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Controversies over how to define the word "religion" have persisted for decades, culminating in those who now choose to study the word itself and not just what it is said to name.
What is Religion?: Debating the Academic Study of Religion invites readers to eavesdrop on scholarly debates over the limits of, and uses for, a word commonly used but infrequently defined in a precise manner. This volume takes the temperature of the modern field of Religious Studies by inviting a diverse group of international scholars to offer their own substantive contribution that builds on the shared opening prompt, "Religion is...".
List of contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- The "Religion is..." Statements
- 1. Definition and the Politics of Semantic Drift: A Reply to Susan Henking
- I Agree, And Yes, I Do Not: A Response to Craig Martin
- 2. Complicating Classification: Cognitive Sciences Comes to Religion: A Reply to Jeppe Sinding Jensen
- Religion in Mind? But Where: In Here-or Our There?
- 3. Negotiating Critical and Constructive Scholarship in the Study of Religion: A Reply to Martin Kavka
- On Truth and Lie in a Religious-Studies Sense: A Response to Kurtis R. Schaeffer
- 4. Defining Temptation: A Reply to Anne Koch
- Religion-ing/religion*: Tempting Since Aesthetically Irresistible: A Response to Susan Henking
- 5. Is Judaism a Religion and Why Should We Care?: A Reply to Nicola Denzey Lewis
- Are World Religions "Religions"? What about Ancient "Religions"? A Response to Shaul Magid
- 6. Minding Our Manners in World Without the Gods: A Reply to Kathryn Lofton
- What I Think About: A Response to S. Brent Plate
- 7. The Circularity in Defining Religion: A Reply to Shaul Magid
- Colonialism, Monotheism, and Spirituality: A Response to Kocku von Stuckrad
- 8. The Semantic Subject: Religion and the Limits of Language: A Reply to Craig Martin
- Religion Is..., Not Like Science
- 9. Agreed: Religion Is Not a Thing-But Is It an Agent? A Reply to Malory Nye
- Religion, Capital, and Other 'Things' Which are Not Things: A Response to Nicola Denzey Lewis
- 10. Is (What Gets Called) Religion an Argument, Discourse, or Ideology: A Reply to Laurie L. Patton
- Now What? A Response to Malory Nye
- 11. Religion is..., What it Does: A Reply to Anthony B. Pinn
- Optics Matter: A Response to Jeppe Sinding Jensen
- 12. Religion is an Ever-Adapting Ecosystem of Objects: A Reply to S. Brent Plate
- Evolution, Technology, Art: A Reply to Anne Taves
- 13. Scripturalization as Management of Difference: A Reply to Kurtis R. Schaeffer
- Inside/Outside, Then/Now: A Response to Vincent L. Wimbush
- 14. Critical Voices, Public Debates: A Reply to Kocku von Struckrad
- The Accountability of Embedded Scholarship: A Response to Laurie L. Patto
- 15. Let's Talk About Reading: A Reply to Ann Taves
- A Reader's Guide to Worldviews and Ways of Life: A Response to Martin Kavka
- 16. Arguments Against the Textualization Regime: A Reply to Vincent L. Wimbush
- Refracting the Scriptural: A Response to Anne Koch
- 17. Mapping Religion-religion: A Reply to Laurie Zoloth
- What Do We Mean When We Say We Teach "Religion?": A Response to Anthony B. Pinn
- Appendix
- Definitions of Religion and Critical Comments
About the author
Aaron W. Hughes is the Philip S. Bernstein Professor in the Department of Religion and Classics at the University of Rochester. He is the author of sixteen books, twelve edited volumes, and over eighty articles and book chapters. Book titles include Abrahamic Religions: On the Uses and Abuses of History; Shared Identities: Medieval and Modern Imaginings of Judeo-Islam; and From Seminary to University: An Institutional History of the Study of Religion in Canada.
Russell T. McCutcheon is University Research Professor and long-time Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. He writes widely on the history of the field and the practical implications of classification systems. He is the author of such books as Manufacturing Religion, Studying Religion: An Introduction, and On Making a Shift in the Study of Religion and Other Essays.
Summary
Controversies over how to define the word "religion" have persisted for decades. It is a term of art and of academic study, but also one of governance, technologies, and of networks; it is a concept whose diversity is often its own worst enemy. "Religion" is as much a fuzzy set of conceptualizations and generalizations about a range of human activities as it is an authorizing system of persons, ideas, and practices.
What is Religion?: Debating the Academic Study of Religion invites readers to eavesdrop on scholarly debates over the limits of, and uses for, a word commonly used but infrequently defined in a precise manner. This volume takes the temperature of the modern field of Religious Studies by inviting a diverse group of scholars to offer their own substantive contribution that builds on the shared opening prompt, "Religion is...". Their essays document the current state of the field and its various sub-fields, assess the progress that has been made over the past generation, and propose new directions for future work. Seventeen of the international field's leading scholars show how they work with each other's definition, or, sometimes, the lack of a definition. Of interest to students, scholars, and general readers alike, What is Religion? will provoke debate and provide insights into the state of the field.
Additional text
The book presents the reader with an original and innovative account of current approaches to, and controversies within, religious studies, gathering and interlinking multifaceted voices.
