Do Big Gods cause anything?
Although the author is sympathetic to Norenzayan's book, he takes issue with three crucial problems, namely the issues of causality, atheism, and hunter-gatherer cultures. He argues that assigning Big Gods a causal role in the development of large-scale, complex societies is highly problematic,...
Subtitles: | Review Symposium on Ara Norenzayan: "Big Gods: how religion transformed cooperation and conflict" (2013) |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
[2014]
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In: |
Religion
Year: 2014, Volume: 44, Issue: 4, Pages: 609-613 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Norenzayan, Ara 1970-, Big gods
/ Hunter
/ Idea of God
/ Development
/ Atheism
|
IxTheo Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism AE Psychology of religion AG Religious life; material religion BG World religions |
Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | Although the author is sympathetic to Norenzayan's book, he takes issue with three crucial problems, namely the issues of causality, atheism, and hunter-gatherer cultures. He argues that assigning Big Gods a causal role in the development of large-scale, complex societies is highly problematic, that attempts to explain atheism are also based on misplaced causal assumptions, and that evidence on hunter-gatherers collected on the basis of evolutionary theories should be more critically analyzed. |
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ISSN: | 0048-721X |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2014.937052 |