through a glass: evolution

Showing posts with label evolution. Show all posts

Friday, April 9, 2010

Ethics, Evolution, and the Milk of Human Kindness

An article in the Hastings Center Report on evolution and certain social traits and behaviors that are associated with religion.
Published in 1976. Although of course a lot of work has been done since then in the fields of evolutionary psychology and evolution of social behavior, this is still a very interesting introduction to the subject.

The cognitive and evolutionary psychology of religion

The cognitive and evolutionary psychology of religion
By Joseph Bulbulia
Professor of Religious Studies, Victoria University P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
Published in
Biology and Philosophy 19: 655–686, 2004.
© 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Here is a link to the file online. It is a PDF you can download.
Bulbulia has written some interesting things on this subject.

Through a Glass is an exploration of topics loosely gathered around religion; its place in human experience on the personal, cultural, and social levels; its history, with particular attention to the history of its interaction with law and politics; and anything else that strikes me as intriguing or illuminating on the subject.

It is not a blog in any chronological sense, but rather a repository of interesting articles, links, and other information I come across; as well as of my own observations, both verbal and visual. I intend it to be in the spirit of inquiry, curiosity, and exploration, so tangents will be taken and there are no rules.

Comments and conversations — either focused on or spinning off from posts — are heartily encouraged.