Transformations of Religion and Morality in Modern Europe

Based on the assumption that religion is not a passing phase in the evolution of mankind but a universal aspect of the conditio humana, the anthropological and phenomenological features of religion and morality are outlined here. Then, three different social forms of religion and morality are delineated: archaic societies, early high culture, functionally differentiated societies. It is argued that the privatized form of religion constitutes a fourth social form existing in Europe. It is characterized by functional specialization and the modern variety of pluralism. Whereas the privatized form of religion is characterized by the absence of a generally obligatory model, the situation in Europe is characterized by the superimposition and co-existence of the various forms with tendencies towards fundamentalism and wholeness.