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.

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.

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.

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.

scholarly journals From Urban Involution to Proletarian Transformation

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (77) ◽  
pp. 295-308
Author(s):  
Terry McGee
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Empirical Processes ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Basic Reason ◽  
Wage Labour ◽  
The Sixties ◽  
Narrow Definition ◽  
Definition Of

Broad types and stages in the geography of development are identified. Notwithstanding their interest, these approaches have not adequately explained the processes of development, such as growth of wage labour. In earlier studies of these processes, during the sixties and seventies, the author had foreseen that proletarianization of labour would not occur rapidly in Southeast Asia. This proved to be wrong. The basic reason for this lack of foresight was due to the narrow definition of proletarian transformation for which a broader definition is still needed. A model is proposed to better understand how capitalist expansion penetrates non-proletarian activities. Felt needs and patterns of consumption must also be examined. Desire to obtain consumer needs can actually act as a factor of proletarianization. The question of the dislocation of non-proletarian activities appears crucial both in the agricultural and non-agricultural settings and a search for better theoretical understanding of these empirical processes is essential.

scholarly journals Definition of actors of administrative and legal support of information security in the customs area

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-299
Author(s):  
Turhut Salayev
Keyword(s):  
Information Security ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
General Information ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Broad Approach

The article deals with scientific and theoretical understanding and the provision of the definition of the category "actors of administrative and legal support of information security in the customs area". The author has disclosed and analyzed the provisions of the administrative and legal doctrine of the above questio, besides, the problematic issues of the definition of "subjects of administrative and legal support of information security in the customs sphere" are identified, andthe necessity of distinguishing this concept from other related concepts and categories is defined. Disclosing issues of actors of administrative and legal support of information security in the cus-toms sphere, it is necessary to avoid substitution of concepts and clearly understand the difference between the concepts of "institutional mechanism of administrative and legal support of information security in customs" and "state mechanism of administrative and legal support of information security in the customs sphere "from the concept of" subjects of administrative and legal support of information security in the customs sphere ". After all, the concept that is the subject of our study, of all the above, has the most comprehensive and broad scope and meaning. That is why, disclosing a set of subjects of administrative and legal support of information security in the customs sphere, it is advisable to apply a broad approach to understanding this category, given that among such subjects must be considered non-state subjects. objects - local governments, public organizations, etc. Because without their activities such a list will not be complete, and the mechanism of administrative and legal support of information security in the customs sphere will not be such that covers all possible spheres of public life and methods of information security. The current general information and administrative legislation, as well as special legislation gov-erning the procedure of customs, is considered in order to more clearly disclose the features and legal status of the actors of administrative and legal support of information security in the customs area. Each of these entities plays an appropriate role and occupies the necessary place in the system of national security of Ukraine, information security of Ukraine in general and information security in the customs area in particular. This role can be described as the implementation of general control over information security in the customs area, as well as taking measures to respond to violations of information legislation and the emergence of threats to information in the customs area within the powers defined by law. At the same time, the administrative and legal provision of information security is carried out directly by the customs authorities.

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