Emile Durkheim Emile Durkheim spent much of his academic career studying religions. He did not look at religion as supernatural but rather a reflection of concern of the society. For he believed that religion is a social phenomenon. Religion is unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things. He was plagued with the questions of why some things are excepted and other are not? For example, why is it okay for individuals to say I am stressed or anxious but it is not acceptable to say I am depressed or sad? So what he was really looking at is social norms and totems. Durkheim believed that in order to know the origins of religion you should try to find out what happen in the past but rather universal human being or humans found …show more content…
Through his studies of their research Durkheim concludes that the most basic and foundational form of religion is Totemism. Totemism is where the society elects a totem (idle) which is usually an animal and makes it sacred. They believe that this animal will protect them. The recognize this totem and believe that it has some kind a special power or a force behind it. The totem really represents the tribe, because the totem is sacred the clan is sacred. So when they are worshiping the totem they are actually revering themselves as a community. The believe they are worshiping some other deity or spirt but are really worshiping the clan. This is actually how the clan secures the loyalty of their members. This analysis of totemism for Durkheim applies to all religion. So the function of religion is to provide as a sense of social bonding and belongingness in which strengths the society. Emile Durkheim found through his studies that society used religion as a way to survive and has since out grown it. Durkheim tried to discover why there was so many suicides from people moved from small town Catholic churched based to big impersonal cities (urbanization). He noticed that it was due to the feeling of disconnect that these individuals felt in this new society. So the society responded by creating schools and training you to work in factories. With the more specified jobs being invented to provided purpose and decrease the
Durkheim defines religion as “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things”. He says all societies
As I read Émile Durkheim’s classic piece, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, I experienced a whirlwind of thoughts, expressing agreement, disagreement, and complete puzzlement over the details of his logic and conclusions. As far as my essay goes, I will attempt to put these thoughts in a neat, coherent order like the one mentioned above.
Again, in EFRL, Durkheim shows religiosity from a sociological standpoint in which “individual consciousness” is combined with “common consciousness.” To look at it another way, individuals use signs and symbols to interpret and/or explain their feelings. If the group all uses the same signs and symbols, it then becomes the symbol or representation of the group’s sacredness. Even if the individual is no longer part of the collective society, he still holds the sacredness of the signs/symbols to the same high standard, and he does this by way of festivals, ceremonies, etc.
It reinforced the morals and social norms held collectively by all within a society. Society, to Durkheim, was greater than the individual and it gave people strength and support and made things possible and meaningful. The function of religion was to keep society in check, to assist social control, and to provide individual meaning for each individual’s life.
Émile Durkheim and Mircea Eliade have dissimilar understandings of religion. Emile Durkheim did not have an interest in a belief system or the cognitive approach. He dismissed the study of how particular beliefs lead to certain practices and adopted a functionalist approach. He does not acknowledge the belief in God, rather focuses on what religion does within society. He believed that individuals encompassed a more pure form and focused on the essential structure of religion. His theory of totemism developed, which centers around the idea that the subject of religion is to bring people together, and to ultimately result in social cohesion. He metaphorically relates this to when people in a community rally around the totem. Furthermore, making the totem represent the sacred. Durkheim then understands that the totem will eventually develop into a spirit, and ultimately into a ‘God’ or spiritual form. Moreover, connecting a society on a metaphysical level. This concept does not center around a belief system, rather on social cohesion.
Emile Durkheim was French sociologist. He was born on April 15, 1858 in Epinal, France. Epinal is located in the Eastern French Province, Lorraine. His father, Moise was the Chief Rabbi of Epinal, Vosges, and Haute-Marne, while his mother, Melanie, worked as an embroiderer. Durkheim was the youngest of their four surviving children.
Conversely, according to (Turner 23-109), Durkheim points out that religion is part and parcel of the society and that each society has religion. Emile Durkheim’s purpose was to assess the connection between particular religions in various cultures, and finding a common cause. Basically, he wanted to comprehend the three major aspects of religion; that is the empirical together with the social and the spirituality components. His definition of religion is that; it is a joining arrangement of beliefs together with practices in relation to sacred things. According to him, it is religion that establishes the contemporary society as
Durkheim uses the example of Australian Totemism as the "elementary form", that is, the original and most basic common denominator of religion.
In this essay I will be looking at the theories of Edward Burnett Tylor and Émile Durkheim, and comparing them to see which theory I think gives a better explanation about what religion is, or whether religion is actually definable. On the one hand we have Tylor’s theory that tells us that religion is belief in spiritual beings and that religion is just a step on the way to reaching full evolutionary potential. Durkheim’s theory, however, says that religion is very much a social aspect of life, and something can only be religious or “sacred” if it is something public (Durkheim 1965:52). Ultimately these theories do not give us an outright explanation about what ‘religion’ is, but there are aspects of the theory that can be used to gain an understanding or idea.
