Del i serien Concepts in the Study of Religion

Comparison

A Critical Primer

Inbunden, Engelska, 2017

AvAaron W. Hughes

1 249 kr

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Comparison is held to be one of the central methods of the academic study of religion. While many ostensibly engage in the comparative act, often overlooked is what it actually means to do this. What is comparison? Why engage in it and for what purposes? Can there be such a thing as a valid or invalid comparison? Can comparison itself be compared to anything? This book starts with the premise that while there are good comparisons and bad comparisons, what is common to both is the sheer artificiality of the enterprise and develops an analytical framework for using the method in the context of religious studies. After briefly tracing the history and genealogy of the category, Hughes draws on his own extensive work in Judaism and Islam to argue that comparison can be a useful method, but only under strictly controlled conditions.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2017-10-01
Mått140 x 216 x 11 mm
Vikt421 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieConcepts in the Study of Religion
Antal sidor142
FörlagEquinox Publishing Ltd
ISBN9781781795378

Tillhör följande kategorier

Religion: allmänt inom Filosofi och religion

Aaron W. Hughes is the Philip S. Bernstein Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Rochester. His research and publications focus on both Jewish philosophy and Islamic Studies. He has authored numerous books, including Situating Islam: The Past and Future of an Academic Discipline (Equinox, 2007); Theorizing Islam: Disciplinary Deconstruction and Reconstruction (Equinox, 2012); Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam (Columbia, 2012); and Abrahamic Religions: On the Uses and Abuses of History (Oxford, 2012). He currently serves as the editor of the journal Method and Theory in the Study of Religion.

"In a brisk overview Aaron Hughes reviews and critiques the dominant modes of comparison in the study of religion and proposes a set of guidelines for undertaking responsible, and illuminating, comparisons. . . At different points throughout the book, Hughes identifies what he thinks efffective, responsible, yet revealing comparison consists of. . . Hughes' brief and accessible consideration of the role of comparison in the study of religion is worth the careful attention of anyone who studies new religions. It forces a careful (re)consideration of what we are trying to accomplish with our fundamental categories." --Eugene V. Gallagher, Connecticut College "What is so helpful and, indeed, even unusual about Aaron Hughes' Comparison is not only that it gives us a razor sharp critique of one of our most common methods of performing analysis, but also that it suggests tangible ways to do it better. Add to this the fact that his observations and recommendations are applicable to everyone who counts themselves a student of human behavior, and we have a book that is as useful as it is incisive." Professor Leslie Dorrough Smith, Avila University