Soteriological Apprehension in Modern Religious Thought: From John Hick to Contemporary Cognitive and Affective Approaches

This dissertation examines the extent to which differences in religious interpretation arise not primarily from doctrinal divergence, but from historically conditioned cognitive and affective frameworks through which human experience is structured and evaluated. Taking the pluralistic philosophy of religion developed by John Hick as its point of departure, the study seeks to refine this approach by integrating insights from Buddhist philosophy, early modern empiricism, and contemporary cognitive and affective science. The analysis proceeds in four stages. First, it examines the conceptual foundations of Hick’s pluralism and the interpretive assumptions underlying his comparative framework. Second, it evaluates the methodological limitations of contemporary empirical approaches to religion, particularly in relation to conceptual under-specification. Third, it develops a model of constructed experience through a comparative analysis of Yogācāra thought, David Hume’s account of the self, and predictive processing theories. Finally, it explores the affective foundations of ethical experience, with particular attention to the emergence of guilt and shame and their role in soteriological transformation. The study argues that religious traditions can be understood as contextually mediated responses to shared cognitive and affective structures. It concludes that soteriological concepts and practices function, at least in part, as mechanisms for regulating affective tension and facilitating ethical transformation, thereby offering a more integrated framework for the comparative study of religion.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Kerem, Simmo

• B Athroniaeth (Cyffredinol)

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:4322