Durkheim
and Religion
The
Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1912)
I. Religion (the belief system is a non-material social fact)
A. Studied the
Arunta – a primitive Australian tribe
1. easier to get at the essence of religion (simpler
societies, less complex ideological systems)
2. in
tribal societies, only one religion
B. Religion =
all-encompassing collective conscience
II. Where do religious sentiments come from? And what function
does religion serve?
A. He argues
that religious sentiments derive from SOCIETY
B. Every society divides the world of experience
into two general categories: SACRED
& PROFANE
1. sacred: aspects of social reality that are set
apart and deemed forbidden
2. profane: the rest of reality (the every day, the
practical, the utilitarian)
C. Sacred —>
inspires attitude of reverence, awe, respect
III. Key elements that translate sacred and profane distinction
into a religious system
A. a SET OF
BELIEFS that describes the nature of the sacred, and the things it requires
of us
B. a SET OF
RELIGIOUS RITES for approaching the sacred and worshiping it
C. a CHURCH
– not a building, but a moral community of which each individual is a part
IV. Totemic religion:
A. key is that the totems are material representations
of the immaterial force (non-material social facts) that infuses all believers
1.
prescribes and proscribes behavior
2.
provides justification and purpose
Religion, Durkheim argued, is derived from and expresses the
collective morality of the tribe
V. so: collective conscience/morality à
religion
A. but from
whence comes the collective conscience
B. Durkheim argues that it comes from only one
source: society
1.
society is external to and coercive over the self
2.
it acts upon us with great force, particularly when we gather to collectively
honor the sacred
(producing
“collective effervescence”)
C.
Religion is key source of moral regulation, social integration, and solidarity
“When a society worships
its God, it is worshipping itself.”
