Returning to a Traditional Philosophy Approach: A Series with Dr. Ian Church
Written by Stephanie Gordon
This is part three of the Returning to a Traditional Philosophy Approach Series with Hillsdale’s associate professor of philosophy, Dr. Ian Church.
In part one of this series, we learned that Dr. Ian Church put Hillsdale on the map when it comes to philosophy with a recent $2.5 million research grant funded by the John Templeton Foundation: the “Launching Experimental Philosophy of Religion” project. Dr. Church is the principal investigator on the project, which is due to run through 2024.
The research grant is funding a total of six sub-grants of up to $250,000 each. The sub-grant, Religiosity and Reflection Across Cultures, is being led by Drs. Nick Byrd (Stevens Institute of Technology), Stephen Stitch (Rutgers University), and Justin Sytsma (Victoria University of Wellington).
According to Dr. Church, Drs. Byrd, Stitch, and Sytsma are leading scholars in experimental philosophy. “They are drawing from a truly unparalleled database for their research on religiosity across cultures,” said Dr. Church, “and their research aims to explore the relationship between analytic thinking and religiosity. I’m excited to see what they find.”
Their research might, Dr. Church noted, seem somewhat threatening to religious belief. “If religious belief is found to be negatively correlated with analytic thinking, that’d be a finding that religious people would need to wrestle with,” Dr. Church said. “Drs. Byrd, Stich, and Systsma are principally driven by a concern for the truth. They are sojourners with us in the pursuit of truth. We simply must remain receptive to the truth, whatever it is; even if it makes us uncomfortable, even if it’s challenging.”
One way to think about their project is in terms of what’s sometimes called “System 1” and “System 2” styles of thinking. System 1 thinking is typically characterized as subconscious thinking, though that is effortless and automatic. System 2 thinking, in contrast , is more doubtful, effortful, and reflective. “There’s been an ongoing conversation about the relationship between religiosity and System 2 thinking,” said Dr. Church. “Sometimes these studies aim to show that religiosity negatively correlates with what’s called analytic thinking, which is strongly associated with System 2 thinking. But the emerging results here seem to be mixed. Some religious beliefs or traditions seem to buck this trend, at least within certain contexts or cultural backgrounds.”
Dr. Church explained that empirical research has repeatedly shown that humans are naturally inclined to believe in at least one god—something like a soul, as well as an afterlife. “We might plausibly expect, then, to find that religion and religious belief permeate the human experience in a variety of different ways,” Dr. Church added. “Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised if the relationship between religiosity and analytic / System 2 thinking isn’t monolithic across all demographic variables.”
After quoting author John Green’s “truth resists simplicity,” Dr. Church said simple explanations and simple narratives are almost never true; the truth will always be far more complex than the simple stories we like to tell. “There are a lot of different religions in the world and they are often manifested in radically different ways depending on broader cultural influences,” noted Dr. Church.
There’s no doubt that Dr. Church thinks their findings could be complex and challenging, but he believes we can wrestle, engage, and address them one way or another. “We can’t ignore the truth and we have to be willing to pursue the truth, especially as an institution,” Dr. Church said. “I think so much of higher education is languishing because it’s chasing an ideology instead of the truth; genuine inquiry requires the pursuit of the truth, regardless of anyone’s personal agenda.”
Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the managing editor of the Student Stories Blog. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children – Eloise, Flora, and Jack. When she has a spare moment, she enjoys paleo baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, and breaking a sweat at the gym.
Published in September 2023