Religious experience reconsidered : a building-block approach to the study of religion and other special things / Ann Taves.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taves, Ann, 1952-

Series:

ACLS Humanities E-Book.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Experience (Religion).

Meaning (Philosophy)--Religious aspects.

Meaning (Philosophy).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 212 p. ) ill. ;

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The essence of religion was once widely thought to be a unique form of experience that could not be explained in neurological, psychological, or sociological terms. In recent decades scholars have questioned the privileging of the idea of religious experience in the study of religion, an approach that effectively isolated the study of religion from the social and natural sciences. Religious Experience Reconsidered lays out a framework for research into religious phenomena that reclaims experience as a central concept while bridging the divide between religious studies and the sciences. Ann Taves shifts the focus from "religious experience," conceived as a fixed and stable thing, to an examination of the processes by which people attribute meaning to their experiences. She proposes a new approach that unites the study of religion with fields as diverse as neuroscience, anthropology, sociology, and psychology to better understand how these processes are incorporated into the broader cultural formations we think of as religious or spiritual. Taves addresses a series of key questions: how can we set up studies without obscuring contestations over meaning and value? What is the relationship between experience and consciousness? How can research into consciousness help us access and interpret the experiences of others? Why do people individually or collectively explain their experiences in religious terms? How can we set up studies that allow us to compare experiences across times and cultures? Religious Experience Reconsidered demonstrates how methods from the sciences can be combined with those from the humanities to advance a naturalistic understanding of the experiences that people deem religious.

Contents:

Introduction: The problem of "religious experience"

Experiences deemed religious

Previous work

The argument

Why an attributional approach is better

Religion : deeming things religious

The sui generis and ascriptive models of "religious experience"

Deeming things religious

Special things and things set apart

Setting up research

Conclusion: A four-fold matrix

Experience : accessing conscious behavior

Clarifying the concept

Accessing experience

Representation and experience revisited

Explanation : attributing causality

Attribution theory : an overview

An attributional theory of religion

Levels of analysis and attribution

Comparison : constructing an object of study

Comparing experiences

Specifying a point of comparison

Comparing simple and composite formations

Imagination and reality

Conclusion: Religions : a building block approach

Building blocks

Religions as composite formations

Implications.

Notes:

Second printing, and first paperback printing, 2011.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

9786612259272

9781282259270

128225927X

9781400830978

1400830974

OCLC:

1076413823