Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'morality'

Moral Premise: Promise Keeping

September 26th, 2011 · 7 Comments · Cognition, Morality

Making and keeping promises is a hallmark of human behavior that many consider to be a cornerstone of “morality.” As such, it is often linked to religion. The linkage is expressly acknowledged by religious groups such as Promise Keepers.
Until recently, I hadn’t given much thought to promises per se or their critical importance to the [...]

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The Dhammakaya Code

January 27th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Economy, Globalization, New Religions, Power

Until recently, I knew nothing about Dhammakaya Buddhism, which is considered to be part of the Theravada tradition. For over a decade, this Thai-based movement has been making waves for its alleged commercialization of Buddhism. Some observers attribute its considerable success to the dislocations brought on by Thai modernization. Whatever the attraction, Dhammakaya is fulfilling many [...]

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Morals and Marc Hauser

October 27th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Emotions, Evolutionary Byproduct, Morality

Marc Hauser, as many know, is a prominent psychologist at Harvard who is well known for research into primate cognition and the evolution of morality.  Many may also know that he has been accused of research misconduct in a very public (and one-sided) way.  It has truly been unfortunate not only for the people involved, [...]

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Is Belief in Gods Adaptive?

September 20th, 2010 · No Comments · Definitions, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Shamanism

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 [...]

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Morality without God, Buddhism as Religion, and Christian Empire

August 7th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Axial Age, Classifications, Cultural Evolution, Definitions, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Morality, Philosophy, Power

Incredibly, there are three articles over at HuffPo Religion that I have recently bookmarked for brief discussion here.  There are of course about ten others which reflect the liberal, progressive, ecumenical, and mystical view of religion adhered to by a tiny minority of people, and which will be of interest mostly to the highly educated [...]

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Professor Condemns Homosexuality on Basis of “Natural Moral Law”

July 11th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Axial Age, Ecology, Evolution, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Morality, Philosophy

Over at Pharyngula, PZ Myers discusses the case of a professor — teaching at a public university — who presented his Catholic views, disguised as philosophy, on homosexuality to his students.  One student complained to the administration, calling the professor’s position “hate speech.”  PZ Myers disagrees and calls it “stupid speech.”  Myers then proceeds to [...]

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Return of the Sacred — Ringing Daniel Bell

June 10th, 2010 · No Comments · Atheism, Axial Age, Cultural Evolution, Economy, Globalization, History, Morality, Philosophy, Power

On rare occasion, one encounters a thinker and writer of extraordinary talent; the author, intellectual, and sociologist Daniel Bell is one such person.  Bell is perhaps most famous for his 1976 book, Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism.  It was with great interest, therefore, that I read his 1977 Hobhouse Memorial Lecture, “The Return of the Sacred? [...]

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The Earliest Moral-Ethical Precepts Were Not Religious

May 16th, 2010 · No Comments · Axial Age, Cultural Evolution, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Morality

Because most modern religions are constructed around — and concern themselves with — moral or ethical behavior, the common (and mistaken) assumption is that morality and religion are inextricably linked and have always been linked.  This simply is not the case.  As I discussed in this post, there are many societies — past and present [...]

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“Religion Functions to Sustain the Moral Order” — Starkly Wrong

April 29th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Axial Age, Cultural Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation, History, Morality, Shamanism

Many of the recent books and articles about the evolutionary origins of religion claim that natural selection targeted “moral” behaviors and that these behaviors coalesced into “religion.”  This is a story told primarily by group level selectionists (who have the bad habit of confusing biological evolution with something they call “cultural evolution”) and evolutionary psychologists [...]

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Morality Manipulated by Magnets and Impaired by Brain Injuries

April 2nd, 2010 · No Comments · Cognition, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, Morality

Evidence keeps pouring in that humans have an in-built sense of morality or fairness and that specific regions of the brain are responsible.  Over at Neurophilosophy, Mo reports on two new studies — the first involving the use of magnets to impair peoples’ moral intuitions, and the second involving people with brain damage that impairs [...]

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