Permanent URL to this publication: http://dx.doi.org/10.5167/uzh-48466
Vandenreydt, Sarah (2011). “Bouddhisme” entre “philosophie” et “religion”. Discours savants et dynamiques sociales en Angleterre (1875–1900). Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques, 65(1):241-264.
|Published Version (French)|
This article is concerned with the analysis of representations and classifications of “Buddhism” as “philosophy” and/or “religion” in 19th century Britain. Still current in contemporary discourse on Buddhism, the distinction at the time gained prominence when new scientific discoveries and social change led to considerable religious and epistemological turmoil and challenged religious institutions and authority. In this context, conceptual frameworks including “religion”, “philosophy”, and “science” and their respective place in the taxonomy of knowledge were questioned and hotly debated. Elites of various backgrounds construed their discourse upon dichotomic pairs such as “religion” vs. “philosophy”, or “religion” vs. “science”, while others in contrast suggested novel conjunctions of these terms. Both philologists and historians of religion, who defined a newly circumscribed entity called “Buddhism” in roughly that period, and protagonists of the theosophic movement had their share in the more general taxonomic debate.
The then nascent concept of “Buddhism” may thus be considered a diagnostic marker of the taxonomic debates involving both academic elites and religious leaders representing established institutions and nascent movements alike. After an introduction on context and authors, this article will concentrate on a discourse analysis of major programmatic texts authored between 1883 and 1891 by three prominent voices: the book Esoteric Buddhism (1883) written by Alfred Percy Sinnett, the Bampton Lecture held by Bishop Frederic Temple in 1884 and the Gifford Lecture held by Friedrich Max Müller in 1891.
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|Item Type:||Journal Article, refereed, original work|
|Communities & Collections:||01 Faculty of Theology > Institute of Religious Studies
Journals > Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques
Journals > Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques > Archive > 65 (2011)
Journals > Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques > Archive > 65 (2011) > 1
08 University Research Priority Programs > Asia and Europe
|DDC:||950 History of Asia
180 Ancient, medieval & eastern philosophy
|Deposited On:||22 Jun 2011 07:23|
|Last Modified:||01 Apr 2014 10:23|
|Publisher:||Schweizerische Asiengesellschaft / Verlag Peter Lang|
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