A Jamesian Response to Reductionism in the Neuropsychology of Religious Experience

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" A Jamesian Response to Reductionism in the Neuropsychology of Religious Experience "
Katie Givens Kime, John R. Snarey

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1065486
Doc. No	:	LA109115
Call No	:	‭10.1163/15736121-12341357‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	John R. Snarey
	:	Katie Givens Kime
Title & Author	:	A Jamesian Response to Reductionism in the Neuropsychology of Religious Experience [Article]\ Katie Givens Kime, John R. Snarey
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	Archive for the Psychology of Religion
Date	:	2018
Volume/ Issue Number	:	40/2-3
Page No	:	307–325
Abstract	:	The neuroscience revolution has revived interpretations of religious experiences as wholly dependent on biological conditions. William James cautioned against allowing such neurological reductionism to overwhelm other useful perspectives. Contemporary psychologists of religion have raised similar cautions, but have failed to engage James as a full conversation partner. In this article, we present a contemporary, applied version of James’s perspective. We clarify the problem by reviewing specific James-like contemporary concerns about reductionism in the neuropsychological study of religion. Then, most centrally, we employ three of James’s conceptual tools—pragmatism, pluralism, and radical empiricism—to moderate contemporary reductionism. Finally, we point to a constructive approach through which neuroscientists might collaborate with scholars in the humanities and psychosocial sciences, which is consistent with our conclusion that it is often no longer fruitful to separate neurobiological studies from studies that are psychosocial or sociocultural.
Descriptor	:	neuroscience
Descriptor	:	pluralism
Descriptor	:	pragmatism
Descriptor	:	psychology of religion
Descriptor	:	radical empiricism
Descriptor	:	reductionism
Descriptor	:	Religion Society
Descriptor	:	Social Sciences
Descriptor	:	William James
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/15736121-12341357‬