Essay on The Goal of Functionalism in Religion - 1748 Words

The goal of functionalism, with regards to religion, is to analyze religion and explain its purpose by showing what role it plays for humans within society. Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, and Karl Marx were all functionalist who developed theories as to why religion was such a major part of their society. Their views are very different from the two theorists E.B. Tylor and James Frazer, as they believed humans were using religion to try and explain the unknowns in the world. Though all three of the men took a fundamentalist approach to religion, their theories to explain religion have some major differences between them. Sigmund Freud, who is predominately known for his work in psychology, tried to explain religion by saying it is merely†¦show more content†¦While it is the rational economic decision to fight for better living conditions, Marx believed people were making irrational decisions. Marx attributes the irrational behavior to religions impact on society, more specif ically, the proletariat. Expanding upon the quote in the first paragraph, Marx states in Toward a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Law: Introduction, â€Å"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of spiritless conditions. It is the opium of the people.† While the quote is quite lengthy it has text which explains Marxist belief that religion is nothing but a tool being used to keep the people content with their exploited lives. While it may seem that Marx is blaming religion for taking advantage of the exposed, he is actually blaming the proletariat for acting as irrational economic thinkers and not taking action to better their lives. Karl Marx’s theory on religion is superior to Freud’s and Durkheim’s as his functionalism explanation that religion is the opium of the people can be backed from evidence from history but also present day. When heShow MoreRelatedAssess the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Functionalist Approach to Society1165 Words   |  5 Pagesmarks) Functionalism is seen as a macro-scale approach to society; it sees society as a whole rather than looking at parts of it. Due to this, functionalism sees society as a body (organic analogy), all the institutions work together to make society. This is particularly useful when observing society in order to understand the way in which it functions and the way in which all the institutions (organic analogy: organs within the body) work together to sustain society as a whole. Functionalism beingRead MoreParsons Agil Perspective On Social Systems Essay1306 Words   |  6 PagesThese theorists came together, in pointing to the important elements of a voluntaristic theory of social action. 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