The Philosophy and Semantics of the Cognitive Science of Religion

This article brings philosophy into dialogue with cognitive science of religion (CSR). After a brief overview of CSR and theories of meaning, we explore the philosophical semantic constraints of CSR. We focus on how the beliefs and behaviours of religious adherents, as conceived by CSR, can be meani...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the cognitive science of religion
Authors: Gardiner, Mark Q. 1963- (Author) ; Engler, Steven 1962- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Equinox Publ. [2015]
In: Journal for the cognitive science of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Kognitive Religionswissenschaft / Religious philosophy / Semantics / Externalism / Holism
IxTheo Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AE Psychology of religion
Further subjects:B theory of religion
B Holism
B Semantics
B Externalism
B cognitive science of religion
B cognitive theory
B Philosophy
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:This article brings philosophy into dialogue with cognitive science of religion (CSR). After a brief overview of CSR and theories of meaning, we explore the philosophical semantic constraints of CSR. We focus on how the beliefs and behaviours of religious adherents, as conceived by CSR, can be meaningful in ways that illuminate the scholar's understanding of religious phenomena. We argue that CSR is committed to an externalist and holistic semantics. This highlights a potentially problematic tension between the beliefs of religious people and the explanations proposed by CSR. We end by suggesting that this tension could be resolved if CSR were to give more attention to external factors (e.g., biological, cultural, environmental etc.).
ISSN:2049-7563
Reference:Kritik in "Philosophy, Belief and Cognitive Science of Religion (2015)"
Kritik in "The Only Way to Get Hold of Philosophical Assumptions in CSR Is to Analyze Them (2015)"
Kritik in "How the Philosophy of Language Should Equal Meta-Cognition of the Cognitive Science of Religion (2015)"
Kritik in "Explanation, Religion and Science (2015)"
Kritik in "Missing the Boat (2015)"
Kritik in "Don't Forget about Pragmatics! (2015)"
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the cognitive science of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/jcsr.v3i1.21033