Cognitive Science of Religion

Abstract

The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) is an academic subdiscipline that studies the mental capacities and processes that underlie recurrent patterns of religious thought and behavior. The main focus of CSR is on unconscious processes such as thoughts, biases, emotions, and motivations. Unlike the related field of the Psychology of Religion, whose primary level of analysis is the individual, CSR is primarily interested in accounting for cultural forms and explaining why these particular forms are more widespread than others. Like Cognitive Science in general, CSR is inter-disciplinary, employing theoretical perspectives and methodological tools from such diverse fields as religious studies; cultural, cognitive, and evolutionary anthropology; cognitive, developmental , and evolutionary psychology; philosophy; neuroscience; biology; behavioral ecology; history ; and archaeology. Given the interdisciplinary and pluralistic character of the field, there are ongoing debates over methodological priorities and theoretical positions. However, CSR scholars by and large agree on a set of basic overarching assumptions. First of all, religion is not a sui generis domain of the human existence and therefore can and should be subject to explanatory scrutiny just like any other cultural expression. Second, a scientific study of religion must necessarily adopt a position of methodological naturalism; religious explanations of religious phenomena cannot be taken to have any explanatory value in themselves. In line with evolutionary psychology, it is accepted that cultural forms are subject to the biological constraints of the human brain and the universal mental capacities of the human species, as they have evolved through natural selection. In line with Cognitive Science, it is also accepted that the mind is not a blank slate nor a general-purpose computational machine but comes pre-equipped with a host of specialized mechanisms, each with a specific function. Based on these premises, cog-nitive scientists of religion are interested in exploring the causal mechanisms that might account for the recurrent patterns of religious beliefs and practices found around the world.