Mind and Religion

Psychological and Cognitive Foundations of Religion

Contributions by Pascal Boyer, Robert Hinde, E Thomas Lawson, Todd Tremlin, Matt Day, Justin Barrett, Rebekah A. Richert, Ilkka Pyysiäinen, Jesper Sørensen, D Jason Slone Edited by Harvey Whitehouse, Robert N. McCauley

Publication date:

05 May 2005

Length of book:

248 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

ISBN-13: 9780759106192

Recent cognitive approaches to the study of religion have yielded much understanding by focusing on common psychological processes that all humans share. One leading theory, Harvey WhitehouseOs modes of religiosity theory, demonstrates how two distinct modes of organizing and transmitting religious traditions emerge from different ways of activating universal memory systems. In Mind and Religion, top scholars from biology to religious studies question, test, evaluate and challenge WhitehouseOs sweeping thesis. The result is an up-to-date snapshot of the cognitive science of religion field for classes in psychology, anthropology, or history of religion.

1 Introduction
Part 2 The Theoretical Context
3 A Reductionistic Model of Distinct Modes of Religious Transmission
4 Modes Theory: Some Theoretical Considerations
5 Ritual Form and Ritual Frequency
6 Divergent Religion: A Dual-Process Model of Religious Thought, Behavior, and Structure
7 Rethinking Naturalness: Modes of Religiosity and Religion in the Round
Part 8 Testing the Modes Theory
9 In the Empirical Mode: Evidence Needed for the Modes of Religiosity
10 Memory and Analogical Thinking in High-Arousal Rituals
Part 11 Wider Applications
12 The Modes Theory Helps Explain Conversion Phenomena
13 Charisma, Tradition and Ritual: A Cognitive Approach to Magical Agency
14 Why Religions Develop Free Will Problems
15 The Cognitive Foundations of Religiosity

This book provides an excellent set of commentaries, and for those interested in cognitive approaches to religion more generally, it offers a good overview.