Breaking the Spell
Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
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4.0 • 72 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In his characteristically provocative fashion, Dennett, author of Darwin's Dangerous Idea and director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University, calls for a scientific, rational examination of religion that will lead us to understand what purpose religion serves in our culture. Much like E.O. Wilson (In Search of Nature), Robert Wright (The Moral Animal), and Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene), Dennett explores religion as a cultural phenomenon governed by the processes of evolution and natural selection. Religion survives because it has some kind of beneficial role in human life, yet Dennett argues that it has also played a maleficent role. He elegantly pleads for religions to engage in empirical self-examination to protect future generations from the ignorance so often fostered by religion hiding behind doctrinal smoke screens. Because Dennett offers a tentative proposal for exploring religion as a natural phenomenon, his book is sometimes plagued by generalizations that leave us wanting more ("Only when we can frame a comprehensive view of the many aspects of religion can we formulate defensible policies for how to respond to religions in the future"). Although much of the ground he covers has already been well trod, he clearly throws down a gauntlet to religion.
Customer Reviews
Great Read!
Dennett's approach to religion is more natural and accessible to people who just wonder how it got that way.The linear logic and strong science in his book makes the case that religion like any product has been market tested and evolved to the nth degree. Dennett should provoke powerful debate and health inquiry into matters of faith by skeptics and believers,alike!
Great read
Five stars!
Difficult to stay focused
Way too long and intellectual for the average reader. Good ideas but boring to stick with. I tried to look up a religious sect he talked about but they didn’t exist so I don’t know if he made them up. A lot of good information that could have been told with way fewer words and more interesting manner.