“Yes, ... but ...”: The Neo-Perennialists
In: Method & Theory in the Study of ReligionSearch for other papers by Craig Martin in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
This essay argues that despite their opposition to perennialism, a number of recent scholars inadvertently repeat some of the problematic gestures of perennialism. These scholars are attempting to push the field forward after poststructuralist critiques of religious studies, particularly regarding the varieties of essentialism that have plagued the field. However, their account of “religion” ends up looking, at least in some respects, little different from the pre-critical, essentialist, and ahistorical accounts of religion that were regnant prior to the wave of poststructuralist critiques of religious studies. To some extent we appear to be back to where we started.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Blum, Jason N. (2015). Zen and the Unspeakable God: Comparative Interpretations of Mystical Experience. University Park, Penn.: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
-
Bush, Stephen (2014). Visions of Religion: Experience, Meaning, and Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
Martin, Craig (2016). “Experience”. In The Oxford Handbook of the Study of Religion, ed. by Michael Stausberg and Steven Engler. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
Murphy, Tim (2010). The Politics of Spirit: Phenomenology, Genealogy, Religion. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
-
Otto, Rudolph (1958). The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non-rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and Its Relation to the Rational. Trans. by John W. Harvey. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
Proudfoot, Wayne (1985). Religious Experience. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
-
Schilbrack, Kevin (2014). Philosophy and the Study of Religions: A Manifesto. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
-
Schleiermacher, Friedrich (1996). On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers. Trans. and ed. by Richard Crouter. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
-
Vivekananda (1993). Living at the Source: Yoga Teachings of Vivekananda. Ed. by Ann Myren and Dorothy Madison. Boston, Mass.: Shambhala Publications.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 501 | 99 | 5 |
| Full Text Views | 553 | 2 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 243 | 5 | 0 |
“Yes, ... but ...”: The Neo-Perennialists
In: Method & Theory in the Study of ReligionSearch for other papers by Craig Martin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This essay argues that despite their opposition to perennialism, a number of recent scholars inadvertently repeat some of the problematic gestures of perennialism. These scholars are attempting to push the field forward after poststructuralist critiques of religious studies, particularly regarding the varieties of essentialism that have plagued the field. However, their account of “religion” ends up looking, at least in some respects, little different from the pre-critical, essentialist, and ahistorical accounts of religion that were regnant prior to the wave of poststructuralist critiques of religious studies. To some extent we appear to be back to where we started.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 501 | 99 | 5 |
| Full Text Views | 553 | 2 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 243 | 5 | 0 |