Toward a Philosophy of Religious Studies

Offers a unique perspective on the study of religion revolutionized by contemporary continental thinking.In this important work, Jim Kanaris provides a unique approach to the study of religion, aiming to alleviate the methodological and ideological barriers that divide philosophers, theologians, and social scientists. This is a "e;philosophy of religion"e; for a wider audience than that designation usually circumscribes, and, for that reason, Kanaris opts for the broader "e;philosophy of religious studies."e; He hybridizes insights principally from the works of Bernard Lonergan and Martin Heidegger but also those of Jacques Derrida, Charles Winquist, and Tyler Roberts, among others. Kanaris combines this with a distinctive hermeneutical approach that gives rise to what he calls "e;enecstatic"e; philosophy, one that manages the irreducible complexity of one's individuality, a singularity, in the negotiation of one's objects of concern. Toward a Philosophy of Religious Studies is unlike any other book in religious studies. It provides a unique way to surface personal involvement in the study of religion without compromising scholarly objectivity and philosophical integrity.