"The Elementary Forms of Religious
Life" is one of Emile Durkheim's most notable and complex pieces of
writing. The article relates to the sociology of religion but also sets forth Emile Durkheim's complex theory of human knowledge. According to Durkheim, at the basis
of all religions, be it primitive or modern, stands the distinction between the
sacred and profane (for a more detailed account see our
summary of Durkheim's "The Sacred and the Profane"). For Durkheim
the sacred is generated by means of rituals the created social cohesion and tie
individuals to society. These bonds, which are articulated in moral terms,
shape the categories through which we understand our social reality.
The differentiation between the sacred and
profane takes shape not only in beliefs and rituals, but is also institutionalized
in the structures of a church. This systemization of the distinction which
forms " The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life" is especially
important for Durkheim since it is the rituals and churches which connect the individual
to social structures. They are the source of knowledge regarding what is sacred
and profane and the manners in which one should act to maintain this
distinction. Durkheim gives the example of the Totem (elaborated in his The
Genesis of the Totemic Principle of Mana) as a primitive form of such an organizing
function. According to Durkheim the Totem is the material representation of the
nonmaterial existence of the clan and its collective consciousness.
In summary, the key point in Durkheim's "Elementary
Forms of Religious Life" is the relation he offers between social
structure of religion and what can be described as ontological structure of
reality itself. The form religion takes is the form of social life which echo
in each other, correlating meaning and belief to law and order through rituals
and religious institutions.
Durkheim's notions in "Elementary Forms
of Religious Life" were later further developed by Mary Douglas in "Purity
and Danger" and her notions regarding ritual
uncleanness or secular
defilement.
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