Jason A. Springs
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195395044
- eISBN:
- 9780199866243
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Discontinued
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195395044.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Toward a Generous Orthodoxy provides a refined exposition of Hans Frei's christologically motivated engagement with Ludwig Wittgenstein, Clifford Geertz, Erich Auerbach, his use of ...
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Toward a Generous Orthodoxy provides a refined exposition of Hans Frei's christologically motivated engagement with Ludwig Wittgenstein, Clifford Geertz, Erich Auerbach, his use of ordinary language philosophy and nonfoundational philosophical insights, while illuminating and expanding his orientational indebtedness to Karl Barth's theology. By placing Frei's work into critical conversation with developments in pragmatist thought and cultural theory since his death, the rereading of Frei offered here aims to correct and resolve many of the complaints and misunderstandings that vex his theological legacy. The result is a clarification of the unity and coherence of Frei's work over the course of his career; a reframing of the complex relationship of his work to that of his Yale colleague George Lindbeck and successive "postliberal" theological trends; demonstration that Frei's uses of Barth, Wittgenstein, Auerbach, and Geertz do not relegate his theological approach to critical quietism, methodological separatism, epistemic fideism, or a so-called "theological ghetto"; explication and development of Frei's account of the "plain sense" of Scripture that evades charges of narrative foundationalism and essentialism on one hand and, on the other, avoids criticisms that any account so emphasizing culture, language, and practice will reduce scriptural meaning to the ways the text is used in Christian practice and community. What emerges from Toward a Generous Orthodoxy is a sharpened account of the christologically anchored, interdisciplinary, and conversational character of Frei's theology, which he came to describe as a "generous orthodoxy," modeling a way for academic theological voices to take seriously both their vocation to the Christian church and their roles as interlocutors in the academic discourse.Less
Toward a Generous Orthodoxy provides a refined exposition of Hans Frei's christologically motivated engagement with Ludwig Wittgenstein, Clifford Geertz, Erich Auerbach, his use of ordinary language philosophy and nonfoundational philosophical insights, while illuminating and expanding his orientational indebtedness to Karl Barth's theology. By placing Frei's work into critical conversation with developments in pragmatist thought and cultural theory since his death, the rereading of Frei offered here aims to correct and resolve many of the complaints and misunderstandings that vex his theological legacy. The result is a clarification of the unity and coherence of Frei's work over the course of his career; a reframing of the complex relationship of his work to that of his Yale colleague George Lindbeck and successive "postliberal" theological trends; demonstration that Frei's uses of Barth, Wittgenstein, Auerbach, and Geertz do not relegate his theological approach to critical quietism, methodological separatism, epistemic fideism, or a so-called "theological ghetto"; explication and development of Frei's account of the "plain sense" of Scripture that evades charges of narrative foundationalism and essentialism on one hand and, on the other, avoids criticisms that any account so emphasizing culture, language, and practice will reduce scriptural meaning to the ways the text is used in Christian practice and community. What emerges from Toward a Generous Orthodoxy is a sharpened account of the christologically anchored, interdisciplinary, and conversational character of Frei's theology, which he came to describe as a "generous orthodoxy," modeling a way for academic theological voices to take seriously both their vocation to the Christian church and their roles as interlocutors in the academic discourse.
Aletta Bieirsack
- Published in print:
- 1989
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520064287
- eISBN:
- 9780520908925
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520064287.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
This chapter presents an account of Clifford Geertz and his “interpretation of cultures.” It turns to Marshall Sahlins and his Historical Metaphors and Mythical Realities. It also suggests that a ...
