Product Description

The "insider/outsider problem" is a theoretical and methodological issue that confronts the student of human behaviour and culture. This anthology collects 30 readings, from such writers as Kant, Hume, Schleiermacher and Otto, to Ninian Smart, Mircea Eliade, Karen McCarthy-Brown and Wendy Doniger-O'Flaherty, that investigate the ways in which scholars of religion have grappled with the relations between studying, practising and advocating. Moving from influential readings in linguistics and anthropology, the volume's thematically arranged chapter introduce readers to the strengths and weaknesses of several popular options in addressing the insider/outsider problem.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #675045 in Books
• Published on: 1999-01-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

From the Publisher
Reviewed in: Religion, July 2000
"…the rationale behind this volume, and the ‘Controversies’ series as a whole, is intelligent and important…there is fuel here for detailed methodological debate, and the book certainly deserves widespread consultation."

Customer Reviews

methodological debates on representation and understanding religion
Ah the good old insider/outsider debate, its just like a circle - it never ends. Insider meaning a religious believer, an outsider being someone who observes the behaviour of someone else. Let the questions begin:

can anyone really understand the religious experience of someone else? Or is religion something that must be experienced to be understood, as argued by Otto who terms it the numinous? More importantly Who has the power to represent what a religion is/means and interpret it? How can religion and all its diversity be adequately representing without recourse to reductionism?

Interesting, but you will find no concrete answers here, just more questions!