The elementary forms of religious life
By: Emile Durkheim ; translated by Carol Cosman ; abridged with an introduction and notes by Mark S. Cladis.
Contributors: Cosman, Carol.; Cladis, Mark Sydney.
Series: Oxford world's classics; Oxford world's classics (Oxford University Press)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 358
Subjects: Religion; Totemism
Description: "In The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912), Emile Durkheim set himself the task of discovering the enduring source of human social identity. He investigated what he considered to be the simplest form of documented religion - totemism among the Aborigines of Australia. Aboriginal religion was an avenue 'to yield an understanding of the religious nature of man, by showing us an essential and permanent aspect of humanity'.

The need and capacity of men and women to relate socially lies at the heart of Durkheim's exploration, in which religion embodies the beliefs that shape our moral universe."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.