The biology of religious behavior : the evolutionary origins of faith and religion / edited by Jay R. Feierman.

Proceedings of a symposium held in July 2008 at the University of Bologna, Italy.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Pt. 1. Description of Religious Behavior -- Ch. 1. The Evolution of Religious Behavior in Its Socioecological Contexts / Stephen K. Sanderson -- Ch. 2. Toward a Testable Definition of Religious Behavior / Lyle B. Steadman, Craig T. Palmer and Ryan M. Ellsworth -- Ch. 3. Natural Gazes, Non-Natural Agents: The Biology of Religion's Ocular Behaviors / Thomas B. Ellis -- Ch. 4. Religion and Hidden Patterns in Behavior: Religion as a Biological Phenomenon / Magnus S. Magnusson -- Pt. 2. The Evolutionary History of Religious Behavior -- Ch. 5. The Evolutionary History of Religious Behavior / Jay R. Feierman -- Pt. 3. The Development of Religious Behavior in the Individual -- Ch. 6. Religious Behavior as a Reflection of Childhood Corporal Punishment / Benjamin J. Abelow -- Ch. 7. Religious Behavior and the Adolescent Brain / Candace S. Alcorta -- Pt. 4. Causes of Religious Behavior -- Ch. 8. The Brain and Religious Adaptations / Michael T. McGuire and Lionel Tiger -- Ch. 9. Is Religious Behavior "Internally Guided" by Religious Feelings and Needs? / Lluis Oviedo -- Ch. 10. Mirror Neurons, Culture, and Spirit: Causes of Religious Behavior / Burgess C. Wilson -- Pt. 5. The Adaptiveness of Religious Behavior -- Ch. 11. The Adaptiveness of Changing Religious Belief Systems / John S. Price -- Ch. 12. The Adaptiveness of Fasting and Feasting Rituals: Costly Adaptive Signals? / Rick Goldberg -- Ch. 13. Cooperative Punishment and Religion's Role in the Evolution of Prosocial Altruism / Klaus Jaffe and Luis Zaballa -- Ch. 14. Religious Behavior and Cooperation / Maria Emilia Yamamoto, Monique Leitao, Rochele Castelo-Branco and Fivia de Araujo Lopes -- Pt. 6. Conclusion -- Ch. 15. Conclusion / Jay R. Feierman.

There has been much recent interest in the study of religion from the perspective of Darwinian evolution. The Biology of Religious Behavior: The Evolutionary Origins of Faith and Religion offers a broad overview of the topic, written by internationally recognized experts. In addition to its primary focus on religious behavior, the book addresses other important aspects of religion, such as values, beliefs, and emotions as they affect behavior. The contributors approach the evolution of religion by examining the behavior of individuals in their everyday lives. After describing various religious behaviors, the contributors consider the behaviors with reference to their evolutionary history, development during the lifetime of the individual, proximate causes, and adaptive value. Happily, this foray into understanding religion from a biobehavioral perspective demonstrates that, at the biological and behavioral levels, what unites the different religions of the world is far greater than what divides them.