A realist social ontology of religion

• Published in: Religion (London. 1971) Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 161 - 178
• Main Author: Schilbrack, Kevin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bergen Routledge 01.04.2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: heuristic; imagination; Jonathan Z. Smith; non-realism; Ontology; Realism; reflexivity; Religion; social construction; social ontology
• ISSN: 0048-721X; 1096-1151
• DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2016.1203834

Jonathan Z. Smith famously pointed out that the concept of 'religion' is not universal but emerged only in the modern West. Several scholars have drawn from Smith the non-realist implication that the existence of religion apart from that concept is an illusion. The word 'religion,' they say, does not refer to something out there in the world. In this article, the author argues that Smith's point is open to a realist interpretation according to which religion exists in the world, as a transhistorical and transcultural reality, even apart from the concept. To make this case, the author outlines and responds to non-realist positions that draw on genealogical, deconstructive, and linguistic arguments, as well as to the alternative proposal that 'religion' is simply a heuristic device. In short, the goal of this article is to argue that a realist social ontology provides the better understanding of the central theoretical term in our field.