Nine Theories of Religion PDF
Preview Nine Theories of Religion
NINE THEORIES OF RELIGION Qt THIRD EDITION Daniel L. Pals University ofMiami New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Oxford University Press is a department ofthe University ofOxford. It furthers the University’s objective ofexcellence in research, scholarship, and education bypublishingworldwide. Oxford NewYork Auckland CapeTown Dares Salaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2015, 2006, 1996 byOxford University Press. For titles covered by Section 112 ofthe US Higher Education OpportunityAct, pleasevisit www.0up.com/us/he for the latest information aboutpricing and alternate formats. Published in the United States ofAmerica by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 http://www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trade mark ofOxford UniversityPress. All rights reserved. No part ofthis publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by anymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission ofOxford University Press. LibraryofCongress Cataloging—in—Publication Data Pals, Daniel L. [Eight theories ofreligion] Nine theories ofreligion / Daniel L. Pals, University ofMiami.—Third Edition. pages cm Rev. ed. of: Eight theories ofreligion. 2006. Includes index. ISBN 978-0—19-985909-2 l. Religion—Study and teaching—History. I. Title. BL41.P36 2014 200.7—dc23 2014003980 Printing number:9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States ofAmerica on acid-free paper To the memory of my father, Herbert H. Pals (1916—2004). Filiis caritatem maiorem posset nullus pater habere. CONTENTS Preface vii Introduction 1 Animism and Magic 15 E. B. TYLOR AND J. G. FRAZER Religion and Personality 49 SIGMUND FREUD Society as Sacred 8] EMILE DURKHEIM Religion as Alienation 113 KARL MARX A Source of Social Action 143 MAX WEBER The Verdict of Religious Experience 185 WILLIAM JAMES The Reality of the Sacred 227 MIRCEA ELIADE Society's "Construct of the Heart" 263 E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD Religion as Cultural System 293 CLIFFORD GEERTZ 10. Conclusion 325 Index 353 PREFACE It is gratifying, certainly, to find that interest in this book—sustained by the choices of fellow scholars and teachers, as well as the (good, one would hope) reading experiences of their students—has persisted over an interval of almost two decades. The self-referential side ofme wants to compliment them on their good taste in authors, but the truth clearly points elsewhere—to the wisdom in their choice of subjects. For in my View, and I presume theirs as well, there is no better way to be tutored into a field of inquiry than to engage its most impressive analyses and arguments as offered by its classic figures: the theorists whose ideas and interpretations have set the original terms of debate, defined the primary borders of the subject, and offered the paradigms that all who follow them must in one way or another engage, endorse, amend, or challenge. Seven Theories ofReligion took shape initially as a venture of that kind; it sought to introduce the classic theorists ofreligion and their inter- pretations in accessible summary form and nonspecialized language, accom- panied by some measure of analysis and critique. When the book went to a second edition, initiated by Oxford’s Senior Editor Robert Miller, it was agreed that the great German sociologist Max Weber ought to be brought into the mix, so a chapter on Weber was added. The incorporation ofthat addition, along with a concluding chapter looking forward to more contemporary developments, led to the publication of the second edition, as Eight Theories ofReligion, in 2006. Eight years have passed since then, and in the last several of those years Robert Miller orchestrated a new set of outside reviews to see whether another edition should appear, and if so, what changes should be made. As always, opinions differed, but the reviewers’ thoughtful commentaries led me to conclude—and Robert to concur—that among the classic early theo— rists of religion, the voice of the American William James ought also to be heard. Recognized in his day as the patriarch of both scientific psychology and philosophical pragmatism in American universities, James established vii viii Preface himself at the turn of the twentieth century as one of the nation’s foremost intellectuals. In both psychology and philosophy he broke new ground, while at the same time the paths of his inquiries turned him inevitably toward what was his one lifelong interest: the claims and values ofreligion. In consequence, James’s enviable legacy as a psychologist and philosopher has come to be rivaled—some would even say, surpassed—by his achievement in the study and theory of religion, where his pragmatic perspective culminated in the book that well deserves its reputation as a theoretical and empirical Classic: The Varieties ofReligious Experience, a capstone effort work that emerged from the celebrated Gifford Lectures he delivered at the University of Edinburgh in 1901—02. NEW TO THIS EDITION The addition of a Chapter on William James is the one major change in this third edition of the book, which now becomes Nine Theories ofReligion. As will become clear, the views James developed as a psychologist of religion offer a counterpoint to those of Sigmund Freud; further, they envision psy- chology as ranging well beyond the province ofpsychoanalysis. Consequently, consideration of James serves also to bring some balance into the book’s por- trayal of the psychology of religion, which was somewhat skewed in the text of the previous editions, where Freud stands alone as representative of the discipline. In meeting James we meet the psychology of religion pursued along lines very different from Freud’s. But in another sense we also meet a welcome similarity. For in James, as in Freud, we encounter another of those agile, ambitious, and inventive minds that made the decades before and after the turn of the twentieth century so intellectually vibrant and fiercely contentious. That in itself should make the new pages given to him worthy of attention. Beyond the new chapter, there are only minor changes and additions. Small edits, elisions, or amplifications have been made throughout the book to (1) include relevant comparisons and references to James in the existing chap- ters, most often in the sections centered on analysis and critique; (2) achieve greater economy of expression, and thereby slightly reduce chapter length throughout; and (3) secure greater precision and clarity of exposition where needed. Because certain useful studies and several major new biographies— notably of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber—have appeared since Eight Theories was published, I have also made some updates to the “Suggestions for Further Reading” noted at the end of each chapter. Preface ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks need again to be extended to Oxford University Press, and especially Robert Miller, for the editorial patience shown, especially as administrative duties at the University of Miami kept putting me off the hours I could have been spending with James, and thus delaying the new chapter “yet another year” until now. I want also personally to thank Oxford Associate Editor Kristin Maffei and Editorial Assistant Kaitlin Coats for their diligence and hard work—invariably underappreciated—in bringing this new edition into final form. The same must be said to Ms. Bev Kraus and her colleague Ms. Wendy Walker, whose careful attention to detail, and keen eye for my slips and errors, did so much to make light the tedious labors of copyediting associated with this new edition. In Miami my longtime colleague—and authority on religious conversion—David Kling has again provided both a close critical reading and his characteristically wise conceptual assessment, of the new chapter. Of course no one has been more patient, or, when impa- tience was needed, put me more regularly and rightly in my place, than the two lodestars of my life: my wife Phyllis and daughter Katharine. For them, as before and ever, no measure of thanks is measure enough.
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