How should we study religion?: Whilst I’ve not yet had a chance to more than skim it, the summary from Prospect Magazine sounds very interesting.
“Daniel Dennett is one of the world’s foremost philosophers of mind. In his new book Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, Dennett turns his attention to religion, calling for a rational, scientific approach to the history of religion and its effects on culture, behaviour and belief.
In an online exclusive for Prospect, Dennett is taken on by Richard Swinburne, Emeritus Nolloth professor of the philosophy of the Christian religion, University of Oxford. Swinburne suggests that an atheistic approach to the investigation of religion is a non-starter.”
Readers will probably know where I come from in this regard, but such questions do have to be asked and put in the public domain to encourage people to think critically about their beliefs, rather than doing what they were brought up to do and think. I’m sure this article will do a good job from both sides, so I’m looking forward to reading it.
