveal the fundamental truths about reality,
ulty, and he operates with a further distinction none of them seemed able to make any theo-
between “reproductive” and “productive” retical use of the imagination. In science, the
functions of imagination. Coleridge, for his suspicion of imagination seems to be based
part, reinforces and widens the Kantian con- on a fundamental distinction between “fact”
cept of imagination as he distinguishes and “artifact,” the former understood as the
between “primary imagination” (creation of objective parts of reality, that which is “given
ordered perceptions), “secondary imagination” by nature” (Daston 2005, 18 f.), and the latter
(dissolution of perceptions in order to understood as that which is made by human
recreate them through works of art), and art, something invented, and in this sense not
“fancy” (mechanical association of ideas) related to true discovery. In order “to let
(Barth 2001). nature speak for itself” (Daston 2005, 28),
At least two consequences follow from the and in order to salvage the epistemic objec-
multidimensionality of imagination. First and tivity of scientific method, any influence of
foremost, these developments within the philos- human art and imagination must be excluded.
ophy of imagination imply an increased theoret- Another risk of letting imagination play
ical complexity and a more nuanced approach a role in science is that it could easily lead
toward imaginative phenomena in general. to pseudoscience, e.g., astrology, alchemy,
Secondly, imagination is no longer seen simply and magic.
as the mind’s ability to make mental images/ The religious suspicion of imagination closely
representations appear. Although the mental and resembles the scientific one. In Medieval rational
representational aspect of imagination is still rel- theology, reason or intellect is understood as the
evant, not least in phenomenology and philoso- only organ capable of truly comprehending the
phy of mind, other dimensions and functions of eternal and immutable ideas residing in the mind
the imagination come to the fore, e.g., creative, of God (Miner 2004, 7 ff.). Since imagination is
social, artistic, critical, etc., which cannot be closely related to sensation, any use of it will only
explained within a merely mentalistic paradigm lead to appreciation of the sensible world and,
of reproductive imagination (cf. Robinson and ultimately, to idolatry – the religious equivalent
Rundell 1994). of pseudoscience. Theology of revelation main-
tains that human knowledge of God is not accom-
plished through the exercise of reason but
Imagination in Science and Religion depends entirely on God’s self-revelation. Since
human nature is corrupted by sin, any use of
The question of the use and importance of imag- religious imagination will only undermine the
ination in science and religion is very compli- trustworthiness of God’s revelation. The “demy-
cated and can be addressed in many ways. For thologization program” of German theologian
the sake of systematic clarity, the issue will be Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976) can be seen as
discussed under three headings: an example of such an attempt to secure divine
Imagination 1041 I
self-revelation from the contamination of human imagination is used in science and religion
imagination. in much the same way. He defines imagina-
(b) Imagination is essential to religion, but plays tion functionally as “the paradigmatic fac-
no role in science. This position is intrinsic to ulty” (Green 1989, 66) which is used
the nineteenth century critique of religion of heuristically “to reveal the larger patterns in
which Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872) is an broad areas of experience that might other-
evident representative (Feuerbach 1841). wise remain inaccessible” (Op. cit., 67).
According to Feuerbach’s “projection theory Thus, “imagination is the taking of paradigms
of religion” (Harvey 1995, 229 ff.), the fun- to explore the patterns of the larger world”
damental cause of religion is the imagination. (Op. cit., 69). In science, paradigms are
In contrast, science and philosophy use usually called “theories” or “models,” which
reason in a disciplined manner in an attempt are used in the exploration of the patterns of
to elucidate the objective nature of reality. the nonfamiliar world; in religion, a similar
Hence, imagination, which Feuerbach under- function is often performed by normative
stands as the diametrically opposite of rea- texts, rituals, and dogmas. So, at least func-
son, reality, and objectivity, plays no part in tionally, science and religion are similar prac-
neither science nor philosophy. In religion, tices through which creative imagination
I
however, imagination is put to the service of attempts to make sense of reality (Barnes
human wish fulfillment, that is, a primordial 1983, 20).
desire to transcend the limits of human sub-
jectivity, and this strong alliance between
imagination and emotions may ultimately Cross-References
defeat reason and create illusions, most
notably the representation of “God.” ▶ Aesthetics (Philosophy)
(c) Imagination plays a central role in both ▶ Memory
science and religion. This position seems to ▶ Myth
be widely accepted among contemporary phi- ▶ Perception
losophers of religion as well as philosophers ▶ Philosophy of Mind
of science. It may seem counterintuitive that
an enlightenment thinker like Adam Smith
(1723–1790) would be able to find any use References
for imagination in science. However, he did
maintain that scientists use “the imagination Aristotle (1957). On the soul (W. S. Hett, Trans.).
Cambridge: William Heinemann Ltd.
to give us new insights into the familiar nat-
Barbour, I. (1998). Religion and science. Historical and
ural world” (Downie 2001, 60). As such, contemporary issues. London: SCM Press.
imagination must be seen as playing an Barnes, M. (1983). Faith and imagination in science and
important role in scientific discoveries. religion. Theology Today, 40(1), 15–24.
Barth, J. R. (2001). The symbolic imagination. Coleridge
More recently, Ian Barbour has argued that
and the Romantic Tradition. New York: Fordham
imagination is necessary in science in rela- University Press.
tion to the construction of theories and Coleridge, S. T. (1817). Biographia literaria. In K. Coburn
models. Theoretical models, according to (Ed.), The collected works VII. Princeton University
Press: Princeton.
Barbour, are “imagined mechanisms or pro-
Cornelius, C. (2007). Imaginary and imagination at the
cesses postulated in a new domain by analogy crossroads. In Z. Castoriadis et al. (Eds.), Figures of
with familiar mechanisms or processes” the thinkable (pp. 71–90). Stanford: Stanford Univer-
(Barbour 1998, 116). In a similar vein, sity Press.
Daston, L. (2005). Fear and loathing of the imagination in
American philosopher of religion Garrett
science. Daedalus, 134(4), 16–30.
Green, employing Thomas Kuhn’s (1922– Downie, R. (2001). Science and imagination in the age of
1996) concept of paradigms, argues that reason. Medical Humanities, 27, 58–63.
I 1042 Imago Dei
Engell, J. (1981). The creative imagination. Enlighten- creaturely status, its religious meaning is that the
ment to romanticism. Cambridge: Harvard University human is the species whose presence on Earth
Press.
Feuerbach, L. (1841). Das Wesen des Christentums shall be a sign of God as the creator and ruler of
(3rd ed, 1969). Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam. the universe.
Green, G. (1989). Imagining God. Theology and the reli- From a theological point of view, imago Dei
gious imagination (2nd ed, 1998). Grand Rapids, MI: may be interpreted as a designation of the human
William B. Eerdmans.
Harvey, V. A. (1995). Feuerbach and the interpretation of that has several different functions: It draws
religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. a clear line between God and the human, creator
Kearney, R. (1988). The wake of imagination. Toward and creature; it separates the human as a species
a postmodern culture. London: Routledge. with a specific distinction from and over against
Miner, R. (2004). Truth in the making. Creative knowl-
edge in theology and philosophy. New York: other living beings, thereby also suggesting the
Routledge. human’s status in creation as privileged; and it
Ricoeur, P. (1975). La métaphore vive. Paris: Éditions du offers the human a specific task: To live in such
Seuil. a way that the function of being a sign of God as
Robinson, G., & Rundell, J. (Eds.). (1994). Rethinking
imagination. Culture and creativity. London: creator of the universe is maintained. In the
Routledge. Christian tradition, during the interpretations of
Sartre, J.-P. (1940). L’Imaginaire: psychologie phénomé Jesus Christ in the New Testament, the notion has
nologique de l’imagination. Paris: Gallimard. been given a further theological relevance when
Soulen, R. K., & Woodhead, L. (2006). Contextualizing
human dignity. In R. K. Soulen & L. Woodhead (Eds.), Christ is seen as the true image of God (Col 1,15),
God and human dignity (pp. 1–24). Grand Rapids, but this latter level of symbolic meaning has
MI: William B. Eerdmans. hardly been of any relevance to the science–
religion debate. The enduring theological
significance of the notion, which also makes it
culturally vital and important still, is its ability to
Imago Dei offer a powerful way of interpreting the human’s
unique relationship with God and within creation.
Jan-Olav Henriksen Thus, its point is not to indicate specific inherent
(MF) Norwegian School of Theology, Majorstua, human capacities or features such as a sign of
Oslo, Norway being created in the image of God, but to indicate
the specific relation between humans and God.
Related Terms
History and Context
Image of god (about the human being)
During the centuries, the historical and contex-
tual background suggested above often seems to
Description have been lost to different interpreters of the
Scriptures or has been developed into more
Imago Dei is the Latin translation of “image of one-sided interpretations of what is the specific
God,” which is the designation of the human being character of the human being in creation. Accord-
in Genesis 1:27. The original Hebrew text seems ingly, the history of the interpretation of imago
to suggest that implied in this designation are Dei is complex. The interpretation of the notion
features that give the human a similar function can thus be seen as a reflection of the different
like those of memorial stones in ancient Middle understandings of the human that have been prev-
East: The presence of such stones was intended to alent during the different periods in the course of
make people remember who the ruler in a given history. In this way, imago Dei has served as
area was. When this symbolic function is given to a notion that mirrors what one in a given period
the human as an initial characteristic of its with a given theological or philosophical context
Imago Dei 1043 I
has taken to be the distinct human feature when Dei and is able to uphold this notion’s more
the human is compared to other species. Often, relational aspect, without denying neither
imago Dei has been understood as an indication human evolution nor the fact that many previ-
of the rational character of human existence or ously assumed unique human capacities are
the human’s capacity for moral conduct. Some- also to be found in the primates (including
times, it has also been interpreted as a way to the capacity for morality).
designate the human’s capacity for religion. After 2. Human Dignity. The notion of imago Dei has
the Enlightenment, imago Dei has often been been invoked in order to safeguard human
understood as a theological synonym to the dignity. This has been done in confrontation
more secular notion of human dignity. This latter with types of research on humans, embryos,
interpretation has occasionally included echoes fetuses, the human genome, etc., that is per-
of the emphasis on the rational and moral capac- ceived as attempts to instrumentalize or reify
ities of humans. Presently, imago Dei is often humans as material and objects for research
understood in ways that emphasize the relational without taking into account human dignity,
and the embodied way of being human, this also human freedom, and the personal dimension
indicating that humans are best understood as of human existence. The notion of imago Dei
communal and not as individual beings. This has also been invoked in order to support
I
also has bearings on how the notion is employed, restrictive stands on euthanasia.
e.g., in debates about euthanasia. In sum, we can 3. The Ecological Debate. The designation of
see the interplay of substantial, functional, and humans as created in the image of God is in
relational interpretations of imago Dei during the Genesis connected with the notion of humans
history of its theological articulations. as stewards and rulers of creation. This is
interpreted by some as one of the causes of
the present ecological crisis (White 1967).
Relevance for Science-Religion Dialogue Because understanding themselves as imago
Dei may lead humans to understand them-
The notion of imago Dei has had most impact in selves as set apart from the rest of creation,
Western thinking. Although all the three this may in turn lead to objectifying and
Abrahamic traditions have (to a larger or smaller exploiting approaches to nature. Imago Dei is
degree) adopted this as a way to describe the in this way interpreted as an expression of
human (in Islam somehow disputed, though), it anthropocentrism. One could, however,
is mostly due to its development in the Christian according to the above discussion, also see
(Western) tradition that the notion has been rele- imago Dei as a way to express the responsibil-
vant for the science–religion discourse. One can ity that humans have for the whole of creation.
identify its present relevance for the science– 4. The Debate About Speciesism and Animal
religion dialogue along the following lines: Rights. Because imago Dei is a religious notion
1. Human Uniqueness. From a theological/ that is applied uniquely to humans, it has been
religious view, imago Dei has been a strong seen as one of the roots of speciesism: the
point of orientation and motivation for those understanding that humans have a privileged
who want to emphasize human uniqueness place compared to other species and should be
compared to other species. In its rude forms, given specific value because they belong to this
this has been taken as a theological warrant for group of species. Speciesism based on the
rejecting forms of evolutionary thought that assumption that humans as imago Dei are supe-
suggest that humans are bound to the same rior and can discriminate against other species
natural and evolutionary conditions as is according to their own interests may back the
every other species. Presently, in the more accusation that religiously based attitudes
qualified science–religion discourse, one is toward nature may lead to morally unjustified
aiming at finding ways of interpreting imago practices over against other parts of nature.
I 1044 Immunological Computation
References to early Buddhist thought. The argument advanced

