The Views of Marx Weber, Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim on Religion

Marx Weber, Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim

Ordinarily, religion is one of the rationales of social orientations, that in one way or another influences the society’s social stability. This is because religion is the impelling force for regulations in the society as well as a destabilizing drive for transformation. Marx Weber together with Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim were very influential personalities in the course of the 19th century, and even now. In one way or another, these persons attempted to make plain as well as comprehensible social change, particularly in the aspect of religion in the society. Their perspectives on religion differ on some aspects. Even though their views on religion are diverse, they all seem to be in accord that religion to some extent shifts the worldview of the people in the society (Pals 12-50). This essay makes an analysis on the similarities as well as the contrasts in the works of Marx Weber as well as Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim about religion.

Authors’ views on religion

To begin with, as pointed out in (Parsons 38-46) Karl Marx attempted to look at the concept of religion from a neutral perspective as well as a scientific perspective. Generally, his assessment and review of religion is possibly the most quoted by atheists. According to Karl Marx, religion reflects material realities coupled with the social injustices in the society. Therefore, the states of difficulty in religion are eventually problems in the society. In essence, religion is a symptom to the major problems going on in the society. Again, it is utilized by those in positions of authority to make people feel relieved from distress, which they undergo as a result of being poor and undermined. In this perspective, Karl Marx’s ide...

... middle of paper ...

...gs live securely in economic coupled with social systems, grounded anyway on religion, which in one way or another causes a few people’s happiness while for the rest they may be miserable.

Works Cited

Glazier, Stephen and Flowerday, Charles. Selected readings in the anthropology of religion: theoretical and methodological essays. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. 2003.

Pals, Daniel. Introducing religion: readings from the classic theorists. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Parsons, Talcott. Max Weber: The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. New York: Courier Dover publications, 2003.

Raines, John. Marx on religion. Pennsylvania: Temple University, 2002.

Segal, Robert. The Blackwell companion to the study of religion. New Jersey: Wiley & Sons, 2006.

Turner, Stephen. Emile Durkheim: sociologist and moralist. London: Routledge. 1993.