Steve Clarke, CSU Philosophy, CAPPE. Title: Straight outta Durkheim: Haidt on Religious Belonging and Religious Belief Abstract:
Where: ACU North Sydney campus, 8-20 Napier Street, Tenison Woods House Level 16. When: 2.30pm-4pm, Friday October 2 The talk will be videoconferenced to: Melbourne, St Patrick's Lv 7 (ROOM 703), 250 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne Brisbane, McAuley AC.22 Strathfield, MSM VC Room (E2.45 Room) Canberra, Signadou 110 Ballarat Aquinas 503. Abstract: In The Righteous Mind, Jon Haidt (2012) takes aim at 'new atheist' characterisations of religious psychology, which emphasise the importance of religious belief to religious psychology. He contrasts these with a 'Durkheimian' alternative that he favours, which stresses that religion has a function - the function of binding communities together- and which accords participation in communal activities, rather than religious belief, the key role in strengthening communal bonds. I examine Durkheim's (1912) The Elementary Forms of Religious Life and argue that Durkheim had a more nuanced account of the interplay between religious belief, religious communal activity, and the strengthening of communal bonds, than Haidt recognizes. I argue that it is more convincing than Haidt's new Durkheimian alternative. I also consider the ability of the new atheist, new Durkheimian and original Durkheimian accounts of religious psychology to explain recent patterns of secularization. I argue that the original Durkheimian account is much better able to explain these patterns than either of its two more contemporary rivals. Enquiries: stephen.matth...@acu.edu.au
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