The Evolution of Culture as a New Pattern for Comparative Religion
In his new book, Paden argues that evolutionary theory creates new and fertile ground for the comparative study of religion. I suggest that extending Paden’s argument to embrace new theories of cultural evolution will continue to broaden our ability understand the origins of both the similarities an...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2018
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| In: |
Method & theory in the study of religion
Year: 2018, Volume: 30, Issue: 2, Pages: 150-156 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Paden, William E. 1939-, New patterns for comparative religion
/ Cultural development
/ Evolutionary biology
/ Comparative religion
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| IxTheo Classification: | AA Study of religion AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AX Inter-religious relations |
| Further subjects: | B
Comparative Religion
Cultural Evolution
Cognitive Science of Religion
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | In his new book, Paden argues that evolutionary theory creates new and fertile ground for the comparative study of religion. I suggest that extending Paden’s argument to embrace new theories of cultural evolution will continue to broaden our ability understand the origins of both the similarities and differences in religions across societies. Religions are cultural systems and as such an understanding of our shared biology can only explain a limited amount of what religion is and does. I discuss how new cultural evolutionary theories that examine cultural variation and cultural change based on how humans learn and transmit cultural content and can improve the theoretical foundations of comparative studies of religion. Exploring different mechanisms of cultural learning can help explain why certain features of religion are found across a wide variety of religions while others are only found in specific groups. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0682 |
| Contains: | In: Method & theory in the study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700682-12341421 |