The Backwash of Norenzayan’s Big Gods: A Post-Review Essay

This post-review discusses the reception of Ara Norenzayan’s Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict (2013) by zooming in on two review symposia for the book — one in Religion (2014), the other in Religion, Brain and Behavior (2014). The symposia ran parallel to one another, and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Skjoldli, Jane ca. 21. Jh. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2015
In: Numen
Year: 2015, Volume: 62, Issue: 5/6, Pages: 639-660
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:This post-review discusses the reception of Ara Norenzayan’s Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict (2013) by zooming in on two review symposia for the book — one in Religion (2014), the other in Religion, Brain and Behavior (2014). The symposia ran parallel to one another, and both have resulted in the publication of ten reviews plus one commentary. The post-review discusses a selection of topics raised, including some underlying key premises, similarities with the Supernatural Punishment Hypothesis, the evidence presented, its cultural evolution framework, its conceptualization of “religion,” prosociality versus obedience, and whether “Big Gods” are really just “Abrahamic gods” rewrapped.
ISSN:1568-5276
Contains:In: Numen
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685276-12341397