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This chapter presents an account of Clifford Geertz and his “interpretation of cultures.” It turns to Marshall Sahlins and his Historical Metaphors and Mythical Realities. It also suggests that a dose of Sahlins might be salutary for future work on the history of culture, given his “rethinking” of structure and event, or structure and history, in dialectical terms that rejuvenate both halves. It then reviews Geertz's influence on the textualizing move in anthropology and shows how the concerns of anthropologists are intersecting increasingly with those of historians of culture. In Historical Metaphors, questions of genesis and meaning become intertwined. Historical Metaphors and Writing Culture propose alternate routes to the historicization of a field that, until recently, had ignored Frederick Maitland's dictum and charted ahistorical, even antihistorical, courses.Less
This chapter presents an account of Clifford Geertz and his “interpretation of cultures.” It turns to Marshall Sahlins and his Historical Metaphors and Mythical Realities. It also suggests that a dose of Sahlins might be salutary for future work on the history of culture, given his “rethinking” of structure and event, or structure and history, in dialectical terms that rejuvenate both halves. It then reviews Geertz's influence on the textualizing move in anthropology and shows how the concerns of anthropologists are intersecting increasingly with those of historians of culture. In Historical Metaphors, questions of genesis and meaning become intertwined. Historical Metaphors and Writing Culture propose alternate routes to the historicization of a field that, until recently, had ignored Frederick Maitland's dictum and charted ahistorical, even antihistorical, courses.
Michael Ostling
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199587902
- eISBN:
- 9780191731228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587902.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History, Social History
This conclusion reviews the themes of the book, in particular its notion of ‘imagining witchcraft’. Drawing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith, it claims that witchcraft, like religion, is a ...
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This conclusion reviews the themes of the book, in particular its notion of ‘imagining witchcraft’. Drawing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith, it claims that witchcraft, like religion, is a second-order category created by scholars for their own comparative purposes: accordingly scholars have the responsibility to use the category well. Drawing on the work of Clifford Geertz, the conclusion argues that we study not ‘The Other’ but others—real people and their own projects of self-imagination. Accused witches were caught in multiple layers of imaginative labeling—as criminals, Satanists, pagans, demoniacs. They also imagined themselves as Christians, wives, mothers. The task of this book has been to explore these multiple imaginations in an attempt to understand all the actors caught up in witch-trials: the accused, their accusers, magistrates, and alleged victims.Less
This conclusion reviews the themes of the book, in particular its notion of ‘imagining witchcraft’. Drawing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith, it claims that witchcraft, like religion, is a second-order category created by scholars for their own comparative purposes: accordingly scholars have the responsibility to use the category well. Drawing on the work of Clifford Geertz, the conclusion argues that we study not ‘The Other’ but others—real people and their own projects of self-imagination. Accused witches were caught in multiple layers of imaginative labeling—as criminals, Satanists, pagans, demoniacs. They also imagined themselves as Christians, wives, mothers. The task of this book has been to explore these multiple imaginations in an attempt to understand all the actors caught up in witch-trials: the accused, their accusers, magistrates, and alleged victims.
Jason A. Springs
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195395044
- eISBN:
- 9780199866243
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Discontinued
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195395044.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter explicates this trajectory of Frei's thinking over the course of his career. It challenges the prevailing belief that Frei's theology divides neatly into two distinct periods-the earlier ...
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This chapter explicates this trajectory of Frei's thinking over the course of his career. It challenges the prevailing belief that Frei's theology divides neatly into two distinct periods-the earlier characterized by Frei's attention to an essential meaning in the scriptural text, and the later by his turn to a cultural-linguistic framework largely under the influence of his colleague at Yale George Lindbeck. This chapter makes the case that what came to be identified as "cultural-linguistic" insights in light of Lindbeck's work are, in fact, evident in Frei's writings of the 1960s. At the same time, his later writing does not forgo textual constraints exerted by Scripture, thereby collapsing textual meaning into textual use.Less
This chapter explicates this trajectory of Frei's thinking over the course of his career. It challenges the prevailing belief that Frei's theology divides neatly into two distinct periods-the earlier characterized by Frei's attention to an essential meaning in the scriptural text, and the later by his turn to a cultural-linguistic framework largely under the influence of his colleague at Yale George Lindbeck. This chapter makes the case that what came to be identified as "cultural-linguistic" insights in light of Lindbeck's work are, in fact, evident in Frei's writings of the 1960s. At the same time, his later writing does not forgo textual constraints exerted by Scripture, thereby collapsing textual meaning into textual use.
