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The morphogenesis of religion and religious self-organization (with a focus on polytheism and Christianism)

The morphogenesis of religion and religious self-organization (with a focus on polytheism and... AbstractCognitive semiotics should not only use psychology and neurology as the background of multi-modal sign usage, but it must also take into account the biological, and specifically the evolutionary and developmental aspects of communication with signs, or in Cassirer’s terms, of “symbolic forms”. This article deals with questions of the emergence of religion (in general) and the morphogenesis of specific religious (and mythical) forms. As a theoretical background, it has recourse to René Thom’s “morpho-dynamics” and “semio-physics”. The contours of a catastrophe-theoretical model of morphogenesis of religions and their possible implosion after a phase of hyper-complexity are described with a focus on polytheistic features of Hinduism and its implosion in the Buddhist “revolution”. A section on Christianism describes the early phases of its self-organization (after the death of Jesus) and its stabilization as a state religion. The basic attractors of this morphogenesis are Jesus and (his mother) Mary. Finally, the further unfolding of religion, its semio- and ratio-genesis, are commented on. The morpho-dynamic modeling of religion avoids traditional, cultural and philosophical biases and raises the highly controversial topic of religion to a scientific level, accessible to mathematical treatment and empirical evaluation. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Cognitive Semiotics de Gruyter

The morphogenesis of religion and religious self-organization (with a focus on polytheism and Christianism)

Wildgen, Wolfgang
Cognitive Semiotics , Volume 15 (1): 20 – May 1, 2022
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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
ISSN
2235-2066
eISSN
2235-2066
DOI
10.1515/cogsem-2022-2010
Publisher site
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Abstract

AbstractCognitive semiotics should not only use psychology and neurology as the background of multi-modal sign usage, but it must also take into account the biological, and specifically the evolutionary and developmental aspects of communication with signs, or in Cassirer’s terms, of “symbolic forms”. This article deals with questions of the emergence of religion (in general) and the morphogenesis of specific religious (and mythical) forms. As a theoretical background, it has recourse to René Thom’s “morpho-dynamics” and “semio-physics”. The contours of a catastrophe-theoretical model of morphogenesis of religions and their possible implosion after a phase of hyper-complexity are described with a focus on polytheistic features of Hinduism and its implosion in the Buddhist “revolution”. A section on Christianism describes the early phases of its self-organization (after the death of Jesus) and its stabilization as a state religion. The basic attractors of this morphogenesis are Jesus and (his mother) Mary. Finally, the further unfolding of religion, its semio- and ratio-genesis, are commented on. The morpho-dynamic modeling of religion avoids traditional, cultural and philosophical biases and raises the highly controversial topic of religion to a scientific level, accessible to mathematical treatment and empirical evaluation.

Journal

Cognitive Semiotics – de Gruyter

Published: May 1, 2022

Keywords: catastrophe theory; Christianism; emergence; morphogenesis; self-organization

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