Over the past two decades, new insights from the cognitive science of religion have played a part in reviving interest in naturalistic attempts to explain the prevalence and recurrent forms of religious ideas and activities for example, atran, 2002, boyer, 2001. Early work built mathematical theories derived from then current work in human development, sociolinguistics, and the diusion of innovations. Dual inheritance theory dit, also known as geneculture coevolution or biocultural evolution. This book proposes a theory of human cognitive evolution, drawing from paleontology, linguistics, anthropology, cognitive science, and especially neuropsychology. Second, cognitive science of religion and evolutionary psychology often view religion. Recent critiques of dual inheritance theory peter j. A cognitive theory of religion by stewart guthrie in order to explain a fact as general as religion by an illusion, it would. Therefore, they are no less appropriate targets for analysis and explanation by the cognitive sciences than are any other areas of human thought and conduct, and from a cognitive. Cognitive science of religion is the study of religious thought and behavior from the perspective. In the context of cognitive science of religion, dual inheritance theory can be understood as.
Pdf on jan 1, 2016, dimitris xygalatas and others published cognitive science of religion find, read and. The cognitive science of religion integrates insights from diverse scientific disciplines to explain how people acquire, represent and transmit religious concepts. Before turning to the cognitive science of religion, i must first introduce cognitive science. Currently researchers employ three major evolutionary frameworks to study religion evolutionary psychology, behavioral ecology, and dual inheritance theory each with. A refinement of the dual inheritance theory of religion. Cognitive science in the study of early christianity. The international association for the cognitive science of religion iacsr was founded in 2006. Populational modelssuch as dualinheritance theory and cultural.
The cognitive science of religion integrates insights from diverse scientific disciplines to explain how people acquire, represent, and transmit religious concepts. The iacsr is an interdisciplinary association, including scholars from a wide variety of disciplines in the human, social, natural and health sciences that are interested in the academic, scientific study of religious phenomena. This viewpoint comes from the cognitive science of religion. Recently, however, a new position has emerged in this debate, as an influential new theory. Proponents of adaptation generally rely on dual inheritance theories e. The cognitive science of religion asks why religion is crossculturally popular, which cognitive mechanisms ensure its popularity, how did they evolve, and which psychological traits dispose us to belief. From cognitive theory of religion to religious cognition. Pascal boyer and the cognitive science of religion. Dual system models not to be confused with dual inheritance theory have provided a framework for research on cognition ever since psychology became an empirical science, and they continue to inspire some of the most rigorous, cumulative work in the field 35,36.
Cultural evolution needs cognitive science to find out whether the conditions necessary. Currently researchers employ three major evolutionary frameworks to study religion evolutionary psychology, behavioral ecology, and dual inheritance theory each with different assumptions. These patterns relate to attention, eye gaze, verbal tones and rhythms, and behavioural postures. More about winthrop kellogg, who was an interesting character, and his experiment. Over much of the twentieth century, consideration of origins in the study of music moved away from any exploration of musics relationship to biology to refocus on the historical relationships between contemporary western musical theory and. Evolutionary science and the study of religion edward slingerland. The cultural transmission of faith why innate intuitions. Psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience. Of principle concern is how religion became so pervasive when its associated behavior is a costly use of time and resources.
Our conclusion is that, in the spirit of edward slingerlands defense of bringing cognitive science and the study of religion together 2some contemporary philosophers, inspired by cognitive science, have been keen to resurrect reids epistemology. The cultural evolution of socially situated cognition. Cognitive and evolutionary foundations of religious thinking a central objective of the cognitive science of religion is to explain principal causes of both the universal religious repertoire and the substantial variability in religious belief in terms of underlying cognitive mechanisms whitehouse, 2004. In turn, this model should be of interest and utility for other areas of historical and cultural inquiry, such as the study of religion. How cognitive byproducts, adaptive learning heuristics, ritual displays, and group competition generate deep commitments to prosocial religions. In the early 1930s wintrop and luella kellogg 1933 began corearing their 10. This is presented as a rational choice theory, which while cognitive isnt really up to date as it is rather incompatible with the more recent findings of the heuristics and biases research program within cognitive science. Journal for the cognitive science of religion, vol 4, no 1. As part of these deference patterns, people unconsciously cue who they think is a good model through a series of ethological and behavioural phenomena that arise directly from efforts to imitate these individuals.
