Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. Softcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> My own beginning with the academic study of religion goes back to my sophomore year in college. I still hadn’t decided on a major and one night ducked into a lecture by Frederick Jameson. At the time I had no idea that Jameson was a prominent intellectual and the content of his talk though compelling was a bit over my head. But the question/answer period generated a turning point for me. One of my friends bravely stood up and asked a question which went something like this: “Prof. Jameson you seem to be saying that even artists who are really avant garde are still just sell-outs. So my question is if totally crazy creative people can’t change anything then what about the rest of us? What are we supposed to do if we want to change the world we live in?” Jameson paused for a moment and said “Know everything.” And that’s pretty much where he left his answer. Since then I have learned how to fit that answer into the broader context of Jameson’s thought (“Always historicize” for those in the know) but when I heard it this response struck me: it posed a challenge that only a young person could take literally. That semester I was taking my first classes in religion and something clicked. Religion seemed to be everywhere making its way into every facet of human history so maybe studying it was the best way to “know everything.” Soon after Jameson’s lecture I decided to become a religious-studies major. You will be happy to know that I have gotten over the hubris inspired by Jameson’s maxim Bur my teachers in religious studies have consistently reinforced the spirit of that early insight. The study of religion spans the breadth of human experience. (SP)