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science, religion and ideology, EVALUATION, EVALUATION, EVALUATION -…
science, religion and ideology
defining religion
Religion
Substantive: content of substance of religious belief
Bruce
- beliefs, actions and institutions which assume the existence of supernatural entities
Berger
- sacred canopy
Tylor
- belief in spiritual beings
Functional: religion does something and benefits society
Assumes religion is a product of society
Contributes to society - binding through shared values
Yinger
- a group of people struggling with the ultimate problems of human life
Polythetic - identifies overlapping factors shared by most religions
Godlike, salvation, ethical code, sacred text, moral community
Southwold
- factors that define a religion: godlike beings, salvation, rituals and practices, supernatural sanctions, religious elites, community, etc.
postmodernist approaches to science and religion
postmodernism overview - chaos and uncertainty, metanarratives are no longer adequate, traditional factors have lost influence in a globalised world, individualism, choice, diversity and consumer culture
postmodernists - science, religion and ideology are all meta-narratives claiming to provide explanations
just one story among others that are equally as valid
postmodernism and science
can no longer claim a superiority in its methods, claims to understanding of the world have been discredited - e.g. anitbiotic resistance, superbugs, global warming etc.
many scientists have been seen to serve the interests of the rich rather than pursuing value free research
science has lost its authority
postmodernism and religion
every society is in a constant state of change - there are no absolute values or truths - promotes the value of individual religious impulses, but weakens the strength of 'religions' - objective realities
in a postmodern world there are no universal religious or ethical laws, everything is shaped by the cultural context of a particular time and place and community
ideology as a belief system
Ideologies are a set of ideas and values shared by a social group that:
provide a vision to see and interpret the world
present only a partial, incomplete or false view of reality
expresses, justifies and legitimises the interests of said group
Different conceptions of ideology
Pluralist: no single dominant ideology, ideas reflect a wide range of social groups
Dominant: justifies social advantages of the wealty and the inequality through ISAs and hegemony (
Gramsci
)
Patriarchal: justifies male power - men are less emotional and more logical
Political: suggests how power should be used to influence events and change society
Scientism: science and the scientific method can provide true knowledge and reject 'truths' that cannot be explained by the scientific method
Marxism and ideology
Ruling class ideology
Equality goes against human nature
Bowles and Gintis
- victim blaming ideas about poverty (myth of meritocracy)
Racist ideas about the inferiority of EM divide black and white workers
Hegemony and revolution
WC develop dual consciousness - ruling class ideology + frustration at exploitation
Abercrombie et al
- fear of uneployment keeps workers from rebelling
scientific ideology vs religion
Bilton 2002
‘ it was during the enlightenment that humans crossed the ‘Great Divide’ and moved from ignorance guesswork and faith to certainty and truth’
Comte - science as a belief system
- scientific beliefs are different from other types of beliefs (value free) - rely upon evidence not faith
Falsification
suggests researchers should aim to prove their hypothesis false not true
no hypothesis can even be proven fully true
the more a hypothesis stands up to being proven false the more likely it is to be seen as a ‘scientific truth’
EVALUATION
Widely accepted - widespread view of religion as a belief in God
Ignores other practices - eg. Buddhism and Paganism
Western bias - religions differ
EVALUATION
No bias against non-Western religions (no direct mention of 'God'
Broad - anti religious systems also contribute to understanding society
Scharf
- Civil religion
Assumes religion is useful and functional
EVALUATION
Not clear how many factors need to be shared in order for something to be considered a religion
Decision of what to include is a matter of judgement - who decides?