Volkhard Krech
Biographic Data
| ID | 389481 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Volkhard Krech |
| GIVEN NAMES | Volkhard |
| FAMILY NAME | Krech |
| SIGNATURE | KRECH V |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ruhr University Bochum |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9013-4461 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 59 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 69 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 54 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 5 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Religion und Wirtschaft als Metaphernschatz
Georg Simmels Religionstheorie
Throughout his life, Georg Simmel concerned himself with religious questions. However do his complete works also contain a consistent theory of religion? Whereas researchers have generally concentrated either on the philosophical or the sociological aspects of his work, Volkhard Krech studies, in the context of the entire body of his writings, those texts written by Simmel on religious themes. He comes to the conclusion that Simmel did in fact de…
How transcendence is signified through metaphors: A contribution to the understanding of the emergence of religious meaning
The article intends to understand the metaphor used in religious communication against the background of Peirce’s semiotics not as a single sign, but as a process consisting of different types of signs to connect two different domains. To this end, the concept of domain is first clarified in contrast to related concepts of schematicity, and then the distinction between metaphor and types of contiguous sense relations within a single domain is dis…
How religious space is constituted by means of metaphors. The Buddhist Sīmā as a semiotic case study - with special consideration of the distinction between the urban and the wilderness
The question of how religious space constitutes as a socio-cultural fact is explored by means of a case study on determining the boundary (sīmā) of a Buddhist monastery. Drawing on Peirce’s semiotics, combined with system-theoretical considerations, it can be pointed out how a religiously determined space initially refers metaphorically to a physically qualified space in order to be understood metonymically, i.e., within a single domain and thus …
Noch immer nichts in Sicht, außer Zeichen: Replik
Noch immer nichts in Sicht, außer Zeichen: Replik
Was steckt hinter (religiösen) Zeichen
Forum: Die Evolution der Religion
Zeichen, nichts als Zeichen: Eine semiotisch-systemtheoretische Perspektive auf das Soziale – mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Religion
Zeichen, nichts als Zeichen
Determining the Realm of the Dead through Metaphors: The Case of Gilgameš, Enkidu, and the Netherworld
In this article we provide a contribution to answering the question of how religious communication is possible. Religious communication is confronted with the essential paradox that statements about a principally inaccessible transcendence have to be made by immanent, known means. Metaphors, which we understand as mapping of a known source domain onto an unknown target domain, are particularly suitable for this purpose. We apply these assumptions…
Introduction: On the Relations of Religion and Images
In this special issue, we explore the role of depictions and images in religious traditions from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, covering a broad spectrum of religious traditions from Asia to Europe. Our focus is on examining the range of religious attitudes towards images, which can range from indifference (aniconism) to admiration (iconism) to outright rejection and destruction (anti-iconism). Our contributors discuss the hypothesi…
Metaphors of Religion: A Conceptual Framework
The following is a marginally edited version of the conceptual considerations presented in the proposal for the establishment of Collaborative Research Center (CRC) “Metaphors of Religion: Religious Meaning-Making in Language Use”. The CRC has been established by the German Research Foundation in 2022 at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). To start our working paper series Metaphor Papers, we wish to present …
White Paper: The Käte Hamburger Kolleg (KHK) in Bochum as an Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities
The present White Paper is neither an academic publication presenting research results nor does it address a public outside the university field. Instead, we take this opportunity to talk about our experiences with the Käte Hamburger Kolleg (KHK) as a funding format. We hope that this might be useful for other scholars considering an application in this or a similar funding line. Still, we also wish to contribute, more generally, to the ongoing d…
Historical Data, Comparison, and Systematisation. Some Thoughts on the Challenges and Possibilities of Synthesising Historical and Social Scientific Approaches in the Study of Religion
This article discusses the introductory remarks to this special issue by Mattias Brand, as well as the two articles written by the Mattias Brand and Gerard Wiegers, respectively. It includes my own reflections in the commentary on the three contributions. First, the article deals with the challenges mentioned by Mattias Brand in his introduction, namely with “questioning of some of the most central concepts in the historical study of religion” an…
