The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Religion by James R. Liddle, ISBN-13: 978-0199397747

Description

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Religion by James R. Liddle, ISBN-13: 978-0199397747

[PDF eBook eTextbook]

• Publisher: ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (January 1, 2021)
• Language: ‎ English
• ‎400 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 0199397740
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0199397747

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Religion offers a comprehensive and compelling review of research in religious beliefs and practices from an evolutionary perspective on human psychology. The chapters, written by renowned experts on human behavior and religion, explore a number of subtopics within one of three themes: (1) the psychological mechanisms of religion, (2) evolutionary perspectives on the functionality of religion, and (3) evolutionary perspectives on religion and group living.

This book unites the theoretical and empirical work of leading scholars in the evolutionary, cognitive, and anthropological sciences to produce an extensive and authoritative review of this literature. Its interdisciplinary approach makes it an important resource for a broad spectrum of researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates who are interested in studying the factors and mechanisms that underlie and/or affect religious beliefs and behaviors.

Table of Contents:

Cover

Halftitle page

Series page

Title Page

Copyright page

Short Contents

About the Editors

Contributors

Contents

1. An Introduction to Evolutionary Perspectives on Religion

What Is Religion?

Applying an Evolutionary Psychological Perspective to Religion

Byproduct Accounts of Religion

Adaptationist Accounts of Religion

Religious Beliefs as Memes

Conclusion

2. Mickey, Yahweh, and Zeus: Why Cultural Learning Is Essential for the Evolutionary Study of Religion

Of Mickey and Mithra: Why Cultural Learning Is Essential for the Evolutionary Study of Religion

Six Questions

Byproducts and Adaptations: Early Evolutionary Approaches to Religion

Cultural Evolution

Learning to Believe: Religious Belief and Cultural Evolution

Can This Integrated Framework Answer the Six Questions?

The Future of Faith

Coda

3. The Diversity of Religious Systems Across History: An Evolutionary Cognitive Approach

Avoiding Anachronism_ Religious Beliefs in Human History

The Supernatural Repertoire

Small-Scale Societies: Interaction with Superhuman Agents

Kingdoms and City-States: The Creation of “Religion”

The Axial Age Movements

Why Religions Never Completely Eliminate Local Cults

Religious Representations and Human Evolution

4. Religion as Anthropomorphism: A Cognitive Theory

Introduction

Some Contemporary Theories of Religion

Anthropomorphism in Everyday Life

Anthropomorphism as Evolutionary Byproduct

Animism as Anthropomorphism

Animism Among Animals

Cognitive Neuroscience and Anthropomorphism

Critical Objections

Summary

5. Evolutionary Developmental Psychology of Children’s Religious Beliefs

Detecting Agents

Engaging Minds

Teleological Reasoning

Intuitive Dualism

Minimally Counterintuitive Ideas

The Naturalness of Religion

Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation or Byproduct?

Conclusion

6. Belief, Ritual, and the Evolution of Religion

The Religious Mind

Evolving the Religious Mind

Religious Ritual as Costly Behavior

An Evolutionary Scenario

Conclusion: Why Supernaturalize?

7. Adolescence and Religion: An Evolutionary Perspective

Introduction

Adolescence

The Human Brain

Adolescent Brain Development

Social Communication: From Signals to the Sacred

Ritual

Human Ritual

Adolescent Rites of Passage

Religion and Health

Religion: A Costly Signal

Conclusion

8. Religion and Morality: The Evolution of the Cognitive Nexus

The Evolution of Morality

The Moral Function of Religion: The Standard Model

The Religion-Morality Nexus

The Evolved Cognitive Framework for Religious Moral Traditions

Conclusion

9. The Kin Selection of Religion

The Evolution of Cooperation

Behavioral Ecology of Human Hunter-Gatherers

Human Cognitive Ecology

The Origins and Early Evolution of Religious Thought and Behavior

Conclusions and Prospects

10. The Coevolution of Religious Belief and Intuitive Cognitive Style via Individual-Level Selection

The Functionalist Position

Byproduct Explanation

An Individual-Level Selection Account of the Coevolution of Religious Belief and Intuitive Cognitive Style

