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beliefs in society - Coggle Diagram
beliefs in society
religion
substantive definitions
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Weber
religion is a belief in a superior or supernatural power that is above nature and cannot be explained scientifically
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evaluation
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-leaves no room for beliefs and practices that preform similar functions to religion, but dont believe in a God
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functional definitions
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Durkheim
religion in terms of contribution it makes to social integration rather than any specific belief in God/supernatural powers
Yinger
identifies functions that religion preforms for the ind as answering 'ultimate questions' about the meaning of life and what happened when we die
evaluation
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-just because an institution helps integrate ind into groups, does not mean it is a religion
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functionalist theories
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society is like an organism with basic needs that must be met in order to survive and are met by different institutions
Durkheim
religious institutions play a central part in creating and maintaining value consensus,order and solidarity
sacred and profane
key feature of religion is a fundamental distinction between the sacred and profane in all religions
sacred things-set apart and forbidden-inspire feelings of awe,fear and wonder
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religion is never simply a set of beliefs it involves rituals or practices in relation to the sacred
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totemism
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Arunta clans
consists of bands of kin who come together periodically to preform rituals involving worship of a sacred totem
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when clans worship totems, they are in reality worshipping society-even though they are not aware of this effect
the totem inspires feelings of awe in the clan's members as it represents the power of the group that the ind is 'utterly dependent on'
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cognitive functions
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religion is the origin of the concepts and categories we need for reasoning,understanding the world and communicating
Durkheim and Mauss
religion provides basic categories such as time,space and causation
similarly, the division of tribes into clans gives humans their first notion of classification
religion is the origin of human thought,reason and science
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