Religion: evolutionism, modernism, post-modernism; what comes next? A review essay of Understanding Theories of Religion by Ivan Strenski
Abstract
One of the many spectres haunting postmodern scholarship , and perhaps the most frightening one, is the phantom of the definitional-ontological problem. What are the things we study? How can we define and name them? However surprising this may appear, we are still at it.
No common notion, idea, or concept has escaped the scrutiny of the deconstructive approach; all our terms have been dissected in search of semantic and power stratifications hidden in them. And it has been so even for the most respectable notions, ideas, and concepts in the fields of historical and social sciences.
Take "culture" , for example, or "nation" , or "tradition". Take, well, "religion".
This article explores the range and unsettled nature of the definitional-ontological problem in the study of religion through a wide, critical analysis of Strenski's book, which is one of the recent attempts to solve - or at least thoroughly reconsider - said problem.