Jacques Lacan and the Theory of the Religious Subject

Jacques Lacan’s theory of the subject is put forward in order to correct what the author calls “the naïve theory of the subject,” which sociologists of religion tend to utilize by default in numerous quantitative sociological studies based on mass surveys and oriented towards obtaining exact, scient...

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Veröffentlicht in:Method & theory in the study of religion
1. VerfasserIn: Uzlaner, Dmitry (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
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Veröffentlicht: Brill 2017
In: Method & theory in the study of religion
Jahr: 2017, Band: 29, Heft: 1, Seiten: 31-56
normierte Schlagwort(-folgen):B Lacan, Jacques 1901-1981 / Religion / Subjekt (Philosophie) / Religionssoziologie
RelBib Classification:AB Religionsphilosophie; Religionskritik; Atheismus
AD Religionssoziologie; Religionspolitik
weitere Schlagwörter:B Jacques Lacan religion sociology of religion sociological surveys positivism the theory of the subject vicarious religion
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Zusammenfassung:Jacques Lacan’s theory of the subject is put forward in order to correct what the author calls “the naïve theory of the subject,” which sociologists of religion tend to utilize by default in numerous quantitative sociological studies based on mass surveys and oriented towards obtaining exact, scientific, positivistic knowledge. This article applies Lacan’s three registers—Imaginary, Symbolic, and Real—to the religious sphere and demonstrates their potential implications for the sociological analysis of religion. An analysis of the empirical research on Russia’s post-Soviet religious situation reinforces the author’s argument that an uncritical theory of the subject attends only to the superficial layers of the subject, which end up being devoid of actual subjectivity, according to Lacanian logic. The more fundamental layers of the subject, capable of making it “the subject” in the full sense of the word, seem to be completely outside of sociologists’ current field of vision. This critique directs the reader’s attention to the shortcomings of sociological surveys, and the author argues that a more robust understanding of the subject could enrich the sociology of religion, particularly by further developing certain conceptions, such as Grace Davie’s “vicarious religion.”
ISSN:1570-0682
Enthält:In: Method & theory in the study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700682-12341380