The Sacred Canopy

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-25
Author(s):  
Isaac Nizigama
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Sociology Of Religion ◽  
Methodological Individualism ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Multidimensional Approach ◽  
Sacred Canopy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Methodological Holism ◽  
Epistemological Framework

Peter L. Berger’s sociology of religion is one of the most studied and quoted in the contemporary social science of religions. Nevertheless, it is also one of the most discussed, notably because of the changes of position by the author with regard to his thought on the secularization of the modern world, and on the relationship between his theses of a sociological nature and his reflections on Protestant theology. The present article questions his global epistemological framework by placing that problematic within the framework of the criticisms which have been directed at ‘absolute functionalism,’ notably by the structuralists or moderate functionalists. By linking it with the prospect of going beyond the opposition between methodological holism and methodological individualism and between substantivism and functionalism, we propose a multidimensional approach to the religious, which seems to lead to a better understanding of the latter in its transformations and metamorphoses into modernity.

scholarly journals Affect philosophy meets incongruity: about transformative potentials in comic laughter

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mark Weeks
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Studies ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Continental Philosophy ◽  
Affect Theory ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Scholarly Attention

The emergence of philosophical affect theory, sourced substantially in Continental philosophy, has intensified scholarly attention around affective potentials in laughter. However, the relationship between laughter’s affect and the comic remains a complicated one for researchers, with some maintaining that the two should be studied separately (Emmerson 2019, Parvulescu 2010). While there is a credible academic rationale for drawing precise distinctions, the present article takes an integrative approach to laughter and the comic. It analyzes, then synthesizes, points of convergence between key texts in affect philosophy and certain elements of incongruity-based humour theory. Specifically, the article seeks to demonstrate that some integration can bring insight and clarity to discussion of transformative potentials sometimes attributed to forms of comic laughter, especially within cultural studies and social science following the philosophy of Deleuze. This approach may also usefully complicate the concept of incongruity itself.

Some Reflections On the Relationship Magic-Religion

Numen ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.S. Versnel
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Scholarly Discourse ◽  
Functionalist Approach ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe well-known substantialist-'Frazerian'-definitions of magic as distinct from religion by its immediate and individual goals, the concomitant manipulative and coercive attitude, the instrumental and mechanical type of action etc., have been under attack for more than half a century. Anthropologists in particular have argued that no meaningful contrast between religion and magic can be gained from this approach and that our notion 'magic' is a modern-western biased construct which does not fit representations of other cultures. Consequently, in the view of some of them, the term 'magic' should be altogether avoided. Furthermore, with respect to the ancient and early modern world, in which the opposition religion-magic is supposed to have originated, it is argued that magic and religion function exclusively as value-judgments, terms indicating 'magic' being exploited to stigmatize illegitimate or undesired (religious) behaviour of socially or culturally deviant groups. In the present article it is argued that-although admittedly this functionalist approach has yielded remarkable and lasting results-rejection of the term 'magic' will soon turn out to be unworkable and, in fact, is putting the cart before the horse. From an etic point of view-which in the view of the author is the only possible way to conduct scholarly discourse-it will be impossible to do cultural research without the aid of heuristic instruments such as-at least broad, polythetic or prototypical-definitions. And, if possible at all, it would be utterly unpractical to completely eliminate religion as one of the obvious models of contrast. This position is substantiated with some practical instances from the Graeco-Roman world. It is shown that, at least in the context of (magical) curse-tablets and-related but clearly distinct-(religious) prayers for justice or vengeance, the ancient authors were clearly aware of the very same distinctions modern people normally associate with the notions of magic and religion.

Immigrant Absorption and Religion

1971 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-71
Author(s):  
J. J. Mol
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Sociology Of Religion ◽  
International Sociological Association ◽  
Religious Membership ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Mcmaster University

Dr. Mol, Professor, Sociology of Religion, McMaster University, Canada, and Secretary of Sociology of Religion Committee of the International Sociological Association, is pursuing, among other things, the relationship of religious membership to the assimilation of immigrants. As he states in the article, he his aware that “for larger, more elaborate theories of immigrant adjustment and for comprehensive empirical studies additional, more refined concepts have to be introduced.” However the editors feel that as an introduction to this important aspect of the assimilation of migrants, the present article is a stimulating pioneering effort.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL STATUS OF THE CAPITAL OF UKRAINE - THE HERO CITY OF KYIV AS A GUARANTEE OF THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS OF UKRAINE AND THE TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY OF THE CITY

