Comments on Zuckerman, Li and Diener's Article (2018) "Religion as an Exchange System"

By Razie Mah

Clinical and social scientists Miron Zuckerman, Chen Li and Ed Diener, from the Universities of Rochester (MZ and CL),Virginia and Utah (ED), present an exchange model of religion. They build upon a trail blazed in 2016 by Norenzayan and collaborators on the cultural evolution of religion.
These comments examine their claims using resources derived from the writings of Charles Peirce. The category-based nested form disassembles and re-articulates arguments on the basis of firstness, secondness and thirdness. So, the method is not analytical. It is based on association and implication.
The category-based nested form models Darwinian evolution. A triadic diagram of judgment models Maritain's view on the structure of empirio-schematic research. These two relational structures provide fourth-age tools for appreciating this text.
Can religion be modeled as an exchange system?
Are government and God interchangable?
The data tell a story.
Let us see what that story is.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Razie Mah
• Release date: Jul 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9781942824510

Razie Mah

See website for bio.

Book preview

Comments on Zuckerman, Li and Diener's Article (2018) Religion as an Exchange System

By Razie Mah

Published for Smashwords.com

2018

Notes on Text

These comments examine an article by clinical and social scientists, Miron Zuckerman, Chen Li and Ed Diener. The full title is Religion as an Exchange System: The Interchangeability of God and Government in a Provider Role. The work is published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (April 1, 2018, pages 1-13).

This empirical research reports that better government and high quality of life associate to lower levels of religiosity.

The numbers don't lie. Or, maybe they do. The research defines a phenomenon. But, what does this phenomenon mean?

Heck, what is a phenomenon, in the first place?

The first half of Zuckerman, Lie and Diener's paper presents and justifies the exchange model. The second half of the paper shows how the model generates the potential of phenomena.

Each half deserves its own commentary

Single quotes and italics are used to group words together.

Prerequisites include A Primer on the Category-Based Nested Form, A Primer on Sensible and Social Construction, plus A Primer on the Individual in Community.

Table of Contents

First Impressions Point 0001

Exchange and the Cultural Evolution Hypothesis Point 0006

The Security Hypothesis Point 0091

Method Point 0153

First Impressions

0001 Zuckerman, Li and Diener's article is standard fare for modern clinical and social science research. Such research ought to be, what Jacques Maritain calls, empiro-schematic. In the empirio-schematic judgment, disciplinary language brings mathematical or mechanical models into relation with measurments. Consequently, this paper is evenly divided into two parts: models and measurements.

0002 The exchange model is dimorphic, relying on two prior syntheses. One is found in Norenzayan et al.'s (2016) proposal on cultural evolution. The other is Norris and Ingelhart's (2004) formulation of a security hypothesis. The present authors weave these two syntheses together in order to arrive at the key questions solved by an exchange model: Can a sovereign government replace God as a provider? Can secular exchange substitute for religious exchange?

0003 These comments track the author's path. They divide into three parts, two on models and one one measurements.

The cultural evolution and security syntheses are discussed separately. Each calls for a different configuration of category-based nested forms.

0004 Norenzayan et al.'s concept of cultural evolution will be modeled by a two-level interscope corresponding to Darwinian evolution. This two-level interscope appears in The Human Niche and Speculations on Thomistic Evolution.

Norris and Ingelhart's security hypothesis will be compared to the society tier corresponding to presence in How to Define the Word Religion. The society tier is an interscope manifesting two types of religions, based on different types of objects. One object brings individuals in community into organization. The other object brings all into relation.

0005 Finally, methods and measurments will be diagrammed from the vantage point of Positivist judgment, which contains the empirio-schematic judgment in the slot for what ought to be. This model is developed in Comments on Jacques Maritain's Book (1935) Philosophy of Nature.

Exchange and the Cultural Evolution Hypothesis

0006 Zuckerman, Li and Diener's secular exchange hypothesis says something like this, "People become religious in order to satisfy needs. So, people adopt religious beliefs and practices in (an implicit) exchange for