Marxist-Leninist 'Scientific Atheism' and the Study of Religion and Atheism in the USSR

Description

Sinceits founding by Jacques Waardenburg in 1971, Religion and Reason has been a leading forum for contributions on theories, theoretical issues and agendas related to the phenomenon and the study of religion. Topics include (among others) category formation, comparison, ethnophilosophy, hermeneutics, methodology, myth, phenomenology, philosophy of science, scientific atheism, structuralism, and theories of religion. From time to time the series publishes volumes that map the state of the art and the history of the discipline. Foreword by Maxime Rodinson Preface Abbreviations Note on Transliteration PART ONE: THE THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE MARXIST-LENINIST APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION 1. The Classical Marxist Critique of Religion 2. The Marxist-Leninist Critique of Religion PART TWO: 'SCIENTIFICAL ATHEISM' AND THE STUDY OF RELIGION AND ATHEISM IN THE USSR 3. Prolegomena: The Programme of 'Scientific Atheism' 4. The Contemporary 'Scientific Atheist' Critique of Religion 5. The History of Religion 6. The History of Atheism, Free-Thinking and Humanism 7. 'Scientific Atheism' and the 'Concrete' Sociological Study of Religion and Atheism in the USSR PART THREE: CRITIQUE OF THE MARXIST-LENINIST APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION 8. The Marxist-Leninist Understanding of Religion 9. Marxist-Leninist 'Scientific Atheism' as the Science of Religion 10. Conclusion Appendices I. The 1954 and 1963 resolutions of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: 'On errors in the conduct of scientific and atheist propaganda among the populace' and on 'elimination of survivals of capitalism in the minds and behaviour of people' II. Content of courses in 'scientific atheism' III. S. A. Tokarev on the history of religion IV. Bibliographical survey of Soviet work relating to Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam Notes Select Bibliography Index