Breaking the Spell
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Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon (published 2006) is a book by the American philosopher Daniel Dennett, which attempts a scientific analysis of the origins of religion and of its pros and cons. Dennett implies that the spell he hopes to break is not religious belief itself, but the conviction that religion is off-limits to scientific inquiry.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The book is divided into three parts. Part I discusses the motivation and justification for the entire project: Can science study religion? Should science study religion? After answering in the affirmative, Part II proceeds to use the tools of evolutionary biology to suggest possible theories of the evolution of modern religions from ancient folk beliefs. Part III analyzes religion and its effects in today's world: Does religion make us moral? Is religion what gives meaning to life? What should we teach the children? Dennett bases much of his analysis on empirical evidence, though he often points out that much more research in this field is needed.
[edit] Definition
Dennett's working definition of religions is, "social systems whose participants avow belief in a supernatural agent or agents whose approval is to be sought." He notes that this definition is "a place to start, not something carved in stone."
[edit] Reviews & Commentary
- George Johnson: Getting a Rational Grip on Religion, Scientific American
- Leon Wieseltier: The God Genome, The New York Times suggests that the book is "a sorry instance of present-day scientism...a merry anthology of contemporary superstitions...a fairy tale told by evolutionary biology" and that "Dennett's misrepresentation of Hume ... William James and Thomas Nagel...illustrates his complacent refusal to acknowledge the dense and vital relations between religion and reason, not only historically but also philosophically"
- Adam Kirsch: If Men Are From Mars, What's God, The New York Sun
- World Socialist Website: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/nov2006/spel-n06.shtml
- The philosopher Keith Ward suggests that Dennett "does not seem to realise that the spell was broken as long ago as 1844 when EB Taylor was appointed to a Readership in Anthropology at Oxford University [and] set out to study the pheonomenon of religion from a strictly scientific ... point of view"[1]
- The historical theologian Alister McGrath welcomed the book but was slightly puzzled that the arguments of ... leading critics of memetics were not identified and confronted point-bypoint. This book, in his view, makes a critique of religion dependent on a hypothetical, unobserved entity, which can be dispensed with in order to make sense of what we observe. Isn’t that actually a core atheist critique of God – an unobserved hypothesis which can be dispensed with easily?"[2]
[edit] External links
- Breaking the spell panel -- Audio recording and transcript of panel organized by Royal Society of Arts with Daniel Dennett and Alister McGrath
[edit] Notes & References
Dennett, Daniel C. (2006), Breaking the Spell, Viking (Penguin), ISBN 0-670-03472-X
