Skip to main content

Before We Embark on Our Discovery…

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Religious Speciation

Part of the book series: New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion ((NASR,volume 6))

  • 155 Accesses

Abstract

Without a proper theory of how religions develop, neither the origin of religion nor the dynamics of recent developments in the manifold religions can be understood. In their introduction, the authors explain their research question and methodology.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    „Das Ziel ist nicht, diese allgemeinen Erfahrungen zu bestätigen und zu erweitern, um zur Erkenntnis eines Gesetzes zu gelangen, etwa wie Menschen, Völker, Staaten überhaupt sich entwickeln, sondern zu verstehen, wie dieser Mensch, dieses Volk, dieser Staat ist, was er geworden ist.“ (Gadamer 1990, p. 10).

References

  • Bellah, R. N. (1964). Religious Evolution. American Sociological Review 29 (3), 358–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branke, J. (Ed.) (2008). Multiobjective Optimization: interactive and evolutionary approaches. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadamer, H.-G. (1990). Wahrheit und Methode. Grundzüge einer philosophischen Hermeneutik Vol. 1. Tübingen: Mohr (Siebeck).

    Google Scholar 

  • Geertz, A. (2015). Religious Belief, Evolution of. In J. D. Wright (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences, 2nd edition, Vol. 20. Oxford: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jablonka, E., & Lamb, M. J. (2006). Evolution in Four Dimensions. Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life. Cambridge, Mass., and London, England: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, B. J. (2017). Evolving God. A Provocative View on the Origins of Religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Maringer, J. (1960). The gods of prehistoric man. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richerson, P. J., & Boyd, R. (2005). Not by genes alone: How culture transforms human evolution. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossano, M. J. (2010). Supernatural selection. How religion evolved. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wunn, Ina (2005). Die Religionen in vorgeschichtlicher Zeit. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wunn, I. (2015). The Crux of a Darwinian Approach on Evolution: What is Evolution, and what did evolve? In G. Hartung & M. Herrgen (Eds.), Interdisziplinäre Anthropologie, Jahrbuch 03/2015: Religion. Wiesbaden: Springer, 83–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wunn, I., & Grojnowski, D. (2016). Ancestors, Territoriality, and Gods. A Natural History of Religion. Berlin, Heidelberg [et al.]: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wunn, I., & Klein, C. (2012). Evolutionary processes in early religion: The psychological interpretation of the earliest indicators of a religious sentiment. Braunschweiger Naturkundliche Schriften 11, 129–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Wunn, I. et al. (2014). Religionsethologie – die biologischen Wurzeln religiösen Verhaltens. ZFR 22(1), 98–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wunn, I. et al. (2015). Götter, Gene, Genesis. Die Biologie der Religionsentstehung. Heidelberg: Springer Spektrum.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Wunn, I., Grojnowski, D. (2018). Before We Embark on Our Discovery…. In: Religious Speciation. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion , vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04435-0_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics