BOOK of ABSTRACTS XXTh WORld COngReSS InTeRnATIOnAl ...

The results provide evidence that in the absence of
explicit physical-causal information, implicit criteria
reflecting the structural characteristics of ritual (i.e.,
repetition, stereotypy) are used to evaluate ritual
efficacy. More specifically, although there is evidence
that individuals have converging intuitions about the
efficacy of rituals based on the involvement of a
superhuman agent (Barrett & Lawson, 2001), our data
indicate that the appeal to a supernatural agent is not
the sole criteria that people use to reason about ritual
efficacy. Overall, the results are consistent with the
proposal that basic features of human cognition provide
explanatory information for the evaluation and
transmission of religious beliefs and behaviors.
Lehmann, Karsten – University of Bayreuth,
Germany
religious rePresentatives inside tHe PuBlic
sPHere of international relations
In recent publications and lectures, José Casanova
increased his analyses on the development of ‘public
religions’ under global conditions. In doing so, he
introduced ideas that are, first, particularly prone to
trigger further Religious Studies-analyses and, second,
to question scientific as well as political convictions on
the present-day role of religions.
Casanova underlines that public religions are multilayered
phenomena that are highly influenced by social,
economic and political contexts. Following this line of
thought, the paper focuses on a rather specific public
arena, religions are increasingly active on: the arena of
international political relations. It starts out with a sketch
of the structures of this specific public space and the
position of religions in this context. In a second step, it
will analyze the interdependences between this context
and present-day developments of religious organizations.
Lehtonen, Ulla – University of Helsinki, Finland
Hidden immigrants: tHe oriental cult
communities in ancient rome
It has been suggested by the previous research in the field
of the history of ancient Roman religion that the religions
of the Syro-Phoenician, Dolichenian and Palmyrene
deities had been somehow ‘foreign’ and/or ‘Oriental’ in
their cultural and social outlook in ancient
neighbourhoods in imperial Rome. Based on the
rereading of the ancient archaeological, sacral
topographic and epigraphic sources, I will revise this view
by suggesting in agreement with Franz Cumont and his
‘Religions orientales dans le paganisme romain’ that the
members of the cult communities of the Syro-Phoenician,
Dolichenian and Palmyrene deities introduced a variety
of integration strategies into Roman society instead of
simply presenting the previously assumed identity choice
of a ‘foreigner’ and/or an ‘Oriental’ to their social
environment. I will, however, contradict Franz Cumont in
his ‘Orientalism’ by arguing that many of these cult
communities with their Latin dominating bi- and
tri-lingual linguistic composition seem to have consisted
mostly of people who were ‘Romans’ or well Romanized
‘hidden immigrants’. What I propose happened was
intensified contacts between people of different cultural
backgrounds in the process of which ‘new gods’ became
recognized as ‘ours’, often through their non-culturespecific
functions. Religion can often reach over cultural
boundaries through its universally meaningful contents,
providing a useful tool to immigrants in finding their
place in a new environment. This was also the case in
ancient Rome, the cultural particulars of these encounters
being the object of my study.
Levy, Gabriel – Aarhus University, Denmark
Blood and Wine: notes on tHe role of tHe
Heart and noise in ritual Processes
I first reconsider the role that the heart plays in
cognition. Until quite recently many cultures considered
the heart to be the “seat” of the mind. More recently,
cognitive science has tended to see the brain as the seat
of the mind. The mind, it is thought, is in the head. I
argue that the mind is definitely not in the head, and if it
is in the body, it is probably better to think of it as the
heart. I thus challenge the dichotomy in cognitive
science between heart and brain. Second, I explore the
concept of noise in individual and social cognition.
Neurological processes are noisy, chaotic processes;
similarly, social cognitive processes are noisy and
chaotic. Following Glass’ studies of normal vs.
pathological bodily rhythms, I will investigate the
analogy between bodily and social rhythms using
heartbeat and noise as my two basic paradigms.
Levy, Gabriel – Aarhus University, Denmark
WHy a minyan? situated cognition in tHe
talmud
As early as the Mishnah, a quorum of ten men, called a
minyan, was required to fulfill some of the most
important ritual obligations in Judaism, such as public
worship and Torah reading, among others. The divine
presence, or shekinah, is said to be involved whenever
such a quorum is involved in prayer or study. Individual
prayer and study, though not prohibited, are certainly
not lauded in the history of Judaism. In general Judaism
teaches that “Torah can only be acquired in fellowship/
friendship” bBer 63b.
110 BOOk Of ABstRACts • RELIGION: A HUMAN PHENOMENON • 15-21 AUGUst, 2010 • tORONtO, CANAdA