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6. Recomposing Religion: Radical Agnosticism and Transformative Speech


 
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1. Title Title of document 6. Recomposing Religion: Radical Agnosticism and Transformative Speech - The Relational Dynamics of Enchantment and Sacralization
 
2. Creator Author's name, affiliation, country Michael Norton; University of Arkansas, Little Rock;
 
3. Subject Discipline(s) Religious Studies
 
4. Subject Keyword(s) Bruno Latour; religion; religious belief; secularism; agnosticism
 
5. Subject Subject classification Philosophy; Social Theory; Anthropology
 
6. Description Abstract Bruno Latour argues that modern thought drastically misunderstands the religious in at least two ways: by assuming that religions are constituted by “beliefs,” and by assuming that religious language is meant to transmit information (the content of “beliefs”). These characterizations are based on what Latour calls the “modernist settlement,” the result of which is a view of the world as strictly bifurcated between nature and culture. This chapter develops an understanding of religious practice that follows Latour’s departure from this modernist position and can instead let religions speak for themselves. It explores the implications of the rejection of “belief in belief”—the idea that so-called primitive or superstitious religious ideas are held by their adherents in ways that modern social sciences take to be unreflective or simply backward. It also examines Latour’s claim that religious speech is not primarily about transmitting informational content but instead aims at the transformation of its audience as well as its speakers. Lastly, it argues that in order to take these claims seriously it is imperative that we understand the religious in terms of its immanent, material constituents—nonhuman as well as human. This not only involves reconceiving religion on its own; it also entails resituating religious speech and practice within a more broadly democratic political sphere in which critical, secular perspectives are not strictly opposed to religious ones. Rethinking religions along these lines allows us to compose a prospective future for the philosophy of religion in which religious life may by accounted for in all its multiform reality.
 
7. Publisher Organizing agency, location Equinox Publishing Ltd
 
8. Contributor Sponsor(s)
 
9. Date (YYYY-MM-DD) 15-Dec-2016
 
10. Type Status & genre Peer-reviewed Article
 
11. Type Type
 
12. Format File format PDF
 
13. Identifier Uniform Resource Identifier https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/books/article/view/30130
 
14. Identifier Digital Object Identifier 10.1558/equinox.30130
 
15. Source Journal/conference title; vol., no. (year) Equinox eBooks Publishing; The Relational Dynamics of Enchantment and Sacralization
 
16. Language English=en en
 
18. Coverage Geo-spatial location, chronological period, research sample (gender, age, etc.)
 
19. Rights Copyright and permissions Copyright 2014 Equinox Publishing Ltd