| Four questions are discussed separately in four chapters of this dissertation. First, what was Sellars' descriptive theory of the origin, nature and evolution of religion? Sellars' use of the socio-historical study of the history of religions of the early Chicago School of theology helps to answer this question. Second, was his descriptive theory of religion adequate for his time? Criteria from the sociology of knowledge and the philosophy of science--which acknowledges the historical nature of all theories and evaluative criteria--are used to evaluate Sellars' theory. Third, according to Sellars, what ought to be the religion of the modern secular world? Sellars formulated a religious strategy of non-theism, loyalty to human values, and ontological materialism. Fourth, was this religious humanism a viable philosophical option for modernizing Christianity? Pragmatic and anthropological criteria are used to evaluate the extent to which Sellars' religious humanism satisfies religious needs.;The thesis of this dissertation is two-fold. First, Sellars' descriptive theory of religion was, with minor reservations, an adequate theory for his time. It was adequate as a testable and comprehensive explanation of the available data, and it cohered with the well-established hypothesis of evolution. Second, his normative vision for Christianity, based on his general theory of religion, provided a viable philosophical option for the reinterpretation of the Christian religion in the modern world. Assuming the cultural nature of religion as a mechanism for adaptation to the cultural environment, his emergent materialism and humanist values would have permitted the Christian religion to function effectively in the developing scientific culture of his day.;Four conclusions are reached in this dissertation. First, Sellars' empirical method for determining the descriptive nature of religion is still useful because empiricism helps avoid a priori bias. Second, Sellars' approach is an excellent example of applying the results of the scientific study of religions to shaping the future direction of actual religions. Third, Sellars' reformed materialism was non-reductive and consonant with the assumptions of the common sense and science of his day. Fourth, Sellars' major weakness was his epistemological objectivism, and his religious humanism could be improved with more emphasis on his pragmatism and historicism. |
