By four or five, kids see a purpose, not only in objects, but also in creatures, rocks, rivers and mountains. As they develop, children are prone to see agents as powerful forces unlike humans. In the first part of the book, the author looks at cross-cultural studies of children conducted by experts in the “cognitive science of religion.” The studies indicate that, from an early age, humans know the difference between inanimate objects and “agents”-people or forces that can move or make things move. "About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.Belief in a divine power is only human, writes Oxford Centre for Anthropology and Mind senior researcher Barrett ( Why Would Anyone Believe in God, 2004). This book will become a classic for religious studies, and should be read by anthropologists, theologians, and scientists, as well as all those puzzled by the force of religion. That it is natural does not imply that it is true, for the mental tools were elaborated through natural and cultural selection to help humans survive, not to find truth. Belief is intuitively satisfying because it depends on mental tools possessed by all human beings. In a beautifully argued presentation, Justin Barrett brings together diverse material from cognitive psychology to show that belief in God is natural. (Pascal Boyer, Washington University in St. This should provide a much-needed guide for students and scholars of religion as well as a roadmap for future developments in the field. Barrett marries exceptional conceptual rigour with an easy, accessible style. (Nicholas Wolterstorff, Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology, Yale University)Ī brilliant and challenging presentation of the cognitive study of religion, by a psychologist who practically invented the field.
It's the sort of book that shakes up the field all philosophers and psychologists of religion will have to take account of it. His theory is innovative, compelling, and provocative at many points, not least in its conclusion that theism, not atheism, is our natural condition.
Barrett's discussion challenges every explanation I know of, doing so on the basis of fascinating and innovative empirical studies, and acute philosophical analysis.
For millennia, philosophers and others have offered explanations of religious belief.
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