Breaking The Spell, Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett

NEW

An innovative thinker tackles the controversial question of why people believe in God and how religion shapes lives and futures by taking a look at history, philosophy, and psychology. For all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask whyaand howait 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 religionas evolution from awilda folk belief to adomesticateda 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. Review: How would a visitor from Mars dispassionately explain human religion? . . . My guess is that the result would be something like this crystal-clear, constantly engaging, and enjoyable new book. (Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prizeawinning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse