Ilkka Eljas Pyysiäinen (born July 9, 1959
) is a Finnish
docent
The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...
and doctor of theology, whose research has focused on
cognitive science of religion. He has also studied religious thinking, religious language, and religious experience. Pyysiäinen is also known as an atheist and a critic of religion.
Views
In cognitive theology, Ilkka Pyysiäinen explores categories, language, consciousness and religious concepts as part of human thinking. For example, he explores 'God' as a cognitive category of human data processing, or thinking, that has been used in many contexts throughout history. Pyysiäisen that "god" is located outside the class at the same time a limited and everything inside of comprehensive, which is real and behavior and experience, when a person feels (reality) border. At the same time, according to him, it sits where human knowledge and understanding ceases and functions as a class independent of other classes of thought, as it serves as the conceptual boundary between reality and non-reality.
According to Ilkka Pyysiäinen, the term "religion" is a misleading abstract concept for which there is no clear
operationalized
In research design, especially in psychology, social sciences, life sciences and physics, operationalization or operationalisation is a process of defining the measurement of a phenomenon which is not directly measurable, though its existence is in ...
definition in theology. This is why the talk of converting religion to something else is misleading. In his view, however, reduction in science is necessary because all scientific knowledge is reduced in some sense of the term. Religious science can increase scientific knowledge about religious phenomena, but it is inherent in science that it always ignores something and is point-of-view.
Ilkka Pyysiäinen has criticized the
fideist
Fideism () is an epistemological theory which maintains that faith is independent of reason, or that reason and faith are hostile to each other and faith is superior at arriving at particular truths (see natural theology). The word ''fideism'' c ...
view of religion. According to Fideists, religions do not claim anything about reality, but are, instead, a kind of internal depiction of people's mental movements. Pyysiäinen points out that the majority of believers have always thought that their religious concepts and beliefs point to reality and are true. Theologians' claims about the symbolism of religious doctrines are the result of scientific progress, an attempt to save religion before science. It is reasonable to say in the petition that religious beliefs contain concepts of reality that are at odds with science. Religion is part of everyday thought , which is in contradiction with science in much the same way as many other ideas of everyday thought.
Works
Books
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Edited books
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyysiäinen, Ilkka
1959 births
Cognitive science of religion
Critics of religions
Finnish atheists
Finnish non-fiction writers
Religion academics
Finnish skeptics
Finnish theologians
Living people