to support the idea that impermanence does indeed
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that on close investigation all aspects of experi-
& K. Jung (Eds.), Humanity before God. Contemporary
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olis: Fortress Press. ation. This empirical approach, together with the
Singer, P. (1982). The expanding circle: Ethics and socio- conclusions drawn from it, places this aspect of
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Buddhist thought in considerable vicinity to sci-
Solomon, N., Salvesen, A., & Michot, Y. (2005).
Chapter 5: The image of god in humanity. In ence and scientific methodology.
N. Solomon, R. Harries, & T. Winter (Eds.), From an early Buddhist perspective, whatever
Abraham’s children. Jews, Christian and Muslims in exists turns out on close inspection to be but
conversation. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. With subchap-
a changing process, whether this be the whole
ters on Jewish, Christian and Muslim thought.
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anthropology. The Journal of Scriptural Reasoning, 4, ogy undergoes periodical destruction, or the
(Online). fleeting mind, which introspection shows to be
Van Huyssteen, J. W. (2006). Alone in the world? Human
changing every moment. Thus, early Buddhist
uniqueness in science and theology. Eerdmans: Grand
Rapids. analysis concludes – contrary to the stipulations
Westermann, C. (1974). Creation. Philadelphia: Fortress made in many a religious tradition – that
Press. a permanent entity or self cannot be found
White Jr., L. (1967). The historical roots of our ecological
anywhere at all (Feer 1884–1898, III 144).
crisis. Science, 155, 1203–1207.
In the early Buddhist scheme of deliverance,
progress to awakening requires insight into imper-
manence as its central basis (▶ Awakening). Such
Immunological Computation awareness of impermanence has quite literally to
penetrate into every aspect of experience, seeing
▶ Artificial Immune Systems that each and every aspect of it has arisen and will
pass away.
Comprehensive insight into impermanence then
builds up the basis for insight into what Buddhist
Impermanence (Buddhist) thought considers the other two characteristics of
reality, namely, unsatisfactoriness (▶ Dukkha) and
Bhikkhu Anālayo not-self (▶ Anattā). The dynamic that relates these
Center for Buddhist Studies, University of characteristics to each other proceeds as follows:
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany What has been seen with insight as impermanent is
next understood to be unsatisfactory. In fact, the
reasoning goes that it is precisely because of its
Related Terms impermanent nature that it cannot yield lasting
satisfaction. What is unsatisfactory is then in turn
Anicca (Pāli); Anitya (Sanskrit) contemplated as being devoid of a self. Again, it is
precisely because it is unsatisfactory that it fails to
qualify as a self.
Description In this way, seeing the whole gamut of expe-
rience with insight as being invariably subject to
Realizing the impermanent nature of all aspects impermanence and therefore lacking lasting
of subjective experience, including the whole satisfaction will ensure that what is subjectively
world at large, is a key aspect in the development experienced as a solid “I” that reaches out to
of insight into the true nature of reality according appropriate various objects as “mine” is instead
Impermanence (Buddhist) 1045 I
understood with wisdom as being merely recognizes that phenomena do persist for some
a process, a product of conditions. time, even though this continuity is marked by
The importance of penetrative awareness of change. In other words, the early Buddhist dictum
impermanence for the development of insight that all aspects of experience are changing only
and wisdom receives a highlight in the last implies that they are processes, not that they must
instruction that, according to the traditional necessarily disappear right away.
account, was given by the Buddha to his disciples Another significant aspect of impermanence in
on the eve of his passing away: “conditioned early Buddhist thought is its intrinsic relationship
phenomena are of a nature to vanish, [hence] to conditionality. According to a succinct sum-
strive on with diligence” (Carpenter and Rhys mary of the Buddhist doctrine of dependent aris-
Davids 1890–1911, II 156). ing, the chief underlying principle of this doctrine
The conception of impermanence found in the is that “with the arising of this, that arises” and
early Buddhist discourses describes phenomena “with the cessation of this, that ceases”
not only as arising and passing away, but at the (▶ Dependent Arising). Thus, what is conditioned
same time recognizes that, as long as they remain, is necessarily impermanent, and what is imperma-
change will manifest as an “otherwiseness of that nent is certainly conditioned, these two notions
which persists” (Morris and Hardy 1885–1900, being but two sides of the same doctrinal coin.
I
I 152). This mode of presentation thus combines Contemplation undertaken in accordance with
change with continuity. what the early Buddhist analysis reckons
With later developments of Buddhist philoso- a correct vision of existence – namely, seeing its
phy, however, the continuity inherent in this conditioned and impermanent nature – leads on
conception becomes less evident. This is to the insight that existence is unable to yield
particular the case with the theory of momentar- lasting satisfaction and that it is devoid of any
iness. From the perspective of this doctrine, permanent substance or self. Such contemplation
things disappear as soon as they have appeared. is held to purify the mind gradually from various
Such a radical conception of impermanence mental obstructions and will eventually issue in
results in the difficulty that the evident fact of awakening to the experience of Nirvāna, unique
˙
continuity is not easily explained. in Buddhist thought for not being considered
The difference between these two subject to change.
conceptions – the notion of impermanence in
early Buddhism and the later theory of momentar-
iness – can be illustrated by contrasting a flickering Cross-References
lamp to the steady flow of a river. In the first case,
the light of the lamp is experienced as disappearing ▶ Reality in Buddhism
as soon as it appears. In the case of the flowing ▶ Space and Time
water of a river, an image in fact used in the ▶ Time
Buddhist discourses to illustrate the impermanence
of life (Morris and Hardy 1885–1900, IV 137), the
flow of the water is experienced as a changing References
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˙
nence does not face a problem in explaining
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I 1046 Implicit Religion
Secondary Sources (a less invasive technique than standard surgery)

