Emmanuel Anati: The Origins of Religion. A Study in Conceptual Anthropology
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Emmanuel Anati: The Origins of Religion. A Study in Conceptual Anthropology English Edition, Atelier: Research Center for Conceptual Anthropology, Brescia, Italy, September 2020, ISBN 9788898284504 (ebook), 222 pp Patrik Lindenfors 1 Accepted: 15 November 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Emmanuel Anati, author of The Origins of Religion, has written an enormous number of books and pamphlets on both narrow and broad topics of great interest, not only on the origin of religion, but also on the origin of art and the origin of music. Much of this work is published by Atelier Publications in Conceptual Anthropology, a publisher that almost exclusively publishes Anati’s own work. They also publish Expression, a journal of which Anati is the General Editor. These arrangements are the hallmarks of a researcher without patience for peer-review and dissenting opinions. The topic of The Origins of Religion is the question of when humans first invented (or discovered) religion. To a large degree, the answer depends on what is meant by the elusive term “religion.” The choice of definition in turn determines what counts as traces of religion in the archaeological record. Consequently, much of Anati’s book concerns such discussions, rather than just reporting dates of archaeological features and sites. For those interested in the philosophical issues surrounding the emergence of religion, this book has much to offer. The author argues that religion is not limited to the type of phenomena we observe in contemporary churches, mosques, and temples. Modern mainstream religious practices are a limited snapshot of the thoughts and practices in humanity’s search for meaning and spirituality. Whereas the chief contemporary monotheistic religions to a large degree focus on being correct — having correct beliefs, adhering to correct moralistic rules and regulations — traditional religions such as animism and shamanism steer clear of such issues almost entirely. Anati writes about present-day religions that “interreligious dialogue is mostly made
* Patrik Lindenfors [email protected] 1
Institute for Futures Studies, Stockholm, Sweden
up of monologues. As it looks now, there is little chance that Christians will accept the belief in a Muslim paradise or that Muslims will accept Hindu gods, or of Buddhists will accept the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.” Instead Anati draws on knowledge about practices of contemporary animists and shamans. He argues that such traditional religions are more focused on rituals and communicating with spirits and deceased ancestors. These supernatural entities are often appeased for health purposes (healing being a phenomenon that Anati unfortunately glances over), but also for needs such as advice, placation, and divination. In light of the large differences between current mainstream religions and traditional religious practices, it is clear that the traces we should be looking for are archaeological materials that are more similar to finds left by
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