Compare Durkheim's analysis of religion to that of Malinowski and explore the differences and similarities between their approaches and conclusions through an analysis of Lame Deer's vision quest (see Course Materials for PDF).

Key Ideas to Include:

Consider how each thinker understands the sacred and the profane (and what is included--or excluded--from each category); what is the 'sacred reality' to which religion corresponds?; what is the nature and function of mana? the nature of totemism? what is the nature and function of the "sanctification of the life cycle"?; how does each thinker understand the role of the collective religious feeling/religious life? The individual?