Die Evolution der Religion: Ein Soziologischer Grundriss
Religiöse Gemeinschaften (1921/22)
Mit Religiöse Gemeinschaften ist das religionssoziologische Kapitel in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in der Max Weber-Gesamtausgabe betitelt. In der posthumen Zusammenstellung der Texte durch Marianne Weber in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft war der Abschnitt mit der Überschrift Religionssoziologie (Typen religiöser Vergemeinschaftung) versehen worden. In zwei 1913 an Heinrich Rickert geschriebenen Briefen wies Weber darauf hin, worauf es ihm mit den B…
Religionssoziologie um 1900: Eine Fortsetzung
Der Band knüpft an die 1995 (als Bd. 1 der Reihe) erschienene Aufsatzsammlung „Religionssoziologie um 1900“ an. Ebenso wie sein Vorgänger behandelt der Band anhand von Fallstudien ausgewählte Probleme der Geschichte der Religionssoziologie, darunter das Verhältnis der Religionssoziologie zu Nachbardisziplinen. Thema sind ebenso die Bestimmungen, mit denen die klassische Religionssoziologie das Verhältnis der Religion zur gesellschaftlichen Umwelt…
What we can learn from semiotics, systems theory, and theoretical biology to understand religious communication
If religion is a socio-cultural meaning system as part of the socio-cultural sphere, then how does it relate to mental, organic, and physical processes that belong to the environment of religion? The article contributes to answering this question by referring to semiotics, systems theory, and theoretical biology. The starting point is understanding religious evolution as a co-evolution to societal evolution, namely, as one of the latter’s interna…
Nachruf Otthein Rammstedt (1938–2020)
Relational religion: Manifesto for a Synthesis in the Study of Religion
Religious traditions – although socially constructed – are distinguishable as distinct, practiced entities having pragmatic effects. Religion is not a purely scholarly invention. Correspondencies between empirical data and scientific concepts, or, between object language and metalanguage, have to be found beyond essentialism and reification. Consequently, there is a shift in parts of the study of religion towards approaches that counteract essent…
Operative Durchlässigkeit oder Schließung der Religion? Eine differenzierungstheoretische Lesart der Religionssoziologie von Wolfgang Eßbach
Senses, Religion, and Religious Encounter: Literature Review and Research Perspectives
An overview of the senses in the study of religion and religious encounter is provided, along with reflections on the ways in which various specific senses were imagined to serve as modes of communication between human beings and between humans and transcendent beings. How the individual case studies collected in this volume inform such a project and further research on religion, the senses, and the role of the senses in religious encounter is a …
Transformations of 'Sacredness in Stone: Religious Architecture in Urban Space in 21st Century Germany-New Perspectives in the Study of Religious Architecture
Religious transformations in modern societies are not merely a discursive or demographic phenomenon, they also relate to religious architecture in urban space and affect the built environment at its core. Many churches, for instance, are in the process of reuse, closure, or even demolition. At the same time, there has been an increase in the construction of new mosques and a reorientation in synagogue architecture in Germany for the last twenty-f…
Die ‚Soziologie der Religion‘ – neu gelesen
Sakralisierung
Handbuch Religionssoziologie
Theory and Empiricism of Religious Evolution (THERE): Foundation of a Research Program (Part 2)
This two-part article presents the research program for a theory and empirical analysis of religious evolution. It is assumed that religion is primarily a co-evolution to societal evolution, which in turn is a co-evolution to mental, organic, and physical evolution. The theory of evolution is triangulated with the systems theory and the semiotically informed theory of communication, so that knowledge can be gained that would not be acquired by on…
Iconic Religion in Urban Space
In order to understand current dynamics of religious diversity, a focus on the tangible presence of religion and the co-existence of new and longstanding religious buildings, sites and artifacts in urban spaces is a fruitful starting point. Launching the notion of iconic religion, this introduction seeks to contribute to developing a scholarly framework for the nexus of religion and the city from a spatial, material, aesthetic and semiotic angle.…
From Historicism to Functionalism: The Rise of Scientific Approaches to Religions Around 1900 and Their Socio-Cultural Context
L'A. donne un bref apercu de certaines relations autour de 1900 entre l'accroissement des approches scientifiques des religions et leur contexte socio-culturel au moyen de paradigmes selectionnes. Il s'interesse a l'institutionnalisation des etudes religieuses en tant qu'entreprise universitaire. En choisissant une approche qui analyse les traditions religieuses comme un element de base de la culture moderne qui ne disparaissent pas avec le decli…
