Paul Paolucci

Abstract

This is the second installment continues my investigation of Marx’s research practice. I previously examined Marx’s method of successive abstractions in his analysis of modes of production. This article applies this method to a historical-materialist analysis of religion’s development across levels of historical generality. It concludes with a new taxonomy of religion based on that analysis.

(The first article entitled “Marx’s Method of Successive Abstractions and his Analysis of Modes of Production,” explains Marx’s techniques of concept construction and use of constants and variables in his comparative analysis of modes of production. The second article applies the method of successive abstractions to a historical-materialist sociology of religion)

Keywords

Abstraction, alienation, historical materialism, Marx, method, religion

From: Critical Sociology 2020 46 (1)

Editor: Wang Yi