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Religion and Humor as Emancipating Provinces of Meaning pp 1–20Cite as

Introduction: An Overview of Schutz’s Work and This Work

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Part of the book series: Contributions To Phenomenology ((CTPH,volume 91))

Abstract

Alfred Schutz sought to provide philosophical foundations for Weberian sociology by articulating the structures of the sociotemporal, everyday life that any sociological explanation presupposes. With reference to this pragmatically oriented everyday life, Schutz develops his theory of multiple realities, including religion and humor, that are modifications of everyday life and that can free us from its pragmatic imperatives. A dialectic emerges in Schutz’s work insofar as the non-pragmatic finite provinces of meaning resist pragmatic everyday life and yet must rely upon it for their transmission and communication. Schutz repeatedly shows how events and experiences in everyday life upset the pragmatic anticipations of everyday life. By analyzing the non-pragmatic finite provinces of meaning of religion and humor in terms of the six features of the cognitive style of these provinces, one will be able to see their potential to emancipate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, USA

    Michael Barber

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  1. Michael Barber
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Barber, M. (2017). Introduction: An Overview of Schutz’s Work and This Work. In: Religion and Humor as Emancipating Provinces of Meaning. Contributions To Phenomenology, vol 91. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62190-6_1

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