Relationship Between Religion And Science
Answer only FOUR (4) of the questions below. Full answers should be approximately 200-300 words. 1. Discuss the historical and modern relationship between European notions of science and religion as distinct approaches to truth. How did the concept of science effect early theories on religion put forth by anthropologists like James Frazer, Emile Durkheim, and Bronislaw Malinowski? In what ways could these anthropologists be considered ethnocentric? 2. What are Creation Myths? How do anthropologists classify them? What are some common attributes of mythologies that have been recorded from around the world? 3. What is Animism?What role do early anthropologists suggest that it may have played in the origins of magical and religious thinking? 4. Describe some repercussions of colonial European encounters with indigenous populations. How did these encounters shape the belief systems of both groups? 5. How have Tricksters been defined in anthropology? What are some of their characteristics? What are some ideas about the purpose they serve within belief systems? What are some examples of Trickster characters? 6. What are some of the ways that the persecution of witches in Europe from ~1550 to ~1650 may have shaped the course of the continents political and economic development. 7. What role has wealth and/or inequality played in shaping peoples belief systems? How do the various monotheistic religions characterize wealth and poverty? How do some traditional mystical-magical belief systems characterize wealth and poverty? 8. Define Epistemology and Ontology. How do these two concepts effect each other? What does it mean to speak of multiple ontologies?
