Comparison and the Spectre of Perennialism: A Reply to Craig Martin

Craig Martin accuses me of repeating the mistakes of perennialism, perpetuating an irresponsible and covertly theological approach to research that rushes to identify dubious “similarities” in religious experience across culture and history. While it is true that I identify cross-cultural similariti...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Blum, Jason N. 1977- (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Brill 2017
Dans: Method & theory in the study of religion
Année: 2017, Volume: 29, Numéro: 4/5, Pages: 340-346
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Blum, Jason N. 1977-, Zen and the unspeakable god / Expérience religieuse / Mystique / Études transculturelles / Philosophia perennis
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophie de la religion
AG Vie religieuse
AX Dialogue interreligieux
Sujets non-standardisés:B Comparison perennialism experience mysticism contextualism constructivism
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Résumé:Craig Martin accuses me of repeating the mistakes of perennialism, perpetuating an irresponsible and covertly theological approach to research that rushes to identify dubious “similarities” in religious experience across culture and history. While it is true that I identify cross-cultural similarities in the accounts of mystical experience that I examine in Zen and the Unspeakable God, that argument is based on historical evidence, and does not imply the questionable theological conclusions for which classical perennialism has been criticized. Learning from the mistakes of perennialism does not mean dismissing comparison as an illegitimate enterprise or rejecting cross-cultural similarities as prima facie impossible; it means insisting on evidentially-grounded and historically sensitive research that is willing and able to identify both differences and similarities. It also means resisting the temptation to oversimplify our task by reducing all research on religion to one preferred analytical category.
ISSN:1570-0682
Référence:Kommentar zu "“Yes, ... but ...”: The Neo-Perennialists (2017)"
Kommentar in "Rejoinder (2017)"
Contient:In: Method & theory in the study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700682-12341394