num_pages: 464
description: For 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, Breaking the Spell will be read and debated by believers and skeptics alike.
language: English
title: Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
titlecomplete: Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
genres: Religion, Theology, Philosophy, Science, Atheism, Psychology, Evolution, Nonfiction, Sociology, History
ratings_count: 12397
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Criticism
publisher: Penguin Books