Why We Believe - Evolution and the Human Way of Being (Hardcover)

A wide-ranging argument by a renowned anthropologist that the capacity to believe is what makes us human Why are so many humans religious? Why do we daydream, imagine, and hope? Philosophers, theologians, social scientists, and historians have offered explanations for centuries, but their accounts often ignore or even avoid human evolution. Evolutionary scientists answer with proposals for why ritual, religion, and faith make sense as adaptations to past challenges or as by-products of our hyper-complex cognitive capacities. But what if the focus on religion is too narrow? Renowned anthropologist Agustin Fuentes argues that the capacity to be religious is actually a small part of a larger and deeper human capacity to believe. Why believe in religion, economies, love? A fascinating intervention into some of the most common misconceptions about human nature, this book employs evolutionary, neurobiological, and anthropological evidence to argue that belief-the ability to commit passionately and wholeheartedly to an idea-is central to the human way of being in the world.

General

Imprint:	Yale University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Foundational Questions in Science
Release date:	2020
Authors:	Agustin Fuentes
Dimensions:	218 x 150 x 26mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Cloth over boards
Pages:	266
ISBN-13:	978-0-300-24399-4
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Social, group or collective psychology Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Developmental biology Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Life sciences: general issues > Evolution
LSN:	0-300-24399-5
Barcode:	9780300243994

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