Abstract
A philosophical theory of religion ought to meet four criteria: it should be extensionally accurate, neutral, phenomenological, and non-circular. I argue that none of the popular theories of religion meet all these criteria, and that, in particular, the extensional accuracy criterion and the non-circularity criterion can't be met without sacrificing extensional accuracy. I conclude that, therefore, religions do not form a kind, and so, there is no such thing as religion.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 35-42 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Sophia |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2009 |
Keywords
- Conceptual analysis
- Definition
- Philosophy
- Religion
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Cite this
Webb, M. O. (2009). An eliminativist theory of religion. Sophia, 48(1), 35-42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-008-0084-1