Lecture 4 Flashcards
The Qing Dynasty
Was a multicultural dynasty that lasted for almost three centuries
What is religion
A system of norms and values founded on a belief in a superhuman order
Why do some religions spread?
The believers feel as if it is their duty to spread their belief of their religion on to others
Animism
Animals, plants, and places posses some kind of spiritual essence and peoples behaviour might be guided by very local and specific ideas of which trees or animals were sacred
Hinduism
Came together without a major prophet or leader
Buddhism
Is based on a sense of natural law rather than a god
Inductive reasoning
Is to understand the world through observation and then testing your observations through experimentation
Deductive reasoning
Under religious systems like Christianity, you start with accepted principles and generate knowledge by logically deducing conclusions
Why did Christianity spread?
It spread because of the infrastructure of the Roman Empire, its universal message which was to be open to the rich, the poor, men, women, and any ethnicity.
It promised some sort of salvation after death
How has religion served as a vital force?
Religion has historically served as a vital force in creating social and political communities in giving moral authority and legitimacy to what would otherwise be considered a “fragile political order”
The contradictory effects of religion:
Various religious communities used their differing beliefs as a source of hatred and conflict but they also created a spiritual community that transcended other tribal or ethnic, sexual or economic differences
How does believing in a spiritual reality come under strain during the age of global contact and exchange?
Believing in a spiritual reality eventually comes under strain during the age of global contact and exchange because that age would induce forms of conflict, rivalry, and competition that would raise questions of the viability of all these ways of justifying political orders
