期刊
METHOD & THEORY IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION
卷 20, 期 1, 页码 67-107出版社
BRILL
DOI: 10.1163/157006808X260241
关键词
cognition; commitment; costly-signaling; cultural evolution; God; handicap principal; meme; metarepresentation; religion; social complexity
类别
This paper develops an alternative to Dennett's meme-theoretic explanation for religious commitment. First I build an argument in defense of Dennett's position, drawing on a cultural evolution literature that he mentions but does not develop (Dennett 2006). Then I describe data that even this enhanced account leaves poorly explained. Next I draw on commitment signaling theory to produce an account that explains these puzzling data. I show how religious culture provides a pervasive example of human epistemic niche construction. An adaptationist analysis of religious culture exposes how the propagation of costly misunderstandings massively reduce the cognitive burdens of Machiavellian social complexity.
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