8 ms·
Ask HN: Best books on the psychology of religion?
Hello,
I'm interested in learning more on the psychology of religion. Can anybody recommend any books on the subject, and why you recommend them?
Thanks.
edit: Upon second thought, I'm more interested in the psychology of virtue/morals.
- rasnider 8y agoI’m sure more experienced scholars will have more up-to-date recommendations, but William James ‘Varieties of Religious Experience’ is a classic.
- rossdavidh 8y ago"The Righteous Mind" by Johnathan Haidt. Technically it's not just about religion, it's about the psychology of righteousness, but it's clearly related. My review of it: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/829796352 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/829796352
- technobabble 8y agoThanks! And now that I think about it, I'm looking less at the psychology of religion, but more so the psychology of virtue/morals.
- pythonslayer 8y agoGenerally a good book but makes a couple great missteps. It misunderstands Autism agregiously and fails to account for basic economic opportunism in contemporary politics.
- hprotagonist 8y agoKierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling" and "Either/Or"are hard slogs, but worth it, if you like thinking about essential paradoxes, psychological responses to existentialism, and the like.
- bobwaycott 8y agoI’ve never found Kierkegaard to be a hard slog. I’ve long enjoyed his writings.
- hprotagonist 8y agoMore than most, he suffers from the penalty of "it's old so it has to be Super Serious And Stuffy", which is kind of a shame.
- nopriorarrests 8y agoNot sure if it counts as psychology of religion, but "Orthodoxy" by Gilbert Keith Chesterton is something not to be missed if you are looking for one of the finest works of christian philosophy in XX century. some quotations here https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orthodoxy_(book) https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orthodoxy_(book). Quotations from the chapter I, "Introduction in Defense of Everything Else", might be exactly what you are looking for.
- swah 8y agoAlso I want to read Rene Girard someday - I believe he talks about this as well.
- lainon 8y agoPatrick McNamara - The neuroscience of religious experience
- sscarduzio 8y agoMaybe a bit less orthodox (no pun intended) than the rest of the recommendations, but Peter Hintjens in "Social Architecture" describes very well the differences between cults and groups of virtuous people. And more importantly, the mechanics of how you are more likely to join a cult in moments of weakness. https://g.co/kgs/S3NEdK https://g.co/kgs/S3NEdK
- mstdokumaci 8y agostefan zweig - mental healers
- steamer25 8y agoNot a book but here are some recently published debates between Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris that are moderated by Bret Weinstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Z9EZE8kpo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Z9EZE8kpo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtkwF5qA6uE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtkwF5qA6uE I haven't gotten around to watching them yet (4.5 hours total) but they're supposed to be pretty interesting. The topic of the debate, as I understand it, is roughly whether religion or religious beliefs have any utility from an evolutionary/fitness perspective and/or to what degree could/should we try to objectively evaluate religious/ethical beliefs. Peterson is a clinical psychologist so he's coming to the debate from that angle.
- notduncansmith 8y agoOne thing to be aware of is that there’s a lot of polarization around Peterson’s material. I’d recommend sticking to his long-form material (presentations/podcasts) on YouTube rather than the many clickbait videos that’ll be recommended.
- technobabble 8y agoYeah, I came across his earlier work, and was disappointed on his latest lectures/videos.
- technobabble 8y agoActually Jordan Peterson's early work (2010) was what prompted me to post. I agree with the other commenter, though, he seems to have become a sellout and purposely makes his more recent speeches more polarizing.
- notduncansmith 8y agoHere are a few related materials on the psychology of moral development: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberg's_stages_o... http://cook-greuter.com/9%20levels%20of%20increasing%20embrace%20update%201%2007.pdf http://cook-greuter.com/9%20levels%20of%20increasing%20embra... https://vividness.live/2015/10/12/developing-ethical-social-and-cognitive-competence/ https://vividness.live/2015/10/12/developing-ethical-social-...
- technobabble 8y agoThanks. I never heard about Lawrence Kohlberg.
- boltzmannbrain 8y ago"Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion" by Sam Harris: http://a.co/d/bpQ6OlS http://a.co/d/bpQ6OlS "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins: http://a.co/d/2aP5Tvo http://a.co/d/2aP5Tvo "Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment" by Robert Wright: http://a.co/d/8IawuEo http://a.co/d/8IawuEo Sam Harris discusses these topics (amongst others you may find interesting) in conversations on his podcast: https://samharris.org/podcast/ https://samharris.org/podcast/
- p33p 8y agoThe Evolution of God by Robert Wright is a good read. I think it’s important to understand morals/religion in historical context, and Wright does a great job of adding this context and how religion has developed over the centuries.
- liamcardenas 8y agoThe Science of Religion on EdX [1] I have been interested in why humans believe in religion ever since watching this discussion[2]. This course is absolutely amazing and it even features content from individuals outside of religious studies, including Jordan Peterson and Jonathan Haidt. Each video contains lectures or interviews from experts on each respective subject in the course. Talking about the building block theory of religion? The course features the lady who invented it. Talking about data science in religion? The course features the researcher in charge of the largest religious database in the world. I think this course is a model for how online courses ought to be. And yes, it absolutely gets into the psychology involved. [1] https://www.edx.org/course/science-religion-ubcx-religionx-0 https://www.edx.org/course/science-religion-ubcx-religionx-0 (youtube lectures: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNBQqqt7UnTQ8CuCbfwV4gA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNBQqqt7UnTQ8CuCbfwV4gA ) [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqCRwkak-TU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqCRwkak-TU P.S. this is an excerpt from my blog which is why it is written in a slightly different tone than I typically would use on HN.
