Description
Book SynopsisThis book is a unique introduction to studying the philosophy of religion, drawing on a wide range of cultures and literary sources in an approach that is both methodologically innovative and expansive in its cross-cultural and multi-religious scope. Employing his expertise in interdisciplinary and Wittgenstein-influenced methods, Mikel Burley draws on works of ethnography and narrative fiction, including Dostoevsky's
The Brothers Karamazov and Soyinka's
Death and the King's Horseman, to critically engage with existing approaches to the philosophy of religion and advocate a radical, pluralist approach. Breaking away from the standard fixation on a narrow construal of theism, topics discussed include conceptions of compassion in Buddhist ethics, cannibalism in mortuary rituals, divine possession and animal sacrifice in Hindu Goddess worship and animism in indigenous traditions. Original and engaging, Burley's synthesis of philosophical, anthropological and literary element
Trade ReviewBurley's book is well written, provocative, and engaging, and it certainly deserves to be read by anyone who is serious about developing a pluralistic philosophy of religion. Furthermore, since it includes generous summaries and critiques of some other important attempts, the book would be well suited to a class or to anyone wanting to get caught up on the subject. * Reading Religion *
With sensitivity to cultural difference and to our own biases, Mikel Burley offers a Wittgensteinian approach that takes seriously religious practices from all around the world. Among those who turn to a global philosophy of religion, this is the best book I know for the university classroom. * Kevin Schilbrack; Professor and Chair of the Philosophy and Religion Department, Appalachian State University, USA *
Mikel Burley has done something truly remarkable. By articulating a conception of the radically plural nature of religious phenomena and by extended reflection on ethnographic material drawn from outside the mainstream theistic tradition (cannibalism, animism, the grotesque), he has added a new and exciting dimension to the philosophy of religion. Burley is also to be commended for adding new life to the Wittgensteinian approach to religion. A thought-provoking, trailblazing, and deeply important book. * Brian R. Clack, Professor of Philosophy & A. Vassiliadis Director of the Humanities Center, University of San Diego, USA *
Mikel Burley’s book both unifies and extends his valuable work on diversification in philosophy of religion. * Religious Studies *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements
Introduction Introducing a Radical Pluralist Approach Chapter Summaries
PART I: CRITIQUE AND METHODOLOGY 1. Religious Pluralisms John Hick’s Pluralistic Hypothesis Reductive and Homogenizing Implications of Hick’s Approach John Cobb’s Vision of Creative Transformation Victoria Harrison’s Internalist Pluralism A Difficulty with the Internalist Picture Working with Examples Conceptual Schemes, Incomprehensibility and Respect Concluding Remarks
2. Radical Plurality and Critical Description Shortcomings of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion Expansive Innovations and Residual Limitations Description’s Critical Potential Defamiliarization and Cultural Critique in Anthropology Thickening Description
3. Narrative Fiction and Philosophical Inquiry Narrative Fiction and Competing Conceptions of Philosophical Reasoning Philosophers and Dramatists Narrative Fiction as Philosophy of Religion Wole Soyinka’s
Death and the King’s Horseman Death and the King’s Horseman as Philosophy of Religion Concluding Remarks
PART II: EXEMPLIFYING A RADICAL PLURALIST APPROACH 4. ‘Compassion beyond Our Imagination’: Radical Plurality in Buddhist Ethics Varieties of Buddhism and the Rhetoric of Compassion Images of Familial Love and Abandonment Bodily Sacrifice as Heroic Virtue ‘Lamps of Their Precious Bodies’ Transgressive Compassion and Skilful Means Concluding Remarks
5. ‘Ways of Being Human’: Cannibalism and Respecting the Dead Eating Animals but Not Eating People? Varieties of Cannibalism Wari’ Ways of Respecting the Dead Concluding Remarks
6. ‘Awe at the Terrible’: Divine Possession, Blood Sacrifice and the Grotesque Body Preamble: Studying Ritual Philosophically The Grotesque ‘Horrific Comedy’ and the Formation of a Ritual Sound-World Kamakhya, Desire and the Womb of the Goddess Deodhas and Deities Ritualized Transgression and the Performance of Divine Possession Concluding Remarks
7. ‘A Language in Which to Think of the World’: Animism, Philosophy and Indigenous Traditions The Concept of Animism: Origins, Decline and Revival Animism, Indigeneity and the Philosophy of Religion Beyond Literalism and Metaphor Demythologizing the ‘Ecologically Noble Savage’ Concluding Remarks
8. Conclusions: Loosening Up Our Lives Attending to Heterogeneity and Thickening Description Targeting Overgeneralizing Claims and Assumptions Imagining Philosophy of Religion Differently References Index
