Religion, anthropology, and cognitive science

Authors:Harvey Whitehouse, James Laidlaw

Summary:"Since its inception the discipline of anthropology has asked many more questions about the nature and origins of religion than it has been able to answer convincingly. While the striking universality, yet also the equally striking diversity of religion in human societies - explained so confidently by Enlightenment scholars and the first generations of anthropologists - have continued to exert a general fascination, the second half of the twentieth century witnessed declining ambitions among anthropologists of being able to explain these phenomena. This book tests the claims that a radically new perspective - that of cognitive, science - may be used to provide convincing new explanations