The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life

I.—Principal subject of the book: analysis of the simplest religion known to determine the elementary forms of the religious life—Why they are more easily found and explained in the primitive religions 1 II.—Secondary subject of research: the genesis of the fundamental notions of thought or the categories—Reasons for believing that their origin is religious and consequently social—How a way of restating the theory of knowledge is thus seen 9 PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS Definition of Religious Phenomena and of Religion Usefulness of a preliminary definition of religion; method to be followed in seeking this definition—Why the usual definitions should be examined first 23 I.—Religion defined by the supernatural and mysterious—Criticism: the notion of mystery is not primitive 24 II.—Religion defined in connection with the idea of God or a spiritual being.—Religions without gods—Rites in deistic religions which imply no idea of divinity 29 III.—Search for a positive definition—Distinction between beliefs and rites—Definition of beliefs—First characteristic: division of things between sacred and profane—Distinctive characteristics of this definition—Definition of rites in relation to beliefs—Definition of religion 36 IV.—Necessity of another characteristic to distinguish magic from religion—The idea of the Church—Do individualistic religions exclude the idea of a Church? 42 Leading Conceptions of the Elementary Religion I.— Animism Distinction of animism and naturism 48 I—The three theses of animism: Genesis of the idea of the soul; Formation of the idea of spirits; Transformation of the cult of spirits into the cult of nature 49 II.—Criticism of the first thesis—Distinction of the idea of the soul from that of a double—Dreams do not account for the idea of the soul 55 III.—Criticism of the second thesis—Death does not explain the transformation of a soul into a spirit—The cult of the souls of the dead is not primitive 60 IV.—Criticism of the third thesis—The anthropomorphic instinct—Spencer's criticism of it; reservations on this point—Examination of the facts by which this instinct is said to be proved—Difference between a soul and the spirits of nature—Religious anthropomorphism is not primitive 65 V.—Conclusion: animism reduces religion to nothing more than a system of hallucinations 68 Leading Conceptions of the Elementary Religion —( continued ) II.— Naturism History of the theory 71 I.—Exposition of Max Müller's naturism 73 II.—If the object of religion is to express natural forces, it is hard to see