What are the psychological and cultural mechanisms responsible for the prevalence of religious beliefs? Are human beings naturally predisposed to believe in the supernatural agency? Is it possible to explain various forms of religion with reference to the universal structures of human mind? These are the most fundamental questions addressed in this book. The main purpose of the book is to provide a sound evolutionary and cognitive account of the origins of religious phenomena, based on the diversified body of psychological and anthropological data. Classical approaches to religion...