ANT100Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Tao Te Ching, Idolatry, Abrahamic Religions

• School: UTSG
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: ANT100Y1
• Professor: Shawn Lehman

Document Summary

Lecture themes: anthropology and religion, religion: link beyond reality (to the real, religion a link beyond culture, religion: a link beyond society, ritual. Anthropological attitude to religion: goal is(cid:374)"t to judge o(cid:396) to establish truth or falsehood, recognize nature and role of religion in its cultural and social context, dis(cid:272)o(cid:448)e(cid:396) (cid:449)hat (cid:862)(cid:396)eligio(cid:374)(cid:863) (cid:373)ight (cid:373)ea(cid:374) as a ge(cid:374)e(cid:396)al (cid:272)ha(cid:396)a(cid:272)te(cid:396)isti(cid:272) of hu(cid:373)a(cid:374) so(cid:272)iet(cid:455) What religion is not necessarily: to some extent what is or is not religion is a matter of arbitrary definition. It (cid:373)a(cid:455) (cid:271)e that (cid:448)e(cid:396)(cid:455) (cid:272)o(cid:374)(cid:272)ept of (cid:862)(cid:396)eligio(cid:374)(cid:863) is a (cid:373)ode(cid:396)(cid:374), (cid:449)este(cid:396)(cid:374) o(cid:374)e: none of following exists in all religion, holy text, dogma (principles that are authorized as true, natural history (origin and evolution of nature, faith, (cid:862)god(cid:863) Clifford geertz: 1926-2996, religion is concerned with the (cid:862)(cid:396)eall(cid:455) (cid:396)eal(cid:863) Universal features of religion: reaching beyond reality, reaching beyond culture (michael lambek, extending social relations beyond society (emile durkheim)