In this important, scholarly and wide-ranging text, Brian Morris
provides a lucid outline of the nature of the explanations of religious
phenomena offered by such great thinkers as Hegel, Marx, and Weber. In
doing so he also unravels the many theoretical strategies in the study
of religion that have been developed and explored by later
anthropologists. Besides discussing the classical authors and the
debates surrounding their work, Morris presents perceptive accounts of
more contemporary scholars such as Jung, Malinowski, Levi-Strauss,
Geertz, and Godelier. Written from the standpoint of critical sympathy,
and free of jargon, this book is an invaluable guide to the writings on
religion of all the major figures in anthropology.