Beliefs And Practices

• Philosophical (18-34)
1) Enlightenment(p. 19)
- Movement that promoted the use of reason and the scientific methods to critique the large assortment of beliefs and practices. It would then free people from the bondage of these obligated beliefs and practices.  
2) The Greek philosopher Anaximander (21)
- introduced the concepts of the essence apeiron, the undifferentiated or limitless. States that all things emerge as dualities or opposites (such as hot and cold) which interact with each other to generate the fullness of creation
3) The greek philosopher Xeophanes (21) – polytheistic ideas that favored one ultimate power. Stated that people made out gods in their own image
*sought to use philosophy to explain irrational things in religion – something weird should be taken as symbolically.
4) Aristotle (p21)– Theory of non-contradictions: a thing can be one or another. Not both at the same time
5) Kant: (25,30)
Enlightenment = emergence from “self-imposed immaturity”. He saw people as children
“that form of immaturity is both the most pernicious and disgraceful of all”.   “Have courage to use your own understanding!”
6) Wittgenstein (26, 31)
- Attempt to resolve tension between religion and philosophy/science
- Similar to Philo (allegorical readings)
- Language: means different things to different people in different contexts
- Religion serves a different purpose than philosophy/science
* Theodicy (p. 165) – why are things negative despite having a good god

• Anthropological (49-66) – States there is change. Hence, it understands we change over time.
Interpretive Approaches (59-60) - **Geertz
- we need to see and understand the symbols of the insiders
1) Radcliffe-Brown: Says that content isn’t important, context is. Hence, importance of rituals , social relationships, shared meanings, shared anxieties (57, 65)
**social improves functions; the point is to generate anxiety in order to have a feeling you share with other people – you can...