ROGER BECK
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199216130
- eISBN:
- 9780191712128
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216130.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This chapter explains how the Cognitive Science of Religion can serve as a powerful new method for exploring the making of representations in a religion and the cognitive processes by which an ...
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This chapter explains how the Cognitive Science of Religion can serve as a powerful new method for exploring the making of representations in a religion and the cognitive processes by which an initiate apprehends a religion's symbol system. Following Dan Sperber's approach (Explaining Culture), all religions may be described in terms of the interplay of representations over time: public representations in the media of sacred spaces, physical images, performed rituals, and words uttered and recorded in text; and private representations in the minds of individual adherents. A fortiori, the negotiation of representations in Mithraism can have been no different. An appendix draws on Lucian's treatment of audience response in his essay On the Dance to show how the negotiation of representation worked in a comparable situation in antiquity.Less
This chapter explains how the Cognitive Science of Religion can serve as a powerful new method for exploring the making of representations in a religion and the cognitive processes by which an initiate apprehends a religion's symbol system. Following Dan Sperber's approach (Explaining Culture), all religions may be described in terms of the interplay of representations over time: public representations in the media of sacred spaces, physical images, performed rituals, and words uttered and recorded in text; and private representations in the minds of individual adherents. A fortiori, the negotiation of representations in Mithraism can have been no different. An appendix draws on Lucian's treatment of audience response in his essay On the Dance to show how the negotiation of representation worked in a comparable situation in antiquity.
Léon Turner
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199688081
- eISBN:
- 9780191767722
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688081.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies, Religion and Society
This chapter has two main aims. First, to provide a glimpse of the great complexity and theoretical diversity of evolutionary cognitive science of religion (ECSR), and the range of criticisms it has ...
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This chapter has two main aims. First, to provide a glimpse of the great complexity and theoretical diversity of evolutionary cognitive science of religion (ECSR), and the range of criticisms it has attracted. Second, it briefly outlines the overall shape of the book. The complex heterogeneous nature of the field is demonstrated via a discussion of the debate over religion’s adaptiveness. This discussion also reveals the complexity of ECSR’s relationships with other evolutionary accounts of religion. Subsequently, it is suggested that ECSR has already addressed much of the general criticism it has attracted, and a need is identified for focused critical appraisals of specific aspects of ECSR. The chapter concludes by explaining a number of editorial decisions in planning the book, and describing the distinctive contributions to the field made by its various authors.Less
This chapter has two main aims. First, to provide a glimpse of the great complexity and theoretical diversity of evolutionary cognitive science of religion (ECSR), and the range of criticisms it has attracted. Second, it briefly outlines the overall shape of the book. The complex heterogeneous nature of the field is demonstrated via a discussion of the debate over religion’s adaptiveness. This discussion also reveals the complexity of ECSR’s relationships with other evolutionary accounts of religion. Subsequently, it is suggested that ECSR has already addressed much of the general criticism it has attracted, and a need is identified for focused critical appraisals of specific aspects of ECSR. The chapter concludes by explaining a number of editorial decisions in planning the book, and describing the distinctive contributions to the field made by its various authors.
István Czachesz
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198779865
- eISBN:
- 9780191825880
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198779865.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Religious Studies
This monograph makes a case for a cognitive turn in New Testament Studies, both surveying relevant developments in the Cognitive Science of Religion and digging into the field of cognitive and ...
