Behavioral and Brain Sciences



Open Peer Commentary

How far will an account of ritualized behavior go in explaining cultural rituals?


Robert N. McCauley a1
a1 Department of Philosophy, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322. philrnm@emory.edu http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~philrnm/

Article author query
mccauley rn   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 

Abstract

The theory of ritualized behavior should offer insight about cultural rituals. Considering ritualized behaviors' scripted actions and both the frequent absence of anxiety and the routinization of many cultural rituals, questions remain about how much and what precisely gets explained. Among religious rituals, ritualized behaviors arise more strikingly in special agent rituals, but that might be because they usually include novices.

(Published Online February 8 2007)