Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber: Analysis Compare and Contrast Views on the Impact of Religion Upon Society
Social ideology is a very important factor in social stability and change because it influences how the collective group responds to different social, political and economic situations. Religion is one of the principle social ideologies that impacts social stability and change, it is both a motivating force for order as well as a destabilizing force for revolution, and has been used for both throughout history. Three sociologists and philosophers have principally discussed their views on religion and its impact on society, Marx, Durkheim and Weber. The following analysis will compare and contrast their views on the impact of religion upon society. Karl Marx, one of the most influential thinkers of our modern era emphasized that religion is"opium of the people". His basic attitude towards religion is caste in a wholly negative light. He believes that religion is used as a social ideology to stabilize and enslave the working class. That our tendency towards religious fervor is representatives of a response to alienation. Religion, because it makes us feel a false sense of happiness creates an illusion in and of itself. Therefore it is a tool used to uphold ideologies and cultural systems which foster oppressive capitalism.
His understanding of religion as a social ideology is also the impetus for social stability and evolution; however he argues that change within society comes from an implicit desire for salvation and accomplishment in accordance with religious doctrine. As a result, religion is believed by Marx to be much more of a chain and vehicle of enslavement. Marx argues that it is a force for enslavement, Durkheim believes it to be a defining complex of social interactivity, and Weber argues that it is a personal quest for understanding and salvation. Weber's argument is that religion in the long run fuels fundamental human desires and therefore will always be pursued fervently. Religion makes supernatural social cohesion and a desire for a collective conscious. His understanding is very individual focused and he believes that it is individual competition that spurred the growth of capitalism. While in complex modern society's religion becomes increasingly complex and as societies come in contact with each other religions tend to expand to emphasize the universality of their religious system. Weber believed that humans are troubled with the questions of the extraordinary and divine the inevitable consequence of this is that they both implicitly and explicitly desire a solution for what they cannot understand. Ultimately Marx argues that religion will be caste aside by workers because they will become disillusioned with their false happiness. Religion can be understood in the context of a response for human need in "theodicy" and "soteriology". In this context, it means that Weber believes religion induces individuals to act towards salvation. He argues that religion is the vehicle for both stability and change because it impacts the individual rather than the society as a whole. Within primitive societies, religion is reduced to a very simplistic form with the use of totems and other associations. Under his system, religion promotes social stability because it is in fact the vehicle in which society achieves complete cohesion.
Common topics in this essay:
Durkheim Marx,
Emile Durkheim,
Karl Marx,
,
Ultimately Marx,
Durkheim Weber,
social stability,
Max Weber's,
argues religion,
marx argues,
religion impact society,
result religion,
durkheim argues,
religion impact,
impact society,
social ideology,
stability change,
marx argues religion,
religion social ideology,
durkheim argues religion,
social stability change,
understand religion,
|
Acceptance Essays
