In the Name of God: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Ethics and Violence (Blackwell Public Philosophy Series)

284 Pages·2010·1.32 MB·English

by  John Teehan

In the Name of God
Blackwell Public Philosophy
Edited by Michael Boylan, Marymount University
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9. In the Name of God: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Ethics and Violence
by John Teehan
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In the
Name
of God
The Evolutionary Origins of
Religious Ethics and Violence
John Teehan
A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication
This edition fi rst published 2010
© 2010 John Teehan
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Teehan, John.
In the name of God : the evolutionary origins of religious ethics and violence /
John Teehan.
p. cm. – (Blackwell public philosophy series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4051-8382-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-1-4051-8381-9
(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Religious ethics. 2. Violence–Religious
aspects. 3. Psychology, Religious. 4. Evolutionary psychology. 5. Cognitive
psychology. I. Title.
BJ1188.T44 2010
205.01′9–dc22
2009041467
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Set in 10/12pt Sabon by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited
Printed in Singapore
1 2010
To Patricia,
who makes everything I do possible
and
To Megan and Daniel,
who make everything I do worthwhile

contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Evolution and Mind 1
1 The Evolution of Morality 9
Setting the Task 9
The Moral Brain 15
The First Layer: Kin Selection 21
The Second Layer: Reciprocal Altruism 25
A Third Layer: Indirect Reciprocity 27
A Fourth Layer: Cultural Group Selection 32
A Fifth Layer: The Moral Emotions 36
Conclusion: From Moral Grammar to Moral Systems 41
2 The Evolution of Moral Religions 43
Setting the Task 43
The Evolution of the Religious Mind 45
Conceptualizing the Almighty 53
The Moral Function of Gods 62
3 Evolutionary Religious Ethics: Judaism 72
Setting the Task 72
Constructing Yahweh 74
The Ten Commandments: An Evolutionary Interpretation 80
Conclusion: The Evolved Law 101
4 Evolutionary Religious Ethics: Christianity 104
Setting the Task 104
Constructing the Christ 107
viii contents
Setting the Boundaries: Christian and/or Jew? 114
The Third Race: Christians as In-Group 124
Putting on Christ: Christianity’s Signals of Commitment 129
Loving Your Neighbor and Turning the Other Cheek 135
5 Religion, Violence, and the Evolved Mind 144
Setting the Task 144
Devoted to Destruction: Sanctifi ed Violence and Judaism 147
The Blood of the Lamb 160
A Case Study in the Evolved Psychology of Religious
Violence: 9/11 174
6 Religion Evolving 180
Setting the Task 180
Varieties of Religious Expressions 182
If There Were No God … 186
Religion, Ethics, and Violence: An Assessment 193
Responding to Religion, Ethics, and Violence: Some Proposals 202
Conclusions 215
Notes 220
Bibliography 243
Index 259