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This monograph makes a case for a cognitive turn in New Testament Studies, both surveying relevant developments in the Cognitive Science of Religion and digging into the field of cognitive and behavioral sciences in search of opportunities of gaining new insights about biblical materials. Over the last few decades, our knowledge of how the human mind and brain work increased dramatically. We can now understand religious traditions, rituals, and visionary experiences in novel ways. This has implications for the study of the New Testament and early Christianity. With insights from cognitive science, we can better understand how people in the ancient Mediterranean world remembered sayings and stories, what they experienced when participating in rituals, how they thought about magic and miracle, and how they felt and reasoned about moral questions. The first three chapters of the book introduce the contemporary study of religion in the framework of evolution, culture, and cognition. In subsequent chapters, the study of the New Testament and early Christianity is reconsidered in light of the cognitive approach, including the formation of gospel traditions, the origins and function of rituals and sacraments, religious experience, ethics and moral norms, as well as the expansion of the Christian movement. In addition to rethinking old questions from a novel perspective, the book also shows how new research questions emerge from the cognitive approach, such as the connection between magic and miracle, the neurological correlates of visionary experiences, and the interaction between social network dynamics and theological development.Less
This monograph makes a case for a cognitive turn in New Testament Studies, both surveying relevant developments in the Cognitive Science of Religion and digging into the field of cognitive and behavioral sciences in search of opportunities of gaining new insights about biblical materials. Over the last few decades, our knowledge of how the human mind and brain work increased dramatically. We can now understand religious traditions, rituals, and visionary experiences in novel ways. This has implications for the study of the New Testament and early Christianity. With insights from cognitive science, we can better understand how people in the ancient Mediterranean world remembered sayings and stories, what they experienced when participating in rituals, how they thought about magic and miracle, and how they felt and reasoned about moral questions. The first three chapters of the book introduce the contemporary study of religion in the framework of evolution, culture, and cognition. In subsequent chapters, the study of the New Testament and early Christianity is reconsidered in light of the cognitive approach, including the formation of gospel traditions, the origins and function of rituals and sacraments, religious experience, ethics and moral norms, as well as the expansion of the Christian movement. In addition to rethinking old questions from a novel perspective, the book also shows how new research questions emerge from the cognitive approach, such as the connection between magic and miracle, the neurological correlates of visionary experiences, and the interaction between social network dynamics and theological development.
Risto Uro
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199661176
- eISBN:
- 9780191793455
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199661176.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religious Studies
The rise of early Christianity has been examined from a myriad of perspectives, but until recently ritual has been a neglected topic. This book argues that ritual theory is indispensable for the ...
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The rise of early Christianity has been examined from a myriad of perspectives, but until recently ritual has been a neglected topic. This book argues that ritual theory is indispensable for the study of Christian beginnings. It also makes a strong case for the application of theories and insights from the Cognitive Science of Religion, a field that has established itself as a vigorous movement in Religious Studies over the past two decades. The book develops a ‘socio-cognitive’ approach to the study of early Christian rituals, seeking to integrate a social-level analysis with findings from the cognitive and evolutionary sciences. Ritual and Christian Beginnings provides an overview of how ritual has been approached in previous scholarship, including reasons for its neglect, and introduces the reader to the emerging fields of Ritual Studies and the Cognitive Science of Religion. In particular, it explores the ways in which cognitive theories of ritual can shed new light on issues discussed by early Christian scholars, and opens up new questions and avenues for further research. The socio-cognitive approach to ritual is applied to a number of test cases, including John the Baptist, the ritual healing practised by Jesus and the early Christians, the social life of Pauline Christianity, and the development of early Christian baptismal practices. The analysis creates building blocks for a new account of Christian beginnings, highlighting the role of ritual innovation, cooperative signalling, and the importance of bodily actions for the generation and transmission of religious knowledge.Less
The rise of early Christianity has been examined from a myriad of perspectives, but until recently ritual has been a neglected topic. This book argues that ritual theory is indispensable for the study of Christian beginnings. It also makes a strong case for the application of theories and insights from the Cognitive Science of Religion, a field that has established itself as a vigorous movement in Religious Studies over the past two decades. The book develops a ‘socio-cognitive’ approach to the study of early Christian rituals, seeking to integrate a social-level analysis with findings from the cognitive and evolutionary sciences. Ritual and Christian Beginnings provides an overview of how ritual has been approached in previous scholarship, including reasons for its neglect, and introduces the reader to the emerging fields of Ritual Studies and the Cognitive Science of Religion. In particular, it explores the ways in which cognitive theories of ritual can shed new light on issues discussed by early Christian scholars, and opens up new questions and avenues for further research. The socio-cognitive approach to ritual is applied to a number of test cases, including John the Baptist, the ritual healing practised by Jesus and the early Christians, the social life of Pauline Christianity, and the development of early Christian baptismal practices. The analysis creates building blocks for a new account of Christian beginnings, highlighting the role of ritual innovation, cooperative signalling, and the importance of bodily actions for the generation and transmission of religious knowledge.
