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Responses

Responses Responses Religion as an impure subject: A note on cognitive order in religious representation in response to Brian Malley PASCAL BOYER Is there order in religion? In what way is that order theoretically significant? And how could we account for it? These questions are not really new to students of religion, yet Brian Malley's articles (1994; 1995) show how a cognitive framework could help us re-formulate such problems. In this short response, I will mention some further aspects of the question, as well as com- ment on Malley's contribution. I will focus on three aspects of the question of order. First, cognitive science can help us go beyond common wisdom in the treatment of religious thought. Second, the order that is illuminated by such studies is generally not specific of religious representations. Third, the models of "complexity" advocated by Malley might not be the most relevant set of tools if we want to answer crucial questions in the study of religion. All this will lead me to argue (without any claim to originality) that the study of religion is by nature an impure subject, the term being understood in a chemical rather than moral sense. 1. The heuristic use http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Method & Theory in the Study of Religion Brill

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0943-3058
eISSN
1570-0682
DOI
10.1163/157006896x00206
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Responses Religion as an impure subject: A note on cognitive order in religious representation in response to Brian Malley PASCAL BOYER Is there order in religion? In what way is that order theoretically significant? And how could we account for it? These questions are not really new to students of religion, yet Brian Malley's articles (1994; 1995) show how a cognitive framework could help us re-formulate such problems. In this short response, I will mention some further aspects of the question, as well as com- ment on Malley's contribution. I will focus on three aspects of the question of order. First, cognitive science can help us go beyond common wisdom in the treatment of religious thought. Second, the order that is illuminated by such studies is generally not specific of religious representations. Third, the models of "complexity" advocated by Malley might not be the most relevant set of tools if we want to answer crucial questions in the study of religion. All this will lead me to argue (without any claim to originality) that the study of religion is by nature an impure subject, the term being understood in a chemical rather than moral sense. 1. The heuristic use

Journal

Method & Theory in the Study of ReligionBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1996

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