View source for Breaking the Spell (Dennett book)

{{short description|2006 book by Daniel C. Dennett}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Breaking the Spell
| italic title = force
| title_orig = | translator =
| image = Breaking The Spell.jpg
| author = [[Daniel C. Dennett]]
| cover_artist = | country = United States | language = English | series =
| subject = [[Psychology of religion]]
| publisher = Viking (Penguin)
| release_date = 2006
| media_type = Print
| pages =
| isbn = 978-0-14-303833-7
| dewey = 200 22
| congress = BL2775.3 .D46 2006
| preceded_by = [[Sweet Dreams (Dennett book)|Sweet Dreams]]
| followed_by =
}}

{{Irreligion sidebar|expanded=books}}
'''''Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon''''' is a 2006 book by American philosopher and cognitive scientist [[Daniel Dennett]], in which the author argues that [[religion]] is in need of [[scientific analysis]] so that its nature and future may be better understood. The "spell" that requires "breaking" is not [[religious belief]] itself but the belief that it is off-limits to or beyond scientific inquiry.<ref name="Dennett.2006">{{Cite book| publisher = Penguin| isbn = 978-0-14-303833-7| last = Dennett| first = Daniel C.| title = Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon| date = 2006 | url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Breaking_the_Spell/dycDDAAAQBAJ?hl=en| access-date=2024-12-19}}</ref>{{rp|17}}

== Synopsis ==
The book is divided into three parts. Dennett's working definition of religions is: "social systems whose participants avow belief in a [[supernatural]] agent or agents whose approval is to be sought". He notes that this definition is "a place to start, not something carved in stone".<ref name="Dennett.2006"/>{{rp|9}}

'''Part I''' discusses the motivation and justification for the entire project: ''Can'' science study religion? ''Should'' science study religion? Dennett addresses the proposal by [[Stephen Jay Gould]] that science and religion represent [[non-overlapping magisteria]] (NOMA); science dealing with facts while religion deals with values, morality, and personal meanings. Noting that NOMA drew few adherents from either side, and that Gould's thesis is itself based upon a scientific view of the issues, Dennett concludes that religion must be open to scientific investigation.<ref name="Dennett.2006"/>{{rp|29-40}}

'''Part II''' proceeds to use the tools of [[evolutionary biology]] and [[memetics]] to suggest possible [[theories]] regarding the [[Evolutionary origin of religions|origin of religion]] and subsequent [[history of religion|evolution of modern religions]] from ancient [[folk religion|folk beliefs]].

'''Part III''' analyzes religion and its effects in today's world: Does religion make us [[Morality|moral]]? Is religion what gives [[Meaning of life|meaning to life]]? What should we [[religion and children|teach the children]]? Dennett bases much of his analysis on [[empirical]] evidence, though he often points out that much more research in this field is needed.

== Critical reception ==
=== Mass media ===

''The Guardian''{{'}}s [[Andrew Brown (writer)|Andrew Brown]] describes it as giving "a very forceful and lucid account of the reasons why we need to study religious behaviour as a human phenomenon".<ref>{{cite web|last=Brown|first= A.|year=2006|title=Beyond Belief|work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/feb/25/highereducation.news3  |access-date=2016-12-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518053323/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/feb/25/highereducation.news3 |archive-date=2016-05-18 }}</ref>

In ''Scientific American'', [[George Johnson (writer)|George Johnson]] describes the book's main draw as being "a sharp synthesis of a library of evolutionary, anthropological and psychological research on the origin and spread of religion".<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/getting-a-rational-grip-o/?page=1| title=Getting a Rational Grip on Religion | magazine=Scientific American| date=June 8, 2015| access-date=December 25, 2024}}</ref>

=== Biological sciences ===
In ''The New Yorker'', evolutionary biologist [[H. Allen Orr]] described the book as "an accessible account of what might be called the natural history of religion".<ref>[https://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/04/03/060403crbo_books?currentPage=all "The God Project"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225230626/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/04/03/060403crbo_books?currentPage=all |date=December 25, 2013 }}, ''The New Yorker'', April 3, 2006.</ref>

