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Chapter 1: The Anthropological Study of Religion

Terms in this set (51)

anthropology
study of humanity
holism
studying human societies as integrated wholes
4 fields of anthropology
Physical anthropology
Linguistic anthropology
Cultural anthropology
Archaeology
physical anthropology
study of human biology and evolution
Linguistic anthropology
the study of language
cultural anthropology
the study of the contemporary human species and makes up the largest area of anthropological study
archaeology
the study of people who are known only from their physical and cultural remains, it gives us insight into the lives of now extinct societies
participant observation
type of study done that requires the anthropologist to live within the community and to participate to a degree in the lives of the people under study, while at the same time making objective observation
small scale
refers to small communities, villages, and bands that practice foraging, herding, or technologically simple horticulture
human universals
characteristics that are found in all human societies
foraging bands
food collectors: gatherers, hunters, fishers
horticultural villages
farming with simple hand tools
pastoral nomads
animal husbandry (animal breeding and caring of farm animals)
ethnography
is the descriptive study of human societies
ethnographers
people who study human societies and write ethnographies
ethnographic present
discussing groups in the present tense as they were first described by ethnographers
cultural areas
a geographical area in which species tend to share many cultural traits
Fore
Group of 14000 horticulturists living in New Guinea. Indivudla sin Fore were found to be suffering from a particular illness. 200 people were dying each year, primarily women and children. Symptoms include jerking movements and shaking. Fore calls this illness KURU which means to "tremble with fear" Kuru thought the illness was caused by sorcery. It was found that the illness was caused from prion through cannibalism. Custom of Fore to eat the body as part of funeral rituals. Prion would enter the bloodstream and take home in the brain. Women and children, bc of lower social status, ate the brain, so more likely to get the disease.
Divination
the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means
etic perspective
using words that categorize experience in a particular way
emic perspective
one that attempts to see the world though the eyes of the people being studied
ethnocentrism
using our own society as the basis for interpreting and judging other societies
cultural relativism
the attempt to describe and understand people's customs and ideas but not judge them
modernity
scholars based their knowledge on the ideals of rationality, objectivity and reason; science was seen as the means for the discovery of knowledge, truth and progress
postmodernism
began in the late 20th century. emphasized the limitations of science, that the whole is more than the sum of the parts, that there are multiple viewpoints and thrash, and the importance of being aware of our own viewpoints and biases. helped us understand that there is no one right way to think or do things
culture
"is the complex whole, which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities ad habits acquired by man as a member of society" -Edward B. Tylor
symbols
shared understandings about the meaning of certain words, attributes, or objects.
religion
any person's reliance upon a pivotal value in which that person finds essential wholeness as an individual and as a person in community
operant defintions
definition that is observable and measurable and therefore can be studied
analytic definitions
focus on the way religion manifests itself or is expressed in a culture
functional definitions
focus on what religion does either socially or psychologically within societies
essentialist definitions
looks at what is the essential nature of religion; religion is the domain of the extraordinary- things beyond the common place and the natural
supernatural
refers to things that are "above the natural"
sacred
the subject is entitled to reverence and respect
animism... and who defined it
a belief in spirit beings (gods, sounds, ghosts, demons etc); Edward Burnett Tylor
evolutionary approach
centered on the questions of when and how religion began
Who wrote the Primitive Culture (1871). What was it about?
Edward B Tylor. Used the evolutionary approach. He concluded that all religions had a belief in spiritual beings.Religions of Civilized people included gods and souls, religions of primitive people believed in spirits and ghosts
Animatism... and who developed this concept?
refers to a belief in a generalized, impersonal power over which people have some measure of control, animalism grew out of human emotional reaction to the power of nature ; Robert R Marett
Marxist Approach
Karl marx; felt religion didn't reflect the true consciousness of people but a false consciousness designed to divert people's attention from the miseries of their lives; religion is used as a means to control individuals under the capitalist system
Functionalist Approach
Emile Durkheim; asks the questions, what does religion do? what role do religions play in a society?
collective conscious
a system of beliefs that act to contain natural selfishness of individuals and to promote social cooperations
Broninslaw Malinowski and the Trobriand Islands
Major figure in the development of British anthropology. Joined an expedition to the Pacific from 1914-1920. Did lots of field work
Interpretive Approach
make sense of cultural systems by studying meaning
psychosocial approach
concerned with the relationship between culture and personality and the connection between the society and the individual
Evans-Pritchard and the Azande
Azande is known today as the classic anthropological example of witchcraft in a small scale society.
What we perceive and think of as our reality is actually a creation of our
brain
anthropomorphic
refers to things that are not human but have humanlike characteristics and behave in humanlike ways the
theory of the mind
refers to the idea that people know, or think they know, what is going on in another people's minds
cognition
processes of the human brain that include perception, learning, memory, concept formation and problem solving
evolution of religion
religion evolved as a way to fulfill social needs such as encoring cooperation between individuals, reinforcing kinship ties, and imposing order and stability on society
agnosticism
the nature of the supernatural is unknowable and it is impossible to prove the nonexistence of the supernatural as it is to prove its existence
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