Introduction: Foundations for a Cognitive Science of Belief

Handbook Abstract: Beliefs play a central role in how we understand ourselves, each other, and the world. So it’s no surprise that decades of research across the social sciences have been dedicated to documenting the particular beliefs that people hold. But what makes something a belief, rather than a different kind of representation or commitment? What does it mean to believe? These questions have received a great deal of attention within philosophy, but without the benefit of systematic, empirical investigation. That’s beginning to change as psychologists, anthropologists, and other cognitive scientists broaden the scope of empirical and theoretical work on belief. How does belief relate to perception and memory? Do we have control over what we believe? How did the capacity for believing evolve? Can nonhuman animals have beliefs? Does believing come in degrees? And do we have ethical obligations to believe certain things and not others? All these questions and more are addressed in this Handbook, which brings together state-of-the-art work in philosophy and the cognitive sciences—including, anthropology, cognitive psychology, computational modeling, political science, and more. The result is a resource for novices and experts alike, not only detailing recent progress, but also charting a course for further developments in the cognitive science of belief.