Title: Conclusion: religion in the flesh: forging new methodologies for the study of religion
Abstract: My title, which obviously tips its hat to Lakoff and Johnson's (1999) excellent retooling of philosophical methodology, underscores the importance of staying current with research in many fields as we continue to search for new ways to understand religion. Interdisciplinary collaborations of the past decade or so have demonstrated that methodologies from one single discipline often fail to capture the conceptual and lived nuances of complex phenomena. We therefore must remain flexible and fluid, adopting more rigorous forms of empirical study and staying attuned to more detailed expositions of phenomenological realities. Cross-cultural, ethnographic data raise the importance of individuals' interpretations of their symbolic, religious worlds within the complex contexts of communities and larger social groups. This research likewise suggests an underlying human commonality in the types of religious worlds represented, and in the mode of representation, both of which belie the dependence of religious states and processes upon the human brain.
Publication Year: 2001
Publication Date: 2001-06-28
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 3
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