Corporeal Theology: Accommodating Theological Understanding to Embodied Thinkers (Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs)

"Appropriating insights from empirical findings and theoretical constructs of 'embodied cognition', this study explores how theological understanding is accommodated to the bodily nature of human cognition. The principle of divine accommodation provides a theological framework for considering the human cognitive capacities that are accommodated by theological concepts and ecclesial practices. A rich portrait of the nature of human cognitive capacities is drawn from an emerging paradigm in cognitive science, embodied cognition, which proposes that cognition depends upon bodily sensorimotor systems to ground concepts and to draw upon environmental resources Embodied cognition's hypothesis that human concepts are grounded in sensorimotor states poses a theological quandary for God-concepts, since identifying God with sensorimotor content risks idolatry. The incarnation resolves this problem in theological epistemology by grounding God-concepts in bodily understanding, while avoiding idolatry. Thus, the incarnation represents an accommodation to human conceptual capacities. Embodied cognition further hypothesises that cognition relies on sensorimotor engagement with the world rather than internal mental representations. Subsequently, in addition to the brain, bodily states and environmental artefacts 'scaffold' cognitive processes. A scaffolded view of cognition highlights the cognitive import of embodied religious practices, which choregraph the body and curate material culture. Tobias Tanton applies dozens of studies identifying mechanisms by which bodily or environmental factors influence cognition to the embodied and material dimensions Christian practices. On account of their inherent cognitive effects, practices are theorised to have intrinsic 'embodied' meanings alongside 'symbolic' ones established by conventions. Consequently, liturgy is seen as a bearer of theological content rather than merely an expression of it; a locus of religious experience; and a crucial determinate of religious and ethical formation. Again, the embodied nature of Christian liturgy is understood in terms of accommodation. Embodied cognition research helpfully illuminates the details of human embodiment to which theological understanding must be accommodated"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Corporeal Theology: Accommodating Theological Understanding to Embodied Thinkers 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 10 1 Theologising as Embodied Creatures 11 2 Situating Corporeal Theology among Contemporary Scholarship 12 3 A Little Lower than the Angels 15 PART I. EMBODIED COGNITION AND ITS APPLICATION TO THEOLOGY 20 1. Theological Prolegomenon: Accommodating Embodied Cognition 22 1 A Miltonian Formulation of the Problem 23 2 The Principle of Divine Accommodation 24 2.1 Accommodation as an Exegetical Tool 26 2.2 Incarnation as Accommodation 27 2.3 Accommodation in Theological Epistemology 29 3 Cognitive Science and Human Limitations 31 4 Pre-empting Objections: A Dialogue with Karl Barth 33 4.1 Theological Prolegomena 34 4.2 Natural Theology 35 5 Conclusion 41 2. Embodied Cognition: Literature, History, and Concepts 42 1 The Genesis of Embodied Cognition 43 2 Traditional Cognitive Science: Inside the Cognitive Sandwich 45 2.1 From Behaviourism to Cognitivism 46 2.2 The Mind as Computer 47 2.3 The Architecture of Cognition: The Sandwich 48 2.4 Cognition as Symbol Manipulation 49 3 The Embodied Alternative: A Cognitive Stew 52 3.1 Conceptualisation: Grounding Concepts with the Body 53 3.2 Replacement: Dispensing with Internal Mental Models 54 3.3 Constitution: The Brain but Not Only the Brain 54 3.4 Perception, Action, and Cognition: A Cognitive Stew 55 4 The Limits of Embodied Cognition 56 5 Conclusion 58 PART II. EMBODIMENT AND THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS 60 3. The Body and Human Concepts 62 1 The Conceptualisation Hypothesis 62 2 The Symbol Grounding Problem 64 3 Amodal Theories of Concepts 68 3.1 Examples of Amodal Theories 69 3.2 Critiques of Amodal Theories 71 4 Grounding Concepts with Modal Theories 74 4.1 Overcoming the Symbol Grounding Problem 78 4.2 Empirical Evidence for Modal Concepts 79 4.2.1 Category-Specific Deficiencies in Patients with Brain Lesions 79 4.2.2 Sensorimotor Neural Activation During Conceptual Processing in Neuroimaging Studies 81 4.2.3 Canonical and Mirror Neurons 84 4.2.4 Behavioural Studies on Concepts and Motor Movement 86 4.2.5 Behavioural Studies on Concepts and Perception 89 4.2.6 Concept Acquisition 89 4.3 Addressing Meta-Theoretical Criteria 90 5 Building Abstract Concepts 91 5.1 Empirical Evidence for Grounding of Abstract Concepts 92 5.2 Conceptual Metaphors 94 5.3 More than Sensorimotor States? 