Natural Selection In the Evolution of Religion

Since its inception, evolutionary theory has sought to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding biological processes and their degree of influence in the ecology of the behavior of living beings. Such an approach has managed to explain how the pressure mechanism of natural selection has allowed the emergence of biological systems that exhibit social behavior (e.g. ants, dolphins, and Hominidae in general). Yet, when trying to address the ever-increasing complexity that grows within the social and cultural evolution of different societies, this explanation does not suffice.

In this week’s podcast, professor Armin Geertz outlines an answer elaborating on the arguments presented in his co-authored book The Emergence and Evolution of Religion by Means of Natural Selection. He argues that there are multilevel selection processes that happen within different sociocultural formations, and these are key to understanding how religion has evolved throughout history.

He proposes 4 ways in which additional selection pressures occur, these are named after prominent names in the history of sociological thought: Spencerian type 1, Durkheimian, Spencerian type 2, and Marxian. Respectively, the first is related to group formation based symbolic identification, the second relates to the group competition that happens within an environmental niche, the third refers to when polities developed complex institutions capable of wide regional or global expansión, and the fourth is when in a society, there is discrimination against specific groups, which could lead to a revolution or to that group to be put down.

In all of these, religion plays a key role in articulating, contrasting, or supporting different ways of social engagement within a society and between societies as well. Understanding these mechanisms and the way they interplay with religion allows for a complementary framework derived from natural selection towards sociocultural evolution.

This podcast was recorded and produced in the context of the 17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR), “Religion – Continuations and Disruptions” held in Tartu, June 25 to June 29, 2019. We kindly thank the EASR Committee and the University of Tartu scientific committee, organising team, and volunteers for the support provided during this process.