Explaining the existential: Scientific and religious explanations play different functional roles.
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: = 1,647), we investigate whether (and by whom) scientific and religious explanations are perceived to have epistemic merits-such as evidential and logical support-versus nonepistemic merits-such as social, emotional, or moral benefits. We find that scientific explanations are attributed more epistemic merits than are religious explanations (Study 1), that an explanation's perceived epistemic merits are more strongly predicted by endorsement of that explanation for science than for religion (Study 2), and that scientific explanations are more likely to be generated when participants are prompted for an explanation high in epistemic merits (Study 3). By contrast, we find that religious explanations are attributed more nonepistemic merits than are scientific explanations (Study 1), that an explanation's perceived nonepistemic merits are more strongly predicted by endorsement of that explanation for religion than for science (Study 2), and that religious explanations are more likely to be generated when participants are prompted for an explanation high in nonepistemic merits (Study 3). These findings inform theories of the relationship between religion and science, and they provide insight into accounts of the coexistence of scientific and religious cognition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
DOI: 10.1037/xge0001129
Authors: Telli Davoodi, Tania Lombrozo
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: John Templeton Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W4200071735