The DOI matches its Crossref record; 22 of the 22 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Religious Belief as an Evolutionary Accident
Abstract
This chapter discusses how religious belief emerges as a by-product of ‘highly structured’ systems, or pre-existing adaptations in the social world. It starts by presenting evidence that argues that the universals of religion exist because of the general habits of the human mind: the thought of having ‘agents and designers’ of everything, and having a common-sense dualism (bodies and souls are distinct). It further explains the implications of these habits of thinking.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Citations
Cites
The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme
Gould, S. J., & Lewontin, R. C. (1979) · Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.1979.0086 · Cited by 7,770
The blind watchmaker : why the evidence of evolution reveals a universe without design
Dawkins, R. (1996) · International Linear Collider · Cited by 1,057
Why would anyone believe in God?
(2005) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.42-3375a · Cited by 952
Descartes' baby: how the science of child development explains what makes us human
(2004) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.42-1874 · Cited by 789
Boyer, P., & Ramble, C. (2001) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1016/s0364-0213(01)00045-3 · Cited by 506
The Natural Emergence of Reasoning About the Afterlife as a Developmental Regularity.
Bering, J. M., & Bjorklund, D. F. (2004) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.40.2.217 · Cited by 434
Darwin's cathedral: evolution, religion, and the nature of society
(2003) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.40-5187 · Cited by 423
One-year-old infants use teleological representations of actions productively
Csibra, G., Bíró, S., Koós, O., & Gergely, G. (2003) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1016/s0364-0213(02)00112-x · Cited by 389
Boyer, P., & Ramble, C. (2001) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1207/s15516709cog2504_2 · Cited by 347
Hand of God, Mind of Man: Punishment and Cognition in the Evolution of Cooperation
Johnson, D., & Bering, J. (2006) · Evolutionary Psychology · doi:10.1177/147470490600400119 · Cited by 294
One‐year‐old infants use teleological representations of actions productively
Csibra, G., Bı́ró, S., Koós, O., et al. (2003) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1207/s15516709cog2701_4 · Cited by 270
Social Evaluation by Preverbal Infants
Hamlin, J. K., Wynn, K., & Bloom, P. (2008) · Pediatric Research · doi:10.1203/pdr.0b013e318168c6e5 · Cited by 214
Self-citationChildhood Origins of Adult Resistance to Science
Bloom, P., & Weisberg, D. S. (2007) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1133398 · Cited by 210
Self-citationHow Religion Works: Towards a New Cognitive Science of Religion
Pyysiäinen, I. (2001) · Cited by 179
Are Children "Intuitive Theists"? Reasoning about Purpose and Design in Nature
Slone, D. J. (2016) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315539423-13 · Cited by 161
The perceived intentionality of groups
Bloom, P., & Veres, C. (1999) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/s0010-0277(99)00014-1 · Cited by 119
Self-citationGreco, J. (2001) · American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly · doi:10.5840/acpq200175338 · Cited by 104
40. The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and against the Existence of God
Mackie, J. L. (2015) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9781400848393-041 · Cited by 95
If You Had My Brain, Where Would I Be? Children's Understanding of the Brain and Identity
Johnson, C. N. (1990) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02834.x · Cited by 86
How we believe: the search for God in an age of science
(2000) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.37-3304 · Cited by 84
If You Had My Brain, Where Would I Be? Children's Understanding of the Brain and Identity
Johnson, C. N. (1990) · Child Development · doi:10.2307/1130868 · Cited by 82
Theism, Atheism, And Rationality
Plantinga, A. (2007) · Cited by 12
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
McKay, R., & Whitehouse, H. (2015) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0038455 · Cited by 353
Bloom, P. (2012) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100334 · Cited by 218
Self-citationCognitive Science of Religion: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Barrett, J. L. (2011) · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2011.01564.x · Cited by 110
Parkinson, C. M., & Wheatley, T. P. (2015) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2015.01.003 · Cited by 81
Would Tarzan believe in God? Conditions for the emergence of religious belief
Banerjee, K., & Bloom, P. (2012) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2012.11.005 · Cited by 76
Self-citationReligion, fertility and genes: a dual inheritance model
Rowthorn, R. E. (2011) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2504 · Cited by 46
Empathy and Exposure to Credible Religious Acts during Childhood Independently Predict Religiosity
Łowicki, P., & Zajenkowski, M. (2019) · International Journal for the Psychology of Religion · doi:10.1080/10508619.2019.1672486 · Cited by 41
Prosocial religions as folk-technologies of mutual policing.
