Religion, economy, and cooperation / [edited by] Ilkka Pyysiainen.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Pyysiäinen, Ilkka.

Series:

Religion and reason ; 49.

Religion and reason, 0080-0848 ; v. 49

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economics--Religious aspects.

Economics.

Economics--Moral and ethical aspects.

Cooperation--Religious aspects.

Cooperation.

Cooperation--Moral and ethical aspects.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (250 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : De Gruyter, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Why give money to beggars? Why make sacrifices to help others? The current volume targets such questions with the tools of neoclassical and behavioural economics, philosophy, and sociology of religion. Both religion and economics are analyzed as social institutions that support human intra-group cooperation. Even if individuals are rational maximizers of personal utility, they yet must take into account the reciprocal nature of human relationships. It is better to be part of a cooperative group and make some personal sacrifices because, in the end, everybody benefits from this. Sometimes the metaphor of an invisible hand is used to describe the fact that economic exchange seems to follow some rules that guarantee the best possible result for everyone. In religion, it is of course the hand of God that guides the world. In both cases, individuals are in a way playing against a superior being that always seems to win. In this volume, some of the cognitive mechanisms and cultural selective forces behind this are examined by specialists in different fields of science. The first contributions analyze theoretical and methodological issues; in later chapters, developments in the European history are explored from the perspectives of sociology and economic theory.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Servants of Two Masters: Religion, Economy, and Cooperation

Religious Culture and Cooperative Prediction under Risk: Perspectives from Social Neuroscience

Rational Choice Theory and Bounded Rationality

Playing against Superior Beings in Religion, Technology and Economy

Durkheim and Psychology

Religion and the Emergence of the Rule of Law†

Max Weber Revisited

The Market, God, and the Ascetic Life

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612723223

9781282723221

1282723227

9783110246339

3110246333

OCLC:

659500658