Religion Explained
| Company type | Book |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Pascal Boyer |
| Products | Non-fiction book on evolutionary psychology of religion |
Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought is a 2001 publication by cognitive anthropologist Pascal Boyer that investigates the evolutionary psychology of religion and its foundational roots.
Summary
Boyer interprets religious ideas as outcomes of the mind's cognitive inference mechanisms, akin to phenomena such as pareidolia and the brain’s face perception processes. He supports this naturalistic perspective with interdisciplinary evidence drawn from biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, cognitive science, linguistics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and information processing (psychology).
The work presents religious beliefs through the lens of recent findings on the modularity of mind, proposing that discrete cognitive "modules" drive inference and intuition. Boyer suggests that the common belief in "supernatural agents" (such as gods, spirits, or witches) originates from an innate agent detection module that instinctively attributes conscious intent behind notable events. For instance, a rustling branch or an unexpected noise prompts this module to infer an agent’s involvement, regardless of actual presence. He references anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard's research on the Zande people, who explained a roof collapse both by termite activity and witchcraft, showcasing how cultural context shapes causal interpretations.
Boyer describes religion as a "parasite" or "spandrel" that arises from pre-existing cognitive modules, much like how literacy depends on language capabilities.
Religious ideas engage mental faculties already available—moral intuitions underpin religious ethics, agency detection supports belief in supernatural beings, and so forth. Comparable to art forms like music or painting, religion utilizes these faculties without necessitating distinct mental processes. Understanding religion requires examining how these capacities interact across different cultures.[1]
He admits his explanation
is not a simple solution embraced by many but emerges from the aggregate relevance—the combined activation of various mental systems.[2]
Reception
Religion Explained has elicited diverse responses from critics.
Psychologist Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi described it as "a milestone toward a new behavioral perspective on religion," highlighting its emphasis on cognitive anthropology while noting its limited engagement with earlier behavioral and psychological anthropology scholarship. He commended Boyer for treating religion as a set of imaginative beliefs centered on spirits, consistent with Enlightenment viewpoints.
Conversely, journalist David Klinghoffer criticized Boyer’s methodology as "overly generic," dismissing it as "academic musings" that imply all religions share essentially identical characteristics. Klinghoffer suggested that skeptics like Boyer might be driven by a desire to liberate themselves from religious obligations.
Michael Shermer, founder of The Skeptics Society, regarded the book as a "deeply insightful scientific evaluation" that accounts for religious diversity. Nonetheless, Shermer acknowledged that Boyer does not offer a fully comprehensive explanation, recognizing religion's multifaceted nature and multiple origins.
Theology scholar Brigitte Schön praised Boyer’s combination of cognitive science insights, noting the book provides a complex framework explaining religious phenomena and their endurance in secular contexts. She emphasized its accurate portrayal of how religious concepts are mentally processed and transmitted.
Sociologist Garry Runciman underscored Boyer's concentration on beliefs attributing conscious intent to non-human entities. He lauded the application of developmental, cognitive, and evolutionary psychology to elucidate how such beliefs spread and persist, rather than relying solely on anthropological sources.
Author and economist Zachary Karabell pointed out stylistic weaknesses, describing the prose as frequently difficult despite its compelling interdisciplinary approach. He concluded that Boyer’s exclusion of any consideration for a nonphysical realm makes the work "at times enlightening yet ultimately unconvincing."
Comparative religion writer Karen Armstrong summarized Boyer's central argument as portraying religion as a by-product of human cognitive functions. She highlighted his clear explanation of mental mechanisms that produce supernatural beliefs connected to moral instincts and social classifications without explicit conceptual reasoning.
Former Archbishop of York John Habgood termed the book "ambitious and wide-ranging," praising its coherent argumentation and refined style. He noted Boyer's rejection of conventional explanations for religion in favor of underlying mental architectures that account for religion's universality and persistence despite being "merely a mental phenomenon." Habgood also remarked on the book’s contemporary significance amidst religious extremism and religion’s limited role for rationality in Boyer’s framework.
Editions and translations
Boyer's work has been issued in several English versions and rendered into Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Dutch, and Russian. Across different editions, publishers have modified the main title Religion Explained along with its subtitles.
The United States editions include:
- Religion Explained: The Human Instincts That Fashion Gods, Spirits and Ancestors, hardcover, Basic Books, 2001.
- Religion Explained: The Human Instincts That Fashion Gods, Spirits and Ancestors, paperback, Vintage, 2002.
- Religion Explained, paperback, Basic Books, 2002.
In the United Kingdom, the subtitle was altered from "The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought" to "The Human Instincts That Fashion Gods, Spirits and Ancestors" and published as:
- Religion Explained: The Human Instincts That Fashion Gods, Spirits and Ancestors, hardcover, William Heinemann Ltd, 2001.
- Religion Explained: The Human Instincts That Fashion Gods, Spirits and Ancestors, paperback, Vintage, 2002.
The book has also been translated into:
- Finnish: Ja ihminen loi jumalat: kuinka uskonto selitetään, WSOY 2007.
- French: Et l'homme créa les dieux: Comment expliquer la religion, Robert Laffont, 2001.
- German: Und Mensch schuf Gott, Klett-Cotta, 2004.
- Greek: Και ο Άνθρωπος Έπλασε τους Θεούς, Vanias, 2008.
- Italian: "E l'uomo creò gli dei. Come spiegare la religione", Odoya, 2010.
- Polish: I człowiek stworzył bogów..., Warsaw, 2005.
- Dutch: "Godsdienst verklaard", De Bezige Bij, 2002.
- Russian: "Объясняя религию. Природа религиозного мышления", Alpina nonfiction, 2016.
See also
External links
- Review — Religion Explained, David Livingstone Smith, Metapsychology Online Reviews
- Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought, Jim Rossi, NaturalScience
- Anthropology of Religion, Wordtrade.com Social Science
- Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer, The Complete Review
- God on the brain: is religion just a step away from mental illness?, Anjana Ahuja, The Times