An Overview of Harvey Whitehouse’s The Ritual Animal: Imitation and Cohesion in the Evolution of Social Complexity (2021)

Authors

  • Robert Jagiello Oxford University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jcsr.22039

Keywords:

ritual and religion, cooperation and sociality, evolution of social complexity, psychology of social learning

Abstract

In the book The Ritual Animal: Imitation and Cohesion in the Evolution of Social Complexity (2021), Harvey Whitehouse presents an interdisciplinary approach to the study of ritual that is remarkable in range and versatility. Embedded in evolutionary principles, his theories hold vast explanatory potential, asking pertinent questions about the evolutionary functions and psychological substrates of ritual behaviour and its pivotal role in the origins of cultural and social complexity. Moreover, he compellingly discusses how the research outlined, resulting from many collaborations over several decades, can serve as a basis for meaningful policy making as well as the bridging of various fields within academia, hence demonstrating its potential for making contributions toward some of the most pressing issues currently faced by humanity.

References

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Whitehouse, Harvey, Jong, J., Buhrmester, M. D., Gómez, Á., Bastian, B., Kavanagh, C. M., Newson, M., Matthews, M., Lanman, J., McKay, R., & Gavrilets, S. (2017). The evolution of extreme cooperation via shared dysphoric experiences. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep44292

Whitehouse, Harvey, McQuinn, B., Buhrmester, M., & Swann, W. B. (2014). Brothers in arms: Libyan revolutionaries bond like family. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(50), 17783–17785. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6373-2_49

Published

2022-11-16

Issue

Section

Book Panel

How to Cite

Jagiello, R. (2022). An Overview of Harvey Whitehouse’s The Ritual Animal: Imitation and Cohesion in the Evolution of Social Complexity (2021). Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion, 8(2), 102–114. https://doi.org/10.1558/jcsr.22039