Map is Not Territory, Menu is Not Meal

This article focuses on Jonathan Z. Smith's 1978 essay, "Map is Not Territory," in terms of its definition of religion, allegiance to anthropology and history, and avoidance of relativism. Updated to the author's situation forty years later, it articulates the relation between ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Method & theory in the study of religion
Main Author: Frankenberry, Nancy 1947- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2019]
In: Method & theory in the study of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Smith, Jonathan Z. 1938-2017 / Davidson, Donald 1917-2003 / Religion / Definition / Relativism
IxTheo Classification:AA Study of religion
AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
Further subjects:B radical empiricism
B Hans Penner
B definition of religion
B Relativism
B scheme-content distinction
B Donald Davidson
B Jonathan Z. Smith
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:This article focuses on Jonathan Z. Smith's 1978 essay, "Map is Not Territory," in terms of its definition of religion, allegiance to anthropology and history, and avoidance of relativism. Updated to the author's situation forty years later, it articulates the relation between map and territory as one of asymmetrical dependence governed by the rule that the concrete includes the abstract and exceeds it in value. Reading Smith's essay in light of Donald Davidson's "On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme" provides a philosophical argument against radical relativism. Two brief aperçu about Smith frame this account.
ISSN:1570-0682
Contains:Enthalten in: Method & theory in the study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700682-12341458