Religion Explained
by Pascal Boyer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Pascal BoyerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-04
ISBN: 0465006965
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Basic Books
Book Reviews of Religion Explained
Book Review: "Religious concepts are parasitic"
Summary: 4 Stars
In his "Religion Explained" Pascal Boyer does a penetrating and meticulous analysis of the psychological and anthropological bases of `religion'. I read his book (hardcover) while researching my own book, "Concepts: A ProtoTheist Quest for Science-Minded Skeptics" and have since re-read it. He examines contemporary religious practices and beliefs -- both aboriginal and civilized -- from every conceivable perspective. He winnows the many usual explanations down to what he proposes as the correct explanation. In my book I propose an alternative explanation for `religion' by taking a more sweeping, narrative look at evolution's trajectory from the Big Bang to the emergence of human consciousness.
While there are important differences in our views, nonetheless I applaud Boyer's adding his authoritative voice to the search for natural explanations of supernatural beliefs. Indeed he says "...what we call `belief' is very often an attempt to justify or explain intuitions..." Yet he doesn't deride believers, unlike Sam Harris in his "The End of Faith." Boyer concludes that human minds have a variety of non-religious inference system onto which religious concepts can attach themselves, saying "religious concepts are parasitic" (altho' he often uses `concept' where I'd use `percept'). Yet he doesn't attempt to explain how our brain produces our mind, as I do. His conclusions counter any idea of a `God gene'.
If you have a taste for exhaustively reasoned logic, you'll enjoy Boyer.
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