#865 Neil Van Leeuwen - Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity
The Dissenter
Thinking vs Believing
Examining the distinction between thinking and believing and how it is reflected in language, with examples of religious creeds and factual beliefs. Discussing the differences between imagination and religious credence, and the significance of religious credence in forming group identity and activating sacred values.
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Dr. Neil Van Leeuwen is Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Philosophy at the Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University. His research focuses on the question of what belief is. His approach involves contrasting belief with imagining and other cognitive attitudes. Accordingly, he also focuses on several topics having to do with imagination, like pretend play, mental imagery, the role of imagination in guiding action generally. His interest in belief and other cognitive attitudes also manifests itself in research on related topics like self-deception and religious credence (and how religious credence differs from factual belief). He is the author of Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity.
In this episode, we focus on Religion as Make-Believe. We talk about religious credence, and how it differs from factual belief. We discuss whether religious people treat religious beliefs as factual beliefs. We talk about make-believe play, and its features and psychological effects. We discuss the relationship between imagining and religious credence. We talk about sacred values. We discuss whether religion is irrational. Finally, we discuss whether this framework applies to all religions, and the future of the study of religion.
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