Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

Front Cover
Penguin, Feb 6, 2007 - Religion - 464 pages
The New York Times bestseller – a “crystal-clear, constantly engaging” (Jared Diamond) exploration of the role that religious belief plays in our lives and our interactions

For all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask why—and how—it has shaped so many lives so strongly. Is religion a product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Is it truly the best way to live a moral life? Ranging through biology, history, and psychology, Daniel C. Dennett charts religion’s evolution from “wild” folk belief to “domesticated” dogma. Not an antireligious screed but an unblinking look beneath the veil of orthodoxy, Breaking the Spell will be read and debated by believers and skeptics alike.
 

Contents

Breaking Which Spell?
3
Some Questions About Science
29
Why Good Things Happen
54
THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGION
95
Religion the Early Days
116
The Evolution of Stewardship
153
The Invention of Team Spirit
175
Belief in Belief
200
how can we home
314
What shall we tell the children?
321
Toxic memes
328
Patience and politics
334
A The New Replicators
341
Some More Questions About Science
359
The Bellboy and the Lady Named Tuck
379
Kim Philby as a Real Case of Indeterminacy
387

Toward a Buyers Guide to Religions
249
IO Morality and Religion
278
Now What Do We Do?
308
Bibliography
413
Index
427
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2007)

Daniel C. Dennett is University Professor, professor of philosophy, and co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. His books include From Bacteria to Bach and Back, Freedom Evolves, Consciousness Explained and Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, a finalist for the National Book Award.

Bibliographic information