Categorical Designations and Methodological Reductionism

Gnosticism as Case Study1

Bibliographic Data

ID12202146
AuthorsPhilip L Tite (0000-0002-3352-8851, 1McGill University, Montreal, Canada, corresponding author)
Year2001
Volume13
Issue1-4
Pages269-292
Publication date2001-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMethod & Theory in the Study of Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0943-3058 • E-ISSN: 1570-0682
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/157006801x00246
OpenAlexW2023835741
LanguageEN
Citations received4

Debate continues between reductionists and non-reductionists over sui generis discourse within the academic study of religion. In this article, Gnosticism is explored as a case study for applying methodological reductionism to categorical designations. Metaphysical reductionist approaches to Gnosticism have been present in the field, rendering "Gnosticism" as a transhistorical phenomenon which is irreducible to social scientific methods. After discussing the phenomenological approach of Hans Fonas and the cognitive approach of Ioan Couliano, this article, rejecting both ontological and metaphysical reduction, advocates the application of methodological reductionism. Methodological reduction helps to shift classifications away from conflation with reality to be seen, instead, as analytical devices for theorizing first-order data. A relative approach to the function of classification tools enables us to explore the modes of relation within particular classificatio constructions

Categorical variable · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Functionalism (philosophy of mind · Gnosticism · Instrumentalism · Metaphysics · Psychologism · Reductionism · Relation (database · Sociology · Computer Science · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Philosophy · Psychedelics and Drug Studies · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices

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