{"product_id":"the-power-of-the-sacred-an-alternative-to-the-narrative-of-disenchantment","title":"The Power of the Sacred: An Alternative to the Narrative of Disenchantment","description":"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\u003cbr\u003ehistory of religion? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe Power of the Sacred\u003c\/em\u003e, 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, \u003cbr\u003epsychology, 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\u003cbr\u003edeconstructing 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\u003cbr\u003enormative 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBuilt upon the human experience of self-transcendence, rather than human cognition or cultural discourses, \u003cem\u003eThe Power of the Sacred\u003c\/em\u003e challenges both believers and non-believers alike to rethink the defining characteristics of Western modernity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHans Joas \u003c\/strong\u003eis Ernst Troeltsch Professor for the Sociology of Religion at the Humboldt University of Berlin and Visiting Professor of Sociology and Social Thought at the University of Chicago. Some of his other books in English include \u003cem\u003eG.H. Mead\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eA Contemporary Re-examination of His Thought\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePragmatism and Social Theory\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Creativity of Action\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Genesis of Values, War and Modernity\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Sacredness of the Person: A New Genealogy of Human Rights\u003c\/em\u003e, and\u003cem\u003e Faith as an Option: Possible Futures for Christianity\u003c\/em\u003e. He has also published two books with Wolfgang Knoebl: \u003cem\u003eSocial Theory: Twenty Introductory Lectures\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eWar in Social Thought: Hobbes to the Present\u003c\/em\u003e and has edited several volumes, including \u003cem\u003eThe Axial Age and Its Consequences\u003c\/em\u003e (with Robert Bellah). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50443800051986,"sku":"9780190933272","price":55.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5a90d7d1-c804-4c07-99e0-e6d410ca258f.jpg?v=1729675744","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-power-of-the-sacred-an-alternative-to-the-narrative-of-disenchantment","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}