Harvey Whitehouse
Encyclopedia
Harvey Whitehouse is an anthropologist and a leading figure in the cognitive science of religion
. Professor Whitehouse holds a Statutory Chair in Social Anthropology
at the University of Oxford
and is a Professorial Fellow of Magdalen College
. He is also the Director of the Centre for Anthropology and Mind at the University of Oxford
.
from the London School of Economics
in 1985. He completed his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Cambridge
in 1990 under the supervision of Ernest Gellner
and Gilbert Lewis.
After carrying out two years of field research on a 'cargo cult
' in New Britain
, Papua New Guinea
in the late nineties, he developed a theory of ‘modes of religiosity’ that has been the subject of extensive critical evaluation and testing by anthropologists, historians, archaeologists, and cognitive scientists
.
The modes of religiosity theory seeks to explain the role of ritual in group formation and social and cultural evolution. Two modes are distinguished: imagistic and doctrinal. In the imagistic mode, important rituals are infrequent, highly emotionally arousing, and tend to generate tight knit local groups with low levels of orthodoxy and dynamic leadership. In the doctrinal mode, rituals are frequent, relatively tame, and produce larger, anonymous but expandable communities with higher levels of orthodoxy and dynamic leadership.
(Stanford), biologist David Sloan Wilson
(Binghamton), psychologists Cristine Legare (University of Texas at Austin) and Ryan McKay (Royal Holloway), modellers Michael Hochberg (Montpellier) and Quentin Atkinson (Auckland).
Whitehouse was founding director of the Institute of Cognition and Culture (Queen’s University Belfast) and the Centre for Anthropology and Mind (University of Oxford
). While Head of the School of Anthropology at the University of Oxford
(2006-2009) he was integral in establishing the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology. Whitehouse has been principal investigator on several large collaborative initiatives including: the Explaining Religion project, funded by the European Commission
and the Ritual, Community and Conflict project funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council
.
Cognitive science of religion
Cognitive science of religion is the study of religious thought and behavior from the perspective of the cognitive and evolutionary sciences. The field employs methods and theories from a very broad range of disciplines, including: cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, cognitive...
. Professor Whitehouse holds a Statutory Chair in Social Anthropology
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and is a Professorial Fellow of Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
. He is also the Director of the Centre for Anthropology and Mind at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
Education and early career
Whitehouse received his B.A. Degree in Social AnthropologySocial anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
in 1985. He completed his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in 1990 under the supervision of Ernest Gellner
Ernest Gellner
Ernest André Gellner was a philosopher and social anthropologist, described by The Daily Telegraph when he died as one of the world's most vigorous intellectuals and by The Independent as a "one-man crusade for critical rationalism."His first book, Words and Things —famously, and uniquely...
and Gilbert Lewis.
After carrying out two years of field research on a 'cargo cult
Cargo cult
A cargo cult is a religious practice that has appeared in many traditional pre-industrial tribal societies in the wake of interaction with technologically advanced cultures. The cults focus on obtaining the material wealth of the advanced culture through magic and religious rituals and practices...
' in New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
in the late nineties, he developed a theory of ‘modes of religiosity’ that has been the subject of extensive critical evaluation and testing by anthropologists, historians, archaeologists, and cognitive scientists
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
.
The modes of religiosity theory seeks to explain the role of ritual in group formation and social and cultural evolution. Two modes are distinguished: imagistic and doctrinal. In the imagistic mode, important rituals are infrequent, highly emotionally arousing, and tend to generate tight knit local groups with low levels of orthodoxy and dynamic leadership. In the doctrinal mode, rituals are frequent, relatively tame, and produce larger, anonymous but expandable communities with higher levels of orthodoxy and dynamic leadership.
Later research and career
Whitehouse has published numerous books and articles including a trilogy of authored books outlining his theory of Modes of Religiosity. This has prompted substantial critical literature, including 3 international conferences. Efforts to test the predictions of the modes theory have used case studies (ethnographic, historical, and archaeological), cross-cultural survey, controlled experiment, and computational modelling. Whitehouse’s most longstanding cross-disciplinary collaborators include anthropologists James Laidlaw (Cambridge), historian Luther H. Martin (Vermont), philosopher Robert N. McCauley (Emory), archaeologist Ian HodderIan Hodder
Ian Hodder FBA is a British archaeologist and pioneer of postprocessualist theory in archaeology that first took root among his students and in his own work between 1980-1990...
(Stanford), biologist David Sloan Wilson
David Sloan Wilson
David Sloan Wilson is an American evolutionary biologist and a Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences and Anthropology at Binghamton University. He is a son of the author Sloan Wilson.-Academic career:...
(Binghamton), psychologists Cristine Legare (University of Texas at Austin) and Ryan McKay (Royal Holloway), modellers Michael Hochberg (Montpellier) and Quentin Atkinson (Auckland).
Whitehouse was founding director of the Institute of Cognition and Culture (Queen’s University Belfast) and the Centre for Anthropology and Mind (University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
). While Head of the School of Anthropology at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
(2006-2009) he was integral in establishing the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology. Whitehouse has been principal investigator on several large collaborative initiatives including: the Explaining Religion project, funded by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
and the Ritual, Community and Conflict project funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council
Economic and Social Research Council
The Economic and Social Research Council is one of the seven Research Councils in the United Kingdom. It receives most of its funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and provides funding and support for research and training work in social and economic issues, such as...
.
Selected Publications
- Religion, Anthropology and Cognitive Science (2007) with Laidlaw, J. (eds.)
- History, Memory, and Cognition (2005) with Martin, Vol.31, No.2
- Mind and Religion: Psychological and Cognitive Foundations of Religiosity (2005) with McCauley, R. N. (eds.)
- The Psychological and Cognitive Foundations of Religiosity (2005) with McCauley, R. N. (eds.) Vol.5 Nos.1-2
- Implications of Cognitive Science for the Study of Religion (2004) with Martin, L. H. (eds.) Vol.16, No.3
- Theorizing Religions Past: Archaeology, History, and Cognition (2004) with Martin, Luther H. (eds.)
- Ritual and Memory: Towards a Comparative Anthropology of Religion (2004) with Laidlaw, J. (eds.)
- Modes of Religiosity (2004) Translated into Greek by Dimitris Xygalatas as Τύποι Θρησκευτικότητας, Thessaloniki: Vanias 2006.
- The Debated Mind: evolutionary psychology versus ethnography (2001) (ed.)
- Arguments and Icons: divergent modes of religiosity (2000)
See also
- Cognitive science of religionCognitive science of religionCognitive science of religion is the study of religious thought and behavior from the perspective of the cognitive and evolutionary sciences. The field employs methods and theories from a very broad range of disciplines, including: cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, cognitive...
- Social AnthropologySocial anthropologySocial Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
- Evolutionary PsychologyEvolutionary psychologyEvolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
- Evolutionary psychology of religionEvolutionary psychology of religionThe evolutionary psychology of religion is the study of religious belief using evolutionary psychology principles. It is one approach to the psychology of religion. As with all other organs and organ functions, the brain and cognition's functional structure have been argued to have a genetic basis,...
- Evolutionary origin of religionsEvolutionary origin of religionsThe evolutionary origin of religions theorizes about the emergence of religious behavior during the course of human evolution.- Nonhuman religious behavior :...
- Cognitive scienceCognitive scienceCognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
- Cultural transmission
- Religion and ritual
- Papua New GuineaPapua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...