本文对宗教神经科学的还原论基础进行了系统的批判性考察，分别梳理和讨论了宗教神经科学的兴起与理论基础，宗教体验神经基础的脑成像实验探索历程，当前神经科学对宗教体验本质的理论解读，宗教神经科学的还原论困境，以及宗教神经科学对人的精神性的揭示与遮蔽五个部分。

20世纪70年代以来，随着神经科学及功能性脑成像技术的发展，宗教神经科学兴起。其理论基础为还原物理主义，以探索宗教体验、信念及行为的普遍神经生物基础为目标，试图将宗教意识过程还原为神经生理过程。实验探索方面，经历近半个世纪的发展，其主要成就集中于对宗教体验神经相关物的寻找和定位，大致经历了单一脑区还原、多重脑区还原及功能网络还原三个发展阶段。理论探索方面，当前宗教神经科学对宗教体验本质的思考主要体现为三种代表性理论，即将宗教体验解释为认知矛盾的统一过程、理想自我的实现过程，以及作为一种元认知即去中心化过程。

尽管在实验探索和理论建构方面均取得一定成果，目前的宗教神经科学还远没有实现将宗教体验完全还原为神经生理过程的目标，主要根源在于其还原论困境和挑战，如大脑功能模块化方法的局限，主观体验的客观化难题，以及宗教体验的多样性与生物普遍性间的张力等问题。这些困境在一定程度上反映了宗教体验的不可还原性，即用生理学方法研究和解释心灵体验问题存在着难以逾越的“解释鸿沟”。

总之，宗教神经科学对解密宗教意识问题进行了有益的探索，对人的自我意识及其精神性等问题带来新的解释视角和启发，如揭示了人的自我意识作为动态发展和平衡的过程，具有稳定的神经结构和层次；过度的自我中心会使自我发生偏离，陷入抑郁等精神性疾病中，而冥想等灵修方式作为一种去中心化机制，通过训练大脑的统一的执行控制功能，从而有效地矫正自我的偏离；进而实现一种自我完善和自我“超越”。然而，当前这一学科存在极端还原主义的错误倾向和误区，对全面理解人的精神性带来一定程度的遮蔽，如一方面忽视大脑整体的复杂性，将宗教体验仅归结为特定大脑模块的特定功能；另一方面过度推论，排斥不同层级现象的独立属性，将宗教体验解释为“仅仅是”神经电化学活动；此外，对机械还原论及实证主义的盲目信任和追求必将导致科学与人文关系的全面断裂和冲突。为避免认识误区，宗教神经科学应对其研究问题和推论进行合适的限定，走向开放包容的多元视角与跨学科融合之路，不断弥合科学与人文间的裂痕，发展成为一种更具人性化的科学。

 This paper presents a systematic and critical study of neuroscience of religion. In the first part, I examine the emergence background and theoretical basis of the neuroscience of religion. The second part discusses the developing process of neuroimaging experimental study on the neural basis of different religious experience. The third part involves the current neuroscientific interpretation of the nature of religious experience. Then the fourth part analyses the reductionist dilemma of neuroscience of religion. In the last part, I examine the positive and negative effects of neuroscience of religion on the understanding of human spiritual nature.

    Since 1970s, with the development of neuroscience and functional neuroimaging technology, neuroscience of religion has emerged. Its theoretical basis is reductionism, and its goal is to explore the neurobiological basis of religious experience, belief and behavior, trying to reduce the process of religious consciousness to a neurophysiological process. In the aspect of experimental exploration, after nearly half a century of development, its main achievements focused on the search and positioning of the neural correlates of religious experience, which roughly experienced three stages of development: single brain region reduction, multiple brain regions reduction and functional network reduction. In terms of theoretical exploration, the current thinking of neuroscience on the nature of religious experience include three main theories, that is, religious experience is interpreted as a unification process of cognitive contradiction, as a realization process of ideal self, and as an ability of metacognition or the process of decentering.

    Although some achievements have been made in both experimental exploration and theoretical construction, neuroscience of religion is far from achieving the goal of completely reducing religious experience to a neurophysiological process. The main reason lies in the challenges of reductionism, such as the limitation of modularization of brain function, the difficulties of the objectification of subjective experience, and the tension between the diversity of religious experience and biological universality. To some extent, these dilemmas reflect the irreducibility of religious experience, that is, there is an insurmountable "explanatory gap" in the study and interpretation of spiritual experience with physiological methods.