Work

THE CULTURAL TRANSMISSION OF FAITH Why innate intuitions are necessary, but insufficient, to explain religious belief

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: The cognitive science of religion integrates insights from diverse scientific disciplines to explain how people acquire, represent and transmit religious concepts. This perspective has led to a fruitful research program on the naturalistic origins of religion. However, it has thus far not directly addressed a key component of religion: faith or committed belief. The present review proposes a framework that integrates standard approaches from the cognitive science of religion with established models of cultural evolution and cultural learning. According to this synthetic approach, innate cognitive content biases explain how people mentally represent gods, and cultural evolutionary models explain why people come to believe and commit to the particular supernatural beliefs that they do. This synthesis offers a more complete picture of the origins and cultural persistence of religious belief.

Source: Religion

DOI: 10.1080/0048721x.2011.604510

Authors: Will M. Gervais, Aiyana K. Willard, Ara Norenzayan, Joseph Henrich

Institutions: Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, University of British Columbia

Language: English

Topic: Study and Philosophy of Religion

Subfield: Philosophy

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Award: G6055318321