Normativity and Social Criticism in Religious Studies and the Study of Culture

This presentation asks whether normative considerations are proper to the study of religion and cultures. Miller takes up this question by focusing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith, a historian who is widely esteemed for advancing a non-normative approach to the study of religion. He sketches the theoretical features of Smith’s influential method and show how he deploys it to address a seemingly incomprehensible event in the history of religions, namely, the Jonestown mass suicide in 1978. Miller argues that Smith fails to avoid making strong normative claims in his account of that event. He also argues that his version falls short of a full-throated normative and humanistic account of the Jonestown tragedy. He does so by drawing on a theory of the emotions to claim that a full rendering of religious and cultural practices should address not only the challenge of overcoming incomprehension—a driving question for scholars of religions and cultures—but also the challenge of addressing feelings of indignation in response to avoidable suffering. Miller uses Smith to illustrate awkward hesitations and silences about matters of normativity that pervade the academic study of religion. He concludes by arguing that overcoming such silences (and the ascetic ideals that demand them) requires scholars to think about their purposes and the intellectual virtues of their work. This event is co-sponsored with the School of Theology

When 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm on Thursday, October 27, 2016
Building 154 Bay State Rd.
Room Eilts Room
Contact Name Arlene Brennan
Phone 353-9050
Contact Email arleneb@bu.edu
Contact Organization CURA
Fees Free
Speakers Richard B. Miller, Professor of Religious Ethics, University of Chicago