{"product_id":"breaking-the-spell-isbn-9780143038337","title":"Breaking the Spell","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller – a “crystal-clear, constantly engaging” (Jared Diamond) exploration of the role that religious belief plays in our lives and our interactions\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask why—and how—it 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 religion’s evolution from “wild” folk belief to “domesticated” dogma. Not an antireligious screed but an unblinking look beneath the veil of orthodoxy, \u003ci\u003eBreaking the Spell\u003c\/i\u003e will be read and debated by believers and skeptics alike.Breaking The SpellPreface\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePART I: OPENING PANDORA'S BOX\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e1. Breaking Which Spell?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. What's going on?\u003cbr\u003e2. A working definition of religion\u003cbr\u003e3. To break or not to break\u003cbr\u003e4. Peering into the abyss\u003cbr\u003e5. Religion as a natural phenomenon\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2. Some Quesions About Science\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. \u003ci\u003eCan\u003c\/i\u003e science study religion?\u003cbr\u003e2. \u003ci\u003eShould\u003c\/i\u003e science study religion?\u003cbr\u003e3. Might music be bad for you?\u003cbr\u003e4. Would neglect be more benign?\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e3. Why Good Things Happen\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Bringing out the best\u003cbr\u003e2. \u003ci\u003eCui bono?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e3. Asking what pays for religion\u003cbr\u003e4. A Martian's list of theories\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePART II: THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e4. The Roots of Religion\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. The births of religions\u003cbr\u003e2. The raw materials of religion\u003cbr\u003e3. How Nature deals with the problem of other minds\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e5. Religion, the Early Days\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Too many agents: competition for rehearsal space\u003cbr\u003e2. Gods as intersted parties\u003cbr\u003e3. Getting the gods to speak to us\u003cbr\u003e4. Shamans as hypnotists\u003cbr\u003e5. Memory-engineering devices in oral cultures\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e6. The Evolution of Stewardship\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. The music of religion\u003cbr\u003e2. Folk religion as practical know-how\u003cbr\u003e3. Creeping reflection and the birth of secrecy in religion\u003cbr\u003e4. The domestication of religions\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e7. The Invention of Team Spirit\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. A path paved with good intentions\u003cbr\u003e2. The ant colony and the corporation\u003cbr\u003e3. The growth market in religion\u003cbr\u003e4. A God you can talk to\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e8. Belief in Belief\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. You better believe it\u003cbr\u003e2. God as intentional object\u003cbr\u003e3. The division of doxastic labor\u003cbr\u003e4. The lowest common denominator?\u003cbr\u003e5. Beliefs designed to be professed\u003cbr\u003e6. Lessons from Lebanon: the strange cases of the Druze and Kim Philby\u003cbr\u003e7. Does God exist?\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePART III: RELIGION TODAY\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e9. Toward a Buyer's Guide to Religions\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. For the love of God\u003cbr\u003e2. The academic smoke screen\u003cbr\u003e3. Why does it matter what you believe?\u003cbr\u003e4. What can your religion do for you?\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e10. Morality and Religion\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Does religion make us moral?\u003cbr\u003e2. Is religion what gives meaning to your life?\u003cbr\u003e3. What can we say about sacred values?\u003cbr\u003e4. Bless my soul: spirituality and selfishness\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e11. Now What Do We Do?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Just a theory\u003cbr\u003e2. Some avenues to explore: how can we home in on religious  conviction?\u003cbr\u003e3. What shall we tell the children?\u003cbr\u003e4. Toxic memes\u003cbr\u003e5. Patience and politics\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAppendixes\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA. The New Replicators?\u003cbr\u003eB. Some More Questions About Science\u003cbr\u003eC. The Bellboy and the Lady Named Tuck\u003cbr\u003eD. Kim Philby as a Real Case of Indeterminacy of Radical Interpretation\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eBibliography\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e\"Ambitious . . . an accessible account of what might be called the natural history of religion.\"\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"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.\"\u003cb\u003e—Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of \u003ci\u003eGuns, Germs, and Steel\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCollapse\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Rich and rewarding . . . the main business of the book is to give a scientific account of how religion may have developed among creatures such as us. . . . The product of an extremely bright mind.\"\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—San Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An elegant, sharp-minded essay on the need to study religion in a dispassionate way.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—The Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Penetrating . . . a sharp synthesis of a library of evolutionary, anthropological and psychological research on the origin and spread of religion.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Scientific American\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eDaniel C. Dennett is University Professor, professor of philosophy, and co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. His books include \u003ci\u003eFrom Bacteria to Bach and Back, Freedom Evolves, Consciousness Explained\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDarwin’s Dangerous Idea\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the National Book Award.","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303835160805,"sku":"NP9780143038337","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780143038337.jpg?v=1767723049","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/breaking-the-spell-isbn-9780143038337","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}