Religionistika na pomezí sociálních, historických a kognitivních věd

This text was produced as a material for Arbeitskreis Theorie und Methodologie in der Religionswissenschaft (AKTUM) within Deutsche Vereinigung für Religionswissenschaft (DVRW). The author reflects contemporary debate about scientific foundations of the study of religions. In the first part he compares methods of historical and social sciences and identifies those fields of research in which these methods are most commonly applied. Both methods, which are hardly ever mastered with the same level of competence by one single scientist, tend to explore certain topics. Whereas historical methods use mainly textual sources to answer questions about the past, methods of social sciences provide researcher with tools which enable him/her to intentionally create data about contemporary situation. Specific methods of these two approaches lead, according to the author, to certain one-sidedness – historical study is limited by textual sources, which are most often concerned with mainstream religious traditions, whereas contemporary sociological researches often deal with small, even marginal religious groups. As a result of this situation, issues connected with contemporary mainstream religious traditions remain almost abandoned. ...