Karunadasa, Y. (2010). The Theravāda Abhidhamma. and placed in a lab dish containing culture
Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong.
medium. The oocytes are carefully observed in
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tariness: A survey of the origins and early phase of this order to establish the optimum stage of matura-
doctrine up to Vasubandhu. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner tion, and then spermatozoa are introduced to the
Verlag. lab dish. About 40 h later, it can be determined
whether fertilization has taken place and if so,
the fertilized egg(s) is transferred to the uterus in
the hope that it will attach to the uterine wall,
Implicit Religion develop a placenta, and thereby establish
a pregnancy.
▶ Theater Because of a relatively low success rate of
embryo transfers (currently about 10–20 %,
although some fertility clinics claim up to 40 %
success rates) it is routine for doctors to transfer
In Vitro Fertilization, Stem Cell several fertilized eggs (embryos) to the uterus at
Research and Ethics one time in the hope that one or two will result in
a normal pregnancy. Sometimes the result is
Eve Herold a multiple pregnancy with very large numbers
Genetics Policy Institute, Washington, DC, USA of embryos beginning to develop. This has led
to some couples becoming parents to sextuplets
and even septuplets, but in most cases, selective
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a technique of abortion is performed to preserve the health of the
assisted reproduction in which the fertilization mother and increase the chances of remaining
of an egg by sperm is achieved outside the embryos thriving. In addition, some embryos cre-
body. Couples seeking IVF treatments may be ated this way are never transferred to the uterus
experiencing either male or female infertility, because of chromosomal abnormalities, a failure
but is often utilized when the female produces to divide, and other reasons. Such embryos are
normal eggs (oocytes) but the eggs cannot travel cryopreserved (frozen at a very low temperature)
to the uterus due to damaged fallopian tubes. until the egg and sperm donors decide upon their
The technique was pioneered in the 1970s by disposition. The overall low success rate of IVF
Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe in England. means that significantly more embryos will be
Since then, over three million “test tube babies” created than will ever result in a pregnancy or
have been born throughout the world using IVF a live birth. Consequently, it is common for
techniques. couples undergoing IVF treatments to complete
To perform IVF, one must have viable sper- their family-building goals and have several
matozoa and healthy eggs at a precise stage of embryos left over. As a result, it is estimated that
maturity – a fleeting condition for the egg that there are approximately 400,000 cryopreserved
lasts only a matter of hours. To increase the odds embryos in the USA alone.
of conception, women undergoing IVF take The disposition of left-over embryos can
drugs that cause ovarian hyperstimulation, include: (1) the couple could decide to transfer
which causes the ovaries to produce larger- them at a later date, leaving the possibility open
than-normal numbers of eggs. In normal repro- for another pregnancy; (2) the embryos could be
duction, these eggs would travel through the donated to other couples who wish to use them
fallopian tubes and, if fertilized, possibly attach for reproductive purposes; (3) they can be
to the uterine wall and establish a pregnancy. disposed of as medical waste; and (4) they can
However, in IVF, these eggs are retrieved be donated for scientific research, including
from the surface of the ovaries via laparoscopy human embryonic stem cell research. So far the
In Vitro Fertilization, Stem Cell Research and Ethics 1047 I
most common disposition of left-over embryos is Pluripotent stem cells contain the genetic
eventually option number three (disposal). blueprint for the entire human body and are able
Option number one is rarely chosen because to give rise to any cell type that may be needed to
most couples undergoing assisted reproduction replace dead or diseased cells in a large array of
not only want to have their own genetic children, diseases and injuries. This means that specific
they want to limit the number of children they tissues and organs can be grown in the lab and
have. The second option, donation to other cou- transplanted into patients, with the hope of restor-
ples, is very rarely chosen, and represents less ing lost or impaired functions. Pluripotent cells
than one percent of all the frozen embryos cur- that contain genetic mutations for disease can
rently being preserved by IVF clinics. Reasons also be used to study the genesis of certain
that are often cited include the fact that donor diseases from their earliest beginnings. Many
couples are reluctant to have their genetic chil- scientists hope to be able to clone embryonic
dren raised by others, and the fact that parents stem cells from the cells of patients who have
who are able to have their own genetic children genetic diseases, to provide human disease-
lack the incentive to “adopt” another couple’s carrying cell populations that can be used in the
offspring. Donation of embryos to research is search for new drugs and other treatments. Even
chosen in a significant number of cases when without the extra step of cloning, the ability to
I
offered to couples. grow large numbers of many different human cell
It’s important to note that the options for the types (from embryos) in the lab is considered
dispensation of left-over embryos is generally by scientists to be one of the most important
spelled out in a contractual agreement between biomedical advancements of the twenty-first
egg and sperm donors and the fertility clinic century. It is expected that the study of stem
providing treatments. In the United States at cells and the differentiated cells they give rise to
least, clinics sometimes agree to maintain will dramatically advance the understanding of
embryos in their frozen state for 5 years (for a fee human development and biology.
of about $2,000 per year), while the donors make Because of their proven pluripotency and
up their minds about what they would like to do their robust ability to proliferate indefinitely in
with them. Some clinics require a decision by the the lab, the cells obtained from the 4- to 7-day-
donors after 5 years, and some have a policy of old blastocyst are considered the “gold
never disposing of embryos; however, a study standard” of stem cells. Other types of stem
reported in 2005 found that over 80 % of fertility cells exist, such as adult stem cells (taken from
clinics routinely dispose of unused embryos. the fully developed human body) and gestational
However, the number of frozen embryos is not stem cells (taken from umbilical cord blood and
expected to diminish because new couples amniotic fluid). These cell types have not been
are continuously entering the IVF process, shown to be as versatile or as robust as embry-
creating multiple embryos, and transferring only onic stem cells, but they nevertheless can pro-
some of them. vide certain targeted therapies, such as the
In vitro fertilization practices have been rejuvenation of the immune system following
ethically controversial since the first test-tube chemotherapy, or to cure blood diseases such
baby was born in 1980, and the issue began to as leukemia. Another advantage to using embry-
receive even more attention after the first human onic stem cells is their availability in the
embryonic stem cells were isolated from above-mentioned frozen embryos that are not
IVF-created embryos in 1998. This development slated for reproductive use. Many embryos
opened the door to the possibility of scientists deemed not suitable for transfer to the womb
using excess IVF embryos in research aimed (estimated as approximately 60 % of embryos
at utilizing the pluripotent stem cells taken from created in the IVF process) could still prove
4- to 7-day-old embryos (blastocysts) to create valuable for stem cell research. However, not
cures for cell-based diseases. all sectors of society are comfortable with
I 1048 In Vitro Fertilization, Stem Cell Research and Ethics
using embryos in research, and some are against absolutist view. The Catholic Church, in partic-
any manipulation of an embryo whatsoever. ular, also opposes the creation of embryos for
These ethical positions, and several others, are reproductive purposes because it sees assisted
outlined below. reproduction as a violation of the sanctity of the
Another source of embryonic stem cells is marriage relationship and its role in reproduc-
through a technique called somatic cell nuclear tion. Other views, however, are considerably
transfer (SCNT), or therapeutic cloning. In con- more nuanced, and balance respect for the
trast to the popular conception of cloning (called embryo with the need to cure disease and ame-
reproductive cloning), SCNT does not result in liorate suffering.
the birth of a complete copy of a human being. It Critical to all other religious views is the con-
is a technique for creating pluripotent stem cells cept of ensoulment – when the developing
that are genetically matched to an individual. embryo or fetus acquires a soul. Prior to the
SCNT begins with an oocyte in which the cell nineteenth century, the Catholic Church held to
nucleus (and hence all of the nuclear DNA) has the Augustinian belief that the soul emerges at
been removed to render the egg as genetically 40 days’ gestation for males and 80 days’ gesta-
“neutral” as possible. The egg is then fused with tion for females. It was only in 1869 that the
a somatic cell (usually a skin cell) of a specific Church began to take the view that human life
individual. The nucleus of the somatic cell then begins at fertilization. It is the concept of ensoul-
provides the nuclear DNA of the cell, and when ment that either directly or indirectly determines
activated to divide, each new cell will be a near- whether embryonic stem cell research is accept-
perfect genetic match to the donor of the somatic able under certain circumstances. Among main-
cell. Within a few days, an inner cell mass will stream Christian Protestants, the research is
appear that contains up to 200 undifferentiated, generally supported. The Presbyterian Church,
pluripotent stem cells that carry the genetic the United Methodist Church, the United Church
imprint of the somatic cell donor. Technically, of Christ, the Episcopal Church, and the Unitar-
this dividing cell is referred to as an embryo, and ian Universalist Association all endorse the
if transferred into a woman’s uterus, it is theoret- research as being in keeping with Christian
ically possible that it could result in the birth of compassion for the sick and suffering.
a child who would be a genetic twin (a reproduc- The United Synagogue of Conservative Juda-
tive clone) of the somatic cell donor. However, in ism and most Jewish denominations believe that
SCNT, the embryo is never transferred, and the soul of a human being emerges gradually, and
harvesting the stem cells at the blastocyst stage they support embryonic stem cell research. The
ends any possibility that a baby could result. The Muslim religion holds that the soul enters a fetus
stem cells can then be cultured and driven to at 120 days after conception, and most Muslims
differentiate into a particular cell type to be support embryonic research without reservation.
used as a transplant or to be studied for its disease The Hindu religion regards the beginning of life
characteristics. as the moment of conception, but the destruction
Religious and Ethical Positions. There is of an embryo must be weighed against the possi-
a range of religious and ethical positions regard- bility of doing good. If the embryo can be used to
ing the status of the lab-created embryo, or relieve suffering, then its destruction is not
blastocyst, and whether it is acceptable to use prohibited. Although Buddhist scriptures say
it in biomedical research. The most restrictive that life begins at conception, Buddhist countries
view, held by Catholics and by some Christian have some of the most supportive policies toward
evangelicals and fundamentalists, is that the stem cell research. Buddhist ethics are not
blastocyst should be accorded the same rights intended as laws, but as guidelines to which
as any fully formed human being. This means human beings must bring their own rational inter-
that any research that would destroy an embryo pretations to when deciding what are best for the
is unacceptable to those who hold such an greatest number of people.
Incarnation 1049 I
It should be noted that some of the objections Description
to doing research with embryos may be based on
misunderstandings of the nature of the blastocyst. Incarnation is one of the central doctrines of
One frequently cited objection is that the blasto- Christianity: Along with the doctrine of the
cyst is genetically unique, and this establishes its Trinity, it was established in the first ecumenical
worth as a human being. In reality, a blastocyst councils. To be a member of the World Council
exists prior to the stage wherein the embryo of Churches, and thereby be considered as
could split to form twins, triplets, or other multi- a Christian church or a denomination, a church
ples. Another common objection is that the needs to confess to both Trinity and the dual
embryo has the potential to grow into a complete nature of Christ, that is, the incarnation.
human being, but this argument runs into trouble
when one considers that each and every cell of The Doctrine of Incarnation
the human body, if cloned, has the theoretical According to the council of Chalcedon (451), that
potential to grow into a human being. Many solidified the incarnation dogma, “one and the
people take the pragmatic view that many thou- same Christ, Son, Lord, only-begotten,
sands of blastocysts now exist for which the [is] acknowledged in two natures which undergo
most likely fate is disposal as medical waste, no confusion, no change, no division, no
I
and hold that the use of these embryos in bio- separation; . . . the property of both natures is
medical research is a more acceptable choice preserved and comes together into a single person
than their destruction. and single subsistent being (hypostasis); he is not
parted or divided into two persons, but is one and
the same only-begotten Son, God, Word, Lord
Cross-References Jesus Christ.”
What incarnation means in its classical formu-
▶ Bioethics in Christianity lation, then, is that Jesus Christ can be said to be
▶ Body (in some concrete way, not just figuratively) both
▶ Christian Ethics God and man at the same time. To be more
▶ Ethics precise, the incarnation requires that the second
▶ Medical Sociology person of the Trinity (God the Son) became
a human being, retained all the attributes neces-
sary for divinity and gained all attributes neces-
sary for being human. Thus, it would be true
Inactivity to say that God the Son has the attributes of
Jesus of Nasareth, a Jewish man who lived in
▶ Apraxias first-century Palestine. Further, the Chalcedonian
orthodoxy involves that in Christ there is only one
subject, not two, and both divine and human
attributes are had by this subject. The traditional
Incarnation formula is usually summarized in the claim that
Jesus Christ is both God and man, one single
Aku Visala person with fully divine and human natures.
Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, The traditional formulation does not explicate
Kellogg College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK how exactly it is the case that one person, one
entity, has both divine and human nature and thus
both divine and human properties. Instead, the
Related Terms formulation is designed to rule out several other
options regarding the relationship of God and
Christology Christ. First of all, it rules out a view according
I 1050 Incarnation
to which Christ was not really human at all, just that at least some of them are logically contradic-
a God in a human disguise. Conversely, the view tory? In what follows, I focus on the last question
that Christ was simply a man with an extraordi- and how it has been dealt in contemporary
nary relationship with God is also ruled out by the philosophical discussions on incarnation (for
Chalcedonian formula. overviews of all the following theories, see
Another view ruled out by the Chalcedonian Marmodoro and Hill 2011).
orthodoxy is Nestorianism (after Nestorius) who The last question is known as the incoherence
claimed that there are two distinct subjects or problem. In short, the problem is that it seems
persons in Christ, one divine and another logically contradictory for one person to have
human. Thus, the divine Christ does not have divine properties and human properties at the
the same properties than the human Christ. same time. The traditional formulation of the
Nestorius’ views were condemned by the Church incarnation seems to require that Christ is both,
because it insisted that Christ’s human properties, say, omniscient and omnipotent as well as to
such as being born of Mary, must be attributed to some extent ignorant and lacking certain powers
the whole person of Christ, not just to Christ’s at the same time. One could argue that properties
human nature. Otherwise, Mary would only be, as such as being located in space and time (temporal
Nestorius had suggested, the Mother of Christ and physical), being physically bounded and hav-
(Christotokos), not the Mother of God (Theoto- ing constraints to one’s knowledge and power are
kos). Since the church maintained that Mary did essential for what makes something a human
indeed give birth to God the Son, not just a human being. But such properties are in contradiction
person, the human properties of Jesus of Nasareth with properties that, at least for the classical theist,
must be attributable to God the Son as well. constitute the essential properties for being God.
The Chalcedonian formulation also rules Traditionally, classical theism has understood God
out what is normally called monophysitism. being omniscient, omnipotent, perfectly good and
According to this view, there is only one person loving, timeless, immutable, and simple. Further,
in Christ, God the Son, and only one nature, the these properties are viewed as essential for divinity
divine nature. Fearing that this view would evap- (that is, what it is to be God) and are held as
orate Christ’s humanness and the genuine union perfections that a perfect being (God) possesses
between human and divine natures, the ortho- necessarily. Therefore, if a being that had these
doxy rejected monophysitism and insisted that properties lost one, say, omniscience, that being
there are indeed two distinct natures without con- would no longer be, or never could have been, the
fusion. Finally, the Chalcedonian orthodoxy most perfect being and therefore not God.
rejected a view known as monothelitism, There is also another problem here, usually
according to which, there is only one will (or called “the biblical Jesus” problem. The problem
center of agency) in Christ, namely, the divine is that Jesus, as he is portrayed in the Gospels,
will. Against this view, it was affirmed that there seems to lack attributes that are essential to divin-
are in fact two wills in Christ, the divine will and ity in the aforementioned sense. Sometimes,
the human will, but the human will is subservient Jesus seems to be ignorant and powerless. One
to the divine will. might object at this point and claim that Jesus
only seems ignorant and powerless; in reality, he
Problems is truly omniscient and omnipotent. This objec-
As we can see even from this brief overview, the tion could be addressed in many different ways,
doctrine of incarnation presents quite tricky but the fact is that even if it is correct, no one in
metaphysical challenges to its adherents (for crit- her right mind would deny that Jesus is clearly
icisms, see Hick 2005). Several questions arise. a temporal, changing, and physically bounded
What are persons? What does it mean to have being. The problem is that at least these human
a nature? How can one person have both divine properties are such that God cannot possess (in
properties and human properties, since it seems the classical view) and still be God. So, even if it
Incarnation 1051 I
is the case that being human is compatible with God the Son, human body, and a human soul.
having perfect knowledge and perfect power, Here, the divine nature is not a part of anything.
being God does not seem to be compatible with Instead, the part is the divine person, God the
being physically bounded and changing. In sum, Son. The problem in Leftow’s proposal is, how-
the coherence problem has to do with the seeming ever, that it is now difficult to see, how God the
incompatibility of certain properties that seem to Son would be the subject of Christ’s human prop-
be essential for being human and properties that erties. In this sense, Leftow’s view is very close
are essential for being divine. to Nestorianism. In this view, it is not the case
that God the Son is identical with Christ, but
Compositional Theories rather only a part of Christ along with the
The classical solution to the incoherence problem human parts of Jesus of Nasareth.
is based on the idea that divine and human prop-
erties are attributed to different parts of the whole Kenotic Theories
person of Christ. Such proposals might, therefore, Due to the difficulties in the compositional
be called compositional accounts of incarnation. accounts, several contemporary philosophers
In this view, the two natures, divine and human, have resurrected a somewhat minor tradition in
are seen as proper parts of the person of Christ. Christology usually called Kenotic Christology.
I
Divine properties are instantiated by the divine Kenosis (gr. Kenosis -“emptying”) theorists
nature and human properties by the human claim that God the Son temporarily “emptied”
nature. But since these natures compose one sin- himself of his divine attributes when existing in
gle person, we can truthfully say that Jesus Christ his earthy, incarnated state (for overviews, see
as a single person has both divine and human Evans 2006). This is supposed to solve both the
properties. Such a view was typical for Thomas incoherence problem and the “the biblical Jesus”
Aquinas and has been subsequently refined and problem. During his earthly life, the Kenosis the-
defended in contemporary debates by, for exam- orists think that God the Son willfully and tem-
ple, Eleonore Stump. According to Stump, the porarily gave up his omniscience, omnipotence,
compositional account of incarnation assumes and other divine attributes. This, it is claimed, is
that a whole can be said to have any given prop- the only way to make sense of how Jesus is
erty in virtue of the fact that its proper part has portrayed in the New Testament: benevolent
this property. Thus, there can be one whole being, and knowledgeable, yes, but not infallible or per-
God the Son, who has both divine and human fectly powerful.
properties ascribed to its two distinct parts, the Kenotic theory is not without its problems. It
divine nature and human nature. Both divine and forces it adherents to either reformulate classical
human properties are properly attributed to the divine attributes or give up the idea that these
whole, but this is in virtue of two distinct natures attributes are essential and necessary for divinity.
which are the carriers of both divine and human According to the reformulation view, we should
properties, respectively. understand any given divine attribute to include
The problem with Stump’s view is that it is a “kenotic clause.” In the case of omniscience, for
extremely difficult to conceive of how the divine instance, such a clause would be something like
nature could be a concrete part of anything. this:“a perfect being is omniscient unless it freely
Divine nature is supposed to be such that it is chooses to be not-omniscient for a certain period
shared by all the persons of the Trinity. As such, of time.” However, divine attributes tweaked in
divine nature looks more like a property, an this way are in contradiction with the way in
abstract object, rather than something that can which divine attributes are normally understood
be a part of a whole. Brian Leftow’s version of in classical theism, that is, that they are modally
the incarnation attempts to circumvent these as strong as possible. Thus, the classical theist
worries. According to Leftow, Christ is a whole would say that it is essential for being God
comprised of not human and divine natures, but that God is necessarily omnipotent simpliciter.
I 1052 Incarnation
Thus, the critic of the kenotic view would here himself. To solve “the biblical Jesus” problem,
say that the kenotic tweaking of divine attributes Morris claims that Christ had, as it were, two
is not only in contradiction with classical theism, minds or centers of consciousness and agency,
but also extremely ad hoc. one human and one divine. To be fully human,
God to Son had to take on both a human body and
Two-Minds Theories a human mind. But this does not eliminate his
One of the most widely discussed theory of the divine powers and knowledge still preserved in
incarnation is the two-minds view developed by his divine mind. Morris, therefore, argues that, in
Thomas Morris (1986). Morris begins by drawing addition to having two natures, divine and human,
an important distinction between kind natures and Christ also has two distinct minds: the divine mind
individual natures. Having a kind nature means with its divine powers and the human mind. The
that an individual has the essential properties of human mind of Christ would develop as any other
some kind or a class of beings. An individual has human mind having access to the information
a human kind nature when the individual possesses present in the first century Palestine context. The
all the properties essential for being human. It is relationship between these two minds is asymmet-
possible that an individual has various kind natures rical: the divine mind has full access to the human
and having one is not essential to identity of the mind but not vice versa. The idea is that, most of
individual. Contrary to this, individual natures are the time, Christ chose to live his life in virtue of his
necessary: individual natures are clusters of essen- human mind only, blocking his human mind’s
tial properties that make individuals what they are; access to his divine mind. But sometimes, the
they cannot lose any of these properties without human mind would have access to the divine
ceasing to exist. Given this distinction, Morris can mind and its complete knowledge and power.
now say that even if individual humans (in virtue Although Morris’ proposal has been quite
of having their individual natures) have limited popular, there is a problem as well. It seems that
knowledge and power, for instance, it does not Morris’ view leads to the thought that there are
follow that having such properties are necessary two distinct persons in Christ: one divine and one
for being human (having a human kind nature). In human. Normally, we distinguish persons by way
other words, being non-omniscient and non- of their minds: two minds equal two persons.
omnipotent are not necessary for having a human Morris, of course, claims that such is not the
kind nature. Morris can thus formulate his often case with Christ: in Christ there is only one per-
cited distinction between being merely human and son who has two minds. But if we consider belief
being fully human. We human beings are both ascriptions, the issue becomes quite complicated.
fully human and merely human: we are fallible, If Morris is correct, then the person Christ would
sinful, lack ultimate power; we exemplify human have some false beliefs in virtue of his human
nature only. Given the aforementioned distinc- mind (e.g., that the Earth is flat) and true beliefs in
tions, this does not prevent an individual from virtue of his divine mind (e.g., that the Earth is
exemplifying also a divine nature, that is, being a sphere) at the same time. The problem is that
fully human (and fully divine), but not merely beliefs are not ordinarily ascribed to conscious-
human. Morris’ solution is, ultimately, that there nesses at all, but rather to persons. Further, since
is no logical contradiction for an individual being God the Son is necessarily omniscient, the divine
both fully human and fully divine. This, however, mind of the divine person cannot have false
works only with respect to attributes like omnipo- beliefs. Thus, it seems that there must be another
tence, omniscience or perfect goodness: it seems mental subject, another person, that is the subject
that even Morris has to leave eternality, immuta- of Christ’s false beliefs. Several attempts to
bility, and aseity out of the picture. develop and refine the two-minds view of incar-
If this is the case, then what should we say nation have subsequently been made by, for
about the New Testament stories that attribute example, Richard Swinburne, but they are too
fallibility and other non-divine attributes to Jesus detailed to be discussed here.
Incarnation 1053 I
It seems that current solutions to the coherence view of the created world: by assuming and
problem suggest a move away from classic theis- perfecting material, embodied humanity, God
tic attributes such as immutability and timeless- signified that materiality and the material aspects
ness toward a more temporal and mutable God. of humanity are valuable and not to be rejected as
Such a move will, of course, be happily endorsed a necessary evil. They conclude that the notion of
by those otherwise inclined toward open theism incarnation has to be reformulated in order to
or personalistic theism that are critical of the jettison its metaphysical baggage (For such crit-
classical attributes of immutability, eternality, icisms, see Shults 2008).
and aseity for other reasons as well. However, Contemporary evolutionary or dynamic
many defenders of non-kenotic incarnation, such accounts of incarnation tend toward either
as Morris, insist that there is no reason to give up Kenotic views of the incarnation or jettison the
necessary omnipotence, omniscience, perfect idea of Christ’s essential divinity altogether see-
goodness, and other central divine attributes. ing Him as perfect exemplar of humanity and
openness to God. Most contemporary evolution-
Incarnation in the Context of Evolution ary Christologies (and theories of the incarnation)
Many contemporary theologians seek to under- are inspired by both Teilhard de Chardin and
stand Christology in the context of biology and process theology. These theories usually take
I
physics as well as relating it to contemporary Christ to be divine only to the extent that he is
ethical issues. Several Catholic (e.g., Pierre obedient to God’s will. By being completely obe-
Teilhard de Chardin, Karl Rahner) and Protestant dient to God’s will and accepting His gift of
(e.g., Thomas Torrance, F. LeRon Shults) theo- grace, Christ becomes the perfect man. In this
logians have argued that the classical doctrine of sense, incarnation means simply that Christ is
incarnation and its problems are driven by out- both a new kind of perfected human being and
dated metaphysical categories of “nature,” a promise of a brighter future for humans through
“soul,” and “person.” This has created their God-controlled evolution (For overviews
a movement among theologians to reformulate and criticisms, see Deane-Drummond 2009).
the doctrine of incarnation in a way that is sup- One problem with these proposals is that the
posedly more compatible with contemporary classical motivation for the doctrine of incarnation
evolutionary view of the world. A Darwinian is not realized. The early church held that the
understanding of these concepts would empha- redemption and salvation of humans is only possi-
size the fluidity of these categories: there are no ble if humanity and divinity are unified in Christ.
fixed human (or divine) “natures” or “essences” That is to say, if Christ is not fully human and fully
anymore than there are essential differences divine, then there cannot be redemption for human-
between humans and animals. These differences ity. If, as many evolutionary or dynamic theories
are a matter of degree, not strict separation. Fur- suggest, Christ is a human being who gradually
ther, many theologians argue that metaphysical becomes the greatest exemplar of a perfect relation-
views of the incarnation are plagued by substance ship to the divine, indeed perhaps, a new step in
dualism and thus are based on unscientific psy- humanity’s evolution, then Christ’s soteriological
chology. Instead, we should adopt a more holistic role vanishes. God the Son does not become incar-
and multileveled view of human nature and cog- nated “because of our salvation,” but rather because
nition, informed by contemporary cognitive and the emergence of a man with a perfect relationship
neurosciences. Persons, ı́n their view, are fully to God in the course of human evolution is an
embodied, complex wholes and metaphysical inevitable step. That is to say, the incarnation
concepts, such as soul or nature, are not adequate (understood in this way) is built into evolution
to describe this. A radically different ontology is itself, thus being part of the doctrine of creation
needed, an ontology of relationality and multiple rather than redemption and salvation.
levels, not of fixed essences. In this sense, the Further, evolutionary Christologies also
incarnation supports a positive and anti-dualistic seem to make incarnation a highly contingent
I 1054 Indeterminism
event: any human anywhere could have achieved Hick, J. (2005). The metaphor of god incarnate (2nd ed.).
the perfect relationship with God; there was noth- London: SCM.
Marmodoro, A., & Hill, J. (Eds.). (2011). The metaphysics
ing special about Jesus of Nasareth. This, in turn, of incarnation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
detaches the doctrine of incarnation from the Morris, T. (1986). Logic of the god incarnate. Ithaca:
history of Jesus of Nasareth – from the very Cornell University Press.
history which the doctrine was supposed to Shults, F. L. (2008). Christology and science. Aldershot:
Ashgate.
explain in the first place. Finally, evolutionary
Christologies tend to smuggle strong metaphysi-
cal assumptions into their way of understanding
evolution, namely, the idea that there is inevitable
Indeterminism
progress in biological evolution. Most famously,
it was Teilhard de Chardin who thought that
▶ Determinism and Indeterminism
evolution by natural selection leads inevitably to
more and more complex life-forms and toward
the increase of charity and goodness. This ten-
dency is also present in theories of incarnation Indian Dialectics
that have their roots in process theology. The
problem is that contemporary Neo-Darwinian ▶ Logic in Buddhism
synthesis is strongly opposed to the idea that
there is a necessary and universal development
toward complexity, altruism, or the realization
of some value. The view is rather that natural Indian Logic
selection might lead to increased complexity
and altruism, but it is by no means necessary or ▶ Logic in Buddhism
universal.
Cross-References Indigenous Religions

