REL 490
Theories of Religion
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What do these have in common?
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Dr.
Tim Murphy
tmurphy@bama.ua.edu
Office: Manly 209
Class: Wednesday, 3:00-5:30
Location: Manly 210
Office Hours: Most Mondays, 2:30-4:30 or by appointment
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"Modern man is in general, even with the
best of intentions, unable to give religious ideas a significance
for culture and national character which they deserve."
- Max Weber
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"I will begin with a basic fact: The living
organism, in a situation determined by the play of energy
on the surface of the globe, ordinarily receives more energy
than is necessary for maintaining life; the excess energy
(wealth) can be used for the growth of a system (e.g., an
organism); it the system can no longer grow, or if the excess
cannot be completely absorbed in its growth, it must necessarily
be lost without profit; it must be spent, willingly or not,
gloriously or catastrophically. This is the logic of sacrifice."
- Georges Bataille
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What causes religion? Why does it exist? What does it do?
What does it mean? How does it mean? This course will be an
advanced survey of major theorists of religion. We will focus
on the controversy between socio-economic theories of religion
which emphasize the material causes of religion (such as Durkheim,
Marx, and Bataille) and interpretive theories of religion
which emphasize religious meanings (such as Weber, Peter Berger,
and Levi-Strauss, structuralism and semiotics). Seminar format
with some additional lecture. Course open to majors and minors
only; advisor approval required. See Religious Studies Department
for permit.
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Syllabus (TBA)
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Dr.
Murphy's rules for expository writing (PDF)
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Sample
essay (PDF)
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Online Readings
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Levi-Strauss
readings (all four chapters) (PDF)
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Durkheim, The
Elementary Forms of Religious Life: Introduction, Chapter
1 (PDF)
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Penner, Impasse
and Resolution, Chapters 5, 6, 7 (PDF)
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Marx, Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels On Religion (PDF)
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Mauss, The
Gift: Introduction, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, Conclusion (PDF)
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Murphy, Tim, "Religion"
as the Structuring of Asymmetrical Relations: Towards a Definition
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Books
Georges Bataille, Theory of Religion.
Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological
Theory of Religion.
Brian Morris, Anthropological Studies of Religion: An
Introductory Text.
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
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