The Limits of Function
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20074843 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dorothy Emmet (University of Manchester, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Pages | 18-29 |
| Publication date | 1998-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Outward Forms, Inner Springs (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan UK (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/978-1-349-26672-2_3 |
| OpenAlex | W2500552926 |
| ISBN | 9781349266722 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
The sociological interpretation of religion by a functional approach was largely developed by social anthropologists in studying societies which used to be called ‘primitive’. The word now tends to be dropped, no doubt because it sounds patronizing, and the preferred term is ‘traditional’. This is not just a euphemism; it makes the point that in these societies there are established ways of thinking and acting derived from the past. I have spoken of how these could be expressed and also reinforced by rituals and about how those taking part also lived and worked with one another in other spheres of life, which also had their established forms. Moreover, activity in one sphere could support activities in other spheres in a network that had not been planned but had become established through recurrent practice. Motivation to behave in these ways would be internalized in upbringing, and there were sanctions for bringing deviants back into line. Such societies were generally small, and kinship in an extended family had an important place in them
Epistemology · Euphemism · Function (biology) · Interpretation (philosophy) · Kinship · Linguistics · Political science · Sanctions · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Law · Philosophy · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |