An Eliminativist Theory of Religion

A philosophical theory of religion ought to meet four criteria: it should be extensionally accurate, neutral, phenomenological, and non-circular. I argue that none of the popular theories of religion meet all these criteria, and that, in particular, the extensional accuracy criterion and the non-cir...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Webb, Mark Owen (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Netherlands 2009
In: Sophia
Year: 2009, Volume: 48, Issue: 1, Pages: 35-42
Further subjects:B Conceptual Analysis
B Definition
B Religion
B Philosophy
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:A philosophical theory of religion ought to meet four criteria: it should be extensionally accurate, neutral, phenomenological, and non-circular. I argue that none of the popular theories of religion meet all these criteria, and that, in particular, the extensional accuracy criterion and the non-circularity criterion can’t be met without sacrificing extensional accuracy. I conclude that, therefore, religions do not form a kind, and so, there is no such thing as religion.
ISSN:1873-930X
Contains:Enthalten in: Sophia
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s11841-008-0084-1