Beliefs 2.0

• totemism 


  community creates a symbol that represents them as a group - the symbol gains significance
• new age movements 


  spiritual rather than religious beliefs - focuses on self development and fulfilment rather than devotion to a higher power
• substantive 


  aim to identify the core characteristics shared by major religions - they are based in nature and it can only be classed as religious if they believe in god

  However, this is ethnocentric as it focuses on western religions eg buddihist believe in no god
• functional definition

  looks at what a religion does for the society in which it exists - it may bring comfort to its believers

  However, this is too inclusive eg footballs teams would be included
• Kuhn


  science is a closed belief system as it runs of paradigms which shape the way that the discipline is defined
• religion as a closed belief system


  this is because they often suggest that they know the truth about the world and do not tolerate these critiques
• Popper 


  believes that science is an open system because it is open to challenge and it is built upon the idea of falisification - if a theory is wrong it is replaced and the knowledge within the discipline grows
• Azande 


  shows how their belief system reflects the characterisitics of a closed system, their belief in witchcraft causing misfortune and the proof coming from a beige potion given to a chicken.
• Marxism


  all ideologies including science and religion are a tool of ruling class to maintain power and reproduce inequalities - they argued that major scientific discoveries are motivated by generating mass profits fueling capitalism
• post-modernism 


  there are multiple ideologies within society and they reflect the values and world views of the different social groups
• feminism 


  believe that ideologies such as science and religion have promoted the patriarchy for generations
• Mannheim


  claims that all world views are ideologies and are the product of the theologians and intellectuals that cannot relate to the everyday. He argues two types of worldviews

  ideological + utopian thoughts
• ideological thoughts 


  justifies tradition and the maintenance of society thus resisting change