Seminar organised by the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies & Faculty of Theology,University of Helsinki & Socio-Cognitive Perspectives on Early Judaism and Early Christianity: A Nordic Network (NordForsk).
Coordinated by Petri Luomanen & Anne Birgitta Pessi & Ilkka Pyysiäinen
Nota Bene! This seminar is open and free for everyone but for please register for catering purposes by 15th March to Kirsi Reyes (kirsi.reyes(AT)helsinki.fi).
Background
Recent studies in various fields such as evolutionary biology, cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience and social psychology have produced results that challenge more or less directly the role of religion as the source of morality and pro-social behaviour. For instance, Marc Hauser argues that humans possess an innate moral grammar which generates intuitive judgments on right and wrong. Hauser supports his thesis with cross-cultural evidence based on a large Internet survey with about 200.000 subjects. Likewise, Kristen Renwick Monroe concludes in her perspective theory of altruism that other elements than religiosity play a crucial role in motivating altruism and in distinguishing an `altruist´ from `non-altruist´, namely cognitive processes and understanding (e.g., how one views other human beings).
These results challenge some of the classical theological and philosophical claims and assumptions discussed and debated for the last two millennia. Thus, our forthcoming seminar will focus on the question: what, if any, really is the role of religion and religious communities in morality, pro-social behaviour, altruism? Under this core question two themes in particular can be detected; first one concerning specifically the level of individuals, the latter religious communities.
First, what is the role of religion in the moral behaviour of an individual? What is the real significance of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount — the sermon which even non-active Christians and sympathisers of Christianity may name as their altruistic ideal? Does it set up unique moral standards or only crystallize humans’ innate moral intuitions? Furthermore, what is the role of emotions, empathy and sympathy in moral judgment? The role of emotions in moral judgment is an issue which has recently been debated in moral psychology with, for example, Jonathan Haidt arguing that intuitive moral judgment is emotionally-based.
Second, what is the role of religious teachings and religious communities in pro-social behaviour? Does Judaism, Christianity, or religion in general involve doctrines, rituals, forms of life, or mental capacities that endow people with a special competence for moral behaviour? For instance, early Christian moral exhortation propagates the life “in Christ” as a prerequisite for moral behaviour. Does this life take forms that are qualitatively unique in their surrounding or does the language of being “in Christ” only add a metaphorical, theological dimension to ordinary morality? Furthermore, if there is an innate moral grammar, can moral decision making be trained at all (e.g., in congregations or schools)? For instance, can explicit beliefs intrude on intuitions in moral decision making?
The planned seminar seeks to cast light on these questions through interdisciplinary cooperation which brings together scholars from religious studies, theology, cognitive science, social psychology, sociology of religion, religious education, early Jewish and Christian studies, philosophy, systematic theology, and Biblical studies.
The starting point of the seminar is in the latest empirical research in the fields of cognitive science and social and moral psychology that set the stage for the discussion by questioning the central role of religion in morality. The seminar involves scholars from different fields engaging in a critical discussion.
Presenters will be invited and topics will be selected so that the seminar represents the various fields of science.
The workshop and the planned publication is ground-breaking—at least in the Nordic context—in its intent to bring together research in several branches of theology, study of religion, psychology, and other fields. We aim at casting light on classical theological questions and themes by taking seriously the challenge presented by recent empirical research. As such, the seminar will not just enhance discussion within theological disciplines but also provide new starting points for a fruitful interaction with social and behavioural sciences.
The seminar will be organised 23.-25.3.2011 at the University of Helsinki, Finland. The seminar language is English.
Keynote speakers
(For the abstracts of these three main speakers, please click on the the link on the top of the page)