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An Introduction to the Cognitive Science of Religion: Connecting Evolution, Brain, Cognition, and Cu

Foreword Acknowledgements Principles of postmodernism, cultural determinism, and extreme forms of cultural relativism The promotion of interpretative accounts of religious ideas and behaviors Outdated or nonexistent theories of human psychology Privileging personal accounts over systematic theories of religion Summary of challenges to trends in cultural studies among early pioneers in CSR The influence of evolutionary approaches in early formations of CSR summary Core assumptions about religion and belief Classic conceptualizations of religion The conceptualization of religion in CSR Folk concepts are not a reliable means of constructing scientific theories about religion A bottom-нр, fractionation approach is a reliable method to explain religion Establishing causal relationships between ideas and behaviors is a reliable means of categorizing religion Summary of core assumptions underlying the conceptualization of religion in CSR Intuitive assumptions draw upon different cognitive processes than propositional beliefs CSR explains the transmission potential of religious ideas Summary of core assumptions underlying the conceptualization of belief in CSR summary Notes Research questions Why do some religious ideas and behaviors persist?(a) Popular and theological versions of religion (h) Theologically correct and incorrect ideas What kind of mind does it take to represent these ideas and behave accordingly?(a) Identifying cognitive foundations (b) Religion emerges as a result of typically developing cognition (c) Religious traditions may have distinctive configurations of religious ideas and behaviors, but they draw upon the same pool of psychological tendencies What is the source of these cognitive tendencies?(a) Cognitive accounts (h) Cognitive-evolutionary accounts How does culture interact with cognition to produce religion?(a) Content and context biases Overview summary of basic assumptions in CSR as outlined in this chapter summary Notes Methods Religion can be studied using scientific methods Methodological naturalism Methodological pluralism Interdisciplinarity integration in CSR Summary of methodological assumptions and approaches in CSR summary Notes The nature of the world Explaining the origins and development of the natural world Why do people reject evolutionary theory and endorse creationism?Cognitive biases that impede understanding evolution and favor creationism Psychological essentialism When intuitions and scientific facts about the world collide The rationality of religious and scientific thinking Explaining events in the world: Coexistence reasoning Explaining events in the world: reasoning about moral justice Immanent justice reasoning The cognitive basis of immanent justice reasoning Summary of explaining events in the world Research case study: The coexistence of natural and supernatural explanations for illness summary The afterlife Cognitive theories of afterlife beliefs Immortality in the afterlife as cognitive default Contextual theories of afterlife beliefs Immortality in the afterlife as culturally learned Psychological and physical continuity in the afterlife Biological and religious conceptions of death Summary of cognitive and contextual theories of afterlife beliefs Simulation constraints Folk-dualism Embodiment theories Embodiment in the afterlife in some contexts Social embodiment in the afterlife Embodied people in the afterlife Psychological essentialism Theory of mind, emotional attachment, enduring mental models and offline social reasoning Theory of mind and representing the deceased as mentally active Offline social reasoning and the deceased existing in another place Summary of intuitions that favor afterlife beliefs Who wants to live forever? Motivational theories of afterlife beliefs Belief in the afterlife as tenor management Fear of death facilitates the spread of afterlife beliefs Summary of motivational theories of afterlife beliefs Summary of motivational theories of afterlife beliefs summary Supernatural agents The acquisition and development of supernatural agent concepts The representation of supernatural agent concepts in adults The spread of supernatural agent concepts: countering intuitive biases Cognitive explanations for the spread of supernatural agent concepts The role of social learning in the representation of supernatural agents The philosophical implications of cognitive theories of supernatural agents summary Morality Where does morality come from?The moral foundations of hitmans The moral foundations of nonhuman animals The origins of morality How does religion impact moral decision-making and behavior in contemporary society?Metaethics: where people derive moral guidance Moralizing spectrum: What people care about Moral discrimination: Whom people care about Moral motivation: Why and when people act prosocially Evolutionary-cognitive perspectives on the relationship between religion and morality Religion encourages prosocial behavior because it hinges upon our evolved tendencies Religion is not the only route to behavior modification, but it is highly effective A new fractionation approach to religion and morality Researchers must fractionate the categories of religion and morality into theoretically grounded elements Establish connections between theoretically grounded elements of religion and morality Research case study: Religion as surveillance and moral enforcement summary Rituals Part 1: How are rituals learned, represented, and transmitted? What are rituals?Actions lack a physical-causal mechanism and rationale Behaviors are rigid, repetitive, redundant, and disconnected from ordinary goals Ritualized behaviors do not stop when they fail to produce the intended outcome How are rituals learned?How are rituals represented?How are rituals transmitted?Modes of religiosity (MOR)Modes of Religiosity (MOR) theory and Ritual Form Hypothesis (RFH)Research case study: Modes of Religiosity (MOR) theory of religious transmission summary Rituals Part 2: What are the functions of rituals? What do rituals do for the individual?What do rituals do for the group?Social cohesion Costly signaling Credibility enhancing displays (CREDs)Social complexity summary Philosophical and theological implications of CSR Philosophical and theological questions in response to CSR research The general stance of CSR on whether or not religion is true Evaluation, implications and future directions The role of evolution in religion Methods and theories underlying the scientific study of religion The conceptualization of religion in CSR The role of cognition and culture in explaining religion The role of experience, the body, emotions, and motivation in religious belief and behavior Phenomenology of religious experience Summary of evaluation, implications, and future directions summary Glossary

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