Rethinking Secrecy in Religion

مرکز و کتابخانه مطالعات اسلامی به زبان های اروپایی

منو

" Rethinking Secrecy in Religion "
David William MacGillavry

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1077935
Doc. No	:	LA121564
Call No	:	‭10.1163/15700682-12341430‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	David William MacGillavry
Title & Author	:	Rethinking Secrecy in Religion [Article]\ David William MacGillavry
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	Method Theory in the Study of Religion
Date	:	2018
Volume/ Issue Number	:	30/4-5
Page No	:	301–320
Abstract	:	Secrecy is often studied as a social phenomenon in which certain information is concealed from a targeted audience out of fear of the repercussions, if this information were to fall into the wrong hands. It is therefore surprising that people are relatively willing to share their secrets with others. Traditionally, this behaviour has been explained on the bases of the assumption that people are naturally inclined to reveal their secrets. However, new evidence from the cognitive sciences and social psychology calls this assumption, and thus the theories of secrecy which rely on it, into question. In this article I present a re-interpretation of secrecy in light of this new evidence and evaluate what implications this holds for the study of secrecy in religion. Secrecy is often studied as a social phenomenon in which certain information is concealed from a targeted audience out of fear of the repercussions, if this information were to fall into the wrong hands. It is therefore surprising that people are relatively willing to share their secrets with others. Traditionally, this behaviour has been explained on the bases of the assumption that people are naturally inclined to reveal their secrets. However, new evidence from the cognitive sciences and social psychology calls this assumption, and thus the theories of secrecy which rely on it, into question. In this article I present a re-interpretation of secrecy in light of this new evidence and evaluate what implications this holds for the study of secrecy in religion.
Descriptor	:	cognition
Descriptor	:	General
Descriptor	:	religion
Descriptor	:	Religious Studies
Descriptor	:	secrecy
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/15700682-12341430‬