Fitouchi, L., Singh, M., André, J., & Baumard, N. (2025) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/rev0000531 · Cited by 41
Evolutionary Approaches to Epistemic Justification
De Cruz, H. (2011) · dialectica · doi:10.1111/j.1746-8361.2011.01283.x · Cited by 32
Reformed and evolutionary epistemology and the noetic effects of sin
Cruz, H. D., & Smedt, J. D. (2012) · International Journal for Philosophy of Religion · doi:10.1007/s11153-012-9368-z · Cited by 34
Growing Up Thinking of God’s Beliefs: Theory of Mind and Ontological Knowledge
Dio, C. D., Isernia, S., Ceolaro, C., Marchetti, A., & Massaro, D. (2018) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/2158244018809874 · Cited by 34
Creationism as a Misconception: Socio-cognitive conflict in the teaching of evolution
Foster, C. F. (2012) · International Journal of Science Education · doi:10.1080/09500693.2012.692102 · Cited by 25
Is supernatural belief unreliably formed?
Van Eyghen, H. (2019) · International Journal for Philosophy of Religion · doi:10.1007/s11153-018-9671-4 · Cited by 16
Naturalistic Explanation for Religious Belief
Leech, D., & Visala, A. (2011) · Philosophy Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1747-9991.2011.00414.x · Cited by 17
When psychology undermines beliefs
Leben, D. (2012) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2012.731579 · Cited by 14
It’s the End of the World and I Feel Fine: Soul Belief and Perceptions of End-of-the-World Scenarios
Lifshin, U., Greenberg, J., Weise, D., & Soenke, M. (2016) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167215616800 · Cited by 13
LUCK: EVOLUTIONARY AND EPISTEMIC
Dunaway, B. (2016) · Episteme · doi:10.1017/epi.2016.13 · Cited by 13
What Does the Cognitive Science of Religion Explain?
White, C. (2018) · New approaches to the scientific study of religion · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90239-5_3 · Cited by 14
DEBUNKING ARGUMENTS GAIN LITTLE FROM COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION
Launonen, L. (2021) · Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science · doi:10.1111/zygo.12683 · Cited by 12
Goodnick, L. (2016) · Open Theology · doi:10.1515/opth-2016-0003 · Cited by 11
In God We Trust: Effects of spirituality and religion on economic decision making
Rosmarin, D. H., Chowdhury, A., Pizzagalli, D. A., & Sacchet, M. D. (2023) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2023.112350 · Cited by 11
Debunking and fully apt belief
Thurow, J. C. (2018) · Filosofia Unisinos · doi:10.4013/fsu.2018.193.11 · Cited by 10
Why the cognitive science of religion cannot rescue ‘spiritual care’
Paley, J. (2015) · Nursing Philosophy · doi:10.1111/nup.12102 · Cited by 9
How Relevant Is the Cognitive Science of Religion to Philosophy of Religion?
Leech, D., & Visala, A. (2012) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781137026019_8 · Cited by 8
EMIL BRUNNER REVISITED: ON THE COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION, THE IMAGO DEI, AND REVELATION
Smedes, T. A. (2014) · Zygon® · doi:10.1111/zygo.12079 · Cited by 6
Can Cognitive Science Rescue ‘Spiritual Care’ from a Metaphysical Backwater?
