Tabs for Contents, notes, highlights

Contents
Notes
Highlights

Detailed Table of Contents

Hide Contents, Notes, and Highlights

Search TermsShow Hide

« Back to eTextbook

Copyright, iv
Special Features, xix
Preface, xxi
Introduction: Biocultural Frameworks for the Study of Religiosity, 1
Religion’s Family Resemblances, 2
Religion, Spirituality, and Religiosity, 2
Overview of This Book, 3
1. Anthropology and the Study of Religion, 5
Introduction: The Anthropological Study of Religion, 6
Anthropology and the Biocultural Approach, 6
Anthropological Approaches and Perspectives: Becoming Aware of Our Biases, 7
Western Perspectives on Religion, 8
Early Christian Thinking: “There Is But One Path to God”, 8
Rationalist Thinking: “There Are Many Paths to God”, 9
Comparative Thinking: “Religions Are Objects for Study”, 10
The Development of Anthropological Approaches to Religion, 11
Historical Particularism and Cultural Relativism: The Foundations of American Anthropology, 12
Cultural Relativism, 14
The Four-Field Approach of Anthropology, 15
Cultural Anthropology, 15
The Components of Culture, 15
Methods of Cultural Anthropology: Ethnography and Ethnology, 16
The Emic and Etic Distinction, 16
Universal Expressions of Religiosity, 17
Archaeology, 18
Ethnographic and Ethnological Analogy, 18
Linguistic Anthropology, 19
Unique Features of Human Language, 19
Language and Experience: The Sapir—Whorf Hypothesis, 20
Historical Linguistics, 21
Biological Anthropology, 22
How Humans Differ, 22
Genes and Religiosity, 23
Key Evolutionary Concepts, 24
Side-Effects of Evolution, 25
Evaluating Adaptations, Exaptations, and Spandrels, 26
The Importance of Evolutionary Side-Effects for Understanding Religiosity, 27
Conclusions: The Biocultural Approach to the Study of Religion, 27
2. Our World and How We Know It, 31
Introduction: Science and Religion as Ways of Knowing, 32
A Very Short History of the Universe, 32
The Mind: How We Know the World, 33
Sensation and Perception: Our Windows on the World, 34
Cognition: Making Sense of the View, 35
The Limitations of Our View of the World, 36
Five Kinds of Human Reality, 37
The Universe, 37
The Species World, 37
The Perceptual World, 38
The Cultural World, 39
The Personal World, 39
Summary: Our Knowledge of the Universe, 40
Science, Religion, and the Universe, 40
Analogies and Metaphors as Models for Thought, 41
Is Science Rational and Religion Irrational?, 41
The Nature of Scientific and Religious Assumptions, 42
Analyzing Scientific and Religious Models of Reality, 45
Science and Religion as Open and Closed Systems of Thought, 48
Science and the Experimental Method, 49
Mysticism as Science, 50
Neurophenomenological Perspectives on Transpersonal Development, 52
Neurotheology: Looking for God in the Brain, 53
Conclusions: Comparing Science and Religion, 55
3. Consciousness and Spiritual Experiences, 60
Introduction: The Experience of Religion, 61
Understanding Religion as Experiences: The Universality of Mysticism, 62
What Is Consciousness?, 65
The Four Basic Modes of Human Consciousness, 65
The Waking Mode as “Baseline” Consciousness, 66
The Autonomic Nervous System and the Continuum of Consciousness, 66
The Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems, 67
Altered States of Consciousness as Extreme Variation in the Autonomic Nervous System, 67
The Biological Bases of Spiritual Consciousness: The Integrative Mode of Consciousness, 69
Religious States in the Integrative Mode of Consciousness, 70
The Shamanic State, 71
The Meditative State, 72
The Possession State, 73
Is Possession Pathological?, 74
Spirituality and DSM-IV “Spiritual Emergencies”, 75
Temporal Lobe Syndromes: A Religious Personality?, 76
Origins of Religious Experiences: Natural Induction of the Integrative Mode of Consciousness, 76
Trauma and Near-Death Experiences, 77
Fasting as a Natural Inducer of Altered States of Consciousness, 78
The Roles of Dreams in Religious Experiences, 78
The Psychobiology of Dreaming, 79
Lucid Dreaming, 79
The Handsome Lake Revitalization Movement, 80
Psychoactive Substances and Spiritual Experiences, 82
Neurotransmitter Bases of Psychedelic Effects, 83
Hypnosis and Mystical Experience, 83
Adaptive Aspects of the Integrative Mode of Consciousness, 84
Conclusions: Religious Experience as Personal Experience of Biology, 85
