Gemeinschaft Verstehen: A Theory of the Middle Range

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Abstract
The main thesis of this essay is that a communal organization that lacks certain key components, such as the family, will compensate by emphasizing something else. The cloistered monastery is used as a test. Problems in understanding prayer in cloistered monasteries directed research into non-scientific truth. The ultimate purpose of monastic prayer is considered to be love. Factor-analytic scales are developed for two types of love, friendship and agape. Proximate scales are used for eros and affection. Data are analyzed for fifteen groups. The types of love are found to be intercorrelated. Cloistered monasteries do not refute the hypothesis, scoring generally highest in love, particularly agape, though measures are not entirely satisfactory. Monasteries show the need to use several forms of truth in studying human groups.

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