In this episode, Peter and Damon (with late guest Francisco) discuss the introduction of Émile Durkheim's book The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Durkheim is known as the father of sociology, and in this book he applies his methods of examining societies to primitive religions, to see what they can tell us about religion in general and ourselves. Topics range from examining what the essential elements of religion are, how all knowledge might be a product of social and/or religious thinking, and how Durkheim may have solved the great empiricism vs rationalism debate.