Functionalist Theories Of Religion Flashcards
Who developed the idea of religious institutions playing a central part in creating and maintaining value consensus, order and solidarity?
Emile Durkheim
How do functionalists describe society?
For functionalists, society is a system of interrelated parts or social institutions such as religion, the family and the economy. It is like an organism with basic needs that it must meet in order to survive
What does Durkheim make a distinction between within religions?
The sacred and the profane
What are sacred things?
Things that are set apart and forbidden, that inspire feelings of awe, fear and wonder, and are surrounded by taboos and prohibitions
What are the profane?
Things that have no special significance - things that are ordinary and mundane
What does Durkheim believe people are worshipping when they worship sacred symbols?
Society
What essential function do sacred symbols perform?
They unite believers into a single moral community
Give an example of a sacred symbol that is worshipped by clan societies such as the Arunta, an Australian Aboriginal tribe
Totems
What do sacred symbols represent in society?
A collective conscience
What is the collective conscience?
The shared norms, values, beliefs and knowledge that make social life and cooperation between individuals possible
How does Durkheim believe the collective conscience can be reinforced?
Through regular shared religious rituals
Other than a source of social solidarity, what else does Durkheim see religion as a source of?
Our intellectual and cognitive capacities - our ability to reason and think conceptually
How does Worsley criticise Durkheim?
He notes that there is no sharp division between the sacred and the profane
How do postmodernists such as Mestrovic criticise Functionalist views of religion?
He argues that Durkheim’s ideas cannot be applied to contemporary society, because increasing diversity has fragmented the collective conscience, so there is no longer a single shared value system for religion to reinforce
What are the two types of situation in which religion performs a psychological function?
Where the outcome is important but is uncontrollable and thus uncertain (In his study of the Trobriand Islanders of the Western Pacific, Malinowski contrasts fishing in a lagoon fishing in the ocean) and at times of life crises (e.g. Death and divorce)
