The science of religion : : a defence : essays by Donald Wiebe / / edited, introduced, and critiqued by Anthony J. Palma.

• VerfasserIn: Wiebe, Donald, 1943-
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2018.
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Language: English
• Series: Supplements to Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 12.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (352 pages).

Donald Wiebe, Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Trinity College, University of Toronto, has spent much of his academic career arguing for a clear demarcation between Theology and Religious Studies. The Science of Religion: A Defence offers a brilliant overview of Professor Wiebe's contributions on methodology in the academic study of religion, of the development of his thinking over time, and of his intellectual commitment to 'a science of religion'. The work is divided into three parts. The first part identifies pertinent connections between 'religion', 'religious studies', and 'science' and why 'reductionism' in the academic study of religion, when properly applied, can bridge the explanatory gap between the sceptic and the devotee. The second part treats conceptual debates in the academic study of religion, with particular reference to the place of 'belief', 'understanding', and 'meaning' in the modern study of religion. The third part addresses the theological resistance to the scientific study of religion and how that resistance can be overcome. Finally, two new essays are included: a critique on ‘The Preconceptions of a Science of Religion’ by Anthony J. Palma, and an accompanying reply by Donald Wiebe. The Science of Religion: A Defence is an essential resource for both scholarly and non-scholarly audiences alike, and will be of particular interest to both defenders and critics of a scientific study of religion.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / Anthony J. Palma -- Introduction / Anthony J. Palma -- Explanation and the Scientific Study of Religion -- Is a Science of Religion Possible? -- Theory in the Study of Religion -- Beyond the Skeptic and the Devotee: Reductionism in the Scientific Study of Religion -- Postscript: on Method, Metaphysics, and Reductionism -- The Role of Belief in the Study of Religion: a Response to Wilfred Cantwell Smith -- Disciplinary Axioms, Boundary Conditions, and the Academic Study of Religion: Comments on Pals and Dawson -- On the Transformation of ‘Belief’ and the Domestication of ‘Faith’ in the Academic Study of Religion -- ‘Understanding’ in Religious Studies: a Gnostic Aberration in the Modern Study of Religion? -- Beyond Thick Descriptions and Interpretive Sciences: Explaining Religious Meaning -- ‘Why the Academic Study of Religion?’: Motive and Method in the Study of Religion -- ‘Taking Religion Seriously’: Eric Sharpe’s Comparative Religion – History as Apology -- On Theological Resistance to the Scientific Study of Religion: Values and the Value-Free Study of Religion -- Dissolving Rationality: the Anti-Science Phenomenon and Its Implications for the Study of Religion -- Transcending Religious Language: towards the Recovery of an Academic Agenda -- An Encroaching Spirituality: What Hope Remains for a Science of Religion? -- The Preconceptions of a ‘Science of Religion’ / Anthony J. Palma -- Preconceptions about a Science of Religion? My Response to Anthony Palma -- Index / Anthony J. Palma.