▶ Biblical Studies ▶ Hopi Religion and Anthropology
▶ Christology
▶ Concept of God in Contemporary Philosophy
of Religion
▶ Dualism Indigenous Studies
▶ Metaphysics ▶ Native American Studies
▶ Philosophy of Religion
▶ Systematic Theology
▶ Theism, Classical
▶ Theological Anthropology Individualism

References
Deane-Drummond, C. (2009). Christ and evolution:

Wonder and wisdom. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Evans, C. S. (Ed.). (2006). Exploring kenotic Christology:
Industrial Psychology
The self-emptying of god. Oxford: Oxford University
Press. ▶ Organizational Behavior
Information Security 1055 I
Infatuation Information Security
▶ Love (Affective, Sexual) Andrew J. Neel

The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
Infectious Disease
Related Terms
Application security; Computer science;
Computer security; Data protection; Information
Inference of Analogy assurance; System assurance
Karsten R. Stueber
Department of Philosophy, College of the Description
Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, USA I
Information security is a field focused on protec-
tion of data and the computer systems that work
The inference of analogy is the traditional man- with the data. Security is a combination of pri-
ner of conceiving of the method according to vacy, assurance, availability, and integrity. In the
which we gain knowledge of other minds. It has last century, information security was focused on
been explicitly suggested first by John Stuart Mill availability and assurance only and were the only
(1806–1876). It is based on the assumption that entities that demonstrated any interest in privacy
we do not have direct perceptual access to the or integrity. Even so, these concepts were largely
mental states of other persons. We directly per- academic in nature and provided opportunity for
ceive only their bodily movements. Because we researchers to examine previously undiscovered
assume that similar effects have similar inner methods of maintaining privacy and integrity.
causes, we analogically infer another person’s Private businesses focused their attention on
mental states based on our knowledge of how revenue-generating services. Consequently,
we feel and think when we behave in that manner. security to business meant that the business had
assurance that computer systems functioned as
designed and that the systems were available at
all times. Because governments were funding the
Inflation majority of research in information security, the
focus of academia aligned largely with govern-
▶ Time ment priorities.
In this century, people are using computer
systems for increasing amounts of commerce.
Governments have recognized that commerce
Information Assurance
through computer systems is highly lucrative for
businesses and that continuity of business is crit-
▶ Information Security
ical to national and international interests. In this
climate, citizens have come under direct attack
by those wishing to use computer systems to
Information Ethics steal, pressure, slander, and disrupt. Thus, gov-
ernments have acknowledged information secu-
▶ Cyberethics rity as a global priority and have created weapons
I 1056 Information Security
to attack computer systems and defend against underlying data. This parallel of religion and
such attacks. For their part, businesses have computer security is such that users of computer
largely stayed focused on what maintains reve- systems often speak of being “watched” and
nue. Aware of this priority, governments have express guilt when their behaviors fail to meet
forced compliance with well-developed informa- the standard. This idea of good versus evil is so
tion security standards that have emerged from pervasive that actors and activities in security are
academia and private research groups. Further, generally classified as good or evil and
special interest groups, such as payment proces- represented as such. For example, good hackers
sors and banks, have mandated compliance with are called “white hats” and the evil hackers are
their own standards. Academia continues to align generally called “black hats.”
with government funding but that funding has
broadened in scope to include computer security
in increasingly diverse areas. Characteristics
The information security discipline bears three

Self-identification unique characteristics. The first characteristic is
how goals are expressed. Most disciplines have
Science the ability to state very concrete goals and mea-
Computer Science is a field of study that focuses sure progress toward those goals. Information
on data as well as the tools that process, store, security has but one goal: Be more secure today
retrieve, and transport that data. Because com- than we were yesterday. The challenge is that
puters are so centric to protecting data, Informa- being secure against today’s attacks and threats
tion Security is frequently considered to be is no guarantee of security against tomorrow’s
a subdiscipline of computer science. However, attacks and threats. Therefore, measuring pro-
Information Security has strong ties to law, crim- gress toward security looks more like a two-car
inal justice, psychology, business, ethics, and race than a “percentage complete” chart. The
governance. In many academic institutions, second characteristic is the impact to human
degrees in Information Security require special- lives. A failure to maintain security may mean
ized courses in topics that go well beyond the that people die, get imprisoned, lose wealth, lose
typical computer science course requirements. jobs, or otherwise suffer. The third characteristic
Thus, Information Security is a discipline that is the breadth of impact. Information is a com-
stands on its own in many respects but is largely mon commodity that now stretches deep into
inserted as a subdiscipline of computer science. every discipline and aspect of life. The protection
of information must be uniquely examined in
Religion each space to fit information security into each
Although security professionals would not self- topic, discipline, and business.
identify the field of security as a religion,
computer security and religion have many paral-
lels. The dominant parallel is the common foun- Relevance to Science and Religion
dation of “accountability.” Religion describes
a God who judges sin, a concept defined as The vast majority of work pertaining to advanc-
noncompliance with the will of God. Security ing information security is performed within the
provides oversight to a business or organization domain of science. The issues of study are how to
by defining, in particular, acceptable behaviors. express the security rules and how to enforce the
Non-acceptable behaviors can be considered as rules. Expressing the rules correctly is critically
sin or noncompliance with the acceptable use important in order to properly articulate expecta-
(will of the computer system owners) of tions to computer users, ecommerce buyers, soft-
a computer system or intended use of the ware users, and others in ways that are both clear
Information Security 1057 I
and legally binding. These rules are often essentially limits activity to only activities that
expressed in company policies, government are intended and authorized. It further prescribes
laws and regulations, industry standards, and the specific methods for accessing or changing
contracts. The enforcement of these rules information. By protecting “what” a user can
requires many tools from many disciplines access with “how” the user access it, the data
including: civil lawsuits, contractually binding and the computer systems are often protected.
consequences, incarceration, personal liability, This protection is there for the protection of cus-
and computer technologies. Computer technol- tomers, computer owners, and data owners from
ogies are the best and most effective because both the hacker who willfully is out to damage
they prevent breaches in security by strictly systems or access private data and also for the
enforcing the rules. It also frequently saves the “untrained” user who may do “damage” by acci-
expense and trouble of lawsuits, personal dent and not intention.
defense, and prison.
Conceptualization
Nature/World
I
It is not possible to pick a single person, publica- The natural world for information security is
tion, organization, or institution as “the” author- defined as the digital representation of data and
ity for information Security. Current trends derived information in computer systems and
suggest that the authorities will continue to devices.
align around the themes and interests of acade-
mia, government, and business. Security does Human Being
have common ground among the three groups, Human beings are simply the natural, human
but the unique interests of each are likely to keep computer users, or data about them contained in
them separate with only limited interactions computer systems.
through journals, proceedings, conferences, and
archival publications where experts meet to dis- Life and Death
cuss and cross-validate new developments. Life and death are defined in terms of “allowing”
or “denying” an activity or in terms of the crea-
tion or deletion of data. It is not uncommon for
Ethical Principles security professionals to describe stopping a user
activity as “killing the activity” or deleting data as
The guiding principles in information security are “destroying the data.”
best defined as privacy, assurance, availability,
and integrity of information. A violation of any Reality
one of these would be an egregious breach of Reality extends into a virtual, digital world where
ethics (e.g., a ▶ firewall that is not secure by data is created, stored, transported, transformed,
allowing access of private personal information and output electronically.
to unintended parties).
Knowledge
Knowledge is the imperishable storage of data on
Key Values the Internet.
The key value is “protection.” Security protects Truth

institutions and private citizens by blocking Truth is what actually happened in the real world,
harmful and dangerous access or intervention as compared to what is recorded in the computer
in their computer systems. This protection system.
I 1058 Information-Processing Models (Philosophy of Mind)
Perception Cross-References
Perception is a sampling of reality at any
instance. ▶ Christianity
▶ Criminology
Time ▶ Cyberethics
Time is a concept with both a relative and abso- ▶ Evil, Problem of
lute meaning. In relative terms, time is the num- ▶ Sin (Vice, Human Limits, Negativity)
ber of computer cycles allotted to process or
transport data. In absolute terms, it translates
into the equivalent to the “wall-clock” or “real- References
world” time.
FBI CyberCrime: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/
cyber/cyber
Consciousness
Internet Storm Center: http://isc.sans.org/
Consciousness is the awareness of computer-
related activities, or perceived security threats.
Rationality/Reason
Reason is the expected behavior of computers as Information-Processing Models
specified by programs running on them. Irrational (Philosophy of Mind)
events occur when computer activity provides
unexpected results with respect to the intention Gregory Peterson
of the programmer who created it, usually due to Department of Philosophy and Religion, South
the intervention of “hackers” or unauthorized Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA
malicious users.
Mystery Deeply informing much of contemporary philos-

Mystery in information security is simply what ophy of mind is an information processing model
is not discovered or not yet discovered. Often of cognition. The initial basis for this model was
in information security, mystery surrounds the the concept of a Turing machine developed by
so-called hackers (black hats) who search to dam- Alan Turing and refined by others including John
age and steal for personal, corporate, or political von Neumann, and which underlies the basic
gain as well as the so-called good hackers (white architectural concept of modern digital com-
hats) who are searching for unauthorized puters. Modern digital computers employ a cen-
intrusion and unexpected action on computer tral processor and separate banks of memory, as
systems. well as clearly distinguishing between hardware,
the physical components of the computer, and the
software, instructions or set of algorithms that
Relevant Themes dictate the behavior of the computer. The opera-
tional structure of digital computers can be
Security is almost always embodied into rules, understood to parallel or mimic the operations
similar in nature to those found in religion. Secu- of the human mind. Both operate serially; in the
rity researchers and professionals assume that case of the computer, one instruction is processed
these rules must be followed and that everyone/ after another, in conscious reflection, one thought
everything else is actively searching out ways to follows another. Both employ memory, and both
break the rules (or sin). This dichotomy breeds an employ the rules of logic, notably the Boolean
“us versus them” culture where “they” are operators AND, OR, and NOT. Despite these
assumed to be sinners of the worst sort. apparent parallels, growing knowledge of the
Insight 1059 I
details of the anatomy and the operation of by a genetic difference, adapted over the course
the brain has made the comparison tenuous, for of evolution, unchanging throughout develop-
although the activity of neurons in the brain may ment, shared by all members of a species, present
be understood to act somewhat similarly to the before the behavior serves any function, not
logic gates in a computer chip, there is no parallel learned.
in the brain to the digital computer’s central For example, common toads Bufo bufo recog-
processor. nize prey objects by figurative visual features as
As a result, inspiration has been drawn from tests of the prey-catching activity in response to
connectionist models of information processing. changes in the configuration of dummies have
Connectionist models often emphasize parallel shown: a stripe oriented parallel to its direction
distributed processing (PDP). Whereas tradi- of movement (“worm” configuration) is preferred
tional digital computers employ a central proces- to the same stripe oriented perpendicular to its
sor which acts on each step of an instruction direction of movement (“anti-worm” configura-
sequentially and through which all instructions tion). This discrimination is innate in the
must pass, a PDP system initially breaks down a meaning of an ability being present after meta-
task into a number of smaller tasks and then morphosis (from the tadpole stage) and shared by
operates on them simultaneously. Neural network all members of the species. The tadpoles of com-
I
models are a form of PDP that are claimed to mon toads do not hunt for prey animals; rather
closely mimic the operations of neurons in the they feed on a vegetarian diet.
brain. A feature of some PDP models is that they A neuroethological concept of (I)RM suggests
display emergent behavior, showing higher levels a command-release system in which sensorimo-
of order that are not apparent at the lower level of tor codes are involved that can be influenced by
processing. motivation and learning. A coded command
involves different types of neurons (command ele-
ments), each type detecting a certain aspect of a
behaviorally relevant stimulus (features, location,
Innate Releasing Mechanism, IRM etc.). In a certain combination – sensorimotor
code – these command elements cooperatively
Jörg-Peter Ewert activate a corresponding motor pattern generat-
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of ing system. For example, it was shown that
Kassel, Schauenburg, Germany prey-feature-detecting neurons in common
toads send their axonal fibers from the visual
center (optic tectum) directly toward the motor
The term “innate releasing mechanism” belongs system (medulla oblongata). Focal electrical
to a classical concept of ethology. It refers to a stimulation in the layer of the optic tectum
neural sensorimotor interface that mediates that harbors prey-feature-detecting neurons
between a key stimulus and the adequate action elicited prey-catching behavior. Recordings of
pattern. An IRM thus has stimulus recognition such neurons in freely moving toads demon-
and localization properties at its input side strated that certain discharge patterns in
and behavior-releasing properties at its output response to a prey object preceded and – so
side. The IRM should allow an animal to rec- to speak – predicted prey capture.
ognize and respond a behaviorally relevant
object that the animal had never encountered
before.
The term “innate,” however, is controversial Insight
since it may have different meanings, such as
present at birth, a behavioral difference caused ▶ Buddhist Meditation Practices
I 1060 Inspection
document has been changed or marked as

