Primates and Religion: A Biological Anthropologist's Response to J. Wentzel Van Huyssteen's Alone in the World?

Abstract. For a biological anthropologist interested in the prehistory of religion, J. Wentzel van Huyssteen's book is welcome and resonant. Van Huyssteen's central thesis is that humans' capacity for spirituality emerges from a transformation of cognition and emotions that takes plac...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: King, Barbara J. (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
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Veröffentlicht: Wiley-Blackwell 2008
In: Zygon
Jahr: 2008, Band: 43, Heft: 2, Seiten: 451-466
weitere Schlagwörter:B apes
B hominids
B Ritual
B Religion
B Primates
B Evolution
B Emotion
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Abstract. For a biological anthropologist interested in the prehistory of religion, J. Wentzel van Huyssteen's book is welcome and resonant. Van Huyssteen's central thesis is that humans' capacity for spirituality emerges from a transformation of cognition and emotions that takes place in the symbolic realm, within Homo sapiens and apart from biology. To his thesis I bring to bear three areas of response: the abundant cognitive and emotional capacities of living apes and extinct hominids; the role of symbolic ritual in the evolutionary history of Homo sapiens; and the closely intertwined nature of biology and culture in the workings of evolutionary change.
ISSN:1467-9744
Enthält:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2008.00927.x