Risto Uro
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199661176
- eISBN:
- 9780191793455
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199661176.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religious Studies
This chapter introduces the reader to the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR), especially to those aspects of this new field that are relevant for a deeper understanding of the cognitive theories ...
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This chapter introduces the reader to the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR), especially to those aspects of this new field that are relevant for a deeper understanding of the cognitive theories used in this book. CSR is a research programme which draws on a growing body of knowledge from the cognitive and evolutionary sciences to explain human religiosity. It is a pluralistic movement, comprising different schools and currents; what they have in common is the effort to achieve explanatory and testable theories, as well as a multilevel analysis of religious phenomena. The survey of the schools and currents in CSR provides a basis for suggesting a ‘socio-cognitive approach’ to early Christian rituals, relying on cognitive theories of ritual that operate at both a social and a cognitive level. Three perspectives on ritual emerge from the discussion, described by the keywords ‘action’, ‘cooperation’, and ‘religious knowledge’.Less
This chapter introduces the reader to the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR), especially to those aspects of this new field that are relevant for a deeper understanding of the cognitive theories used in this book. CSR is a research programme which draws on a growing body of knowledge from the cognitive and evolutionary sciences to explain human religiosity. It is a pluralistic movement, comprising different schools and currents; what they have in common is the effort to achieve explanatory and testable theories, as well as a multilevel analysis of religious phenomena. The survey of the schools and currents in CSR provides a basis for suggesting a ‘socio-cognitive approach’ to early Christian rituals, relying on cognitive theories of ritual that operate at both a social and a cognitive level. Three perspectives on ritual emerge from the discussion, described by the keywords ‘action’, ‘cooperation’, and ‘religious knowledge’.
Andrea Moro
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034890
- eISBN:
- 9780262335621
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034890.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
Understanding the nature and the structure of human language coincides with capturing the constraints which make a conceivable language possible or, equivalently, with discovering whether there can ...
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Understanding the nature and the structure of human language coincides with capturing the constraints which make a conceivable language possible or, equivalently, with discovering whether there can be any impossible languages at all. This book explores these related issues, paralleling the effort of a biologist who attempts at describing the class of impossible animals. In biology, one can appeal for example to physical laws of nature (such as entropy or gravity) but when it comes to language the path becomes intricate and difficult for the physical laws cannot be exploited. In linguistics, in fact, there are two distinct empirical domains to explore: on the one hand, the formal domain of syntax, where different languages are compared trying to understand how much they can differ; on the other, the neurobiological domain, where the flow of information through the complex neural networks and the electric code exploited by neurons is uncovered and measured. By referring to the most advanced experiments in Neurolinguistics the book in fact offers an updated descriptions of modern linguistics and allows the reader to formulate new and surprising questions. Moreover, since syntax - the capacity to generate novel structures (sentences) by recombining a finite set of elements (words) - is the fingerprint of all and only human languages this books ultimately deals with the fundamental questions which characterize the search for our origins.Less
Understanding the nature and the structure of human language coincides with capturing the constraints which make a conceivable language possible or, equivalently, with discovering whether there can be any impossible languages at all. This book explores these related issues, paralleling the effort of a biologist who attempts at describing the class of impossible animals. In biology, one can appeal for example to physical laws of nature (such as entropy or gravity) but when it comes to language the path becomes intricate and difficult for the physical laws cannot be exploited. In linguistics, in fact, there are two distinct empirical domains to explore: on the one hand, the formal domain of syntax, where different languages are compared trying to understand how much they can differ; on the other, the neurobiological domain, where the flow of information through the complex neural networks and the electric code exploited by neurons is uncovered and measured. By referring to the most advanced experiments in Neurolinguistics the book in fact offers an updated descriptions of modern linguistics and allows the reader to formulate new and surprising questions. Moreover, since syntax - the capacity to generate novel structures (sentences) by recombining a finite set of elements (words) - is the fingerprint of all and only human languages this books ultimately deals with the fundamental questions which characterize the search for our origins.
