Global Philosophy of Religion: Developing New Questions and Categories for Cross-Cultural Inquiry

FAIN: RZ-271235-20

Drake University (Des Moines, IA 50311-4516)
Timothy D. Knepper (Project Director: December 2019 to present)
Nathan Loewen (Co Project Director: January 2020 to present)
Gereon Kopf (Co Project Director: April 2022 to present)

Planning and holding a two-day conference and the preparation for publication of an essay collection on the topic of a Global Philosophy of Religion. (12 months)

To this day, philosophy of religion remains preoccupied with the Christo-centric questions and categories of its European origins, which simply do not apply to a significant number of the world’s religious traditions. If philosophy of religion is to be relevant to the globalized, 21st-century world, it must develop new questions and categories that are suitable for unbiased cross-cultural inquiry. This convening grant brings together, in a 2-day conference, 17 scholars who collectively specialize in the religious philosophies of S Asia, E Asia, W Asia, Africa, indigenous N America, and Europe too. Each will prepare and present questions and categories for philosophy of religion informed by her own area of study, then test them against and modify them in view of the other proposals. These proposals, assessments, and modifications will be published as essays in an edited volume along with a comparative conclusion by the project director.

Associated Products

Global-Critical Philosophy of Religion: Questions, Topics, Categories (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Global-Critical Philosophy of Religion: Questions, Topics, Categories
Author: 23 authors in all -- please see "participants"
Abstract: On March 18-20, 2022, nearly two dozen global-critical philosophers of religion will participate in a NEH-supported mini-conference that explores alternative sets of topics, methods, and aims for global-critical philosophy of religion. Presentations will later be developed as essays and collected into a volume to be published with Bloomsbury. Since at least the European Enlightenment, the core topics of western philosophy of religion have consisted of the nature and existence of God, the problem of evil, and the immortality of the soul. These topics are implicitly taken as natural or rational, even used in some cases as the fundamental categories for global philosophy of religion. Witness, for example, the multi-million-dollar “Global Philosophy of Religion Project” recently funded by the John Templeton Foundation at the University of Birmingham, which deploys the categories of existence and nature of deities, death and immortality, and evil and suffering in the world “to make progress on central issues in the philosophy of religion by incorporating multi-religious perspectives” (https://www.global-philosophy.org/projects). But what if philosophy of religion had begun in some other place or at some other time? Would its core categories of inquiry resemble those of contemporary western philosophy of religion? This mini-conference and essay collection addresses these questions, exploring what the core topics (as well as the methods and aims) of philosophy of religion might have been (or actually were or are) in socio-historical contexts, religio-philosophical traditions, and methodological-theoretical orientations other than contemporary, western philosophy of religion (especially in its analytic mode). In doing so this volume of essays challenges the implicit claim that the core topics of western philosophy of religion are somehow natural or rational and therefore well-suited for global philosophy of religion. It also .... (See website for full description.)
Date Range: March 18-20, 2022
Location: Drake University, Des Moines, IA
Primary URL: https://globalcritical.as.ua.edu/timeline/topics-and-categories-for-global-critical-philosophy-of-religion-neh-supported-mini-conference-and-essay-collection/
Primary URL Description: description of conference, list of participants

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