Will Sweetman -- Mapping Hinduism Flashcards
“Religion” and the Academic Study of Religions: history of the term ‘religion’
-Cantwell Smith in “The Meaning and End of Religion” … Latin “religio” had a primarily adjectival rather than substantive or nominal sense… piety was often substittuted
-From early 17C, leaders of European thought gave the name “religion” to the system of ideas in which men of faith were involved
-Cocomitant with this new understanding of “religions” of the world was the rise of religion as a generic concept, which servied to discriminate religion ‘from other asecpts of human life’
“Religion” and the Academic Study of Religions:
-“There is a double process of selection going on when we describe Hinduism as a religion. The description of Hinduism as a religion indicates that we have chosen to appraoch the selection of data we have made and have chosen to call Hinduism..Hindusim doies not expst, except as as ecltion of data for a particular purpose.” (27)
“Religion” and the Academic Study of Religions:
“Our scholarly constructions of Hinduism are partial models of a vast collection of historical and contemporary beliefs and practices of a group or groups of people known for at least several centuries as ‘Hindus’… Likewise, a map of India is a partial model of a vast space designated as India… The map should not be mistaken fo reality. Moreover, it is impossible to judge the accuracy of the map without reference to the intentions or purposes of the map-maker.” 27-28
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The Critique of “Hinduism”
For Balagangadhara, “Hinduism” is an imaginary entity, a creation of European scholars.
Frits Staal follows Bala, argues that “Hinduism” like other Asian traditions focuses on ritual and mysticism, not doctrines or belief.
The Critique of “Hinduism”
Orientalist HH Wilson in 1828:”The Hindu religion is a term, that has been hitherto employed in a collective sense, to designate a faith and worship of an almost endlessly diversified description.”
