"He Blinded Me With Science": Science Chauvinism in the Study of Religion

@article{citeulike:2945151, abstract = {A number of recent publications in the study of religion address the continuing question about the legitimacy and coherence of the concept of "religion." This essay examines three particular critiques--(1) that "religion" is a Christian theological construct with questionable applications to non-Christian cultures, (2) that "religion" lacks coherence and empirical warrant as an analytical category, and (3) that the study of religion needs to be rendered more scientific through reductive theory and methods. These claims often take the natural sciences as the standard against which the study of religion is found lacking. Given the drastic nature of what these reflections on the study of religion imply or recommend, it is important to investigate whether or not such critiques are warranted. This essay argues that the study of science actually suggests more similarities than differences, and that the history and philosophy of science render the academic study of religion into a comparable "research tradition." 10.1093/jaarel/lfn001}, author = {Cho, Francisca and Squier, Richard K. }, citeulike-article-id = {2945151}, doi = {10.1093/jaarel/lfn001}, journal = {Journal of the American Academy of Religion}, keywords = {academe, criticism, humanities, method, reductionism, religion, science}, month = {June}, number = {2}, pages = {420--448}, posted-at = {2008-06-30 16:00:30}, priority = {2}, title = {"He Blinded Me With Science": Science Chauvinism in the Study of Religion}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfn001}, volume = {76}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2945151 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2945151 TI - "He Blinded Me With Science": Science Chauvinism in the Study of Religion JF - Journal of the American Academy of Religion VL - 76 IS - 2 SP - 420 EP - 448 N2 - A number of recent publications in the study of religion address the continuing question about the legitimacy and coherence of the concept of "religion." This essay examines three particular critiques--(1) that "religion" is a Christian theological construct with questionable applications to non-Christian cultures, (2) that "religion" lacks coherence and empirical warrant as an analytical category, and (3) that the study of religion needs to be rendered more scientific through reductive theory and methods. These claims often take the natural sciences as the standard against which the study of religion is found lacking. Given the drastic nature of what these reflections on the study of religion imply or recommend, it is important to investigate whether or not such critiques are warranted. This essay argues that the study of science actually suggests more similarities than differences, and that the history and philosophy of science render the academic study of religion into a comparable "research tradition." 10.1093/jaarel/lfn001 KW - academe KW - criticism KW - humanities KW - method KW - reductionism KW - religion KW - science AU - Cho, Francisca AU - Squier, Richard PY - 2008/06/01/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfn001 ER -