New Books in Buddhist Studies

Robin Dunbar, "How Religion Evolved: And Why It Endures" (Oxford UP, 2022)


Listen Later

What is the evolutionary purpose of religion, and are some individuals more inclined than others to be religious?

Our species diverged from the great apes six to eight million years ago. Since then, our propensity toward spiritual thinking and ritual emerged. How, when, and why did this occur, and how did the earliest, informal shamanic practices evolve into the world religions familiar to us today?

In How Religion Evolved: And Why It Endures (Oxford UP, 2022), Robin Dunbar explores these and other questions, mining the distinctions between religions of experience--as practiced by the earliest hunter-gatherer societies--and doctrinal religions, from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and their many derivatives.


Examining religion's origins, social functions, its effects on the brain and body, and its place in the modern era, Dunbar offers a fascinating and far-reaching analysis of the quintessentially human impulse to reach beyond.

Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network’s Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

New Books in Buddhist StudiesBy Marshall Poe

  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3

4.3

31 ratings


More shows like New Books in Buddhist Studies

View all
Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast by Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast

268 Listeners

Robert Wright's Nonzero by Nonzero

Robert Wright's Nonzero

581 Listeners

Tricycle Talks by Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

Tricycle Talks

352 Listeners

Making Sense with Sam Harris by Sam Harris

Making Sense with Sam Harris

26,335 Listeners

Insight Hour with Joseph Goldstein by Be Here Now Network

Insight Hour with Joseph Goldstein

918 Listeners

The Wisdom Podcast by The Wisdom Podcast

The Wisdom Podcast

327 Listeners

The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

10,651 Listeners

The Zen Studies Podcast by Domyo Burk

The Zen Studies Podcast

367 Listeners

Deconstructing Yourself by Michael W. Taft

Deconstructing Yourself

394 Listeners

Weird Studies by SpectreVision Radio

Weird Studies

588 Listeners

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll | Wondery

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

4,122 Listeners

Hermitix by Hermitix

Hermitix

342 Listeners

Theory & Philosophy by David Guignion

Theory & Philosophy

339 Listeners

Mind & Life by Mind & Life Institute

Mind & Life

272 Listeners

Decoding the Gurus by Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne

Decoding the Gurus

938 Listeners