RT Article
T1 Deconstructing Religion: Some Thoughts on Where We Go From Here — A Hermeneutical Proposal
JF Exchange
VO 47
IS 1
SP 5
OP 24
A1 Hedges, Paul
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2018
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1569992444
AB This paper overviews contemporary debates on the deconstruction / historization of the category ‘religion’. It argues that a hard deconstruction which seeks to suggest the term is an empty signifier and analytically useless is unfounded philosophically and empirically. However, a soft deconstruction which accepts the problems of employing the term, especially as found in the World Religions Paradigm, but suggests that ‘religion’ remains a useful tool to describe a specific social reality, is well founded. The article extends current debates by showing how philosophical hermeneutics, especially as exemplified by Hans-Georg Gadamer’s work, supports the soft deconstructive approach and further shows the conceptual inadequacy of hard deconstruction.
K1 Religion : hermeneutics : deconstruction : epistemology : Gadamer
DO 10.1163/1572543X-12341465