Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

Authors: Dennett, Daniel C.
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
BISAC/Subject: SCI075000, REL106000, REL051000
ISBN: 9781101218860, Related ISBNs: 0143038338, 067003472X, 110121886X, 9780143038337, 9780670034727
Classification: Non-Fiction
Number of pages: 464,
Audience: General/trade
Synopsis: The New York Times bestseller – a “crystal-clear, constantly engaging” (Jared Diamond) exploration of the role that religious belief plays in our lives and our interactions

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.
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