Naturalism and Protectionism in the Study of Religions
Ebook
How should we study religion? Must we be religious ourselves to truly understand it? Do we study religion to advance our knowledge, or should the study of religions help to reintroduce the sacred into our increasingly secularized world?
Juraj Franek argues that the study of religion has long been split into two competing paradigms: reductive (naturalist) and non-reductive (protectionist). While the naturalistic approach seems to run the risk of explaining religious phenomena away, the protectionist approach appears to risk falling short of the methodological standards of modern science. Franek uses primary source material from Greek and Latin sources to show that both competing paradigms are traceable to Presocratic philosophy and early Christian literature. He presents the idea that naturalists are distant heirs, not only of the French Enlightenment, but also of the Ionian one. Likewise, he argues that protectionists owe much of their arguments and strategies, not only to Luther and the Reformation, but to the earliest Christian literature.
This book analyses the conflict between reductive and non-reductive approach in the modern study of religions, and positions the Cognitive Science of Religion against a background of previous theories - ancient and modern - to demonstrate its importance for the revindication of the naturalist paradigm.
Examines naturalism and protectionism in the modern study of religions and evaluates the contribution of the Cognitive Science of Religion to the renewal of the naturalist approach.
Explores the conflict between reductive and non-reductive approaches in the modern study of religions and demonstrates the importance of the Cognitive Science of Religion for the revindication of the naturalist paradigm
Offers a new perspective on the Cognitive Science of Religion by setting it against a background of ancient and modern theories
Provides analysis, based on primary Greek and Latin sources, of how Presocratic philosophers tried to explain religion and how early Christian authors tried to defend it
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
1. Introduction: Methodological Schism in the Study of Religions
2. Naturalistic Paradigm: Critical Reflexion of Religion in Presocratic Philosophy
3. Protectionist Paradigm: Early Christian Literature between Faith and Reason
4. Naturalism and Protectionism in the Study of Religions (1): The Beginnings
5. Naturalism and Protectionism in the Study of Religions (2): The Rise and Fall of Phenomenology
6. Cognitive Science of Religion (1): Methodology
7. Cognitive Science of Religion (2): Terminology
8. Cognitive Science of Religion (3): Practical Application
9. Conclusion: A Return of the Prodigal Son?
Editions
References
Index
Juraj Franek argues that the contemporary cognitive approach to religion marks a revival of naturalism and offers hope for the defeat of protectionism. An excellent contribution.
The chasm between protectionism (viz. phenomenological or sun generis approaches) and naturalism (viz. social scientific approaches) is surprisingly still very much alive. Juraj Franek offers both a historical account of that dissent as well as suggestions for an academically sober study of religion.
- Title: Naturalism and Protectionism in the Study of Religions
- Author: Juraj Franek
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781350082397, 9781350277854, 1350277851, 1350082392
- Resource ID: LLS:9781350082397
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-09T02:59:51Z
Juraj Franek is Assistant Professor at the Department of Classical Studies, Masaryk University and Research Fellow at the Centre for Classical Studies at the Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences,The Czech Republic.