Inspection unclear, then a complete reinspection of the
entire document must take place.
Linda Sherrell Note: See also ▶ Walkthrough.
The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
Installation Art
An inspection is a formal review process usually
performed by several members of a software Deborah Sokolove
development team and at least one person from Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion,
the software quality assurance (SQA) group. Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington,
Note that small companies may not have DC, USA
dedicated SQA personnel.
An inspection can be conducted for any soft-
ware artifact, such as requirements, design docu- Artwork consisting of objects arranged so as to
ments, or code. As originally defined, an create an environment into which the viewer can
inspection has five prescribed steps: enter, or imagine entering, somewhat as an actor
1. Overview. One of the individuals responsible enters a stage set, or to alter the viewer’s percep-
for producing the artifact highlights the main tion of space. An art installation may be as simple
points in the document and distributes it to the as a few rocks or sticks placed in a circle on the
other participants. floor of a gallery, intending to evoke a campfire or
2. Preparation. Each participant reviews the a sacred grove, or as complex as Chris Burden’s
document and compiles two lists: (1) a list of 1986 Exposing the Foundations of the Museum,
likely faults and (2) a list of items that are in which the artist removed the concrete floor of
unclear. Inspection members may also have at the newly created Geffen Contemporary at
their disposal a list of fault types and their MOCA in Los Angeles, inviting viewers to walk
frequency compiled from previous inspections. down rickety steps into what resembled an
3. Inspection meeting. One member of the archeological dig. Installation art is often created
inspection team called a moderator goes or modified for a specific site, incorporating ele-
through the document, making sure that ments of the room or building in which it is
every line is covered and discussed. The housed. Installation artworks vary greatly, using
purpose of the meeting is to find faults. Faults natural and human-made materials for their sym-
are corrected, by the person who made the bolic and metaphoric, as well as visual and tac-
error or wrote the offending part of the docu- tile, properties.
ment, at a later time. Within one day of the
meeting, the moderator writes a detailed
report about the meeting.
4. Rework. The individual responsible for the Instrumental Reason
document makes sure that all faults have
been corrected and any other modifications Eduardo Maura
described in the report have been handled. Facultad de Filosofı́a, Universidad Complutense
Note that some items may have been incor- de Madrid (Spain), Madrid, Spain
rectly marked as faults during the preparation
time or during the inspection meeting.
5. Follow-up. All changes to the document must In general terms, instrumental reason is a specific
be checked to make sure that no new faults form of rationality which focuses on effective
have been introduced. If more than 5 % of the means to an end and not, as other forms of
Intelligence 1061 I
practical rationality do, on improving living Intellectual development; Intelligence quotient
conditions, promoting reasonable agreement, or (IQ); Mental ability; Multiple intelligence; Stan-
human understanding. It is one of the most used dard intelligence; Study of intelligence
and most relevant terms in Critical Theory,
particularly M. Horkheimer and J. Habermas. It
has traditionally meant domination, manipulation Description
of nature and social relations. For Horkheimer,
the sophisticated process of strategic choice of Intelligence and the various methods by which it
means to an end is regarded as the most represen- is assessed have progressively evolved during the
tative corruption of practical reason. past 150 years. A brief overview of the contribu-
tions of intelligence theorists and researchers
speaks of the influence of these scientists on the
current understanding of intelligence and its
Intellect recent developments. An early intelligence
researcher, Binet, believed that intelligence was
▶ Intelligence comprised of comprehension, inventiveness,
direction, and criticism. In 1927, Spearman
I
suggested that intelligence could be divided into
a general factor, pervading all types of intellec-
Intellectual tual practice, and specific factors, which involve
specific tasks (Spearman 1927). The idea of one
▶ Intelligence unifying factor representing intelligence across
all domains remains a dominant, if controversial,
force in the field.
In contrast to the generalist view, in 1936,
Intellectual Development
Thurstone identified seven primary mental
abilities – (1) number facility, (2) word fluency,
▶ Intelligence
(3) visualizing, (4) memory, (5) perceptual speed,
(6) induction, and (7) verbal reasoning – which
would later be utilized as the foundation for the
Intellectual History Primary Mental Abilities Tests (Thurstone 1936).
These mental abilities almost always correlate
▶ History of Ideas (Intellectual History) with one another, and when factor analyzed,
a higher-order general factor emerged. Thus,
Thurstone realized that he had to concede to the
existence of a general intelligence factor.
Intelligence Spearman, on the other hand, was also forced to
accept the group factors identified by Thurstone
Samaneh Pourjalali and James C. Kaufman (Sternberg et al. 2008). Subsequent researchers
Department of Psychology, Learning Research extended Thurstone’s theory by adding more fac-
Institute, California State University at tors; Guilford, constructed a cube-like model
San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA, USA yielding 120 different mental abilities.
Hierarchical models represent a blend of the
generalist and multiple domain theories. In 1971,
Related Terms Vernon, for example, proposed a model of mental
ability where general intelligence was at the top,
Aptitude; Cleverness; Cognitive processing; verbal-educational and practical-mechanical
Human intelligence; Intellect; Intellectual; abilities were at the second level, and the more
I 1062 Intelligence
specific mental abilities were located at the lower states that intelligence is something that a culture
levels (Vernon 1971). An even more detailed creates (Sternberg 2000).
hierarchical model using numerous data sets Another view on intelligence is that it is not
and factor analysis studies was offered by just a single unitary construct. In 1999, Gardner
Carroll. proposed a theory of multiple intelligences which
Cattell and Horn proposed the theory of fluid includes eight distinct intelligence functions that
and crystallized intelligence, which is arguably may interact in their production of intelligent
the theory of intelligence with the most impact on behavior: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spa-
IQ testing (Kaufman 2009). They distinguish tial, musical, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal,
crystallized intelligence (what a person knows intrapersonal, and naturalist (Gardner 1999).
and has learned) and fluid intelligence (how Sternberg’s theory of successful intelligence
a person deals with a new and different situation). includes creative abilities as one of three essen-
Horn expanded the theory to include more dimen- tial components, along with analytical and prac-
sions, such as visualization, short-term memory, tical abilities (Sternberg 2000). Although not
long-term retrieval, and processing speed. In currently adapted into a major IQ test, this the-
recent years, Carroll’s hierarchical theory and ory is the basis for exciting work in college
the Horn-Cattell Gf-Gc theory have been merged admissions.
into the Cattell-Horn-Carroll or CHC theory Currently, a consensus on the definition of
(Flanagan et al. 2007). Until then, these and intelligence has not yet been reached among con-
other factorial theories of intelligence had failed temporary theorists.
to address the processes involved in intelligence.
Jean Piaget’s theory was among the later theories
that sought to examine these processes (Sternberg Characteristics
2000).
Piaget conceptualized intelligence as Intelligence influences our thoughts, actions, and
a system of translating thinking into actions. interactions with the external environment.
He also believed that though intelligence mani- Therefore, every activity in which we engage
fests differently with age, we all follow a single is, in some way, affected by intelligence. Con-
path of intellectual development regardless of sider the first 20 things you do throughout your
the rate of development. Wechsler viewed intel- day; they all involve and require some degree of
ligence in light of its interaction with the envi- intelligence. Even certain instinctive behaviors
ronment. He conceived of intelligence as such as eating require of us some intelligence.
a global entity and defined it as the general We must have the understanding to reach for an
capacity of an individual to cope with his/her edible, nonpoisonous entity as a means for nour-
surrounding environment. ishment – a rock or a bottle labeled as snake
Cognitive-processing conceptions of intelli- poison would not be wise choices for suste-
gence have also been proposed. These theories nance. Intelligence is required in, almost, every
seek to understand (often with the use of com- activity that involves some level of thought and
puters) how humans mentally represent and pro- the use of our minds.
cess information during various tasks. Some
researchers, such as Glaser, Pellegrino, Simon,
and Sternberg, have recently focused on reason- Relevance to Science and Religion
ing and problem solving in a quest to better
understand the nature of intelligence (Sternberg Intelligence researchers have mainly examined
2000). Intelligence is also studied in relation to intelligence and related constructs through the-
the external world and its link to culture. ory, analysis, and the scientific method and
Researcher and scholar Robert Sternberg affirms have generally not addressed the area of science
a strong link between intelligence and culture and and religion.
Intelligence 1063 I
Sources of Authority Key Values
This field is driven by empirical research as well The key values of this discipline include sound
as empirical theory. Sources of authority for this scientific knowledge, empirical research, theory,
discipline are scientific journals, journal articles, and upholding proper ethical principles.
research-focused books, standardized IQ tests,
authoritative researchers, theorists, and scientists
within the field. Conceptualization
Nature/World
Ethical Principles The element of nature versus nurture is under
study in intelligence research. The findings tell
The ethical guiding principles of this field per- us that intelligence is at least partly genetically
tain to the method by which data are collected, determined. However, even though intelligence
the ways by which results are reported, and is thought of as strongly genetic (as demonstrated
those affected by the results. Data should not by twins studies), it can still be influenced by
be obtained by means not approved by an environmental factors and thus be improved
I
Institutional Review Board to make sure that (Pearson 2009). In a meta-analysis of 75 studies,
participants are treated in an ethical manner. children growing up in orphanages were shown to
Reporting the results of the study must be have substantially lower IQ levels than those
observed with caution, especially in the case of reared in foster families, showing that the envi-
reporting findings that may be undesirable to ronment does in fact play a role on intelligence.
a particular population. Therefore, generaliza- Though we do know that both hereditary and
tions should be made sparingly (while bearing environmental influences impact intelligence,
in mind all the specific qualities of the sample exactly how much of the variance in intelligence
population) and with an understanding of the is accounted for by either of these elements is yet
possible consequences of the information on to be determined.
the targeted population. Intelligence score
reports can not only influence how one views Human Being
oneself but also how a culture views itself, as The study of intelligence has found its home
well as how it effects the perception of other primarily the field of psychology, a field dedi-
cultures of it. Scores may also be wrongfully cated to better understanding and appreciation of
interpreted or used as a means to discriminate the human mind. Endeavors within this field,
against or pass policies disfavoring groups or such as the investigation of intelligence, contrib-
classes of people believed to have lower levels ute to our knowledge of that which distinguishes
of intelligence, heredity, or socioeconomic sta- us from other beings.
tus. Before reporting the results of a study, we
ought to ask whether reporting cultural dispar- Reality
ities is indeed of any value other than hinting Broadly speaking, the study of intelligence
at differences. assumes a person has knowledge of what is reality.
It is important to remember that methods for
assessing intelligence and intelligence measures Knowledge
are rapidly improving and therefore recognize Crystallized intelligence (Gc), one type of intelli-
that new measures may yield different outcomes. gence, involves what a person knows and has
There is much that we know; however, there is learned. Fluid intelligence (Gf), another type of
much to be learned. In a field such as intelligence, intelligence, addresses how a person handles
hasty conclusions are not only unethical but bad a new and different situation. Both Gc and Gf
science. contribute to the broader construct of intelligence.
I 1064 Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Truth Cross-References
The essence of science is to seek truths about
the universe. In the field of psychology, intelli- ▶ Cognitive Psychology
gence is studied through scientific enquiry. ▶ History of Ideas (Intellectual History)
Thus, it uses scientific methodology to seek ▶ Imagination
factual knowledge about the construct of ▶ Intelligence, Swarm
intelligence. ▶ Intelligences, Multiple
▶ Memory
Perception ▶ Psycholinguistics
Some of the tasks on an intelligence test, such as
reaction time, require better than average percep-
tual abilities. References
Time Flanagan, D. P., Ortiz, S. O., & Alfonso, V. C. (2007).

