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SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE AND THEISTIC EVOLUTION: INTERSUBJECTIVITY, LOVE, AND THE SOCIAL SPHERE
Author(s) -
Spezio Michael L.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
zygon®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-9744
pISSN - 0591-2385
DOI - 10.1111/zygo.12005
Subject(s) - social neuroscience , empathy , intersubjectivity , sociology , framing (construction) , epistemology , social cognition , psychology , cognition , cognitive science , social psychology , social science , philosophy , neuroscience , structural engineering , engineering
After providing a brief overview of social neuroscience in the context of strong embodiment and the cognitive sciences, this paper addresses how perspectives from the field may inform how theological anthropology approaches the origins of human persons‐in‐community. An overview of the Social Brain Hypothesis and of simulation theory reveals a simultaneous potential for receptive/projective processes to facilitate social engagement and the need for intentional spontaneity in the form of a spiritual formation that moves beyond simulation to empathy and love. Finally, elements of a virtue science that draws on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's relational imago Dei are shown to be helpful in framing and motivating theological approaches to human origins.