István Czachesz
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198779865
- eISBN:
- 9780191825880
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198779865.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Religious Studies
This chapter provides an introduction to the field of cognitive science and outlines the program of a cognitive turn in New Testament Studies. The chapter explains the background and significance of ...
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This chapter provides an introduction to the field of cognitive science and outlines the program of a cognitive turn in New Testament Studies. The chapter explains the background and significance of the cognitive turn in psychology and other disciplines and also discusses basic research questions concerning the human mind. The question is raised how the human mind manages a variety of cognitive tasks efficiently, and theories of modularity as well as different accounts of situated cognition are introduced. Following a brief outline of the Cognitive Science of Religion, the final part of the chapter considers what the program of a cognitive turn in New Testament Studies can promise.Less
This chapter provides an introduction to the field of cognitive science and outlines the program of a cognitive turn in New Testament Studies. The chapter explains the background and significance of the cognitive turn in psychology and other disciplines and also discusses basic research questions concerning the human mind. The question is raised how the human mind manages a variety of cognitive tasks efficiently, and theories of modularity as well as different accounts of situated cognition are introduced. Following a brief outline of the Cognitive Science of Religion, the final part of the chapter considers what the program of a cognitive turn in New Testament Studies can promise.
Zed Adams and Jacob Browning (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035248
- eISBN:
- 9780262335850
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035248.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
In his work, the philosopher John Haugeland (1945–2010) proposed a radical expansion of philosophy’s conceptual toolkit, calling for a wider range of resources for understanding the mind, the world, ...
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In his work, the philosopher John Haugeland (1945–2010) proposed a radical expansion of philosophy’s conceptual toolkit, calling for a wider range of resources for understanding the mind, the world, and how they relate. Haugeland argued that “giving a damn” is essential for having a mind, and suggested that traditional approaches to cognitive science mistakenly overlook the relevance of caring to the understanding of mindedness. Haugeland’s determination to expand philosophy’s array of concepts led him to write on a wide variety of subjects that may seem unrelated—from topics in cognitive science and philosophy of mind to examinations of such figures as Immanuel Kant, Martin Heidegger, and Thomas Kuhn. Haugeland’s two books with the MIT Press, Artificial Intelligence and Mind Design, show the range of his interests.
This book offers a collection of essays in conversation with Haugeland’s work. The essays, by prominent scholars, extend Haugeland’s work on a range of contemporary topics in philosophy of mind—from questions about intentionality to issues concerning objectivity and truth to the work of Heidegger. Giving a Damn also includes a previously unpublished paper by Haugeland, “Two Dogmas of Rationalism,” as well as critical responses to it. Finally, an appendix offers Haugeland’s outline of Kant’s "Transcendental Deduction of the Categories.”Less
In his work, the philosopher John Haugeland (1945–2010) proposed a radical expansion of philosophy’s conceptual toolkit, calling for a wider range of resources for understanding the mind, the world, and how they relate. Haugeland argued that “giving a damn” is essential for having a mind, and suggested that traditional approaches to cognitive science mistakenly overlook the relevance of caring to the understanding of mindedness. Haugeland’s determination to expand philosophy’s array of concepts led him to write on a wide variety of subjects that may seem unrelated—from topics in cognitive science and philosophy of mind to examinations of such figures as Immanuel Kant, Martin Heidegger, and Thomas Kuhn. Haugeland’s two books with the MIT Press, Artificial Intelligence and Mind Design, show the range of his interests.
