ANTH-2108 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sherry Ortner, James George Frazer, Paul Radin
22 Jun 2018
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Religion [September 2017]
Religion is the discourse, the language and practice, or the means by
which human society and culture is extended to include the nonhuman.
It is also an “extrapolation of culture” and the divine representing an
extension of our social relationships of communication, intention,
reciprocity, respect, avoidance, control. While Ritual is a key aspect of
religion, but not all religions valourize or elaborate it equally. This is
because religions differ in their ideas and concepts.!
-E.B Taylor:!
Religion is a belief in spiritual beings which explains otherwise unexplained
conditions and events.
•Anthony Wallace has a similar view, as he says religion is a set of rituals,
rationalized by myth, which mobilizes supernatural powers for the purpose of
achieving or preventing transformations of state in man and nature.
•Sir James Frazer agrees with these two scholars as he says, religion is a
propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to
direct and control the course of nature and human life.
!
Paul Radin offers an approach to understanding rituals which consists
of two parts: !
1. An easily definable, if not precisely specific feeling; and the second certain acts,
customs, beliefs, and conception associated with this feeling. !
2. The belief most inextricably connected with the specific feeling is a belief in spirits
outside of man, conceived as more powerful than man and as controlling all those
elements in life upon which he lay most stress.
Clifford Geertz says: religion can be viewed as cultural system of symbols which act to
establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations in humans by
formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions
with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.!
1
> Malinowski shares a similar perspective to Geertz, as he asserts religion as a!
set of beliefs and practices (e.g., mana) which help to reduce anxiety and!
uncertainty; therefore, it serves as a psychological release.
> Sherry Ortner, focuses more strictly on the definition of religion as compared to
Malinowski and Geertz. She explains that religion can be analyzed as a meta-
system which generates problem solving approaches to everyday issues that
arise through the clash of social order. Religion grounds this order within a
theoretically ultimate reality within which those problems will ‘make sense’.
Emile Durkheim has a very broad definition for religion that can
encompass many different types of cultural values. He states
religion it is considered a unified system of beliefs and
practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set
aside and forbidden – beliefs and practices, which unite into
one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere
to them.
Ritual [October 2017]
It is important to study ritual both in through a religious and spiritual
lens but also an everyday one as well. This means, ritual is apart of our
lives more then we even realize. For example, when we participate in
class we are asked to raise our hand and follow other specific rules like
dress codes. These are all examples of secular and everyday rituals in
which we often take for granted, as they link us to a greater community.
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Document Summary
Religion is the discourse, the language and practice, or the means by which human society and culture is extended to include the nonhuman. It is also an extrapolation of culture and the divine representing an extension of our social relationships of communication, intention, reciprocity, respect, avoidance, control. While ritual is a key aspect of religion, but not all religions valourize or elaborate it equally. This is because religions differ in their ideas and concepts. > malinowski shares a similar perspective to geertz, as he asserts religion as a set of beliefs and practices (e. g. , mana) which help to reduce anxiety and uncertainty; therefore, it serves as a psychological release. > sherry ortner, focuses more strictly on the definition of religion as compared to. She explains that religion can be analyzed as a meta- system which generates problem solving approaches to everyday issues that arise through the clash of social order.
