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The Oxford Handbook of the Cognitive Science of Religion is the most authoritative and comprehensive examination of the growing field of CSR. With contributions from the field's founders and its rising stars, this volume offers a critical overview of more than 25 years of research.
List of contents
- 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 and 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 and 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
About the author
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.
Summary
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.
Additional text
The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Science of Religion is highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about cognitive foundations of religious phenomena, both and beginners and experts. Especially for readers like me who have developed a steady interest in CSR but whose understanding of all the nuances in the field has not been nowhere near complete, it is an extremely illuminating and valuable piece of work.
