God Naturalized

This volume argues that theistic philosophy should be seen not as an “armchair” enterprise but rather as a critical endeavor to bring philosophy of religion into close contact with emerging sciences of religion. This text engages with the rationality of religious belief by investigating central problems and arguments in philosophy of religion from the perspective of new naturalistic research. A central question the book analyzes is whether findings in cognitive science of religion (CSR) falsify or undermine religious ideas and beliefs. With regard to CSR, this volume offers a sustained and critical investigation of the neutrality and positive-relevance view, before offering a re-appraisal of the conflict view. The text argues that when scrutinizing these views, much more attention must be paid to specific normative premises that allow empirical findings to have epistemic relevance. A novel feature is the theoretical application of analytical epistemology in virtue-epistemology to the central question of whether CSR undermines, supports, or is neutral with respect to religious belief. This book appeals to upper-level students and researchers in the field.

“Who should read this book? Someone who believes that at an intellectual level, the relationship between theistic beliefs and the cognitive science of religion it is important. Almost all of the real people in the world who hold theistic beliefs never heard of the cognitive science of religion.” (Jay R. Feierman, Reviews in Science, Religion and Theology, Vol. 1 (1), March, 2022)

Halvor Kvandal holds a PhD in philosophy from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He currently works at Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education, Norway. Kvandal’s research interests focus on the intersection between naturalistic theories of religion and the philosophy of religion, especially epistemology.