Believing and acting : the pragmatic turn in comparative religion and ethics / G. Scott Davis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davis, G. Scott, 1953-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion and ethics.

Pragmatism.

Physical Description:

234 pages ; 22 cm

Other Title:

Believing & acting

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2012.

Summary:

How should religion and ethics be studied if we want to understand what people believe and why they act the way they do?

In the 1980s and 90s postmodernist worries led to debates that turned on power, truth, and relativism. Since the turn of the century scholars impressed by 'cognitive science' have introduced concepts drawn from evolutionary biology, neurosciences, and linguistics in the attempt to provide 'naturalist' accounts of religion. Deploying concepts and arguments that have their roots in the pragmatism of C. S. Peirce, Believing and Acting argues that both approaches are misguided and largely unhelpful in answering the questions that matter: What did those people believe then? How does it relate to what these people want to do now? What is our evidence for our interpretations? Pragmatic inquiry into these questions recommends an approach that questions grand theories, advocates a critical pluralism about religion and ethics that defies disciplinary boundaries in the pursuit of the truth. Rationality, on a pragmatic approach, is about solving particular problems in medias res, thus there is no hard and fast line to be drawn between inquiry and advocacy; both are essential to negotiating day to day life. The upshot is an approach to religion and ethics in which inquiry looks much like the art history of Michael Baxandall and advocacy like the art criticism of Arthur Danto. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Believing and Acting: The allure of method in the study of religion 1

2 Peirce and the Legacy of Pragmatism 23

3 Ethics, Religion, and the Limits of Empiricism 49

4 Richard Rorty and the Pragmatic Turn in the Study of Religion 75

5 "Gay Fine Colours": Cognitive science and the study of religion 99

6 The Base of Design: Relativism and fieldwork in contemporary anthropology 123

7 Explaining Innovation: From the history of art to comparative ethics and religion 147

8 From Comparisons to Cases: Pragmatism and the politics of virtue 175.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-226) and index.

ISBN:

9780199583904

0199583900

OCLC:

749871256