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Dumont on religion : difference, comparison, transgression / Ivan Strenski.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Strenski, Ivan.
- Series:
- Key thinkers in the study of religion
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Religion.
- Dumont, Louis, 1911-1998.
- Dumont, Louis.
- Physical Description:
- 150 pages ; 24 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- London ; Oakville, CT : Equinox, 2008.
- Summary:
- Among French structuralists, Louis Dumont is sometimes regarded as an inferior to the far more celebrated Claude Lévi-Strauss. But, in truth, Dumont has far more to contribute to the study of religion than his more fashionable contemporary. Notably, his work has informed the specialized field of study in the religions of India, but also more recently the comparative study of modern ideology of the West with the world views of traditional societies. Unlike the recent volumes published on Dumont's work aimed at social anthropologists, this volume identifies kernel ideas of particular interest for the study of religion. Thus, while acknowledging Dumont's technical contribution to kinship studies or his part in the debates over the intricacies of structural theory or his apparent attempts to link idealism and empiricism, this volume focuses on subjects of particular interest to students and scholars of religion: concepts such as sacred and profane, pure and impure, transcendence, values, ideology, hierarchy, and cross cultural comparison. Attention is also paid to the ethical implications of Dumont's ideas, especially his preference for hierarchy in social arrangements.
- Contents:
- What can we learn from Louis Dumont?
- A contrarian's most contrarian notion : Dumont on hierarchy
- Our individualism and its religious origins
- The comparative risks of comparison : on not "remaining caged within our own frame of reference"
- Conclusion : Dumont's morality and social cosmology.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [137]-142) and index.
- Local Notes:
- Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.
- ISBN:
- 9781845532734
- 1845532732
- 9781845532741
- 1845532740
- OCLC:
- 191697295
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