Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Monograph | Religion, Education, and the ‘East’
Chapter | 3 • Japanese and Other East Asian Religious Traditions
3 • Japanese and Other East Asian Religious Traditions
Two Challenges
Abstract
This chapter aims to show and discuss why Japanese other East Asian religions cannot be adequately understood by relying on modern, Euro-centric and Christian-centric conceptualizations of religion. It addresses both epistemological and historical facets of this problem. The former refers to the discrepancy between Euro-centric idea of religion, focused on the individual adhesion of a set of beliefs, and various historical and ethnographical data on Japanese and East Asian religions. The latter refers to the historical legacy of colonial and global dynamics which further hinders the awareness of such discrepancy.
Abstract
This chapter aims to show and discuss why Japanese other East Asian religions cannot be adequately understood by relying on modern, Euro-centric and Christian-centric conceptualizations of religion. It addresses both epistemological and historical facets of this problem. The former refers to the discrepancy between Euro-centric idea of religion, focused on the individual adhesion of a set of beliefs, and various historical and ethnographical data on Japanese and East Asian religions. The latter refers to the historical legacy of colonial and global dynamics which further hinders the awareness of such discrepancy.
Published May 3, 2023 | Language: en
Copyright © 2023 Giovanni Lapis. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-687-9/003
