About How to Define the Word "Religion"
This little walk in the park provides food for thought.
If, as post-moderns argue, “language” consists of two arbitrarily related systems of differences, then what is the meaning of a word? A word is more than a placeholder. A word is more than an entry in a dictionary. A word is an actuality that emerges from and situates the possibilities of meaning, presence and message.
The title, then, should really be a question: What is the meaning, presence and message underlying the word "religion"?
The answer addresses the nature of social construction, the relations between institutions and sovereign power, and religious interpellation.
The answer comes with a method.
The category-based nested form, derived from the writings of Charles S. Peirce, advances inquiry through association and implication. The result is three very interesting models of the potentials underlying the term “religion”. Primers devoted to particular topics complement the text, adding clarity and examples.
The insights gained from this method offer a new approach to political philosophy and theology, avoiding the hazards of social sciences. These stumbling blocks are examined in Appendix A of the text, which is offered as a separate work titled: An Essay on the Empirical and the Social Sciences. The irony entertains.
Here is another portal to a new age of understanding.
For a high-school or college course on this topic, pertaining to our current Lebenswelt, see the page on empowerment.
