Download or read book The Allure of Decadent Thinking written by Carl Olson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-07 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The use of postmodern thought to approach the study of religion threatens to call into question the values and representational mode of thinking typical of the field. Religious studies with a radical scepticism grounded in an embrace of decadence by postmodern thinkers has the potential to undermine, subvert, and distort the study of religion, making it difficult to understand the subject if such an approach is uncritically adopted by scholars seeking new ways to study it.
Download or read book Rethinking Religion in the Theatre of Grotowski written by Catharine Christof and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-03-27 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book opens a new interdisciplinary frontier between religion and theatre studies to illuminate what has been seen as the religious, or spiritual, nature of Polish theatre director Jerzy Grotowski’s work. It corrects the lacunae in both theatre studies and religious studies by examining the interaction between the two fields in his artistic output. The central argument of the text is that through an embodied and materialist approach to religion, developed in the work of Michel Foucault and religious studies scholar Manuel Vasquez, as well as a critical reading of the concepts of the New Age, a new understanding of Grotowski and religion can be developed. It is possible to show how Grotowski’s work articulated spiritual experience within the body; achieving a removal of spirituality from ecclesial authorities and relocating spiritual experience within the body of the performer. This is a unique analysis of one of the 20th Century’s most famous theatrical figures. As such, it is a vital reference for academics in both Religion and Theatre Studies that have an interest in the spiritual aspects of Grotowski’s work.
Download or read book History of Indian Philosophy written by Purushottama Bilimoria and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-11-22 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The History of Indian Philosophy is a comprehensive and authoritative examination of the movements and thinkers that have shaped Indian philosophy over the last three thousand years. An outstanding team of international contributors provide fifty-eight accessible chapters, organised into three clear parts: knowledge, context, concepts philosophical traditions engaging and encounters: modern and postmodern. This outstanding collection is essential reading for students of Indian philosophy. It will also be of interest to those seeking to explore the lasting significance of this rich and complex philosophical tradition, and to philosophers who wish to learn about Indian philosophy through a comparative lens.
Download or read book Law and Morality written by Joseph L. Esposito and published by Ethics International Press. This book was released on 2022-05-09 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a survey of important topics arising out of the interaction of law and morality, primarily within the American legal tradition. Its focus is on an examination of relevant case law. The book is divided into three sections: (1) Theory: Some general theories of the relation between law and morality. (2) Method: How the law attempts to deal with evolving issues of law and morality using the common law and the ethical and procedural norms of judicial reasoning; (3) Practice: A survey of topics where case law is seen as a response to controversial moral conflicts that arise within American culture and social life. Law and Morality can be seen as a core text for courses in the general area of ‘law and morality’ or ‘law and ethics’ taught in philosophy departments; multi-disciplinary curricula involving Philosophy, Politics, and Law; pre-law courses on an undergraduate level; and courses in law schools that take up ‘law and philosophy’ issues. It is an important reference work for international legal scholars, and those interested in obtaining in a single volume a broad range of information about how the American legal system has evolved in dealing with moral and ethical conflicts through law.
Download or read book Better Health through Spiritual Practices written by Dean D. VonDras Ph.D. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-08-18 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth examination of religious practices around the world and the fascinating science behind how they make us healthier. Many religious and spiritual beliefs promote wellness through their practices or stated objectives—for example, focusing on simple living, having compassion for others, vegetarianism, or meditation and mindfulness. This refreshing work provides a review of the world's spiritual perspectives and traditions, and explores how their guiding principles encourage healthy lifestyle choices. An examination of religious and nonreligious perspectives from around the world—from atheism, Confucianism, and Christianity to Islam, Judaism, Shamanism, and Zoroastrianism—reveals how faith beliefs and values influence behavior and inspire healthy living. With contributions from leading international scholars, the chapters include a discussion of Eastern and Western world religions and their practices—such as fasting or the avoidance of alcohol and tobacco—and how they may foster healthfulness. A contemporary analysis of current research findings suggests possible interventions that individuals and health providers may utilize to enhance healthfulness. A final chapter explores the connection between health, illness, and religious and nonreligious perspectives.
Download or read book Rabbis Sorcerers Kings and Priests written by Jason Sion Mokhtarian and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "...examines the impact of the Persian Zoroastrian Empire on rabbinic identity and authority as expressed in the Babylonian Talmud."--
Download or read book The Bhagavad g t written by Ithamar Theodor and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2020-09-30 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is a systematic and comprehensive introduction to one of the most read texts in South Asia, the Bhagavad-gītā. The Bhagavad-gītā is at its core a religious text, a philosophical treatise and a literary work, which has occupied an authoritative position within Hinduism for the past millennium. This book brings together themes central to the study of the Gītā, as it is popularly known – such as the Bhagavad-gītā’s structure, the history of its exegesis, its acceptance by different traditions within Hinduism and its national and global relevance. It highlights the richness of the Gītā’s interpretations, examines its great interpretive flexibility and at the same time offers a conceptual structure based on a traditional commentarial tradition. With contributions from major scholars across the world, this book will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of religious studies, especially Hinduism, Indian philosophy, Asian philosophy, Indian history, literature and South Asian studies.
