Did a Little Birdie Really Tell Odin? Applying Theory of Mind to Old Norse Religion

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 280-308
Author(s):  
Declan Taggart
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Old Norse ◽  
Viking Age ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Science Of Religion ◽  
Religious Theory ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Theory of mind, the theory that humans attribute mental states to others, has become increasingly influential in the Cognitive Science of Religion in recent years, due to several papers which posit that supernatural agents, like gods, demons, and the dead, are accredited greater than normal knowledge and awareness. Using Old Norse mythology and literary accounts of Old Norse religion, supported by archaeological evidence, I examine the extent to which this modern perspective on religious theory of mind is reflected in religious traditions from the Viking Age. I focus especially on the extent to which superperception and superknowledge were attributed to Old Norse supernatural agents and the impact of this on expressions of religion; how the attribution of theory of mind varied with circumstances and the agents to which it was being attributed; and the extent to which features of religious theory of mind common in other societies were present in the historical North. On this basis, I also evaluate the usefulness of Old Norse historiography to Cognitive Science of Religion and vice versa.

scholarly journals Vital Energy and Afterlife: Implications for Cognitive Science of Religion

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (61) ◽  
pp. 145-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maira Monteiro Roazzi ◽  
Carl N. Johnson ◽  
Melanie Nyhof ◽  
Silvia Helena Koller ◽  
Antonio Roazzi
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
Science Of Religion ◽  
Culture And Development ◽  
Supernatural Agency ◽  
Intuitive Theory

Literature investigating people’s concepts of supernatural agency (such as ghosts and deities) points to an intuitive theory of mind underlying such ideas, however, recent studies suggest that intuitive ideas over vital energy could also be involved. The present paper focuses on examining the culture and development of people’s conceptions on vital energy. A search was made using the keyword vital energy targeting literature from Anthropology, Psychology and Cognitive Science. A literature review over this topic was made yielding reflections over the development of vital energy concepts. Results suggest that an intuitive biology, grounded on ideas of biological energy (vital energy), may underlie an understanding of soul, spirit, and supernatural energy. Future empirical studies should target the development of vital energy intuitive theories with different age ranges and cultures.

scholarly journals New religious movements and quasi-religion: Cognitive science of religion at the margins

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-122
Author(s):  
Alastair Lockhart
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Charismatic Leadership ◽  
Religious Movement ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
Science Of Religion ◽  
Definition Of

The article offers a critical analysis of the cognitive science of religion (CSR) as applied to new and quasi-religious movements, and uncovers implicit conceptual and theoretical commitments of the approach. A discussion of CSR’s application to new religious movement (NRM) case studies (charismatic leadership, paradise representations, Aḥmadiyya, and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) identifies concerns about the theorized relationship between CSR and wider socio-cultural factors, and proposals for CSR’s implication in wider processes are discussed. The main discussion analyses three themes in recent work relating CSR to religious and religion-like activities that extend and reframe the model. These include (1) identification of distinctive and accessible cognitive pathways associated with new forms of religious belief and practice (in particular in ‘New Age’ movements), (2) application of CSR to movements and practices outside traditional definitions of religion (near death experiences, conspiracy theories, virtual reality), and (3) engaging CSR in wider cultural processes and negotiations (religion in healthcare settings, and the definition of the study of esoteric religious traditions within academic domains). The conclusion identifies two particular findings: (1) that application of CSR in these areas renders underlying cognitive processes more available to scrutiny and (2) that CSR is employed to identify and enlarge the category of religion. The conclusion suggests that the study of CSR in its application to NRMs and quasi-religion identifies a wide field of common and overlapping themes and interests in which CSR is a more active operand than is commonly assumed.

scholarly journals Do Thor and Odin Have Bodies? Superperception and Divine Intervention among the Old Norse Gods

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 468
Author(s):  
Declan Taggart
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Old Norse ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
Physical Body ◽  
Divine Intervention ◽  
Science Of Religion ◽  
Norse Mythology

In Old Norse mythology, gods like Freyja, Odin, and Thor are usually characterized as human-like creatures: they walk and ride animals, eat, grow old, and even die. Was there more to conceptions of Old Norse gods than those anthropomorphic representations? This article presents evidence that the gods of early Scandinavia were sometimes thought of as superperceiving and able to act in ways that defied the limitations of a physical body. It engages with and challenges theological correctness, a prominent theory in the Cognitive Science of Religion, to elucidate the sources of Old Norse religion and the cognitive and contextual foundations of the representations of gods encountered there. Following an examination of the mechanisms through which Old Norse gods’ superperception and disembodied action were narrativized and rationalized, the article concludes with a discussion of the consequences of non-anthropomorphic representations of the gods for understanding Scandinavian worshippers’ everyday religious life.

