Neuroscience and Religion

This is a unique set of multidisciplinary reflections on how the neurosciences shape our understanding of religious experience and religious institutions. Twelve scholars and scientists assess how advances in the neurosciences affect our traditional sense of mind, self, and soul.

For religious persons, the notion of human being is tied inextricably to the notion of God (or the gods) and turns on this question: what is human being? How did we, with our almost infinite capacities for thought, change, and domination, come to be? Imbued with powers far beyond any other animal, humans are too faulty to be considered gods themselves. Yet, the idea of God (or the gods) appears in all distinctive human cultures: it names the other pole of human_it designates a being who realizes perfectly our imperfectly realized nature. With the rise of new sciences come ancient anxieties about how we should define human being. In the nineteenth century, electricity and magnetism fascinated experts and captivated the lay public. In the twenty-first century, advances in neuroscience open up vast new possibilities of mimicking, and perhaps emulating human being. In this book twelve scholars and scientists ask what_if anything_distinguishes Brain from Mind, and Mind from Self and Soul.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Neuroscience and Religion: Brain, Mind, Self, and Soul
Chapter 2
Chapter 1. A Conversation on Neuroscience and Religion
Chapter 3
Chapter 2. Science, Religion, and Three Shades of Black Boxes
Chapter 4
Chapter 3. Neuroscience, Theory of Mind, and the Status of Human-Level Truth
Chapter 5
Chapter 4. Downward Causation and Religion
Chapter 6
Chapter 5. Rapid Advances in Human Brain-Machine Interfacing: Ethical and Social Implications
Chapter 7
Chapter 6. The Neuroscience of Religious Experience: An Introductory Survey
Chapter 8
Chapter 7. Actions, Reasons, Neurons, and Causes
Chapter 9
Chapter 8. Human Universals and Human Nature
Chapter 10
Chapter 9. Religion, Science, and Cognition: Explorations in Pluralistic Integration
Chapter 11
Chapter 10. The Little Divine Machine: The Soul/Body Problem Revisited
Chapter 12 Conclusion: Looking Forward: The Question of Brain, Mind, Self, and Soul