Download or read book Indian Asceticism written by Carl Olson and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using religio-philosophical discourses and narratives from epic, puranic, and hagiographical literature, Indian Asceticism focuses on the powers exhibited by ascetics of India from ancient to modern time.
Download or read book The Nostalgia for Origins written by Carl Olson and published by Anthem Press. This book was released on 2024-06-11 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using the theme of nostalgia for origins, this work proposes to examine the origin of religion within the context of the theory of evolution and the development of the human brain. It is argued that Darwin’s concept of natural selection gives the impression of making Homo sapiens passive recipients of the process of evolution. To overcome this false impression and conform to the spirit of Darwin’s theory, this work proposes to supplement Darwin’s theory by introducing a will to power into it that gives Homo sapiens agency to gain power and empower themselves to survive. This achievement of empowerment has important consequences because it gives Homo sapiens an opportunity to invent religion and supernatural beings by means of their intuitive experiences, performing like natural by-products of the operation of evolution. The human body and brain play essential roles in the process of evolution and development of religion, a form of power that binds humans to transcendent powers, empowers them, unites them into enduring social units, represents one of the elements of the beginning of human culture, and enhances their chances for survival. Because of its subject matter and approach, this work includes a critical appraisal of scholars using the results of cognitive science research. Because Homo sapiens invented supernatural beings and religion, it seems irresponsible for a contemporary individual to choose to become an atheist, an option that is explored in the final chapter about whether religion has a future.
Download or read book Religious Ways of Experiencing Life written by Carl Olson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-02-05 with total page 658 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religious Ways of Experiencing Life: A Global and Narrative Approach surveys world religions, using the narratives and discourses of each tradition to describe it in its own terms. Carl Olson examines each tradition’s practices, teachings, material culture, roles of women, and path to salvation, as well as the experiences of its followers. The exploration of lived experience draws out and emphasizes the plural nature of religious traditions. The volume includes chapters on all current major world religions, as well as material on ancient religions of the Mediterranean, indigenous North American and African spiritual traditions, and New Age and new religious movements. Featuring timelines and suggestions for further reading, this text will be of interest to undergraduate students seeking a broad introduction to World Religion or Lived Religion.
Download or read book The Book written by Michael F. Suarez, S.J. and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-10 with total page 769 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume seeks to delineate the history of the production, dissemination, and reception of texts from the earliest pictograms of the mid-4th millennium to recent developments in electronic books."--P. xi.
Download or read book Modern Hinduism in Text and Context written by Lavanya Vemsani and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-07-26 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern Hinduism in Text and Context brings together textual and contextual approaches to provide a holistic understanding of modern Hinduism. It examines new sources - including regional Saiva texts, Odissi dance and biographies of Nationalists - and discusses topics such as yoga, dance, visual art and festivals in tandem with questions of spirituality and ritual. The book addresses themes and issues yet to receive in-depth attention in the study of Hinduism. It shows that Hinduism endures not only in texts, but also in the context of festivals and devotion, and that contemporary practice, devotional literature, creative traditions and ethics inform the intricacies of a religion in context. Lavanya Vemsani draws on social scientific methodologies as well as history, ethnography and textual analysis, demonstrating that they are all part of the toolkit for understanding the larger framework of religion in the context of emerging nationhood, transnational and transcultural interactions.
Download or read book Understanding Religion written by Paul Michael Hedges and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2021-02-23 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A cutting-edge introduction to contemporary religious studies theory, connecting theory to data. This innovative coursebook introduces students to interdisciplinary theoretical tools for understanding contemporary religiously diverse societies—both Western and non-Western. Using a case-study model, the text considers: A wide and diverse array of contemporary issues, questions, and critical approaches to the study of religion relevant to students and scholars A variety of theoretical approaches, including decolonial, feminist, hermeneutical, poststructuralist, and phenomenological analyses Current debates on whether the term "religion" is meaningful Many key issues about the study of religion, including the insider-outsider debate, material religion, and lived religion Plural and religiously diverse societies, including the theological ideas of traditions and the political and social questions that arise for those living alongside adherents of other religions Understanding Religion is designed to provide a strong foundation for instructors to explore the ideas presented in each chapter in multiple ways, engage students in meaningful activities in the classroom, and integrate additional material into their lectures. Students will gain the tools to apply specific methods from a variety of disciplines to analyze the social, political, spiritual, and cultural aspects of religions. Its unique pedagogical design means it can be used from undergraduate- to postgraduate-level courses.
