TY - JOUR
T1 - An eliminativist theory of religion
AU - Webb, Mark Owen
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2009/2
Y1 - 2009/2
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Conceptual analysis
KW - Definition
KW - Philosophy
KW - Religion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77951785060&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11841-008-0084-1
DO - 10.1007/s11841-008-0084-1
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:77951785060
VL - 48
SP - 35
EP - 42
JO - Sophia
JF - Sophia
SN - 0038-1527
IS - 1
ER -