ENGLISH

The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion: A Reader

By Russell T. McCutcheon

Book information

Publisher
Bloomsbury Academic
Year
1999
ISBN
0826481469, 9780826481467
Google Books ID
tmbUAwAAQBAJ
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
59 MB (61494042 bytes)
Series
Controversies in the Study of Religion
Edition
Reprint 2005
Pages
x+406\417
Topic
Religion
DPI
100
Orientation
portrait
Paginated
yes
Scanned
yes
Time added
2014-10-12 00:01:40

Description

What scholars of religion have come to know as the insider/outsider problem is perhaps the most crucial theoretical and methodological issue that today confronts the student of human behaviour and culture. An insider approach is one that examines a particular religion by a practitioner or advocate - an insider - of that religion. An outsider approach is one undertaken by a "neutral" observer. The former values greater insight, and the latter greater objectivity. This anthology collects and introduces twenty-eight classics and contemporary readings - from such writers as Karen McCarthy Brown, Wendy Doniger-O'Flaherty, Mircea Eliade, Immanuel Kant, Rudolf Otto and Ninian Smart - that investigate the ways in which scholars of religion have grappled with the relations between studying, practising and advocating. Moving from influential readings in linguistics and anthropology, the volume's thematically arranged chapters introduce readers to the strengths and weaknesses of several popular options in addressing the insider/outsider problem.

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