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Chapter 11 - Religious Beliefs
from Religion and Morality
- By Pascal Boyer
Edited by Julien Musolino, Rutgers University, New Jersey, Joseph Sommer, Rutgers University, New Jersey, Pernille Hemmer, Rutgers University, New Jersey
Book:

The Cognitive Science of Belief

Published online:

03 November 2022

Print publication:

17 November 2022, pp 235-253
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Summary

Accounts of religious beliefs are often based on the assumption that these constitute a special domain, with cognitive processes of acquisition and communication that would be different from other domains of belief. Against this, I argue that religious beliefs are only a special class of meta-represented or reflective beliefs. The contents of religious beliefs are not unified, either, as there is a stark contrast between the beliefs conveyed by doctrinal, organized religious traditions and those found in small-scale, pragmatic traditions aimed at palliating misfortune. These conceptual clarifications make it possible to provide a better account of the transmission of religious beliefs and their effects, including their use as coalitional signals.