Durkheim’s extended academic argument suggests that through the evolution of religion it is possible for the meaning of religion to change. He suggests that totemism is the most primitive and basic form of religion. In order for more “advanced” and “complex” religions, such as Hinduism and Christianity, to exist, then totemic religion must develop and evolve. Through the evolution of religion, the meaning would change as social life changes and human knowledge about the world increases. Societal changes and perspectives will influence the meaning of religions. “If we have some difficulty today imagining those festivals and ceremonies of the future, that is because we are in a period of transition and moral mediocrity,” (Durkheim 322). Similar to how festivals of the future will most likely be different from today’s festivals, religious festivals have also changed from the past. For example, religious festivals no longer include human sacrifice to honor the sacred. This evolution has changed alongside human morals and ideals of how we should treat humans. Durkheim goes onto say, “There is another reason why the constituent of categories must have been borrowed from social life: the relations they express could become conscious only in and through society,” (Durkheim 338). Meaning that…show more content… Instead of religion explaining natural disasters, seasons, and weather patterns, science is able to explain and provide humans with an understanding of the earth’s physical systems. In this situation, the meaning of religion has moved past the need to justify natural phenomena. “But if the basic notions of science are religious in origin, how could religion generate them?” (Durkheim 327). Durkheim is commenting on how religion used to explain natural phenomena. The intuitive behavior of humans in “primitive” religions and their curiosity to describe nature allowed for the development of
