The Biological Evolution of Religious Mind and Behaviour

by Voland, Eckart; Schiefenhovel, Wulf

• ISBN13: 9783642001277
• ISBN10: 3642001270
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-09-03
• Publisher: Springer Verlag

Summary

In a Darwinian world, religious behaviour - just like other behaviours - is likely to have undergone a process of natural selection in which it was rewarded in the evolutionary currency of reproductive success. This book aims to provide a better understanding of the social scenarios in which selection pressure led to religious practices becoming an evolved human trait, i.e. an adaptive answer to the conditions of living and surviving that prevailed among our prehistoric ancestors. This aim is pursued by a team of expert authors from a range of disciplines. Their contributions examine the relevant physiological, emotional, cognitive and social processes. The resulting understanding of the functional interplay of these processes gives valuable insights into the biological roots and benefits of religion.

Author Biography

Wulf Schiefenh+¦vel is professor for medical psychology and ethnomedicine at the University of Munich and head of the human ethology group at the Max-Planck-Institute in Andechs, Germany. His main research interests are human ethology and evolutionary medicine, within which he focuses on sexuality and reproduction, human birth behavior, early infancy, language and cognitive concepts as well as the genetic and oral history of Melanesian populationsEckart Voland is professor for philosophy of life sciences at the University of Giessen, Germany. His main research interests are human sociobiology and behavioral ecology. In particular he is interested in the biological evolution of social and reproductive strategies in humans. Moreover, in pursuing the project of naturalizing the human mind and its achievements, he works on the philosophical implications of evolutionary anthropology as reflected in evolutionary ethics and aesthetics.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Evaluating the Evolutionary Status of Religiosity and Religiousness	p. 9
Gods, Gains, and Genes	p. 25
How Some Major Components of Religion Could Have Evolved by Natural Selection?	p. 51
The Correlated History of Social Organization, Morality, and Religion	p. 67
Is There a Particular Role for Ideational Aspects of Religions in Human Behavioral Ecology	p. 89
Talk and Tradition: Why the least Interesting Components of Religion May Be the Most Evolutionarily Important	p. 105
The Reproductive Benefits of Religious Affiliation	p. 117
The African Interregnum: The "Where," "When," and "Why" of the Evolution of Religion	p. 127
Explaining the Inexplicable: Traditional and Syncretistic Religiosity in Melanesia	p. 143
Authoritarianism, Religiousness, and Conservatism: Is "Obedience to Authority" the Explanation for Their Clustering, Universality and Evolution?	p. 165
Cognitive Foundations in the Development of a Religious Mind	p. 181
Religious Belief and Neurocognitive Processes of the Self	p. 195
Neurologic Constraints on Evolutionary Theories of Religion	p. 205
On Shared Psychological Mechanisms of Religiousness and Delusional Beliefs	p. 217
Cognitive Foundations of Religiosity	p. 229
The Religious System as Adaptive: Cognitive Flexibility, Public Displays, and Acceptance	p. 243
The Evolution of Evolutionary Theories of Religion	p. 257
Evolutionary Perspectives on Religion - What They Can and What They Cannot Explain (Yet)	p. 275
Author Index	p. 293
Subject Index	p. 301
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