Introduction
One of the peculiarities of the academic study of religion is that scholars spend a large amount to time trying to define exactly what they are supposed to be studying. If that isn't strange enough, there is also some disagreement about exactly how one should study religion. In this first unit, we will begin by considering both the challenges of defining and studying religion. We will learn about two major categories of definitions for religion.
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter you will be able to answer the following questions with at least a 70% accuracy:
Explain the challenge of adequately defining religion
Identify definitions of religion as substantive or functional.
Explain why certain definitions of religion are too broad or too narrow.
Define the following terms:
substantive definition
functional definition
genetic fallacy
Describe the contribution of the following individuals to the study of religion:
Sigmund Freud
Emile Durkheim
Karl Marx
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