Contemporary Evolutionary Theories Of Culture And The Study Of Religion

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Contemporary Evolutionary Theories of Culture and the Study of Religion

Author : Radek Kundt
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1474232272
Total Pages : 191 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (742 download)

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Book Synopsis Contemporary Evolutionary Theories of Culture and the Study of Religion by : Radek Kundt

Download or read book Contemporary Evolutionary Theories of Culture and the Study of Religion written by Radek Kundt and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-19 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Radek Kundt compares the notion of evolution in cultural evolutionary theories with neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory to determine the value of the biological concept for studying culture. Contemporary Evolutionary Theories of Culture and the Study of Religion surveys the historical background of cultural evolution as used in the study of religion, pinpointing major objections to classical nineteenth-century theories. Radek Kundt argues that contemporary theories of cultural evolution do not repeat the same mistakes but that when they are evaluated in terms of fitting the core requirements of neo-Darwinian natural selection, it is clear that they are not legitimate extensions of neo-Darwinian theory. Rather, they are poor metaphors and misleading analogies which add little to conventional cause-and-effect historiographical work. This book also introduces an alternative evolutionary approach to the study of culture which does not claim that the principles of neo-Darwinian evolution should be applicable outside the biological domain. Radek Kundt shows that this alternative evolutionary approach nevertheless provides a deeply enriching line of enquiry that incorporates both biological evolutionary history as shaping cultural change and culture as a force acting on the gene.

Cultural Evolution

Author : Peter J. Richerson
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262019752
Total Pages : 499 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis Cultural Evolution by : Peter J. Richerson

Download or read book Cultural Evolution written by Peter J. Richerson and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading scholars report on current research that demonstrates the central role of cultural evolution in explaining human behavior. Over the past few decades, a growing body of research has emerged from a variety of disciplines to highlight the importance of cultural evolution in understanding human behavior. Wider application of these insights, however, has been hampered by traditional disciplinary boundaries. To remedy this, in this volume leading researchers from theoretical biology, developmental and cognitive psychology, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, religious studies, history, and economics come together to explore the central role of cultural evolution in different aspects of human endeavor. The contributors take as their guiding principle the idea that cultural evolution can provide an important integrating function across the various disciplines of the human sciences, as organic evolution does for biology. The benefits of adopting a cultural evolutionary perspective are demonstrated by contributions on social systems, technology, language, and religion. Topics covered include enforcement of norms in human groups, the neuroscience of technology, language diversity, and prosociality and religion. The contributors evaluate current research on cultural evolution and consider its broader theoretical and practical implications, synthesizing past and ongoing work and sketching a roadmap for future cross-disciplinary efforts. Contributors Quentin D. Atkinson, Andrea Baronchelli, Robert Boyd, Briggs Buchanan, Joseph Bulbulia, Morten H. Christiansen, Emma Cohen, William Croft, Michael Cysouw, Dan Dediu, Nicholas Evans, Emma Flynn, Pieter François, Simon Garrod, Armin W. Geertz, Herbert Gintis, Russell D. Gray, Simon J. Greenhill, Daniel B. M. Haun, Joseph Henrich, Daniel J. Hruschka, Marco A. Janssen, Fiona M. Jordan, Anne Kandler, James A. Kitts, Kevin N. Laland, Laurent Lehmann, Stephen C. Levinson, Elena Lieven, Sarah Mathew, Robert N. McCauley, Alex Mesoudi, Ara Norenzayan, Harriet Over, Jürgen Renn, Victoria Reyes-García, Peter J. Richerson, Stephen Shennan, Edward G. Slingerland, Dietrich Stout, Claudio Tennie, Peter Turchin, Carel van Schaik, Matthijs Van Veelen, Harvey Whitehouse, Thomas Widlok, Polly Wiessner, David Sloan Wilson

The Routledge Handbook of Evolutionary Approaches to Religion

Author : Yair Lior
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000638413
Total Pages : 756 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (6 download)

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Book Synopsis The Routledge Handbook of Evolutionary Approaches to Religion by : Yair Lior

