Another criticism supposes that Tylor and Frazer were individualists (unscientific). Their fundamental assumptions, however, are quite different; notably, they apply what is called[by whom?] Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. This incident was subconsciously remembered in human societies. [3], Scientific theories, inferred and tested by the comparative method, emerged after data from tribes and peoples all over the world became available in the 18th and 19th centuries. Converts with a large social network are harder to convert, since they tend to have more invested in mainstream society; but once converted they yield many new followers through their friendship network. Psychological theories of the origin of religion take their departure from the work of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). With totemism he meant that each of the many clans had a different object, plant, or animal that they held sacred and that symbolizes the clan. New religions best spread through pre-existing friendship networks. https://www.patheos.com/.../2014/05/4-neat-theories-of-religion [85] They assert that only a supernatural compensator can explain death or the meaning of life. According to Durkheim, people see religion as contributing to the health and continuation of society in general. In all these, their theories have coloration of their respective perspectives/disciplines. [75] Mere explanations to describe religions and cultures are not sufficient. First of all, it is true that with the progress of science the influence of religion will disappear. This method left them open to criticism for lack of universality, which many freely admitted. He asserted that moralism cannot be separated from religion. Byproduct theories view religion as a spandrel. Prescientific theories have been proposed since presocratic times. He used the concept of Verstehen (German for "understanding") to describe his method of interpretation of the intention and context of human action. He asserted that according to them magic worked through laws. [26]They relied heavily on reports made by missionaries, discoverers, and colonial civil servants. In the 19th century researchers proposed various theories regarding the origin of religion, challenging earlier claims of a Christianity-like urreligion. He criticised the work of his predecessors, Müller, Tylor, and Durkheim, as untestable speculation. [22], Mircea Eliade's (1907–1986) approach grew out of the phenomenology of religion. Like Frazer and Tylor he has also been accused of out-of-context comparisons of religious beliefs of very different societies and cultures. Theories of religion can be classified into. In spite of his praise of Bruhl's works, Evans-Pritchard disagreed with Bruhl's statement that a member of a "primitive" tribe saying "I am the moon" is prelogical, but that this statement makes perfect sense within their culture if understood metaphorically.[71][72]. He asserted that these group meeting provided a special kind of energy,[47] which he called effervescence, that made group members lose their individuality and to feel united with the gods and thus with the group. He argued that the religion of the Azande (witchcraft and oracles) can not be understood without the social context and its social function. He deemed it a contingent part of human culture, that would have disappeared after the abolition of class society. Witchcraft and oracles played a great role in solving disputes among the Azande. Euhemerus (about 330 – 264 BCE) regarded gods as excellent historical persons whom admirers eventually came to worship. The distinction between data and theory is best conceived of in a relative sense: there is no qualitative abyss separating data and theory. This is in contrast to Tylor and Frazer, who saw religion as a rational and conscious, though primitive and mistaken, attempt to explain the natural world. This chapter is concerned largely with the theories of religion advanced by Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) and Carl Jung (1875–1961) for it was they who established the paradigms that have come to dominate the psychological, and psychoanalytical, understanding of and approach to religion. A fundamental feature of any theory of religion is, or should be, an explanation of the link between the two most observed aspects of religion, the individual aspect and the social aspect. Some authors, usually ones who wi… [19][20] The latter criticism presumes that the evolutionary views of the early cultural anthropologists envisaged a uniform cultural evolution. [22] Tylor saw practices and beliefs in modern societies that were similar to those of primitive societies as survivals, but he did not explain why they survived. By repression Freud meant that civilized society demands that we not fulfill all our desires immediately, but that they have to be repressed. [citation needed]. In this respect he agreed with Durkheim, though he acknowledged that Frazer and Tylor were right that their religion also had an intellectual explanatory aspect. The social philosopher Karl Marx (1818–1883) held a materialist worldview. Field workers deliberately sent out by universities and other institutions to collect specific cultural data made available a much greater database than random reports. [30][31][32] The individualist, intellectual view of religion, as proposed by Tylor and Frazer, is still considered worthwhile by many contemporary experts of the field, among others by the anthropologist Robin Horton.[33]. Weber acknowledged that religion had a strong social component, but diverged from Durkheim by arguing, for example in his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism that religion can be a force of change in society. [14][15], A second methodology, functionalism, seeks explanations of religion that are outside of religion; i.e., the theorists are generally (but not necessarily) atheists or agnostics themselves. Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) held a strictly materialist world view and saw economics, including class distinctions (including class struggle), as the determining factor of society. The anthropologist Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard (1902–1973) did extensive ethnographic studies among the Azande and Nuer peoples who were considered "primitive" by society and earlier scholars. He avoided the subjective and vague concept of group attitude as used by Ruth Benedict by using the analysis of society as proposed by Talcott Parsons who in turn had adapted it from Max Weber. ISBN: 9780199859092. [36] Geertz held the view that mere explanations to describe religions and cultures are not sufficient: interpretations are needed too. [74]Geertz followed Weber when he wrote that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning. They asserted that religion is able to function as compensators for unobtained rewards. [15]The dynamics of society was fueled by economics, according to Hegelian concept of theses, antitheses, and synthese[16] False consciousness is a term used by Marx' collaborator Friedrich Engels (1820 – 1895), not by Marx. [28] Historical religions like Christianity and Judaism revolted against this older concept of cyclic time. Marxist views strongly influenced thinking about society, among others the anthropological school of cultural materialism. [27] The primitive man could not endure that his struggle to survive had no meaning. [49] [18] The view of monotheism as more evolved than polytheism represents a mere preconception, they assert. [54], Mircea Eliade's (1907 – 1986) approach grew out of the phenomenology of religion. 1 Among this great religious diversity, there are probably hundreds of different religious … Durkheim's proposed method for progress and refinement is first to carefully study religion in its simplest form in one contemporary society and then the same in another society and compare the religions then and only between societies that are the same. [49]In the book he asserted that monotheist religions grew out of a homicide in a clan of a father by his sons. The sacred i.e. But whileconsensus in precise d… The anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski (1884–1942) was strongly influenced by the functionalist school and argued that religion originated from coping with death. [60] They define religion as a system of compensation that relies on the supernatural. Conflict Theory Conflict theorists view religion as an institution that helps maintain patterns of social inequality. Theophany (an appearance of a god) is a special case of it. Theorists assert that a true religious economy is the result of religious pluralism, giving the population a wider variety of choices in religion. He avoided the subjective and vague concept of group attitude as used by Ruth Benedict by using the analysis of society as proposed by Talcott Parsons who in turn had adapted it from Max Weber. He based his view on recent research regarding totemism among the Australian aboriginals. The functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, is one of the … Max Weber did not so much a propose a general theory of religion, but focused on the interaction between society and religion. [35] Geertz followed Weber when he wrote that "man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning". He argued that the religion of the Azande (witchcraft and oracles) can not be understood without the social context and its social function. Substantive (or essentialist) theories that focus on the contents of religions and the meaning the contents has for people. [53][54] He saw science as practical knowledge that every society needs abundantly to survive and magic as related to this practical knowledge, but generally dealing with phenomena that humans cannot control. He also used some personal knowledge of other societies and cultures for his theories, among others his knowledge of Hindu folk religion. Email: g.levy1@lse.ac.uk; r.razin@lse.ac.uk. [21] Religion is not a necessary part of human culture. E._B._Tylor#Ideology and "Primitive Culture", cultures and religions tend to grow more sophisticated, magic relied on an uncritical belief of primitive people in contact and imitation, societies' views and practices grow more evolved over time in an uniform way, Sociological_classifications_of_religious_movements#The_church-sect_typology, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, his 1920 treatment of the religion in China, the method of historians studying history, http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/cstheory.htm, Clifford Geertz, Cultural Anthropologist, Is Dead at 80, https://en.citizendium.org/wiki?title=Theories_of_religion&oldid=100771827, Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. Communion was brought about through a sacrificial meal. Freud's view on religion was embedded in his larger theory of psychoanalysis. He has been criticized for vagueness in defining his key concepts. Myths and deities to explain natural phenomena originated by analogy and an extension of these explanations. He asserted that these group meeting provided a special kind of energy, which he called effervescence, that made group members lose their individuality and to feel united with the gods and thus with the group. [3] Euhemerus (about 330 – 264 BCE) regarded gods as excellent historical persons whom admirers eventually came to worship. Evans-Pritchard saw these people as different, but not primitive. According to the theory, the more religions there are, the more likely the population is to be religious and hereby contradicting the secularization thesis. He defined religion as, With symbols Geertz meant a carrier that embodies a conception, because he saw religion and culture as systems of communication.