THE GENERAL POWER THEORY OF RELIGION RELATIVE TO OTHER CURRENT THEORIES

Abstract

This paper compares details of my general power analysis of religion with details of other two strands of analysis that dominate the current orthodox perspective: the Beckerian-inspired and the Stark–Bainbridge theories. With regard to the former, what is unconceivable from my own perspective is the idea that some one could explain differences in human behavior without taking into account differences in the nature of human objectives. Regarding the latter, I find thoroughly wrong placing at the basis of a theory of religion, which is such an old social phenomena, a quite recent human institution: the institution of exchange.

Keywords

• human objectives;
• rules;
• religion;
• economic methodolgy