Short Paper #3
Emile Durkheim In Emile Durkheim’s writing The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (2008), discovering the genesis of religion and how it was implemented into society is the primary theme within. Durkheim defines religion as “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite in one single moral community called a Church, all those adhere to them” (47). Finding the genesis of religion, or any other similar institution for that matter, is merely impossible but finding the genesis is only a conceptual thought. By looking for the genesis of religion and its implementation into society, the reasoning for the institution often becomes …show more content…
Before religions were formed, Durkheim argues that there were social needs from man that needed to be fulfilled. Durkheim also creates the argument that there was a need for humans to control their environment. Due to these needs, religion was able to find its role in society and was created for the betterment of these needs. Durkheim places no biased attitude on the creation of religion but does admit that through religion we are now able to organize and classify the world. The argument becomes if the classification process has created a simpler world for …show more content…
Since Durkheim does not give a complete definition of collective effervescence in this writing, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines it as “the moments in societal life when the group of individuals that make up a society comes together in order to perform a religious ritual” (IEP). A society uses collective effervescence in order to glorify the sacred characteristics of the religion. This moment in a society brings a sense of togetherness and unification within the group that helps reinforce what the core of values truly mean. This reinforcement helps the reproduction of the heritage so that it is able to be passed along to future generations. Durkheim elaborates on the importance of this moment within a society. He believes that when this first moment in society happens, everything else that follows in the religion is rooted back to the initial
Emile Durkheim In Emile Durkheim’s writing The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (2008), discovering the genesis of religion and how it was implemented into society is the primary theme within. Durkheim defines religion as “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite in one single moral community called a Church, all those adhere to them” (47). Finding the genesis of religion, or any other similar institution for that matter, is merely impossible but finding the genesis is only a conceptual thought. By looking for the genesis of religion and its implementation into society, the reasoning for the institution often becomes …show more content…
Before religions were formed, Durkheim argues that there were social needs from man that needed to be fulfilled. Durkheim also creates the argument that there was a need for humans to control their environment. Due to these needs, religion was able to find its role in society and was created for the betterment of these needs. Durkheim places no biased attitude on the creation of religion but does admit that through religion we are now able to organize and classify the world. The argument becomes if the classification process has created a simpler world for …show more content…
Since Durkheim does not give a complete definition of collective effervescence in this writing, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines it as “the moments in societal life when the group of individuals that make up a society comes together in order to perform a religious ritual” (IEP). A society uses collective effervescence in order to glorify the sacred characteristics of the religion. This moment in a society brings a sense of togetherness and unification within the group that helps reinforce what the core of values truly mean. This reinforcement helps the reproduction of the heritage so that it is able to be passed along to future generations. Durkheim elaborates on the importance of this moment within a society. He believes that when this first moment in society happens, everything else that follows in the religion is rooted back to the initial