Great expectations for Ara Norenzayan'sBig Gods
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4940296 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Luther H Martins (0009-0002-1006-8917, University of Vermont, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 628-637 |
| Publication date | 2014-10-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0048-721X • E-ISSN: 1096-1151 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0048721x.2014.937062 |
| OpenAlex | W2059556609 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 15 |
In Big Gods (2013), Ara Norenzayan argues that the rise of large-scale societies was made possible by an extension of small-scale religious prosociality, presided over (and enforced) by Big moralizing watchful Gods. While religious prosociality is, of course, a redundant characterization of any small-scale religious group, it is doubtful that its extension can account for the historical emergence of large-scale societies, nor can cooperation be explained as an effect of surveillance. Rather, the archaeological and historical record indicates that such large-scale expansions of human societies are better explained by economic factors, political power, and/or military force. Difficulties with Norenzayan's theory are explored and several alternative theories to his ‘neglect of history’ are suggested.Key Words: assortative socialityconsequences of surveillancefictive kinshiprelations of powereffects of geographyneglect of historycultural evolutioninterdisciplinary research Additional informationLuther H. Martin is Professor Emeritus of Religion, University of Vermont. He also has been a Visiting Professor at Masaryk University, Brno. He is the author of Hellenistic Religions (1987) and of numerous articles in this field of his historical specialization. He has also published widely in the field of theory and method in the study of religion, especially, in the area of cognitive theory and historiographical method, and has co-edited several volumes in this area, including Past Minds: Studies in Cognitive Historiography (2011)
Archaeology · Epistemology · Extension (predicate logic) · Field (mathematics) · Geography · Historiography · Periodization · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Scale (ratio) · Social science · Sociology · Ancient Near East History · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · History · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions
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| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,42 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2023 (10) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |