Rafael Karsten










Rafael Karsten in the 1920s.


Sigfrid Rafael Karsten (16 August 1879 — 21 February 1956) was a Finnish social anthropologist and philosopher of religion, known especially for his work among the indigenous people of Southern America.[1]




Contents






  • 1 Career


  • 2 Publications in English (selection)


  • 3 Sources


  • 4 Further reading


  • 5 External links





Career


Rafael Karsten was born in Koivulahti, Grand Duchy of Finland, to a very religious family, and his native language was Swedish. He studied philosophy at the University of Helsinki in 1899–1902 and had his first job at the British Museum.[1]


A student of Edvard Westermarck, Karsten was critical of theological explanations of religions. He was a critic of Christianity and state religion, and a proponent of freedom of religion. Karsten defended his doctoral thesis, The Origin of Worship: A Study in Primitive Religion, in 1905 at the University of Helsinki.[1]


In total, Karsten travelled six times in Southern America and studied the indigenous people and their religions — in Bolivia and Argentine, 1911–1913, in Ecuador, 1916–1918, and in the Amazonas, 1946–1947, and others — and published extensively on them in Swedish, Finnish, German, English, and Spanish.[1] He also authored several academic course books on sociology and social anthropology.[2]


Karsten served as the professor of practical philosophy at the University of Helsinki in 1922–1946.[1] His pupils include Arne Runeberg.[3]


Karsten died in Helsinki, aged 76.[1]



Publications in English (selection)




  • The Origin of Worship: A Study in Primitive Religion (1905)


  • Contributions to the Sociology of the Indian Tribes of Ecuador (1920)


  • The Religion of the Jibaro Indians of eastern Ecuador (1922)


  • Civilization of the South American Indians, with Special Reference to Magic and Religion (1926)


  • Indian Tribes of the Argentine and Bolivian Gran Chaco (1932)


  • The Headhunters of Western Amazonas (1935)


  • A Totalitarian State of the Past: The Civilization of the Inca Empire in Ancient Peru (1949)



Sources




  1. ^ abcdef Aho, Jouko (2005). "Karsten, Rafael (1879–1956)". Suomen kansallisbiografia 5. Studia Biographica, 3 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. pp. 15–16. ISBN 951-746-446-0. ISSN 1456-2138..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ Karsten, Rafael in Uppslagsverket Finland (in Swedish).


  3. ^ Runeberg, Arne in Uppslagsverket Finland (in Swedish).



Further reading




  • Salomaa, Ilona (2002). Rafael Karsten (1879–1956) as a Finnish scholar of religion: The life and career of a man of science (Ph.D. thesis). Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. ISBN 952-91-4423-7.


  • Acta Americana, Vol 1, No. 2, 1993. (Special issue on Rafael Karsten.)



External links



  • Rafael Karsten (1879–1956), a Finnish Scholar of Religion. Biography by Ilona Salomaa.








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