Potential Questions and Concerns

Predictions

Conclusion

11. The Early Origin of Religion: Its Role as a Survival Kit

Proximate Versus Ultimate

Evolutionary Sequence

Working Definitions

Uncertain Novelty to Embedded Tradition

Pigs—Feared or Favored

Basic Liturgy

Supernatural—God, Gods, Sacred Ancestors

Survival Kit

Religion as a Survival Kit

12. The Elephant in the Pews: Reproductive Strategy and Religiosity

Recognizing the Elephant (Hint: Size Matters)

The Reproductive Religiosity Model

Complex, Multidirectional Causality

Evolutionary Foundations

Relationship to Some Other Evolutionary Theories of Religion

Conclusion

13. Religion: An Evolutionary Evoked Disease-Avoidance Strategy

Religion and Purity

Disease Threat and the Behavioral Immune System

Disgust

Disgust and Purity

Disease Threat and Social Behavior

Religion and Prejudice

Social Conservatism and Disease Avoidance

Parasite Stress and Regional Differences in Sociality

Sex Differences in Behavioral Immune System Functioning and Religiosity

Psychopathology and Religious Obsessions

Conclusion

14. Religion as a Means of Perceived Security: Testing the Secure Society Theory

Introduction

Data Sets and Variable Selection

Results

Conclusions, Limitations, and Future Directions

Conclusion

15. Charismatic Signaling: How Religion Stabilizes Cooperation and Entrenches Inequality

Overview

Section I: Religion Facilitates Cooperation by Suppressing Cheating: Costly Signaling Theory

Section II: Religion Evolves Cooperation by Suppressing Uncertainty: Charismatic Signaling Theory

Reprise

16. The Evolution of Religion and Morality

Introduction

Theoretical Groundwork

Reviewing the Evidence

Religious and Nonreligious Moralities

Concluding Remarks

17. The Roots of Intergroup Conflict and the Co-optation of the Religious System: An Evolutionary Perspective on Religious Terrorism

Introduction

The Evolutionary Roots of Terrorism

The Cultural Evolution of Terrorism

Co-opting the Religious System

Conclusion

18. Selected to Kill in His Name: Evolutionary Perspectives on Religiously Motivated Violence

Evolutionary Psychological Perspectives on Violence

Religion Exploits Evolved Psychological Mechanisms

Sexually Selected Underpinnings of Religiously Motivated Violence

Future Directions

Conclusion

19. Supernatural Beliefs and the Evolution of Cooperation

Background: New Wine in Old Bottles?

Evolutionary Accounts of Religious Belief Based on Cooperation

Terminology

Searching for the Ethnographic “Big Picture”

Evolutionary Mechanisms

Cognitive Causal Mechanisms: Can We Get Down to the Specifics?

Future Avenues of Research

Conclusion

20. A Socioevolutionary Approach to Religious Change

What Is Religion?

Evolution in a Religious Context

Learning from Existing Evolutionary Approaches to Religion

Remembering Darwin

Religion as an Ongoing Form of Natural and Artificial Selection

Artificial and Natural Selection Processes in Sociological Studies of Religion

Conclusions

21. The Evolution and Exploitation of Transcendence

Definitions

The Evolutionary and Cognitive Underpinnings of Transcendence

The Induction and Subversion of Transcendence

Transcendence and Development

The Liberation of Transcendence from Exploitation

22. Challenges to an Evolutionary Perspective on Religion

Introduction

First Step at a Comprehensive Theory: Two Primary Predictors of Religiosity

The Challenge of High-Intensity Religiosity

The Challenge of Extending Validation

The Challenge of Cultural and Historical Variations in Religiosity

Conclusion: The Integration Challenge

Index

James R. Liddle is a technical writer with 11 years of professional writing experience. He received a Master of Arts degree in Experimental Psychology, specializing in evolutionary psychology, from Florida Atlantic University in 2014. His primary areas of interest and expertise are the evolution of religious beliefs/behaviors and teaching evolutionary psychology.

Todd K. Shackelford is Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan., where he is Co-Director of the Evolutionary Psychology Lab. He received his Ph.D. in evolutionary psychology in 1997 from the University of Texas at Austin. Much of Dr. Shackelford’s research addresses sexual conflict between men and women, with a special focus on men’s physical, emotional, and sexual violence against their intimate partners.

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