7.8 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Publisher Viking (Penguin) ISBN 978-0-14-303833-7 Originally published 2006 Genre Literary criticism Preceded by Sweet Dreams | 3.9/5 Goodreads Language English Publication date 2006 OCLC 61240665 Subject Psychology of religion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nominations National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism Similar Daniel Dennett books, Atheism books, Rationalism books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Daniel dennet breaking the spell religion as a natural phenomenon
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon is a 2006 book in which the American philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett argues that religion is in need of scientific analysis so that its nature and future may be better understood. The "spell" that requires "breaking" is not religious belief itself but the belief that it is off-limits to or beyond scientific inquiry.
Contents
- Daniel dennet breaking the spell religion as a natural phenomenon
- Synopsis
- Critical reception
- Translations
- References
Synopsis
The book is divided into three parts. Part I discusses the motivation and justification for the entire project: Can science study religion? Should science study religion? After answering in the affirmative, Part II proceeds to use the tools of evolutionary biology and memetics to suggest possible theories regarding the origin of religion and subsequent evolution of modern religions from ancient folk beliefs. Part III analyzes religion and its effects in today's world: Does religion make us moral? Is religion what gives meaning to life? What should we teach the children? Dennett bases much of his analysis on empirical evidence, though he often points out that much more research in this field is needed.
Dennett's working definition of religions is: "social systems whose participants avow belief in a supernatural agent or agents whose approval is to be sought." He notes that this definition is "a place to start, not something carved in stone."
Critical reception
The book has received sharply different reviews from different sources.
For example The Guardian's Andrew Brown describes it as giving "a very forceful and lucid account of the reasons why we need to study religious behaviour as a human phenomenon". In Scientific American, George Johnson describes the book's main draw as being "a sharp synthesis of a library of evolutionary, anthropological and psychological research on the origin and spread of religion." Finally, in The New Yorker, H. Allen Orr described the book as "an accessible account of what might be called the natural history of religion."
Critical reviews include that of Leon Wieseltier in The New York Times, which called the book "a sorry instance of present-day scientism" and "a merry anthology of contemporary superstitions." Additionally, Charles T. Rubin, in the The New Atlantis, likened Dennett to "a tone-deaf music scholar", criticized his "unwillingness to admit the limits of scientific rationality" and accused him of "deploying the same old Enlightenment tropes that didn’t work all that well the first time around."
Translations
Breaking the Spell has been translated into several other languages, including: