Subtitle:

Ethnologia Polona 28 (2007)

Publisher:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Description:

24 cm

Type of object:

Journal/Article

Abstract:

The purpose of this article is to show that popular religion, just as any other rational system, should be analysed as a set of values, which individuals can support with strong reasons. This statement, essential for my argument, comes from Weber's idea of Wertrationalität, which was developed in Florian Znaniecki's theory of cultural reality and Raymond Boudon's theory of axiological rationality. More specifically, I would like to demonstrate that popular religion is (a) a rational model for reality, since it expresses aspirations and moral values of a peasant group and (b) a rational model of reality, since it constitutes an adequate interpretation of the group's experience. These two assumptions lead to the conclusion that (c) religion is a dynamic process and undergoes transformations according to strength of the reasons which support religious reforms. As a consequence, I shall attempt to prove that in terms of understanding religious phenomena this approach is superior to functionalism, which since the time of Stefan Czarnowski has dominated Polish human sciences. The material to illustrate this thesis is drawn from my monograph of the village Żmiąca, which is the longest studied village not only in the Polish but also in worldwide anthropological literature

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Relation:

Ethnologia Polona

Volume:

28

Start page:

5

End page:

21

Detailed Resource Type:

Article

Format:

application/pdf

Resource Identifier:

oai:rcin.org.pl:61460 ; 0137-4079

Source:

IAiE PAN, call no. P 366 ; IAiE PAN, call no. P 367 ; IAiE PAN, call no. P 368 ; click here to follow the link

Language:

eng

Rights:

Rights Reserved - Restricted Access

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. Access only on terminals at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, may be used within the limits of statutory user freedoms.

Digitizing institution:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Original in:

Library of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Access:

Closed