Between Durkheim and Geertz - Progress of the Theory of Religion in Social Sciences
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Keywords

sociologie náboženství
antropologie náboženství
filosofie
teoretický pokrok
sociology of religion
anthropology of religion
philosophy
theoretical progress
Émile Durkheim
Clifford Geertz

How to Cite

Balaš, N. (2013). Between Durkheim and Geertz - Progress of the Theory of Religion in Social Sciences. Teorie vědy Theory of Science, 34(4), 495-514. https://doi.org/10.46938/tv.2012.155

Abstract

Émile Durkheim's famous book Elementary Forms of Religious Life is one of the most important contributions to the sociology of religion. For years, it had been praised and cited as well as criticised and condemned. The book had become a charter of subsequent generations of social scientists, especially those who studied phenomena of society and religion. However, in 1966, an American cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz presented his opinion claiming that Durkheim's theory of religion as well as the theories of religion of Freud, Malinowski and Weber should be substituted with more subtle and superior theory of religion. A superior theory of religion was supposed to be Geertz's theory presented in a paper entitled "Religion as Cultural System". Did Geertz understand Durkheim's theory adequately, so that we can agree with Geertz's claim of surpassing the clas- sic authors like Durkheim?

PDF (Czech)

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