Theorizing Religion in Antiquity - Nickolas P. Roubekas

Theorizing Religion in Antiquity - Nickolas P. Roubekas

3. The Value(s) of Belief: Ancient Religion, Cognitive Science and Interdisciplinarity

Theorizing Religion in Antiquity - Nickolas P. Roubekas

Jason P. Davies [+-]
University College London
Jason Davies is Senior Teaching Fellow at the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching at the University College London, U.K. He is the author of Rome’s Religious History: Livy, Tacitus and Ammianus on Their Gods (Cambridge University Press, 2004) and has published articles on ancient religion, interdisciplinarity, and the notion of ‘belief.’ He is co-founder of the Teaching and Learning Ancient Religion Network (TLARNetwork.org).

Description

‘Belief’ remains a vexed term in the study of ancient religion despite the fact that almost every publication on the topic aspires to bring the discussion to a point of completion. I shall argue that secular enquiries into aspects of ‘religion’ and ‘belief’ in particular will inevitably lead to scholarly fissure. This in part lies behind the long-standing disciplinary willingness to explore extradisciplinary methods and questions. The recent appearance of cognitive science of religion offers particular opportunities – and risks – that are the latest in a series of interdisciplinary borrowings. I shall outline these opportunities and risks, identifying some broad implications for history of religion as a field before contextualizing cognitive science of religion within the framework of cultural theory.

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Citation

Davies, Jason. 3. The Value(s) of Belief: Ancient Religion, Cognitive Science and Interdisciplinarity. Theorizing Religion in Antiquity. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 32-58 May 2019. ISBN 9781781793572. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=27963. Date accessed: 10 Dec 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.27963. May 2019

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