Religions

In: International social science journal: ISSJ, Band 29, Heft 4, S. 615-627

Abstract

The scientific study of religions began with M. Muller's investigation of mythology, which accounted for them as due originally to linguistic confusion in the description of natural processes. This was challenged by alternative hypotheses tracing the origins of religion to the animist belief that all objects have souls, or to various preanimistic sources. Gradually, the importance of materials from historical ethnology came to be recognized. By the end of the nineteenth century, three fields had emerged as sources of studies in this field, all focused on the relation beween myth & ritual: classical studies, anthropology, & Old Testament studies. Psychoanalysis contributed to the study of religion in particular by its stress of unconscious meanings of actions & symbols. Sociological, ethnological, & interdisciplinary approaches have also been important. It is now generally recognized that it is impossible to define the origin of religion, & that the results of such varied disciplines as history, sociology, psychology, & phenomenology must be synthesized to understand religious forms. W. H. Stoddard