Asian Religions, Technology and Science
Over the past five decades, the field of religion-and-science scholarship has experienced a considerable expansion. This volume explores the historical and contemporary perspectives of the relationship between religion, technology and science with a focus on South and East Asia. These three areas are not seen as monolithic entities, but as discursive fields embedded in dynamic processes of cultural exchange and transformation. Bridging these arenas of knowledge and practice traditionally seen as distinct and disconnected, Asian Religions, Technology and Science reflects on the ways of exploring the various dimensions of their interconnection.
Through its various chapters, the collection provides an examination of the use of modern scientific concepts in the theologies of new religious organizations, and challenges the traditional notions of space by Western scientific conceptions in the nineteenth century. It looks at the synthesis of ritual elements and medical treatment in China and India, and at new funeral practices in Japan. It discusses the intersections between contemporary Western Buddhism, modern technology, and global culture, and goes on to look at womens rights in contemporary Pakistani media. Using case studies grounded in carefully delineated temporal and regional frameworks, chapters are divided into two parts: on religion and technology.
Illustrating the manifold perspectives and the potential for further research and discussion, this book is an important contribution to the studies of Asian Religion, Science and Technology, and Religion and Philosophy.
Istvn Keul is Professor in the Study of Religions at the University of Bergen, Norway. His areas of research include various aspects of the history and sociology of South Asian religions. He is the author of a monograph on the Hindu deity Hanuman and has edited volumes on tantra, Yoginis and Banaras.
Routledge Studies in Asian Religion and Philosophy
1 Deconstruction and the Ethical in Asian Thought
Edited by Youru Wang
2 An Introduction to Daoist Thought
Action, language, and ethics in Zhuangzi
Eske Mllgaard
3 Religious Commodifications in Asia
Marketing gods
Edited by Pattana Kitiarsa
4 Christianity and the State in Asia
Complicity and conflict
Edited by Julius Bautista and Francis Khek Gee Lim
5 Christianity in Contemporary China
Socio-cultural perspectives
Edited by Francis Khek Gee Lim
6 The Buddha and Religious Diversity
J. Abraham Velez de Cea
7 Japanese Religions and Globalization
Ugo Dessi
8 Religion and the Subtle Body in Asia and the West
Between mind and body
Geoffrey Samuel and Jay Johnston
9 Yogini in South Asia
Interdisciplinary approaches
Edited by Istvn Keul
10 The Confucian Philosophy of Harmony
Chenyang Li
11 Postcolonial Resistance and Asian Theology
Simon Shui-Man Kwa
12 Asian Perspectives on Animal Ethics
Edited by Neil Dalal and Chloe Taylor
13 Objects of Worship in South Asian Religions
Forms, practices and meanings
Edited by Knut A. Jacobsen, Mikael Aktor and Kristina Myrvold
14 Disease, Religion and Healing in Asia
Collaborations and collisions
Ivette Vargas-OBryan and Zhou Xun
15 Asian Religions, Technology and Science
Edited by Istvn Keul
Asian Religions, Technology and Science
Edited by
Istvn Keul
First published 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2015 Istvn Keul
The right of the editor to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Asian religions, technology and science / edited by Istvn Keul.
pages cm. -- (Routledge Studies in Asian Religion and Philosophy ; 15)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Religion and science--South Asia. 2. Religion and science--East Asia.
I. Keul, Istvn, editor.
BL240.3.A87 2015
201.65095--dc23
2014029404
ISBN: 978-1-138-77966-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-77113-7 (ebk)
Knut Aukland studied Indian religions at the Universities of Oslo and Heidelberg, and Hindi and Indian history at Oxford University. His MPhil thesis on a possession cult in Jainism was awarded Best Norwegian Masters Thesis 2010 by The Network for Asian Studies in Oslo. Aukland received the Norway Scholarship in 2010 to complete a MSt on Indian colonial history at the University of Oxford, Wadham College. His ongoing PhD project at the University of Bergen is on the interface between pilgrimage and tourism practices in North India.
C. Mackenzie Brown is Professor of South Asian Religions and Religion and Science at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, USA. He is author of Hindu Perspectives on Evolution: Darwin, Dharma, and Design (2012). Recent articles include The Design Argument in Classical Hindu Thought, International Journal of Hindu Studies 12:2 (2008); Vivekananda and the Scientific Legitimation of Advaita Vednta, in Handbook on Religion and the Authority of Science, edited by James R. Lewis and Olav Hammer (2011); Origins: The Hindu Case, in The Routledge Companion Reader to Religion and Science, edited by James Haag et al. (2012).
Philip S. Cho is an Assistant Professor at Yonsei University, Underwood International College, Seoul. He draws on a background in cognitive neuroscience from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania. His work spans historical, ethnographic, and scientific research on the role of cognition in Chinese science and popular religion. He is currently working on a book manuscript, Cognition and Culture in Chinese Science, Technology, and Medicine.
David A. Doss, a DAAD Scholar and a Fulbright Scholar, researched in Germany, Russia, and Morocco on the intersections of biopolitics, public health, and Abrahamic religious/ethical concepts. Since his MA, his research is expanding into international development and work related to facilitating peace and cooperation between religious communities in Asia and the Middle East.
Fabienne Duteil-Ogata is a researcher associated with the Institute of Interdisciplinary of Contemporary Anthropology at CNRS/EHESS in Paris. She obtained a Masters Degree in Japanese Language and Civilization from Paris VII University and a PhD in Anthropology from Paris X University in 2002. Her doctoral thesis focused on the impact of social changes in Japanese religious practices. Fabienne Duteil-Ogata was awarded the Shibusawa-Claudel Prize in 2004.
