Peter Harrison, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the Problem of Pre-Modern Religion

Peter Harrison's Gifford Lectures demonstrate that the modern concepts of “religion” and “science” do not correspond to any fixed sphere of life in the pre-modern world. Because these terms are incommensurate and ideological, they misconstrue the past. I examine the influence and affinities of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zygon
Subtitles:Peter Harrison's Territories of science and religion: a symposium
Main Author: Ristuccia, Nathan J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2016]
In: Zygon
Further subjects:B naturalistic accounts of religion
B genealogy of religion
B pre-modern science
B critical theory of religion
B Christianity
B Ludwig Wittgenstein
B disciplinary borders
B Philosophia
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Peter Harrison's Gifford Lectures demonstrate that the modern concepts of “religion” and “science” do not correspond to any fixed sphere of life in the pre-modern world. Because these terms are incommensurate and ideological, they misconstrue the past. I examine the influence and affinities of Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophy on Harrison's study in order to argue that Harrison's project approaches Wittgenstein's. Harrison's book is a therapeutic history, untying a knot in scholarly language. I encourage Harrison, however, to clarify how future scholars can progress in their study of phenomena once termed “scientific” or “religious” without succumbing to these same mistakes.
ISSN:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12280