[JCSR 2.2 (2014) 159–163] Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion (print) ISSN 2049-7555 doi:10.1558/jcsr.v2i2.22826 Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion (online) ISSN 2049-7563 BOOK REVIEWS Evolution, Religion and Cognitive Science: Critical and Constructive Essays, Edited by Fraser Watts and Léon Turner. Oxford University Press, 2014. 272pp., Hb $99.00/£65.00. ISBN-13: 978-0-19-968808-1. Reviewed by Eva Kundtová Klocová, LEVYNA —Laboratory for the Experi- mental Research of Religion, Masaryk University,
[email protected] Keywords evolutionary theory, religion, cognitive science of religion In 1909, at Darwin’s centenary (1809), Jane Harrison argued that it was Darwin- ism that allowed for the emergence of the scientific study of religion. A century later (2009) two conferences were held in Cambridge, to celebrate the same events, attesting the constant inspiration of Darwin’s legacy and focusing on the impact of evolutionary theorizing on the current study of religion. Papers from those conferences inspired publication of an anthology mapping an involvement of the evolutionary theory in the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR): Evolu- tion, Religion and Cognitive Science, published in 2014. Interestingly, the same year (2014) marks another anniversary and yet another conference—the IACSR conference: Religion Explained? The Cognitive Science of Religion after 25 Years. This conference and the publication of the book coincide not only in time, but also in the emphasis on the ever growing importance of evolutionary theorizing within CSR and its implications for the identity of CSR. The closing address of the conference by Richard Sosis tapped exactly into the same questions and topics surfacing in the anthology, stressing their significance for the CSR.