Claiming Knowledge
Subtitle: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age (Studies in the History of Religions)
Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
Published: March 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 547
ISBN-13: 9789004120167
Subjects: History of religion; Philosophy of religion; Postmodernism; Theosophy; Philosophy; Religion; Epistemology; Knowledge, Theory of (Religion; History; Knowledge, Theory of (Religion); New Age Movement; Religious aspects
Description: "This volume deals with the transformation of religious creativity in the late modern West. Its point of departure is a set of esoteric beliefs, from Theosophy to the New Age. It shows how these traditions have adapted to the cultural givens of each successive epoch. The claims of each movement have been buttressed by drawing on various structural characteristics of late modernity. The advance of science has resulted in attempts to claim scientific status for religious beliefs. Globalization has given rise to massive loans from other cultures, but also to various strategies to radically reinterpret foreign elements. Individualism has led to an increasing reliance on experience as a source of legitimacy. The analytical tools applied to understanding religious modernization shed light on changes that are fundamentally reshaping many religious traditions." "Readership: All those interested in modern culture, intellectual history, the history of religions and theology, as well as an educated readership with an interest in esotericism and New Age thought."--Jacket.