More than belief : a materialist theory of religion / Manuel A. Vásquez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vásquez, Manuel A.

Contributor:

ProQuest ebook central.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion--Philosophy.

Religion.

Religion and sociology.

Sociology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (382 pages.)

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Over the past several decades, postmodernist and postcolonial challenges to traditional theories and methods have revolutionized the social sciences. The discipline of religious studies, however, has been relatively slow to confront these developments, continuing to rely heavily on textualmethods and a framework that privileges belief over practice, doctrine over performance, text over context, and inner emotion over public ritual. Recently, however, developments in social theory have begun to transform the study of religion. In this book, Manuel Vasquez maps out the dynamics of thisparadigm shift, exploring systematically the epistemological and methodological challenges contemporary social theory poses for traditional approaches to religious studies. Offering a panoramic view of key debates on identity, culture, and society across the social sciences, he assesses the impactof these debates on the study of religion, offering specific examples of how they are shaping the study of particular religious traditions. He concludes by proposing a robust yet flexible materialist approach to the study of religion that will be capable of addressing the increasing complexity ofreligious life.

Contents:

The rise of foundational dualism and the eclipse of the body

"Body am I entirely, and nothing else": non-reductive materialism and the struggle against dualism

Toward a materialist phenomenology of religion

The phenomenology of embodiment and the study of religion

Religious bodies as social artifacts

Holding social constructionism in check: the recovery of the active, lived body

A cultural neurophenomenology of religion: enter the embodied mind

The eclipse of practice: textualism at large

"Ceci n'est pas un texte": from textualism to practice

Expanding the conversation on emplaced religion

Mobility, networks, and ecology.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Online version: Vásquez, Manuel A. More than belief.

ISBN:

9780197541685

0197541682

Publisher Number:

99988215007

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.