Methodological Consilience of Evolutionary Ethics and Cognitive Science of Religion

FRANEK, Juraj. Methodological Consilience of Evolutionary Ethics and Cognitive Science of Religion. Journal of Cognition and Culture. Leiden: Brill, 2016, vol. 16, 1-2, p. 144-170. ISSN 1567-7095. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685373-12342173.

Basic information

• Original name: Methodological Consilience of Evolutionary Ethics and Cognitive Science of Religion
• Authors: FRANEK, Juraj (703 Slovakia, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Journal of Cognition and Culture, Leiden, Brill, 2016, 1567-7095.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 60300 6.3 Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
• Country of publisher: Netherlands
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14210/16:00089478
• Organization unit: Faculty of Arts
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685373-12342173
• UT WoS: 000371432100007
• Keywords in English: evolutionary ethics; cognitive science of religion; consilience; evolutionary psychology; sociobiology; theory and methodology
• Tags: rivok, topvydavatel
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

For the larger part of modern western intellectual history, it has been assumed that the study of morality and religion requires special methodology, insulated from, and in some important aspects incongruent with, the scientific method commonly used in the realm of natural sciences. Furthermore, even if it would be granted that moral and religious behavior is amendable to scientific analysis, the prospects of using evolutionary theory in particular to do the heavy lifting in explanation of these phenomena have been bleak, since many scholars doubted that a biological theory could possibly offer any valuable contribution. Recent advances in the fields of Evolutionary Ethics and Cognitive Science of Religion disprove both claims, emphasizing empirically founded explanations, demonstrating extraordinarily high degree of methodological consilience, and revealing utmost importance of the application of evolutionary theory in fields of study once deemed to be exclusive domains of social sciences and philosophy.

Links

• MUNI/A/1058/2015, interní kód MU: Name: Výzkum starověkých jazyků, jejich literatur a příslušných kultur (Acronym: Staré jazyky a kultury)

Investor: Masaryk University, Category A