Religious experience reconsidered [electronic resource] : a building block approach to the study of religion and other special things / Ann Taves.
Taves, Ann, 1952-
2009
BL53 .T39 2009eb
Available Online

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Title Religious experience reconsidered [electronic resource] : a building block approach to the study of religion and other special things / Ann Taves.
Author Taves, Ann, 1952-
ISBN 9781400830978 (electronic bk.)
9780691140872
Imprint Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2009.
Language English
Description 1 online resource (xv, 212 p.)
Call Number BL53 .T39 2009eb
Summary The essence of religion was once widely thought to be a unique form of experience that could not be explained in neurological, psychological, or sociological terms. In recent decades scholars have questioned the privileging of the idea of religious experience in the study of religion, an approach that effectively isolated the study of religion from the social and natural sciences. Religious Experience Reconsidered lays out a framework for research into religious phenomena that reclaims experience as a central concept while bridging the divide between religious studies and the sciences. Ann Taves shifts the focus from "religious experience," conceived as a fixed and stable thing, to an examination of the processes by which people attribute meaning to their experiences. She proposes a new approach that unites the study of religion with fields as diverse as neuroscience, anthropology, sociology, and psychology to better understand how these processes are incorporated into the broader cultural formations we think of as religious or spiritual.
Note Description based on print version record.
Bibliography, etc. Note Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
Available in Other Form Religious experience reconsidered.
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Introduction: The problem of "religious experience." Experiences deemed religious ; Previous work ; The argument ; Why an attributional approach is better
Religion : deeming things religious. The sui generis and ascriptive models of "religious experience." Deeming things religious ; Special things and things set apart ; Setting up research ; Conclusion: a four-fold matrix
Experience : accessing conscious behavior. Clarifying the concept ; Accessing experience ; Representation and experience revisited ; Conclusion
Explanation : attributing causality. Attribution theory : an overview ; An attributional theory of religion ; Four levels of analysis and attribution ; Conclusion
Comparison : constructing an object of study. Comparing experiences ; Specifying a point of comparison ; Comparing simple and composite formations ; Imagination and reality
Religions : a building block approach. Building blocks ; Religions as composite formations ; Implications.

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