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The Allure of Decadent Thinking - Religious Studies and the Challenge of Postmodernism (Hardcover)
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The Allure of Decadent Thinking - Religious Studies and the Challenge of Postmodernism (Hardcover)
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Carl Olson offers a compelling and provocative argument against the
application of postmodern thought to Religious Studies, showing how
such radically skeptical thinking undermines, subverts, and
distorts the study of religion. As Olson shows, Religious Studies
is a newly and artificially constructed field for the scholarly
study of religious narratives, thoughts, actions, and phenomena. It
is an ongoing experiment with various types of methodological
approaches to the study of religion, which is itself a human
construct with limited cross-cultural application. Without a
commonly agreed-upon method for the study of its subject, Religious
Studies is characterized by the use of multiple methods, which tend
to be adopted based on the latest trends in the field. Most
recently, these trends have been dominated by postmodern thought.
Because the discipline of Religious Studies is a product of the
European Enlightenment with its values and representational mode of
thinking, it is challenged and even threatened by postmodern
thought, which calls into question many of its values, basic
presuppositions, and convictions. After reviewing the many fads and
fashions of Religious Studies, Olson examines various postmodern
positions related to the study of religion, including those of
Georges Bataille, Jacques Derrida, Marcel Mauss, Michel Foucault
and Edward W. Said. Olson contrasts the thought of traditional
history of religions scholars Mircea Eliade and Wendy Doniger with
selected postmodern thinkers on the topics of hermeneutics,
comparison, and difference. The Allure of Decadent Thinking
concludes by exploring the postmodern challenges to such accepted
concepts of religion and considers the long-term implications of a
scholar's adoption of postmodern methods. Regardless of whether
they are transformed by postmodern thought, Olson suggests, all
methods and concepts should be subject to pragmatic review.
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