Biological Evolution of Religious Mind and Behavior

Wulf Schiefenhovel 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 populations Eckart 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.

• Evaluating the Evolutionary Status of Religiosity and Religiousnessreligiousness .- Gods, Gains, and Genes.- How Some Major Components of Religion Could Have Evolved by Natural Selection?.- The Correlated History of Social Organization, Moralitymorality , and Religion.- Is There a Particular Role for Ideational Aspects of Religions in Human Behavioral Ecology?.- Talk and Tradition: Why the Least Interesting Components of Religion May Be the Most Evolutionarily Important.- The Reproductive Benefits of Religious Affiliation.- The African Interregnum: The “Where,” “When,” and “Why” of the Evolution of Religion.- Explaining the Inexplicable: Traditional and Syncretistic Religiosity in Melanesia.- Authoritarianism,Religiousness,religiousness and Conservatismconservatism : Is “Obedience to Authority” the Explanation for Their Clustering, Universality and Evolution?.- Cognitive Foundations in the Development of a Religious Mind.- Religious Belief and Neurocognitive Processes of the Self.- Neurologic Constraints on Evolutionary Theories of Religion.- On Shared Psychological Mechanisms of Religiousnessreligiousness and Delusional Beliefs.- Cognitive Foundations of Religiosity.- The Religious System as Adaptive: Cognitive Flexibility, Public Displays, and Acceptance.- The Evolution of Evolutionary Theories of Religion.- Evolutionary Perspectives on Religion – What They Can and What They Cannot Explain (Yet).

Aus den Rezensionen: "... Das Buch mit ... Beitragen aus den verschiedenen Disziplinen ... versucht ... erste Antworte zu geben. ... sind die in diesen Beitragen gegebenen ersten Antworten sehr instruktiv und legen eine positive Beantwortung ... erst einmal nahe. Wie es der Klappentext formuliert, geben die verschiedenen analysierten Prozesse und ihr Zusammenwirken einen fundierten Einblick ... bieten die lesenswerten Beitrage ... Stoff zum intensiven eigenen Nachdenken und zu einer notwendigen Diskussion auf einer breiten gesellschaftlichen Basis ..." (PD. Dr. Stefan Schneckenburger, in: evo-magazin.de, February/2011)