=== Religious community ===
[[Leon Wieseltier]], former member of the editorial board of the ''[[Jewish Review of Books]]'', called the book, in ''The New York Times'', "a sorry instance of present-day [[scientism]]" which he labels a superstition.<ref name="Times">{{cite news|title=The God Genome |first=Leon | last=Wieseltier| newspaper=The New York Times| date=February 19, 2006| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/books/review/the-god-genome.html | access-date = December 25, 2024}}</ref>

[[Charles T. Rubin]], professor emeritus of political science at [[Duquesne University|Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit]], likened Dennett to "a tone-deaf music scholar", criticized his "unwillingness to admit the limits of scientific rationality" and accused him of "deploying the same old Enlightenment tropes that didn't work all that well the first time around".<ref>{{cite magazine| first=Charles T. | last=Rubin | title=The God Meme | url=http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-god-meme | date=March 13, 2013 | work=[[The New Atlantis (journal)|The New Atlantis]] | volume=12 | issue=Spring 2006}}</ref>

=== Philosophical ===
[[Edward Feser]] and [[Karlyn Bowman]] criticize his interpretation of theistic arguments, whilst maintaining praise for his passages on cognitive neuroscience.<ref>{{Cite web| first1=Edward | last1=Feser | first2=Karlyn | last2=Bowman| date=March 26, 2010 |url=https://www.aei.org/articles/the-new-philistinism/ |title=The New Philistinism |access-date=December 25, 2024| website=[[American Enterprise Institute]]}}</ref> 

[[Roger Scruton]] both praised and criticised Dennett's book in his book ''On Human Nature'', endorsing his intellectual bravery and imaginative writing, yet criticising his reliance on the [[meme]] theory, and remaining sceptical of his view that all areas of human consciousness can be accessible through the neo-Darwinian human model alone.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Princeton University Press| isbn = 978-0-691-16875-3| last = Scruton| first = Roger| title = On Human Nature | access-date = 2024-12-25| date = 2017| url = https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691168753/on-human-nature}}</ref>

Philosopher and theologian [[David B. Hart]] finds Dennett to be dogmatic, a "Darwinian fundimentalist".<ref>{{cite web| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230172826/http://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/01/003-daniel-dennett-hunts-the-snark-15| title=Daniel Dennett Hunts the Snark| website=[[First Things]] | access-date = 2024-12-25}}</ref>

=== Social sciences ===
Sociologist Penny Edgell (U. of Minnesota), who specializes in morals and religion, find the book frustrating in its combination of worthy scholarship and polemics.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1525/ctx.2008.7.1.64| issn = 1536-5042| volume = 7| issue = 1| pages = 64–65| last = Edgell| first = Penny| title = Be Still, and Know that i am Bright| journal = Contexts| access-date = 2024-12-20| date = 2008-02-01| url = https://doi.org/10.1525/ctx.2008.7.1.64| url-access = subscription}}</ref>

=== Other disciplines===
In ''The New York Review of Books'', [[Freeman Dyson]] wrote:<ref>{{cite journal|author=Dyson, Freeman|title=''Religion from the Outside''|journal=The New York Review of Books|volume=53|issue=11|date=June 22, 2006|url=https://image.sciencenet.cn/olddata/kexue.com.cn/blog/admin/images/upfiles/200791262443795967.pdf}}</ref>

{{blockquote|After Dennett's harsh depiction of the moral evils associated with religion, his
last chapter, "Now What Do We Do?," is bland and conciliatory. "So, in the end," he says, "my central policy recommendation is that we gently, firmly educate the people of the world, so that they can make truly informed choices about their lives." This recommendation sounds harmless enough. Why can we not all agree with it? Unfortunately, it conceals fundamental disagreements. To give the recommendation a concrete meaning, the meaning of the little word "we" must be specified. Who are the "we" who are to educate the people of the world? At stake is the political control of religious education, the most contentious of all the issues that religion poses to modern societies. "We" might be the parents of the children to be educated, or a local school board, or a national ministry of education, or a legally established ecclesiastical authority, or an international group of philosophers sharing Dennett's views. Of all these possibilities, the last is the least likely to be implemented. Dennett's recommendation leaves the practical problems of regulating religious education unsolved. Until we can agree about the meaning of "we," the recommendation to "gently, firmly educate the people of the world" will only cause further dissension between religious believers and well-meaning philosophers.}}

