Religion : an anthropological perspective / H. Sidky.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sidky, H., 1956- author.

Contributor:

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Series:

American university studies. Theology and religion ; Series VII, v. 348.

American University studies. Series VII, Theology and religion ; vol. 348

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anthropology of religion.

Physical Description:

xi, 279 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., [2015]

Summary:

Religion: An Anthropological Perspective provides a critical view of religion focusing upon important but overlooked topics such as religion, cognition, and prehistory; science, rationality, and religion; altered states of consciousness, entheogens and religious experience; religion and the paranormal; magic and divination; religion and ecology; fundamentalism; and religion and violence. In addition, this book offers a unique and concise coverage of traditional topics of the anthropology of religion such as shamanism and witchcraft (past and present), ritual, myth, religious symbols, and revitalization movements. A vast range of findings from ethnography, ethnology, cultural anthropology, archaeology, prehistory, history, and cognitive science are brought to bear on the subject. Written in clear jargon-free prose, this book provides an accessible and comprehensive yet critical view of the anthropology of religion both for graduate and undergraduate students and general audiences. Its scope and critical scientific orientation sets Religion: An Anthropological Perspective apart from all other treatments of the subject. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Anthropology and Religion 1

Chapter 2 Religion, Cognition, and Prehistory 16

Chapter 3 Shamanism 26

Chapter 4 Altered States of Consciousness and Religion 39

Chapter 5 Entheogens and Religious Experience 57

Chapter 6 Witchcraft: Evil in Human Form 71

Chapter 7 Magic and Divination 89

Chapter 8 Religion and the Paranormal 105

Chapter 9 Religion: Organization and Evolutionary Patterns 123

Chapter 10 Religion and Ecology 140

Chapter 11 Ritual: The Practical Dimension of Religion 159

Chapter 12 Myth: The Narrative Dimension of Religion 171

Chapter 13 Symbols: The Representational Dimension of Religion 184

Chapter 14 Revitalization Movements and the Origins of Religion 199

Chapter 15 Fundamentalism 212

Chapter 16 Religion and Violence 225.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

1433129175

9781433129179

OCLC:

900867810

Publisher Number:

99964198567