Robert N. Bellah

The Axial Age and Its Consequences

The first classics in human history--the early works of literature, philosophy, and theology to which we have returned throughout the ages--appeared in the middle centuries of the first millennium bce. The canonical texts of the Hebrew scriptures, the philosophical writings of Plato and Aristotle, the Analects of Confucius and the Daodejing, the Bhagavad Gita and the teachings of the Buddha--all of these works came down to us from the compressed period of history that Karl Jaspers memorably named the Axial Age. In The Axial Age and Its Consequences, Robert Bellah and Hans Joas make the bold claim that intellectual sophistication itself was born worldwide during this critical time. Across Eurasia, a new self-reflective attitude toward human existence emerged, and with it an awakening to the concept of transcendence. From Axial Age thinkers we inherited a sense of the world as a place not just to experience but to investigate, envision, and alter through human thought and action. Bellah and Joas have assembled diverse scholars to guide us through this astonishing efflorescence of religious and philosophical creativity. As they explore the varieties of theorizing that arose during the period, they consider how these in turn led to utopian visions that brought with them the possibility of both societal reform and repression. The roots of our continuing discourse on religion, secularization, inequality, education, and the environment all lie in Axial Age developments. Understanding this transitional era, the authors contend, is not just an academic project but a humanistic endeavor.

Durkheim and ritual

Although this chapter will begin with Emile Durkheims ([1912] 1995) The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (Elementary Forms) , I will focus on the place of ritual in the Durkheimian tradition, rather than add to the already enormous amount of explication of that book and the place of ritual in it. Even so, because of the vast influence of Durkheim on several disciplines, my treatment will be highly selective. I will focus on the ways in which ritual continues to be central for the understanding not only of religion, but of society. There is probably no better place to begin a discussion of the place of ritual in the thought of Emile Durkheim than with a famous passage in his Elementary Forms : Life in Australian [Aboriginal] societies alternates between two different phases. In one phase, the population is scattered in small groups that attend to their occupations independently. Each family lives to itself, hunting, fishing - in short, striving by all possible means to get the food it requires. In the other phase, by contrast, the population comes together, concentrating itself at specified places for a period that varies from several days to several months. This concentration takes place when a clan or a portion of the tribe . . . conducts a religious ceremony. These two phases stand in the sharpest possible contrast. The first phase, in which economic activity predominates, is generally of rather low intensity. Gathering seeds or plants necessary for food, hunting, and fishing are not occupations that can stir truly strong passions. The dispersed state in which the society finds itself makes life monotonous, slack, and humdrum. Everything changes when a [ceremony] takes place . . . Once the individuals are gathered together a sort of electricity is generated from their closeness and quickly launches them into an extraordinary height of exaltation . . . Probably because a collective emotion cannot be expressed collectively without some order that permits harmony and unison of movement, [their] gestures and cries tend to fall into rhythm and regularity, and from there into songs and dances . . . (Durkheim [1912] 1995: 216-18)

Emile Durkheim on Morality and Society.

Robert Bellah (ed.), Emile Durkheim on Morality and Society Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills (eds.), From Max Weber Donald Levine, Visions of the Sociological Tradition Donald Levine (ed.), Georg Simmel on Individuality and Social Forms Robert C. Tucker (ed.), The Marx-Engels Reader Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism [but online translation OK] Other materials posted or linked on Blackboard

Japan's Cultural Identity: Some Reflections on the Work of Watsuji Tetsuro

It has become customary among many Western scholars to consider Japan as part of an East Asian cultural area, or as a participant in Chinese or Sinic civilization. In a general conception of Asian culture viewed as consisting of East Asian, South Asian, and Middle Eastern cultural areas dominated by Chinese, Indian, and Islamic civilizations respectively, it seems obvious that Japan belongs in the first category. Yet most Japanese scholars use another classification which would divide Asian culture into four areas: Islamic, Indian, Chinese, and—as a separate category on the same level as the other three—Japanese. Without denying the close relation to China, the Japanese scholar is apt to emphasize the unique configuration of Japanese culture which makes it in some sense sui generis . This is only one among many manifestations of the widespread feeling in Japan that Japanese culture is “unique,” and “different.” This sense of Japans uniqueness may give rise to pride, sorrow, or a feeling of loneliness; but that it is shared by Japanese with otherwise quite varying views is itself a fact of significance.

