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Elementary Forms Of The Religious Life : Newly Translated By Karen E. Fields| Media: | Paperback | | Author: | Emile Durkheim | | Publisher: | Free Press | | Release date: | 01 June, 1995 | | Our price: | $19.95 |
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| Elementary Forms Of The Religious Life : Newly Translated By Karen E. Fields |
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religion began from shared feelings of group security... |
In this book Durkheim examines the origins of religion. He explains that religion developed from the collective feelings of security we gain from living in a group, and that these feelings are very powerful and important to us. Early tribes passed these feelings onto which ever object they were close to or the most frequent object in their area at the time of experiencing the emotions. The object could include a plant, vegetable or an animal, which would then be represented in a carving of stone or wood and then worshipped. This for Durkheim is the beginning of totemism, the first religion. He follows on to discuss how our first religion gave us an understanding of the world around us, our conception of space and time. For Durkheim 'the framework of our intelligence' is made up of the concepts of space, time, numbers and our existence, and they were born 'in religion'.
What emerges is no mere dry academic treatise, but an absolutely fascinating journey through topics such as the rain dances of the Pueblo Indians, the finger exercises of monkeys, and the hallucinations of alcoholics. Durkheim, of course, is the father of modern sociology and anthropology and even though sociology and anthropology have rejected many of his theories over the years he is still worth reading because the state of modern sociology and anthropology is polluted with all sorts of assumptions that are mostly politically correct eather than factually correct. The predominant belief that "we have come a long way since 1912" is completely misleading. Even though the fundamental assumption upon which Durkheim's work is based, that aboriginal practices are religion at its most basic and primitive, is no longer accepted as necessarily true - this theory was also current in Durkheim's time and he also discusses it over several chapters and effectively refutes it.
Durkheim's writing is suprisingly easy to read and very enjoyable. His examination of early societies gives much insight into their lives and how they understood the world to be. It's a fascinating read for anybody interested in human nature and early cultures. This is one of the three books that impacted me the most in my life. |
| Elementary Forms Of The Religious Life : Newly Translated By Karen E. Fields - Emile Durkheim |
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Still worth reading |
| Durkheim, of course, is a father of modern sociology and anthropology. Even though sociology and anthropology have rejected many of his theories over the years he is still worth reading. I think that many of his ideas can still provide useful ways to think about society and culture; this work may be a bit out-of-date but it's definitely not obsolete. Either way, anyone interested in sociology or anthropology should read this work, if only to get a better understanding of where these disciplines have been. Fields' new translation gives this old work new clothing and is well worth the investment. |
| Emile Durkheim - Elementary Forms Of The Religious Life : Newly Translated By Karen E. Fields |
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A precursor to scientific sociology |
| Durkheim was not as scientific (or as sociological, or even as valid) as he might have been, but that matters little. He helped start the discipline, and the rest of us have had a century to make advances. This is where to see it just beginning to take form. |
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