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Understanding Revolution pp 45–56Cite as

Religion: Four Paradigmatic Views

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Abstract

Any explanation of the religion is based on a worldview. The premise of this book is that any worldview can be associated with one of the four broad paradigms: functionalist, interpretive, radical humanist, and radical structuralist. This chapter takes the case of religion and discusses it from the four different viewpoints. It emphasizes that the four views expressed are equally scientific and informative; they look at the phenomenon from their certain paradigmatic viewpoint, and together they provide a more balanced and a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon under consideration. In this chapter, Sects. 1, 2, 3, and 4 present the four perspectives, and Sect. 5 concludes the chapter.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For this literature, see Dillon (2003), Fenn (2009), Furseth and Repstad (2006), Hamilton (2007), Kunin and Miles-Watson (2006), Monahan, Mirola, and Emerson (2010), Pals (2006), Parsons (1944, 1951), Possamai (2009), Roberts and Yamane (2012), Robertson (1969), and Stausberg (2009). This section is based on Roberts and Yamane (2012).

  2. 2.

    For this literature, see Davie (2013), Fenn (2009), Furseth and Repstad (2006), Geertz (1973, 2010), Hamilton (2007), Hill (1973), Kunin and Miles-Watson (2006), Lechner (1989), Lee (1959), Olson (2003), Pals (2006), Possamai (2009), Roberts and Yamane (2012), Robertson (1969, 1970, 1989), Stausberg (2009), Thomas (1997), Wach (1944), and Weber (1963, 1968). This section is based on Geertz (2010).

  3. 3.

    For this literature, see Dunning (2003), Fromm (1961), Furseth and Repstad (2006), Goldstein (2006), Hamilton (2007), McLellan (1987), Mendieta (2005), Pasha and Samatar (1996), Plamenatz (1975), Possamai (2009), Roberts (1959), Siebert (1985), and Vasquez (2011). This section is based on Mendieta (2005).

  4. 4.

    For this literature, see Furseth and Repstad (2006), Hamilton (2007), Kunin and Miles-Watson (2006), Marx and Engels (1964), McKown (1975), McLellan (1987), Monahan, Mirola, and Emerson (2010), Pals (2006), Possamai (2009), Raines (2002), Roberts and Yamane (2012), Thrower (1983), Turner (1991), and Wuthnow (1978). This section is based on Pals (2006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA

    Kavous Ardalan

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  1. Kavous Ardalan
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Ardalan, K. (2020). Religion: Four Paradigmatic Views. In: Understanding Revolution. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47591-8_3

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