MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES AND THE MCI HYPOTHESIS
Cognitive science of religion’s limitations in explaining mystical beliefs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5752/P.2177-6342.2025v16n32p714-731Palavras-chave:
MCI hypothesis, Mystical experiences, spiritual oneness, Cognitive science of religion, emotionsResumo
Neste artigo é apresentado um argumento contra uma das principais teorias na ciência cognitiva da religião, a Hipótese da Contraintuitividade Mínima (MCI). A hipótese MCI explica a aderência de crenças religiosas em função do grau de contraintuitividade dos conceitos que figuram em seu conteúdo. De acordo com a hipótese MCI, as crenças religiosas são aderentes porque utilizam conceitos que são moderadamente contraintuitivos, ou seja, conceitos que quebram um pequeno número das nossas expectativas naturais sobre o mundo. Afirmamos que esta explicação é hipercognitivista: ela negligencia o papel dos estados não-cognitivos na explicação da adesão. Embora a hipótese MCI possa explicar eficazmente a aderência de algumas crenças religiosas, há crenças religiosas cuja aderência parece ser muito melhor explicada por referência a emoções e sentimentos, sobre os quais a hipótese MCI é omissa. Um exemplo, sustentamos, é o das crenças motivadas por experiências místicas, cuja aderência não parece ser explicada satisfatoriamente sem referência aos estados afetivos presentes na experiência.
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