The Conflict Between Evolutionary Psychology And...

In this chapter, the author highlights some of the superficial conflicts between evolutionary psychology and scientific scripture scholarship (or historical biblical criticism). As the author notes, â€Å"...evolutionary psychology is an attempt to explain important human traits and behaviors in terms of the evolutionary origin of the human species (131).† It attempts to contextualize all the things we humans think, feel, and create in the contexts of Darwinian evolution, and natural selection. But there are a great many things which cannot be explained in these evolutionary terms, in spite of the rising popularity of evolutionary psychology (133). After all, the survival of ones genes or progeny is not our sole concern when doing acts of good; it certainly wasn’t for Mother Theresa or Thomas Aquinas (135). And while our moral behaviors may be necessary for our survival, some such behaviors seem to be inconsequential to long or short term survivability. There is d isagreement within evolutionary psychology about whether religion is adaptive or maladaptive (136). But the author points out how other evolutionary psychologists think of religion as being everything from an evolutionary mistake/disease to being simply a means of helping the species cope with suffering, to being a means of exacting social control (137-140). =========================== Ultimately, the author contends that â€Å"merely finding or positing a source of religious belief...does nothing to discredit suchShow MoreRelatedCompare and Contrast Functionalism and Structuralism14315 Words   |  58 PagesChapter 1 What is social psychology? LEARNING OUTCOMES When you have ï ¬ nished studying this chapter, you should be able to: 1 Outline the main differences between experimental and critical approaches to social psychology. 2 Describe the three main ‘metaphysical battles’ between them. 3 Trace the origins of social psychology through the work of William McDougall and William James, and the contributions made by Và ¶lkerpsychologie and crowd psychology. 4 Describe the two contrasting