A metaphysics for the study of religion: A critical reading of Russell McCutcheon

Schilbrack, Kevin

doi:10.1177/2050303219900229

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This, as reiterated above, necessarily brings philosophy into the realm of religious studies. This admittance of metaphysical realism may additionally find a home in what has been termed the ‘Critical Study of Religion.’ Although Guénon would likely disagree with some of Kevin Schilbrack's conclusions, the latter, in conversation with Russell McCutcheon, argues that an employment of realist metaphysics 56 in the academy would provide two values: (1) such an inclusion would reverse “the disciplinary isolation of religious studies in the university,” 57 and (2) facilitate identifying the mechanisms which affect human behaviour (Schilbrack, 2020, p. 97). This leaves us with Stace's statement, that “Whether we like it or not, we cannot escape philosophy; because, on whatever road of knowledge we travel, philosophy lies in wait for us with its questions.” 58…”

Section: The Human As Homo Metaphysicusmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Rooting Religious Studies: The Metaphysical Proposal of René Guénon

Taj

2023

The Philosophical Forum

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The present article problematizes current dominating approaches to method and theory in the study of religion by pointing to their inapplicability to theorists working outside secular worldviews. The first section of this article introduces decolonialist narratives by touching on important topics which are subsumed within larger discussions, such as secularism, positionality, and others. This is done by putting René Guénon in conversation with other theorists, the foremost of whom is Bruce Lincoln.Section two introduces Guénon using Wael Hallaq's categorisation of him as a subversive author, and sections three and four elaborate on his subversion through touching on two key theories. The first relates to problematizations of the term 'religion' itself along with a treatment of Guénon's actual theory of religion. The second is Guénon's metaphysical method, which, contrasted against the historical, opens new avenues for our study of the past in manners unrestricted to materialism alone, expanding thereby the academic frameworks with which we come to the table in the academic study of religion.

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Section: The Human As Homo Metaphysicusmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Rooting Religious Studies: The Metaphysical Proposal of René Guénon

Taj

2023

The Philosophical Forum

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“…Critical scholars of religion reject the theological assumptions of traditional religious studies and attempt to replace the marginalizing and alienating politics of representation in religious studies with representations grounded in a recognition of humans as historical, social, economic, and political beings (McCutcheon 1997, 22-23). In particular, they criticize the use of the label "religion" to describe "the actions of people for whom the term continues to be an alien import" (McCutcheon 2018, 16), suggesting that before the term emerged in the early modern West, people were not naturally or necessarily thinking that they are religious (Schilbrack 2020). They argue religion is an arbitrary concept that originally served specific interests and was subsequently adopted, naturalized, reified, and elevated to an analytic category by scholars of religious studies (Nongbri 2013).…”

Section: The Critical Turnmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political Appeal of Religion

Doja

2022

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Much of philosophical reflections about the relations between religion and politics fall within the liberal tradition of religious restraint, which generated both the backlash of a new traditionalism and the critical turn in the study of religion. Moving beyond the real or imagined isomorphism of religion and politics, I show how the political functions of religion are closely connected to the anthropological reflections about culture and politics. The aim is to provide political theory with a new “awareness of what is missing” by revealing the deeply political significance of religion, not merely as an instrument used in political contexts for political purposes but a total political fact, which remain hidden behind the moral discourses of religious advocates, political leaders, and academic scholars.

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“…Fong 2014;Cavanaugh 2016, pp. 187-88;Schilbrack 2020). Though race, for instance, is socially constructed and does not have independent essence, race as a social construction has material impact, systemically and beyond the will of individual actors alone, structuring societies.…”

Section: Religion As a Constructed Categorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion, Politics, and New Testament Theology: Contesting Relevance and a Constructed Category

Reardon

2022

Religions

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It has been suggested by some, since the time of William Wrede, that biblical theology should align itself with the scientific study of religion. More recently, these appeals have been linked to a concern for the relevance of the discipline within modern universities and amid a secular, Western world. However, the category “religion” is itself complicated, and the implications of its use are not innocent. This article investigates the socially constructed nature of religion and the political discourse that shapes it in order to assess how the appropriation of this constructed category pertains to the relevance of New Testament theology as a discipline in particular, as well as how this category has already shaped New Testament studies more generally. I suggest that, rather than aiding biblical theology’s relevance, this category obscures a larger discourse that has sought to order social and political space in the modern Western world and beyond and that relevance should be sought elsewhere, including in the dialogue on alternative conceptual constructs that center those stories and persons that have been traditionally marginalized.

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A metaphysics for the study of religion: A critical reading of Russell McCutcheon

Cited by 14 publications

References 18 publications

On Rooting Religious Studies: The Metaphysical Proposal of René Guénon

On Rooting Religious Studies: The Metaphysical Proposal of René Guénon

Political Appeal of Religion

Religion, Politics, and New Testament Theology: Contesting Relevance and a Constructed Category

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