Cognitive science of religion (CSR) has inspired a number of debunking arguments against god-belief. They aim to show that the belief-forming processes that underlie belief in god(s) are unreliable. The debate surrounding these arguments gives the impression that CSR offers new scientific evidence that threatens the rationality of religious belief. This impression, however, is partly misleading. A close look at a few widely discussed debunking arguments shows, first, that CSR theories as such are far from providing sufficient empirical evidence that the belief-forming processes behind god-belief are unreliable. Thus, appealing solely to CSR theories makes a debunking argument weak. Second, there are strong arguments that also invoke CSR, but these gain their strength primarily from more familiar claims about evolutionary epistemology and religious diversity. What CSR actually does in these arguments is providing an explanation of why people might believe in gods even if gods did not exist. But explaining is not debunking.

中文翻译：

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反驳的论点从宗教的认知科学中获益甚少

宗教认知科学 (CSR) 激发了许多反对上帝信仰的驳斥论点。他们的目的是表明作为信仰上帝的基础的信仰形成过程是不可靠的。围绕这些论点的辩论给人的印象是，企业社会责任提供了威胁宗教信仰合理性的新科学证据。然而，这种印象在一定程度上具有误导性。仔细研究一些广泛讨论的揭穿论点表明，首先，企业社会责任理论远没有提供足够的经验证据证明上帝信仰背后的信仰形成过程是不可靠的。因此，仅仅诉诸企业社会责任理论会使揭穿论点变得无力。其次，也有强有力的论据可以援引企业社会责任，但这些主要从更熟悉的关于进化认识论和宗教多样性的主张中获得力量。CSR 在这些争论中实际上所做的是解释为什么即使神不存在，人们也会相信神。但解释不是揭穿。