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‘Private’ 1. The word ‘private’ derives from the Latin privatus, and means ‘belonging to,’ or ‘concerning a particular person or group; not common or general.’ In the course of the eighteenth century—through connections with ‘private property,’ and ‘private person’—the word de…

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[German Version] (Dec 13, 1902, Colorado Springs, CO – May 8, 1979, Munich). After graduating from Amherst College, Parsons studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Heidelberg; he taught at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was one of the most important and influential sociologists of the 20th century. Initially a champion of a voluntaristic theory of action, he pioneered structural functionalism and later sociological systems theory (III). His structural fu…

[German Version] (Apr 15, 1858, Épinal – Nov 15, 1917 Paris). French sociologist. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure, and taught at the University of Bordeaux from 1887 to 1902, later changing to Paris, where he exerted a lasting influence not only on French sociology, but also on public discussion. One of the founders of sociology, Durkheim dealt with a broad range of topics: suicide, family, education, law and morality etc. Religion was a focal point of his work. At first he expressed the view that religion marked the early, undifferentiated or “mechanical” phase of social development, which would later pass over into a phase of differentiated “organic solidarity.” After 1895, he recognized the importance of religion for social integration. Religion is characterized by its obligations, rules and standards, which proceed from the collective and link the individual to the collective. In this Durkheim was emphasizing the socio-moral aspect of religion, which it shares with all types of education and upbringing, but in his main work in the sociology of religion he formulated a thesis that went even further; namely, that the idea of society is the soul of religion. An examination of the “most elementary forms of the religion” of Australian aborigines, for example, would prove that what is venerated in symbols is essentially individual-transcending society, which constantly renews itself in rituals. Modern trends, however, have caused this function of religion to be endangered by anomie and individualization. The impact that Durkheim has had on French and English-language social science, cultural and religious studies (H. Mauss in particular), as well as o…

[English Version] I. Zum Begriff: Religionssoziologie und Religionswissenschaft R. oder Soziologie der Rel. beschäftigt sich mit den sozialen Aspekten und Ausformungen der Rel. Dazu gehören offensichtlich die rel. Institutionen, Organisationen sowie soziale Gruppen. Auch weniger feste, situative soziale Formationen, wie Versammlungen, Zeremonien und kollektive Rituale (z.B. Prozessionen [ Ritus/Ritual]), zählen zum Forschungsbereich der R. In einem weiteren Sinn, der v.a. die deutschsprachige Tradition…

[English Version] I. Zum Begriff Die S. ist eine empirische Sozialwiss., deren Gegenstandsbereich die relativ dauerhaften Formen und Strukturen des sozialen Handelns (Handlungswissenschaft) und die daraus resultierenden sozialen Gebilde sind, von den gemeinschaftlichen der Familie/ Verwandtschaft und sozialen Gruppen bis zu den gesellschaftlichen der Organisationen und Staaten. Der Begriff S. ist ein Kunstwort, das sich aus lat. socius (»Gefährte, Mitmensch«) und griech. logos (»Wort, Wahrheit«, im …

[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Religious Studies – III. Fundamental Theology – IV. Ethics – V. Practical Theology I. Philosophy In the 20th century, philosophical issues were primarily treated as issues of language an…

[German Version] I. Definition Sociology is an empirical social science; its field of study encompasses the relatively enduring forms and structures of social action (Action, Science of ) and the resultant social units, from entities like the family and kinship group and social groups to large-scale organizations and states. The word itself is an artificial combination of Latin socius (“companion, fellow”) and Greek logos (“word, truth,” in an extended sense “knowledge”). It appears for the first time in vol. IV of the …

[German Version] I. Terminology The sociology of religion studies religion’s social aspects and manifestations, clearly including religious institutions, organizations, and social groups. It also studies more situational forms, less clearly defined, such as gatherings, ceremonies, and collective rituals (e.g. processions [Rite and ritual]). In an extended sense, characteristic of the German-language tradition since M. Weber, religious sociology deals with all social or socialized behavior focused on…