A realist social ontology of religion. Issue 2 (3rd April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schilbrack, Kevin
• Is Part Of: Religion. Volume 47:Issue 2(2017)
• Page Start: 161
• Page End: 178
• Publication Date: 2017-04-03
• Subjects: social ontology -- realism -- non-realism -- Jonathan Z. Smith -- reflexivity -- social construction -- heuristic -- imagination; Religion -- Periodicals; Religions -- Periodicals; Theology -- Periodicals; Religion -- Périodiques; Théologie -- Périodiques; Religion; Religions; Theology; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 200.5
• DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2016.1203834
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0048-721X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Jonathan Z. Smith famously pointed out that the concept of 'religion' is not universal but emerged only in the modern West. Several scholars have drawn from Smith the non-realist implication that the existence of religion apart from that concept is an illusion. The word 'religion, ' they say, does not refer to something out there in the world. In this article, the author argues that Smith's point is open to a realist interpretation according to which religion exists in the world, as a transhistorical and transcultural reality, even apart from the concept. To make this case, the author outlines and responds to non-realist positions that draw on genealogical, deconstructive, and linguistic arguments, as well as to the alternative proposal that 'religion' is simply a heuristic device. In short, the goal of this article is to argue that a realist social ontology provides the better understanding of the central theoretical term in our field.