Title:
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From corpse to concept :a cognitive theory on the ritualized disposal of dead bodies
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Humans throughout history and across cultures have disposed of dead bodies
without just abandoning them. Frequently, these disposals have involved specific
ritualized actions. In the majority. of cases the disposal of corpses involves religious
ritualized actions. In this thesis, I argue that the strong tendency and perhaps even
compulsion to dispose of dead bodies in ritualized ways generally, and religious
ritualized ways specifically, occurs as a consequence of the evolved cognitive
architecture ofhuman minds. By examining the archival records on the paleontological,
archaeological, ethnographic and historical evidence of early disposal behavior by
humans, as well as looking closely at early Indian Buddhist practices, and paying
attention to modem Buddhist mortuary rites, I attempt to make the case, from the
perspective of cognitive and evolutionary psychology, that several mental systems seem
to be activated by dead bodies and that the aCtivation of the cognitive systems leads to
humans perfonning religiously ritualized behaviors cross-culturally. These same mental
systems, moreover, constrain the variation of mortuary rituals seen in various cultures. In
pursuit of a scientific explanation ofwhy it is that humans dispose of dead bodies in the
various ways that they do, I have gone beyond examining textual evide.nce by devising
instruments to measure individual responses to dead bodies, and to theorize that specific
cognitive systems are activated by such stimuli. I examine closely the data generated by
the experimental studies and suggest a way of modeling the systems involved.
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