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Are gods and good governments culturally and psychologically interchangeable?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2016

Robert N. McCauley
Robert N. McCauley*
Affiliation:
Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322. philrnm@emory.edu https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/robertnmccauley/
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Abstract

Cognitive by-product theorists maintain that standard cognitive development facilitates the acquisition of religion. Citing secularization, Norenzayan et al. qualify that theory, proposing that gods and good governments are psychologically and culturally interchangeable. That contention, though, occasions questions about the psychological dynamics involved, about what qualifies as religiosity, and about asymmetries between gods and good governments in the face of catastrophes.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 39 , 2016 , e19
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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