Essentials of cross-battery assessment (2nd ed.).
As time progresses, more empirical evidence is
New York: Wiley.
accumulated on the study of this construct. We Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intel-
know more about intelligence now than we did ligences for the 21st century. New York: Basic Books.
even ten years ago. Currently, we have more Kaufman, A. S. (2009). IQ testing 101. New York:
Springer.
accurate measures for intelligence than we
Pearson, A. (2009). Intelligence more heritable than
did a few years ago simply because we have previously thought. New Scientist, 201, 12–13.
gained more knowledge through scientific Spearman, C. (1927). The abilities of man. London:
research. Macmillian.
Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.). (2000). Handbook of intelligence.
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Consciousness Sternberg, R. J., Kaufman, J. C., & Grigorenko, E. L.
Most research on intelligence is focused on con- (2008). Applied intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge
scious performance. University Press.
Thurstone, L. L. (1936). A new conception of intelligence.
Educational Record, 17, 441–450.
Rationality/Reason Vernon, P. E. (1971). The structure of human abilities.
Most intelligence tests and theories strive toward London: Methuen.
rationality and toward reason.
Mystery
There is still a great deal that we have yet to Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
uncover about intelligence. Much remains
a mystery; however, much is known and there is ▶ Intelligence
great potential for gaining more knowledge in
this field.
Intelligence, Swarm
Relevant Themes
Xiaohui Cui
Scientific inquiry and empirical research are of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge,
special relevance since it is with rigorous scien- TN, USA
tific enquiry that we can come close to accurate
facts about how intelligence works, how it is
used, how it is acquired, how it may be enhanced, Related Terms
and how it relates to other cognitive processes,
among others. Computer science
Intelligence, Swarm 1065 I
Studies on Swarm Intelligence are developed be considered as the leader of the colony having
from the discoveries and researches of collective the capability of collecting the colony’s
behaviors emerged from the social animals or global information, supervising the worker, and
insect group. More than 50 years ago, biologists coordinating the behaviors of the whole colony.
have reported that a new kind of intelligence form However, researches indicate that neither queen
can emerge from some social insects, fish, birds, nor workers have the neuron capability for
and mammals. For example, African termites collecting colony global information, processing
(Macrotermes bellicosus) can build nest the information, and making decision on control-
that may reach a diameter of 30 m and a height ling the behaviors of the whole colony.
of 6 m with complex internal structure The first serious theoretical explanation of the
(Grasse 1984). These skyscrapers are built by emerging of collective behaviors in social insects
millions of tiny (1–2-mm long) and completely was provided by the French biologist Pierre-Paul
blind individuals. Apparently, in terms of Grasse. In 1950, Grasse introduced the concept of
cognitive or communicational abilities, the com- stigmergy in conjunction with his research on
plexity of an individual termite is not intelligent termites. His study has shown that a particular
enough for designing and generating such configuration of a termite colony’s environment
complex system. Another example of collective could trigger a termite to modify its environment,
I
behavior is the food recruitment in ant colony. for example, dropping mud in a particular place
At the beginning of the 1990s, Jean-Louis to build or maintain the nest. The modification in
Deneubourg and his collaborators (1991) found turn stimulates the original or other termites in
there is a high probability for a colony of ants to the colony to further transform their environ-
find out the shortest path from multiple paths ment. Grasse made a general definition of
between the food source site and the nest. Many stigmergy as: “the stimulation of the workers by
more examples of the impressive capabilities the very performances they have achieved.” The
in other biological systems, such as colonies of concept of stigmergy provides a theory for
bacteria or amoeba, fish schools, bird flocks, and explaining how distributed, ad hoc contributions
sheep herds, share similar collective properties. from individuals could lead to the emergence of
However, it is hard to explain the complexity of large collaborative enterprises.
all the behaviors at the colony scale level if only In recent years, some computer scientists
considering individuals of the colony. For a long adopt the stigmergy model to solve complex
time, these kinds of collective behaviors that problems and categorized it as Swarm Intelli-
emerge from social insects or animal society gence. Swarm Intelligence is an artificial intelli-
have remained mysterious and appear to happen gence technique involving studies of collective
as if an “invisible hand” or leader inside the behaviors in decentralized systems. Beni and
colony coordinates the individuals’ activities. Wang (1991) first introduced the term of Swarm
The power of the collective behavior of Intelligence in the context of cellular robotic sys-
social insects has also inspired novelists. Michel tems. Bonabeau et al. (1998, 1999) extended the
Crichton, in his novel “Prey,” describes concept of Swarm Intelligence to the work
a swarm of nanorobots that can generate complex involved with algorithm design or distributed
intelligence using their collective mind. Early problem-solving devices. He defined the Swarm
attempts to explain this collective behavior Intelligence as “any attempt to design algorithms
focused on building the connection between the or distributed problem-solving devices
observed complex behavior in the colony level inspired by the collective behavior of social
and the behavior of an individual. It was believed insect colonies and other animal societies.” The
that the complex swarm behavior can only be major concepts underlying Swarm Intelligence
generated by individuals with complex cognitive include decentralization, stigmergy, self-
capabilities. In the research of the social insect organization, emergence, and positive and nega-
behaviors, the queen of an insect colony used to tive feedbacks. Currently, most popular research
I 1066 Intelligence, Swarm
directions in Swarm Intelligence are grounded on ants have not found food or have longer dis-
the following three research areas: Flocking tances from the food source because the return
model (Reynolds 1987), Ant Colony Optimiza- trail has been traveled twice. This high volume
tion (ACO) (Bonabeau et al. 1999), and Particle of pheromone volume attracts other ants to fol-
Swarm Optimization (PSO) (Eberhart and low this trail. The more the trail is traveled, the
Kennedy 1995). stronger the pheromone content on this trail will
The flocking model, first proposed by Craig be. The level of pheromone on other less trav-
Reynolds (Reynolds 1987), is a bio-inspired com- eled trails will decrease since fewer ants travel
putational model for simulating the animation of those trails and the pheromone evaporates.
a flock of entities called “boids.” It represents Eventually, the trail with highest level of pher-
group movement as seen in bird flocks and omone and traveled by most of foraging ants
schools of fish in nature. In this model, each will be the shortest tail between food sources
boid reacts to the neighboring mates in the flock and nest.
and the environment it can sense and makes its Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is
own decisions on its movement according to a population-based stochastic optimization tech-
a small number of simple steering rules. Three nique that can be used to find an optimal, or near-
simple steering rules need to be executed at each optimal, solution to a numerical and qualitative
instance over time. Three basic rules include: problem. Inspired by the social behavior of flock-
(1) Separation: Steering to avoid collision with ing birds or a school of fish, Eberhart and
other boids nearby; (2) Alignment: Steering Kennedy originally developed the PSO in 1995
toward the average heading and match the veloc- (Eberhart and Kennedy 1995). In PSO, birds in
ity of the neighbor flock mates; (3) Cohesion: a flock are symbolically represented as particles.
Steering to the average position of the neighbor These particles can be considered as simple agents
flock mates. By following these three simple “flying” through a problem space. A problem
rules, boids in the simulation can quickly form space in PSO may have as many dimensions as
a stable swarm formation, in which every boid needed to model the problem space. A particle’s
has the minimum distance from every other location in the multidimensional problem space
boid and will not move any further than the max- represents one solution for the problem. When
imum distance. a particle moves to another location, a new solu-
The Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is tion is generated. This solution is evaluated by
a heuristic algorithm that is inspired by the food a fitness function that provides a quantitative
foraging behavior of ants. Marco Dorigo intro- value of the solution’s utility. The velocity and
duced the first ACO system in his Ph.D. thesis direction of each particle moving along each
(1992). The idea underlying the ACO algorithm dimension of the problem space are altered at
is to mimic the ant’s foraging behavior with each generation of movement. It is the particle’s
“simulated ants” moving around a graph personal experience combined with its neighbors’
searching for the optimal solution. As ants forage, experience that influences the movement of each
they deposit a trail of slowly evaporating phero- particle through a problem space.
mones. All foraging ants use the pheromones Swarm Intelligence is a growing research field
as a guide regardless of whether the pheromone for solving distributed problems. It offers an
was deposited by itself or other ants. Pheromones alternative way to design system that has tradi-
accumulate when multiple ants travel through the tionally required centralized control and exten-
same path. The pheromones on the trail evaporate sive preprogramming. However, because the
as well. If an ant reaches the food first and pathways to solutions are not predefined but
returns to the nest before others, its return trail’s emergent, there is no general guideline on how
pheromone is stronger than other trails on which to design a swarm intelligent system. The system
Intelligences, Multiple 1067 I
designer has to rely on trial and error process
to determine how the agents of a swarm-based Intelligences, Multiple
solution should be programmed. Currently, most
of the Swarm Intelligence studies and applica- Seth Wax1 and Howard Gardner1,2
1
tions are mimicking the collective behaviors of Harvard Graduate School of Education,
social insect or animal society. These Swarm Cambridge, MA, USA
2
Intelligence applications seek to solve tasks Associate Professor of Religious Studies,
strictly relying on simple individual capabilities, Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY, USA
local interaction mechanisms, and indirect
communication (stigmergy). Adaptation, compu-
tational intelligence, cognition, and other Related Terms
sophisticated capability are absent at the individ-
ual level in current Swarm Intelligence system. Education; GoodWork project; Multiple intelli-
gences; Spiritual intelligence
Cross-References
Description
I
▶ Collective Behavior Since the early twentieth century, conceptions
▶ Complex Systems about intelligence in the West have been shaped
▶ Emergence, Theories of by the work of Alfred Binet and the “IQ test” that
▶ Model Theory he developed in Paris. In an attempt to devise
▶ Simulation Theory a metric that could predict student success in
school, Binet and those who followed him
designed questions that measured verbal memory
and reasoning, numerical processing, and the
References capacity to understand logical sequences. While
Beni, G., & Wang, J. (1991). Theoretical problems for the
these tests were useful in predicting outcomes in
realization of distributed robotic systems, Sacramento, environments that relied heavily on such
CA, USA. Piscataway: IEEE. processing, such as schools, they sharply
Bonabeau, E., Dorigo, M., et al. (1999). Swarm intelli- restricted what could count as intelligence. Such
gence from natural to artificial systems. New York:
a one-dimensional definition of intelligence,
Bonabeau, E., Henaux, F., et al. (1998). Routing in tele- supported by psychometricians who consistently
communications networks with ant-like agents cited data culled from paper-and-pencil tests, has
(Vol. 1437). Berlin/New York: Springer. p. 60. remained dominant in many Western nations as
Deneubourg, J. L., Goss, S., et al. (1991). The dynamics of
well as other countries influenced by Western
collective sorting robot-like ants and ant-like robots. In
Proceedings of the first international conference on educational and/or testing practices.
simulation of adaptive behavior from animals to Yet debate over this term, and this concept of
animats. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. intelligence, has continued over the ensuing
Eberhart, R., Kennedy, J. (1995). A new optimizer using
decades. There have been challenges to the nar-
particle swarm theory. In Proceedings of the sixth
international symposium on micro machine and row limits of what counted as intelligence,
human science, Nagoya, Japan, IEEE. debates about the heritability of intelligence,
Grasse, P. (1984). Termitologia. Tome II. Fondation des and allegations with respect to the possible biases
Sociétés. Paris: Masson.
of intelligence tests. Toward the latter part of the
Reynolds, C. W. (1987). Flocks, herds, and schools:
A distributed behavioral model. Computer Graphics twentieth century, these discussions were height-
(ACM), 21(4), 25–34. ened because of new discoveries about the
I 1068 Intelligences, Multiple
differentiation of the brain and the localized and other exceptional people. Two criteria were
nature of many mental capacities. drawn from traditional psychology: (5) support
It is within this environment that Howard from experimental psychological tasks and (6) sup-
Gardner approached the question of what counted port from psychometric findings. The final pair of
as an intelligence. Working with brain-damaged criteria came from an analysis of the candidate
adult patients and artistically talented children, he capacity: (7) possessing an identifiable core oper-
noted repeatedly that skills and capacities are not ation or set of operations (such as command of
evenly distributed. That is, a person may be very syntax in the case of linguistic intelligence) and
good at learning a foreign language but unable to (8) susceptibility to encoding in a symbol system.
find her way around a new environment or learn Gardner initially proposed the existence of
a new song. The opposite profile of capacities can seven intelligences, and information on them
also be encountered. Such recurrent discoveries is available in many sources. We offer a brief
led him to think of the human mind less as list here:
a monolithic machine and more as a set of rela- 1. Linguistic intelligence: involves the sensitiv-
tively discrete faculties. Conducting research and ity to spoken and written language, the ability
synthesizing findings in psychology, neurology, to learn languages, and the capacity to
sociology, anthropology, the arts, and humani- use language to accomplish certain goals.
ties, Gardner was led to proposing the existence Exemplified among lawyers, writers, and
of seven relatively autonomous intelligences, speakers
described in detail in his 1983 work, Frames of 2. Logical-mathematical intelligence: involves
Mind (Gardner 1983). the capacity to analyze problems logically,
In MI theory, an intelligence is defined as carry out mathematical operations, and inves-
“a biopsychological potential to process informa- tigate issues scientifically. Most apparent
tion that can be activated in a cultural setting to among mathematicians and scientists
solve problems or create products that are of value 3. Musical intelligence: involves skill in the per-
to a culture” (Gardner 1999, pp. 33–34). Aside formance, composition, and/or appreciation of
from broadening the definition of intelligence to musical patterns
extend well beyond skills needed to succeed in 4. Bodily kinesthetic intelligence: the potential
certain kinds of schools, Gardner also posited of using one’s whole body or parts of the body
that intelligences are capacities and potentials to solve problems or fashion products
that can be activated to varying degrees, 5. Spatial intelligence: the potential to recognize
depending on opportunity and motivation. and manipulate patterns of wide space as well
Gardner drew his criteria for an intelligence as more circumscribed areas
from a variety of sources. Two emerged from 6. Interpersonal intelligence: the capacity to
biological sciences: (1) potential isolation by understand the intentions, motivations, and
brain damage and (2) an evolutionary history and desires of other people and to work effectively
evolutionary plausibility. The first drew on his with others
experience as a neuropsychologist of seeing how 7. Intrapersonal intelligence: the capacity to
brain damage can severely affect one set of capac- understand oneself and to use such informa-
ities yet leave another untouched; the latter crite- tion effectively in regulating one’s life
rion indicated why an intelligence may have More recently, Gardner added an eighth, or
contributed to survival of the species. Two “naturalist intelligence” – the capacity to make
criteria came from developmental psychology: consequential distinctions in the world of
(3) a distinct development history, along with nature, and he has speculated about a ninth or
a definable set of expert “end-state” performances “existential” intelligence – see below for more
and (4) the existence of idiot savants, prodigies, on this intelligence.
Self-identification of the spiritual intelligence: (1) a concern with
cosmic or existential issues, (2) the achievement
Rather than a discipline, MI is a theory about the of a state of being, and (3) a specific set of beliefs
nature of intelligence. It has contributed to and practices, as found in organized religions.
debates concerning the nature of intellect, as Inasmuch as engagement with spirituality or
well as the identification of computational capac- religion entails a concern with existential issues,
ities that make various disciplines, professions, it may qualify as an example of spiritual intelli-
and crafts possible. Perhaps less predictably, it gence. Through myth, art, ritual, and philosophy,
has considerable impact worldwide among class- religious traditions have taught answers to, or at
room educators who have applied the theory in least ways of thinking about, the origin of life, the
novel ways. As a social science synthesis, MI meaning of death, and the purpose of existence.
theory is subject to verification and revision. Yet, Gardner cautions that identifying the exact
However, the theory is less likely to be revised content that is mastered in the spiritual realm is
as a result of experiments but more likely to be more difficult. Many traditions argue that there is
revised in light of new findings that revise the specific knowledge to be acquired, but as the
original synthesis. history of religions shows, fierce battles over
doctrine are rarely resolved definitively.
I
By the same token, it would be inappropriate
Characteristics a priori to identify beliefs or morals that must be
adopted by an individual. It is also worth noting
MI is distinct from other theories of intelligence that some analysts characterize the realm of spir-
in a number of ways. First, most theories of ituality as more affective and emotional, rather
intelligence are monolithic. That is, they measure than purely cognitive. While it seems likely that
and account for only one kind of intelligence, one can identify the ability to train one’s mind
typically a combination of linguistic and logical through meditation or prayer, it is far from evi-
capacities. The theory of multiple intelligences dent exactly what content would be mastered
seeks to identify and examine a wide and poten- within a spiritual intelligence.
tially expanding range of intellectual capacities. Citing the impact that figures such as the Dalai
While other theories consider the pluralistic Lama and Mother Theresa have had on others,
nature of intelligence, these theories are typically Gardner also considers the possibility that the
limited by their exclusive reliance on paper-and- potential to influence others may constitute spiri-
pencil tests. MI, on the other hand, draws its tual intelligence. And indeed, when it comes to
explanatory power from surveying different aca- identifying exemplars of spiritual intelligence,
demic literatures and kinds of empirical data, in religious communities have long recognized
an attempt to tease out the range of human capac- those with advanced understanding or the ability
ities and potentials. to achieve trance states or be in touch with psychic
realms. Yet, this phenomenon becomes problem-
atic in the case of individuals who operate outside
Relevance to Science and Religion of a defined religious system, such as those who
gain spiritual nourishment and insight on their
In the years following the publication of Frames own, through activities ranging from hiking to
of Mind, Gardner was often asked if more than meditation to mathematical problem solving.
seven intelligences existed. In Intelligence In light of this analysis, Gardner, in distinction
Reframed (Gardner 1999), he considers the exis- to others who argue the contrary, has tentatively
tence of a spiritual intelligence. In raising this concluded that a spiritual intelligence does not
possibility, he considers three possible meanings exist, finding it more comfortable to speak of
I 1070 Intelligences, Multiple
a potential to engage in thinking about cosmic concern with cosmic issues. However, from
issues. He writes in Intelligence Reframed: a phenomenological perspective, reflection on
I think it best to put aside the term spiritual, with its cosmic matters in response to significant pain or
manifest and problematic connotations, and to peak/mystical states seems to suggest the stimu-
speak instead of an intelligence that explores the lation of certain brain centers and the release of
nature of existence in its multifarious guises. Thus, neural transmitters in such states. Given the still
an explicit concern with spiritual or religious mat-
ters would be one variety – often the most impor- incomplete evidence with respect to existential
tant variety – of an existential intelligence. capacities, Gardner accords this candidate the
(Gardner 1999, p. 60) status of a “half-intelligence” status, pending
the accumulation of further evidence, particularly
Gardner argues that existential intelligence,
from the biological sciences.
which he identifies as the cognitive strand of the
More generally, the theory of multiple intelli-
spiritual, is the best potential candidate for an
gences can make useful contributions to discus-
intelligence. Its core capacities would include
sions on science and religion. The theory can help
the abilities to reflect on what is not easy to
frame the ways in which religious and spiritual
perceive directly since it tends toward the infinite
concerns dovetail with the intelligences involved
or infinitesimal, to locate oneself and others on
in solving problems or producing works of art and
a macro- and microcosmic level, and to process
philosophy. In the classroom, educators of both
existential features (such as life and death) and
religion and science can and have utilized the
experiences (such as love, sadness, emotional
theory, using MI-informed entry points to facili-
attachment, and immersion in a work of art) of
tate students’ understanding of curricular material.
the human condition.
Existential intelligence exhibits many of the
criteria for an intelligence. It is valued in nearly
every human culture, and its meanings are
encoded in networks of symbols (e.g., the cruci-
The theory of multiple intelligences is inherently
fix, the Torah, the Quran, the Ten Command-
interdisciplinary, as it draws on scholarly
ments, icons of saints and deities). There are
research in psychology, neuroscience, cultural
clear stages of sophistication and mastery, with
studies, and other social and behavioral sciences.
exemplars who have reflected at length on cosmic
issues. Although biological evidence is less
straightforward, Gardner suggests that the evolu-
tion of the human brain by the time of the Stone
Ethical Principles
Age enabled human beings to reflect upon and
The theory of multiple intelligences is amoral.
integrate into artistic representation questions
Like any tool or any scientific finding, an intelli-
about the nature of life and death, conflict and
reconciliation, and nature and culture. Indeed, gence can be used benignly or for ill. Although
some have attempted to argue for the existence of
concern with the ultimate seems to distinguish
a moral intelligence, Gardner does not believe
humans from other species.
Although information from the biological sci- that morality satisfies the aforementioned eight
criteria for the status of an intelligence.
ences is less forthcoming, evidence concerning
Struck by the paradox of intelligence as
brain damage and, in particular, temporal-lobe
epilepsy is suggestive. Among the symptoms amoral, Gardner and colleagues subsequently
developed the GoodWork Project, a multiyear,
displayed by such individuals is hyperreligiosity,
multisite study of how leading professionals
along with a tendency to transform minute expe-
riences into a launchpad for extended introspec- engage in work that is excellent in quality, highly
ethical, and personally meaningful (Gardner et al.
tion. Psychological evidence is less robust since
2001). A primary goal of the project has been to
no reliable psychometric test is correlated with
determine how leading individuals make use of sort are beyond its purview, although reflection
their intelligences: what role models do they upon it would fall under the category of existen-
choose? How does their personal history impact tial intelligence. Of course, the naturalistic intel-
their choices? How do they conceive of their ligence focuses particularly on distinctions in
personal, professional, and global responsibili- nature, while other intelligences are focused
ties? The project assumed that since human intel- more on human dimensions.
ligence is amoral and subject to either good or ill
use, it is important to understand how some indi- Human Being
viduals deploy their intelligence(s) to produce Living, conscious creatures whose psychological
good for their communities. In the end, each makeup consists, in part, of multiple
individual must decide how to use his or her biopsychosocial potentials or capacities that
intelligence. enable them to solve problems or create products
that are valuable in at least one society.
Key Values Life and Death

