Blackwell Reference Online

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There has been much discussion concerning possible definitions of religion. Generally a distinction is made between a substantive and a functional approach. The substantive approach may be exemplified by Durkheim (1995) when he speaks of “beliefs and practices” as the ground of the “moral community” called a “church.” Luckmann (1967) is said to demonstrate the functional approach when he refers to “symbolic universes” as “socially objectified systems of meaning” by way of “social processes” considered as “fundamentally religious,” “which lead to the formation of the Ego” and the “transcendence of biological nature.”However, when we make a thorough exploration of Durkheim's and Luckmann's writings, we observe that Durkheim is also alive to function (religion helps solidarity), and that Luckmann is not concerned only with function (religion is a conception of the world made up of specific contents). Thus in reality those quoted as exemplary champions of one or the other perspective emerge as more open to less rigid, more polyvalent formulations. In short, content and function are inseparable, and should be considered as a unique whole which permits the realization of much more complex and interconnected analytical and interpretative procedures.For example, we might start from the idea that the metaempirical referent in attributing meaning to human existence is a particular characteristic ... log in or subscribe to read full text