The Power of the Sacred

»Disenchantment is a key term in the self-understanding of modernity. But what exactly does this concept mean? What was its original meaning when Max Weber introduced it? And can the conventional meaning or Max Weber's view really be defended, given the present state of knowledge about the history of religion?

In The Power of the Sacred, Hans Joas develops the fundamentals of a new sociological theory of religion by first reconstructing existing theories, from the eighteenth century to the present. Through a critical reading and reassessment of key texts in the three empirical disciplines of history, psychology, and sociology of religion, including the works of David Hume, J.G. Herder, Friedrich Schleiermacher, William James, Emile Durkheim, and Ernst Troeltsch, Joas presents an understanding of religion that lays the groundwork for a thorough study of Max Weber's views on disenchantment. After deconstructing Weber's highly ambiguous use of the concept, Joas proposes an alternative to the narratives of disenchantment and secularization which have dominated debates on the topic. He constructs a novel interpretation that takes into account the dynamics of ever new sacralizations, their normative evaluation in the light of a universalist morality as it first emerged in the ›Axial Age,‹ and the dangers of the misuse of religion in connection with the formation of power.

Built upon the human experience of self-transcendence, rather than human cognition or cultural discourses, The Power of the Sacred challenges both believers and non-believers alike to rethink the defining characteristics of Western modernity.« (book desription of the English edition by Oxford UP)

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. History of Religion as Critique of Religion? David Hume and the Consequences
Chapter 2. Religious Experience and the Theory of Signs
Chapter 3. Ritual and the Sacred. On the Anthropology of Ideal Formation
Chapter 4. Multiple Forms of Ideal Formation or Process of Disenchantment? Attempts at Synthesis by Ernst Troeltsch and Max Weber
Chapter 5. Transcendence as Reflexive Sacredness. The ›Axial Age‹ as a Turning Point in Religious History
Chapter 6. Fields of Tension. A New Interpretation of Max Weber's ›Intermediate Reflection‹
Chapter 7. The Sacred and Power. Collective Self-Sacralization and Ways of Overcoming it
Bibliography
Index

»A thoroughly argued, intriguing book.« Michael McCallion, Catholic Books Review

»Joas' book is an awe-inspiring voice as well as a continuation of his work up till now.« Monika Wohlrab-Sahr, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

»It is not an exaggeration to consider philosopher and sociologist Hans Joas one of the most important contemporary German thinkers.« Dirk Pilz, Frankfurter Rundschau

» [...] a powerful and at the same time respectful declaration of war against sociology.« Thomas Assheuer, Die Zeit

»The sociologist and religious philosopher Hans Joas is here to let us know: our world is not demystified!« Simone Miller, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

»[Joas] offers a convincing analysis of contemporary religious experience, as varied and asynchronous as it may be. This is a powerful book, for it sketches out a new possibility for dialogue between believers and non-believers.« Gert Scobel, Philosophie Magazin