Great expectations for Ara Norenzayan's Big Gods

In Big Gods (2013), Ara Norenzayan argues that the rise of large-scale societies was made possible by an extension of small-scale religious prosociality, presided over (and enforced) by Big moralizing watchful Gods. While religious prosociality is, of course, a redundant characterization of any smal...

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Veröffentlicht in:Religion
1. Verfasser: Martin, Luther H. (VerfasserIn)
Format: UnknownFormat
Sprache:eng
Veröffentlicht: 2014
Schlagworte:
Norenzayan, Ara > Traditionale Gesellschaft > Ethnische Religion > Kulturelle Evolution > Gottesvorstellung
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Zusammenfassung:In Big Gods (2013), Ara Norenzayan argues that the rise of large-scale societies was made possible by an extension of small-scale religious prosociality, presided over (and enforced) by Big moralizing watchful Gods. While religious prosociality is, of course, a redundant characterization of any small-scale religious group, it is doubtful that its extension can account for the historical emergence of large-scale societies, nor can cooperation be explained as an effect of surveillance. Rather, the archaeological and historical record indicates that such large-scale expansions of human societies are better explained by economic factors, political power, and/or military force. Difficulties with Norenzayan's theory are explored and several alternative theories to his ‘neglect of history’ are suggested.
ISSN:0048-721X