Functionalism and religion
- Functionalists see religion as a conservative force, promoting social harmony, social
integration and solidarity through the reinforcement of a value consensus
- The functionalist perspective is essentially concerned with analysing the role of religion in
meeting the functional prerequisites that society has in order to survive
DURKHEIM
Concept: The Sacred and the Profane
- For DURKHEIM, the key feature of religion was a fundamental distinction between the
sacred and the profane found in all religions
- Sacred: Things set apart that inspire feelings of awe, fear and wonder and are surrounded by
taboos and prohibitions
- Profane: Things that have no special significance-they are ordinary and mundane
- The fact that sacred things evoke such powerful feelings in believers indicates to DURKHEIM
that this is because they are symbols representing something of great power
- In his view, this can only be society itself as society is the only thing powerful enough to
command such feelings
- Therefore, when they worship the sacred symbols, they are worshipping society
- Although sacred symbols vary from religion to religion, they all perform the essential
function of uniting believers into a single moral community
Concept: Totemism
- DURKHEIM believed that the essence of all religion could be found by studying its simplest
form in the simplest type of society (clan society)
- He used studies of the Arunta, an Australian Aboriginal tribe with a clan system
- Arunta clans consist of bands of kin who come together periodically to perform rituals
involving worship of a sacred totem
- The totemic rituals venerating it serve to reinforce the group’s solidarity and sense of
belonging
- For DURKHEIM, when clan members worship their totemic animal, they are in reality
worshipping society
- The totem inspires feelings of awe in the clan’s members because it represents the power
of the group on which the individual is ‘utterly dependent’
- CA: WORSLEY notes that there is no sharp division between the sacred and the profane and
that different clans share the same totems
- CA: Even if DURKHEIM is right about totemism, this does not mean that he has discovered
the essence of all other religions
- CA: It is hard to apply DURKHEIM’s theory to large-scale societies where 2 or more religious
communities may be in conflict
Concept: The Collective Conscience
- In DURKHEIM’s view the sacred symbols represent society’s collective conscience
- Collective conscience: Shared norms, values and beliefs that make social life and
cooperation between individuals possible
- Functionalists see religion as a conservative force, promoting social harmony, social
integration and solidarity through the reinforcement of a value consensus
- The functionalist perspective is essentially concerned with analysing the role of religion in
meeting the functional prerequisites that society has in order to survive
DURKHEIM
Concept: The Sacred and the Profane
- For DURKHEIM, the key feature of religion was a fundamental distinction between the
sacred and the profane found in all religions
- Sacred: Things set apart that inspire feelings of awe, fear and wonder and are surrounded by
taboos and prohibitions
- Profane: Things that have no special significance-they are ordinary and mundane
- The fact that sacred things evoke such powerful feelings in believers indicates to DURKHEIM
that this is because they are symbols representing something of great power
- In his view, this can only be society itself as society is the only thing powerful enough to
command such feelings
- Therefore, when they worship the sacred symbols, they are worshipping society
- Although sacred symbols vary from religion to religion, they all perform the essential
function of uniting believers into a single moral community
Concept: Totemism
- DURKHEIM believed that the essence of all religion could be found by studying its simplest
form in the simplest type of society (clan society)
- He used studies of the Arunta, an Australian Aboriginal tribe with a clan system
- Arunta clans consist of bands of kin who come together periodically to perform rituals
involving worship of a sacred totem
- The totemic rituals venerating it serve to reinforce the group’s solidarity and sense of
belonging
- For DURKHEIM, when clan members worship their totemic animal, they are in reality
worshipping society
- The totem inspires feelings of awe in the clan’s members because it represents the power
of the group on which the individual is ‘utterly dependent’
- CA: WORSLEY notes that there is no sharp division between the sacred and the profane and
that different clans share the same totems
- CA: Even if DURKHEIM is right about totemism, this does not mean that he has discovered
the essence of all other religions
- CA: It is hard to apply DURKHEIM’s theory to large-scale societies where 2 or more religious
communities may be in conflict
Concept: The Collective Conscience
- In DURKHEIM’s view the sacred symbols represent society’s collective conscience
- Collective conscience: Shared norms, values and beliefs that make social life and
cooperation between individuals possible