4. Ritualized Animal Behaviors and the Roots of Religiosity, 88
Introduction: Ritualized Behavior in the Animal World, 88
Why Study Ritualized Animal Behaviors?, 89
The Animal Roots of Human Religiosity: Ritualized Behaviors, 91
What Are Rituals?, 91
Basic Elements of Ritualized Animal Behaviors, 92
Sequences of Ritualized Behavior, 93
The Triune Brain and Ritualized Behavior, 95
Animal Brains and Ritualized Animal Behaviors, 96
Ritualized Animal Behaviors, 96
Reptiles, 97
Mammals, 99
Wolves, 99
Chimpanzees, 101
Grooming, 101
Mating Behavior, 102
Dominance and Aggression, 104
Communication Mechanisms: Vocalizations and Drumming, 104
Threat Displays as Graded and Maximal Chimpanzee Ritualized Behaviors, 105
Reassurance Behaviors: Grooming and Reconciliation, 107
The Evolution of Ritual Behaviors, 108
Group and Intergroup Ritualized Behaviors in the Great Apes, 109
Emotional Vocalizations, 109
Alpha Male Displays, 109
Primate Preadaptations for Human Religiosity, 109
Adaptive Features of Chimpanzee Threat Displays, 112
Identifying the Roots of Human Religiosity in Ritualized Behaviors, 112
Comparing the Minimal Elements of Chimpanzee Ritualized Behaviors and Human Rituals, 113
Is There a “Family of Resemblances” Link with Chimpanzee Ritualized Behaviors?, 113
Conclusions: The Animal Roots of Human Ritual Activity, 114
5. The Origins of Shamanism and the Flowering of Religiosity, 117
Introduction: Evidence for the Emergence of New Forms of Ritual, 117
Interpretation in Archaeology: Ethnographic and Ethnological Analogy, 119
What Are Shamans?, 119
Shamanic Universals in Biological Perspective, 121
Shamanic Continuities with and Differences from Chimpanzee Ritualized Behaviors, 122
The Evolutionary Origins of Spiritual Experiences, 123
Bipedalism and Mystical Experience: The Runner’s High, 123
Opioids in Human Evolution, 124
Opioid Evolution in Humans, 125
Adaptive Advantages of Opioid Systems, 125
Psilocybin-Containing Mushrooms as Sources of Spiritual Experiences, 126
Features of Mushroom Uses and Effects, 126
Human-Chimpanzee Divergences in Serotonergic Binding, 127
Toolmaking and the Emergence of Hominan Culture, 128
The Implications of Mimesis for Religion, 128
Dance, 129
The Domestication of Fire, 130
Cannibalism, 130
Early Hominan Ritual and Spirituality, 131
The Expansion of Religiosity Among the Later Hominans, 132
Burial and Death Rituals, 132
Art and Adornment, 133
Cave Rituals, 134
Summary: Religiosity Among the Late Hominans, 135
Shamanism and Human Cultural Evolution, 135
Cave Art as Evidence of Shamanism, 135
The Cave as the Shamanic Lower World, 136
Animal Representations, 137
Human Representations, 137
Cave Art and Shamanic Consciousness, 137
Human Cognitive Evolution: The Emergence of Specialized Intelligences, 138
The Emergence of Cognitive Fluidity, 139
Cognitive Fluidity and Shamanism, 141
Ritual Displays and the Dream World: Accessing Presentational Symbolism, 142
Shamanic Flight as Neurognostic and Symbolic Reference, 142
Animal Powers as Personal and Social Identities, 143
Human Identity in Nature, 143
The Networks of Perception and Consciousness, 143
Summary: Cognitive Adaptation in Shamanism, 144
“Complex Hunter–Gatherer Religions”: The Rise of Ancestor Cults and Priests, 144
Fertility Cults, 144
Animal Cults and Ancestor Worship, 145
Commodity Items, 145
Public Feasting, 146
Megalithic Architecture, 146
Elite Initiation, 146
Summary of “Feasting Religions”, 146
The Socioeconomic Transformation of Shamans and Shamanistic Healers, 147
Priests, 147
Witches and Sorcerers, 148
Shaman/Healers, 148
Mediums, 148
Healers, 148
Shamanistic Healers, 148
Conclusions: The Evolutionary Origins of Religion, 148
6. The Origins and Functions of Religious Healing, 150
Introduction: Religious Healing as a Cultural Universal, 151
Universals of Religious Healing: Shamanistic Healers, 152
Scientific Evidence of the Effects of Religion on Health, 153
Religion as a Natural Healing Mechanism, 154
The Co-evolution of Community Healing and Religiosity, 154
Evolution of the “Sickness and Healing” Response, 155
Healing Through Community Ritual Bonding and Opioid Release, 155
The Health Effects of Social Support, 156
Spirit Beings as a Mechanism for Coping with Stress, 158
Symbolic Effects on the Autonomic Nervous System and Stress Responses, 160
The Roles of Meaning in Coping and Stress Management, 161
