Is (What Gets Called) Religion an Argument, Discourse, or Ideology?

In this chapter Malory Nye and Laurie L. Patton debate the idea of religion. Patton, in her initial definition, stresses the communal, belief structures, and notions of authority. Nye instead argues that religion is essentially nothing (no-thing) and is based on the social construction of reality. Nye further objects to the idea that religion has anything to do with so-called ultimate values and again points to the social construction of religion; he prefers to see religion, in good Marxist fashion, as a way for the proletariat to cope with the disadvantages of capitalism. For him, religion is an ideology, something that can appear as neutral or benevolent, but often is neither.

Epistemic vice predicts acceptance of Covid-19 misinformation

Why are mistaken beliefs about COVID-19 so prevalent? Political identity, education and other demographic variables explain only part of the differences between people in their susceptibility to COVID-19 misinformation. This paper focuses on another explanation: epistemic vice. Epistemic vices are character traits that interfere with acquiring, maintaining, and transmitting knowledge. If the basic assumption of vice epistemology is right, then people with epistemic vices such as indifference to the truth or rigidity in their belief structures will tend to be more susceptible to believing COVID-19 misinformation. We carried out an observational study (US adult sample, n = 998) in which we measured the level of epistemic vice of participants using a novel Epistemic Vice Scale that captures features of the current competing analyses of epistemic vice in the literature. We also asked participants questions eliciting the extent to which they subscribe to myths and misinformation about COVID-19. We find overwhelming evidence to the effect that epistemic vice is associated with susceptibility to COVID-19 misinformation. In fact, the association turns out to be stronger than with political identity, educational attainment, scores on the Cognitive Reflection Test, personality, dogmatism, and need for closure. We conclude that this offers evidence in favor of the empirical presuppositions of vice epistemology.

Receding Dependence on Forests

This chapter considers how modernity has affected the livelihood of Paliyar community and how they have been affected by forest dispossession. Whether the weaning away from the forests has been manufactured or part of the systemic exploitation is discernible. The chapter traces the history of the Paliyars, their belief structures, and indigenous knowledge within sacred spaces. The chapter also presents a discussion of the relation between land and spiritual tradition as well as the importance of land to identity, transfer of oral tradition, and indigenous traditional knowledge. Removing the Paliyar from the land continues to erode their tradition, knowledge, and identity.

EDUCATION, BELIEF STRUCTURES, SUPPORT FOR WELFARE POLICIES, AND VOTE

RESUMO O objetivo deste artigo é investigar como a educação afeta 1) a estruturação das atitudes por políticas sociais, definida como a correlação entre atitudes em diversas áreas – por exemplo, educação, saúde, redistribuição de renda e seguridade social –, e 2) a relação dessa estruturação com o voto em partidos de diferentes filiações ideológicas. Mostra-se que o acúmulo de escolarização aumenta a estruturação das atitudes, bem como que, em caso de atitudes mais estruturadas que ganhem conteúdo ideológico a favor/contra políticas sociais, é somente quando a escolarização é alta que esses posicionamentos se associam mais fortemente com o voto em partidos de esquerda/direita. Analisam-se opiniões políticas e comportamento eleitoral coletados em surveys de opinião, no ano de 2016, em mais de trinta países.