Transformations of 'Sacredness in Stone: Religious Architecture in Urban Space in 21st Century Germany-New Perspectives in the Study of Religious Architecture
Religious transformations in modern societies are not merely a discursive or demographic phenomenon, they also relate to religious architecture in urban space and affect the built environment at its core. Many churches, for instance, are in the process of reuse, closure, or even demolition. At the same time, there has been an increase in the construction of new mosques and a reorientation in synagogue architecture in Germany for the last twenty-f…
Relational religion: Manifesto for a Synthesis in the Study of Religion
Religious traditions – although socially constructed – are distinguishable as distinct, practiced entities having pragmatic effects. Religion is not a purely scholarly invention. Correspondencies between empirical data and scientific concepts, or, between object language and metalanguage, have to be found beyond essentialism and reification. Consequently, there is a shift in parts of the study of religion towards approaches that counteract essent…
Operative Durchlässigkeit oder Schließung der Religion? Eine differenzierungstheoretische Lesart der Religionssoziologie von Wolfgang Eßbach
Theory and Empiricism of Religious Evolution (THERE): Foundation of a Research Program (Part 2)
This two-part article presents the research program for a theory and empirical analysis of religious evolution. It is assumed that religion is primarily a co-evolution to societal evolution, which in turn is a co-evolution to mental, organic, and physical evolution. The theory of evolution is triangulated with the systems theory and the semiotically informed theory of communication, so that knowledge can be gained that would not be acquired by on…
La religiosité comme seuil: Pertinence contemporaine de la théorie de la religion de Georg Simmel
Alors que les travaux classiques de Max Weber et d'Émile Durkheim jouissent d'une grande popularité, l'approche de la théorie des religions de Georg Simmel est relativement peu sollicitée. Pourtant, sa sociologie des religions constitue en quelque sorte une synthèse anticipée des approches développées ultérieurement par Thomas Luckmann et Niklas Luhmann, dans la mesure où elle combine des perspectives associées à la théorie de l'individualité et …
Introduction: On the Relations of Religion and Images
In this special issue, we explore the role of depictions and images in religious traditions from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, covering a broad spectrum of religious traditions from Asia to Europe. Our focus is on examining the range of religious attitudes towards images, which can range from indifference (aniconism) to admiration (iconism) to outright rejection and destruction (anti-iconism). Our contributors discuss the hypothesi…
Metaphors of Religion: A Conceptual Framework
The following is a marginally edited version of the conceptual considerations presented in the proposal for the establishment of Collaborative Research Center (CRC) “Metaphors of Religion: Religious Meaning-Making in Language Use”. The CRC has been established by the German Research Foundation in 2022 at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). To start our working paper series Metaphor Papers, we wish to present …
What we can learn from semiotics, systems theory, and theoretical biology to understand religious communication
If religion is a socio-cultural meaning system as part of the socio-cultural sphere, then how does it relate to mental, organic, and physical processes that belong to the environment of religion? The article contributes to answering this question by referring to semiotics, systems theory, and theoretical biology. The starting point is understanding religious evolution as a co-evolution to societal evolution, namely, as one of the latter’s interna…
The Berlin Site of Luisenstadt and the Figure of St Michael. A Case Study on Iconic Space
The article focuses on the figure of St. Michael on top of the front façade of St. Michael's Church, which is situated in the Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, formerly called Luisenstadt. Following a relational approach, according to which single elements only get an explicit and distinct meaning in connection to other elements, the contribution first. describes the site in which the figure of St. Michael is embedded and reconstructs its spatia…
Religious contacts in past and present times: Aspects of a Research Programme
Religious traditions form, establish and develop in mutual dependency. This, at least, is the main assumption of the Dynamics in the History of Religions international research consortium at Bochum
Religionssoziologie
Vielfach wird heute die Meinung vertreten, Religion gehöre aufgrund der sog. Säkularisierung zu den »Verlierern« gesellschaftlicher Modernisierung. Demgegenüber steht die Annahme, dass Religion eine Transformation erfahren und sich in Bezug auf Inhalte, Sozialformen und Funktion(en) gewandelt habe. Diese paradigmatische Differenz zieht sich durch die Soziologie seit ihrer akademischen Etablierung und kennzeichnet auch noch die gegenwärtige Religi…
"Was hat Athen mit Jerusalem zu schaffen?"
