Leonardo Ambasciano is Managing Editor of the Journal of Cognitive Historiography and was Visiting Lecturer in Religious Studies at Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic).

• List of Figures and Tables Preface: Ghosts, Post-Truth Despair, And Brandolini’s Law Acknowledgements Note on Text1. An Incoherent Contradiction2. The Deep History of Comparison 3. The Darwinian Road Not Taken 4. Goodbye Science 5. Eliadology 6.The Demolition of the Status Quo 7. The Cognitive (R)Evolution: The End? Epilogue: The Night of Pseudoscience Bibliography

The unnatural history of religions is, for good or ill, quite natural for the type of animal we are, a fact accounting for the tenacity of the supernatural in human life and society. Rightly or wrongly, Ambasciano believes this tenacity stands in the way of a truly scientific study of religion. Accordingly, he hopes his book will encourage more to adopt both methodological naturalism and philosophical naturalism. Whether or not he is successful in this endeavor, An Unnatural History of Religions will surely challenge many in the academic study of religion, and that would be a good thing.

Leonardo Ambasciano is Managing Editor of the Journal of Cognitive Historiography and was Visiting Lecturer in Religious Studies at Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic).

• List of Figures and Tables Preface: Ghosts, Post-Truth Despair, And Brandolini’s Law Acknowledgements Note on Text1. An Incoherent Contradiction2. The Deep History of Comparison 3. The Darwinian Road Not Taken 4. Goodbye Science 5. Eliadology 6.The Demolition of the Status Quo 7. The Cognitive (R)Evolution: The End? Epilogue: The Night of Pseudoscience Bibliography

The unnatural history of religions is, for good or ill, quite natural for the type of animal we are, a fact accounting for the tenacity of the supernatural in human life and society. Rightly or wrongly, Ambasciano believes this tenacity stands in the way of a truly scientific study of religion. Accordingly, he hopes his book will encourage more to adopt both methodological naturalism and philosophical naturalism. Whether or not he is successful in this endeavor, An Unnatural History of Religions will surely challenge many in the academic study of religion, and that would be a good thing.

Leonardo Ambasciano is Managing Editor of the Journal of Cognitive Historiography and was Visiting Lecturer in Religious Studies at Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic).

• List of Figures and Tables Preface: Ghosts, Post-Truth Despair, And Brandolini’s Law Acknowledgements Note on Text1. An Incoherent Contradiction2. The Deep History of Comparison 3. The Darwinian Road Not Taken 4. Goodbye Science 5. Eliadology 6.The Demolition of the Status Quo 7. The Cognitive (R)Evolution: The End? Epilogue: The Night of Pseudoscience Bibliography

The unnatural history of religions is, for good or ill, quite natural for the type of animal we are, a fact accounting for the tenacity of the supernatural in human life and society. Rightly or wrongly, Ambasciano believes this tenacity stands in the way of a truly scientific study of religion. Accordingly, he hopes his book will encourage more to adopt both methodological naturalism and philosophical naturalism. Whether or not he is successful in this endeavor, An Unnatural History of Religions will surely challenge many in the academic study of religion, and that would be a good thing.