Religious Production of Healing Emotions: “Psychophysiological Symbolim”, 162
Music and Healing, 163
Music and the Brain, 163
Healing Processes in Music, 164
Hypnosis and Placebo Effects as a Foundation for Religious Healing, 165
Religious Healing as the Placebo Effect, 166
Placebo Mechanisms, 167
Information and Meaning as Placebo Mechanims, 167
Adaptive Mechanisms in Pre-shamanic Healing Systems, 169
Shamanic Expansion of Religious Healing Adaptations, 170
Meaning and Metaphoric Processes in Religious Healing, 171
Shamanistic Religious Rituals as Self- and Emotional Healing, 172
Soul Loss and Recovery, 173
Possession, 173
Meditative Detachment, 173
Healing Through Ritual Transformation of the Self, 174
Healing Through Spirit Attachment, 175
Conclusions: Shamanic Healing Process, 177
7. Religion and Cognition: How Religion Shapes the Way We Think, 178
Introduction: Religious Ideas and the Structure of the Universe, 179
Cosmology: Religious Models of the Universe, 181
Pantheon, 181
Myths, 181
Substantive Beliefs, 182
Animism: The Belief in Spirit Beings, 185
What Are Spirits?, 186
Why Do Humans Believe in Spirits?, 186
Animacy Detection, 186
Spirits as Models of “Self” and “Mind”, 187
Concepts of “Others”, 187
Are Spirits Just Exaptations?, 187
Spirits as Counterintuitive Principles, 188
Summary: The Adaptive Advantages of Spirits, 188
Myths and the Universe, 189
Early Ideas About Myths, 190
Functional Perspectives on Myths, 190
Symbolist Perspectives on Myth, 191
Myth and Ecological Relations, 191
Food Taboos and Religion, 193
Mircea Eliade and the Language of Myth, 194
Myths and Archetypes, 194
Archetypes as Neurognostic Structures, 197
Summary of Archetypes, 198
Myth-Telling as an Adaptive Feature of Human Nature, 198
Substantive Beliefs, 199
Sympathetic Magic as Substantive Belief, 200
Sympathetic Magic as Adaptive Cognition with Survival Value, 200
Empirical Approaches to Substantive Religious Beliefs and Experiences, 202
Psychical Research: The Science of Spiritual Experiences, 203
Anomalous Experiences as Substantive Religious Beliefs, 203
Conclusions: Spirit Concepts as Indigenous Psychology, 206
8. Religion and Emotions: How Religion Shapes How We Feel, 209
Introduction: Religion and Socialization, 209
Religion as an Emotional Response, 210
Sacred Emotions, 211
The Emotional Adaptiveness of Magic and Religion, 211
The Domains of Magic, 212
The Origins of Magic, 213
The Emotional Adaptiveness of Magic in Human Life, 213
Management of Death Anxiety, 214
Sigmund Freud and the Roles of the Unconscious in Religion, 214
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Model: The Unconscious and Dreams, 215
Dreams: The Royal Road to the Unconscious, 215
Misattributing Individual Dynamics to Society, 215
The Oedipal Complex: The Patricidal Origins of Religion and Society?, 216
Religion, Sex, and Gender, 220
The Religious Regulation of Sexual Behavior, 220
Marriage Rituals: Controlling Sexuality and Reducing Aggression, 221
How Religion Shapes Our Development, 222
The Human Life Cycle in Biological Perspective, 224
The Cultural Entrainment of Biology, 225
How Religious Rituals “Work”, 226
The Roles of Myth in Socialization, 226
Religion in Emotional Socialization, 227
Emotional Coherence, 227
Rites of Passage, 228
Welcoming a New Person into Society, 229
Rituals of Social Identity, 229
Rituals of Adult Transition: Becoming a Man or Woman, 231
Adolescence as an “Experience Expectant” Period for Religious Transmission, 232
Gender-Specific Adolescent Socialization, 232
Religion as an Evolutionary By-Product? Attachment Theory and Religion, 233
God as an Attachment Figure, 236
Summary: The Adaptive Emotional and Socialization Practices of Religion, 236
Conclusions: The Religious Shaping of Our Emotions, 237
9. Religion and Society: How Religion Shapes Our Relations with Others, 240
Introduction: The Social Bases of Religion, 241
Religion, Power, and Society, 241
A Sociobiology of Religion?, 243
The Evolutionary Origins of Human Social Organization and Religion, 243
The Emergence of Human Political Organization, 244
Our Egalitarian Heritage, 244
Shamanistic Healers as Informal Political Leaders, 244
The Rise of Inequality: Transegalitarian Political-Religious Evolution, 245
Durkeim and the Social Symbolic Approaches to Religion, 247
