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Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society
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Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society Paperback - 2003

by Wilson, David

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Details

  • Title Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society
  • Author Wilson, David
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition New edition
  • Condition New
  • Pages 268
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University of Chicago Press, Chicago
  • Date 2003-10-01
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index
  • Bookseller's Inventory # ING9780226901350
  • ISBN 9780226901350 / 0226901351
  • Weight 0.83 lbs (0.38 kg)
  • Dimensions 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 in (22.86 x 15.49 x 1.27 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Religion and sociology, Evolution - Religious aspects
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2002017375
  • Dewey Decimal Code 306.6

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From the publisher

One of the great intellectual battles of modern times is between evolution and religion. Until now, they have been considered completely irreconcilable theories of origin and existence. David Sloan Wilson's Darwin's Cathedral takes the radical step of joining the two, in the process proposing an evolutionary theory of religion that shakes both evolutionary biology and social theory at their foundations.

The key, argues Wilson, is to think of society as an organism, an old idea that has received new life based on recent developments in evolutionary biology. If society is an organism, can we then think of morality and religion as biologically and culturally evolved adaptations that enable human groups to function as single units rather than mere collections of individuals? Wilson brings a variety of evidence to bear on this question, from both the biological and social sciences. From Calvinism in sixteenth-century Geneva to Balinese water temples, from hunter-gatherer societies to urban America, Wilson demonstrates how religions have enabled people to achieve by collective action what they never could do alone. He also includes a chapter considering forgiveness from an evolutionary perspective and concludes by discussing how all social organizations, including science, could benefit by incorporating elements of religion.

Religious believers often compare their communities to single organisms and even to insect colonies. Astoundingly, Wilson shows that they might be literally correct. Intended for any educated reader, Darwin's Cathedral will change forever the way we view the relations among evolution, religion, and human society.

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From the rear cover

One of the great intellectual battles of modern times is between evolution and religion. Until now, they have been considered completely irreconcilable theories of origin and existence. David Sloan Wilson's Darwin's Cathedral takes the radical step of joining the two, in the process proposing an evolutionary theory of religion that shakes both evolutionary biology and social theory at their foundations.

The key, argues Wilson, is to think of society as an organism, an old idea that has received new life based on recent developments in evolutionary biology. If society is an organism, can we then think of morality and religion as biologically and culturally evolved adaptations that enable human groups to function as single units rather than mere collections of individuals? Wilson brings a variety of evidence to bear on this question, from both the biological and social sciences. From Calvinism in sixteenth-century Geneva to Balinese water temples, from hunter-gatherer societies to urban America, Wilson demonstrates how religions have enabled people to achieve by collective action what they never could do alone. He also includes a chapter considering forgiveness from an evolutionary perspective and concludes by discussing how all social organizations, including science, could benefit by incorporating elements of religion.

Religious believers often compare their communities to single organisms and even to insect colonies. Astoundingly, Wilson shows that they might be literally correct. Intended for any educated reader, Darwin's Cathedral will change forever the way we view the relations among evolution, religion, and human society.

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Citations

  • Christian Century, 06/28/2003, Page 41

About the author

David Sloan Wilson is a professor of biology and anthropology at Binghamton University. He is the author of The Natural Selection of Populations and Communities and coauthor of Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior.

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