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Evolutionary Approaches to Religion written by Yair Lior and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-11-30 with total page 756 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The past two decades have seen a growing interest in evolutionary and scientific approaches to religion. The Routledge Handbook of Evolutionary Approaches to Religion is an outstanding reference source to the key topics, problems and debates in this exciting and emerging field. Comprising over thirty chapters by a team of international contributors the handbook pulls together scholarship in the following areas: evolutionary psychology and the cognitive science of religion (CSR) cultural evolution the complementarity of evolutionary psychology, cognitive science and cultural evolution Within these sections central issues, debates and problems are examined, including: Cliodynamics, cultural group selection, costly signaling, dual inheritance theory, literacy, transmitting narratives, prosociality, supernatural punishment, cognition and ritual, meme theory, fusion theory, sexual selection, agency detection, evoked culture, social brain hypothesis, theory of mind, developmental psychology, emergence theory, social learning, cultural cybernetics, cultural epidemiology, evolutionary and cultural psychology, memetics, by-product and adaptationist theories of religion, systems and information theory, and computer modeling. This Handbook is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies and anthropology. It will also be very useful to those in related fields, such as psychology, sociology of religion, cognitive biology, and evolutionary biology.

The Evolution of Culture

Author : Stefan Linquist
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 135189014X
Total Pages : 659 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (518 download)

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Book Synopsis The Evolution of Culture by : Stefan Linquist

Download or read book The Evolution of Culture written by Stefan Linquist and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 659 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent years have seen a transformation in thinking about the nature of culture. Rather than viewing culture in opposition to biology, a growing number of researchers now regard culture as subject to evolutionary processes. Recent developments in this field have shifted some of the traditional academic fault lines. Alliances are forming between researchers trained in anthropology, evolutionary biology, psychology and philosophy. Meanwhile, several distinct schools of thought have appeared which differ in their vision of what an evolutionary approach to culture should look like. This volume contains some of the most influential publications on these subjects from the past few decades. A theoretical background chapter and critical introduction identify the core issues at stake in the new study of cultural evolution. These chapters are followed by sections on each of the four dominant approaches: the phylogenetic approach, memetics, dual inheritance theory and niche construction. Following these are two chapters on closely related topics: the psychological mechanisms of culture and the existence of culture in non-human animals. Overall, this volume provides an up to date overview of some of the most exciting trends in contemporary evolutionary thought.

Religion in Human Evolution

Author : Robert N. Bellah
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674252934
Total Pages : 777 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (742 download)

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Book Synopsis Religion in Human Evolution by : Robert N. Bellah

Download or read book Religion in Human Evolution written by Robert N. Bellah and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-08 with total page 777 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice An ABC Australia Best Book on Religion and Ethics of the Year Distinguished Book Award, Sociology of Religion Section of the American Sociological Association Religion in Human Evolution is a work of extraordinary ambition—a wide-ranging, nuanced probing of our biological past to discover the kinds of lives that human beings have most often imagined were worth living. It offers what is frequently seen as a forbidden theory of the origin of religion that goes deep into evolution, especially but not exclusively cultural evolution. “Of Bellah’s brilliance there can be no doubt. The sheer amount this man knows about religion is otherworldly...Bellah stands in the tradition of such stalwarts of the sociological imagination as Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Only one word is appropriate to characterize this book’s subject as well as its substance, and that is ‘magisterial.’” —Alan Wolfe, New York Times Book Review “Religion in Human Evolution is a magnum opus founded on careful research and immersed in the ‘reflective judgment’ of one of our best thinkers and writers.” —Richard L. Wood, Commonweal

The Evolution of Religion, Religiosity and Theology

Author : Jay R. Feierman
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000704858
Total Pages : 301 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis The Evolution of Religion, Religiosity and Theology by : Jay R. Feierman

Download or read book The Evolution of Religion, Religiosity and Theology written by Jay R. Feierman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-09-11 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book takes a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approach to religion, religiosity and theology from their earliest beginnings to the present day. It uniquely brings together the natural sciences and theology to explore how religious practice emerged and developed through the four sections into which the book is organized: Evolutionary biology; Philosophical linguistics, psychology and neuroscience; Theology and Anthropology. The volume features an international panel of contributors who develop an innovative picture of religion as a culturally-created social institution; religiosity as a more personal and subjective anthropological element of people expressed through religion; and theology as the study of god. To survive in changing times, living systems — a good characterization of religion, religiosity and theology — all must adaptively evolve. This is a vital study of a rapidly burgeoning field. As such, it will be of great interest to scholars in religious studies and theology as well as in the psychological, sociological, and anthropological study of religion.