Lynn Hunt (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 1989
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520064287
- eISBN:
- 9780520908925
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520064287.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
Across the humanities and the social sciences, disciplinary boundaries have come into question as scholars have acknowledged their common preoccupations with cultural phenomena ranging from rituals ...
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Across the humanities and the social sciences, disciplinary boundaries have come into question as scholars have acknowledged their common preoccupations with cultural phenomena ranging from rituals and ceremonies to texts and discourse. Literary critics, for example, have turned to history for a deepening of their notion of cultural products; some of them now read historical documents in the same way that they previously read “great” texts. Anthropologists have turned to the history of their own discipline in order to better understand the ways in which disciplinary authority was constructed. As historians have begun to participate in this ferment, they have moved away from their earlier focus on social-theoretical models of historical development toward concepts taken from cultural anthropology and literary criticism. Much of the most exciting work in history recently has been affiliated with this wide-ranging effort to write history that is essentially a history of culture. The chapters presented here provide an introduction to this movement within the discipline of history. The chapters in Part One trace the influence of important models for the new cultural history, models ranging from the pathbreaking work of the French cultural critic Michel Foucault and the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz to the imaginative efforts of such contemporary historians as Natalie Davis and E. P. Thompson, as well as the more controversial theories of Hayden White and Dominick LaCapra. The chapters in Part Two are exemplary of the most challenging and fruitful new work of historians in this genre.Less
Across the humanities and the social sciences, disciplinary boundaries have come into question as scholars have acknowledged their common preoccupations with cultural phenomena ranging from rituals and ceremonies to texts and discourse. Literary critics, for example, have turned to history for a deepening of their notion of cultural products; some of them now read historical documents in the same way that they previously read “great” texts. Anthropologists have turned to the history of their own discipline in order to better understand the ways in which disciplinary authority was constructed. As historians have begun to participate in this ferment, they have moved away from their earlier focus on social-theoretical models of historical development toward concepts taken from cultural anthropology and literary criticism. Much of the most exciting work in history recently has been affiliated with this wide-ranging effort to write history that is essentially a history of culture. The chapters presented here provide an introduction to this movement within the discipline of history. The chapters in Part One trace the influence of important models for the new cultural history, models ranging from the pathbreaking work of the French cultural critic Michel Foucault and the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz to the imaginative efforts of such contemporary historians as Natalie Davis and E. P. Thompson, as well as the more controversial theories of Hayden White and Dominick LaCapra. The chapters in Part Two are exemplary of the most challenging and fruitful new work of historians in this genre.
Mark S. M. Scott
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199841141
- eISBN:
- 9780199949809
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199841141.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The first chapter establishes the theoretical direction of the study. It argues that theodicy, at its core, consists of the production and protection of meaning in the face of evil. Building on the ...
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The first chapter establishes the theoretical direction of the study. It argues that theodicy, at its core, consists of the production and protection of meaning in the face of evil. Building on the work of Max Weber, Peter Berger, Clifford Geertz, and other theorists, it construes the task of theodicy as the intellectual attempt to ascribe meaning to the reality of suffering, with its potentially fatal implications for religious worldviews. Furthermore, it refines and enriches the theoretical paradigm by defining theodicy as navigation, that is, as the creative, conceptual integration of evil into our religious constructions of reality. It highlights the importance of locating the distinctive narratives of theodicy in their particular contexts and applies these insights to the analysis of Origen's theodicy.Less
The first chapter establishes the theoretical direction of the study. It argues that theodicy, at its core, consists of the production and protection of meaning in the face of evil. Building on the work of Max Weber, Peter Berger, Clifford Geertz, and other theorists, it construes the task of theodicy as the intellectual attempt to ascribe meaning to the reality of suffering, with its potentially fatal implications for religious worldviews. Furthermore, it refines and enriches the theoretical paradigm by defining theodicy as navigation, that is, as the creative, conceptual integration of evil into our religious constructions of reality. It highlights the importance of locating the distinctive narratives of theodicy in their particular contexts and applies these insights to the analysis of Origen's theodicy.