This book offers a collection of essays in conversation with Haugeland’s work. The essays, by prominent scholars, extend Haugeland’s work on a range of contemporary topics in philosophy of mind—from questions about intentionality to issues concerning objectivity and truth to the work of Heidegger. Giving a Damn also includes a previously unpublished paper by Haugeland, “Two Dogmas of Rationalism,” as well as critical responses to it. Finally, an appendix offers Haugeland’s outline of Kant’s "Transcendental Deduction of the Categories.”
Risto Uro
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199661176
- eISBN:
- 9780191793455
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199661176.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religious Studies
The Introduction explains the rationale of the book. From the viewpoint of the history of religion, the failure of early Christian scholars to include ritual in the story of Christian origins is ...
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The Introduction explains the rationale of the book. From the viewpoint of the history of religion, the failure of early Christian scholars to include ritual in the story of Christian origins is striking. This book attempts to fill the gap in the scholarship by giving pride of place in the study of Christian beginnings to ritual. This aim reflects the renewed interest in ritual among early Christian scholars. The particular contribution of the book is that it combines insights from three fields, New Testament/Early Christian Studies, Ritual Studies, and the Cognitive Science of Religion thereby taking an interdisciplinary approach.Less
The Introduction explains the rationale of the book. From the viewpoint of the history of religion, the failure of early Christian scholars to include ritual in the story of Christian origins is striking. This book attempts to fill the gap in the scholarship by giving pride of place in the study of Christian beginnings to ritual. This aim reflects the renewed interest in ritual among early Christian scholars. The particular contribution of the book is that it combines insights from three fields, New Testament/Early Christian Studies, Ritual Studies, and the Cognitive Science of Religion thereby taking an interdisciplinary approach.
James Miller
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780231175869
- eISBN:
- 9780231544535
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231175869.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The Daoist experience of the world in the body and the body in the world is fundamentally an aesthetic experience, but one that must be trained through disciplines of body cultivation. Daoist body ...
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The Daoist experience of the world in the body and the body in the world is fundamentally an aesthetic experience, but one that must be trained through disciplines of body cultivation. Daoist body cultivation traditions are thus relevant for the task of overcoming the bifurcation between body and world, and mind and body, two insights that are explored in relation to the contemporary phenomenology and embodied cognitive science respectively. The Daoist aesthetic experience is connected to community ethics based on the principle of producing the optimal flourishing of the body and the world.Less
The Daoist experience of the world in the body and the body in the world is fundamentally an aesthetic experience, but one that must be trained through disciplines of body cultivation. Daoist body cultivation traditions are thus relevant for the task of overcoming the bifurcation between body and world, and mind and body, two insights that are explored in relation to the contemporary phenomenology and embodied cognitive science respectively. The Daoist aesthetic experience is connected to community ethics based on the principle of producing the optimal flourishing of the body and the world.
Arthur B. Markman (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- June 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199374441
- eISBN:
- 9780190609023
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199374441.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
Many firms want to innovate, but have a hard time overcoming their corporate culture to allow them to develop and commercialize innovative ideas. This book brings together contributions from ...
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Many firms want to innovate, but have a hard time overcoming their corporate culture to allow them to develop and commercialize innovative ideas. This book brings together contributions from academics and people in the business community to explore methods for opening up the innovation process to make it more successful. The book starts by defining the concept of open innovation. Then, it examines ways to bring more people into the innovation process at all stages including idea development, evaluation, and commercialization. This work provides a current perspective on the state-of-the-art in open innovation.Less
Many firms want to innovate, but have a hard time overcoming their corporate culture to allow them to develop and commercialize innovative ideas. This book brings together contributions from academics and people in the business community to explore methods for opening up the innovation process to make it more successful. The book starts by defining the concept of open innovation. Then, it examines ways to bring more people into the innovation process at all stages including idea development, evaluation, and commercialization. This work provides a current perspective on the state-of-the-art in open innovation.
Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199990825
- eISBN:
- 9780199357871
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199990825.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Psychology of Music
Repetition is stunningly pervasive in music from all over the world. People often place their music players “on repeat”—relistening to the same recordings again and again. The prevalence of this ...
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Repetition is stunningly pervasive in music from all over the world. People often place their music players “on repeat”—relistening to the same recordings again and again. The prevalence of this practice suggests the existence of some sort of underlying psychological principle; however, people have been slow to acknowledge and study music’s repetitiveness, finding it an embarrassing or suspicious practice. This book argues that repetitiveness lies at the core of musical experience, and adopts the perspective of cognitive science to examine the puzzle of this human appetite for musical repetition. Work on subjects as diverse as the structure of bird song, the psychology of ritual, the nature of infant-directed speech, the neural basis of hearing, and pathologies of repetitiveness such as obsessive-compulsive disorder are marshaled to shed light on the everyday behavior of repetitive music listening. This perspective draws new distinctions between music and language as communicative forms, and offers new ideas about the cognitive basis of musical pleasure.Less
Repetition is stunningly pervasive in music from all over the world. People often place their music players “on repeat”—relistening to the same recordings again and again. The prevalence of this practice suggests the existence of some sort of underlying psychological principle; however, people have been slow to acknowledge and study music’s repetitiveness, finding it an embarrassing or suspicious practice. This book argues that repetitiveness lies at the core of musical experience, and adopts the perspective of cognitive science to examine the puzzle of this human appetite for musical repetition. Work on subjects as diverse as the structure of bird song, the psychology of ritual, the nature of infant-directed speech, the neural basis of hearing, and pathologies of repetitiveness such as obsessive-compulsive disorder are marshaled to shed light on the everyday behavior of repetitive music listening. This perspective draws new distinctions between music and language as communicative forms, and offers new ideas about the cognitive basis of musical pleasure.
Wesley J. Wildman
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198815990
- eISBN:
- 9780191853524
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198815990.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
To appreciate the risks and benefits of anthropomorphism, it is important (1) to appreciate the genius and limitations of human cognition, (2) to compare ultimacy models to see what difference ...
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To appreciate the risks and benefits of anthropomorphism, it is important (1) to appreciate the genius and limitations of human cognition, (2) to compare ultimacy models to see what difference anthropomorphic modeling techniques make, and (3) to entertain the possibility of an apophatic approach to ultimate reality that relativizes and relates ultimacy models. An apophatic approach to ultimate reality relativizes ultimacy models but also implies a disintegrating metric that serves to relate ultimacy models to one another. Degree of anthropomorphism is an important component of this disintegrating metric. Comparative analysis helps manifest internal complexity in the idea of anthropomorphism by distinguishing three relatively independent dimensions: Intentionality Attribution, Rational Practicality, and Narrative Comprehensibility. Educational efforts stabilized in cultural traditions can confer on people the desire and ability to resist one or more dimensions of the anthropomorphic default modes of cognition to some degree.Less
To appreciate the risks and benefits of anthropomorphism, it is important (1) to appreciate the genius and limitations of human cognition, (2) to compare ultimacy models to see what difference anthropomorphic modeling techniques make, and (3) to entertain the possibility of an apophatic approach to ultimate reality that relativizes and relates ultimacy models. An apophatic approach to ultimate reality relativizes ultimacy models but also implies a disintegrating metric that serves to relate ultimacy models to one another. Degree of anthropomorphism is an important component of this disintegrating metric. Comparative analysis helps manifest internal complexity in the idea of anthropomorphism by distinguishing three relatively independent dimensions: Intentionality Attribution, Rational Practicality, and Narrative Comprehensibility. Educational efforts stabilized in cultural traditions can confer on people the desire and ability to resist one or more dimensions of the anthropomorphic default modes of cognition to some degree.
