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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Write short note: Sacred and Profane.

  • UPSC 2012, 2002, 1991
  • Sociological Thinkers

The sacred–profane dichotomy is the core of Émile Durkheim's definition of religion in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912). He held that every religion divides the world into two heterogeneous, mutually exclusive domains, and that this division, rather than belief in gods or the supernatural, is religion's defining mark.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions.

What the full answer covers

  • Durkheim's formulation
  • Other readings
  • Critiques
  • Indian illustration: close, but not the same
  • Conclusion

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