ABSTRACT
A sociological understanding of ritual action can aid the development of a more integrated view of man as a being with an intellect, but also with a body, and a capacity for producing symbols. Analytically based sociology, tackling alive issues, is not value neutral in any simplistic sense. Rituals relate to key areas of our lives—to our sense of community or lack of it; to social cohesion or social conflict; to the human body, death, birth, illness, health, sexuality; and to symbols of beauty and holiness. Religion is to be treated as a basic non-reducible dimension in human experience. Levi-Strauss’ notion of ’untamed thought’ which is a constant in all human social life, not the thought of primitive and archaic peoples, is of importance for ritual behaviour and action. The alternative view of man is summed up in the well-known biblical phrase ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’.
