The Phenomenology of Religious Belief

Media, Philosophy, and the Arts

Michael J. Shapiro

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781350164314
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophy History & Theory

In The Phenomenology of Religious Belief, the renowned philosopher Michael J. Shapiro investigates how art – and in particular literature and film – can impact upon both traditional interpretations and critical studies of religious beliefs and experiences. In doing so, he examines the work of prolific and award-winning writers such as Toni Morrison, Philip K. Dick and Robert Coover. By placing their work in conjunction with critical analyses of media by the likes of Ingmar Bergman and Pier Paolo Pasolini and combining it with the work of groundbreaking thinkers such as George Canguilhem, Giorgio Agamben and Slavoj Žižek, Shapiro takes a truly interdisciplinary approach to the question of how life should be lived. His assessment of phenomenological subjectivity also leads him to question the nature of political theology and extend the criticism of Pauline theology.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• Acknowledgments
• 1 The Phenomenology of Belief: Media Technologies and Communities of Sense
• 2 The Politics of Zealotry: Situating the Apostle Paul
• 3 Ingmar Bergman: Theatricality Contra Theology
• 4 Philip K. Dick’s “Counter-Songs”
• 5 William James: Theology’s “Anchorage” in Mentality
• Notes
• Index Names
• Index Words