Religion Studies: Emotional Approach

Mark Wynn argues that the landscape of philosophical theology looks rather different from the perspective of a re-conceived theory of emotion. In matters of religion, we do not need to opt for objective content over emotional form or vice versa. On the contrary, these strategies are mistaken at root, since form and content are not separable in this instance. Wynn uses this perspective to forge a distinctive approach to a range of established topics in philosophy of religion, notably: religious experience; the problem of evil; the relationship of religion and ethics, and religion and art; and in general, the connection of 'feeling' to doctrine and tradition.

Over the past decade the academic study of emotion has developed very substantially across a number of disciplines, including religious studies. This anthology is the first collection of recent papers addressing the topic of religion and emotion. The selected pieces - each a foundational essay in this rapidly evolving field - examine attitudes toward and expressions of emotion in a wide range of religious traditions and periods. Among the themes considered are the relation of emotion to moral or religious norms, the role of emotion in faith, religious emotion as a performance of feeling in ritual contexts, and the relation of emotion to religious language. Specific topics examined range from filial emotions and filial values in medieval Korean Buddhism to weeping and spirituality in 16th-century Jewish mysticism. This volume is designed to provide an introduction to recent work in the field and should appeal to both scholars and students of comparative religion, anthropology, and psychology.