The Human Soul and Evolution

A Mimetic Perspective

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21363534
AutoresChristopher A Haw (0000-0002-6542-3560, University of Scranton, autor de correspondencia), Christopher Haw
Año2021
Volumen102
Número1097
Páginas41-74
Fecha de publicación2021-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaNew Blackfriars (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0028-4289 • E-ISSN: 1741-2005
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/nbfr.12475
OpenAlexW2940618011
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas19

In much of the theological discourse concerning human evolution, the emergence of the human “soul” is commonly treated as off limits from any naturalistic analysis, lest one reduce human uniqueness or the immortality of the soul. This article offers a naturalistic approach to the “soul's” emergence in conversation with Catholic theological commitments, using René Girard's mimetic theory. I argue that locating “religion”—defined as the taboos, culture, and rituals that contained early human violence—as prior to cognition and language better orients our conceptions of what we mean by the human soul and how we evolved into our current form

Art · Conversation · Epistemology · Immortality · Linguistics · Naturalism · Perspective (graphical) · Sociology · Soul · Theology · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Violence, Religion, and Philosophy