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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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: King, Barbara J. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Wiley-Blackwell 2008
Dans: Zygon
Année: 2008, Volume: 43, Numéro: 2, Pages: 451-466
Sujets non-standardisés:B apes
B Rituel
B hominids
B Évolution
B Religion
B Primates
B Emotion
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Description
Résumé: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
Contient:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2008.00927.x