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleksii Chepov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
City Councils ◽  
The Social ◽  
District Management ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

The qualitative and clear definition of the legal regime of the capital of Ukraine, the hero city of Kyiv, is influenced by its legislative enshrinement, however, it should be noted that discussions are ongoing and one of the reasons for the unclear legal status of the capital is the ambiguity of current legislation in this area. Separation of the functions of the city of Kyiv, which are carried out to ensure the rights of citizens of Ukraine and the functions that guarantee the rights of the territorial community of the city of Kyiv. In the modern world, in legal doctrine and practice, the capital is understood as the capital of the country, which at the legislative level received this status and, accordingly, is the administrative and political center of the state, which houses the main state bodies and diplomatic missions of other states. It is the identification of the boundaries of the relationship between the competencies of state administrations and local self-government, in practice, often raises questions about their delimitation and ways of regulatory solution. Peculiarities of local self-government in Kyiv city districts are defined in the provisions of the Law on the Capital, which reveal the norms of the Constitution in these legal relations, according to which the issue of organizing district management in cities belongs to city councils. Likewise, it is unregulated by law to lose the particularity of the legal status of the territory of the city. It should be emphasized that the subject of administrative-legal relations is not a certain administrative-territorial entity, but the social group is designated - the territorial community of the city of Kiev, kiyani. Thus, the provisions on the city of Kyiv partially ignore the potential of the territorial community.

Reflections on Local Population Studies and Social Science History

2018 ◽  
pp. 43-51
Author(s):  
Osamu Saito
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Population Studies ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Local Source ◽  
Personal Reflection ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Science History ◽  
Social Science History ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Source Materials

This personal reflection of more than 40 years' work on the supply of labour in a household context discusses the relationship between social science history (the application to historical phenomena of the tools developed by social scientists) and local population studies. The paper concludes that historians working on local source materials can give something new back to social scientists and social science historians, urging them to remake their tools.

A University Education

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Willetts
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
University Education ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Relationship

Universities have a crucial role in the modern world. In England, entrance to universities is by nation-wide competition which means English universities have an exceptional influence on schools--a striking theme of the book. This important book first investigates the university as an institution and then tracks the individual on their journey to and through university. In A University Education, David Willetts presents a compelling case for the ongoing importance of the university, both as one of the great institutions of modern society and as a transformational experience for the individual. The book also makes illuminating comparisons with higher education in other countries, especially the US and Germany. Drawing on his experience as UK Minister for Universities and Science from 2010 to 2014, the author offers a powerful account of the value of higher education and the case for more expansion. He covers controversial issues in which he was involved from access for disadvantaged students to the introduction of L9,000 fees. The final section addresses some of the big questions for the future, such as the the relationship between universities and business, especially in promoting innovation.. He argues that the two great contemporary trends of globalisation and technological innovation will both change the university significantly. This is an authoritative account of English universities setting them for the first time in their new legal and regulatory framework.

Religion and Toleration from the Enlightenment to the Post-Secular Era

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Forst
Keyword(s):  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Reason ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Pierre Bayle ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter addresses the classical question of the relationship between enlightenment and religion. In doing so, the chapter compares Jürgen Habermas's thought to that of Pierre Bayle and Immanuel Kant. For, although Habermas undoubtedly stands in a tradition founded by Bayle and Kant, he develops a number of important orientations within this tradition and has changed his position in his recent work. The chapter studies this change to understand Habermas's position better. It also draws attention to a fundamental question raised by the modern world: what common ground can human reason establish in the practical and theoretical domain between human beings who are divided by profoundly different religious (including antireligious) views?

Politics and Research: Epistemological Moments

1990 ◽  
Vol 15 (01) ◽  
pp. 149-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelaide H. Villmoare
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Law And Society ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship

In reading the essays by David M. Trubek and John Esser and Boaventura de Sousa Santos, I thought about what I call epistemological moments that have provided contexts within which to understand the relationship between social science research and politics. I will sketch four moments and suggest that I find one of them more compelling than the others because it speaks particularly to social scientists with critical, democratic ambitions and to Trubek and Esser's concerns about politics and the intellectual vitality of the law and society movement.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document