Participation and causality: Lévy-Bruhl revisited
A recurring debate within discussions of religion, science, and magic has to do with the existence of distinct modes of thought or "orientations" to the world. The thinker who initiated this debate, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, distinguished two such orientations, one characterized as "particip...
| Published in: | Studies in religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
[2014]
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| In: |
Studies in religion
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Lévy-Bruhl, Lucien 1857-1939
/ World view
/ Debate
/ Participation
/ Causality
/ Depiction
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| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AE Psychology of religion VA Philosophy ZB Sociology ZD Psychology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | A recurring debate within discussions of religion, science, and magic has to do with the existence of distinct modes of thought or "orientations" to the world. The thinker who initiated this debate, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, distinguished two such orientations, one characterized as "participatory" and the other as "causal." The present essay attempts to clarify what a participatory orientation might involve, making use of the social-psychological category of a "schema." It argues that while the attitude to which Lévy-Bruhl refers is to be distinguished from an explicit body of doctrine, it does have a cognitive dimension and can embody causal claims. It follows that if such a distinction is to be made, it is not helpfully characterized as a contrast between participation and causality. A better distinction might be that between a mythical and an experimental attitude to the world. |
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| ISSN: | 0008-4298 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Studies in religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0008429814526144 |