Cultural Evolution

Author : Alex Mesoudi
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226520455
Total Pages : 281 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (265 download)

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Book Synopsis Cultural Evolution by : Alex Mesoudi

Download or read book Cultural Evolution written by Alex Mesoudi and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-07-30 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Darwin changed the course of scientific thinking by showing how evolution accounts for the stunning diversity and biological complexity of life on earth. Recently, there has also been increased interest in the social sciences in how Darwinian theory can explain human culture. Covering a wide range of topics, including fads, public policy, the spread of religion, and herd behavior in markets, Alex Mesoudi shows that human culture is itself an evolutionary process that exhibits the key Darwinian mechanisms of variation, competition, and inheritance. This cross-disciplinary volume focuses on the ways cultural phenomena can be studied scientifically—from theoretical modeling to lab experiments, archaeological fieldwork to ethnographic studies—and shows how apparently disparate methods can complement one another to the mutual benefit of the various social science disciplines. Along the way, the book reveals how new insights arise from looking at culture from an evolutionary angle. Cultural Evolution provides a thought-provoking argument that Darwinian evolutionary theory can both unify different branches of inquiry and enhance understanding of human behavior.

Evolutionary Theories and Religious Traditions

Author : Bernard Lightman
Publisher : University of Pittsburgh Press
ISBN 13 : 0822990075
Total Pages : 376 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (229 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolutionary Theories and Religious Traditions by : Bernard Lightman

Download or read book Evolutionary Theories and Religious Traditions written by Bernard Lightman and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2023-11-21 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before the advent of radio, conceptions of the relationship between science and religion circulated through periodicals, journals, and books, influencing the worldviews of intellectuals and a wider public. In this volume, historians of science and religion examine that relationship through diverse mediums, geographic contexts, and religious traditions. Spanning within and beyond Europe and North America, chapters emphasize underexamined regions—New Zealand, Australia, India, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire—and major religions of the world, including Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Islam; interactions between those traditions; as well as atheism, monism, and agnosticism. As they focus on evolution and human origins, contributors draw attention to European scientists other than Darwin who played a significant role in the dissemination of evolutionary ideas; for some, those ideas provided the key to understanding every aspect of human culture, including religion. They also highlight central figures in national contexts, many of whom were not scientists, who appropriated scientific theories for their own purposes. Taking a local, national, transnational, and global approach to the study of science and religion, this volume begins to capture the complexity of cultural engagement with evolution and religion in the long nineteenth century.

The True and False Theory of Evolution

Author : Chauncey Giles
Publisher : Good Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 97 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (64 download)

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Book Synopsis The True and False Theory of Evolution by : Chauncey Giles

Download or read book The True and False Theory of Evolution written by Chauncey Giles and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2020-12-08 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Giles Chauncey was an ordained priest. In this treatise, a series of 6 lectures, he examines different theories of evolution and evaluates them according to different perspectives including his own Christian one.

Revising Cognitive and Evolutionary Science of Religion

Author : Konrad Szocik
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030635163
Total Pages : 130 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (36 download)

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Book Synopsis Revising Cognitive and Evolutionary Science of Religion by : Konrad Szocik

Download or read book Revising Cognitive and Evolutionary Science of Religion written by Konrad Szocik and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-01-12 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique and pioneering book critically appraises current work from both the cognitive science of religion and the evolutionary study of religion. It addresses the question: Why does the believer possess supernatural or religious beliefs in the combined context of his cognitive biases, their adaptive usefulness measured in terms of survival and reproduction, and the impact of social learning and cultural traits? The authors outlines a pluralistic approach to the study of religion that does not treat religion as an accidental by-product but an adaptation selected by natural selection. Chapters discuss the role of religious components for the evolution of cooperation and altruism, and explore the development of atheism and secular ideas, in cognitive and evolutionary terms. Topics such as the usefulness of religion, the transmission of religious beliefs, and a Darwinian approach to religion are among those addressed. Contrary to standard views, religious biases are regarded as shaped by cultural influences and not merely by natural dispositions. This monograph will particularly appeal to researchers who are looking for a scientific explanation of religion and religious beliefs but who do not stop at the level of narrow cognitive and evolutionary accounts. The work will also be of interest to students of philosophy, sociology, religious studies, theology, or anthropology who seek to explain such fascinating, complex, and unequivocal phenomena as religion and religious components.

