The study of the religious extremist consciousness by cognitive science of religion approaches

The article identifies the mechanisms that have the natural origin and that influence on the occurrence of the extremist ideas in the religious consciousness. The paper analyzes approaches to religion as to the function of the cognitive system (P. Boyer), the relationship between individual cognitive processes and social behavior (H. Whitehouse), demonstration of forms of activities similarity (T. Tremlin) and a reaction to the world around (M. Shakhnovich). The author defines religious extremism as a deviation having pathological nature of normal development and functioning of the individual consciousness and mental systems.