James Cox is Reader in Religious Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

'In less capable hands, the biographies of leading scholars may show us how Religious Studies has evolved, but in this book Cox offers something far more exciting and important. He shows us what it has meant, what it means and what it might yet mean to study religion. In this accessible and engaging book he challenges students of religion to be clear about what we study and how we might study it better. This book should be part of every course in the Study of Religions.' Graham Harvey, Lecturer in Religious Studies, The Open University

• Introduction; Part One: Formative Influences; Chapter 1: Edmund Husserl and Philosophical Phenomenology; Chapter 2: Theological Influences: The School of Albrecht Ritschl; Chapter 3: Reductionism and the Social Sciences; Part Two: Key Phenomenological Schools; Chapter 4: Foundational Figures in the Dutch School of Phenomenology; Chapter 5: Phenomenology in the United Kingdom; Chapter 6: North American Phenomenology: Wach, Eliade and W C Smith; Part Three: Subsequent Debates; Chapter 7: The Reductionist-Religionist Debate; Chapter 8: Alternatives to Phenomenology. Chapter 9: A New Phenomenology of Religion; Bibliography; Index.

James Cox is Reader in Religious Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

'In less capable hands, the biographies of leading scholars may show us how Religious Studies has evolved, but in this book Cox offers something far more exciting and important. He shows us what it has meant, what it means and what it might yet mean to study religion. In this accessible and engaging book he challenges students of religion to be clear about what we study and how we might study it better. This book should be part of every course in the Study of Religions.' Graham Harvey, Lecturer in Religious Studies, The Open University

• Introduction; Part One: Formative Influences; Chapter 1: Edmund Husserl and Philosophical Phenomenology; Chapter 2: Theological Influences: The School of Albrecht Ritschl; Chapter 3: Reductionism and the Social Sciences; Part Two: Key Phenomenological Schools; Chapter 4: Foundational Figures in the Dutch School of Phenomenology; Chapter 5: Phenomenology in the United Kingdom; Chapter 6: North American Phenomenology: Wach, Eliade and W C Smith; Part Three: Subsequent Debates; Chapter 7: The Reductionist-Religionist Debate; Chapter 8: Alternatives to Phenomenology. Chapter 9: A New Phenomenology of Religion; Bibliography; Index.