Neurotheology : how science can enlighten us about spirituality / Andrew Newberg.
2018
QP355.2 .N57 2018
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Title
Neurotheology : how science can enlighten us about spirituality / Andrew Newberg.
ISBN
9780231546775 (electronic bk.)
0231546777 (electronic bk.)
9780231179041 (book ; alkaline paper)
0231179049
0231546777 (electronic bk.)
9780231179041 (book ; alkaline paper)
0231179049
Published
New York : Columbia University Press, [2018]
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource (321 pages)
Item Number
10.7312/newb17904 doi
Call Number
QP355.2 .N57 2018
Dewey Decimal Classification
612.8
Summary
"With the advent of the modern cognitive neurosciences, along with anthropological and historical research, the scientific study of religious and spiritual phenomena has become far more sophisticated and wide-ranging. It suggests answers as to how and why religion became so prominent in human societies and in human consciousness. Neurotheology--a term coined by Aldous Huxley in 1962 in his novel Island and introduced into the scientific literature in the 1990s by Newberg and others--explores some of the most controversial positions including the argument that religion was a necessary condition of cohesive societies, morality, and a sense of purpose. The book considers brain development from an evolutionary perspective and assesses how religious and spiritual beliefs and experiences arose and whether such evolutionary evidence eliminates the need for a religious explanation. Newberg demonstrates that religious beliefs and emotions can be both beneficial and detrimental in people's lives. For some, religion provides a means toward compassion, openness, and understanding; others turn to highly destructive acts, as is the case with suicide bombers. What is happening in the brains of such people? Are they pathological? And what of practices such as meditation, prayer, and the ingestion of psychoactive substances? Neuroimaging studies can show how these practices affect people in the moment and over a lifetime. Finally, the book investigates the deeper implications of a neurotheological approach. Does the neuroscientific study of religion negate any or all of the truth claims of religion? How does neurotheology address the "big questions" such as: What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? And what is the true nature of reality?"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Source of Description
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on April 18, 2018).
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Table of Contents
Frontmatter
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter One. Neurotheology and the Happy Prison of the Brain
Chapter Two. What Is Neurotheology?
Chapter Three. Neuroscience and Neurotheology
Chapter Four. What Is Religion from a Neurotheological Perspective?
Chapter Five. What Is Spirituality from a Neurotheological Perspective?
Chapter Six. Neurotheology and the Evolution of Religion
Chapter Seven. Neurotheology and Psychology
Chapter Eight. Brain Pathology and Religion
Chapter Nine. Religious Myths and the Brain
Chapter Ten. The Ritualizing Brain
Chapter Eleven. Religious and Spiritual Practices
Chapter Twelve. The Spiritual But Not Religious Brain
Chapter Thirteen. Free Will and the Brain
Chapter Fourteen. Escaping the Prison of the Brain: Mysticism
Chapter Fifteen. The End of Faith and the Beginning of Neurotheology
notes
index
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter One. Neurotheology and the Happy Prison of the Brain
Chapter Two. What Is Neurotheology?
Chapter Three. Neuroscience and Neurotheology
Chapter Four. What Is Religion from a Neurotheological Perspective?
Chapter Five. What Is Spirituality from a Neurotheological Perspective?
Chapter Six. Neurotheology and the Evolution of Religion
Chapter Seven. Neurotheology and Psychology
Chapter Eight. Brain Pathology and Religion
Chapter Nine. Religious Myths and the Brain
Chapter Ten. The Ritualizing Brain
Chapter Eleven. Religious and Spiritual Practices
Chapter Twelve. The Spiritual But Not Religious Brain
Chapter Thirteen. Free Will and the Brain
Chapter Fourteen. Escaping the Prison of the Brain: Mysticism
Chapter Fifteen. The End of Faith and the Beginning of Neurotheology
notes
index