Abstract
An important consensus has occurred across the social sciences: The best philosophy for guiding knowledge advancement omits any substantive reference to an active transcendent being. This philosophy of naturalism is so prevalent that social science disciplines renowned for examining research philosophies, such as anthropology, overlook naturalism. This article describes an anthropological case in point: E. E. Evans-Pritchard’s study of the Azande people. Evans-Pritchard is noted for his thoughtful and thorough cultural studies, and the Azande are noted for their unorthodox, non-naturalistic beliefs. We describe the interaction of this anthropologist and culture and find that he presumes a reified naturalism, which dramatically affects his understanding and treatment of this non-naturalistic culture. We then proffer several lessons and implications for pastoral psychology and psychotherapy that follow from our case study.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
As Evans-Pritchard uses the term, Zande can be an adjective or refer to an individual, much as we use the term “American”. Azande refers to the people as a whole, but it is also used as a plural adjective. For example, we would not say “Americans people”, but “Azande people” is common usage.
Unless we specify otherwise, all quotes from Evans-Pritchard originate from his 1976 book on the Azande.
References
Alston, W. (1991). Perceiving God. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
American Psychological Association Council of Representative. (2007). Resolution on religious, religion-based, and/or religion-derived prejudice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Barrett, S. R. (2009). Anthropology: A student’s guide to theory and method. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Bartholomew, R. (2000). Borderlands. Skeptic, 8, 36.
Becker, H. S. (1996). The epistemology of qualitative research. In R. Jessor, A. Colby, & R. A. Shweder (Eds.), Ethnography and human development: Context and meaning in social inquiry (pp. 53–71). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Beidelman, T. O. (1974). Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard (1902–1973): an appreciation. Anthropos Institute, 69, 553–567.
Bishop, R. C. (2009). What is this naturalism stuff all about? Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 29, 108–113.
Bowie, F. (2006). Anthropology of religion. In R. A. Segal (Ed.), The Blackwell companion to the study of religion (pp. 3–24). Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Burton, J. (1992). An introduction to Evans-Pritchard. Fribourg: University Press.
Collins, G. R. (1977). The rebuilding of psychology: An integration of psychology and Christianity. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers.
Costa, R. E., & Shimp, C. P. (2011). Methods courses and texts in psychology: “textbook science” and “tourist brochures”. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 31, 25–43.
Davies, C. A. (2002). Reflexive ethnography: A guide to researching selves and others. New York: Routledge.
Davis, C. F. (1989). The evidential force of religious experience. Oxford: Clarendon.
Dawkins, R. (1995). River out of Eden. New York: Basic Books.
Donnely, J. (2007). The relative universality of human rights. Human Rights Quarterly, 29, 281–306. doi:10.1353/hrq.2007.0016.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1937/1976). Witchcraft, oracles and magic among the Azande. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Forrest, B. (2000). Methodological naturalism and philosophical naturalism: Clarifying the connection. Philo, 3, 7–29.
Foster, G. M. (1976). Disease etiologies in non-Western medical systems. American Anthropologist, 78, 773–782.
Geertz, C. (1988). Work and lives: The anthropologist as author. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Gellner, E. (1988). The stakes in anthropology. American Scholar, 57, 17–30.
Glazier, S. D., & Flowerday, C. A. (2006). Selected readings in the anthropology of religion. Anthropology of Consciousness, 17(2), 108–114. doi:10.1525/ac.2006.17.2.108.
Grieffenhagen, C., & Sherman, W. (2008). Kuhn and conceptual change: on the analogy between conceptual changes in science and children. Science Education, 17, 1–26. doi:10.1007/s11191-006-9063-5.
Griffin, D. R. (2000). Religion and scientific naturalism: Overcoming the conflicts. Albany: SUNY Press.
Habermas, J. (2008). Between naturalism and religion. Malden: Polity Press.
Haynes, N., & Robbins, J. (2008). The anthropology of Christianity. Religion Compass, 2, 1139–1158.
Johnson, E., Myers, D., Jones, S., & Roberts, R. (2010). Psychology & Christianity: Five views (spectrum). Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press.
Just, R. (2012). E. E. Evans-Prichard. http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199766567/obo-9780199766567-0006.xml;jsessionid=751BAF2FFE2BBC779E5B063A52A42839. Accessed 26 November 2012.
