Scriptures and the Guidance of Language: Evaluating a Religious Authority in Communicative Action [Hardcover]

Focusing on the guidance function in scripture and in language generally, this book evaluates scriptural religion in global perspective.Offers general readers a powerful kit of ideas for thinking both appreciatively and critically about the relevance of religious scriptures and their place in our culture without being bound by the standards of one religious tradition or one style of scripturalism.Offers general readers a powerful kit of ideas for thinking both appreciatively and critically about the relevance of religious scriptures and their place in our culture without being bound by the standards of one religious tradition or one style of scripturalism.In this book, Steven G. Smith focuses on the guidance function in language and scripture and evaluates the assumptions and ideals of scriptural religion in global perspective. He brings to language studies a new pragmatic emphasis on the shared modeling of life-in-the-world by communicators constantly depending on each other's guidance. Using concepts of axiality and axialization derived from Jaspers' description of the 'Axial Age', he shows the essential role of scripture in the historical progress of communicative action. This volume clarifies the formative power of scriptures in religions of the 'world religion' type and brings scripture into philosophy of religion as a major cross-cultural category of study, thereby helping philosophy of religion find a needed cross-cultural footing.Part I. Problematics of Communicative Action: Introduction: on the powers and problematics of language; 1. The guidance problematic; 2. The speaking problematic; 3. The writing problematic; 4. The religious language problematic; Part II. Problematics of Scripture: 5. What is scripture?; 6. Evaluating the scripture premise; 7. The scripturalist; 8. Multiscripturalism; Concluding thoughts on the necessity of guidance and ideal scripturalism.