Andrew Ross Atkinson
Biographic Data
| ID | 6492024 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Andrew Ross Atkinson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Andrew Ross |
| FAMILY NAME | Atkinson |
| SIGNATURE | ATKINSON A R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Białystok |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5865-1514 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
The places of agency detection and predictive processing in the ontogenesis of religious belief; and “Who put the ‘H’ in the Hadd?”
This paper addresses the origin of the hyperactive (or hypersensitive) agent (or agency) detection device (HADD) and its ‘places’ in the ontogenesis of religion. In 1. I engage in a preamble surrounding correspondence with Robert McCauley, Justin Barrett, and Tom Lawson on the origins of the HADD idea. In 2. I explain the roles HADD is purported to have had in the evolution of religion and a religious mindset from two potentially conflicting pers…
‘How Religion Evolved And Why it Endures’, written by Robin Dunbar
Could Religions Augment Cooperation by Recruiting Hamilton’s Rule through the Use of Fictive Kinship Language
Some scholars have raised the potential functional role of fictive kinship for religion, generally. This paper seeks to develop that idea. It is argued in this paper that fictive kinship language in religion (and some other non-religious contexts) recruits traits connected to Hamilton’s rule as it is expressed in Homo sapiens psychology. The effect is that cooperation is augmented within a population that generally shares the same religious world…
Has Religion Been Explained Away
This paper re-engages with the science versus religion debate in the light of the last three decades of scholarly progress in the study of religion coming from the cognitive and evolutionary sciences of religion. I begin by asking (1) ‘if it is indeed possible to account for the origins of religious belief, its cultural transmission and evolution, and its maintenance— without any appeal to the real existence of any supernatural deity—then are we …
Science Is Disruptive, Science of Religion Particularly So
White’s book will serve to set the agenda for the cognitive science of religion. One crucial aspect of that agenda is the relationship between this kind of scientific research and theistic commitment. White has been eager to show the two are wholly compatible. However, any serious scientific study of religion is necessarily going to be highly disruptive, making the management of the relationship between science and religion a particularly difficu…
Is Wilson’s religion Durkheim’s, or Hobbes’s Leviathan
This paper critically supports the modern evolutionary explanation of religion popularised by David Sloan Wilson, by comparing it with those of his predecessors, namely Emile Durkheim and Thomas Hobbes, and to some biological examples which seem analogous to religions as kinds of superorganisms in their own right. The aim of the paper is to draw out a theoretical pedigree in philosophy and sociology that is reflected down the lines of various oth…
Hearing Voices and Other Matters of the Mind
Absorption, Mentalizing, and Mysticism
Research suggests trait absorption, individual differences in Theoryof Mind (ToM), and orthopraxical training are importantfor explaining a variety of extraordinary experiences typicallyassociated with religion. However, no studies exist quantifyingToM ability or testing its relationship with trait absorption inthe prediction of what is arguably the most ubiquitous type ofextraordinary experience-the mystical experience. To addressthis, two explo…
Hidd’n Hadd in Intelligent Design
The idea that religious belief is ‘almost inevitable’ is so forcefully argued by Justin Barrett (2004, 2012) that it can warrant justifiable concern (Shook, 2017; Sterelny, 2018) – especially since he claims atheism is an unnatural handicap (2012, p. 203). In this article, I argue that religious belief in Homo sapiens isn’t inevitable – and that Barrett does agree when pushed. I describe the role played by a Hyperactive Agency Detection Device ( …
No prominent works on this page.
Hearing Voices and Other Matters of the Mind
Absorption, Mentalizing, and Mysticism
Research suggests trait absorption, individual differences in Theoryof Mind (ToM), and orthopraxical training are importantfor explaining a variety of extraordinary experiences typicallyassociated with religion. However, no studies exist quantifyingToM ability or testing its relationship with trait absorption inthe prediction of what is arguably the most ubiquitous type ofextraordinary experience-the mystical experience. To addressthis, two explo…
Hidd’n Hadd in Intelligent Design
The idea that religious belief is ‘almost inevitable’ is so forcefully argued by Justin Barrett (2004, 2012) that it can warrant justifiable concern (Shook, 2017; Sterelny, 2018) – especially since he claims atheism is an unnatural handicap (2012, p. 203). In this article, I argue that religious belief in Homo sapiens isn’t inevitable – and that Barrett does agree when pushed. I describe the role played by a Hyperactive Agency Detection Device ( …
Is Wilson’s religion Durkheim’s, or Hobbes’s Leviathan
This paper critically supports the modern evolutionary explanation of religion popularised by David Sloan Wilson, by comparing it with those of his predecessors, namely Emile Durkheim and Thomas Hobbes, and to some biological examples which seem analogous to religions as kinds of superorganisms in their own right. The aim of the paper is to draw out a theoretical pedigree in philosophy and sociology that is reflected down the lines of various oth…
Has Religion Been Explained Away
This paper re-engages with the science versus religion debate in the light of the last three decades of scholarly progress in the study of religion coming from the cognitive and evolutionary sciences of religion. I begin by asking (1) ‘if it is indeed possible to account for the origins of religious belief, its cultural transmission and evolution, and its maintenance— without any appeal to the real existence of any supernatural deity—then are we …
Science Is Disruptive, Science of Religion Particularly So
White’s book will serve to set the agenda for the cognitive science of religion. One crucial aspect of that agenda is the relationship between this kind of scientific research and theistic commitment. White has been eager to show the two are wholly compatible. However, any serious scientific study of religion is necessarily going to be highly disruptive, making the management of the relationship between science and religion a particularly difficu…
‘How Religion Evolved And Why it Endures’, written by Robin Dunbar
Could Religions Augment Cooperation by Recruiting Hamilton’s Rule through the Use of Fictive Kinship Language
Some scholars have raised the potential functional role of fictive kinship for religion, generally. This paper seeks to develop that idea. It is argued in this paper that fictive kinship language in religion (and some other non-religious contexts) recruits traits connected to Hamilton’s rule as it is expressed in Homo sapiens psychology. The effect is that cooperation is augmented within a population that generally shares the same religious world…
The places of agency detection and predictive processing in the ontogenesis of religious belief; and “Who put the ‘H’ in the Hadd?”
This paper addresses the origin of the hyperactive (or hypersensitive) agent (or agency) detection device (HADD) and its ‘places’ in the ontogenesis of religion. In 1. I engage in a preamble surrounding correspondence with Robert McCauley, Justin Barrett, and Tom Lawson on the origins of the HADD idea. In 2. I explain the roles HADD is purported to have had in the evolution of religion and a religious mindset from two potentially conflicting pers…
Philosophy (9 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation (5 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (4 works) · Study and Philosophy of Religion (4 works) · Metaphysics (3 works) · Philosophy (3 works)