Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought

FROM OUR EDITORS

Unlike other books offering "scientific" explanations for religion, this one actually details the common strands running through spiritual concepts and feelings, rather than using science to simply explain away religion. Drawing upon the latest findings of evolutionary psychology and cognitive science, Boyer shows why religious ideas make sense to humans and just which ideas are acceptable.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Many of us have endless questions about faith, spirituality, and the place of religious thinking in the world. But one central question - perhaps the central question - about religion has remained strangely inaccessible: Why do we have it at all? Until recently, if you'd asked this of most anthropologists, they'd have told you that the question was ill-formulated and too vague to be of scientific interest." "In fact, the intellectual tools for thinking about the problem simply didn't exist. Now, says Pascal Boyer, they do, provided by theories and research in evolutionary biology and cognitive psychology."--BOOK JACKET.

FROM THE CRITICS

Washington Post Book World

...a penetrating scientific analysis of religion.

Booklist

....fascinating book.

Library Journal

Utilizing cross-cultural studies and a multidisciplinary approach, anthropologist Boyer (research fellow, Inst. of Cognitive Science, Lyon, France) argues that the origin, development, and diversity of religion are scientifically explainable within the naturalistic frameworks of evolutionary biology and cognitive psychology. His point of departure is the complex human brain and its mental activity, both being a result of natural selection enhancing the adaptation, survival, and reproductive success of our social ancestors through over four million years of hominid evolution. Boyer focuses on the inference systems and intuitive expectations of evolved human brain capacities in order to account for the biocultural origin of religious concepts and supernatural agents (e.g., gods, ghosts, demons, spirits, and witches). He is to be commended for his scholarly and critical examination of religion, but some readers may find his arguments difficult to follow and to accept. Nevertheless, this is a significant contribution to anthropology. Especially recommended for academic libraries. H. James Birx, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

Drawing on theories and research in evolutionary biology and cognitive psychology, Boyer (collective memory and individual memory, Washington U., St. Louis, Missouri) claims to have final answers to such questions as why religion matters so much in people's lives, why there are several religions instead of just one, why there are churches and religious institutions, and why religion persists in an age of rational thought. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kirkus Reviews

A roundabout consideration of why humans turn to otherworldly thoughts. Boyer (Collective Memory and Individual Memory/Washington Univ.) is fluent in several disciplines that touch on the cognitive sciences, including physical anthropology and evolutionary psychology. All of these disciplines, along with classical philosophy, come to bear on his account of why humans in every place and at every time have found it necessary or desirable to think of gods, the afterlife, and other extraordinary matters, building "complex supernatural constructs out of very simple conceptual bricks" (such as the recognition that all mortal beings die). While recognizing that religious beliefs vary widely within and between cultures and individuals, the author suggests that we hold them largely because we can; that is, all humans possess "the mind it takes to have religion," a mind that uses processes such as "decoupling" and "inference systems" to arrive at what Boyer considers to be eminently practical reasoning about the meaning of life (reasoning that can sometimes involve inventing cosmic explanations for the mysteries and problems the mind confronts). Regrettably, the author is rarely straightforward in making such arguments, preferring instead to linger over (and then demolish) straw-man arguments and to show the flaws in other influential theories of religion (such as those of William James). The noted biologist E.O. Wilson gives a more concise and better argued account of the evolutionary basis of religion-if one that seems calculated to offend believers, as Boyer's is not-in Consilience (1998). For all that, Boyer's account has many merits, showing how the mind works by means of analogy, trial anderror, and sheer speculation (the more counterintuitive the better) in the service of helping us to become comfortable inside our own skins and sleep well at night. Students of psychology and philosophy will find much value in Boyer's treatise, but it will probably strike most general readers as dry and daunting.

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