Totemism as the Origin of Religion, 248
Animal Species in Human Thought and Social Classification, 248
Functionalism: What Has Religion Done for You Lately?, 249
Structural Functionalism in the Anthropology of Religion, 249
Religion as a Cultural System, 250
Symbol System, 251
Moods and Motivations, 251
Worldview: A General Conception of Existence, 251
Socialization: Giving Conceptions an Aura of Factuality, 251
Conviction: Making Religious Motivations Realistic, 252
Summary, 252
Religion and Social Control, 252
The Formal Leadership of Priests, 253
Conflict Perspectives: Religion as Social Control and the “Opiate of the Masses”, 254
The Social Origins of God-Concepts and Sacred Morality, 256
Totemism as a Source of Deity Concepts, 257
The “Birth of the Gods” in Sovereign Groups, 257
Ancestor Worship: Kin as Gods, 258
Gods and Morality, 259
Morality as an Evolved Capacity, 260
Religion as Extensions of Ritualized Functions of Enhancing Cooperation, 261
Religion as “Family Values”, 261
Religion as an Adaptive Social Mechanism, 262
Religion as a Group Selection Mechanism, 263
Judaic Adaptations: Group Exclusion Mechanisms, 264
Christian Adaptations: Group Inclusion Mechanisms, 265
Religion’s Effects on Survival, 265
Summary: The Adaptive Social Features of Religion, 267
Conclusions: Durkheim’s Legacy in Understanding Religion as a Social and Symbolic Phenomenon, 268
10. Supernatural Evil, 270
Introduction: Supernatural Evil as a Religious Universal, 271
Anthropological Views of Sorcery and Witchcraft, 271
Witchcraft and Sorcery Among the Zande, 272
Witchcraft and Sorcery Among the Dobu, 272
Can a Hex Kill? The Biological Bases of “Voodoo Death”, 273
Symbolic Effects on the Nervous System: Stress and Nocebo Phenomena, 275
The Physiological Response to Stress: The General Adaptation Syndrome, 275
Nocebo Effects, 275
Supernatural Human Evils and Social Conditions, 276
Functional and Evolutionary Assessments of Beliefs in Supernatural Evil, 278
The Sorcerer/Witch as a Social Universal of Religion, 279
The Shamanic Roots of Sorcery and Witchcraft, 280
The Dark Side of Shamanism, 280
Linguistic Roots for the Shamanic Origins of Witchcraft, 281
Witchcraft and Heresy in Europe, 282
The Inquisition Begins, 283
The Spanish Inquisition, 284
The Salem Witchcraft Trials, 285
The Ergot Hypothesis, 287
Summary: Supernatural Evil and Outside Groups: The Limits of Religious Adaptation?, 288
Human Sacrifice, 291
Cross-Cultural Assessments of Human Sacrifice, 293
Aztec Human Sacrifice in Cross-Cultural Perspective, 294
Asante and Modern Perspectives: Sacrament or Capital Punishment?, 294
Summary: Biological and Social-Ecological Determinants of Human Sacrifice, 295
Conclusions: The Limits of Religious Adaptations?, 296
11. Conclusions: Religion in Evolutionary Perspective, 297
Introduction: Does Religion Have a Future?, 298
The Conceptual Frameworks of Evolution, 299
The Emergent Nature of the Universe, 299
Religiosity as an Emergent Phenomena, 300
Symbolism and Spirituality, 301
Multilevel Selection Processes in Evolution, 302
Evaluating Adaptations, Exaptations, and Spandrels, 303
Proximate and Ultimate Mechanisms, 303
Assessing the Evolutionary Status of Religious Features, 304
Ritualized Animal Behaviors: The Preadaptations and Origins of Religiosity, 304
Mystical Experiences and Altered States of Consciousness, 305
Managing Consciousness, 306
Spirits as Spandrels of ASC, 307
Shamanism, 307
Healing Functions, 309
Religion as an Emotional Adaptation, 309
The Supernatural as a Cognitive Adaptation, 311
Supernatural Agent Concepts, 311
Supernatural Concepts as Social Mechanisms, 312
The Explanatory Functions of Religiosity: Myth and the Structure of the Universe, 312
Socialization, 313
Social Politics and Religion, 313
Witchcraft, Voodoo Death, and Human Sacrifice: Adaptation or Maladaptation?, 314
Why Must We Learn to Disagree?, 314
The Five Warning Signs of a “Bad Religion”, 317
Moving Beyond Exclusivism, 319
Joseph Smith and the Birth of Mormonism, 320
Bahá’u’lláh and the Rise of the Bahá’í Faith, 320
Finding a Way to Disagree: Pluralism, 321
Conclusions: A Universalist Perspective, 322
Appendix: Assessing Mystical Experiences: Hood’s Mysticism Scale, 324
References, 326
Photo Credits, 338
Author Index, 339
Subject Index, 343

Search Results

« Back to eTextbook


PAGE	Description

23	...