An Unnatural History Of Religions: Academia, Post-Truth And The Quest For Scientific Knowledge

Cover page......Page 1
Halftitle page......Page 2
Series page......Page 3
Title page......Page 4
Copyright page......Page 5
Dedication......Page 6
Contents......Page 8
Figures and Tables......Page 11
Preface: Ghosts, Post- truth Despair and Brandolini’s Law......Page 12
Acknowledgements......Page 20
Note on Text......Page 22
A geological divide......Page 24
Mapping the problematique......Page 25
Maps, compasses and bricks......Page 28
Sui generis crisis......Page 31
The arms race of natural theology......Page 32
A rusty toolbox......Page 36
Birth certificate(s): Ultimate origins......Page 40
A preliminary note on imperialism, postmodernism and science......Page 44
Rationality as cumulative by- product of comparison: From Jean Bodin to Edward Burnett Tylor......Page 46
Enter comparative mythology: Friedrich Max Müller......Page 49
Triumph and dissolution of comparison: James George Frazer......Page 51
Whodunnit?......Page 54
Shape of things to come......Page 56
‘The greatest historian of all time’......Page 60
The threat of a scientific and comparative study of religion......Page 62
The Origin of Species , 1859: Breaking the chain of being......Page 65
The Descent of Man , 1871: Degrees, not kinds......Page 67
The Rubicon: Max Müller versus Darwin......Page 69
Ladders, progress and pithecophobia......Page 71
Original sin......Page 74
The theory of everything......Page 78
A scientific theology? William Robertson Smith’s ‘dual life’......Page 80
Smith’s heretical accommodationism, 1880s......Page 82
The end of the Victorian science of religion......Page 85
Birth certificate(s): HoR’s proximate origins......Page 87
Netherlands, 1860s: Tiele’s (tentative) science of religion......Page 89
Netherlands, 1870s: Chantepie’s theological reaction......Page 91
Netherlands, 1930s: van der Leeuw’s re-confessionalization......Page 94
Germany, 1890s: ‘Cultural circles’, geography and reactionary politics......Page 96
Austria and Switzerland, 1900s–1950s: Schmidt’s apologetic history of religion......Page 98
Schmidt’s legacy: The strategic rescue of Andrew Lang’s High Gods as an early home run for post-truth......Page 102
Italy, 1910s–1950s: Pettazzoni’s revolutionary rebuttal......Page 105
Italy, 1920s–1930s: Pettazzoni’s two-fold gamble......Page 107
1950: The foundation of the IAHR and the defeat of science......Page 111
Neither with you nor without you: Mircea Eliade......Page 116
Eliade, 1920s–1980s: From Romanian post-truth to American New Age......Page 119
The sacred from the Stone Age to the present and back again......Page 123
Schmidt’s ‘stupendous learning and industry’......Page 126
An epistemic twilight: Pseudoscience and esotericism......Page 128
Shamanism, 1200s–1800s: Heretics, noble savages, (super)heroes......Page 132
Shamanism, 1937–1946: Eliadean superpowers......Page 133
Shamanism, 1951–1970s: the Eliadean synthesis......Page 135
Resolving ‘The problem of shamanism’: An unwarranted answer to a non-existent question......Page 138
Point of (k)no(w) return: The politics of the Eliadean HoR......Page 140
Sexist biases and gender issues: Eliade’s tunnel vision......Page 143
Dismantling homo religiosus : Rita M. Gross......Page 145
Dismantling the Eliadean research programme: Henry Pernet......Page 147
Dismantling the primacy of shamanism: Mac Linscott Ricketts......Page 149
Dismantling phenomenological morphology: Ioan P. Culianu......Page 151
Dismantling classification: Jonathan Z. Smith......Page 153
Dismantling right-wing ideology: Bruce Lincoln......Page 156
New generations, poststructuralism and Religious Studies......Page 158
Be careful what you wish for: Postmodernism......Page 161
From Deconstruction to New Realism......Page 164
Post-truth rules......Page 168
What is science, anyway?......Page 171
Forgotten forerunners: Baldwin’s evolutionary epistemology......Page 174
Forgotten forerunners: Harrison’s evolutionary psychology......Page 176
Forgotten forerunners: Macalister’s invention of tradition......Page 177
Disappearing without a trace......Page 178
The Dark Ages: Psychoanalysis, behaviourism and cultural anthropology......Page 179
Modern trail-blazers, 1950s–1990s: The slow Renaissance of science......Page 183
Cognition, 2000s: Back to a natural history of religion......Page 186
Cognition, 2010s: More than meets the eye......Page 189
Learning from your mistakes: The usefulness of scientific ‘false views’......Page 191
A short-lived success? The inevitable rise of ‘false facts’......Page 193
Epilogue: The Night of Pseudoscience......Page 198
Notes......Page 202
Bibliography......Page 214
Index......Page 256