Refuting Howard's End: Addressing the Crisis of Postmodern Thought in Science and Religion

Cognitive-developmental approaches to religiousness are ordered according to the degree of hardness of the respective developmental stages. The harder a stage scheme, the more reliable any ideal-type predictions, but also the smaller its domain of application. Depending on the purpose, one theory is hence more useful than another. After calling to mind the foundations of constructivist, structure-genetic theories, the theories of Elkind, Goldman, Oser/Gmunder, Fowler, and Baldwin are discussed in that light, partly with the help of new data and with some proposals for their improvement.