The elementary forms of the religious life, a study in religious sociology

THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
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THE ELEMENTARY FORMS OF THE
RELIGIOUS LIFE
EMILE DURKHEIM
The Elementary Forms
of
the
Religious Life
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY
JOSEPH WARD SWAIN
M. A.
LONDON GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD
RUSKIN HOUSE MUSEUM STREET
FIRST PUBLISHED IN I915
SECOND IMPRESSION I926 THIRD IMPRESSION I954
FOURTH IMPRESSION 1957
FIFTH IMPRESSION I964
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private
itudv, research, criticism or review, as permitted under
the Copyright Act, ig^G, no portion may be reproduced hy any process without written permission. Enquiry should be made to the publisher.
(g)
George Allen
&
Unwin
Ltd.
1
91
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BV HOLLEN STREET PRESS LTD
LONDON
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Subject of our Study
I.
:
Religious Sociology and the Theory of
Knowledge
—Principal subject
—Secondary
more
easily
analysis of the simplest religion known they are to determine the elementary forms of the religious life
of the
book
:
—Why
a
found and explained
in the primitive religions
:
II.
the genesis of the fundamental subject of research notions of thought or the categories Reasons for believing that
—
their origin is religious and consequently social restating the theory of knowledge is thus seen ...