ABSTRACT
It is time to come up with helpful basic terms for the study of modern politics, religion and mythology. This short chapter is built upon earlier discussions of the humanistic approach, one that is not only favoured by the author, but moreover regarded as the proper scholarly attitude; on the part played by dreams of perfection in the context of religion; and on the dialectical approach. These discussions motivate an initial distinction of two types of definitions: analytical definitions, useful in critical investigations, and ideational definitions, targeting the meaning of the phenomena in question. With this distinction in mind, definitions of “religion” and “politics” are suggested. The author dwells further on the seemingly sophistic option between “religious politics” and “political religion” and discusses some terms for the occurring different (from a secular point of view) “transgressions” between the sphere of religion and that of politics.
