The Enhancement Imperative
The Evolutionary Neurophysiology of Durkheimian Solidarity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2137198 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael Hammond (0000-0002-1504-3957, University of Toronto, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2003 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 359-374 |
| Publication date | 2003-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociological Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0735-2751 • E-ISSN: 1467-9558 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1046/j.1467-9558.2003.00194.x |
| OpenAlex | W2062943906 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 22 |
Durkheimian solidarity, especially in regard to religion, is reanalyzed in terms of recent developments in the neurosciences and evolution. Neurophysiological studies indicate that religious arousers can piggyback on reward circuitry established by natural selection for interpersonal attachments. This piggybacking is rooted in uneven evolutionary changes in cognitive capacities, emotional arousal capabilities, and preconscious screening rules for rewarding arousal release. Uneven development means that only a special class of enhanced arousers embedded in macro social structures can tap some of the reservoirs of expanded arousal release protected by these screening rules. It becomes imperative that part of collective social life offers these special arouser packages. Beginning with religion and inequality, the social construction of enhanced arousers leaves a trail across human history. However, this trail is not quite what Durkheim had in mind
Arousal · Cognition · Cognitive science · Epistemology · Interpersonal communication · Political science · Preconscious · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Solidarity · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Law · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Psychology
Cognition and Religion
Fostering critical pluralism with systems theory, methods, and heuristics
What holds society together? Emotions, social ties, and group solidarity in leisure interaction rituals
The Habitus Process
Formalism, Behavioral Realism and the Interdisciplinary Challenge in Sociological Theory
Emotion and Social Structures
Homo duplex revisited
The Potential Relevances of Biology to Social Inquiry
Solidarity and Drug Use in The Electronic Dance Music Scene
Digital Desire in the Daydream Machine
Consumption Solidarity
Emotion, Rationality, and Everyday Life in the Sociology of Emile Durkheim
More than a Façade
On the Origins of Human Emotions
Neuroendocrine Perspectives on Social Attachment and Love
Variety in a meal enhances food intake in man
The neural basis of romantic love
Emile Durkheim, his life and work
The Rules of Sociological Method
The Social Cage
The Division of Labour in Society
The Architecture of Small Networks
The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Sociology and Philosophy (Routledge Revivals)
The Sociology of Emotions and the History of Social Differentiation
Why Gods Persist
Hyperstructures and the Biology of Interpersonal Dependence
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,57 |
| Citation span | 2003 - 2025 (23) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |