| Summary: | The Ritual Animalsummarizes the results of over three decades of research on the role of rituals increating cohesion and cooperation within communities and driving conflicts between them. Theprocess has involved various theoretical, methodological, and practical challenges and advances,discussed in this book review forum from a variety of novel angles. Contributors span a broadrange of disciplines, including cognitive and evolutionary anthropology (Atran, Burdett, Lanman,Stanford), history (Larson, Martin), philosophy (McCauley), religious studies (Wood) and compu-ter science (Lane). The range of topics covered by the reviews is similarly broad, addressing many ofthe core questions raised by the book, relating to the nature of ritual, the theory of divergent modes,and the role of ritual in cultural evolution. The reviews also engage with the book’s vision for a newscience of the social and its potential role in tackling practical problems facing humanity today. Thereviewers are generous in their appraisals of the book but also present constructive criticisms andsuggestions for improvements. My response is structured aroundfive main headings, as summar-ized in the following table for ease of reference. In order to provide sufficient background infor-mation for readers unfamiliar with the contents ofThe Ritual Animal, I have prefaced eachsection with a one-paragraph summary of key points from the book to which the reviews discussedin that section are addressed.
|
|---|