The Relevance of Brain Lateralization to the Understanding of Religion
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Abstract
The article presents Iain McGilchrist's thesis on cerebral lateralization and its relevance for the understanding of religion. This is followed by Daniel de Haan's critique of McGilchrist's approach, which he accuses mainly of being unable to avoid the mereological and homunculus fallacies. McGilchrist's responses to these criticisms are then presented, which in my view partially save his main thesis, although they reduce its force. It concludes with an assessment of the controversy that points out some points of interest for neurotheology and for any interpretation of neuroscience.
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