The Oxford Handbook of the Cognitive Science of Religion

Why have religious beliefs and behaviors been nearly universal in human societies? What accounts for similarities and differences across time and across cultures? Could the answer lie in the human brain? Scholars in the cognitive science of religion (CSR) believe that it can- the prevalence of religion is a result of the way our minds work. CSR advances in psychology explain various patterns in religious thought and action. This scientific approach has grown rapidly over the past couple of decades. However, it has often been conflated with related subjects such as evolution and neuroscience. CSR is neither: it straddles the line between cognitive sciences and the study of religion.

The Oxford Handbook of the Cognitive Science of Religion directly identifies CSR's unique contributions and clarifies its relationship to neighboring disciplines. With contributions from the field's founders and its rising stars, this volume offers a critical overview of more than 25 years of research. From discussions of human nature to the role of ritual, the contributors offer comprehensive and in-depth analysis of key questions in CSR. Readers will have a variety of entry points to truly grasp where CSR has been, where it is, and where it might go.

Justin L. Barrett is an honorary Professor of Theology and the Sciences at St Andrews University School of Divinity. An experimental psychologist by training, he is concerned with the scientific study of religion and its philosophical as well as theological implications. He is the author of a number
of books including Why Would Anyone Believe in God?, Born Believers: The Science of Childhood Religion, and Religious Cognition in China: Homo Religiosus and the Dragon.

Table of Contents

Part One: Historical, Theoretical, and Methodological Foundations of CSR

1. Ghostly Relationships: Differentiating Cognitive Science of Religion and Psychology of Religion
Justin L. Barrett

2. The Historical Genesis of Cognitive Science of Religion
E. Thomas Lawson

3. Philosophical Foundations of the Cognitive Science of Religion
Aku Visala

4. The Cognitive Study of Religious Activity: Beyond Religion and Belief
Pascal Boyer


Part Two: Religious Concepts

5. Gods: Cognition, Culture, and Ecology
Benjamin Grant Purzycki

6. The Nature of Humans
Rebekah A. Richert and Kirsten Lesage

7. Nature of the World
Julie Scott and Justin L. Barrett


Part Three: Religious Actions

8. Explaining and Solving Practical Problems Supernaturally
Rachel Watson-Jones & Cristine H. Legare

9. Mortuary Practices
Claire White


Part Four: Religious Objects

10. Scripturalism: A theory
Brian Malley

11. Special Objects
Tyler S. Greenway


Part Five: Religious Experiences

12. Conceiving Religious Dreams and Mystical Experiences: A Predictive Processing Investigation
Robert E. Sears

13. Extreme Rituals
Dimitris Xygalatas


Part Six: Forming Religious Systems

14. Key Ingredients for a World Religion: Insights from Cognitive and Evolutionary Science
James Van Slyke and D. Jason Slone

15. What is the Role of Ritual in Binding Communities Together?
Harvey Whitehouse and Christopher M. Kavanagh

16. The Failure of Religious Systems
Hugh Turpin and Jonathan A. Lanman


Part Seven: CSR's Relations and Implications

17. Neuroscience of Religion
Uffe Schjoedt and Michiel van Elk

18. Soul Mates? Conflicts and Complementarities in the Evolutionary and Cognitive Sciences of Religion
Richard Sosis, John Shaver, Benjamin Grant Purzycki, and Jordan Kiper

19. CSR and Religious Belief. Epistemic friends or foes?
Hans Van Eyghen

20. The Cultural & Developmental Niche of Religious Cognitions: Educational Implications of the Cognitive Science of Religion
Rebekah A. Richert

21. Lived Faith and Cognitive Intuitions: Some Theological Implications of Cognitive Science of Religion
Laird R. O. Edman and Myron A. Penner