On the Theoretical-methodological Consequences of Essentialism in Definition of Religion and Ethnic Community

Abstract

The article reveals the theoretical-methodological problems of combining essen­tialist attitudes in the definitions of religion and ethnic community. Essentialism assumes that an ethnic community has an essence that should be reflected in the theoretical constructions of scientists. At the same time, one of the essen­tial features of an ethnic community is supposed to be the presence of a unique culture, including religion. The essentialist understanding of religion is based
either on overly narrow or overly broad definitions of it. The author comes to the conclusion that the simultaneous appeal to essentialism in relation to eth­nic community and to narrow essentialist definitions of religion (which, for ex­ample, does not include Buddhism) leads to the fact that an ethnic community can be spoken of only when its culture includes a pronounced religious compo­nent. In essentialism, an ethnic community is defined through a number of essen­tial features, including religion. However, the latter is defined so broadly that it becomes indistinguishable from morality and, consequently, loses its essence. This leads to a methodological impasse – the essence of the phenomenon is re­vealed through an appeal to the non-essential theoretical construct.