Download Religious Perspectives in Anthropology

The Anthropological Study of
Religion, Magic & Supernaturalism
Weeks 1 & 2
Articles:
Geertz- Religion
Harris- Why We Became Religious &
the Evolution of the Spirit World
Lee- Religious Perspectives in
Anthropology
Origins of Religion
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100KYA- Neanderthal’s burials- controversy
30KYA- Homo Sapiens Sapiens
10KYA- Neolithic Period
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Burials
Agriculture
Medieval Europe
Enlightenment Period
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Kant
Rousseau
Darwin
Lett
Religious Categories
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19th Century Scholars
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World religions- higher vs. lower
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Main Three:
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Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Primitive religions
Religious Categories
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Features of World
Religions:
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Based on written
Scriptures
Notion of salvation
Universal
Can subsume or
surplant a primal
Forms a separate
sphere of activity
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Features of Primal
Religions:
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Oral
This world dimension
orientation
Confined to single
culture/ethnicity
Form basis for
development of world
religions
Religion & social lie are
inseparable &
intertwined
Functions of Religion
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Solution to adversity
Psychological- Freud & Malinowsky
Sociology- Durkheim & Radclife
Anthropology- “Include all that is not natural, unexplainable”
Wallace
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Positivistic approach- “typology based on cult institutions a set of rituals all
having the same general goal, all explicitly rationalized by a set of similar
or related beliefs, and all supported by the same social group.”
Doomed to die out
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Geertz
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Shamanic
Communal
Ecclesiastical
Interpretative semiotic approach
Pandian
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Mytholiminal rationality
Evolutionary adaptation
Religion, Magic &
Supernaturalism (Pandian)
Concept of “religion”
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17th century
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Definitions of religion (p.25-26)
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Religion= civilized/organized
Magic= inferior/unorganized
Tylor, Durkheim, Wallace, Spiro, Geertz
Norbeck- ideas, attitudes, creeds & acts of
supernaturalism.
Science & religion not mutually exclusive
Origin of word “religion”
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religio
religare
Disciplinary Domains in the Study
of Religion
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Anthropology of religion- comparative,
cross-cultural, & evolutionary study.
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Sociology
Psychology
History
Philosophy
Anthropology
Explanation & Interpretation in
Study of Supernaturalism
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Heelas- positivism inadequate
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Theoretical stagnation
Neglect of meaning
Neglect of intra-religious explanations
Comte- scientific positivistic stage
Horton- today’s truth will change
Kuhn- science non-linear fashion
Fundamental difference between study of
physical and cultural phenomena
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Study of knowledge & meaning
“Understanding of understandings”
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Analysis of different levels of cultural reality
Religion
By
Clifford Geertz
3 major Intellectual
Developments
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Emergence of History
Radical Split of the Social Sciences
Primitive reasoning vs. civilized thought
Evolutionism & its Enemies
Psychological approaches
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Freud’s major work
Bettelheim
Malinowski
Religion by Geertz
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Sociological approaches
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Durheim
Rise of Functionalism or Structuralism
Radcliffe Brown
Analysis of symbolic forms
Primitive thought
Symbolic systems
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Levi-Strauss
Why We Became Religious & the
Evolution of the Spirit World
By
Marvin Harris
Why We Became Religious & the
Evolution of the Spirit World
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Religion in non-human species
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Pigeon food pellets
Superstitious responses
Mana
The Evolution of the Spirit World
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Band & Village people
Religious Perspectives in
Anthropology
Dorothy Lee
Religious Perspectives in
Anthropology
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Religious perspectives vary among Western
and “primitive” societies
In Western societies:
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Nature was ordained by heaven to be dominated
and exploited to human’s desires and needs.
In “primitive” societies:
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“Religion is present in human’s view of his/her place
in the universe”
“Human’s relatedness to the universe, nonhuman
nature, reality & circumstance”
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Religion is evident in daily life, agriculture, hunting, health
measures, arts, and crafts.
Religious Perspectives in
Anthropology
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Agriculture
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Navaho- no word for religion
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Maya of Yucatan
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Farming- “mirage stone”
Art- Sand painting
Farming = Worshipping
World inhabited by supernatural beings
Hopi- masks, costumes, etc.
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Drama- more than mere form of art