Paradiese und Gegenwelten

»Paradise« is a classical subject of the phenomenology of religion. This type of research has been problematic due to an almost complete lack of methodology and is not practiced widely nowadays; however, an essentially phenomenological purpose is still necessary for comparative religious studies, th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft
Main Author: Stolz, Fritz 1942-2001 (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:German
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Published: Diagonal-Verlag 2012
In: Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:»Paradise« is a classical subject of the phenomenology of religion. This type of research has been problematic due to an almost complete lack of methodology and is not practiced widely nowadays; however, an essentially phenomenological purpose is still necessary for comparative religious studies, that is, the construction of a scientific language designating comparable phenomena within different cultures. The construction of comparability has to take in consideration several aspects. This task is demonstrated by analyzing the Sumerian Dilmun myth, a famous example of the paradise theme. There are different ways of approaching the text: Historical, sociological and structural points of view are types of reconstruction which have to be correlated. Different possibilities of comparison within and without the Mesopotamian culture are discussed. The text concludes that we should replace the paradise theme by the concept of an »opposing world« which shapes reality using programs of communication transmitted by language, iconography and action. Finally, the aim of such a methodological approach is determined: It cannot produce a general theory of universal human conceptions but leads to a better historical understanding of singular phenomena.
ISSN:2194-508X
Contains:In: Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1515/0018.5