[79]. [1]Herodotus (484 – 425 BCE) stated that the gods of Greece were the same as the gods of Egypt. Apart from the Azande, Evans-Pritchard, also studied the neighbouring, but very different Nuer people.The Nuer had had an abstract monotheistic faith, somewhat similar to Christianity and Judaism, though it included lesser spirits. He defined religion as, With symbols Geertz meant a carrier that embodies a conception, because he saw religion and culture as systems of communication.[37]. [58]Eliade wrote that archaic men wish to participate in the sacred. [29] The view that monotheism is a more evolved than polytheism has been disconfirmed by evidence: monotheism is more prevalent in hunter societies than in agricultural societies. [51], He asserted that these experiences arise from a special, non-rational faculty of the human mind, largely unrelated to other faculties, so religion cannot be reduced to culture or society [52] Some of his views, among others that the experience of the numinous was caused by a transcendental reality, are untestable and hence unscientific. [40]He portrayed each religion as rational and consistent in their respective societies. Influential susbtantive theories have been proposed by Tylor and Frazer (treating explanatory value for its adherents), the theologian Rudolf Otto (treating the importance of religious experience, more specifically experiences that are both fascinating and terrifying), Mircea Eliade (treating the longing for otherwordly perfection, quest for meaning, and seeking patterns in mythology in various religions). Some religions are better described by one model than another, though all apply to differing degrees to all religions. [59][60] Compensators are a body of language and practices that compensate for some physical lack or frustrated goal. As children are born into the cult or sect, members begin to demand a more stable life. In contrast to earlier theorists, the anthropologists E. E. Evans-Pritchard and Clifford Geertz performed detailed ethnographical studies of ("primitive") cultures and came to the conclusion that earlier theories were one-sided at best. [45] He saw religion as a reflection of the concern for society. However, some support that supposed approach as worthwhile, among others the anthropologist Robin Horton. Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) saw religion as an illusion, a belief that people very much wanted to be true. They had also totemism, but this was a minor aspect of their religion and hence a corrective to Durkheim's generalizations should be made. Marx endorses Feuerbach's view of religion as alienation and projection, but argues that religion, or alienated consciousness, is only an epiphenomenal reflection of a more basic dehumanizing alienation at the level of social and economic organization. Theophany (an appearance of a god) is a special case of it. the educated elite to maintain access to prestige and power. [27][28]Tylor's anthropological method has been criticized as out-of-context comparisons of practices in different cultures and times. In status groups the primary motivation is prestige and social cohesion. The rational choice theory has been applied to religions, among others by the sociologists Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge. The sacred i.e. Daniel Pals 9780199859092 Paperback September 2014. In his 1939 book Moses and Monotheism Freud proposed that Moses' monotheism derived from Akhenaten. For example, precipitation may be invoked by the primitive man by sprinkling water on the ground. Mainstream established groups are called denominations. He advocated what he called thick descriptions to interpret symbols by observing them in use, and for this work, he was known as a founder of symbolic anthropology. Weber acknowledged that religion had a strong social component, but diverged from Durkheim by arguing, for example in his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism that religion can be a force of change in society. Magic is used to influence the natural world in the primitive man's struggle for survival. [61] The main reasoning behind this theory is that the compensation is what controls the choice, or in other words the choices which the "rational actors" make are "rational in the sense that they are centered on the satisfaction of wants".[62]. Theories of religion in the social sciences. Evans-Pritchard did not propose a theory of religions, but only a theory of the Nuer religion. Belief in supernatural being grew out of attempts to explain life and death. The anthropologist Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard (1902 – 1973) did extensive ethonographic studies among the Azande and Nuer peoples who were considered "primitive" by society and earlier scholars. [58] They see religions as systems of "compensators", and view human beings as "rational actors, making choices that she or he thinks best, calculating costs and benefits". Geertz denied that it would ever be possible to propose a general theory of religion. These theories, for the most … [59] The primitive man could not endure that his struggle to survive had no meaning. The theories could be updated, however, by considering new reports, which Robert Ranulph Marett (1866-1943) did for Tylor's theory of the evolution of religion. religion reinforces group interest that clash very often with individual interests. Durkheim saw totemism as the original and simplest form of religion. The best candidates for religious conversion are those who are members of or have been associated with religious groups (thereby showing an interest or openness to religion), yet exist on the fringe of these groups, without strong social ties to prevent them from joining a new group. 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