From Influence and Confluence to Difference and Indifference. Studies on History of Religions. Edited by Mihaela Gligor
From Influence and Confluence to Difference and Indifference. Studies on History of Religions. Edited by Mihaela Gligor
Author(s): Mihaela Gligor, Jeremy Biles, Carl Olson, Jerry Cullum, Melanie Barbato, Maria-Daniela Pomohaci
Contributor(s): Mihaela Gligor (Editor)
Subject(s): History, Philosophy, Cultural history, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, Bibliography, General Reference Works, History of Philosophy, Special Branches of Philosophy, Comparative history, History of ideas, Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, Religion and science , Philosophy of Religion, Cultural Essay, Sociology of Religion
Published by: Presa Universitara Clujeana
Keywords: History of Religions;Philosophy;Patterns;Influence;Indifference;
Summary/Abstract: By this volume, the first of Cluj Center for Indian Studies Collection, we do not try to explain the differences or the similarities among religions or different periods of time. We only try to introduce the reader into the fascinating world of religions and faiths. Each and every one of them has something unique about it. There are a great many similarities among world’s religions and yet a great many differences. As in the case of multiculturalism, a term we usually understand as a practice of giving equal attention or representation to the cultural needs and contributions of all the groups in a society (special emphasis may be given to minority groups underrepresented in the past, as through bilingual education), in case of religions general approaches are alike: the term “religion” defines internal relationships among communities relatively circumscribed, and also among people of specific provenience engaged in external, professional, cultural, linguistic, or any other relations.
- E-ISBN-13: 978-973-595-887-9
- Page Count: 249
- Publication Year: 2015
- Language: English
The Sacrifice of Domestication: Theorizing Religion
The Sacrifice of Domestication: Theorizing Religion
(The Sacrifice of Domestication: Theorizing Religion)
- Author(s):Jeremy Biles
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Philosophy, Cultural history, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, Philosophical Traditions, Comparative history, Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, Cultural Essay, Sociology of Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:14-75
- No. of Pages:61
- Keywords:Sacrifice; Religion; Philosophy; Domestication; Theory of Religion
- Summary/Abstract:This comparative study will thus serve the scholarly purposes of articulating a multifaceted critique of Smith’s work while offering a corrective to his theory of religion through a turn to Bataille. More broadly, it commends further attention to Bataille by students of religion, for the field of religious studies stands to be invigorated by Bataille’s provocative, deliriously lucid writings. Following the example of Bataille, I will formulate grounds for resisting the rationalist mode in religious studies as exemplified by Smith, inquiring into the possibilities presented by shifting the register of religious studies from Smith’s privileged ratio-scientific concepts - for example, objectivity, distance, reason, conservation, accumulation, knowledge, and futurity - to those that Bataille puts forward in his theory religion: excess, experience, eroticism, expenditure, destruction, violence, and the present moment. I will argue that the (usually implicit) values connected with these respective approaches must be discerned and considered in thinking about how to theorize religion. There is, I believe, much to commend thinking more frequently and intensely in a Bataillean experimental register.
Conflicting Methodological Metaphors Pertaining to Sameness and Difference: Eliade and Deleuze in Dialogue
Conflicting Methodological Metaphors Pertaining to Sameness and Difference: Eliade and Deleuze in Dialogue
(Conflicting Methodological Metaphors Pertaining to Sameness and Difference: Eliade and Deleuze in Dialogue)
- Author(s):Carl Olson
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Philosophy, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, History of Philosophy, Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, Contemporary Philosophy, Cultural Essay, Sociology of Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:76-113
- No. of Pages:38
- Keywords:Metaphors; Dialogue; Difference; Mircea Eliade; Giles Deleuze
- Summary/Abstract:In this paper, I propose to examine the postmodern challenge to hermeneutics exercised by historians of religions by using the hermeneutical method of Mircea Eliade as an example of an approach that has been used in Religious Studies scholarship. This hermeneutical method is compared to the postmodern approach of Gilles Deleuze and special attention will be focused on the importance of difference among postmodernists. We will witness that Eliade’s approach to the study of religion is shaped by fundamentals of Enlightenment philosophy and its representational mode of thinking that is evident in his use of the phenomenological method, intentionality, intuition, morphological classification, and his stress upon order over chaos instead of the simulacra discussed by numerous postmodern thinkers. It is possible, of course, to also find romantic thinking and the influence of Eastern Orthodox religiosity on Eliade’s thinking, but such considerations can be suspended for another paper. The phenomenological aspects of Eliade’s method presuppose a metaphysical stance and a coherence theory of truth, which are diametrically opposed to the overall postmodern position of Gilles Deleuze and his emphasis on difference. Moreover, this paper is narrowly focused on Eliade’s morphological classification expressed by the metaphor of a tree, which is compared to Deleuze’s rhizomatic method and its reliance on the metaphor of the root. This essay also compares the two thinkers on the problem of time and history because of their relationship to the hermeneutics of the two thinkers. Moreover, this paper examines the presuppositions of both positions and the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches for the future study of religion.
