Durkheim's Primitive Religion
The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1912)
[Excerpt from Robert Alun Jones. Emile Durkheim: An Introduction to Four Major Works. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1986. Pp. 115-155.]
Outline of Topics
Durkheim's Two Problems
Defining Religion
The Most Primitive Religion
Animism
Naturism
Totemism
Totemic Beliefs: Their Nature, Causes, and Consequences
Totemic Rites: Their Nature and Causes
The Social Origins of Religion and Science
Critical Remarks
Durkheim's Two Problems
Durkheim's primary purpose in The Elementary Forms was to describe and explain the most primitive1 religion known to man. But if his interests thus bore some external similarity to those of the ethnographer or historian, his ultimate purpose went well beyond the reconstruction of an archaic culture for its own sake; on the contrary, as in The Division of Labor and Suicide, Durkheim's concern was ultimately both present and practical: "If we have taken primitive religion as the subject of our research," he insisted, "it is because it has seemed to us better adapted than any other to lead to an …show more content…
In order to describe and explain the most primitive religion known to man, Durkheim observed, we must first define the term "religion" itself: otherwise we risk drawing inferences from beliefs and practices which have nothing "religious" about them, or (and this was the greater danger to Durkheim) of leaving many religious facts to one side without understanding their true nature.16 In fact, Durkheim had already made such an attempt in "Concerning the Definition of Religious Phenomena" (1899), where he argued that religion consists of obligatory beliefs united with definite practices which relate to the objects given in the beliefs."17 While this definition achieved a number of aims,18 however, Durkheim soon became displeased with its overriding emphasis on "obligation"; and, as he later acknowledged,19 the definition offered in 1912 is significantly
[Excerpt from Robert Alun Jones. Emile Durkheim: An Introduction to Four Major Works. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1986. Pp. 115-155.]
Outline of Topics
Durkheim's Two Problems
Defining Religion
The Most Primitive Religion
Animism
Naturism
Totemism
Totemic Beliefs: Their Nature, Causes, and Consequences
Totemic Rites: Their Nature and Causes
The Social Origins of Religion and Science
Critical Remarks
Durkheim's Two Problems
Durkheim's primary purpose in The Elementary Forms was to describe and explain the most primitive1 religion known to man. But if his interests thus bore some external similarity to those of the ethnographer or historian, his ultimate purpose went well beyond the reconstruction of an archaic culture for its own sake; on the contrary, as in The Division of Labor and Suicide, Durkheim's concern was ultimately both present and practical: "If we have taken primitive religion as the subject of our research," he insisted, "it is because it has seemed to us better adapted than any other to lead to an …show more content…
In order to describe and explain the most primitive religion known to man, Durkheim observed, we must first define the term "religion" itself: otherwise we risk drawing inferences from beliefs and practices which have nothing "religious" about them, or (and this was the greater danger to Durkheim) of leaving many religious facts to one side without understanding their true nature.16 In fact, Durkheim had already made such an attempt in "Concerning the Definition of Religious Phenomena" (1899), where he argued that religion consists of obligatory beliefs united with definite practices which relate to the objects given in the beliefs."17 While this definition achieved a number of aims,18 however, Durkheim soon became displeased with its overriding emphasis on "obligation"; and, as he later acknowledged,19 the definition offered in 1912 is significantly