Download or read book Hindu Images and Their Worship with Special Reference to Vaisnavism written by Julius J. Lipner and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-04-21 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hinduism comprises perhaps the major cluster of religio-cultural traditions of India, and it can play a valuable role in helping us understand the nature of religion and human responses to life. Hindu image-worship lies at the core of what counts for Hinduism – up-front and subject to much curiosity and misunderstanding, yet it is a defining feature of this phenomenon. This book focuses on Hindu images and their worship with special reference to Vaiṣṇavism, a major strand of Hinduism. Concentrating largely, but not exclusively, on Sanskritic source material, the author shows in the course of the book that Hindu image-worship may be understood via three levels of interpretation: the metaphysical/theological, the narratival or mythic, and the performative or ritual. Analysing the chief philosophical paradigm underlying Hindu image-worship and its implications, the book exemplifies its widespread application and tackles, among other topics such as the origins of image-worship in Hinduism, the transition from Vedic to image worship, a distinguishing feature of Hindu images: their multiple heads and limbs. Finally, with a view to laying the grounds for a more positive dialogic relationship between Hinduism and the "Abrahamic" faiths, which tend to condemn Hindu image-worship as "idolatry", the author examines the theological explanation and justification for embodiment of the Deity in Hinduism and discusses how Hinduism might justify itself against such a charge. Rich in Indological detail, and with an impressive grasp of the philosophical and theological issues underlying Hindu material culture, and image-worship, this book will be of interest to academics and others studying theology, Indian philosophy and Hinduism.
Download or read book Indian and Western Philosophical Concepts in Religion written by Pankaj Jain and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-12-19 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philosophical concepts are influential in the theories and methods to study the world religions. Even though the disciplines of anthropology and religious studies now encompass communities and cultures across the world, the theories and methods used to study world religions and cultures continue to be rooted in Western philosophies. For instance, one of the most widely used textbooks used in introductory courses on religious studies, introduces major theoreticians such as Edward Burnett Tylor, James Frazer, Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Mircea Eliade, William James, E. E. Evans-Pritchard, and Clifford Geertz. Their theories are based on Western philosophy. In contrast, in Indic philosophical systems, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, one of the common views on reality is that the world both within one self and outside is a flow with nothing permanent, both the observer and the observed undergoing constant transformation. This volume is based on such innovative ideas coming from different Indic philosophies and how they can enrich the theory and methods in religious studies.
Download or read book Sacred Texts Interpreted 2 volumes written by Carl Olson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-10-05 with total page 681 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covering the major monotheistic religions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—as well as selected Eastern religions and Bahá'í, Zoroastrianism, and Mormonism, this cross-cultural book offers excerpts of sacred texts and interprets passages to enable a deeper understanding of these religious writings. Sacred Texts Interpreted: Religious Documents Explained gives readers the opportunity to examine—directly—the primary sources of different religions and to better understand these texts through expert commentary on selected passages. The interpretative material investigates the nature of sacred texts along with the relationship between sacred scripture and canon, and it explains why these sacred texts have enduring significance and influence. The author provides suggestions on how to read a sacred text before turning to the textual selections from 13 religious traditions arranged alphabetically, beginning with the Bahá'í religion and ending with Zoroastrianism. Each chapter is devoted to the primary textual sources of a particular religious tradition and is prefaced by an introduction to the literature that places it within its historical and cultural heritage. The emphasis for each religion is on its foundational scriptures that are often considered sacred by its adherents. Readers will gain a much greater appreciation of how powerful religious texts have always been across human culture and throughout millennia—and of how religious thought and ideology have shaped daily life, built civilizations, inspired art and literature, and incited wars and violence.
Download or read book Postmodern Love in the Contemporary Jewish Imagination written by Efraim Sicher and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-03-17 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offering a radical critique of contemporary Israeli and diaspora fiction by major writers of the generation after Amos Oz and Philip Roth, this book asks searching questions about identity formation in Jewish spaces in the twenty-first century and posits global, transnational identities instead of the bipolar Israel/diaspora model. The chapters put into conversation major authors such as Jonathan Safran Foer, Nicole Krauss, Michael Chabon, and Nathan Englander with their Israeli counterparts Zeruya Shalev, Eshkol Nevo, and Etgar Keret and shows that they share common themes and concerns. Read through a postmodern lens, their preoccupation with failed marriage and failed ideals brings to the fore the crises of home, nation, historical destiny, and collective memory in contemporary secular Jewish culture. At times provocative, at others iconoclastic, this innovative study must be read by anyone concerned with Jewish culture and identity today, whether scholars, students, or the general reader.