In order to combat anomie Durkheim asserts that people turn to religion. Religion for Durkheim was not divinely inspired but was simply a set of collective beliefs that shaped norms and values, norms and values that shaped
According to author Randall Collins, Emile Durkheim has been deemed sociologies most famous representative (Collins, The Durkheimian Tradition, 211.) The Durkeimian Tradition is “sociology’s most original and unusual set of ideas but revolutionary in the same sense ” (Collins, 211). Durkheim contributed an insightful view on the role of religion and how “God is the symbol of the society and its moral power over individuals” (Collins, 211.) By proving that “religion is the moral foundation of society” simply shows the dire need of religion in order to live. As a result of following any religion comes a consistent ritual, no matter what steps it consists of and a link to social interaction. According to Durkheim, rituals are instrumental in the process of providing concepts or ideas that directly echo the structure of society (Collins, 212.) Durkeim’s original beliefs still apply to the structure of society today. Though it may not be solely focused on religion, people identify themselves within other social groups. I myself identify to be apart of a social group with my involvement in the women’s basketball team at Hofstra. Like other student-athletes, there is an obvious distinction of athletes around campus and noticeable segregation between athletes and regular students. Durkheim discussed rituals that took place amongst those who followed a religion, and like that social group; my team performs
Durkheim and Weber both had distinct theories as they expressed and conceptualized religion and it’s impact to society in quite different ways however, they somehow overall parallel each others theories. Durkheim observed religion in the context of the integrated society and recognized its place in affecting the reasoning and conduct of society.Max Weber saw religion as how it fortifies other social organizations. Weber suspected that the religious belief setup contributed a social system that SUPPORTED the improvement of other social organizations, like the economy. Weber is also addressing the shrinking hold of religion in modern society.”(Veugelers) This notionally theorizes that both philosophers acknowledge the importance of religion as influencing and supporting society. As indicated by Durkheim, people consider religion to be adding to the wellbeing
Because Durkheim’s main interest was the ways in which society is bound together, he investigated the role and the origin of religion in various communities. He believed that a simpler society has a simpler religion. Durkheim claims that, “a religion as closely connected to a social system surpassing all others in simplicity may well be regarded as the most elementary religion we can possibly know” (Ritzer, 91). For instance Durkheim argues that totemism a religious system in which animal figures are regarded as sacred is among the simplest religious forms in the world. The totemic animal, Durkheim believed, was the original focus of religious activity because it was the emblem for a social group, “the clan” (Ritzer, 91). He thought the model for the relationships between people and the supernatural was similar to the relationship between individuals and the community. For him the function of religion was to make people willing to put the interests of society ahead of their desires. He also believed religion is an important part of society and that the functions of religion are to maintain the equilibrium in the society.
Durkheim’s analysis of religion was developed using principles of positivism and organicism (Hamilton 2014, p. 104). Positivism and methodological individualism were both consequences of liberal extremism, with their roots in the political philosophy of the Enlightenment. During this period philosophy began to associate with science and rationality, leading to the creation of the social sciences (Hamilton 2014, pp. 103-104). In contrast, organicism was largely conservative and influenced by theology. This view explains that society is a divine creation; a transcendent and unwavering phenomenon (Hamilton 2014, p. 104). Durkheim combined these two traditions to develop his theory of knowledge and religion. By treating religion as a collective social experience, Durkheim positioned his analysis of human thought within the social environment (Hamilton 2014, p. 103; Repstad & Furseth 2013, p. 32; Turner 2010, p. 54). Essentially, Durkheim regarded religion as a secondary form of scientific knowledge; a mental process linking human activity to the natural environment (Hamilton 2014, p. 103). He maintained that religion permeates into all areas of human life. Further, it divides society into sacred and profane areas that guide an individual (Hamilton 2014, p. 105). Durkheim’s use of the term sacred signifies religious articles and actions, and the participation in religious rituals. On the other hand, profane denotes all other areas of life outside of religion known as
Similarly to Weber, Durkheim believed that religion plays an integral part in society. He defined religion as a “unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things… beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a church...” (Durkheim EF: 47). This functional definition describes what Durkheim believes what role religion plays in contemporary society: it unities it. He analyzed religion within the context of the entire society and recognized its influence on people’s thoughts and behaviors. Durkheim was interested in the communal bonds forged by participating in religious activities and stressed the importance of the communal aspect of religion.