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The charge of this essay was to review definitional trends of "religion." Four major types were discussed: content, behavior, mental, and functional. While each type has considerations that suggest its relevance, all are incomplete when examined in isolation. Consequently, two approaches combining these types were briefly discussed: conjunctive and generative. Judging the former inferior to the latter, it was suggested that only the functional definitions are capable of being truly generative. The most inclusive definition of religion, therefore, will be one that is generative functional. Clues as to what such a definition might look like are found first in the lapse of Stark and Durkheim, when trying to expound on an entirely different criterion, into speaking about beliefs. A strong definitional contender will also be one that emphasizes religion as a phenomenon that works primarily in response to the needs of the individual, not of society, however much the latter may appropriate and manipulate religious forms to meet its own, different needs (making it misleading to speak of "a culture's religion," when a culture can only have a modal religious form). A second consideration favoring this locus is that anthropologists observe individuals, and can only extrapolate from these individuals conclusions about "society" and "culture." Making the individual the focus of religion may facilitate the operationalization required for any useful definition.

It is possible to propose a definition of just this type: the definition of "religion" is any belief system that serves the psychological function of alleviating death anxiety.

Publication Date

2003

Book Title

Selected Readings in the Anthropology of Religion: Theoretical and Methodological Essays

Book Author/Editor

Stephen D. Glazier & Charles A. Flowerday

Publisher

Praeger

ISBN

978-0274956869

Disciplines

Social and Cultural Anthropology

Defining Religion

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