Emile Durkheim's and Karl Marx's Views of Religion

Paper Summary:

Religion plays a key role in the works of both Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx and a close look at their respective views on religion are therefore very important. With that in mind, this paper argues that, while both Durkheim and Marx are not strong advocates of religion, Marx is especially sharp in his denunciation. In particular, whereas Durkheim does see some salutary effects associated with religious practice - such as the promotion of social solidarity as well as a collective moral code - Marx views religion as being basically an appendage of the capitalist establishment. More than that, Marx's vision of both religion and of capitalism is so unflattering that he compares the former to an ancient Near Eastern religious sect which favored the sacrifice of children to an obscure deity.

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