Breaking the Spell Religion as a Natural Phenomenon [Paperback]

TheNew York Timesbestseller – 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 Spellwill be read and debated by believers and skeptics alike.Breaking The SpellPreface

PART I: OPENING PANDORA'S BOX

1. Breaking Which Spell?
1. What's going on?
2. A working definition of religion
3. To break or not to break
4. Peering into the abyss
5. Religion as a natural phenomenon

2. Some Quesions About Science
1.Canscience study religion?
2.Shouldscience study religion?
3. Might music be bad for you?
4. Would neglect be more benign?

3. Why Good Things Happen
1. Bringing out the best
2.Cui bono?
3. Asking what pays for religion
4. A Martian's list of theories

PART II: THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGION

4. The Roots of Religion
1. The births of religions
2. The raw materials of religion
3. How Nature deals with the problem of other minds

5. Religion, the Early Days
1. Too many agents: competition for rehearsal space
2. Gods as intersted parties
3. Getting the gods to speak to us
4. Shamans as hypnotists
5. Memory-engineering devices in oral cultures

6. The Evolution of Stewardship
1. TlS(