Breaking the spell : religion as a natural phenomenon / Daniel C. Dennett.
An innovative thinker tackles the controversial question of why we believe in God and how religion shapes our lives and our future. For a growing number of people, there is nothing more important than religion. It is an integral part of their marriage, child rearing, and community. In this daring ne...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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New York :
Penguin Books,
2007.
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Table of Contents:
- Part I. Opening Pandora's Box
- 1. Breaking Which Spell?
- 1. What's going on?
- 2. A working definition of religion
- 3. To break or not to break
- 4. Peering into the abyss
- 5. Religion as a natural phenomenon
- 2. Some Questions About Science
- 1. Can science study religion?
- 2. Should science study religion?
- 3. Might music be bad for you?
- 4. Would neglect be more benign?
- 3. Why Good Things Happen
- 1. Bringing out the best
- 2. Cui bono?
- 3. Asking what pays for religion
- 4. A Martian's list of theories
- Part II. The Evolution of Religion
- 4. The Roots of Religion
- 1. The births of religions
- 2. The raw materials of religion
- 3. How Nature deals with the problem of other minds
- 5. Religion, the Early Days
- 1. Too many agents: competition for rehearsal space
- 2. Gods as interested parties
- 3. Getting the gods to speak to us
- 4. Shamans as hypnotists
- 5. Memory-engineering devices in oral cultures
- 6. The Evolution of Stewardship
- 1. The music of religion
- 2. Folk religion as practical know-how
- 3. Creeping reflection and the birth of secrecy in religion
- 4. The domestication of religions
- 7. The Invention of Team Spirit
- 1. A path paved with good intentions
- 2. The ant colony and the corporation
- 3. The growth market in religion
- 4. A God you can talk to
- 8. Belief in Belief
- 1. You better believe it
- 2. God as intentional object
- 3. The division of doxastic labor
- 4. The lowest common denominator?
- 5. Beliefs designed to be professed
- 6. Lessons from Lebanon: the strange cases of the Druze and Kim Philby
- 7. Does God exist?
- Part III. Religion Today
- 9. Toward a Buyer's Guide to Religions
- 1. For the love of God
- 2. The academic smoke screen
- 3. Why does it matter what you believe?
- 4. What can your religion do for you?
- 10. Morality and Religion
- 1. Does religion make us moral?
- 2. Is religion what gives meaning to your life?
- 3. What can we say about sacred values?
- 4. Bless my soul: spirituality and selfishness
- 11. Now What Do We Do?
- 1. Just a theory
- 2. Some avenues to explore: how can we home in on religious conviction?
- 3. What shall we tell the children?
- 4. Toxic memes
- 5. Patience and politics
- A. The New Replicators
- B. Some More Questions About Science
- C. The Bellboy and the Lady Named Tuck
- D. Kim Philby as a Real Case of Indeterminacy of Radical Interpretation.