Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

By (author): "Daniel C. Dennett"
Publish Date: January 1st 2006
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
ISBN0143038338
ISBN139780143038337
AsinBreaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
Original titleBreaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
For all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask why—and how—it has shaped so many lives so strongly. Is religion a product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Is it truly the best way to live a moral life? Ranging through biology, history, and psychology, Daniel C. Dennett charts religion’s evolution from “wild” folk belief to “domesticated” dogma. Not an antireligious screed but an unblinking look beneath the veil of orthodoxy, Breaking the Spell will be read and debated by believers and skeptics alike.