ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a solution to the problem of syncretism on very different levels. Representing the stance of social science, the anthropologist Charles Stewart points out different significant discourses on syncretism that have been active in anthropology, with decisive results in political as well as religious life. Charles Stewart examines the research history of anthropology to find the answer to misconceptions of the category. In reference to what he names 'circumlocution', Stewart understands impact that the term syncretism has on forming folk theories of culture and directing the invention of traditions. It is in this recognition of the enduring problem of the notion that he points to how syncretism is socially related to power. Martin turns to the cognitive sciences to find scientific criteria that can explain the old problems of syncretism in a new way. In his recent work, Martin proposes that we use the Darwinian theory of natural selection as a model for the underlying mechanisms of syncretism.
