Philosophy, Normativity, and Metacriticism

This chapter examines the Philosophical-Evaluative Method for studying religion. It is argued that this method offers conceptual clarity about key terms and assumptions that are regnant in theory and method in the study of religion and helps one see that correcting for the inarticulacy about the value of religious studies lies not in crafting a better methodology but by realizing how the field can account to broader, more comprehensive ideas about its place within the production of critical humanistic knowledge. With these ideas in hand, the chapter focuses on the work of Stephen S. Bush and Kevin Schilbrack. It examines their central claims that draw, respectively, from pragmatism and the philosophy of mind. The chapter concludes by pressing these scholars to speak about the ends of religious studies.