Auf welche Weise läßt sich Religion operationalisieren und empirisch erfassen?
Anmerkungen
Was ist Religion?
Welche Gegenstandsbereiche hat die religions-soziologische Forschung?
Welchen Gegenstand hat die Religionssoziologie?
Wie wurde Religion zu einem soziologischen Gegenstand?
Backmatter
Inhalt
Einleitung
Literatur
Religionssoziologie
Germany's Changing Religious Landscape: A Review Essay
Religionssoziologie
Vielfach wird heute die Meinung vertreten, Religion gehöre aufgrund der sog. Säkularisierung zu den »Verlierern« gesellschaftlicher Modernisierung. Demgegenüber steht die Annahme, dass Religion eine Transformation erfahren und sich in Bezug auf Inhalte, Sozialformen und Funktion(en) gewandelt habe. Diese paradigmatische Differenz zieht sich durch die Soziologie seit ihrer akademischen Etablierung und kennzeichnet auch noch die gegenwärtige Religi…
From Historicism to Functionalism: The Rise of Scientific Approaches to Religions Around 1900 and Their Socio-Cultural Context
L'A. donne un bref apercu de certaines relations autour de 1900 entre l'accroissement des approches scientifiques des religions et leur contexte socio-culturel au moyen de paradigmes selectionnes. Il s'interesse a l'institutionnalisation des etudes religieuses en tant qu'entreprise universitaire. En choisissant une approche qui analyse les traditions religieuses comme un element de base de la culture moderne qui ne disparaissent pas avec le decli…
Wissenschaft und Religion: Studien zur Geschichte der Religionsforschung in Deutschland 1871 bis 1933
Das 19. Jahrhundert ist nicht nur das Jahrhundert der Geschichts-, sondern auch das der Religionsforschung. Was weckte das Interesse an der wissenschaftlichen Behandlung von Religion, was waren ihre leitenden Gesichtspunkte, und worin bestand ihre gesellschaftliche und kulturelle Relevanz? Diesen Fragen widmen sich die vorliegenden Studien. Der erste Teil beschäftigt sich mit der Gegenstandsbestimmung der Religionsforschung, ihren leitenden Parad…
Internationales Handbuch der Gewaltforschung
Religious Apologetics - Philosophical Argumentation
Whereas apologetics has often been associated with negative connotations, it is dealt with in this volume as a form of narrative self-assertion as well as a form of critical self-reflection and as an individual and a collective need to justify oneself using religious and philosophical methods. The essays focus not only on the religious aspect in self-definition but also on the structure and the assertion of one's identity as a comprehensive self-…
Wohin mit der Religionswissenschaft? Skizze zur Lage der Religionsforschung und zu Möglichkeiten ihrer Entwicklung
This essay outlines the current situation of religious studies and provides suggestions for possible developments in organization, method, and methodology. The author argues that religious studies can remain distinctive as a discipline, but have an interdisciplinary approach in research and teaching. The contribution concludes with three examples that show the feasibility of integral religious studies
Ideology und Utopia: Some Brief Remarks on the Relation between Religion and Humanism
What are the impacts of religious diversity? A review of the methodological considerations and empirical findings of a research project on religious pluralisation in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
In the first place, this article offers a brief insight into the state of contemporary research on religious diversity and some of its methodological problems. Second, a multi-dimensional model is suggested in order to measure religious diversity. Thus, one can distinguish between different degrees of diversity allowing one to examine the results obtained both for the field of religious communities and in terms of their social implications. In a …
Dynamics in the History of Religions Between Asia and Europe: Encounters, Notions, and Comparative Perspectives
Index
Dynamics in the History of Religions – Preliminary Considerations on Aspects of a Research Programme
This chapter is on interdisciplinary research on religion which has been facing a host of challenges for some time now. The task of providing contributions to a global history of religions from comparative cultural perspectives is what the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities has been tackling on the topic of Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe. The following text presents some aspects of the research p…
Religious contacts in past and present times: Aspects of a Research Programme
Religious traditions form, establish and develop in mutual dependency. This, at least, is the main assumption of the Dynamics in the History of Religions international research consortium at Bochum
Philosophy (42 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (29 works) · Sociology (25 works) · Epistemology (17 works) · Political science (16 works) · Humanities (13 works) · Art (11 works) · History (11 works) · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity (10 works) · Aesthetics (9 works)