Contemporary Theories of Religion

Author : Michael Stausberg
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134041470
Total Pages : 543 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (34 download)

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Book Synopsis Contemporary Theories of Religion by : Michael Stausberg

Download or read book Contemporary Theories of Religion written by Michael Stausberg and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-06-19 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interest in theories of religion has never been greater. Scholars debate single theoretical approaches in different scholarly journals, while the ‘new atheists’ such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett criticize the whole idea of religion. For everyone eager to understand the current state of the field, Contemporary Theories of Religion surveys the neglected landscape in its totality. Michael Stausberg brings together leading scholars of the field to review and discuss seventeen contemporary theories of religion. As well as scholars of religion, it features anthropologists, archaeologists, classicists, evolutionary biologists, philosophers and sociologists. Each chapter provides students with background information on the theoretician, a presentation of the theory’s basic principles, an analysis of basic assumptions, and a review of previous critiques. Concluding with a section entitled 'Back and Forth', Stausberg compares the different theories and points to further avenues of discussion for the future.

The Oxford Handbook of the Study of Religion

Author : Michael Stausberg
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191045896
Total Pages : 881 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of the Study of Religion by : Michael Stausberg

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of the Study of Religion written by Michael Stausberg and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-11-17 with total page 881 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of the Study of Religion provides a comprehensive overview of the academic study of religion. Written by an international team of leading scholars, its fifty-one chapters are divided thematically into seven sections. The first section addresses five major conceptual aspects of research on religion. Part two surveys eleven main frameworks of analysis, interpretation, and explanation of religion. Reflecting recent turns in the humanities and social sciences, part three considers eight forms of the expression of religion. Part four provides a discussion of the ways societies and religions, or religious organizations, are shaped by different forms of allocation of resources. Other chapters in this section consider law, the media, nature, medicine, politics, science, sports, and tourism. Part five reviews important developments, distinctions, and arguments for each of the selected topics. The study of religion addresses religion as a historical phenomenon and part six looks at seven historical processes. Religion is studied in various ways by many disciplines, and this Handbook shows that the study of religion is an academic discipline in its own right. The disciplinary profile of this volume is reflected in part seven, which considers the history of the discipline and its relevance. Each chapter in the Handbook references at least two different religions to provide fresh and innovative perspectives on key issues in the field. This authoritative collection will advance the state of the discipline and is an invaluable reference for students and scholars.

Religion Evolving

Author : Benjamin Grant Purzycki
Publisher : Advances in the Cognitive Science of Religion
ISBN 13 : 9781800500525
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (5 download)

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Book Synopsis Religion Evolving by : Benjamin Grant Purzycki

Download or read book Religion Evolving written by Benjamin Grant Purzycki and published by Advances in the Cognitive Science of Religion. This book was released on 2022 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The scientific study of religion has made significant advances in recent decades, explaining how the mind produces religious ideas, the motivations underlying religious behaviour, and the transmission of religious cultures within and across generations. In Religion Evolving: Cultural, Cognitive, and Ecological Dynamics, Purzycki and Sosis argue that further progress requires integration of isolated research findings on the various components - ritual, supernatural agent belief, myth, taboo, and so forth - that constitute religion. Religions, they contend, need to be understood as adaptive systems. Drawing from a wealth of ethnographic and experimental evidence, they situate religious systems within their local socioecological contexts, showing how religious culture adaptively responds to economic, environmental, and human health problems, as well as costly threats to cooperation and reproduction. Based in the evolutionary, cognitive, and anthropological sciences, Religion Evolving offers a holistic approach that attends to the complex, interacting features of religious systems.

