Anthropological Studies of Religion
An Introductory Text

A lucid outline of explanations of religious phenomena offered by such great thinkers as Hegel, Marx, and Weber.

Brian Morris (Author)

9780521339919, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 27 February 1987

382 pages, 1 b/w illus. 3 tables
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.9 cm, 0.606 kg

"Written in an easy and approachable style, Morris's book is a first-rate survey of the social scientific study of religion and is highly recommended." Robert Segal, The Journal of Religion

In this important, scholarly and wide-ranging text, Brian Morris provides a lucid outline of the nature of the explanations of religious phenomena offered by such great thinkers as Hegel, Marx, and Weber. In doing so he also unravels the many theoretical strategies in the study of religion that have been developed and explored by later anthropologists. Besides discussing the classical authors and the debates surrounding their work, Morris presents perceptive accounts of more contemporary scholars such as Jung, Malinowski, Levi-Strauss, Geertz, and Godelier. Written from the standpoint of critical sympathy, and free of jargon, this book is an invaluable guide to the writings on religion of all the major figures in anthropology.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Religion as ideology
2. Religion as theodicy
3. The anthropological tradition
4. Religion and psychology
5. Religion: meaning and function
6. Religious thought: structure and hermeneutics
Selected monographs for further reading
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Anthropology [JHM], Social groups [JFS]