96 6 Conclusion: Embodied Concepts 98 4. Grounding God? Embodying Theological Meaning 100 1 The Problem of ‘Grounding’ God 101 2 Grounding God-Concepts in Experience 103 3 Grounding God-Concepts Through Metaphors 107 3.1 Metaphors in Religious Language 107 3.2 Verticality Metaphors for God 110 3.3 Demythologising 111 3.4 Evaluating Linguistic Attempts to Ground God 114 4 Anthropomorphism 115 4.1 Anthropomorphism and Theological Incorrectness 115 4.2 Acquiescing to Anthropomorphism 117 4.3 Cognitive Science of Idolatry 118 4.4 Conclusion 119 5 Incarnation 120 5.1 Bodily Knowledge of God in the Incarnation 121 5.2 Narrating the Incarnation 123 5.3 Incarnation Writ Large 124 5.4 Conclusion: Incarnation as Grounding 128 6 Conclusion: Accommodating Human Conceptual Capacities 129 6.1 Incarnation as Accommodation 129 6.2 Incarnating Experience and Language 131 PART III. EMBODIED RELIGIOUS PRACTICES 134 5. Cognition Beyond the Brain 136 1 The Replacement Hypothesis 137 1.1 The Outfielder Problem 138 1.2 The New Robotics 139 1.3 Can All Representations be Replaced? 141 1.4 Conclusion: Representational Minimalism 144 2 The Constitution Hypothesis 145 2.1 Emotional Body States 146 2.2 Otto’s Notebook as Extended Mind 147 2.2.1 Boundaries of the Mind 149 2.3 Scaffolding 151 2.4 Conclusion 152 6. Embodied Cognition in Ecclesial Practices 153 1 The Cognitive Science of Religious Practices 155 1.1 Cognitive Science of Religion and Embodied Cognition 155 1.2 Caveat Emptor: Replication, Small Samples, WEIRD Participants, and Ecological Validity 156 1.2.1 Replication 157 1.2.2 Small Samples 159 1.2.3 WEIRD Participants 159 1.2.4 Ecological Validity 160 1.3 Ethnography and Historical Reconstructions 161 2 Positioning and Moving the Body 162 2.1 Memory 162 2.2 Emotion and Judgement 163 2.3 Gestures 165 2.4 Expertise 166 2.5 Ritual Behaviour 167 3 Scaffolding Prayers: The Cognitive Import of Material Culture 168 3.1 Praying with Objects 169 3.2 Pilgrimage and Parish: Cognition and Place 170 3.3 Visual Culture 175 3.4 The Materiality of Texts 177 3.5 Multisensory Stimuli 181 3.5.1 Music and Sound 181 3.5.2 Olfactory Cues 182 3.5.3 Clothing 183 3.5.4 Food Consumption 184 3.6 Towards a Cognitive Theory of Ritual 185 3.7 Conclusion: Material Religion 186 4 Social Engagement 188 4.1 Social Emotion 189 4.2 Synchronised Movement and Social Bonding 191 4.3 Being Watched 193 5 Embodying Metaphors 194 5.1 Power 195 5.2 Purity 197 5.3 Other Embodiments of Metaphors 198 5.4 Conclusion 200 6 Are Some Traditions ‘Less Embodied’ Than Others? 200 6.1 The Pervasiveness of Ritual 202 7 Conclusion: Scaffolded Religion 206 7. Theological Practices: Homo Liturgicus 208 1 Embodied versus Symbolic Meaning 209 2 Liturgy as Bearer of Theological Content 213 2.1 Liturgy as ‘Mere Expression’? 214 2.2 The Unity of Form and Content 216 2.2.1 Liturgy as Content Laden 216 2.2.2 Different Form, Different Content 219 2.2.3 Beyond Belief and Texts 221 2.2.4 Homo Liturgicus 226 2.3 Wainwright’s Doxology 227 3 Religious Formation 230 3.1 Bodily Formation 230 3.2 Virtue 232 3.3 Sanctification 236 3.4 Different Practices, Different Formation 238 4 Conclusion 240 Conclusion: Theology for Humans 242 1 Beyond ‘Intellectualist’ Theologies 243 2 Towards a Corporeal Theology 245 3 Embodiment in Contextual Theologies 246 3.1 Feminist Theology 247 3.2 Womanist and Black Theologies 250 3.3 Theologies of Disability 252 3.4 Conclusions: Opportunities and Challenges 256 4 Bodily Diversity 257 4.1 Bodily Relativity Hypothesis 259 4.2 Accommodating Bodily Diversity 261 4.3 Incarnational Breadth 263 4.4 Moving Beyond the Human? 265 4.5 Practicing with Diverse Bodies 268 5 Conclusion: Accommodation as a Gift and Ongoing Task 270 Bibliography 272 Index 300 Corporeal Theology brings theology into conversation with the area of cognitive science research known as 'embodied cognition' - which considers the way in which human thinking is shaped by the kinds of bodies we have and the way they navigate their environment - proposing that Christian religious ideas are adapted to embodied ways of thinking.