Religion in Mind: Cognitive Perspectives on Religious Belief, Ritual, and Experience [Hardcover]

Jensine Andresen (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0521801524 | ISBN-13: 978-0521801522

Religion in Mind summarizes and extends the past decade's advances in the cognitive study of religion. Its aim is to use empirical research from psychology and anthropology to understand different components of religious belief, ritual and experience. The book draws together teachers of religion, psychologists of religion and cognitive scientists and encourages greater interdisciplinary linkages among scholars from different fields. It will be of interest to researchers in anthropology, psychology, sociology, history, philosophy, and cognitive science and also to the general reader interested in religion and science.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Religion in Mind summarizes and extends the last decade's advances in the cognitive study of religion. Its aim is to use empirical research from psychology and anthropology to understand different components of religious belief, ritual and experience. The book draws together teachers of religion, psychologists of religion and cognitive scientists and encourages greater interdisciplinary linkages between scholars from different fields. It will be of interest to researchers in anthropology, psychology, sociology, history, philosophy, and cognitive science and also to the general reader interested in religion and science.

About the Author

Jensine Andresen is Assistant Professor of Theology at Boston University where she teaches in the Graduate Program in Science, Philosophy and Religion.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521801524
• ISBN-13: 978-0521801522
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,375,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A new paradigm for religion and psychological studies?, January 4, 2002

By 

Lucy Bregman (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Religion in Mind: Cognitive Perspectives on Religious Belief, Ritual, and Experience (Hardcover)

This is an anthology for scholars interested in cognitive psychology as applied to the study of religion. It requires some familiarity with the field, and a few of the essays are very very dense. Unlike most previous attempts to link psychology and religion or spirituality, this avoids personality theory and clinical counseling models, and focuses on the research in cognitive psych that has been done over the last few decades. The application to religious studies depends on philosophical choices about methods, definitions and concepts. Not all of these will make specialists in religious studies happy, since some seem to ignore developments in that field over the last several decades. For a comparison, look to "Religion and Psychological Studies: Mapping the Terrain" edited by Parsons and Jonte-Pace, which is a quite different account of "the field."
My reason for giving "Religion in Mind" 3 stars is that I just do not know if this is the wave of the future for this area, or one more attempt to create a new scholarly field out of an intrinsically undisciplined set of interests and concerns.