6390596
Description
Flashcards by Abigail Courtness, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Abigail Courtness
over 7 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| Functional definition | Focus is on the social and psychological functions that religion performs rather than a belief in God/supernatural |
| Polythetic - define religion as creating a list of possible characteristics that make up a religion | Functionalists = positive view of religion Marxists = negative view of religion Feminists = negative view of religion |
| Substance definition | Focus is on the context/substance of a religion and religious belief - belief in supernatural that is above nature and cannot be explained scientifically |
| Durkheim (1858-1917) - defines religion in terms of the contributions it makes to social integration rather than to any God or supernatural | Durkheim made three contributions to the theory of religion: - The sacred and the profane - Totemism - The collective conscience |
| Durkheim claimed that all societies divide the world into two broad categories - the sacred (awe and respect) and the profane (the non-sacred/banal) | Totemism - a natural object or animal that is believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and that is adopted by it as an emblem |
| Durkheim used secondary data gathered by anthropologists who studied Aboriginal Australians to develop his theory of Totemism | Collective conscience - a collection of shared values, beliefs and knowledge that makes social life and cooperation between individuals possible - without this society would cease to exist |
| Malinowski (1954) - states that religion promotes social solidarity by dealing with emotional stress that may threaten the stability of society | Studied a small illiterate society in Papua New Guinea to develop his theory that religion aids in situations that disrupt social life e.g. birth, death and marriage |
| Papua New Guinea study- fishing on home territory = no ritual - fishing on open sea = ritual used for protection Rituals provide protection and comfort | Parsons (1965) - defines religion as part of the cultural system meaning it gives guidelines for human actions e.g. the 10 commandments |
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