Lexington Books Phenomenology of Religion

Phenomenology of Religion is designed to be a practical introduction to the discipline of acquiring an understanding of the art of communication, including religious communication, from a phenomenological perspective. It is an exploration of the meaning of specific expressions of religious life in a manner that does them justice, a manner that is emphatically sensitive to the viewpoint of the participants as well as appropriately objective. Out of the wide variety of themes covered by Husserl's phenomenology and later developed by Heidegger, Merleau Ponty, and others in different possible directions, the present work is an attempt at indicating the few features of the method which derives from Edmund Husserl's basic themes of the phenomenological movement and its methodology. It is an attempt at exploring the manner in which this method has been applied to the study of art and religion by other phenomenologists and accordingly to state and introduce the problem of this profound bulk-namely, the phenomenological apporach to religion-mostly in their terms. The present work seeks to provide insights into J. N. Mohanty's vision of phenomenology and of Husserl's ideas in particular, and contains discussion of some of the central issues which form the foundation of Husserlian transcendental phenomenology. Phenomenology of Religion will be of immense relevance to those who wish to pursue phenomenology from a cross-cultural perspective. Review Phenomenology of Religion presents the ordinarily complex integrated field of religious studies and beliefs on the one hand and the philosophy of phenomenology on the other, in an elegant and highly readable fashion without detracting from the essence of the field--that is, what it means to experience spirituality and the important influence that such an experience plays in the lives of ordinary everyday folk. Thoroughly recommended for the serious scholar as well as for anyone who is curious about what it means to have a religious experience or who wishes to better understand this fundamental human experience.--Christopher R. Stones, Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology It is Barua's insight into the width and the comprehensiveness of the concept of 'Noema' that helps her encompass, within the phenomenology of religion, the meaning structures in their existential variety and plot those structures on to some commonalities. It is in this important respect that I consider Barua's sensitive research to be not only a genuine contribution to the phenomenology of religion but also a pointer to the understanding of faiths in their variety. Barua's work is indeed topical. I am sure Barua's work will find its deserved place in the literature on phenomenology.--Kalyan Kumar Bagchi, former professor, Visva-Bharati University About the Author Archana Barua is an associate professor in the Department of Humanities at the Indian Institute of Technology.