Bearing gods in mind and culture
Where do supernatural agents come from and why do they stay around? Within the biocultural study of religion one finds a growing tendency to answer these questions by weaving together two conceptual threads, which I will refer to as anthropomorphic promiscuity and sociographic prudery. Although desc...
| Published in: | Religion, brain & behavior |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2011
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| In: |
Religion, brain & behavior
Year: 2011, Volume: 1, Issue: 2, Pages: 154-167 |
| Further subjects: | B
biocultural
B Cognitive Science B Gods B Psychology B Anthropology B Evolution B Philosophy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Where do supernatural agents come from and why do they stay around? Within the biocultural study of religion one finds a growing tendency to answer these questions by weaving together two conceptual threads, which I will refer to as anthropomorphic promiscuity and sociographic prudery. Although descriptions of these theogonic (god-bearing) mechanisms can differ significantly, the theoretical pattern can be recognized in authors from a variety of disciplines. I illustrate this pattern using four books published in 2010: David Lewis-Williams's Conceiving God: The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion, Pascal Boyer's The Fracture of an Illusion: Science and the Dissolution of Religion, Scott Atran's Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood, and the (Un)making of Terrorists, and Matt Rossano's Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved. After comparing and contrasting their approaches, I conclude by briefly calling attention to the contemporary psychological, political, and philosophical relevance of these developments. |
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| ISSN: | 2153-5981 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion, brain & behavior
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2011.613615 |