Reflections on the Limits of Reflection: An Invitation to the Discursive Study of Religion

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 156-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kocku von Stuckrad
Keyword(s):  
Scholarly Activity ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
Definition Of Religion ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Western Esotericism ◽  
Academic Study

AbstractIt has repeatedly been claimed that the study of religion should not essentialize “religion” as an object of study that exists “out there,” waiting for us to discover and understand “it.” Reflection on the contexts and hidden agendas of concepts of religion are part and parcel of scholarly activity. But can there be an end to such a circle of reflection? This paper argues that definitions of and approaches to religion are intrinsically linked to the episteme and the discourse of the time. After clarifying the terms “discourse,” “episteme,” and “field,” this dynamic is exemplified with the emergence of the academic field of “Western esotericism.” The paper concludes that rather than looking for a better definition of religion, the academic study of religion should focus on describing, analyzing, and demarcating the religious fields of discourse. These fields are both the object of study for scholars of religion and the scholars’ habitat.

No Place to Stand

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-108
Author(s):  
Sam Gill
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Question ◽  
The Core ◽  
Mircea Eliade ◽  
Mapping Strategy ◽  
Interactive Dynamics ◽  
Definition Of Religion ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Academic Study

Religion scholar Mircea Eliade held that the “question of character of place on which one stands is the fundamental question.” Smith engages the idea of place in developing a definition of religion as well as holding that the scholar’s selection of theory determines a study’s results. In a classic Smith position he outlined two kinds of maps common to religions, locative (place embracing) and utopian (place avoiding). The chapter shows that these are mirrors of one another and that neither is actually achievable. The chapter focuses then on Smith’s third unnamed mapping strategy that is akin to joke and play, arguing that play is fundamental to Smith’s theories of place, myth, and ritual. Religions are understood in terms of application and adjustment, the iterative, negotiative, interactive dynamics of play. Furthermore, the chapter argues that, following Smith, this same dynamic is at the core of a proper academic study of religion.

Can Philosophy Save the Study of Religion?

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Rennie
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Definition Of Religion ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Academic Study

Schilbrack presents the data and methods of disciplinary philosophy as contributing positively to the academic study of religion and gives his understanding of religion and of its study based on this contribution. I suggest we go further—the methods of disciplinary philosophy should provide a centralizing paradigm around which the various contributory disciplines of the study of religion might be better and more sustainably organized. Schilbrack adopts an approach that focuses on practice and embodiment rather than doctrine and belief. Again, I recommend going even further, still avoiding eliminative behaviorism but adopting a “philosophical ethology,” and seeking to refine the “superempirical realities” of Schilbrack’s definition of religion with reference to behaviors that produce and surround certain elements of material culture. This, I believe, would advance Schilbrack’s theoretical understanding of both religion and the philosophy of religion, taking it to an even greater level of generality and utility.

Responding to the Wendy Doniger Controversy

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-39
Author(s):  
Steven Ramey
Keyword(s):  
Religious Studies ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Robust Analysis ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Academic Study

The controversy over Penguin India withdrawing Wendy Doniger's book, announced in February 2014, provides an occasion to consider the problems and possibilities within the academic study of religion. As the controversy centered on representations of what both Doniger and her opponents termed Hinduism, the problems with adjudicating contested definitions of religions or the category religions becomes apparent. Rather than assuming that we can present a normative definition of any of these terms, I argue that scholars should avoid applying these contested labels themselves and recognize instead whose application of contested labels that they use. This approach facilitates a more robust analysis of the ways these terms enter the negotiation of various conflicts and the interests and assumptions behind them, making religious studies more relevant to contemporary society.

Agama Hindu Dharma Indonesia as a New Religious Movement: Hinduism Recreated in the Image of Islam

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
June McDaniel
Keyword(s):  
Civil Religion ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Religious Movement ◽  
Ancient Religion ◽  
Definition Of Religion ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Universal Ethic

This article describes the role of Hinduism in modern Indonesia and the ways in which it has been adapted to fit the government's definition of religion as a prophetic monotheism with revealed texts and a universal ethic. It gives a brief background on Indonesian history and analyzes the structure and theology of Agama Hindu Dharma Indonesia. It discusses whether a governmental reorganization of an ancient religion can be considered a new religious movement, and some approaches that might be useful from the field of religious studies. It suggests that the definition of new religious movement be changed to fit the case in which a modern religion considered to be a revealed religion also acts as a civil religion.

THE CONCEPT AS THE OBJECT OF STUDY OF LINGUISTICS

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-242
Author(s):  
K. Galiyeva ◽  
◽  
S. Isakova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Linguistic Phenomenon ◽  
Scientific Fields

The article is devoted to the definition of concept in modern linguistics. Various points of view and definitions of the basic concepts are considered: "concept", "conceptual sphere", "content". The aim of the article is to describe and explain such a complex unit as a concept from the point of view of linguistics. The object of research is studied in its various manifestations, the combination of verbal and nonverbal means of information expression in the conceptual sphere is revealed. the relevance of this topic is due to the need for a detailed consideration of the concept of concept based on the works of prominent scientists and linguists. Researchers treat the concept as a cognitive, psycholinguistic, linguocultural, cultural and linguistic phenomenon. The concept is an umbrella term because it "covers" the subject areas of several scientific fields: primarily cognitive psychology and cognitive linguistics.

Cybervictimization. Research Matrix

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.V. Zhmurov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
The United States ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Crime Victim ◽  
Internet Crime ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
System Characteristics

The article presents an analysis of the cybervictimization phenomenon. The author justifies the use of an integrative (interdisciplinary) approach to the study of this problem, proposes the definition of the term under study as a process or end result of becoming a crime victim in the sphere of unified computer networks. A theoretical and methodological matrix for the analysis of cybervictimization (PCPPE model) was developed. The model includes five system characteristics of cybervictimization, the comprehensive study of which to a maximum extent will simplify the understanding of the essence of the object of study. These characteristics include: profiling, conditionality, prevalence, predictability and epidemicity. Each of these aspects is explained in detail: the author developed a detailed nomenclature of cybervictimization forms. The problems of identifying its extent, as well as the determinant role of gender, age, behavioral and personal factors are discussed in the article, and a list of key cybervictimization acts is formulated. This meta-analysis includes thirteen global categories and about seventy of its accent forms. Among the global categories the following ones are identified: threats, harassment, illegal interest, infringement, insult, spoofing, disclosure, compulsion, seizure, infecting, access and use. The prevalence rates of cybervictimization on the example of the United States (Internet Crime Report) are also studied, certain aspects of the methodology of cyber victim number counting are considered.

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