Keesing, R. M., Crick, M., Frankel, B., Friedman, J., Hatch, E., Oosten, J. G., et al. (1987). Anthropology as interpretive quest. Current Anthropology, 28(2), 161–176.
Kral, M. J. (2008). Psychology and anthropology: Intersubjectivity and epistemology in an interpretative cultural science. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 27–28, 257–275.
Leahey, T. H. (1991). A history of modern psychology. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Lett, J. (1997). Science, religion, and anthropology. In S. D. Glazier (Ed.), Anthropology of religion: A handbook (pp. 103–120). Westport: Greenwod Press.
Lohmann, R. I. (2003). The supernatural is everywhere: defining qualities of religion in Melanesia and beyond. Anthropological Forum, 13, 177–185. doi:10.1080/0066467032000129842.
Meehl, P. E. (1959). Some technical and axiological problems in the therapeutic handling of religious and valuational material. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 6(4), 255–259. doi:10.1037/h0049181.
Plantinga, A. (2011). Where the conflict really lies: Science, religion, and naturalism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Porpora, D. V. (2006). Methodological atheism, methodological agnosticism and religious experience. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 36, 57–75.
Reber, J. S., & Slife, B. D. (in press). Theistic psychology and the relation of worldviews: a reply to critics. Edification.
Reber, J. S., Slife, B. D., & Downs, S. D. (2012). A tale of two theistic studies: Illustrations and evaluations of a potential program of theistic psychological research. In R. L. Piedmont & A. Village (Eds.), Research in the social scientific study of religion, 23 (pp. 191–212). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV.
Richards, P. S., & Bergin, A. E. (2005). A spiritual strategy for counseling and psychotherapy (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Richardson, F., Fowers, B., & Guignon, C. (1999). Re-envisioning psychology: Moral dimensions of theory and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Rychlak, J. F. (1981). Introduction to personality and psychotherapy: A theory-construction approach (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Searle, J. R. (2008). Philosophy in a new century: Selected essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Shweder, R. (1984). Anthropology’s romantic rebellion against the enlightenment, or there’s more to thinking than reason and evidence. In R. A. Shweder & R. A. Levine (Eds.), Culture theory (pp. 27–66). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Slife, B. D. (2004). Theoretical challenges to therapy practice and research: The constraint of naturalism. In M. Lambert (Ed.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change (pp. 44–83). New York: Wiley.
Slife, B. D., & Reber, J. S. (2009). Is there a pervasive implicit bias against theism in psychology? Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 29, 63–79.
Slife, B. D., & Whoolery, M. (2006). Are psychology’s main methods biased against the worldview of many religious people? Journal of Psychology and Theology, 34, 217–231.
Slife, B. D., & Williams, R. N. (1995). What’s behind the research? Discovering hidden assumptions in the behavioral sciences. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Slife, B. D., Hope, C., & Nebeker, R. S. (1999). Examining the relationship between religious spirituality and psychological science. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 39, 51–85.
Slife, B. D., Smith, A. F., & Burchfield, C. (2003). Psychotherapists as cryptomissionaries: An exemplar on the crossroads of history, theory and philosophy. In D. B. Hill & M. J. Kral (Eds.), About psychology: Essays at the crossroads of history, theory and philosophy (pp. 55–72). Albany: SUNY Press.
Slife, B. D., Stevenson, T., & Wendt, D. (2010). Including God in psychotherapy: weak vs. strong theism. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 38, 163–174.
Slife, B. D., Reber, J. S., & Lefevor, G. T. (2012). When God truly matters: A theistic approach to psychology. In R. L. Piedmont & A. Village (Eds.), Research in the social scientific study of religion, 23 (pp. 213–237). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV.
Stivers, D. (2003). Theological method. In K. Vanhoozer (Ed.), Postmodern theology (pp. 170–185). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Swinburne, R. (1979). The existence of God. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swinburne, R. (1983). Mackie, induction, and God. Religious Studies, 19, 385–391.
Taylor, C. (2004). Modern social imaginaries. Durham: Duke University Press.
Tjeltveit, A. C. (1999). Ethics and values in psychotherapy. London: Routledge.
Zubrin, R. (2007). Science, religion, and human purpose: a cosmic perspective. Skeptic, 13, 27–31.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Slife, B.D., Starks, S. & Primosch, M. Questioning the Presumption of Naturalism in the Social Sciences: A Case Study. Pastoral Psychol 63, 339–353 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-013-0534-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-013-0534-8