Beliefs In Society

Question 1

Toteism

Answer 1

Belief that natural phenomena are made up of spirits and souls which can affect society

Question 2

Atheism

Answer 2

Belief that no god or supernatural being exists

Question 3

Agnostism

Answer 3

Neither a belief in nor a denial of god or other supernatural beliefs. They’re prepared to believe if evidence is produced

Question 4

Monotheism

Answer 4

Belief in one god

Question 5

Polythesicm

Answer 5

Belief in more than one god

Question 6

Supernatural

Answer 6

Belief that science and rationality cannot explain all events and experiences

Question 7

Functionalist view on religion

Answer 7

• religon is a conservative force
• promotes social harmony, integration and solidarity through value consensus

Question 8

Durkheim on religon

Answer 8

• religion helps to integrate people into society through value consensus
  -all societies divide into sacred and profane

Question 9

Berger and luckmann (1967)

Answer 9

The social construction of reality- beliefs are formed in a context e.g. a certain time and place

Question 10

Ideology

Answer 10

An ideology is a set of opinions or beliefs of a group or an individual

Question 11

The enlightenment

Answer 11

Intellectual and cultural movement in the 18th century that emphasised reason over superstition and science over blind faith

Question 12

Karl Popper

Answer 12

-Science is governed by falsificationism
- there is no absolute truth
- knowledge grows through an objective system of theory testing
- science is an open belief system based on data and information whereas religion is a closed one

Question 13

Merton (1973)

Answer 13

• science could only work in democratic societies as they could uphold the Ethos of Modern Science

Question 14

Falsificationism

Answer 14

A scientific philosophy based on the requirement that hypothesis must be falsifiable in order to be scientific

Question 15

Universalism

Answer 15

Scientific claims must be held to objective and pre-established impersonal criteria

Question 16

Communality

Answer 16

Finding of science are common property to the scientific community and that scientific progress relies on open communication and open sharing

Question 17

Disinterestedness

Answer 17

Science should limit the influence of bias as much as possible and should be done for the sake of science rather than self-interest or power

Question 18

Organised skepticism

Answer 18

The necessity of proof or verification subjects science to more scrutiny than any other field. This norm points once again to peer review and value reproducibility

Question 19

definition of religon

Answer 19

sociologists argue that religion is a social construsct therefore it isnt possible to produce a universal definition of religon as differant groups interpret ‘religon’ in a different way

Question 20

substansive definitions

Answer 20

aim to identfiy the core characteristics shared by major religons. Max Weber (1905) defines religon in a sunstantive way. He claims that belief in a supernatural power cannot be proven scientifically

Question 21

constructionist definition

Answer 21

interprevists are mainly concerned in hoe definitions of religon are contructed, challanged and fought over. Aldrige (2007) shows how for its followers scientology is a religon despite many governments denting its legal status e.g. Germany banned scientology. interprevists conclude that whether a belief system is defined as a religon depends on who has the power

Question 22

functionalist definition

Answer 22

they analyse what the religon does for the society it exists in. it may bring comfort, reinforce social values or maintain inequality. these definitions are critisised for being mainly inclusive as any belief system can be classed as a religon if it performs certain functions

Question 23

what is a ‘closed belief system’?

Answer 23

a closed belief system is a religon that rejects any other belief as a result theyre often regarded as too conservative, inflexible and resistant leading to secularisation

Question 24

what is ‘monopoly of the truth’?

Answer 24

monopoly of the truth is when a religon sees themselves as the one true representative of God