Rational Choice Theory And Religious Studies

In recent years,an econmoic approach has been applied to explain religious changes in modern world,including United States,Europe and East Asia.This approach is known as the Rational Choice Theory(i.e.,Religious Market Theory or Economics of Religion).With the collapse of the tranditional secularization theory,Religious Market Theory quickly became one of the most popular theories in contemporary sociology of religion.Firstly,this paper investigates the application of Rational Choice Theory(RCT)in the fields of economics,political science,sociology and religious studies.The second part expounds the main points and development of Rational Choice Theory of Religion(i.e.,Religious Market Theory),and introduces the Religious Market Theory from the micro,meso and macro-levels respectively.Then we examine the two common criticisms of the Economics of Religion.The first criticism focuses on the conceptual problems and the reliability of the RCT.The latter criticism focuses on the universal applicability of Economics of Religion;this problem arises when the economic approch is applied to non-western religions and societies.After analyzing the relevant topics,we argue that neither of the two criticisms is successful.Through the analysis and investigation of these problems,we try to defend the "new paradigm" of religious studies.In this process,some theoretical and practical issues will be fully discussed,such as instrumental and normative rationality,magic and religion,the pecularity of Chinese folk religion,etc.In the end,we show the inspiration and significance of rational choice theory for religious studies,focus on the controversy of secularization thesis and the methodology of sociology.