Understanding Religion Through Artificial Intelligence

Author : Justin E. Lane
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1350103578
Total Pages : 237 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis Understanding Religion Through Artificial Intelligence by : Justin E. Lane

Download or read book Understanding Religion Through Artificial Intelligence written by Justin E. Lane and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-05-06 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Understanding Religion through Artificial Intelligence, Justin E. Lane looks at the reasons why humans feel they are part of a religious group, despite often being removed from other group members by vast distances or multiple generations. To achieve this, Lane offers a new perspective that integrates religious studies with psychology, anthropology, and data science, as well as with research at the forefront of Artificial Intelligence (AI). After providing a critical analysis of approaches to religion and social cohesion, Lane proposes a new model for religious studies, which he calls the “Information Identity System.” This model focuses on the idea of conceptual ties: links between an individual's self-concept and the ancient beliefs of their religious group. Lane explores this idea through real-world examples, ranging from the rise in global Pentecostalism, to religious extremism and self-radicalization, to the effect of 9/11 on sermons. Lane uses this lens to show how we can understand religion and culture today, and how we can better contextualize the changes we see in the social world around us.

New Developments in the Cognitive Science of Religion

Author : Hans van Eyghen
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319902393
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (199 download)

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Book Synopsis New Developments in the Cognitive Science of Religion by : Hans van Eyghen

Download or read book New Developments in the Cognitive Science of Religion written by Hans van Eyghen and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-14 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is widely thought that the cognitive science of religion (CSR) may have a bearing on the epistemic status of religious beliefs and on other topics in philosophy of religion. Epistemologists have used theories from CSR to argue both for and against the rationality of religious beliefs, or they have claimed that CSR is neutral vis-à-vis the epistemic status of religious belief. However, since CSR is a rapidly evolving discipline, a great deal of earlier research on the topic has become dated. Furthermore, most of the debate on the epistemic consequences of CSR has not taken into account insights from the philosophy of science, such as explanatory pluralism and explanatory levels. This volume overcomes these deficiencies. This volume brings together new philosophical reflection on CSR. It examines the influence of CSR theories on the epistemic status of religious beliefs; it discusses its impact on philosophy of religion; and it offers new insights for CSR. The book addresses the question of whether or not the plurality of theories in CSR makes epistemic conclusions about religious belief unwarranted. It also explores the impact of CSR on other topics in philosophy of religion like the cognitive consequences of sin and naturalism. Finally, the book investigates what the main theories in CSR aim to explain, and addresses the strengths and weaknesses of CSR.

Evolution, Cognition, and the History of Religion: A New Synthesis

Author : Anders Klostergaard Petersen
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004385371
Total Pages : 702 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (43 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolution, Cognition, and the History of Religion: A New Synthesis by : Anders Klostergaard Petersen

Download or read book Evolution, Cognition, and the History of Religion: A New Synthesis written by Anders Klostergaard Petersen and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-10-08 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evolution, Cognition, and the History of Religion: A New Synthesis comprises 41 chapters that push for a new way of conducting the study of religion, thereby, transforming the discipline into a genuine science of religion. The recent resurgence of evolutionary approaches on culture and the increasing acknowledgement in the natural and social sciences of culture’s and religion’s evolutionary importance calls for a novel epistemological and theoretical framework for studying these two areas. The chapters explore how a new scholarly synthesis, founded on the triadic space constituted by evolution, cognition, cultural and ecological environment, may develop. Different perspectives and themes relating to this overarching topic are taken up with a main focus on either evolution, cognition, and/or the history of religion.

21st Century Theories of Religion

Author : Michael Stausberg
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1040183271
Total Pages : 287 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (41 download)

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Book Synopsis 21st Century Theories of Religion by : Michael Stausberg

Download or read book 21st Century Theories of Religion written by Michael Stausberg and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-11-08 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is religion and how does it originate? What are its functions and how does it work? These are some of the key questions addressed by theories of religion. Far from being a past concern, a series of new answers have been proposed since the beginning of our present millennium by evolutionary biologists and psychologists, philosophers, sociologists, and scholars of religion. In 21st Century Theories of Religion, Michael Stausberg is joined by leading scholars from Europe and North America to present and critically discuss fifteen contemporary theories. Contributions introduce the theoreticians, unpack their arguments, review their reception, and engage in critical debates. The volume provides a cutting-edge point of entry into a key conversation that no student and scholar of religion/s can afford to ignore.