Reverse-engineering 'esotericism': how to prepare a complex cultural concept for the cognitive science of religion
The article introduces a framework for preparing complex cultural concepts for the cognitive science of religion (CSR) and applies it to the field of Western esotericism. The research process (‘reverse engineering') rests on a building block approach that, after problematic categories have been...
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| Type de support: | Imprimé Article |
| Langue: | Anglais |
| Vérifier la disponibilité: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | En cours de chargement...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Publié: |
[2016]
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| Dans: |
Religion
Année: 2016, Volume: 46, Numéro: 2, Pages: 158-185 |
| Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés: | B
Ésotérisme
/ Kognitive Religionswissenschaft
/ Processus de recherche
/ Rétroingénierie
/ Base de données méthodologique
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| RelBib Classification: | AA Sciences des religions AB Philosophie de la religion AE Psychologie de la religion AZ Nouveau mouvement religieux |
| Résumé: | The article introduces a framework for preparing complex cultural concepts for the cognitive science of religion (CSR) and applies it to the field of Western esotericism. The research process (‘reverse engineering') rests on a building block approach that, after problematic categories have been deconstructed, seeks to reconstruct new scholarly objects in generic terms that can be operationalized in interdisciplinary contexts like CSR. A four-step research process is delineated, illustrated by a short discussion of previous work on ‘Gnosticism,' ‘magic,' and ‘religion,' before applying it to ‘esotericism.' It is suggested that the implicit scholarly objects of esotericism scholarship can be reconstituted in generic terms as concerned with processes of creating and disseminating ‘special knowledge.' Five definitional clusters are identified in the literature; these provide a basis for formulating research programs on the psychological and cognitive level, drawing on metarepresentational processes, event cognition, and psychological dispositions for altering experience. |
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| ISSN: | 0048-721X |
| Contient: | Enthalten in: Religion
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