ANTH150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Protestant Work Ethic, Edward Burnett Tylor, Polytheism
10 May 2018
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ANTH150 Lecture
IX: Religion, Ritual, Magic, and Witchcraft
Linguistic Determinism: The “Weak” Version
• Language does not necessarily constrain our minds, but it makes us attentive to some things
• Language, culture and thought are interrelated
• Language provides a map for understanding one’s world
The Focal Vocabulary
• Words and distinctions that are important to certain groups of people
Other thoughts
• Language, like the rest of culture, is a product of human attempts to come to terms with
experience
• All languages prove to be complex: there is no such thing as a primitive language
Anthropology of Religion: Background
• A cornerstone of anthropology since its beginnings
• An anthropological approach to religion
• Start from local perspectives
• Follow connections across social domains
What is Religion
• How would you define religion?
• What does it need to “exist”?
• We find that (in general) religious traditions are ever changing complexes of beliefs,
practices, and social institutions
• The beliefs and behaviours related to supernatural being(s) and forces
Theories on the Origin and Purpose of Religion
• Tylor (1871): Need to explain the different between the living and the dead
• Animism
• Polytheism, Monotheism
• Durkheim: To maintain social continuity and cohesion (functionalism)
• Malinowski: Reduce anxiety/uncertainty
• Marx: “Opiate” for the people
• Max Weber: Protestant work ethic
• Geertz: Systems of Meaning. A model for and of life
Types of Supernaturals
• A range from impersonal “forces” to human-like forms
• Animation: An impersonal power (Manna)
• Animism: Souls/Spirits exist in objects, animals
• Gods and goddesses
• Ancestors
• Demons
• Other minor beings as well
How are Beliefs Expressed?
• Myths convey messages about the supernatural indirectly
• Why do myths exist?
• Myth: Coyote and the Rock Monster
• What (values, morals, ideas) is this myth communicating/teaching?
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Document Summary
Linguistic determinism: the weak version: language does not necessarily constrain our minds, but it makes us attentive to some things, language, culture and thought are interrelated, language provides a map for understanding one"s world. The focal vocabulary: words and distinctions that are important to certain groups of people. Other thoughts: language, like the rest of culture, is a product of human attempts to come to terms with experience, all languages prove to be complex: there is no such thing as a primitive language. Anthropology of religion: background: a cornerstone of anthropology since its beginnings, an anthropological approach to religion, start from local perspectives, follow connections across social domains. Types of supernaturals: a range from impersonal forces to human-like forms, animation: an impersonal power (manna, animism: souls/spirits exist in objects, animals, gods and goddesses, ancestors, demons, other minor beings as well.
