Local Gods: A Philosophy of Spiritual Diversity

"From the Santería of African diasporic communities to the Shinto shrines in Japan, most world religious practices are localized, often place-based, and polytheistic. Given that contemporary Western philosophy of religion, in accordance with its origins in the Enlightenment, understands divinity as transcendent, universal, singular, and rational, the majority of the world's religious traditions have been excluded from its purview. Local Gods argues against this still hegemonic definition by insisting that non-Western approaches offer philosophically robust perspectives if we evaluate them within the categories and terms in which they themselves express their views. The book frames philosophy of religion in existential terms. In other words, philosophizing about religious matters invites us to ask questions about the meaning of life, sources of meaning, and practices for meaning-making. It takes seriously the metaphysical, spiritual, and, yes, supernatural dimensions that inform our beliefs and emotions. Drawing on ethnographic, textual, and historiographic resources, Leah Kalmanson demonstrates that "Indigenous" traditions from the Global South have much to offer contemporary understandings of religion, politics, and ecology, and she provides several representative cases"-- Provided by publisher.