Ordered Universes: Approaches To The Anthropology Of Religion

Klass, Morton

ISBN 10 : 0813312140 ISBN 13 : 9780813312149

Editeur : Westview Press, 1995

Synopsis

Ordered Universes An introduction to the anthropological study of religion. It argues that many of the traditional categories and assumptions used in the study of religion reflect ethnocentric perspectives which are no longer considered valid by contemporary anthropologists. Full description

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

This innovative introduction to the anthropological study of religion challenges traditional categories and assumptions, arguing that too many of them reflect ethnocentric perspectives long discarded by contemporary anthropologists. The continued use of such terms as supernatural” and cult” inescapably communicates that what is under study is not as real or true as the beliefs of the observer. This conflict between the axioms of science and Western scholarship and those of the belief systems under study can be avoided with careful attention to terminology and underlying assumptions.Ordered Universes introduces and explores important anthropological issues, concerns, and findings about the institution of religion approached as a human cultural universal. Klass applies a non-ethnocentric perspective to each topic, relying on contemporary anthropological theories and using approaches deriving from other subdivisions of the discipline. Offering operational, non-judgmental definitions that avoid taking a position on whether the belief under study is true” and providing examples from ethnographic (and other) literature on religion, Klass explores values, beliefs, witchcraft, shamans, sacrifice, ghosts, revitalization, and many other concepts. In the final chapters, he considers the emergence of new religious movements and leaders and evaluates the continuing ideological conflict between proponents of scientistic, fundamentalist, and post-rationalist systems of thought.

Biographie de l'auteur :

Morton Klass is professor of anthropology at Barnard College.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Westview Press
• Date d'édition: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0813312140
• ISBN 13: 9780813312149
• Reliure: Livre broché
• Nombre de pages: 192