Plausibility structure
In sociology and especially the sociological study of religion, plausibility structures are the sociocultural contexts for systems of meaning within which these meanings make sense, or are made plausible. Beliefs and meanings held by individuals and groups are supported by, and embedded in, sociocultural institutions and processes.
Origins
The term was coined by
Decline of religious plausibility
Berger was particularly concerned with the loss of plausibility of the sacred in a modernist/postmodern world.[2] Berger considered that history "constructs and deconstructs plausibility structures", and that the plurality of modern social worlds was "an important cause of the diminishing plausibility of religious traditions."[3]
Criticism
Critics have argued that Berger pays too much attention to discourse analysis and not enough to the institutional frameworks that continue to support religious belief.[4]
Berger may also underestimate the role of self-selected
See also
References
- ^ Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy - Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (1967) p. 45 and p. 192
- ^ "Peter Berger's the Homeless Mind thesis". Archived from the original on 2012-08-20. Retrieved 2012-06-13.
- ^ Peter Berger, A Rumour of Angels (1971) p. 121 and p. 61
- ^ Robert Wuthnow, Rediscovering the Sacred (1992) p. 30
- ^ E. R. Smith/D. M. Mackie, Social Psychology (2007) p. 319-20
- ^ T. R. Phillips/D. L. Okholm, Christian Apologetics in the Postmodern World (1995) p. 186
Further reading
- Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Doubleday, 1966.
- James W. Sire, Naming the elephant: worldview as a concept, InterVarsity Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8308-2779-X, p. 112-113
External links
- PLAUSIBILITY, Encyclopedia of Religion and Society