The limits of social cohesion : conflict and mediation in pluralist societies : a report of the Bertelsmann Foundation to the Club of Rome

* Preface Werner Weidenfeld. * Preface Ricardo Dez-Hochleitner. * Introduction Volker Then. * The American Culture War James Davison Hunter. * The Past in the Present: Redefining Lacit in Multicultural France Danile Hervieu-Lger. * Normative Conflicts in Germany: Basic Consensus, Changing Values, and Social Movements Franz-Xaver Kaufmann. * Uncertain Ghosts: Populists and Urbans in Postcommunist Hungary Jnos Mtys Kovcs. * Revolution from the Top and Horizontal Mediation: The Case of Chiles Transition to Democracy Arturo Fontaine Talavera. * South Africa: Normative Conflicts, Social Cohesion, and Mediating Institutions Ann Bernstein. * Some Notes on Normative Conflicts in Turkey Serif Mardin. * Islamic Tolerance: The Struggle for a Pluralist Ethics in Contemporary Indonesia Robert W. Hefner. * The Conflict of Norms and Values in Contemporary Indian Society Andr Bteille. * Normative Conflicts in Japan Seizaburo Sato. * Normative Conflicts in Contemporary Taiwan Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao. * Conclusion: General Observations on Normative Conflicts and Mediation Peter L. Berger.

Cultural Barriers to the Understanding of the Church and Its Public Role

The Lockean myth upon which American social life is based presents a fundamental challenge to the churches. The freedom of the solitary individual and the establishment of government by social contract have repercussions for political, economic, and religious life. Christian leadership is faced with the difficulty of communicating the deep social realism of biblical religion to an individualistic culture. This individualistic heritage, so susceptible to defining the human as relentless market maximizer, has reduced the notion of common good to that of the sum of individual goods. “Consumer Christians” may see the church as simply existing to “meet their needs,” but having no claim to their commitment and loyalty. The churchs calling is to demonstrate how different its understanding of human existence is from that of the surrounding culture.1

Confessions of a Former Establishment Fundamentalist

Robert N. Bellah Bulletin of the Council on the Study of Religion, I, No. 3 (Dec. 1970), pp. 3-6. Living in the most disturbed institution in a society which shows all the signs of acute cultural and social crisis is not very comfortable. It does, however, present great opportunities if we can take advantage of them. The present generation of students is not inclined to accept anything without question. We all have some experience of what that means in the realm of politics. In the field of religion, though, the consequences are somewhat curious.

Religion in America

Reid, Daniel G., ed. Dictionary of Christianity in America. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1991. BR 515 / D 554 REF Lippy, Charles H., ed. Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience: Studies of Traditions and Movements. 3 vols. New York: Scribner, 1988. BL 2525 / E 26 REF Magnuson, Norris A. and William G. Travis. American Evangelicalism: An Annotated Bibliography. West Cornwall: Locust Hill Press, 1990. BR 1644 / M 188 REF Mead, Frank S. Handbook of Denominations in the United States. 4th ed. New York: Abingdon Press, 1965. BR 516.5 / M 479 REF Melton, J. Gordon: Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. New York: Garland, 1986. BL 2525 / M 528 REF

Seventy-Five Years

September , . I am not sure that even now, more than four months later, I know how to think about it. I have heard young people say, ‘‘September  is the worst thing that ever happened to America.’’ I am tempted to reply, ‘‘In your lifetime.’’ I will be seventy-five years old this year and I have lived through quite a few dark days in my life. Perhaps it will not be entirely inappropriate for me to try to put September  in perspective by reflecting on some of those earlier moments. I was born in . Although I was too young to understand it, the stock market crash of  had serious repercussions for my family. As I was becoming aware of the world in the middle s, Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin were all in power, and the Japanese were at war with China. I remember being the one who brought in the paper every morning, and in those days before television, it was the newspaper that we depended on for news (though I do remember listening to speeches by Hitler and Mussolini on the radio, and the reassuring words of FDR). How many mornings I saw huge black headlines reporting the latest disaster! In March  came

The Necessity of Opportunity and Community in a Good Society

Opportunity and community are two central features of a good society. In the USA, however, due to a cultural emphasis on individualism, opportunity is much better understood than community. The meaning of community is often so vague that its critical role, even in making opportunity possible, is obscured.