As a theory focused on explaining human cogni-
As a scientific theory, MI is informed and bound tion, MI theory does not have a stance on the
I
by the values common to all scientific research, origins of life and the nature of death. Discus-
such as integrity, publication, susceptibility to sions of this sort are beyond its purview, although
critique, and revision. As an academic researcher, reflection upon it falls under the category of exis-
Gardner is keen on following the ways in which tential intelligence.
MI is used by educators, many of whom have
integrated its insights into pedagogical tech- Reality
niques, such as the use of a variety of entry points As a scientific theory focused on explaining
in the communication of important theories, find- human cognition, MI theory assumes the exis-
ings, concepts, and insights. tence and explicability of reality. That said, it
For the most part, Gardner has adopted does not have a further stance on the nature of
a hands-off approach and allowed educators to reality. Discussions of this sort are beyond its
adapt MI in whichever ways seem most useful. purview, although reflection upon it falls under
Nonetheless, he has on occasion spoken out when the category of existential intelligence.
encountering egregious misapplications of the
theory. In particular, he challenged the use of Knowledge
MI in one Australian state’s school system. The Consists of data to be organized and utilized by
architects of that curriculum had asserted that individuals to solve problems and create prod-
various racial and ethnic groups possessed certain ucts, through the lenses of various intelligences.
intelligences, while lacking others. Such uses of
MI clearly misunderstand the purpose and scope Truth
of the theory. The precepts of “good work” indi- As a theory focused on explaining human cogni-
cated that this misuse should be labeled as such. tion, MI theory does not have a stance on the
nature of truth. Discussions of this sort are
beyond its purview, although reflection upon it
Conceptualization falls under the category of existential
intelligence.
Nature/World
As a theory focused on explaining human cogni- Perception
tion, MI theory does not have a stance on the MI theory focuses on how individuals process
status of nature or the world. Discussions of this and make sense of data, rather than on the mode
I 1072 Intelligent Design
by which data are detected. That is, there are

no visual or auditory intelligences per se. Rather, Intelligent Design
the intelligences operate on information, inde-
pendent of how that information is transduced Jakob Wolf
via one or more sensory organs. Department of Systematic Theology, Faculty of
Time Copenhagen K, Denmark
As a theory focused on explaining human cogni-
tion, MI theory does not have a stance on the
nature of time. Discussions of this sort are beyond Description
its purview, although reflection upon it falls
under the category of existential intelligence. The idea of intelligent design in nature and the
universe has a long tradition. The German phi-
Consciousness losopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) thought
MI theory focuses on the ways in which human that this idea was as old as the reason of man. It
beings process and make sense of information can be found both in Western and non-Western
and has not developed a robust conception of religion and philosophy. You can find arguments
consciousness. for intelligent design in nature defended not only
in ancient Greek philosophy but also in Hindu,
Rationality/Reason Chinese, Islamic-Persian, and other non-Western
MI theory does not explicitly deal with the nature traditions.
of rationality and reason, but insofar as they con- In Western tradition, Anaxagoras of
stitute the capacity to generate conclusions based Clazomenae (500–428 BC) is regarded by
on data, rationality/reason may be considered many as the first in ancient Greek philosophy
a faculty that enables one to solve problems. to attribute the evident structural harmony and
When classically defined, rationality/reason order in nature to some form of intelligent
may be taken to refer to a capacity to make design plan rather than the chance concourse
sense of data specifically through linguistic and/ of atoms. Anaxagoras believed a cosmic
or logical-mathematical intelligence, but they “Mind” ordered a primeval chaos of very small
may also be considered as facets of other particles.
intelligences. Socrates (470–399 BC) and Plato (427–347 BC)
argued that cosmic and material order is the result
Mystery of “Ideas” and “Mind” and that the order and design
As a theory focused on explaining human cogni- of the world can only be sustained by virtue of
tion, MI theory does not have a stance on the a Mind. Aristotle (384–322 BC) believed the
nature of mystery. Discussions of this sort are organic analogy was the best to describe the natural
beyond its purview, although reflection upon it world, which he thought functioned according to
falls under the category of existential intelligence. ends and design that was built into nature. Because
his thoughts were adopted by Christian thinking in
the Middle Ages, his ideas for centuries had an
enormous influence on the thinking in western
References
Europe.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multi- The Stoics who dominated philosophy for
ple intelligences. New York: Basic Books. almost 500 years in the ancient world adopted
Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed. New York: some of Aristotle’s teleological ideas. The Stoic
Basic Books.
cosmos was indeed an intelligently designed cos-
Gardner, H., Damon, W., & Czikszentmihalyi, M. (2001).
Good work: When excellence and ethics meet. mos. The Stoics supported enthusiastically the
New York: Basic Books. design argument in all its forms.
Intelligent Design 1073 I
In medieval Christian philosophy, arguments In the mid-1970s, physicist Brandon Carter
for intelligent design in nature are found in drew the attention to the fact that the laws and
the widespread so-called teleological or constants of physics seem to be “fine-tuned” for
physicotheological proofs of God’s existence. the universe to be suitable for life. Since then,
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) completes the a number of physicists and astronomers have
conversion of Aristotle’s philosophy and teleo- supported the fine-tuning hypothesis: John
logical world view to Christianity. He had five Barrow and Frank Tipler, Guillermo Gonzales
arguments for the existence of God. In his famous and Jay Richards, Paul Davies, Stephen
Fifth Way, he used a teleological design argument Hawking, and others. The fine-tuning hypothesis
to prove the existence of God. He argues that is a design argument. It is being opposed by the
things in nature, which have no intelligence, theory of the multiverse, which claims that there
move as if guided by deliberate ends, like an are many “universes” with different laws and
arrow shot by an archer. physical constants, so “our” universe is just
In the Renaissance and in more modern time a chance occurrence.
design, arguments are found in science and In origin-of-life studies, the central question is
philosophy by people like Johannes Kepler how molecules that are able to self-reduplicate
(1571–1630), Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), and contain coded chemistry can evolve. As early
I
Isaac Newton (1642–1727), Robert Boyle as 1968, Michael Polanyi pointed out that the
(1627–1691), Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716), information in code molecules transcends
and William Paley (1743–1805), just to mention its chemical medium. In the mid-1980s, Walter
a few (Barrow and Tipler 1986). Bradley, Charles Thaxton, and Roger
Like design arguments had their critics in Olsen suggested that the emergence of “coded
ancient Greek philosophy, they have their critics chemistry” is best explained by intelligent
in modern time. David Hume (1711–1776) and design. Since then, some scientists have tried to
Charles Darwin (1809–1882) represent the most underpin the design theory within origin-of-life
effectual critics of the design argument in studies: David Berlinski, Stephen Meyer, and
philosophy and science in modern times. When others. In evolutionary biology, especially bio-
Kant said that the design argument was as old as chemist Michael Behe (Behe 1996), but also
the reason of man, you might add that the critique others, has argued for the relevance of intelligent
of the design argument is just as old and persistent. design theory. In 1996, Behe claims that tiny
Kant himself represents an interesting middle molecular machines, such as the bacterial flagel-
position in this never-ending discussion. On the lum, are “irreducibly complex.” Structurally,
one hand, he rejected the physicotheological they resemble a mousetrap. The system only
proof of God’s existence, though he said it works if all the parts are in place. Natural selec-
deserved to be mentioned with honor; on the tion working on random mutations cannot build
other hand, he claimed that it is inevitable to such a system, because it can only build systems
presuppose intelligent design in nature. The bio- one small step at a time, by traversing a path in
logical sciences must presuppose design and tel- which each step provides a present survival
eology, but these notions are not part of biology chance for the organism. It cannot select for
strictly taken as natural science. a future function. Only an intelligent agent can
The recent developments within the tradition do that. On the macroscopic level, it is a problem
have taken place in ▶ astrophysics, origin-of-life to Darwinian theory that in the fossil record the
studies, evolutionary biology, and ▶ philosophy three-dimensional complexity of many diverse
of science. Since the beginning of the 1990s, animal body plans show up at, geologically
arguments for intelligent design in nature have speaking, more or less the same time, the so-
had a renaissance especially among scientists in called Cambrian explosion. Darwinian theory of
USA with some affinity to religious communities gradual evolution does not predict the sudden
such as creationism and evangelism. appearance of complexity. Sudden innovation
I 1074 Intelligent Design
and increase of information are always due to see it as creationism in disguise. It denies the
intelligent agency, intelligent design theorists religious character of the theory in order to have
argue. intelligent design theory taught in public schools.
The recent attention to intelligent design argu- In fact, intelligent design proponents are trying to
ments in science has, in philosophy of science, promote Christian ideas (Numbers 2006).
revived the idea of a correspondence between
human rationality and rationality in the universe.
The question is: how can it be that man using Characteristics
scientific investigation relatively effectively can
discover important aspects of the truth of about This tradition is distinct by being in its core
nature? Or as Nobel Prize winner physicist a philosophical tradition. It is neither science
Eugene Wigner points out, the enormous appli- nor religion, but it has the closest connection to
cability of mathematics in natural science is science and some relation to religion. It is not
a mystery, there is no rational explanation. Albert science in a modern sense where science is
Einstein spoke of the laws of nature as “reason defined by methodological naturalism which
incarnate.” The universe is intelligible because it excludes intelligent causation. Rather, it can be
incarnates reason. Philosopher Anthony Flew, categorized as what was formerly called natural
a former outspoken atheist, in 2004, puts forward philosophy. It is not religion because it is based
a strong support for the design argument based on on perceptions of nature and not belief in holy
Einstein’s reflections and recent developments in books or religious beliefs. The relationship
astrophysics and microbiology. In continuation between intelligent design in nature and religion
of Behe’s concept of “irreducible complexity,” is that the religious interpretation of intelligent
mathematician and philosopher William design in nature as an expression of a transcen-
Dembski elaborates a mathematical model for dent creative power is a further interpretation of
detecting intelligent design in nature (Dembski what or who the designer may be. The religious
1999). interpretation is a possible, but not a necessary,
interpretation.
Self-identification
Science
The intelligent design community in USA does The tradition is highly relevant to the scholarly
self-identify intelligent design theory as science. area called ▶ science and religion. The idea of
Michael Behe argues that the design inference is intelligent design in nature can be used to bridge
inductive and therefore scientific. William science and religion. As being a presupposition
Dembski argues that not only unintelligent causes for science and being open to a religious interpre-
like mechanical laws of nature and chance should tation, the concept of intelligent design bridges
be allowed in scientific explanations but also an science and religion without confusing science
intelligent cause. Others argue in continuation of with religion.
Kant that the idea of intelligent design in nature is
not a scientific but a prescientific concept. Intel-
ligent design is a philosophical idea (Kant 1966). Sources of Authority
Religion The sources of authority for this tradition are

It does not self-identify as a religion. It does not classical and modern religious, philosophical,
exclude religious implications, but it does not and scientific texts such as the writings of Plato,
require religious premises. Many critics of the Aristotle, the Stoics, Thomas Aquinas, Kepler,
intelligent design movement in USA, however, Newton, Kant, Paley, etc. The classicistic
Intentionality 1075 I
character of the texts and the quality of the sci- ▶ Ethics
ence and the philosophical reflections make these ▶ Evolution
sources authoritative. ▶ God of the Gaps
▶ Natural Theology
▶ Phenomenology
Ethical Principles ▶ Philosophy of Science
▶ Science and Religion Dialogue and the
The search and respect for truth. Interreligious Dialogue
Key Values References
The love for truth and honoring nature. In this Barrow, J. D., & Tipler, F. J. (1986). The anthropic cos-
mological principle. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
tradition, it is argued that nature has an intrinsic
To the history of the tradition.
value, which provides nature with an ethical qual- Behe, M. J. (1996). Darwin’s black box. New York: Free
ity. It is critical to all theories of the universe and Press.
nature that reduce nature to mechanical processes Dembski, W. (1999). Intelligent design. The bridge
between science and theology. Nottingham: I
and chance events, which remove all intrinsic
InterVarsity Press.
value from nature Kant, I., (1966 (1790)). The critique of Judgment.
New York: Hafner Publisching Company.
Numbers, R. L., (2006). The creationists: From scientific
creationism to intelligent design (Expanded ed.).
Conceptualization Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Paley, W. (2008 (1800)). Natural theology. Oxford:
The tradition of the idea of intelligent design in Oxford World Classics.
nature does not have any special definitions of the Wolf, J. (2009). The idea of design in nature: science or
phenomenology? global spiral vol 10, nr. 4 www.
mentioned phenomena. It follows the traditional
metanexus.net/magazine.
definitions from philosophy and science.
Relevant Themes Intentional Action

