Russell T. McCutcheon is widely published in the academic study of religion, its methods, theories, and the field’s history; he is University Research Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama, U.S.A.

• Introduction to the Critical Edition On Dating the Dialogues and Identifying the Speakers 1. The Definition of Religion 2. The Description of Religion 3. The Comparison of Religion 4. The Explanation of Religion 5. The Category of Religion Critical Notes A Truthful Postface Index

"A prolific and provocative thinker on method and theory in the study of 'religion', Russell McCutcheon does not disappoint with Dialogues on Religion and Its Study. As though eavesdropping on a series of lively and smart conversations, the reader is taken through key frameworks in the study of religion, but in accessible and entertaining ways. The book lends itself well to undergraduate teaching from a number of vantage points. I plan to assign it."Jennifer A. Selby, Professor, Memorial University, Canada"If studying religion is not really about religion, then also these dialogues on religion and its study are really about something else; they investigate how we define, describe, compare, and explain whatever gets our attention in our everyday life and in serious scholarship. In classical but currently experimental and rarely utilized form, these dialogues demonstrate how we actively construct knowledge about religion and everything else, while often pretending as if we simply discover things as they are."Teemu Taira, Senior Lecturer in the Study of Religion, University of Helsinki, Finland"The philosophical dialogue has a long and venerable history as a means of exploring challenging concepts, not least religion. In these Dialogues on Religion and its Study, Russell McCutcheon remakes the genre for the twenty-first century, using contemporary examples to throw into relief the often unspoken assumptions that undergird our systems of classification. The book will be very useful in the religious studies classroom and beyond."Brent Nongbri, Professor of History of Religions at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society