Comparison - A Critical Primer - Aaron W. Hughes
Possibilities
Comparison - A Critical Primer - Aaron W. Hughes
Aaron W. Hughes [+]
University of Rochester
Aaron W. Hughes is the Dean’s Professor of the Humanities and the Philip S. Bernstein Professor in the Department of Religion and Classics 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.
Description
If the previous chapter witnessed some of the historical uses and abuses to which the comparative method, if in fact we can call what passed for it as a method, has been put, the present chapter seeks to confront such abuses and begin the process of reclaiming comparison for more sober-minded and analytical purposes. Examples show comparison taking place at the micro level (Smith, Dempsey), the macro level (Prothero) and the theoretical level (Paden).