Vocabulary for the Study of Religion
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Subject: Religious Studies
Edited by: Robert A. Segal & Kocku von Stuckrad.
The Vocabulary for the Study of Religion offers a unique overview of critical terms in the study of religion(s). This first dictionary in English covers a broad spectrum of theoretical topics used in the academic study of religion, including those from adjacent disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, historiography, theology, philology, literary studies, psychology, philosophy, cultural studies, and political sciences.
Subscriptions: Brill.com
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The Vocabulary for the Study of Religion offers a unique overview of critical terms in the study of religion(s). This first dictionary in English covers a broad spectrum of theoretical topics used in the academic study of religion, including those from adjacent disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, historiography, theology, philology, literary studies, psychology, philosophy, cultural studies, and political sciences.
Subscriptions: Brill.com
Pacifism
(1,651 words)
Abstract: “Pacifism” has many diverse meanings and uses, ranging from the usual sense of strong principled opposition to war and warfare, along with a central commitment focused on working…
Date:
2014-09-16
Paganism
(3,931 words)
Abstract: Modern varieties of paganism are considered first, then the leading European polytheisms befor…
Participant Observation
(1,213 words)
Abstract: Participant observation is a largely informal method used by cultural anthropologists to study other cultures. Anthropologists consider participant observation to be their signature methodological contribution to scholarship and one of the central characteristics distinguishing anthropology from other social sciences. It has sinc…
Date:
2014-09-16
Peak Experience
(1,536 words)
Abstract: This entry summarizes Abraham Maslow’s psychology of religion with respect to human mot…
Performance / Performativity
(4,130 words)
Abstract: Performance has become a key concept across many academic disciplines. It first emerged in linguistics, as a way to study the social functions of speech, as opposed to its linguistic structures. The concept has since been taken up by scholars of religion and ritual to explain the public construction and representation of meanings and of social relations, often between humans and non-human beings. Whatever the underlying theory, all performative approaches focus on praxis and pr…
Person / Personality
(4,099 words)
Abstract: The term personality as used by psychologists is distinguished from lay usage. The aims of research on personality are outlined. The person/situation debate that has been so influential in shaping modern trait theory is introduced. The history of theorizing about personality from ancient Greece down to the present is presented. The emergence of the clinical strand of personality theory is discussed in relation to the personality theories of Freud, Jung, and Adler. The major developments in trait models of research on individual differences in personality are considered, as is the position of humanistic psychologists and learning theorists. Finally, examples of research o…