Homayun Sidky

Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal and Pseudoscience (eBook, ePUB)

An Anthropological Critique

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

"Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal, and Pseudoscience" provides a comprehensive rejoinder to the challenges posed to science, scientific anthropology, evolutionary theory and rationality by the advocates of supernatural, paranormal, and pseudoscientific perspectives and modes of thought associated with the current rise of irrationalism, antiintellectualism, and emboldened religious fundamentalism and violence. Drawing upon H. Sidky's scientific anthropological background and ethnographic field research of supernatural and paranormal beliefs and practices in several cultures over three decades, the book answers several important questions: Why do humans have a proclivity for the supernatural and paranormal thinking? Why has humanity remained shackled to sets of ideas inherited from a violent past that have no basis in reality and which bestow an illusionary solace, promote bloodshed, endless cruelties and fervent hatreds, and have come at a high cost? Why have ancient superstitions been held as sacred, inviolate truths while other aspects of the archaic belief systems of which they were a part have long been discarded? Why have not humans outgrown religion and paranormal beliefs?

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Anthem Press
• Seitenzahl: 518
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. November 2019
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781785271649
• Artikelnr.: 58337925

Autorenporträt

H. Sidky is professor of anthropology at Miami University (Ohio), USA, specializing in the anthropology of religion, entheogens, ecological anthropology, anthropological theory/history of anthropological thought, and the paranormal and pseudoscience. He is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. The Problem with Religion: Preliminary Issues
2. The Unreal Real: The Supernatural, Religion and the Paranormal
3. Can Science Say Anything about Religion and the Supernatural?
4. Ghostly Rappings, the Science of the Soul and the Religious Nature of the Paranormal
5. Ghostly Encounters in the Field: Anthropology of the Paranormal or Paranormal Anthropology?
6. Why People Think the World Is Haunted
7. Cognitive Biases and Why People Think Eerie Thoughts
8. Miracles as Evidence of God's Actions in the World
9. When God Talks to People: Religious Experiences as Evidence of the Supernatural
10. Books Authored by God? Sacred Texts as Evidence of the Supernatural
11. God's Fingerprints in the Natural World: Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity and Cosmic Fine-Tuning
12.The Miracles of the Bible: Quintessential Sources for Paranormal Phenomena in Western Culture
13. Jesus the Miracle Worker, Magician and Sorcerer
14. Jesus's Empty Tomb, the Missing Body, and His Return from the Dead: Sources for the Tale
15. The Post-Resurrection Appearances in the New Testament
16. Coping with Failed Prophesy: A Socio-Psychological Explanation for the Rise of Christianity
17. Conclusions: Why Religious and Paranormal Beliefs Persist and Their Dangers
References
Index.