Sociological definitions, language games, and the "essence" of religion
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5815772 |
|---|---|
| Authors | A Mckinnon (0000-0002-2001-5707, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2002 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 61-83 |
| Publication date | 2002-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Method & Theory in the Study of Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0943-3058 • E-ISSN: 1570-0682 |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/157006802760198776 |
| OpenAlex | W2010331131 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 28 |
| References cited | 25 |
Sociologists of religion have long debated the definition of religion. In this article, I survey the debate and find a partially hidden consensus. This debate, in conjunction with recent criticisms of the concept "religion" in religious studies, and by drawing on Ludwig Wittgenstein's notion oflanguage games, provides helpful pointers for developing a non-essentialist conception of religion. I argue that "religion" (as a phenomenon and as a concept) is a historical and social construction, but that this does not require us to dispense with the concept altogether
Conjunction (astronomy · Essentialism · Phenomenon · Social phenomenon · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Study and Philosophy of Religion
The Sociology of Religion
‘Critical Religion’ and Contemporary Sociologists
Mystifying Kabbalah
Naturalismus a protekcionismus ve studiu náboženství
On Essentialism and Real Definitions of Religion
Faith concepts in psychology
Religion, the Culture of Biomedicine, and the Tremendum
Introduction
‘Religionʼ in the Sociology of Religion
Hedging against Lives’ Uncertainties and the “Theravada” Label
A struggle for definition
Approaching religion through linguistics
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What are neural correlates neural correlates of
Metaphors in and for the Sociology of Religion
Playing Language Games and Performing Rituals
Engaging the history of religions – from an Islamic studies perspective
How does religion matter? Pathways to religion in International Relations
Reconstructing “Religion” from the Bottom Up
Remembering Marx’s Secularism
Numbers in Nirvana
Contextualizing "religion" of young Karl Marx
Religion and Social Class
Method for an historical political sociology of religion
Ritual, narrative and time
Elementary forms of the metaphorical life
Sociology into Theology
Harmony of the Seas
The sociological interpretation of religion.
A general theory of secularization
Human Agency and Language
The Birth of the Gods
New rules of sociological method
The sacred canopy
Conceptualizing Religion
The Sociology of Religion
Religion and Advanced Industrial Society
The invisible religion
Manufacturing Religion
The Meaning and End of Religion
La “Tour de Babel” des définitions de la religion
Toward a Theory of Secularization
A critique of "religion" as a cross-cultural category1
The Postmodern Condition
Religion, Philosophy and Family Resemblances
Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
The Political Unconscious
Buddhism and the Definition of Religion
Religion
A Contribution to the Sociology of Religion
| Unique citing works | 28 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,22 |
| Citation span | 2003 - 2025 (23) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 28 |