Disbelief

The Origins of Atheism in a Religious Species

Will M. Gervais, Ph.D

$64.95

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Prometheus Books
30 July 2024

Religion & beliefs; Religion: general; Agnosticism & atheism; Psychology; Social, group or collective psychology

Does God exist? This straightforward question has spawned endless debate, ranging from

apologists’ supposed proofs of God’s existence to New Atheist manifestos declaring belief in God a harmful delusion. Losing Our Religion peels back the curtains on this debate and uses cutting-edge science to tell the story of how atheism arises and spreads in our uniquely religious species.

It’s undeniable that religion is a core tenet of human nature. It is also true that our overwhelmingly religious species is also as atheistic as it’s ever been. Yet, no scientific understanding of religion is complete without accounting for those who actively do not believe. In this refreshing book, Will M. Gervais, Phd., a global leader in the psychological study of atheism, shows that the ubiquity of religious belief and the peculiarities of atheism are connected pieces in the puzzle of human nature. By examining how atheism comes to be in our religious species, Gervais offers new insights on belief and morality. Losing Our Religion provides a radically cohesive theory of both faith and atheism, showing how we became a uniquely and universally religious species, and why many are now abandoning their belief.

Through a firsthand account of breakthroughs in the scientific study of atheism, including key findings from cognitive, developmental, and evolutionary psychology, this book forces a rethinking of the prevailing theories of religion and reminds both believers and atheists of the shared psychologies that set them on their distinct religious trajectories. Losing Our Religion tells us how we became religious, why we’re leaving faith behind, and how we can get along with others across the religious divides we’ve culturally evolved.

By: Will M. Gervais Ph.D
Imprint: Prometheus Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781633889248
ISBN 10: 1633889246
Pages: 432
Publication Date: 30 July 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Will M. Gervais, Ph.D. is a global leader in the scientific study of atheism and a Senior Lecturer of psychology at the Center for Culture and Evolution at Brunel University London. Dr. Gervais’s research has focused on the psychology of atheism for over a decade and his work has been featured in popular outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, Der Speigel, Psychology Today, Vox, and ScientificAmerican. He was named a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science, he is the recipient of the Margaret Gorman Early Career Award from the American Psychological Association, and the SAGE Young Scholar Award from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology, the top international prize for early career achievements in social and personality psychology. Dr. Gervais has given invited talks about his research on atheism to national and international secular groups. His research has been featured in journals such as Science, Nature Human Behavior, Psychological Science, Cognition, The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and The Journal of Experimental Psychology, and he is an Associate Editor at Social Psychological and Personality Science and an Editorial Board Member at Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science and Secularism and Nonreligion.

Reviews for Disbelief: The Origins of Atheism in a Religious Species

"""Gervais offers a sharp, engaging, and insightful journey though the hills and dales of the cognitive science of religiosity and irreligiosity. He illuminates the latest psychological and evolutionary research on both religious faith and atheism. Accessible and conversational while still being scholarly and erudite, Disbelief is raw intellectual pleasure."" --Phil Zuckerman, professor of sociology and secular studies at Pitzer College and author of What It Means to be Moral among others So many people are religious, it's tempting to imagine that religion is hard-wired into us, or conjecture simplistic explanations for its prevalence. Will Gervais gives us a more careful view, grounded in history and experiment. This book will help you understand why some people are religious, why many others are not, and why these questions have been so difficult for so long. --Sean Carroll, author of The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself With admirable clarity, Gervais--one of the foremost experts in the academic study of atheism--shows us how understanding the puzzle of atheism will help to answer this question, as well as to better understand the broader evolutionary and cognitive dimensions of human religiosity. --Edward Slingerland, Distinguished University Scholar and Professor of Philosophy, University of British Columbia, and author of Drunk, How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled our Way to Civilization, among others Gervais's pioneering studies and writings generate a sense of wonder and excitement when it comes to understanding the evolutionary, cognitive mechanisms that give rise to both religious belief and unbelief. With sensitivity, wit, and wisdom, Disbelief constructs a compelling narrative of the best scientific work, much of it Gervais's own, aimed at understanding the Puzzle of Atheism. --Kelly James Clark, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Ibn Haldun University and author of God and the Brain among others"