Method Today - Redescribing Approaches to the Study of Religion - Brad Stoddard
9. Religion and Description
Method Today - Redescribing Approaches to the Study of Religion - Brad Stoddard
Daniel McClellan
University of Exeter
Description
This paper argues that the practice of description is frequently understood as definition, which is too often precisely prescription. It contends that reduction to necessary and sufficient features is alien to the natural development and use of conceptual categories like religion, and so an alternative approach to description is recommended.