"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?
- 518 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- CONTENTS
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- INTRODUCTION
- Chapter One THE PROBLEM WITH RELIGION: PRELIMINARY ISSUES
- Chapter Two THE UNREAL REAL: THE SUPERNATURAL, RELIGION, AND THE PARANORMAL
- Chapter Three CAN SCIENCE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT RELIGION AND THE SUPERNATURAL?
- Chapter Four GHOSTLY RAPPINGS, THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL, AND THE RELIGIOUS NATURE OF THE PARANORMAL
- Chapter Five GHOSTLY ENCOUNTERS IN THE FIELD: ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE PARANORMAL OR PARANORMAL ANTHROPOLOGY?
- Chapter Six WHY WE THINK THE WORLD IS HAUNTED
- Chapter Seven COGNITIVE BIASES AND WHY PEOPLE THINK EERIE THOUGHTS
- Chapter Eight MIRACLES AS EVIDENCE OF GOD’S ACTIONS IN THE WORLD
- Chapter Nine WHEN GOD TALKS TO PEOPLE: ARE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE EVIDENCE OF GOD?
- Chapter Ten BOOKS AUTHORED BY GOD? SACRED TEXTS AS EVIDENCE OF THE SUPERNATURAL
- Chapter Eleven GOD’S FINGERPRINTS IN THE NATURAL WORLD: INTELLIGENT DESIGN, IRREDUCIBLE COMPLEXITY, AND COSMIC FINE-TUNING
- Chapter Twelve THE MIRACLES OF THE BIBLE: THE QUINTESSENTIAL FOUNDATIONS OF PARANORMAL BELIEFS IN WESTERN CULTURE
- Chapter Thirteen JESUS THE MIRACLE WORKER, MAGICIAN, AND SORCERER
- Chapter Fourteen JESUS’S EMPTY TOMB, MISSING BODY, AND RETURN FROM THE DEAD: SOURCES FOR THE PARANORMAL TALE
- Chapter Fifteen THE POST-RESURRECTION APPEARANCES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
- Chapter Sixteen COPING WITH FAILED PROPHESY: A SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION FOR THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY
- Chapter Seventeen CONCLUSIONS: WHY RELIGIOUS AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS PERSIST AND THEIR DANGERS
- REFERENCES
- INDEX
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Yes, you can access Religion, Supernaturalism and the Paranormal by Homayun Sidky in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Sciences sociales & Neurosciences cognitives et neuropsychologie. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.