دین‌پژوهی شناختی و دشوارۀ تبیین

نوع مقاله : پژوهشی

نویسندگان

1 دانشیار گروه فلسفه و کلام، دانشگاه اصفهان، اصفهان، ایران.

2 دانشجوی دکتری فلسفۀ معاصر، دانشگاه بین‌المللی امام خمینی(ره)، قزوین، ایران.

چکیده

تا چه میزان الگوهای دین‌پژوهیِ حاصل از تحقیقات شناختی موفق بوده‌اند؟ هدف مقاله پاسخ به این پرسش است. مطالعۀ شناختیِ دین حوزه‌ای است که روش‌ها و نظریه‌های علوم شناختی را برای فهم چگونگی ایجاد و انتقال افکار، باورها و رفتارهای دینی به کار می‌گیرد. انگارۀ اصلیِ مقاله آن است که اگر الگوهای شناختی مسئلۀ تبیین را حل نکنند، عملاً طرح و برنامۀ مطالعۀ شناختیِ دین با تردید مواجه خواهد شد. تبیین‌های شناختی از چند جهت قابل نقد و بررسی‌اند و از این رو تا رسیدن به الگوهای خوب فاصله دارند. (1) مبانی نظری: شناخت سوم‌شخصی و بیگانه با تجربۀ زیستۀ دیندار دارند. بر خلاف ادعای این تحقیقات، شناخت تأملی و شهودی در دینداران توأمان است. این تبیین‌ها تأکید صرف بر طبیعت‌گراییِ روش‌شناختی دارند که این با چندتباری بودنِ مسائل دین همخوانی ندارد. (2) نگاه حذف‌گرایانه: این تبیین‌ها مؤلفه‌های مهم در شکل‌گیری، تداوم، تقویت و رواج باورهای دینی همچون جریان وحی و نبوت، تربیت، اجتماع و فرهنگ را نادیده می‌گیرند. (3) شواهد علمی: تکرار و همانندسازیِ تجربۀ دینی با تبیین‌های علمیِ عصبی‌شناختی در محیط آزمایشگاهی دشوار است. نتایج برخی تحقیقات با نظریۀ ابزار بیش‌فعالِ کشف عامل همسویی ندارد. افراد اوتیستیک خلاف ادعای نظریۀ اطلاعات اجتماعیِ راهبردی را نشان دادند. ضمن بحث از دشواری‌های تبیین در الگوهای شناختی، پیشنهادهایی برای اصلاح و تکمیل آنها ارائه شده است: توجه به نگرش اول‌شخص نسبت به دینداران، ضرورت تأکید بر شناخت آگاهانۀ باورمندان، تمرکز بر کثرت‌گراییِ روش‌شناختی در تبیین پدیده‌های دینی، توجه به زمینه‌های شکل‌گیریِ ادیان، و لزوم برخورداری از نگاه واقع‌بینانه نسبت به رشد خداباوری.

کلیدواژه‌ها

موضوعات

عنوان مقاله [English]

The Cognitive Study of Religion and the Problem of Explanation

نویسندگان [English]

  • Ahmad Ebadi 1
  • Mohammad Emdadi Masouleh 2

1 Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Theology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

2 Ph.D. Candidate of Contemporary Philosophy, Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU), Qazvin, Iran.

چکیده [English]

This article evaluates the success of cognitive models of religion derived from empirical research. The cognitive science of religion (CSR) is a field that uses methods and theories of cognitive science to understand how the human mind creates and transmits religious thoughts, beliefs and behaviors. The article's main point is that the success of CSR hinges on the explanatory power of cognitive models. We demonstrate that cognitive explanations encounter several limitations that cast doubt on their validity as good models. (1) Theoretical foundations: cognitive explanations rely on a third-person perspective and neglect first-person experience of the religious. They fail to recognize the interdependence of reflective and intuitive knowledge in religious people. They presuppose methodological naturalism, which is incompatible with multidimensional nature of religious phenomena. (2) Exclusionist view: They disregard crucial factors in the emergence, maintenance, enhancement and diffusion of religious beliefs such as revelation and prophecy, education, society and culture.  (3) Scientific evidence: it is challenging to replicate the religious experience by neuroscientific explanations in a laboratory setting. The findings of some researches contradict the hyperactive agency detection device; Autistic people exhibit the opposite of the theory of strategic social information. This article, while discussing the challanges of explanation in cognitive models, proposes some suggestions for improving and completing these models: paying attention to first-person stance of religious agents, highlighting the role of conscious cognition in believers, adopting methodological pluralism in studying religion, considering the historical and cultural contexts of religions and having a realistic view on development of theism.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • cognitive science of religion
  • methodological naturalism
  • scientific explanation
  • methodology of religious studies
  • methodological pluralism
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