Evoking, Grounding, and Defining

How Contemporary Scientists Connect Religion, Spirituality, and Aesthetics

Bibliographic Data

ID3286120
AuthorsBridget Ritz (0000-0002-0322-9930, University of Notre Dame, corresponding author), Di Di (0000-0003-0475-9690, Santa Clara University), Brandon Vaidyanathan (0000-0002-5748-6051, University of America)
Year2024
Volume15
Issue1
Pages65
Publication date2024-01-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel15010065
OpenAlexW4390581052
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited34

Social scientific research challenges stereotypes of scientists as irreligious, on the one hand, and lacking aesthetic sensitivity, on the other. Yet, while some research suggests connections between these domains, the question remains as to whether and how scientists themselves connect their religion or spirituality with their aesthetic experiences in science. Drawing on interviews with 71 biologists and physicists in India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, we find three distinct logics by which scientists connect these experiences, which we call "evoking", "grounding", and "defining". We also find some scientists assume a modernist logic on which religion or spirituality and science are seen as separate to explain why they do not experience their religion or spirituality and aesthetic experiences as connected. Our findings enhance our understanding of how personal beliefs can shape and be shaped by professional experiences and suggest opportunities for dialogue between scientists and communities of faith centering aesthetic experience

Aesthetics · Epistemology · Faith · Sociology · Spirituality · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Social Psychology

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