Evolutionary Processes in the Natural History of Religion: Body, Brain, Belief

This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of religion and evolution through a biological theory in the form of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES). The volume covers topics such as how religion intersects with behavioral biology and how hominin evolution relates to the evolution of religion. There are chapters on how evolutionary biology types from original Darwinism to EES might be integrated into a comprehensive theory as well as contributions on concepts from EES appearing in current models of religious evolution. The author tackles how cognitive science of religion harmonizes with behavioral biology and how religion as part of human culture supported by a complex behavioral system can be modeled scientifically. This book appeals to graduate students and researchers concerned with the scientific study of religion, as well as biologists interested in interdisciplinary theory building within the field.