Psychiatry, Religion and Cognitive Science

Abstract

Objective: To see whether certain findings in cognitive science can serve to bridge the conceptual gap between psychiatry, particularly in its psychotherapeutic aspects, and religious/spiritual understanding. Method: A brief review is given of certain basic differences between psychiatric understanding in its psychotherapeutic aspects, and much of Western religious/spiritual understanding. Reference is then made to certain findings in contemporary cognitive science which might challenge the implicit mind–body split of Western religious tradition and its parallel in psychotherapeutic practice. Attention is also drawn to elements in religious/spiritual tradition that run counter to this dualistic point of view. Results and Conclusions: Much of contemporary religious/spiritual understanding, and of modern psychiatric understanding, especially in terms of psychotherapy, appear to exist in quite separate domains. Psychotherapy and the greater part of Western religious thinking, however, share a belief in the existence of a transcendent mind. Recent developments in cognitive science and certain spiritual traditions, challenge this implicit mind–body split, providing an opportunity for a renewed dialogue between psychiatry and religion and the possibility of collaborative research.