Book
Open Access
Occult Roots of Religious Studies
On the Influence of Non-Hegemonic Currents on Academia around 1900
-
Edited by:
Yves Mühlematter
-
Funded by:
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2021
About this book
Open Access
The historiographers of religious studies have written the history of this discipline primarily as a rationalization of ideological, most prominently theological and phenomenological ideas: first through the establishment of comparative, philological and sociological methods and secondly through the demand for intentional neutrality. This interpretation caused important roots in occult-esoteric traditions to be repressed.
This process of “purification” (Latour) is not to be equated with the origin of the academic studies. De facto, the elimination of idealistic theories took time and only happened later. One example concerning the early entanglement is Tibetology, where many researchers and respected chair holders were influenced by theosophical ideas or were even members of the Theosophical Society. Similarly, the emergence of comparatistics cannot be understood without taking into account perennialist ideas of esoteric provenance, which hold that all religions have a common origin.
In this perspective, it is not only the history of religious studies which must be revisited, but also the partial shaping of religious studies by these traditions, insofar as it saw itself as a counter-model to occult ideas.
This process of “purification” (Latour) is not to be equated with the origin of the academic studies. De facto, the elimination of idealistic theories took time and only happened later. One example concerning the early entanglement is Tibetology, where many researchers and respected chair holders were influenced by theosophical ideas or were even members of the Theosophical Society. Similarly, the emergence of comparatistics cannot be understood without taking into account perennialist ideas of esoteric provenance, which hold that all religions have a common origin.
In this perspective, it is not only the history of religious studies which must be revisited, but also the partial shaping of religious studies by these traditions, insofar as it saw itself as a counter-model to occult ideas.
Author / Editor information
Yves Mühlematter, Helmut Zander, University of Fribourg, Freiburg, Switzerland
Reviews
"This is a fine, and timely collection. The contributors add immensely to our understanding of the tensions among European scholars who pioneered in religious studies." W. Michael Ashcraft in: Reading Religion, https://readingreligion.org/9783110660173/, 30.08.2022
Topics
|
Open Access Download PDF |
I |
|
Open Access Download PDF |
V |
|
Open Access Download PDF |
VII |
|
Yves Mühlematter and Helmut Zander Open Access Download PDF |
1 |
|
Helmut Zander Open Access Download PDF |
14 |
|
Marco Frenschkowski Open Access Download PDF |
44 |
|
Daniel Cyranka Open Access Download PDF |
82 |
|
Boaz Huss Open Access Download PDF |
104 |
|
Julian Strube Open Access Download PDF |
132 |
|
Jens Schlieter Open Access Download PDF |
161 |
|
Léo Bernard Open Access Download PDF |
187 |
|
Sabine Böhme Open Access Download PDF |
216 |
|
Ayni, Mehmet Ali (1868–1945) Dilek Sarmis Open Access Download PDF |
239 |
|
Open Access Download PDF |
267 |
|
Open Access Download PDF |
275 |
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
June 8, 2021
eBook ISBN:
9783110664270
Hardcover published on:
June 8, 2021
Hardcover ISBN:
9783110660173
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
12
Main content:
283
Coloured Illustrations:
4
Line drawings:
1
Audience(s) for this book
Religious Studies, History of Religion, Comparative Religion
Creative Commons
BY-NC-ND 4.0
Safety & product resources
-
Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com
