Academic Stuff
Gretchen Koch, Fellow, Aarhus University
“Gretchen Koch’s background is in philosophy of religion, and she is analyzing research from developmental and moral psychology to explore possible cognitive foundations for belief in souls, and the role which that belief plays in moral reasoning.
She is particularly interested in the conditions under which practice of empathy may be stimulated or inhibited, and the ways in which narratives concerning the soul may be invoked in post hoc moral justification.
Gretchen Koch has a BA in Religious Studies from Texas Christian University, an MA from the Centre for Religion, Culture, and Gender at the University of Manchester and a PhD from the Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University.”
Publications
- Koch, G (2013). Care of the Soul: Empathy in a Dualistic Worldview in Geertz, A.W. (Ed.). (2013). Origins of Religion, Cognition and Culture (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315728988
- Koch, G (2009): The Cognitive Origins of Soul Belief: Purity, Responsibility, and Empathy.
- Koch, G. (2008). Full of Sound and Fury: The Media Response to Dennett. Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, 20(1), 36-44. https://doi.org/10.1163/157006808X260412