Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

✍ Scribed by Neil Van Leeuwen

Publisher: Harvard University Press
Year: 2023
Tongue: English
Leaves: 310
Category: Library

No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.

✦ Synopsis

Drawing on a range of hard evidence, Neil Van Leeuwen shows that the psychological mechanisms underlying religious belief are the same as those enabling imaginative play. He argues that we should therefore understand religious belief as a form of make-believe that people use to define their group identity and express the values sacred to them.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Prologue: The Parable of the Playground
1. The Attitude Dimension
2. A Theory of Cognitive Attitudes
3. Religious Credence Is Not Factual Belief
4. Evidence around the World
5. To “Believe” Is Not What You “Think”
6. Identity and Groupish Belief
7. Sacred Values
8. The Puzzle of Religious Rationality
Epilogue: The Playground Expanded
Notes
References
Acknowledgments
Index

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