In recent years, a number of new testament and early christian scholars have begun to use cognitive science approaches in their work. These approaches are still alive and well, but their boundaries have become increasingly blurred, and many younger. The cognitive science of religion csr hereafter holds that religious thought and conduct are human thought and conduct. However, it has thus far not directly addressed a key component of religion. Two of the largest sources of disagreement between evolutionary scholars of religion are. Exploring the nature of the tension between religious traditions and reason, religion as magical ideology develops a dual inheritance theory of religion which combines the cognitive byproduct and prosocial adaptation accounts and analyses the connection between the function of a belief and the degree of protection it gets from potential counterevidence. As psychology transitioned through the behaviorist and then cognitive revolutions, the biological sciences, with evolution at its. This book provides an introduction to the cognitive science of religion, a new discipline of study that explains the origins and persistence of religious ideas and behavior on the basis of evolved mental structures and functions of the human brain. Genes and culture continually interact in a feedback loop, changes in genes can lead. The cognitive science of religion cogsci journal archive. I couldnt find more information about gua a classic book of dual inheritance theory is culture and the.
Here is an interesting article about the evolution of lactose tolerance here is a link to theodosius dobzhanskys famous essage, nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. This suggests that religion is a product of a shared evolutionary history. For at least a decade, numerous projects, conferences. Cognitive science or the cognitive sciences is an interdisciplinary area of study that is focused on. Exploring the nature of the tension between religious traditions and reason, religion as magical ideology develops a dual inheritance theory of religion which combines the cognitive byproduct and prosocial adaptation accounts and analyses the connection between the function of a belief and the degree of protection it gets from potential.
Dual inheritance theory dit, also known as geneculture coevolution or biocultural evolution, was developed in the 1960s through early 1980s to explain how human behavior is a product of two different and interacting evolutionary processes. These models vary in detail, but they are united in suggesting that thought. These suggestions point to a more ecologically minded theory of religion. Richerson abstract e dual inheritance or geneculture coevolution theory of human evolution was developed in the 1970s and 80s. Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and thinking. Building on foundations from the cognitive science of religion, this chapter synthesizes theoretical insights and empirical evidence concerning the processes by which cultural. Although the cognitive science of religion csr, a current approach to the scientific study of. In this paper, i situate those efforts within the larger framework of the changing humanities, and the increased interest among humanistic scholars and social scientists in drawing on the growing body of knowledge on the cognitive. The literature on the evolution of religion has been divided by a fundamental debate between adaptation theories, which explain religious traits as products of selection for religion, and byproduct theories, which explain religious traits as products of selection for other, nonreligious functions.
Evolutionary cognitive science of religion based on theory of mind and. The cognitive science of religion the psychologist. Dual inheritance theory makes the claim that the human genome. The evolution of human cultural capacities and cultural evolution. Like turner, dual inheritance theory suggests that human culture creates an additional avenue for selection pressures on human evolution. The cognitive science of religion integrates insights from diverse scientific disciplines to explain how people acquire, represent and transmit. A deflationary perspective on theories of cultural evolution, in particular dualinheritance theory, has recently been proposed by lewens. Keywords antievolutionism theory dual inheritance geneculture coevolution moral psychology evolution cognitive science religion evolution biologyreligious aspectschristianity creationism intuition notes. On this popculture analysis, dualinheritance theorists apply population thinking to cultural phenomena, without claiming that cultural items evolve by natural selection.
Stewart harvey whitehouse and james laidlaws edited collection, religion, anthropology, and cognitive science,is a valuable contribution to the literature on the anthropology of religion and psychological anthropology in general. Horton 1973a that religion and science have the same aims to interpret and influence the universe, the same topics nature, man, and society, and the same logic. This article suggests that several different factors converged to suggest that evolutionary thinking about music was likely to be unfruitful. Belief in gods and the social formation of religion have their genesis in biology in powerful, often hidden, processes of cognition that. Rg st 292at evolutionary theories of religion thursday 3. International association for the cognitive science of. Irrespective of how it arose, religion undoubtedly has signi. Reidian religious epistemology and the cognitive science. Although one of the bestselling science books of all time, because of its lack of.
In the context of cognitive science of religion, dual inheritance theory can be understood as attempting to combine the cognitive byproduct and prosocial adaptation accounts using the theoretical approach developed by robert boyd and peter richerson, among others. People in all cultures entertain beliefs in supernatural agents and engage in ritual behaviors that are related to those beliefs. Much of the work derived from cognitive psychology has been integrated into various other modern disciplines such as cognitive science and of psychological study, including educational psychology, social psychology. In the final section ill suggest some of the ways christianity can benefit from this adoption, both theologically and practically. This perspective has led to a fruitful research program on the naturalistic origins of religion.
1334 665 84 123 37 760 1022 1354 575 1270 421 1389 392 1302 1365 1174 424 582 1403 736 1372 1249 828 334 597 174 1305 852 1355 1533 1180 1151 1189 1462 750 724 1317 82 482 456 190 939 1368 133 1229 414 299