Animism and Philosophy of Religion

Mainstream philosophy of religion has persistently failed to engage seriously or critically with animist beliefs and practices. The field that is now called "philosophy of religion" could quite easily be renamed "philosophy of theism" with few lecturers on the subject having to change their lecture notes. It is the aim of this volume to rectify that failure and to present animism as a live option among the plethora of religious worldviews.

The volume addresses four major questions: 1. What is this thing called "animism"? 2. Are there any arguments for or against animist belief and practice? 3. What is the relationship between animism, naturalism, and the sciences? And 4. Should we take animism seriously?

Animism and Philosophy of Religion is intended to be the first authoritative scholarly volume on the issue of animism and its place in the philosophy of religion. Ambitiously, it aims to act as the cornerstone volume for future work on the subject and as a key text for courses engaging with the subject.

Explains the very concept of animism Indicates the relationship between animism, naturalism, and the sciences Assesses the conceptual, metaphysical, epistemological, and pragmatic issues of animism

Auteur
Tiddy Smith is a Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Massey University. He is the author of The Methods of Science and Religion (Rowman and Littlefield) and has published various articles in journals such as the Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Erkenntnis, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, and Philosophia.

Contenu
Chapter One: Introduction.- Chapter Two: Animism and Cognitive Science of Religion: A Critical Perspective.- Chapter Three: Wilkinson's Animism and Cognitive Science of Religion.- Chapter Four: Edward Tylor's Animism and Its Intellectual Aftermath.- Chapter Five: Animisms: Practical Indigenous Philosophies.- Chapter Six: New Animism as Cultural Critique?.- Chapter Seven: Animism and Naturalism: Practice and Theory.- Chapter Eight: Sensible Animism.- Chapter Nine: Animism: Its Scope and Limits.- Chapter Ten: Scientific Animism.- Chapter Eleven: Childhood Animism and Innate Belief.- Chapter Twelve: An Epistemic Defense of Animism.- Chapter Thirteen: Robotic Animism: The Ethics of Attributing Minds and Personality to Robots with Artificial Intelligence.- Chapter Fourteen: Towards a Cosmopolitan Animism