New Science Book: The Nature of God - Evolution and Religion

To explain religious behavior is a daunting task. One very recent attempt is to explain religious behaviors and religion within an evolutionary framework. In "The Nature of God - Evolution and Religion" by editor Ulrich Frey, a range of established and young experts from various disciplines analyze religion and religiosity as phenomena in a Darwinian world. Is religiosity adaptive? Are religious people more fertile? Do we have cognitive predispositions to be religious? Are children natural believers? New answers to these questions are presented in this fascinating array of contributions from the field of evolutionary studies of religion.

Ulrich Frey (Ed.): The Nature of God - Evolution and Religion. Tectum 2010

Price: 24,90 €, 180 p., includes graphs

Table of Contents 

1. Introduction –
Connections between evolution and religion
Gerhard Vollmer

2. From evolution to religion? About scientific
and non-scientific explanations of religious phenomena
Thomas Sukopp

3. Religious Concepts as Necessary Components
of the Adaptive Religious System
Benjamin Grant Purzycki/Richard Sosis

4. Religiousness in the era of genes
Caspar Söling

5. Can Religious Belief Be Explained Away? –
Reasons and Causes of Religious Belief
Justin L. Barrett/David Leech/Aku Visala

6. The Role of Religious Concepts
in the Evolution of Human Cognition
Rebekah A. Richert/Erin I. Smith

7. Harnessing the Placebo Effect:
Religion as a Cultural Adaptation
Matt J. Rossano 

8. Naturalistic Impositions
Hannes Rusch

9. Von Hayek and the Amish Fertility
How religious communities manage
to be fruitful and multiply – A Case study
Michael Blume 

Information on the authors

 

Printview