The Shadow of God: An Atheist Podcast

Ep #14: An Introduction to the Cognitive Science of Religion

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction: The Universality of Religious Beliefs8:31 Case Study: Buddhism and Christianity16:06 Can "Truth" Explain the Universality of Religious Beliefs? 22:30 Can "Culture" Explain the Universality of Religious Beliefs?31:59 The Basics of Cognitive Science38:37 The 6 Foundations of the Cognitive Science of Religion41:52 1. The Epidemiology of Representations56:41 2. The Hyperactive Agency Detection Device (HADD)1:03:08 3. Animism and Anthropomorphism1:15:44 4. Ritual Representations1:32:15 5. Minimally Counter-Intuitive Ideas1:49:41 6. Modes of Religiosity2:00:50 Conclusion

Ep #13: Why Religious Explanations are Bad Explanations

Discusses the features which an explanation must possess to be a "good" explanation, and whether or not religious explanations - whether or not they might be said to be "true" - could ever be counted as good explanations.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction: What makes a good explanation?
5:37 Is It Fair to Judge Religious Explanations Against Scientific Ones?
13:09 Dawes' Six Features of Good Explanations
15:36 1. Testability
38:13 2. Compatibility With Background Knowledge
47:48 3. Past Explanatory Success
55:39 4. Simplicity
1:31:47 5. Ontological Economy
1:46:10 6. Informativeness
2:10:53 Conclusion

Ep #12: What New Religious Movements Can Teach Us About the Origins of World Religions

Explores the various sociological dynamics that are involved in the creation of "New Religious Movements" in the contemporary world, and what this might be able to teach us about the origins of the world's major religious traditions. Chapters:
0:00 Introduction: What Are NRMs?
3:49 What Studying NRMs can Teach us About the Origins of the World Religions
17:05 Why We Can't Trust Religious Traditions about Their Own Origins
29:25 Becker's 4 Types of Religion
33:00 Sectarian NRMs
46:43 Cultic NRMs
57:43 The Origins of Judaism
1:06:15 The Origins of Buddhism
1:22:42 The Origins of Christianity
1:30:02 The Origins of Islam
1:36:36 The Origins of the Chinese Religions
1:44:50 Why New Religions Emerge: The Erosion of Legitimacy
2:01:22 Charismatic Authority in NRMs
2:27:10 Charismatic Authority in the Origins of the World Religions
2:53:52 Why New Religions Perish or Survive: The Transfer of Authority

Ep #11: King Josiah and the Violent Origins of Monotheism

Explores the reign of King Josiah of Judah (640-609 BCE) and the violent policies he enacted to spur the development of monotheism.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction: The Contemporary Relevance of Josiah
6:42 The Reliability of Our Sources
12:45 Who Was King Josiah?
19:03 The "Discovery" of Sacred Scripture
27:12 The Religious "Reforms" of Josiah
39:26 The Babylonian Exile
46:46 Josiah's Post-Exilic Legacy
1:04:15 Conclusion: Monotheism and Violence

Ep #10: Why God Doesn't Matter (Part 2: Divine Love)

Explores the nature of divine love, and questions the extent to which God's love could be said to be of any genuine importance to human beings.

Ep #9: Why God Doesn't Matter (Part 1: Introduction)

Introducing a new series of videos in which I explore a number of the putative benefits of God's existence, explaining why none of these are really of any importance to human beings. In this introduction to the series, I lay the groundwork for the conditions that must be met to say that the existence of God really "matters".

Ep #8: Why the Fine-Tuning Argument Fails

Discusses the many philosophical challenges that the fine-tuning theory faces as a justification for God's existence.

Ep #7: Why A Priori Arguments for God's Existence Fail

Discusses 7 general reasons why a priori arguments for the existence of God never succeed.

Ep #6: Do Religious People Actually Believe What They Say They Believe?

An exploration of the ambiguities and controversies surrounding the nature of "belief" in a religious context.

Ep #5: The Rhetoric of Mystical Experiences

Explores the linguistic and rhetorical tools that believers use to talk about "mystical" or "religious" experiences, and what this can teach us about the nature of the experiences themselves.