Publication details
Evoluční teorie a religionistika: Současné evoluční přístupy ke studiu náboženství
| Title in English | Evolutionary Theory and the Study of Religion: Current Evolutionary Approaches to the Study of Religion |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Pantheon : religionistický časopis |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Philosophy and religion |
| Keywords | evolutionary study of religion; cognitive science of religion; Tinbergen; cultural evolution; Darwinism; adaptation; by-product; gene-culture coevolution; evolutionary psychology; human behavioural ecology; cultural group selection |
| Description | Evolutionary study of religion is as old as the scientific study of religion itself. I lay out a short theoretical background of classical nineteenth-century cultural evolutionism, pinpointing some objections (mainly the linking of evolution with a value-based concept of progress or supplying only "just-so stories") which later led to its fall from grace in the mainstream Religious studies scholarship. On the other hand, evolutionary study of religion has witnessed major recent advancements avoiding these pitfalls. This study offers an introduction to the currently most influential evolutionary theories of religion (religion as a by-product; religion as an individual adaptation; religion as a cultural group adaptation), focusing on their different assumptions and methods (evolutionary psychology; behavioural ecology; gene-culture coevolution). Furthermore, I argue that even though there are weaknesses and limitations of applying neo-Darwinian theory of natural selection to religion (and culture in general), the majority of current evolutionary study of religion represents a promising and informative approach that can incorporate both biological evolutionary history shaping cultural change, as well as the feedback-loop in which culture retroactively acts on the gene. |
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