Premium
SELF‐MAINTENANCE AS A RELIGIOUS CONCERN
Author(s) -
Goodenough Ward H.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
zygon®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-9744
pISSN - 0591-2385
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9744.1988.tb00622.x
Subject(s) - vision , ideal (ethics) , mythology , environmental ethics , aesthetics , sociology , religious life , natural (archaeology) , social life , epistemology , social psychology , psychology , social science , history , philosophy , literature , art , religious studies , anthropology , archaeology
Abstract. Human concern with problems of being and becoming promotes conceptions of ideal states of being, exemplified by paragons and heroes and projected as Utopias or visions of salvation; it leads to regimens for cultivating and maintaining individual ability to meet social expectations; and it produces fantasies, as in myth and popular literature, that rehearse the problems and that offer escape from them and roles to emulate in dealing with them. Many of these regimens and fantasies appear in the rituals and teachings of organized religion. Many also figure in private devotions apart from established religions. The many forms they take constitute much of the religious life of ordinary people. From this viewpoint, there is much to examine in American life.