1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910972894703321

Titolo

Comparing religions : possibilities and perils? / / edited by Thomas Athanasius Idinopulos, Brian C. Wilson, and James Constantine Hanges

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Leiden ; ; Boston, : Brill, 2006

ISBN

1-281-39982-5

9786611399825

90-474-1040-8

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (338 p.)

Collana

Numen book series. Studies in the history of religions, , 0169-8834 ; ; v. 113

Altri autori (Persone)

HangesJames Constantine <1954->

IdinopulosThomas A

WilsonBrian C

Disciplina

200.7

Soggetti

Religion - Methodology

Religion - Study and teaching

Religions

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [293]-311) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Comparison as a theoretical exercise / Anthony J. Blasi -- Questions of judgment in comparative religious studies / George Weckman -- The role of the authoritative in the comparative process / David Cave -- The mothering principle in the comparison of religions / Thomas Athanasius Idinopulos -- Theaters of worldmaking behaviors : panhuman contexts for comparative religion / William E. Paden -- Comparing religious ideas : there's method in the mob's madness / Wesley J. Wildman -- Comparative religion for undergraduates : what next? / John Stratton Hawley -- Socrates and Jesus : comparing founder-figures in the classroom / James Constantine Hanges -- Christianity's emergence from Judaism : the plus and minus of Joseph Klausner's comparative analysis / Thomas Athanasius Idinopulos -- Interpreting glossolalia and the comparison of comparisons / James Constantine Hanges -- Towards a post-colonial comparative religion? : comparing Hinduism and Islam as Orientalist constructions / Arvind Sharma -- Circling the wagons : the problem with the insider/outsider



in the comparative study of religions / Russell T. McCutcheon -- The postmodernist challenge to the comparative method / Robert A. Segal -- The only kind of comparison worth doing : history, epistemology, and the "strong program" of comparative study / Ivan Strenski.

Sommario/riassunto

Given the fact that today's university students are far more culturally sophisticated than ever before, "Comparing Religions: Possibilities and Perils" brings together a distinguished group of professors of religion with years of teaching experience to address the central question of how comparison of religions should be pursued in today's classroom. Covering topics such as recent theoretical approaches to comparison, case studies of comparing religions in the classroom, and the impact of postcolonialism and postmodernism on the modernist assumptions of comparitivism, the volume seeks to problematize and interrogate the field, especially as it relates to emerging models of pedagogy at the university level. "Comparing Religions" will be of especial interest to those who teach in religious studies departments, or who teach courses on religion in departments of anthropology, sociology, and history.

2.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910954484503321

Autore

Weintraub Ruth <1955->

Titolo

The sceptical challenge / / Ruth Weintraub

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; New York, : Routledge, 1997

ISBN

1-280-33046-5

1-134-77088-X

0-203-28386-4

0-203-06745-2

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (154 p.)

Collana

International library of philosophy

Disciplina

121/.2

Soggetti

Skepticism

Philosophy

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-135) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; THE SCEPTICAL CHALLENGE; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of



Contents; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1 KNOWLEDGE, JUSTIFICATION AND TRUTH; Introduction; The concept of epistemic justification; The circle of belief; Why does justification matter?; Knowledge without justification; Knowledge: beyond truth and justification; Does knowledge-scepticism matter?; Conclusion; 2 THE SCEPTICAL LIFE; Radical scepticism; The agnostic life; Is it possible to suspend belief?; The logical defense of agnosticism; The ethical defense of agnosticism

The implementation of the sceptical doctrine The sceptical doctrine and the practical difficulties; 3 THE CHALLENGE; Two types of scepticism; The sceptical doctrine and its justification; Further solutions; A way out of the predicament; 4 THE RESPONSE; Our objective; Our strategy; Naturalized epistemology?; Modest epistemology; 5 DESCARTES' SCEPTICAL CHALLENGE; Introduction; The Cartesian Circle; The source of the circularity: one diagnosis; Descartes is not an antecedent sceptic; A non-circular response to consequent scepticism?; Doing without the principle of clarity and distinctness?

Beginning with the principle of clarity and distinctness?An alternative diagnosis of the circle; 6 INDUCTIVE SCEPTICISM; Introduction; Whose problem is it anyway?; The first premise; The second premise; The third premise; The fourth and fifth premises; The argument newly couched; 7 SCEPTICISM AND THE STRUCTURE OF JUSTIFICATION; Introduction; Terminology; Arguments against terminating chains of justification; An argument against infinite justification chains; A second argument against infinite justification chains; Arguments against circular justification chains

Is groundless justification trivial?Is terminating justification trivial?; Triviality: a red herring; 8 INDUCTIVE SCEPTICISM REVISITED; Introduction; What justification are we seeking?; Can induction's reliability be shown deductively?; Must induction be non-empirically justified?; The apriorist urge; Can induction be justified empirically?; The justification of induction; 9 TRANSCENDENT SCEPTICISM AND INFERENCE TO THE BEST EXPLANATION; Introduction; Is the unobservable epistemically inaccessible?; Van Fraassen's argument; Hume's argument; Russell's first argument; Russell's second argument

Moderate scepticism?10 THE DEMON ARGUMENT REVISITED; Introduction; Denying the second premise?; Denying the first premise; Williams' objection; Inferring the world from appearances; Alston's objection; Further objections rebutted; Transcendental arguments; 11 THE DREAM ARGUMENT REVISITED; Introduction; Rejecting the first premise; Sextus' dream argument; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Sommario/riassunto

Do we really know the things we think we know? Are any of our beliefs reasonable? Scepticism gives a pessimistic reply to these important epistemological questions - we don't know anything; none of our beliefs are reasonable. But can such a seemingly paradoxical claim be more than an intellectual curiosity? And if it is, can it be refuted? Ruth Weintraub answers yes to both these questions. The sceptical challenge is a formidable one, and should be confronted, not dismissed. The theoretical and practical difficulties it presents - in that the sceptical life cannot be lived, and the doctrine