History of Religions and Cultural Fashions Revisited
History of Religions and Cultural Fashions Revisited
(History of Religions and Cultural Fashions Revisited)
- Author(s):Jerry Cullum
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Philosophy, Literary Texts, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Cultural history, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, Bibliography, General Reference Works, Visual Arts, Special Branches of Philosophy, Social history, Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Cultural Essay, History of Religion
- Page Range:114-174
- No. of Pages:61
- Keywords:History of Religions; Cultural fashion; Revision; Cultural; Humanity
- Summary/Abstract:The academic discipline of the history of religions is intrinsically interdisciplinary, and perhaps in a position to contribute particularly useful insights to the dialogue across academic boundaries. This essay is intended to present a very thin slice of cultural responses to our contemporary condition, and to suggest a few possible resources for analysis of them.
Jainism and the West - An Overview
Jainism and the West - An Overview
(Jainism and the West - An Overview)
- Author(s):Melanie Barbato
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Philosophy, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, Non-European Philosophy, Special Branches of Philosophy, History of ideas, Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, Indian Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Cultural Essay, History of Religion
- Page Range:175-205
- No. of Pages:31
- Keywords:Jainism; Philosophy of religions; History of religions; Indian religion; West
- Summary/Abstract:Why then should we be interested in the Jaina tradition and its relations with the West? First, the numbers do not give an accurate picture of the importance of Jainism. Jains like Anju Jain, former co-CEO of Deutsche Bank, are influential in the world of business and trade. In India, Jains both male and female are much more likely to be literate than their Hindu compatriots. The Jain tradition is rich and beautiful, both in the historical and contemporary perspective. Jains have made central contributions to Indian culture. In Indian philosophy they sought to position themselves in the middle ground between the “one-sided” views of other schools.
Perspectives on Religious (In)Difference and (In)Tolerance
Perspectives on Religious (In)Difference and (In)Tolerance
(Perspectives on Religious (In)Difference and (In)Tolerance)
- Author(s):Mihaela Gligor
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Philosophy, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, Bibliography, General Reference Works, Special Branches of Philosophy, Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Cultural Essay, Source Material, History of Religion
- Page Range:206-220
- No. of Pages:15
- Keywords:Religious Tradition; Indifference; Difference; History of Religions;Intolerance;
- Summary/Abstract:We often wonder: What are the limits of religious tolerance? Why can we be very open to the idea of tolerance, as a principle, and still, when it comes about our own family/actions, to be, in many cases, intolerant?1 What is the difference between the idea of tolerance and its particular application? And why, so many times, we are tolerant in words, and intolerant in practice? Why does this difference occur? And why are we showing indifference when we should implicate ourselves and make a difference? Yes, we play with notions, but we actually do this in everyday life.
Between Colonial Laws and Religious Traditions: Hindu Women in the Nineteenth Century India
Between Colonial Laws and Religious Traditions: Hindu Women in the Nineteenth Century India
(Between Colonial Laws and Religious Traditions: Hindu Women in the Nineteenth Century India)
- Author(s):Maria-Daniela Pomohaci
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Philosophy, Cultural history, Special Branches of Philosophy, Social history, Special Historiographies:, Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, Philosophy of Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:221-246
- No. of Pages:26
- Keywords:Colonial India; Laws; Religious Traditions; Hindu Women; India
- Summary/Abstract:In order to understand social reforms regarding women’s rights in nineteenth century India, one needs to begin by taking a look at the ideas of “rule of law” and at the “rule of colonial difference”, which animated legislation initiatives in the field of gender and discrimination in colonial India.
