{"title":"Religion, Religious: Can Anti-Definitionalists Stay Tethered to the Study of Religion?","authors":"Ann Taves","doi":"10.1515/zfr-2021-0025","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This important methodological intervention in the study of religion makes a com-pelling case for the indispensable role of history in the empirical study of religion. In doing so, Seiwert draws on the philosophy of science (specifically Critical Rea-lism) and makes a clear and highly useful distinction between theory and me-tatheory, as well as other key terms. As he explains (217), “ theories of religion are attempts at explaining religion. ” Metatheories, by way of contrast, reflect on “ the aims, conditions, methods, and restrictions of studying religion. ” The latter, he adds, “ cannot be separated from methodology where the methods of forming theories, conducting empirical research, and connecting theory formation with empirical research are discussed. ”","PeriodicalId":38422,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift fur Religionswissenschaft","volume":"29 1","pages":"285 - 289"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Zeitschrift fur Religionswissenschaft","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zfr-2021-0025","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Arts and Humanities","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This important methodological intervention in the study of religion makes a com-pelling case for the indispensable role of history in the empirical study of religion. In doing so, Seiwert draws on the philosophy of science (specifically Critical Rea-lism) and makes a clear and highly useful distinction between theory and me-tatheory, as well as other key terms. As he explains (217), “ theories of religion are attempts at explaining religion. ” Metatheories, by way of contrast, reflect on “ the aims, conditions, methods, and restrictions of studying religion. ” The latter, he adds, “ cannot be separated from methodology where the methods of forming theories, conducting empirical research, and connecting theory formation with empirical research are discussed. ”