Cognitive Science of Religion and the Study of Islam: Rethinking Islamic Theology, Law, Education, and Mysticism Using the Works of al-Ghazālī

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aria Nakissa
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
Islamic Theology ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Science Of Religion ◽  
The Universe

Abstract Specialists in Islamic studies have taken virtually no interest in the influential and rapidly developing field of Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR). The present article seeks to address this problem by considering how insights from CSR can be systematically applied to reconceptualize Islamic theology, law, education, and mysticism. The article centers on what is probably CSR’s most influential and well-established idea; namely, that religion is closely linked to an evolved “mindreading” ability (i.e., a “Theory of Mind Module”). It is argued that Islamic theology employs mindreading focused on events and objects in the universe, Islamic law and education employ mindreading focused on scriptural texts and embodied practices, and Islamic mysticism employs mindreading focused on psychological experiences. The article develops these ideas through an analysis of the Arabic-language writings of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, the famous medieval Islamic theologian, jurist, and mystic.

God in the Fractals: Recursiveness as a Key to Religious Behavior

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
István Czachesz
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Narrow Sense ◽  
Religious Behavior ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Divine Agency ◽  
Human Ability ◽  
Science Of Religion

Abstract Many religious traditions embrace ideas that include boundless elements (i.e., beings that are omnipresent, omniscient, etc.). The origin of ideas with such boundless qualities has not yet been successfully accounted for in the cognitive science of religion. In this study I suggest that the domain-general use of recursion underlies the mental representation of boundless qualities. I also examine the contribution of recursive patterns to other aspects of religiosity: the conceptualization of divine agency and the emergence of magical rituals. I suggest that the human ability to use recursion in a domain-general way is minimally required for the human Faculty of Religion in a Narrow Sense.

The Factual Belief Fallacy

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Van Leeuwen
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Philosophy Of Mind ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
Science Of Religion ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Factual Belief ◽  
Large Background

This paper explains a fallacy that often arises in theorizing about human minds. I call it the Factual Belief Fallacy. The Fallacy, roughly, involves drawing conclusions about human psychology that improperly ignore the large background of mostly accurate factual beliefs people have. The Factual Belief Fallacy has led to significant mistakes in both philosophy of mind and cognitive science of religion. Avoiding it helps us better see the difference between factual belief and religious credence; seeing that difference in turn enables us to pose interesting normative questions about various mental states labeled “belief.”

scholarly journals Minding the pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-44
Author(s):  
Jonas Svensson
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Cultural Representations ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Theoretical Context ◽  
Religious Significance ◽  
Science Of Religion

This article analyses clusters of Muslim responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in a theoretical framework provided by the cognitive science of religion. The responses include theological reflections on the origin, nature, and religious significance of the disease, religious justifications for restrictions on communal worship, apologetics in the light of COVID-19, and how aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic relate to issues of purity, impurity, and contagion. This article places the responses in a wider theoretical context that contributes to explaining their emergence as cultural representations, and, as a consequence, may promote further comparative research into responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in other religious traditions. 

scholarly journals Extending Cognitive Science of Religion on Ethnographic Field Notes from the Archive of G.M. Vasilevich

2020 ◽  
pp. 76-82
Author(s):  
Aleksandra D. Belova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Cognitive Anthropology ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
Methodological Basis ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Science Of Religion ◽  
New Perspective

The article offers a new perspective on field materials collected by an outstanding ethnographer and Tungus studies specialist Glafira Vasilevich. The author of the article draws attention to the ideas in the field materials that are directly related to the thinking of the Evenks. During the work in the archives of the MAE RAS, it was noted that field materials relating to the Evenki imagination can be analyzed via cognitive anthropology and psychology. The article takes a variety of materials for analysis that refers to the thinking of the Evenks: hunting amulets, names, ideas of the appearance of birds and the image of fire. Ideas on implicit meanings (Douglas), the theory of mind (Gervais and others) and promiscuous teleology (Banerjee, Bloom and others) are taken as the methodological basis for the analytical commentary. Each of the selected concepts and all of them together allow to look at the imagination of the Evenks, which generates ideas about the supernatural based on everyday thinking. The article shows how linguistic, logical and moral categories are extended to the animal and natural world through misattribution.

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