Kevern, P. (2013) · Journal for the Study of Spirituality · doi:10.1179/2044024313z.0000000001 · Cited by 5
Baker, M., & Zimmerman, D. W. (2019) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190639679.003.0006 · Cited by 5
Toward a Cognitive Science of Christianity
Barrett, J. L. (2012) · doi:10.1002/9781118241455.ch28 · Cited by 5
Cognitive Science and Religious Belief
Wood, G. (2011) · Philosophy Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1747-9991.2011.00434.x · Cited by 5
Minimal Intellectualism and Gods as Intuitive Regress-Blockers
Mantovani, P. (2018) · New approaches to the scientific study of religion · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90239-5_8 · Cited by 3
Spiritual space: Hearing and experiencing the voice of God
Firth, W. B. (2025) · Verbum et Ecclesia · doi:10.4102/ve.v46i1.3342 · Cited by 2
Realism and religious experience
Brown, D. (2014) · Religious Studies · doi:10.1017/s0034412514000389 · Cited by 2
In what sense is evolution blind to moral truth?
McKay, N. (2025) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-025-05188-z · Cited by 1
Distinct, unique, or separate?
Henriksen, J. (2013) · Studia Theologica - Nordic Journal of Theology · doi:10.1080/0039338x.2013.845853 · Cited by 1
Spiritual care as a response to an exaptation: how evolutionary psychology informs the debate
Kevern, P. (2016) · Nursing Philosophy · doi:10.1111/nup.12139 · Cited by 1
“Pain-Type Fenders”: Frontline Anti-suicide Mechanisms
Soper, C. A. (2018) · Evolutionary psychology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-77300-1_6 · Cited by 1
Çiçek, N. (2015) · Mütefekkir · doi:10.30523/mutefekkir.130255
Osmanlı Dönemi Müfessirlerinden Mehmed Şükrullah Gelenbevî ve Tefsirciliği
Eren, A. C. (2015) · Mütefekkir · doi:10.30523/mutefekkir.130252
Loose, J. J. (2018) · doi:10.1002/9781119468004.ch31
Towards a Naturalistic Philosophy
Galparsoro, J. I. (2017) · Metaphysica · doi:10.1515/mp-2017-0002
The X-claim argument against religious belief offers nothing new
McBrayer, J. P., & Ellis, W. M. (2018) · International Journal for Philosophy of Religion · doi:10.1007/s11153-018-9658-1
On the perceived objectivity of some moral beliefs
Wood, G. (2019) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2019.1696454
The Prospects for Debunking Non-Theistic Belief
ROBINSON, T. S. (2020) · Sophia · doi:10.1007/s11841-019-00750-y
Szocik, K., & Eyghen, H. V. (2021) · New approaches to the scientific study of religion · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-63516-9_7
Beyond ‘Science and Theology’: How Science Might Contribute to Theological Understanding
Messer, N. (2021) · Modern Believing · doi:10.3828/mb.2021.10
Reclaiming the Biological Design Argument: A Preposterous and Dangerous Idea?
Kojonen, R. (2021) · Palgrave frontiers in philosophy of religion · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-69683-2_2
Kwan, K. M. (2021) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119009924.eopr0332
Cognitive Science of Religion Debunking Arguments: Some Methodological Considerations
Sickler, B. L. (2023) · Sophia · doi:10.1007/s11841-023-00972-1
Religion, Morality, and Violence
Magnani, L. (2024) · Studies in applied philosophy, epistemology and rational ethics · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-68992-9_6
Religion: Evolutionary Foundation for
Ko, N. F., & Li, N. P. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-38971-9_1747-1
Does God Care About What People Think About God? Revisiting the Problem of Natural Nonbelief
Marsh, J. (2025) · The Palgrave Macmillan animal ethics series · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-88233-3_5
Religion: Evolutionary Foundation for
Ko, N. F., & Li, N. P. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-38971-9_1747-2
Metadata
- Authors
- Bloom, P.
- Affiliations
- Aksaray University (TR)
- Corresponding author
- Bloom, Paul
- ORCID
- Bloom, Paul
- Venue
- The Believing Primate
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Published
- 2009-03-12
- Pages
- 118-127
- OpenAlex
- W4230484194
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2025: 6 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 25.96
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Oxford University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Study and Philosophy of Religion
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Evolution and Science Education
- Keywords
- religious beliefs, evolution of religion, agent detection, social cognition, evolutionary psychology of religion
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
