In the previous chapter we tried out a three point method for analysing the explanation given by a particular believer of his or her personal faith. With a bit of practice we learned how to note the metaphors, and capture the logic in such a way that our friend can agree that we have correctly understood that form of explanation. We now wonder if there is any way to arrange these various explanations in a helpful system of classification. We can easily grasp that lions, tigers, and jaguars all belong to the cat family.
Children can do that just by looking.
Zoologists went deeper into internal structure by dividing the vertebrates from animals without backbones. Then among vertebrates they distinguished the mammals, and classified them as rodents, carnivores, deer, elephants, camels and primates. By the use of such names and classifications a natural history of zoological species emerged. And by arranging these in a chart we can see at a glance how the various kinds of animal relate to one another. In the case of religions and ideologies we first note four kinds of goal that people have in mind.