Supernatural as Natural A Biocultural Approach to Religion

This book provides a general introduction to the biological and evolutionary bases of religion and is suitable for introductory level courses in the anthropology and psychology of religion and comparative religion. Why did human ancestors everywhere adopt religious beliefs and customs? The presence and persistence of many religious features across the globe and time suggests that it is natural for humans to believe in the supernatural. In this new text, the authors explore both the biological and cultural dimensions of religion and the evolutionary origins of religious features.

IntroductionReligion’s Family ResemblancesReligion, Spirituality, and ReligiosityOverview of BookChapter 1: Anthropology and the Study of ReligionIntroduction to the Anthropological Study of ReligionWestern Perspectives on ReligionThe Development of Anthropological Approaches to ReligionThe Four-Field Approach of AnthropologyConclusion: The Biocultural Approach to the Study of ReligiosityChapter 2: Our World and How We Know ItIntroductionScience, Religion, and the UniverseMysticism as ScienceConclusions: Comparing Science and ReligionChapter 3: Consciousness and Spiritual ExperiencesOpening vignette: Visionary Spiritual Experiences and the Origins of Major Religious TraditionsIntroductionWhat is Consciousness?The Biological Bases of Spiritual Consciousness: The Integrative Mode of ConsciousnessOrigins of Religious Experiences: Natural Induction of the Integrative Mode of ConsciousnessAdaptive Aspects of the Integrative Mode of ConsciousnessConclusion: Religious Experience as Personal Experience of BiologyAppendix: Assessing Mystical Experiences/Hood’s Mysticism ScaleChapter 4: Animal Rituals and the Roots of ReligiosityIntroduction: Ritual in the Animal WorldWhat are Rituals?The Triune Brain and Ritual BehaviorAnimal RitualsThe Evolution of Ritual BehaviorsConclusions: The Animal Roots of Human Ritual ActivityChapter 5: The Origins of Shamanism and the Flowering of ReligiosityIntroduction: Evidence for the Emergence of New Forms of RitualWhat are Shamans?The Evolutionary Origins of Spiritual ExperiencesPsilocybin-Containing Mushrooms as Sources of Spiritual ExperiencesThe Middle/Upper Paleolithic Transition and Human Cultural EvolutionHuman Cognitive Evolution: The Emergence of Specialized Intelligences“Complex Hunter-Gatherer Type Religions”: The Rise of Ancestor Cults and PriestsConclusionsChapter 6: Origins and Functions of Religious HealingIntroduction: Religious Healing as a Cultural UniversalThe Co-Evolution of Healing and ReligiosityShamanism as a Foundation for Religious Healing AdaptationsReligious Adaptations in Healing ProcessesConclusions: Shamanic Healing and the Holistic ImperativeChapter 7: Religion and Cognition: How Religion Shapes How We ThinkIntroduction: Religious Ideas and the Structure of the UniverseAnimism: The Belief in Spirit BeingsMyth and the UniverseSubstantive BeliefsConclusions: Spirit Concepts as Indigenous PsychologiesChapter 8: Religion and EmotionsIntroductionBronislav Malinowski: The Emotional Adaptiveness of Magic and ReligionSigmund Freud and the Roles of the Unconscious in ReligionReligion, Sex, and GenderHow Religion Shapes Our DevelopmentReligion as an Evolutionary Byproduct? Attachment Theory and ReligionReligious Conversion as Learning a Second CultureConclusionsChapter 9: Religion and Society: How Religion Shapes Our Relations with OthersIntroductionThe Evolutionary Origins of Human Social Organization and ReligionDurkheim and the Social Symbolic Approaches to ReligionReligion and Social ControlThe Social Origins of Conceptualizations of Deity and the SacredReligion as a Biologically-Based Adaptive Social MechanismConclusions: Durkheim’s Legacy in Understanding Religion as a Social and Symbolic PhenomenonChapter 10: Supernatural EvilIntroduction: Supernatural Evil as a Religious UniversalAnthropological Views of Sorcery and WitchcraftThe Sorcerer/Witch as a Social Universal of Religionand ShamanismWitchcraft and Heresy in EuropeHuman SacrificeConclusionsChapter 11: Conclusions: Religion in Evolutionary PerspectiveIntroductionThe Conceptual Frameworks of EvolutionAssessing the Evolutionary Status of Religious FeaturesWhy Must we Learn to Disagree?Conclusions: Universalist PerspectivesReferencesIndex

Michael Winkelman, Ph.D. (University of California-Irvine), M.P.H. (University of Arizona) is an Associate Professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. He served as President of the Anthropology of Consciousness section of the American Anthropological Association, as was the founding President of its Anthropology of Religion Section. His principal publications on shamanism include Shamans, Priests and Witches (1992) and Shamanism (2000). He has also addressed the role of psychedelic medicines in shamanism in his co-edited Psychedelic Medicine.John Baker, Dr. Phil. (Universität Hamburg, Germany) is a Professor of Anthropology at Moorpark College. He has authored several papers on the constructive use of altered states of consciousness and on the history and ritual uses of psychoactive substances. He is presently serving as the President of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness.