FROM COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY TO THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION: THE INTELLECTUAL LEGACY OF MAX MÜLLER
Abstract
The article examines Max Müller’s engagement with Eastern religious texts and his role in the development of comparative religious studies within the context of the nineteenth-century German philological tradition. Special attention is given to the relationship between comparative philology, Sanskrit studies, and the historical study of religion. The research employs historical-comparative, hermeneutic, and historiographical methods. The study analyses Müller’s major works, including the Introduction to the Science of Religion, the series The Sacred Books of the East, and his studies of Vedic literature. It is argued that Müller played a significant role in the institutionalisation of comparative religious studies through the application of philological methods to the study of religious texts. At the same time, the article discusses the limitations of his approach, particularly its text-centred character and its connection to the broader European intellectual tradition of the nineteenth century, which remains relevant for contemporary religious studies and Islamic textual scholarship. The article concludes that Müller’s scholarly legacy occupies an important place in the history of religious studies while also reflecting the intellectual context of its time.
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