Meaningful meaning: Changing relations between science and religion

I analyze the relation between science and religion from the perspective of embodied cognition. Embodied cognition stresses the need to integrate knowledge with the motives and perceived relevance of organisms. Building on Kim Sterelny’s idea of evolving preference structures (new behavioral possibilities benefit from acquiring new accompanying motivations), the paper develops the idea science and religion perform different and complementary roles in societies. Possible implications for current relations between science and religion are discussed