Scientification of Religion (eBook)

An Historical Study of Discursive Change, 1800-2000

Kocku von Stuckrad (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF | EPUB

2014 | 1. Auflage
239 Seiten
De Gruyter (Verlag)
9781614513490 (ISBN)

Infos

The enigmatic relation between religion and science still presents a challenge to European societies and to ideas about what it means to be ‘modern.’ This book argues that secularism, rather than pushing back religious truth claims, in fact has been religiously productive itself. A historical analysis demonstrates that religious discourses have been reconfigured in the secular sciences, thus prolonging the relevance of religion in new constellations.

Kocku von Stuckrad, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

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The enigmatic relation between religion and science still presents a challenge to European societies and to ideas about what it means to be 'modern.' This book argues that European secularism, rather than pushing back religious truth claims, in fact has been religiously productive itself. The institutional establishment of new disciplines in the nineteenth century, such as religious studies, anthropology, psychology, classical studies, and the study of various religious traditions, led to a professionalization of knowledge about religion that in turn attributed new meanings to religion. This attribution of meaning resulted in the emergence of new religious identities and practices. In a dynamic that is closely linked to this discursive change, the natural sciences adopted religious and metaphysical claims and integrated them in their framework of meaning, resulting in a special form of scientific religiosity that has gained much influence in the twentieth century. Applying methods that come from historical discourse analysis, the book demonstrates that religious semantics have been reconfigured in the secular sciences. Ultimately, the scientification of religion perpetuated religious truth claims under conditions of secularism.

Inhalt

1 Religion and Science in Discursive Perspective 15
The Discursive Construction of Knowledge 17
Historical Analysis of Discourse 19
Discursive Study of Religion: Concepts and Definitions 24
Basic Concepts for Discourse Analysis 25
Consequences for a Discursive Study of Religion 27
Methodological Implications 29
Determining the Research Question 29
Selecting Data and Building a Corpus 30
Choosing the Most Suitable Method to Analyze the Data Sets 32
Beyond Binaries: An Outline of the Argument 33
Part One: Discarded Knowledge and Its New Legitimacy in Secular Discourse 37
2 From Polemical Disjunction to New Integration: The Science of the Stars 39
The Differentiation of Branches of Knowledge 39
The Responses of the Astrologers 41
Polemical Disjunctions and their Complexities in the Eighteenth Century 47
Astrological Semantics in the Secret Societies of the Eighteenth Century 50
The Perpetuation of astrology in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Literature and Philosophy 52
Astrology in Goethe’s Time 52
Aestheticization and Psychologization of Astral Powers in the Romantic Period 57
Re-Enchantment of the Cosmos around 1900 61
The Marriage of Secular Psychology and Astrology: Carl Gustav Jung 63
The Dialogue between Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Gustav Jung and Its Impact 66
3 Alchemical Quests in Modern Garb 70
Alchemy as the ‘Occult Other’ 72
vitalism: A Ménage-a-Trois of Life, Spirit, and Matter 78
Rearrangements in the Twentieth Century 84
4 Darwinism Turned into Religion: Monism 90
Ernst Haeckel: From Darwinism to Pantheistic Monism 91
Wilhelm Ostwald: Entanglements Personified 94
Discursive Implications: Holistic Thinking between new age science, Nature- Based Spirituality, and a New Philosophy of Nature 101
Fritjof Capra 102
Ilya Prigogine 103
Gregory Bateson 105
Rupert Sheldrake 106
David Bohm 106
5 Merging Occultism, Philosophy, Science, and the Academic Study of Religion: The Theosophical Society 108
Helena P. Blavatsky as a Discursive Hub 108
Unveiling the Hidden Knowledge of Isis 112
Secret Doctrines and Synthetic Discourse 117
Wars of Succession 121
The German Knot: Rudolf Steiner 124
Part Two: Academics as Religious Pioneers 127
6 The Trouble with Europe: Academic Orientalism and New Mystical Religions 129
Martin Buber, Gershom Scholem, and Dynamics of Jewish Self-Orientalization 131
Martin Buber: In Search of the Eastern Urjudentum 132
Gershom Scholem: ‘Jewish Mysticism’ as an Antidote to ‘Europe’ 136
Rudolf Otto and Gerardus van der Leeuw: Oriental Wisdom and the Ultimate Access to the Sacred 138
Rudolf Otto 139
Gerardus van der Leeuw 140
Gender, Eroticism, and the Unveiling of an Orientalized Salome 143
Discursive Materializations: Globalized Sufism and Kabbalah 146
Kabbalistic Entanglements in the Life Sciences 148
7 In Search of the Great Goddess: How Academic Theories Generated Paganism and Witchcraft 153
Matriarchy as an Historical Myth: Johann Jakob Bachofen 154
Archaeologists and Classicists Discover the Great Goddess 158
Charles G. Leland and Robert Graves: Popularizing the Idea of the Goddess 160
Charles Godfrey Leland 160
Robert Graves 163
Discursive Materializations in (the Study of) Paganism and Esotericism 166
8 Normatizing Shamanism: Academic Teachers as Religious Experts 173
Mircea Eliade: Scholar and Novelist of Shamanism 176
Shamanic and Academic Authorities: The Routinization of Charisma 180
Carlos Castaneda 181
Joan Halifax 183
Michael Harner 184
Authority Contested 187
Conclusion: The Scientification of Religion 192
Bibliography 197
Index 225

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 21.5.2014
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Esoterik / Spiritualität
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Religionsgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Erkenntnistheorie / Wissenschaftstheorie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Geschichte der Philosophie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie der Neuzeit
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Weitere Religionen
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Spezielle Soziologien
• ISBN-13: 9781614513490 / 9781614513490