Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Existential Anthropology And The Transformation Of The Existential Situation Into Religious Meaning: The Rise And Similarities Of Religion And The Arts, Patrick Scott Smith, M.A.

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

The social forming elements to the existential situation provide the basis from which springs all things human, where seemingly disparate functions within the social dynamic—in this instance, art and religion—find common genesis. An aspect of the existential situation is the development of complete memory and awareness because of the human state of physical vulnerability. In the following essay, starting with remembrance, we will see how the existential complex itself helps to form notions of art and religion; how impediment-to-will and exertion become essential elements to the formulation of religious ritual and fashion; and finally, we will take a look at …