Premium
Interdisciplinary and Cross‐Cultural Perspectives on Explanatory Coexistence
Author(s) -
WatsonJones Rachel E.,
Busch Justin T. A.,
Legare Cristine H.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
topics in cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.191
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1756-8765
pISSN - 1756-8757
DOI - 10.1111/tops.12162
Subject(s) - archipelago , explanatory model , epistemology , context (archaeology) , sociology , explanatory power , variation (astronomy) , natural (archaeology) , anthropology , geography , philosophy , physics , archaeology , astrophysics
Abstract Natural and supernatural explanations are used to interpret the same events in a number of predictable and universal ways. Yet little is known about how variation in diverse cultural ecologies influences how people integrate natural and supernatural explanations. Here, we examine explanatory coexistence in three existentially arousing domains of human thought: illness, death, and human origins using qualitative data from interviews conducted in Tanna, Vanuatu. Vanuatu, a Melanesian archipelago, provides a cultural context ideal for examining variation in explanatory coexistence due to the lack of industrialization and the relatively recent introduction of Christianity and Western education. We argue for the integration of interdisciplinary methodologies from cognitive science and anthropology to inform research on explanatory coexistence.