In a rare moment of clarity, Immanuel Kant penned these unforgettable words:
Time was, when she (Metaphysics) was the queen of all the sciences; and, if we take the will for the deed, she certainly deserves, so far as regards the high importance of her object-matter, this title of honor. Now, it is the fashion of [...]
Tags:agenda·empiricism·evolution of religion·Hume·Jack Templeton·John Templeton·John Templeton Foundation·Kant·metaphysics·research funding·research grants·Sunny Bains·Templeton Foundation
Several months ago I became aware of the “Evolution of Religion” project, which maintains a website here. I did not find it particularly interesting because it was immediately apparent that the project was designed to prove a particular point. We need look no further than the project’s subtitle to ascertain the a priori commitment that [...]
Tags:a priori assumptions·agenda·atheism·benefits·bias·confirmation bias·conflict of interest·costs·evolution of religion·Evolution of Religion Project·John Templeton Foundation·maladaptive·metaphysics·methodology·The Adaptive Logic of Religious Beliefs and Behaviour
In a recent post on group level selection and the evolution of religion, I observed that if we assume such selection was operating on human groups during the Paleolithic, three factors play a major role in determining which groups come out on top. These three factors are: (1) group size, (2) technology, and (3) language. [...]
Tags:altruism·art·behavioral modernity·cooperation·differential fitness·evolution of religion·group agonism·group competition·group level selection·group size·intergroup conflict·language·modern human behavior·ornamentation·Paleolithic·proto-religion·reproduction·Richard Klein·ritual·survival·symbolic thinking·technology·The Human Career·Upper Paleolithic
There are a number of scholars who claim that “religion” evolved as an adaptation. What kind of adaptation? A group level adaptation. The story usually goes like this: at some unknown time during the middle or upper Paleolithic, certain groups of hominins developed proto-religious beliefs. These beliefs, which are rarely if ever specified, somehow gave [...]
Tags:altruism·baboons·chimpanzees·cohesion·competition·cooperation·David Sloan Wilson·ecology·evolution of religion·foraging unit·group agonism·group level selection·group size·hominids·hominins·hunter-gatherers·inclusive fitness·intergroup competition·Joseph Bulbulia·kinship·language·Matt Rossano·Nicholas Wade·Paleolithic·primates·Richard Sosis·ritual·technology·tools
We should thank Tom Rees over at Epiphenom for posting a much needed “rant on the evolution of religion.” What has Tom so worked up? The claim — first made by Michael Blume and now accepted by Jesse Bering — that “religion” evolved because it promotes fertility. Although the press loves the story, Tom correctly [...]
Tags:differential fitness·evolution of religion·fertility·historical error·hunter-gatherers·Jesse Bering·Jonathan Leake·logical fallacy·Michael Blume·Nick Spencer·Paleolithic·reproduction·social construction·Tom Rees
Google recently launched its Google Books Ngram Viewer, which promises to be a fantastic research tool. Although most of the reviews have focused on word or phrase searches and trending, the tool has a barely noted feature which is invaluable. Here are the basics provided by the WSJ:
[S]cientists at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [...]
Tags:database·evolution of religion·Google Books Ngram Viewer·historical research·history of ideas·history of science·phrase search·source search·word search
Over at Newsweek, Lisa Miller has written an insightful piece on the “Religious Studies Revival.” For undergraduates thinking about a major (or graduate school), it is a must read. Miller begins with an imaginary scene that I suppose is quite real:
“You want to major in what?” Such is the anguished cry of parents, who, having [...]
Tags:academic study of religion·Anthropology of Religion·cognitive science of religion·curriculum·doctrine·evolution of religion·history of religion·interdisciplinary·Lisa Miller·psychology of religion·religious studies departments·religious studies major·Religious Studies Revival·sociology of religion·theology
Over at NPR, Alix Spiegel presents a stimulating piece (which you can listen to or read) that asks: Is Believing in God Evolutionarily Advantageous? It seems to me that framing the question in this way suggests certain answers, all of which are neatly ensconced within Western and modern understandings of what constitutes “religion.” The story’s [...]
Tags:Alix Spiegel·cognitive science of religion·cooperation·Dominic Johnson·ethics·evolution of religion·extended kinship·fictive kinship·Jesse Bering·kinship·morality·Plains Indians·punishment·religion as adaptation·religiosity·shamanism·shamanisms·supernatural agents·surveillance
Over at Discover, Razib Khan has reviewed Oren Harman’s new book The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness. It is fantastic review and I encourage you to read it. Price was many things, including a theoretical evolutionary biologist with considerable mathematical skills. As Razib explains:
George Price’s aim was [...]
Tags:altruism·cooperation·dove·evolution of religion·evolutionary theory·Fisher's theorem of natural selection·George Price·goodness·group level selection·group level selectionists·hawk·inclusive fitness·morphs·Oren Harman·Paleolithic·Razib Khan·Richard Dawkins·The Price of Altruism
Matt Rossano, an evolutionary psychologist at Southeastern Louisiana University, has published several articles on the evolution of religion. Most of his articles are available online (open access). You can find “The Religious Mind and the Evolution of Religion” here, and “The African Interregnum: The Where, When, and Why of the Evolution of Religion” here. In [...]
Tags:evolution of religion·evolutionary psychology·hominids·Matt Rossano
