Durkheim Eliade Geertz Derrida Flashcards
(33 cards)
What is Emile Durkheim’s core thesis on Religion
Religion is an “eminently social thing” — it exists to create and reinforce group cohesion and collective identity.
humans are inherently social being, and have a need to belong to a group. He ties this with religion
How does Durkheim contrast with William James/Kierkegaard
Society is at the core of religion, not individual relationship with god
What is Durkheim’s evolutionary analogy
Simpler religions like First Nations in BC and aboriginal Australia evolved into more complex religions like Christianity and Islam
What is the foundation of Religion for Durkheim and how does this connect to self-awareness
- Religion fulfills a vital human need
- Analogous to evolutionary survival: if religion did not meet a crucial need, it would have disappeared over time
- Religious believers themselves may not acknowledge this need/be aware of it (eating a fruit without knowing that you need vitamin c)
What is Durkheim’s opinion on ‘false religions’
There are no false religions, all religions rest on reality in some sense and each address a fundamental human requirement
What is Durkheim’s essentialist stance
all religions are species of the same genus, and he wants to isolate those permanent elements that persist from its earliest forms.
by studying these earlier forms, he hopes to identify the most basic components of religious life which have become more complex over time
What is Durkheim’s 2 critiques of supernatural or divinity within religion
1) Supernatural experiences appear at later stages in religious history so they are not fundamental to religions origin
2) God and divinity is not universal, plenty of religions (buddhism, Jainism) do not center on a personal diety, thus religion is beyond belief in god or the supernatural
What is Durkheim’s significance of the Sacred vs Profane
Religion at its core is the division between the sacred and the profane
Sacred: special, surrounded by rituals, taboos and rules
profane: normal stuff
belief in god is not what makes religion, its the act of marking certain things as sacred and separating them from daily life
What is the difference between between religion and Magic for Durkheim
Religion: A communal, group-based phenomenon, involving shared faith and collective ritual.
Magic: More individual, lacking the social solidarity or communal emphasis that defines religion.
Animism vs Naturism: How are they different and how are they connected (Durkheim)
Two major strands in early study of religion
Animism: Focus on spirits, many deities, eventually evolving into monotheism.
Naturism: Focus on the sacredness of nature (trees, rivers, celestial bodies).
Both spring from more fundamental ‘totemism’
What is totemism and how is this significant in Durkheim’s definition of Religon
Totem: Often an animal or plant emblem representing a clan’s ancestry and spiritual identity.
It binds the group together—fulfills the function of religion by creating unity and shared meaning.
How does totemism serve as the prototype for all religion (Durkheim)
If you want to understand complex religious symbols (the crucifix, star of David, crescent, etc.), look first to totems as the simplest, earliest manifestation of religious symbolism.
Similar to flags as well
What is Mircea Eliade core thesis on Religion
Religion is humanity’s way of encountering the sacred in the world, giving life meaning through symbolic manifestations in space, time, nature, and existence.
What is Eliade’s significance of the Sacred vs Profane
Sacred: Represents a mode of being in the world: It is how human beings experience certain times, places or realties as ‘set apart’ from the ordinary existence. Not just an object among objects
Profane: Ordinary, mundane, everyday world
What is hierophany? What is the significance of this and the contrast with Otto? (Eliade)
Manifestation of the sacred in the profane world
Contrasts Otto’s ‘theophany’ (manifestation of god/the divine) as Eliade expands it to manifestation of the sacred, not necessarily identified with god
The history of religion for Eliade is the history of hierophanies
What is Eliade’s position on modern society
Gone through profound desacralization, we no longer see the sacred permeating every dimension of life as traditional cultures once did.
This is making it harder to grasp how thoroughly traditional cultures felt the sacred in daily life.
What are the four major categories of the Sacred (Eliade)
Sacred space
Sacred time
Sacred nature (cosmos)
Sacred life (human existence)
TSNL
What is sacred space (Eliade) + Examples
Certain places are set apart because they are believed to be where the sacred breaks into the profane world.
Examples:
1) Mount Sinai, Mecca, the Western Wall, Uluru.
2) Churches, temples, mosques.
These places become the “center of the world” (axis mundi) — where heaven and earth connect.
People orient themselves around these spaces — they ground meaning.
What is sacred time (Eliade) + Examples
Sacred time is cyclical and mythic, not linear — it’s about re-living foundational, sacred events.
Examples:
1) Passover reenacts the Exodus.
2) Easter reenacts Jesus’s resurrection.
3) Ramadan re-centers the Quran’s revelation.
These rituals don’t just “remember” — they make the sacred present again. Often cyclical (returning every year/season)
What is Sacred nature, cosmos (Eliade) + Examples
Nature is not just physical — it reveals divine power or mystery.
Examples:
1) Water = purification (baptism, Ganges River).
2) Sky = transcendence (Sky Father).
3) Earth = fertility, motherhood (e.g., Gaia, harvest festivals).
In sacred worldview, nature is symbolic, not just matter — it expresses cosmic meaning.
what is sacred life, human existence (Eliade) + Examples
Human life events — like birth, initiation, marriage, and death — are marked by rituals that connect them to the sacred.
Examples:
1) Baptism, bar/bat mitzvahs, weddings, funerals.
2) Rites of passage that transform identity and mark transition stages.
3) Death and funerals
Even everyday acts (like eating or sex) can be infused with sacred meaning.
Eliade vs Otto
Otto = Depth into the inner, emotional core of encountering the holy.
Eliade = Breadth of how the sacred permeates all aspects of traditional societies.
What are ‘crypto religious’ behaviours
Crypto-Religious attitudes: people display attachments to places even in a non secular manner (hometowns). These are echoes of sense of sacred space. More prevalent as religious culture has diminished
What is Clifford Geertz core thesis on Religion
At its core, Geertz sees religion as a symbolic system that makes people’s deepest beliefs and emotions feel real and meaningful.
