Contrasting perspectives in the sociology of religion with an emphasis on the views of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim

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1 Assistant Professor and Faculty Member, Department of Comparative Religions and Mysticism, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran

2 Master's degree in Comparative Religions and Mysticism, Shahrekord University

10.22080/jepr.2025.29303.1281

Abstract

The present study, which is a library, descriptive-analytical method, seeks the sociological dialectic of religion. Religion has always been one of the serious topics of sociologists and there have been different views and perspectives on it. This study has reconsidered the views of three sociologists (Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim) on religion. Karl Marx considered religion to be both a concept of self-alienation and an expression of class society, and he considered religion to be a factor in the oppression of the upper classes of society by the lower classes. Despite Max Weber's belief that religion gives meaning to human life and gives meaning to human life in the face of deprivation and suffering, societies in today's world have moved beyond religion and have reached a concept called rationalization. Emile Durkheim believes that religion is a factor of solidarity and cohesion between individuals in society, and on the other hand, he considers God and society to be one. Accordingly, we seek to examine the religious ideas of these three thinkers in the field of sociology and finally address their contrasting ideas about religion.

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