Abstract
The goal I pursue is to redefine the study of religious epistemology on the basis of an ethnomethodological extension of Wittgenstein. This approach shows that the nature of religious belief and its relation to facts, proofs, and empirical reality are matters that are dealt with by ordinary members of society. The examination of this lay epistemology reveals that – far from being a settled and established entity – religious belief is a polymorphous phenomenon. Religious belief is a pragmatic resource whose configuration is shaped to allow the accomplishment of interactional moves within specific contexts. I defend this thesis by analyzing accounts pertaining to a contemporary religious apparition claim.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beattie, J. (1964). Other Cultures. London: Cohen and West.
Burke, T.E. (1978). Wittgenstein’s Lectures on Religious Belief: A Re-Consideration. In E. Beinfillner et al. (Ed.), Wittgenstein and His Impact on Contemporary Thought. Vienna: Holder-Pichler-Tempsky.
Cioffi, F. (1981). Wittgenstein and the Fire-Festivals. In I. Block (Ed.), Perspectives on Wittgenstein. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Couglhan, M.J. (1986). Wittgensteinian Philosophy and Religious Belief. Metaphilosophy 17: 230–240.
Coulter, J. (1979). The Social Construction of Mind. Totowa: Rowan and Littlefield.
Coulter, J. (1989). Mind in Action. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Durkheim, E. (1965). The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Transl. J.W. Swain. New York: The Free Press.
Eliade, M. (1976). Patterns of Comparative Religion. London: Sheed and Ward.
Frazer, J. (1958). The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. New York: MacMillan.
Garfinkel, H., Lynch, M. and Livingston, E. (1981). The Work of a Discovering Science Construed with Materials from the Optically Discovered Pulsar. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 11: 131–158.
Geivett, D. and Sweetman, B. (1992). Introduction. In D. Geivett and B. Sweetman (Eds.), Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hollis, M. and Lukes, S. (Eds.) (1982). Rationality and Relativism. Oxford: Blackwell.
Horton, R. (1970). African Traditional Thought and Western Science. In B. Wilson. (Ed.), Rationality. Oxford: Blackwell.
Kerr, F. (1986). Theology After Wittgenstein. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Klass, M. (1995). Ordered Universes; Approaches to the Anthropology of Religion. Boulder: Westview Press.
Latour, B. and Woolgar, S. (1979). Laboratory Life. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Livingston, E. (1986). The Ethnomethodological Foundations of Mathematics. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Lukes, S. (1982). Relativism in its Place. In M. Hollis and S. Lukes (Eds.), Rationality and Relativism. Oxford: Blackwell.
Lynch, M. (1985). Art and Artifact in Laboratory Science. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Lynch, M. (1993). Scientific Practice and Ordinary Action. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Malcolm, N. (1975). The Groundlessness of Belief. In S.C. Brown (Ed.), Reason and Religion. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Malinowski, B. (1954). Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books.
Martin, D. (1984). On Certainty and Religious Belief. Religious Studies 20: 593–613.
Müller, F.M. (1978/1873). Introduction to the Science of Religion. New York: Arno Press.
Needham, R. (1972). Belief, Language, and Experience. Oxford: Blackwell.
Phillips, D.Z. (2003). Wittgenstein, Wittgensteinianism, and Magic: A philosophical tragedy? Religious Studies 39: 185–201.
Richter, D. (2001). Missing the Entire Point: Wittgenstein and Religion. Religious Studies 37: 161–175.
Satris, S.A. (1978). Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Religion. In E. Leinfillner et al. (Ed.), Wittgenstein and His Impact on Contemporary Thought. Vienna: Holder-Pichler-Tempsky.
Sharrock, W.W. and Anderson R.J. (1985). Magic, Witchcraft and the Materialist Mentality. Human Studies 8: 357–375.
Spencer, H. (1877). The Principles of Sociology. New York: Appleton.
Stanesby, D. (1985). Science, Reason and Religion. London: Routledge.
Tambiah, S.J. (1990). Magic, Science and Religion, and the Scope of Rationality. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Tooker, D.E. (1992). Identity Systems of Highland Burma: ‘Belief,’ Akha Zan, and a Critique of Interiorized Notions of Ethno-Religious Identity. Man 27: 799–819.
Tyler, E.B. (1891). Primitive Culture. London: Murray.
Winch, P. (1970). Understanding a Primitive Society. In B.R. Wilson (Ed.), Rationality. Oxford: Blackwell.
Wilson, B.R. (Ed.) (1970). Rationality. Oxford: Blackwell.
Wittgenstein, L. (1966). Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief, C. Barrette (Ed.), Oxford: Blackwell.
Wittgenstein, L. (1972). On Certainty. G.E.M. Anscombe and G.H. von Wright (Ed.), Harper Torchbook: New York.
Wittgenstein, L. (1979). Remarks on Frazer’s golden bough. In C.G. Luckhardt (Ed.), Wittgenstein: Sources and Perspectives. Sussex: Harvester Press.
Wittgenstein, L. (1980). Culture and Value. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Berryman, E. Belief, Apparitions, and Rationality: The Social Scientific Study of Religion after Wittgenstein1 . Hum Stud 28, 15–39 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-005-3595-6
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-005-3595-6