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Commitment enforcement also explains shamanism's culturally shared features

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2018

Stefan Linquist*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada, N1G 2W1. linquist@uoguelph.cawww.biophilosophy.ca

Abstract

The proposed explanation for the evolution of shamanism is not the only viable option. I sketch an alternative commitment hypothesis that views shamanism as an adaptation at the level of biological individuals or cultural groups. To the extent that these hypotheses make overlapping predictions about the culturally shared features of shamanism, we lack adequate evidence to discriminate among them.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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References

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