A lucid exploration of how social scientists have come to approach “the things we hold sacred.”
A learned excursus into the sociology of religion.
Appiah, well known for his contributions to social science, here examines the late-19th-century rise of two of its constituent disciplines, sociology and anthropology, and their treatment of religion. Whereas religion had earlier been largely viewed as all-encompassing, it came to be seen as “more a product of political and social forces than a shaper of them,” just another component of culture. Looking closely at pioneers such as Edward Burnett Tylor, Georg Simmel, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim, Appiah discerns “a larger disciplinary toolkit emerging from their years of wrestling with religion.” Each scholar took different approaches but helped piece together the earliest dicta on how religion works: among “primitives,” as magic; among “civilized,” as a community-building system (“Religion upholds the norms of a community; magic often subverts them”). Weber would move on to dissecting Protestantism as the driving force of capitalism—injecting himself, Appiah holds, in a “social-policy debate” that found German Catholics in minority settings discriminated against economically and socially. Weber also ventured, daringly, that the isolation of individual Protestants vis-à-vis God served to “advance the economic rationality of collective enterprises.” Reading Appiah’s book, which originated as a series of lectures, presupposes background in the social sciences and their history, but he writes clearly and approachably, with interesting asides along the way (Weber, for instance, introduced into the language the term “charisma” as we now use it and “seems first to have seen charisma as the personalization of magic”). He also weighs how considering religion as a “folk category,” as social scientists do, can be alienating to practitioners: “The propositional content of the Nicene or Athanasian Creed is obscure and perhaps incoherent, but the act of avowing it can matter a lot.”
A lucid exploration of how social scientists have come to approach “the things we hold sacred.”Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780300233063
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
For fans only.
The hoodie-and-shorts-clad Pennsylvania senator blends the political and personal, and often not nicely.
Fetterman’s memoir addresses three major themes. The first—and the one he leads with—is depression and mental illness, which, combined with a stroke and heart trouble, brought him to a standstill and led him to contemplate suicide. The second is his rise to national-level politics from a Rust Belt town; as he writes, he’s carved a path as a contentious player with a populist streak and a dislike for elites. There are affecting moments in his personal reminiscences, especially when he writes of the lives of his working-class neighbors in impoverished southwestern Pennsylvania, its once-prosperous Monongahela River Valley “the most heartbreaking drive in the United States.” It’s the third element that’s problematic, and that’s his in-the-trenches account of daily politics. One frequent complaint is the media, as when he writes of one incident, “I am not the first public figure to get fucked by a reporter, and I won’t be the last. What was eye-opening was the window it gave into how people with disabilities navigate a world that doesn’t give a shit.” He reserves special disdain for his Senate race opponent Mehmet Oz, about whom he wonders, “If I had run against any other candidate…would I have lost? He got beaten by a guy recovering from a stroke.” Perhaps so, and Democratic stalwarts will likely be dismayed at his apparent warmish feelings for Donald Trump and dislike of his own party’s “performative protests.” If Fetterman’s book convinces a troubled soul to seek help, it will have done some good, but it’s hard to imagine that it will make much of an impression in the self-help literature. One wonders, meanwhile, at sentiments such as this: “If men are forced to choose between picking their party or keeping their balls, most men are going to choose their balls.”
For fans only.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780593799826
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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