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RELIGION, SCIENCE AND IDEOLOGY - Coggle Diagram
RELIGION, SCIENCE AND IDEOLOGY
defining religion
why define religion - defining religion is important as the definition adopted will decide what should be examined as a religious phenomena and what should not
berger - sacred canopy - prevents anxiety, gives meaning
religion can be
- monotheistic
- polytheistic
- spiritual without a belief in god
- a supernatural belief but no concept of god
what is religion
- nature of beliefs has varied so widely that it is difficult to identify common factors that allow for simple definitions
- sociological definitions can be divided into 3 broad categories
- substantive definitions - focus on the content or substance of religious belief
evaluation
✓ widely accepted - conform to a widespread view of religion as belief in god
X leaves no room for beliefs and practices that do not involve belief in god
X the definition provides a very broad understanding of religion
X western bias, excluded non god religions
- functional definitions
- religion actually does something and it benefits society - focuses on the function of beliefs in society
- assumption - religion is a product of society
- contribution to society - binding through shared values
evaluation
✓ there is no bias against non-western religions as no direct mention of god
X broad - anti religious systems that contribute to understanding of society
X assumption - religion is useful and functional
- polythetic definitions
- this approach identifies a number of overlapping factors that most religions share
- to qualify as a religion, a set of beliefs needs to exhibit a number of these factors but not necessarily all of them
southwold
- godlike
- salvation
- ethical code
- sacred texts
- moral community
evaluation
X it is not clear how many of these factors need to be shared in order for something to be considered a religion
X decision of what to include in the list itself is a matter of judgement - who decides?
5 accepted features of religion 1. beliefs - in the supernatural or in symbols which are regarded as sacred
- theology - a set of teachings and beliefs (bible)
- practice - rituals and ceremonies
- institutions - organisation of worshippers, priests or religious leaders
- consequences - moral or ethical values to influence everyday behaviours
ideology
the term ideology i sused in a wide variety of ways. most commonly regared as a set of ideas and values sared by a social group that:
- provide a vision to see and interpret the world
- presents only a partial incomplete or false view of reality
- expresses, justifies and legitimises the interests of said group
different conceptions of ideology
- pluralistic ideology
- set of ideas that reflect the view that no one ideology is able to dominate others
- prevailing ideas in society reflect the interest a wide range of social groups
- dominant ideology
- a set of ideas which justifies the social advantage of the wealthy, powerful and influential
- this ideology also justifies the inequality and disadvantage faced by those who lack wealth, power and influence, through ISAs and hegemony
- patriarchal ideology
- a set of ideas that support and justfies the poer fo men
- men are superior, more logical, less emotional than women
- gender roles are necessary as women are more suited to childcare
- political ideology
- provides an analysis and interpretation of how society should work
- it suggests how power should be used by the government to influence events and change society
- they can be broad like nationalism or liberalism or narrow like the conservative or labour parties
- scientism
- is a belief system or ideology which claims that science and the scientific method alone can provide true knowledge and understanding of the world
- it rejects any alleged truths that cannot be explained by the scientific method
marxism
- ruling class ideology includes ideas and beliefs such as:
- the equality will never work because it goes against 'human nature'
- victim blaming ideas about poverty
- racist ideas about the inferiority of ethnic minorities, which divide black and white workers and make them easier to rule
- thus the dominant ideas are the ideas of the ruling class and they function to prevent change by creating a self class consciousness among the workers. however despite these ideological barriers, marx believed that ultimately the working class will develop a true class consciousness and unite to overthrow capitalism
- gramsci refers to the ruling class ideological domination of a society as hegemony, he argues that the wc can develop ideas that challenge rc hegemony
nationalism
- is an important political ideology that has a major impact on the work over the last 200 years
- nationalism claims that:
- nations are real, distinctive communities each with its own unique characteristics and a long, shared history
- every nation should be self-governing
- national loyalty and identity should come before all others, such as tribe, class or religion
- anderson argues that a nation is only an 'imagined community', not a real one
- in the marxist view, nationalism is a form of false class consciousness that helps to prevent the overthrow of capitalism by dividing the international wc
- functionalists see nationalism as a secular civil religion, like religion, it integrates individuals into larger social and political units by making them feel part of something greater than themselves
- gellner also sees nationalism as false consciousness - it claims that nations have existed since time is untrue
mannheim - ideology and utopia
- Sees all belief systems as a partial or one-sided worldview. Their one-sidedness results from being the viewpoint of one particular group or class and its interests. This leads him to distinguish between two broad types of belief system or worldview:
- Ideology thought justified keeping things as they are
- Utopian thought justifies social change
- Mannheim sees these worldviews as creations of groups of intellectuals who attach themselves to particular classes
- However, because these intellectuals represent the interests of particular groups, not society as a whole, they only produce partial views of reality.
- for mannheim, this is a source of conflict in society and the solution therefore is to 'detach' the intellectuals from the social groups they present and create a non-aligned or free-floating intelligentsia standing above the conflict
feminism
- see gender inequality as the fundamental division in society and patriarchal ideology as playing a key role in legitimating is
- because gender differences are a feature of all societies, there exists many different ideologies to justify it
science and relgion
scientific thinking
- 18th century - the enlightenment period
- bilton - 'it was during the enlightenment that humans crossed the 'great divide' and moved from ignorance guesswork and faith to certainty and truth'
how does science and religion differ
- positivist
- objectivity
- value freedom
- research methods
- empirical evidence
- scientific method
comte - science as a belief system - scientific beliefs are different from other types of beliefs (value free) and rely upon evidence not faith
popper - science as a belief system
- hypothesis formation
- falsification
- predictions - deductive
- theory formation
- scrutiny
some criticism from sociologists who believe science is like any other belief system - shaped by society
social construction of scientific knowledge
- falsification suggests researchers should aim to prove their hypothesis false and not true
- this is because no hypothesis can even be proven fully true
- but the more a hypothesis stands up to being proven false the more likely it is to be seen as a 'scientific truth'
enlightenment and religious thinking
- these scientific ideas create problems for religion - god cannot be proved and religious beliefs rely on faith rather than hard scientific evidence
- frazer believed that the growth of scientific explanations of the world would cause religion to disappear - however science cannot tell us everything
bruce
- it is the scientific method rather than scientific discoveries that have provided the greatest challenge to religion as a belief system
- bruce suggests that in modernity religious explanations and superstitions are gradually replaced by scientific explanations as many religions beliefs are shown to be false
has science replaced religion
- if we accept popper's view of falsification then we would expect to see a disappearance of religious thinking
- however millions of people still identify with religion and religious beliefs continue to have power over human behaviour
postmodern approach
postmodern overview
- rapidly changing society is now marked by chaos and uncertainty
- metanarratives are no longer adequate in strengthening the world
- traditional factors have lost significance in understanding a globalised postmodern society
- postmodern society is characterised by individualism, choice, diversity and consumer culture
consequences for religion, science and ideology
- postmodernists believe that religion, science and ideology as all metanarratives claiming to profuse a comprehensive explanation of the world
- but these a re just one story among others that are equally as valid - they are all ideologies expressing the different beliefs of a diversity of groups
postmodernism and science
- science can no longer claim a superiority if its scientific methods, its claims to enable an understanding of the world have become discredited
- many scientists have also shown themselves to be serving the interests of the wealthy rather than pursuing value free research
- science has therefore lost its authority in society
postmodernism and religion
- some contributions from PM:
- decline in metanarratives, fragmentation and secularisation
- religion as a consumer product and identify choice
- global spatial supermarket
- vacuum of meaning
- disneyfication of religion