- h43z 8y ago"Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief" by Jordan Peterson
- bklaasen 8y agoDaniel Dennett's "Breaking the Spell" is worth your time: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_the_Spell:_Religion_as_a_Natural_Phenomenon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_the_Spell:_Religion...
- ageofwant 8y agoC.S. Lewis' 'The problem of pain', and 'A grief Observed' I think is relevant, even if you are trying to avoid reading apologetics. I would definitely consider reading Julian Jaynes' 'The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind' in this context as well.
- steve1977 8y agoAnother vote for Julian Jaynes. I'm aware his theories are contested, but they're very interesting and thought-provoking nonetheless.
- Haitischmock 8y agoJordan Peterson is a psychology professor from Canada who has become a somewhat divisive/controversial political figure during the last 2 years, but he has been uploading video lectures about exactly these topics for a long time. Jordan Peterson, The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL22J3VaeABQD_IZs7y60I3lUrrFTzkpat https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL22J3VaeABQD_IZs7y60I... Jordan Peterson, 2017 Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief (University of Toronto): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL22J3VaeABQAT-0aSPq-OKOpQlHyR4k5h https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL22J3VaeABQAT-0aSPq-O...
- steven_noble 8y agoPlus one for The Righteous Mind, mentioned below. Also in the vein of 'not quite psychology of religion, but related', The Hero's Journey, by Joseph Campbell.
- charlysl 8y agoWilliam James - The Varieties of Religious Experience. Possibly the classic about this subject ("'Varieties of Religious Experience' now stands as such a masterly investigation of the psychology of individual theologies, that his other works tend to be rather pushed to one side. "). This is a study of the psychology of original religious experiences, not religious institutions. Religious geniuses have often shown nervous instability, such as George Fox or St Theresa. Medical materialism, sexual origins refuted. Perhaps the neurotic temperament is best to receive religious inspiration. There is an abridged version in the Squashed Philosophers: http://sqapo.com/james.htm http://sqapo.com/james.htm I particularly like this sentence: our morality appears as a plaster hiding a sore it can never cure, and all our well-doing as the hollowest substitute for that well-being that our lives ought to be grounded in, but, alas! are not.
- ethn 8y agoI say this was great humility, but unfortunately the majority of books recommended here are naive perspectives of religion—with the one exception being the recommendation of C.S. Lewis. If you want to understand the psychology behind religion I recommend Wittgenstein's "Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough"; Eliade's "Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries" and "The Sacred & Profane"; Feuerbach's "The Essence of Religion"; Gertz's "The Religion of Java" and "The Interpretation of Cultures"; and no anthology of introduction to religion would be complete without Ricouer's "Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences". An amazing excerpt from Eliade details the Tjilpa people orientating their small tribe around this sacred gum tree, until one day the tree breaks, the Tjilpa people then "wandered around aimlessly for a time, and finally [laid] down on the ground together and waited for death to overtake them".
- cprayingmantis 8y agoOut of curiosity which one is the C.S. Lewis recommendation? Had a hard time Googling that.
- combatentropy 8y agoSomeone here recommended The Problem of Pain and A Grief Observed, and I would add Mere Christianity and The Four Loves.
- yesenadam 8y agoI read CS Lewis' Mere Christianity, expecting something impressive, given its huge reputation. Nuh-uh. The crux of his argument, astoundingly, was nothing more than "Either Jesus was who he said he was, or he was mad. Therefore he was who he said he was." It was embarrassing.
- dpeck 8y agoHero of a Thousand Faces, https://smile.amazon.com/Thousand-Faces-Collected-Joseph-Campbell/dp/1577315936 https://smile.amazon.com/Thousand-Faces-Collected-Joseph-Cam..., is a great overview of mythology/morality across many times and cultures. There is also a great interview with the author on Netflix now. It’s from the 1980s, but it’s several hours of great content as well.
- propertius 8y agoAristotle's ethical treatises. Also, his Rhetoric.
- k0t0n0 8y agotry work done by maskeen. his work is on Sikhism in Punjabi language. philosophy on religion is opinionated.
- pepitoroncio 8y agoFreud "Moses And Monotheism" https://archive.org/stream/mosesandmonothei032233mbp/mosesandmonothei032233mbp_djvu.txt https://archive.org/stream/mosesandmonothei032233mbp/mosesan... It's about the evolutionary roots and the modern desire for a uber-father
- richerlariviere 8y agoI would suggest Food of the Gods by Terrence McKenna as it brings an interesting angle over religion related to our consciousness: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51660.Food_of_the_Gods https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51660.Food_of_the_Gods
- seekingcharlie 8y agoFreud's Civilisation & It's Discontent. It's not purely about religion/morals but he does touch on it from an interesting angle: https://www.amazon.com/Civilization-Its-Discontents-Sigmund-Freud/dp/0393304515 https://www.amazon.com/Civilization-Its-Discontents-Sigmund-...