The concept of intelligent design in nature is ▶ Attribution/Attribution Theory
especially relevant as a concept that bridges sci-
ence and religion. It is critical to the way science
and religion is bridged in the concept of theistic
evolution. Here, God is seen as a primary cause Intentionality
behind the Darwinian mechanism. God creates
the universe and then leaves it to evolve by Bertram F. Malle
itself. In this model, the concept of God is Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and
reduced to a deistic concept, and nature is Psychological Sciences, Brown University,
reduced to be the result of meaningless mecha- Providence, RI, USA
nisms and chance events.
The quality of a behavior being intentional – that

Cross-References is, chosen, purposeful, done for a reason. Research
shows that five components have to be present for
▶ Biology, Theoretical people to consider a behavior intentional: the actor
▶ Creationism must have had a desire for an outcome, a belief that
I 1076 Interbeing
the behavior will lead to the outcome, an intention

to perform the behavior, awareness of fulfilling Interpretation Theory
that intention while performing the behavior, and
skill to perform the behavior. ▶ Hermeneutics, Theological
Cross-References
Interreligious Dialogue
▶ Attribution/Attribution Theory
▶ Divine Action ▶ Pluralism (Religious)
Interreligious Studies
Interbeing
Paul Hedges
▶ Animal Theology and Ethics Department of Theology and Religious Studies,
University of Winchester, Winchester, UK
Interfaith Description
▶ Science and Religion Dialogue and the The term “Interreligious Studies” is a relatively
Interreligious Dialogue new one within academia, but one that is becom-
ing frequently employed. Its basic meaning refers
to studies involving two or more religious tradi-
tions or groups; however, it can bear a number of
Interiority different connotations within this broad area. For
instance, it is often seen linked to the term
▶ Externalism and Internalism “Intercultural Theology,” a term that usually
refers to recent development within ecumenics
and mission studies where emphasis moves
from mission as conversion toward developing
Internet and Religion an inculturated theology and dialogue with the
religious other. In this context, although stressing
▶ Online Religion the Religious Studies context rather than the
theological, it may carry a theological tone
where study between religions for mutual enrich-
ment is key. However, this is not its only usage,
Internet Ethics and it may refer to the study of different religions
in meeting, encounter, and activism. Here, a more
▶ Cyberethics “secular” than theological concern may be
involved based in, for instance, a sociological
exploration of the role of different religious tra-
ditions in social inclusion, or activism around
Interpersonal Relationships issues like the environment. Another area that
may be of concern in Interreligious Studies, and
▶ Social Psychology where, probably, the most common usage of
Interreligious Studies 1077 I
“interreligious” on its own is found, is as an Self-identification
alternative or synonym to “interfaith” in the
phrase Interreligious/Interfaith Dialogue. This Science
preview of three sample areas may suggest In the broad sense of an area of study, or field of
a variety of different usages, and this is indeed knowledge, Interreligious Studies can be seen as
the case, however, this does not make the term too a science like the fields of Religious Studies and
broad. Across its various usages, Interreligious Theology. However, in the more restricted
Studies often tends to imply more than simply sense commonly used today, in reference to the
a study of two or more religions, but is about natural and mathematical sciences, it is not
studying the dynamic encounter and interaction a science. Nevertheless, in the mainland Euro-
between them. This may involve hermeneutics, pean context at least, many of those committed
dialogue, historical encounters, or other areas; to Interreligious Studies may see their work as
moreover there is normally an interest in the “scientific” in that it holds to strict qualitative
meaningful growth, enrichment, and benefit and/or quantitative methodologies, criteria, and
gained in this. Much of its focus will be on modern disciplinary guidelines that prescribe it as
and contemporary issues; however, for particular a genuine academic area of study.
scholars historical studies may be the focus.
I
Given its broad usage and general intentions, Religion
Interreligious Studies has a certain affinity with It is not a religion, however, as outlined in
a number of other academic growth areas, par- section “Description”; there may be those who
ticularly Intercultural Theology (referred to see its study as providing important details
above), Comparative Theology, Comparative about the contemporary activity of their own
Religion, and studies in such areas as the Theol- religion.
ogy of Religions, Multiple or Dual Religious
Belonging, and Interfaith Dialogue and Rela-
tions. It may, therefore, be seen, in some ways, Characteristics
as an interface between a more traditionally
secular Religious Studies discipline, and As noted above, Interreligious Studies is a new
a more traditionally confessional theological term, and this has implications for its recognition.
discipline. It is certainly a multidisciplinary It could be argued that it is a development from
enterprise employing historical, sociological, the older, and well-established, field of Compar-
anthropological, psychological, philosophical, ative Religion. However, whereas this sought to
and other tools; in this regard, it stands clearly simply provide an objective historical or phe-
in the tradition of Religious Studies, perhaps as nomenological account of similarities or points
a more engaged aspect of Comparative Religion. of meeting between religious traditions (notwith-
However, it can be seen as something more, standing criticisms of its quasi-theological func-
standing neither in Theology per se, nor simply tion under such luminaries in the field as Mircea
Religious Studies, with some people involved in Eliade), Interreligious Studies is more expressly
the research area sitting more comfortably in focused on the dynamic encounter and engage-
Sociology or Global Studies. Concerns with the ment between religious traditions and persons.
social issues, political concerns, and other fac- Moreover, it can be seen as going beyond Theol-
tors related to religious interaction make it ogy and Religious Studies as a transdisciplinary
a transdisciplinary or interdisciplinary subject area. Certainly the resurgence of religion in
area. While many involved may come from one recent decades has seen it growing in importance
particular background, Interreligious Studies in relation to areas such as politics, economics,
involves the recognition that as a subject area and sociology; therefore, it may be suggested that
it interacts with many disciplines and areas of there is room for a new research field that cuts
life and study. across subject borders.
I 1078 Interreligious Studies
Relevance to Science and Religion studies, while scholars involved would, normally,
be methodologically self-conscious and would,
The issue of “Science and Religion” is one that as a principle, exercise a kind of hermeneutical
would not necessarily be of interest within suspicion about privileged starting points.
Interreligious Studies; however, at the same
time, it could within certain contexts become
a key focus for specific studies. For instance, in Key Values
studying the historical encounter between
Christianity and Islam the passing of Greek Given the diversity of perspectives encompassed,
wisdom as interpreted and developed by Islamic key values would vary. However, by and large,
scholars could be a fruitful area for exploration. It some guiding principles could be noted:
could certainly be usefully employed as an exer- (1) respect for the other (religious, cultural,
cise in helping contemporary communities etc.); (2) valuing and appreciating diversity;
engage more closely in dialogue and understand- (3) an awareness that truth is plural and diversely
ing. In contemporary concerns, practical issues of expressed; and (4) an interest in social change,
interreligious activism may involve issues such particularly involving social cohesion and reli-
as climate change, and as such would again gious tolerance in society; for many this interest
involve directly scientific questions and issues. could be spoken of in terms of commitment or
desire for these things as areas of scholarly study
and personal activism may overlap.
There are no foundational texts for Interreligious Conceptualization

Studies. While, as an interdisciplinary area it is,
perhaps, best seen as an approach to looking at As a varied academic discipline Interreligious
things and/or a methodological focus rather than Studies would not have a set conceptualization
something focused in a specific corpus of works. of any of the following; however, some notes on
Nevertheless, it is possible to define scholars each can be briefly observed.
whose work fits readily into this research area,
some of whom may see themselves as scholars of Nature/World
Interreligious Studies, some are even Professors of These may be conceived from within the reli-
Interreligious Studies, whereas others would self- gious worldview of the traditions studied.
identify in different ways. These figures include
Gary Bouma, Marcus Braybrooke, Diana L. Eck, Human Being
Francis Clooney, Reuven Firestone, Paul Knitter, Interreligious Studies will attach worth to the
Oddbjørn Leirvik, Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Paul human being qua a human being, possibly based
Weller, Hendrik Vroom, and Frans Wijsen. on humanistic ethics or on resources within the
religious traditions.

Again, perspectives may depend on the religions
As an academic discipline those involved in studied.
Interreligious Studies would follow any relevant
ethical guidelines applicable to their own subject Reality
discipline, research methodology, etc. If Interreligious Studies may have a concern with
Interreligious Studies has its own distinct ethical Ultimate Reality if viewed from a more theolog-
principles it would involve a sensitivity to the ical standpoint, from a more sociological one its
varied cultural and religious traditions of its concern may be with the perceived phenomenal
Interreligious Studies 1079 I
world, that is, how religions contribute, or deter, among those concerned with the more abstract
social inclusion rather than with how they relate and metaphysical aspects of Interreligious Studies.
metaphysically. However, these two perspectives
are not incompatible.
Relevant Themes
Knowledge
As with much else, attitudes here will depend These would be strategically relevant issues
upon the researcher, their field, and methodology. rather than ones intrinsic to Interreligious Studies
Some researchers may be very much concerned per se, and might include such things as follows:
with questions of how knowledge is obtained, Areas of common concern in activism, for
that is, in terms of such things as intercultural instance, where religious groups come
hermeneutics, others may question the very together to discuss climate change, global
concept as an objective category at all follow- warming, stewardship of the planet, etc.
ing, for instance, lines of thought inspired by the The shared history of scientific endeavor that
French critical theorist Michel Foucault where links Islam and Christianity (and also Juda-
knowing is an act of power and what is known is ism) could be a useful area to link these
shaped and determined by the means of religions in a sense of a shared history, which
I
knowing. would also bring it into intimate relation
with certain secular realms of thought.
Truth For instance, the portrayal of religion as
Questions of “truth” may not be of much concern “irrational,” “anti-religion,” and “dangerous”
to people involved with the pragmatics of by some of the New Atheists would be shown
interreligious social action, while the question to be erroneous if the role Islamic scholars
of getting results may be valued. However, within played in preserving and improving on the
religious contexts, truth may play a key role; Greek scientific legacy and passing this
indeed, it is likely to be held that lasting benefits to Europe, allowing that continent’s own
must in some way be aligned with what is “true.” Renaissance and moves to modernity, was
more widely known.
Perception Areas of scientific study could be applied in
Biological questions of what perception involves specific instances, for example, studies
are unlikely to be of concern. However, in philo- have been done on the brainwaves of people
sophical terms, what shapes what we perceive, meditating or praying, showing that this
the way we perceive it, etc. Then it will be related activity alters the patterns. Comparative
to some of the lines of thought discussed under studies of religious experience or near-death
“knowledge” and “truth.” experiences could also be undertaken which
would have a possible application within
Time Interreligious Studies.
Unless issues about the different perceptions and
understandings of time between religious tradi- Acknowledgments My thanks go to Dr. Anna Halafoff,
tions are raised, that is, whether it is conceived in Deakin University, Australia, and Dr. David Cheetham,
Birmingham University, UK, for comments on an earlier
linear or cyclic terms and the effects of this on
draft that has helped shaped this entry.
thought worlds, actions, etc. it would not often be
of much concern in most circumstances.
Consciousness Cross-References
Concepts of this vary vastly between different
religious traditions, and social and cultural group- ▶ Bodhisattva Ideal
ings and so may become a topic of discussion ▶ Daoism
I 1

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Anne L.C.

With 61 Figures and 14 Tables

ISBN 978-1-4020-8264-1 ISBN 978-1-4020-8265-8 (eBook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013930304

# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Printed on acid-free paper

Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

What the Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions provides

disciplines and religious traditions worldwide. The A–Z format throughout

April 2013 Anne L. C. Runehov

Anne L. C. Runehov Department of Systematic Theology, Copenhagen

Michael Agliardo, SJ, Ph.D. Department of Sociology, Loyola University

Michael Agliardo, SJ, is assistant professor of sociology at Loyola University

Hans-Ferdinand Angel Faculty of Catholic Theology, Karl-Franzens

Hans-Ferdinand Angel studied theology, Latin, and history in Regensburg

Kelly Bulkeley The Graduate Theological Union, Area V (Religion and

Kelly Bulkeley, Ph.D., is a visiting scholar at the Graduate Theological Union

Nader El-Bizri Civilization Sequence Program, American University of

Dr. Nader El-Bizri is an associate professor in the Civilization Sequence

Gisela Emma Full Institute of Transcultural Health Sciences, European-

Dr. Gisela Emma Full is a research fellow at both the European-University

Max H. Garzon Department of Computer Science, The University of

Sungchul Ji Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario

Dr. Sungchul Ji received a Ph.D. degree in physical organic chemistry in 1970

Anders Kraal Department of Philosophy, University of British Columbia,

B. Les Lancaster School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John

B. Les Lancaster is emeritus professor of Transpersonal Psychology at

Daniel R. Langton Department of Religions and Theology, University of

Daniel R. Langton is professor of the history of Jewish-Christian relations at

Javier Leach Facultad de Informática, Departamento de Sistemas

Lluis Oviedo Antonianum University, Rome, Italy

Lluis Oviedo is currently full professor of Christian anthropology and issues

Raymond F. Paloutzian The International Journal for the Psychology of

Raymond F. Paloutzian received his Ph.D. in 1972 from Claremont Graduate

Carl A. Raschke Department of Religious Studies, University of Denver,

Carl Raschke is professor of religious studies at the University of Denver,

Anne L. C. Runehov Department of Systematic Theology, Copenhagen

Anne L. C. Runehov has a reader (associate professor) degree from the

Norbert M. Samuelson School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious

Norbert M. Samuelson is the Grossman Chair of Jewish Studies at Arizona

udiger J. Seitz Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine-University,

R€udiger J. Seitz is professor of neurology and vice chairman of the Depart-

Stoyan Tanev Integrative Innovation Management, Department of

Dr. Stoyan Tanev is an associate professor in the Department of Technology

Dimitris Xygalatas LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of

Dimitris Xygalatas is Director of the LEVYNA Laboratory for the

Rabie E. Abdel-Halim FRCS Ed, Kuwait Prize Laureate (2005–History of

Thomas Anderberg Department of Philosophy, Uppsala University,

Adrian Andreescu Independent Researcher, Pucioasa, Dambovita,

Hans-Ferdinand Angel Faculty of Catholic Theology, Karl–Franzens

Edmund Arens Fundamental Theology, Faculty of Catholic Theology,

Friederike Assandri Department of Sinology, University of Heidelberg,

Jennifer L. Baldwin Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Chicago, IL,

Carmela Baffioni Dipartimento Asia Africa Mediterraneo (DAAM),

Detlef Balschun Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of

Paul G. Barash Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of

Simon Baron-Cohen Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry,

Justin L. Barrett Thrive Center for Human Development, Graduate School

Peter Barrett School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, University of

Friedrich G. Barth Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences,

Carolyn Baum Program in Occupational Therapy, Washington University,

Angela Ales Bello Lateran University, Vatican City, Italy

Jacob A. Belzen University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands