The Elementary Forms of Religious Life vividly exemplifies the Durkheimian scheme of sociological analysis expounded in Rules of Sociological Method. The introduction part delineates his methodological concerns in turning to elementary forms of primitive religion in order to understand the religion of advanced societies. Suggesting that all religions are equally important, Durkheim argues that there must be fundamental representations and modes of ritual conduct beyond the apparent diverse forms of religious systems, which take on the same objective meanings and functions everywhere. Simple in nature and homogenous in the function, the elementary form might showcase through historical mapping the ways in which religion has been transposed to modern advanced milliexue.
Even in the introductory, Durkheim questions the idea of God in conceptualizing the religion. After setting the methodological premises, it is said that religion is preeminently a social thing and society is sui generis, thus allowing its own features and facilities to run through the individual. In the support of such positivist claims, he also brings the discussion on empiricism and a priori knowledge. The categories of time and space are also social in origin which have been constructed. The religion, therefore, is itself categorically bound to be allied with time and space, thenceforth, reinforcing its social origin and collective participation. Needless to say, the social representation as such would have completely different manifestations from purely individual representations. He also subsequently mentions that man has two beings; individual being and social being.
The chapter 1 ‘Definition of Religious Phenomenon and Religion’ attempts to propose his own definition of religion, problematizing the prevalent qualifying parameters of the religion. The notions of supernatural and divinity, he contends, are commonly conjured up with the idea of religion. For him, these do not stand as defining characteristics of the religion because of its incomprehensiveness. The concept of supernatural leading to mysterious imagination was not there in Primitive religion and has recently been invented. Irrationality is implied in conferring everything to supernatural power houses. For primitive, as long as the natural order of things is not fully grasped, all contingency and surprise stays in the realm of rational.
The phrase of divinity or spiritual being is also contested by Durkheim as there are some religions which have no dimension of God or divinity or possess a secondary and inconspicuous position such as Buddhism and Jainism of India. Buddhism is predicated instead upon Four Noble Truths which do not carry the presence of godly intervention. Although acknowledged that Buddha has been regarded as God by some divisions of Buddhism, it is little more than a commemorative cult. Besides, the rites that are independent of any divine connotations can also be found in diestic religions.
Afterwards, he proceeds to propose a new 'encompassing' definition for religion. According to him, the distinction between sacred and profane would be the main component of all religion, whether it be simple or complex societies. Sacred things are those protected and set aside whereas the profane is those to which prohibition is applied and must be kept away from the sacred. It is not necessary for the sacred to have a godly imputation. In addition, he brings the moral community called Church as a subsequent section of the definition in order to distinguish the religion from the magic that is held to be an individualistic endeavor.
Reflections
Through this text, Durkheim applies the methodology he proposed in Rules of Sociological Method to understand religion. He is well aware of the fact that the idea of religion has been so central that pervades the long standing history of humankind. Imbued with sociological analysis, Durkheim is interested in showing religion of complex society as a social fact and embedded in collective effervescence. It would stand tenable if the origin of religion has to be traced to a social entity. Undoubtedly, such a purpose was running behind this book. To consolidate the proposed scheme, he completely negated the notions of supernatural and divinity in defining religious phenomenon. Instead, the notion of sacredness is imputed, revealing that all religions place a high value on sacred items, but these objects are not always connected to supernatural forces.
“A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say separate, prohibited, beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere”. Durkheim does, in fact, oppose naturalist or animist readings of religion. The origin of religion, according to animists, can be found in psychological phenomena like dreams, which Spencer has supported. Naturalists claim that the effort to explain natural occurrences (such as thunderstorms and earthquakes) by supernatural forces is where religion first emerged. This theory was supported by Edward Tylor, James Frazer, and later Sigmund Freud.
His analysis is not without limitations. The research in Australian Aboriginal tribes, even though with a limited sample size, can not be generalized to other religions of different parts of the world. As he sets in the Rules, a separate enquiry is required to understand the practice and belief of certain groups. It is also unclear why and how the Australian tribe has comprehensively been qualified as a site where elementary forms can be drawn. Moreover, social reductionism so apparent here overrides the importance of individuals in conveying and sustaining the religion. Even the buddhist tradition accentuates salvation through individual upbringing and sufferings.
Though It is true that religion itself encourages the collective conscience, the end point is always the individual who has to furnish the deeds and offerings individually. Collectivity is as part of religion as individuality. His overemphasis on group cohesion and social fact as an external force has led him to blind towards the complementary relationship between them. The argument concerning the supernatural is not well established in the chapter and I would rather say it is not a recent invention in the religion, especially in Christianity. Through elevating society to a position of the sacred, the same that religious people accord to the god, he wants to reject the 'mysterious and elusive' character of religious phenomenon and to normalize its functional meaning even without any regard to divinity and supernatural beings.
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