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Belief and Ideology - Coggle Diagram
Belief and Ideology
Belief Systems
Religion as a closed belief system = Religion is often seen as a closed system of belief because they often suggest that they know the truth about the world and do not tolerate those that criticise that truth. They can be very conservative in their beliefs and not wish to change.
Religion as an open belief system = Religion can be seen as an open system of belief when it is open to change. Herberg suggests that some religions are open to change and have diluted their belief systems in order to maintain relevance in modern society. He refers to this process as internal secularisation (separating of the church or religions from other institutions for example education and family) and uses the acceptance of female Bishops into the Church of England as an example.
Science as a closed belief system = Kuhn, Science is a closed belief system as it runs of paradigms which shape the way that the discipline is defined and understood as well as how research is carried out. As this is accepted by the majority it is very hard to change
Science as an open belief system = Popper believes that science is an open system because it is open to challenge and it is built upon the idea of falsification. If a theory is proven wrong it is replaced and the knowledge within discipline grows.
The CUDOS Norms (Merton 1973, functionalist) = argues that science can only thrive as a major social institution if it receives support from other institutions and values
Polanyi - Self Sustaining Beliefs = in order to protect themselves from challenge, closed systems such as religion have 3 main tendencies
1) Denial of legitimacy - complete rejection of the claims of rivals to convince followers that they alone hold truth
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3) Circularity - each idea within the system is explained in terms of another idea within the system
Religion - e.g. if you were about to witness something dangerous and something prevents it, then religious people would believe that God was with them at that time, verifying their belief and religion.
Religions make claims about what the world is or ought to be like, but they are not the only belief systems to do this
The impact of science: 1) achievements in medicine have eradicated many once fatal diseases. 2) transport, communication, work and leisure would be unrecognisable to our recent ancestors due to scientific and technological development.
Case Study: Azande & Witchcraft = Evans- Pritchard = studied the Azande Tribe and shows how their belief system reflects the characteristics of a closed system. Their belief in witchcraft causing misfortune and the proof coming from a 'Benge' potion given to chickens seems irrational to outsiders but is indoctrinated into the tribe and no one questions it.
Communism = scientific knowledge is not private property. Scientists must share it with the scientific community (by publishing their findings) otherwise knowledge cannot grow
Universalism = the truth or falsity of scientific knowledge is judged by universal, objective criteria (such as testing), and not by the particular race, sex etc, of the scientist who produced it
Disinterestedness = this means being committed to discovering knowledge for its own sake. Having to publish their findings makes it harder for scientists to practise fraud, since it enables others to check their claims
Organised Scepticism = no knowledge-claim is regarded as 'sacred'. Every idea is open to questioning, criticism and objective investigation
Ideology
A belief is the set of stories and realities about the world that a person believes to be true. It includes religious beliefs, morals and what one defines as right or wrong. Ideologies refer to the political, social and economic ideas that help to define a particular group of people
Marxism = Gramsci, Marx, Althusser = all ideologies including science and religion are a tool of the ruling class to maintain power and reproduce inequality. They justify the principles of capitalism and prevent the proletariat revolution. Marxists argue that major scientific discoveries are motivated by generating mass profits and only fuels capitalism further
Feminism = Oakley = believe that ideologies such as science and religion have promoted the patriarchy for generations. For example, by blocking women from positions of power or tainting them as weak or impure. Oakley argues that a good example of science acting as an ideology is Bowlby's study of material deprivation, she suggests that his idea that children's development is damaged by working mothers has been used to justify gender inequality in the workplace and reinforced the patriarchal idea of women staying at home and men as the breadwinner.
Postmodernism/ Pluralism = there are multiple ideologies within society and they reflect the values and worldviews of the different social groups within that society. There is no dominant ideology but a sharing of power amongst them. This is a contradiction as the pluralism itself is declaring dominance. It also ignores the unequal distribution of power within society.
Manheim = claims that all worldviews are ideologies and are the product of the theologians and intellectuals that cannot relate to the everyday, so their idea reflect their own personal interests.
He identified that there were two types of worldview; 1) ideological thought - justifies tradition and the maintenance of society thus resisting change. This is because those who control the ideology are benefitting from the status quo. 2) utopian thought - attempts to promote social change because the current state of the world doesn't benefit those who construct utopian belief systems.
He argues that we need to detach ourselves from these worldviews and create an objective worldview that all can relate to. These ideas would be created by a "free floating intellgensia".