Dissertation Research 2021
ABSTRACT
Debates continue about exactly when and how Mithraism came to Rome and what led to its demise. Enquiries from scholars have been made into the understanding of Mithraea, and what exactly the tauroctony and grades represented to worshippers. What remains lacking in this research and debate is an understanding of the motivation of the worshippers who subscribed to this religion. To find out what might have motivated the adherents of Mithraism, my dissertation examined whether their beliefs resulted from the evolved psychological cognitive mechanisms of the attachment system, kinship, reciprocal altruism and social exchange. The discussion focused on these cognitive mechanisms and their relation to how Mithraic congregants in the Roman Empire observed their belief in Mithras and what they gained psychologically from their devotion to this god and from their interaction with other believers. By engaging with the methodology of the cognitive science of religion (CSR), my dissertation provided a new way of looking at worship in the ancient world and shed light on some of the reasons why worshippers were drawn to the god Mithras. The results show that there is a clear pattern in the way worshippers were attached to Mithras. This attachment is shown in a number of different aspects. Kinship, reciprocal altruism and social exchange with Mithras and between other believers was produced by the intense activities within the Mithraeum and is illustrated by considerable epigraphic evidence found across the empire. The conclusion of my research is that more evolved cognitive mechanisms, as well as sensory perception between the body and worship, should be explored further, as should the insights gained through the Theory of Mind, to provide scholars with a better understanding of the individual worshippers of Mithraism and how they interacted, felt, reflected, participated and gained from their beliefs.
METHODOLOGY - THE COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION
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The cognitive science of religion (CSR) is a scientific approach now widely used to study religion, incorporating different methods and theories from cognitive and evolutionary psychology. CSR examines religious phenomena across multiple regions and their inhabitants, while trying to understand the role of human evolutionary psychology in how individuals worship in the past, and today. CSR provides an understanding based on logical reasoning of how religion is obtained and propagates, and how it continues to transmit specific concepts and behaviours among humans. Cognitive theories centre themselves on analysing the mental components and micro-processes within the human brain and body, and how they connect humans with their environment enabling them to survive, communicate, and design cultural meanings.
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The American psychiatrist Thomson (2011) is one of the leading proponents of the view that religious belief is a by-product of evolutionary psychological components, and that these components allowed humans to not only understand other people’s intentions but other social worlds, which has been crucial for human survival. Thomson proposes that ‘by-products’ in the form of variations occurred for different reasons, and that variations came into existence to solve specific social and relational problems. As humanity evolved, these variations constructed the groundwork for every religious idea, belief and ritual. In other words, religion now utilises and takes advantage of the everyday collective thought mechanisms and adaptive psychological processes that evolved to enable humans to negotiate relationships with other human beings, to detect agency and intent, and to produce a perception of safety. There are multiple mechanisms of by-products that could be analysed regarding the worship of Mithras, but this dissertation will focus on the attachment system in Chapter Two and kin psychology and reciprocal altruism in Chapter Three.
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Kirkpatrick agrees with Thomson in that religion is a compilation of by-products of multiple psychological mechanisms. In his 2005 book ‘Attachment Evolution and The Psychology of Religion’, he lays out the groundwork for understanding the attachment system and its relationship between humans and their god(s). My dissertation applied Kirkpatrick’s method to better understand the psychology of the worshippers who believed in Mithras.
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If you would like a copy of my dissertation or to speak about my research then please contact me directly through the contact page.
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