function of religion

One of the issues addressed in this article is the study of explaining the function of religion on the basis of virtue, one of the issues that theologians face; That is, despite the opposition to religion, why do people tend to religion, and what is the role and function of religion for human beings? Various approaches have been proposed to explain this issue. One of the approaches that has been reconsidered is the virtuous approach. In this approach, attention is paid to the characteristics, abilities and personal talents of individuals. According to this approach, virtues are divided into two types: one is rational virtues, and the other is normative and moral virtues. Considering that these virtues are also mentioned in religious teachings. It seems that according to this approach, the function of religion can also be explained on the basis of "inference through the best explanation". Therefore, in this article, after briefly stating this approach, the issue of the function of religion has been studied and explained accordingly.

Religion as an undeniable reality is one of the social phenomena studied by most scholars of human and social sciences. Among social scientists, Durkheim is perhaps the most famous sociologist who has studied religion through the lens of functionalism and his studies has been and are cited by most researchers of the field. Although Durkheim’s functionalist approach can by useful and somehow liable against those who consider religion inefficient in modern life, the reality of religion and deep studies show that his reductionist approach failed to show the reality of religion and even its functional aspect, but also his superficial and super-structural studies has made most researchers unable to well understand the substance of religion which is the origin of most social outcomes. Among the views of Muslim thinkers, the present paper chooses the view of Allamah Tabatabaii, who is not only an expert of religion but also aware of functions of religion, to evaluate Durkheim’s functionalist view and compare these two thinkers’ views in order to show that the reality of religion is not in such a low position that Durkheim could provide it to researchers and seekers of reality through studying it externally.