ETHOLOGY OF RELIGION. Human ethology is the biological study of human behavior. It emphasizes the notion that both the behavior of humankind and its physiological basis have evolved phylogenetically and should be studied as an aspect of evolution. Ethology overlaps other disciplines such as sociobiology, behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology, human anthropology, and even consciousness studies, which in part employ similar strategies of research.

History of Ethology

The historical roots of ethology can be traced to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. In his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) Darwin recognized that the role of instinct is just as important for the survival of the species as the adaptation of morphological structures in the course of their phylogenetic histories. During the following decades, however, the Darwinian approach continued to be disregarded. Instead, a scientific school with roots in psychology dominated the...