== Translations ==

''Breaking the Spell'' has been translated into several other languages, including:
{{Aligned table
 |cols=5 |style=line-height:1.35em; |colstyle=padding-right:1.5em; |col2style=font-style:italic;
 |row2style=padding-top:0.35em;
 | Dutch   | De betovering van het geloof: religie als een natuurlijk fenomeen | Hans Bosman | Amsterdam: Contact 2006 | {{ISBN|9025426875}}
 | Finnish | Lumous murtuu: uskonto luonnonilmiönä | Kimmo Pietiläinen | Helsinki: Terra Cognita 2007 | {{ISBN|978-952-5202-96-0}}
 | German  | Den Bann brechen. Religion als natürliches Phänomen | Frank Born | Frankfurt a. M.: Verlag der<br />Weltreligionen im Insel Verlag 2008 | {{ISBN|978-3-458-71011-0}}
 | Greek   | Απομυθοποίηση | Dimitris Xygalatas<br />Nikolas Roubekas | Thessaloniki: Vanias 2007 | {{ISBN|978-960-288-198-9}}
 | Indonesian | Breaking the Spell. Agama sebagai Fenomena Alam | Ninus D. Andarnuswari | Jakarta:  Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia 2021 | {{ISBN|978-602-481-519-6}}
| Italian | Rompere l'incantesimo. La religione come fenomeno naturale | S. Levi | Milano: Cortina Raffaello 2007 | {{ISBN|978-88-6030-097-3}}
 | Polish  | Odczarowanie. Religia jako zjawisko naturalne | Barbara Stanosz | Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut<br />Wydawniczy 2008 | {{ISBN|978-83-06-03138-6}}
 | Portuguese | Quebrando O Encanto. A Religião Como Fenômeno Natural | Helena Londres | Rio de Janeiro: Globo 2006 | {{ISBN|978-85-250-4288-0}}
 | Serbian | Razbijanje čarolije: religija kao prirodna pojava | Milan Perić | Belgrade: McMillan 2015 | {{ISBN|978-86-80328-01-0}}
 | Spanish | Romper el hechizo: la religión como un fenómeno natural | Felipe de Brigard | Madrid: Katz 2007 | {{ISBN|978-84-96859-00-5}}
|Persian|شکستن طلسم: دین به عنوان پدیده ای طبیعی|Amir Maniee|Published online, 2019}}

== See also ==
* [[Religious studies]]
* [[Evolutionary psychology of religion]]
* {{hlist
    | Similar{{\}}related books: ''[[Religion Explained]]''
    | ''[[Darwin's Cathedral]]''
    | ''[[The End of Faith]]''
    | ''[[The God Delusion]]''
    | ''[[God is Not Great]]''
   }}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote|Daniel Dennett#Breaking the Spell (2006)|Breaking the Spell}}
*[https://www.c-span.org/video/?191517-1/breaking-spell-religion-natural-phenomenon Interview with Dennett on ''Breaking the Spell'', February 14, 2006], [[C-SPAN]]

===Other reviews===
* Adam Kirsch, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080709081103/http://www.nysun.com/article/27182 If Men Are From Mars, What's God]" in ''[[The New York Sun]]''.
* James Brookfield, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20120727083423/http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/nov2006/spel-n06.shtml Dennett’s dangerous idea]", [[World Socialist Website]].

{{Daniel Dennett}}
{{Irreligion}}
{{New Atheism}}
{{Philosophy of religion}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breaking The Spell: Religion As A Natural Phenomenon}}
[[Category:2006 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Analytic philosophy literature]]
[[Category:Books by Daniel Dennett]]
[[Category:Books critical of religion]]
[[Category:Cognitive science literature]]
[[Category:English-language non-fiction books]]
[[Category:New Atheism]]