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- Knutsson Bråkenhielm, Lotta, 1954-
(författare)
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Religion – evolutionens missfoster eller kärleksbarn? : Kognitionsvetenskaplig religionsforskning och dess relevans för religiösa trosföreställningars rationalitet
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is on Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) and its relevance for the rationality of religious beliefs. An epistemical model for rationality is developed according to which: a person (or group of persons) is rational to hold a certain belief a) if this belief can be assumed to have been generated by one or more reliable cognitive mechanisms, b) applies whether or not she is aware of what these mechanisms are, but c) only as long as it does not exist or arise some reasons (defeaters) to question the belief; if they occur, she must d) reflect on it and find other reasons or grounds to hold the belief in question. Two different positions are examined, namely: 1) negative relevance: the findings and theories in CSR undermines the rationality of religious beliefs; 2) positive relevance: religious beliefs need not be irrational in the light of CSR, in fact CSR may actually support the rationality of religious beliefs. Two lines of argument can be distinguished among those who argue for a negative relevance: a) the natural explanations that are provided by CSR are preferable; and b) religious beliefs are irrational because they are caused by unreliable cognitive mechanisms. Among those who argue for positive relevance two arguments can be distinguised: a) religious beliefs seem to come naturally to humans and therefore are probably true; and b) CSR confirms empirically that we are equipped with a "divine mechanism" that there are reasons to believe is reliable. The conclusions are: CSR has negative relevance to beliefs in "finite supernatural agency", but not for the faith of "infinite supernatural agency". First, the first type of beliefs is easier to explain by being generated by unreliable cognitive mechanisms; secondly they are difficult to integrate with what we otherwise know about the world. A category that falls outside the scope of CSR and thus not even potentially can be affected, is beliefs in "supernatural non-agency".
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| 2. |
- Knutsson, Kjel, 1951-, et al.
(författare)
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Northern inland oblique point sites : A new look at the late mesolithic oblique point tradition in eastern fennoscandia
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to make the first comprehensive survey of inland sites with oblique points in the northernmost parts of Fennoscandia. The chronological and technological relation of these points with similar points from Mesolithic contexts discussed in earlier Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish studies is also assessed. After a presentation and analysis of the available data it is concluded that the oblique points on the northern inland sites date mainly between c. 5800−4700 calBC. It is further suggested that the discussed points in fact belong to a technological tradition that extended over the whole of eastern and northern Fennoscandia during the Late Mesolithic.
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| 3. |
- Manninen, Mikael A., et al.
(författare)
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First encounters in the north : cultural diversity and gene flow in Early Mesolithic Scandinavia
- 2021
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Ingår i: Antiquity. - : Antiquity Publications. - 0003-598X .- 1745-1744. ; 95:380, s. 310-328
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Population genetic studies often overlook the evidence for variability and change in past material culture. Here, the authors use a Mesolithic example to demonstrate the importance of integrating archaeological evidence into the interpretation of the Scandinavian hunter-gatherer genetic group. Genetic studies conclude that this group resulted from two single-event dispersals into Scandinavia before 7500 BC. Archaeological evidence, however, shows at least six immigration events pre-dating the earliest DNA, and that the first incoming groups arrived in Scandinavia before 9000 BC. The findings underline the importance of conducting careful archaeological analysis of prehistoric human dispersal in tandem with the study of ancient population genomics.
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