Paul Rabinow
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226701691
- eISBN:
- 9780226701714
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226701714.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
In this culmination of his search for anthropological concepts and practices appropriate to the twenty-first century, the author contends that to make sense of the contemporary, anthropologists must ...
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In this culmination of his search for anthropological concepts and practices appropriate to the twenty-first century, the author contends that to make sense of the contemporary, anthropologists must invent new forms of inquiry. He begins with an extended rumination on what he gained from two of his formative mentors: Michel Foucault and Clifford Geertz. Reflecting on their lives as teachers and thinkers, as well as human beings, the author poses questions about their critical limitations, unfulfilled hopes, and the lessons he learned from and with them. This spirit of collaboration animates this book, as the author assesses the last ten years of his career, largely spent engaging in a series of intensive experiments in collaborative research and often focused on cutting-edge work in synthetic biology. He candidly details the successes and failures of shifting his teaching practice away from individual projects, placing greater emphasis on participation over observation in research, and designing and using websites as a venue for collaboration. Analyzing these endeavors alongside his efforts to apply an anthropological lens to the natural sciences, the author lays the foundation for an ethically grounded anthropology ready and able to face the challenges of our contemporary world.Less
In this culmination of his search for anthropological concepts and practices appropriate to the twenty-first century, the author contends that to make sense of the contemporary, anthropologists must invent new forms of inquiry. He begins with an extended rumination on what he gained from two of his formative mentors: Michel Foucault and Clifford Geertz. Reflecting on their lives as teachers and thinkers, as well as human beings, the author poses questions about their critical limitations, unfulfilled hopes, and the lessons he learned from and with them. This spirit of collaboration animates this book, as the author assesses the last ten years of his career, largely spent engaging in a series of intensive experiments in collaborative research and often focused on cutting-edge work in synthetic biology. He candidly details the successes and failures of shifting his teaching practice away from individual projects, placing greater emphasis on participation over observation in research, and designing and using websites as a venue for collaboration. Analyzing these endeavors alongside his efforts to apply an anthropological lens to the natural sciences, the author lays the foundation for an ethically grounded anthropology ready and able to face the challenges of our contemporary world.
Stephen S. Bush
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199387403
- eISBN:
- 9780199387427
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199387403.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter demonstrates that meaning and power are co-implicated: one cannot be studied without the other. Clifford Geertz’s work on meaning and interpretation is valuable, but Geertz does not ...
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This chapter demonstrates that meaning and power are co-implicated: one cannot be studied without the other. Clifford Geertz’s work on meaning and interpretation is valuable, but Geertz does not adequately theorize power. Certain of his views are indispensable, but his account must be supplemented with attention to power, which this chapter does using the theoretical insights of Pierre Bourdieu, Talal Asad, and others. By using a social practical account, inspired by Ludwig Wittgenstein, of language and symbols, this chapter provides a theory of symbolic meaning that is not private and divorced from the public world of political contestation. The chapter then details seven important ways in which meaning and power are invested in each other.Less
This chapter demonstrates that meaning and power are co-implicated: one cannot be studied without the other. Clifford Geertz’s work on meaning and interpretation is valuable, but Geertz does not adequately theorize power. Certain of his views are indispensable, but his account must be supplemented with attention to power, which this chapter does using the theoretical insights of Pierre Bourdieu, Talal Asad, and others. By using a social practical account, inspired by Ludwig Wittgenstein, of language and symbols, this chapter provides a theory of symbolic meaning that is not private and divorced from the public world of political contestation. The chapter then details seven important ways in which meaning and power are invested in each other.
Paul Rabinow
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226701691
- eISBN:
- 9780226701714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226701714.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
This chapter discusses the importance to the anthropologist of the command of language. Speaking “the language,” Clifford Geertz held, was the ethical and epistemological diacritic of the discipline. ...
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This chapter discusses the importance to the anthropologist of the command of language. Speaking “the language,” Clifford Geertz held, was the ethical and epistemological diacritic of the discipline. Paul Hyman’s presence showed that making no attempt to demonstrate the aforementioned mastery could show us many things about those observed as well as those authorized to observe them.Less
This chapter discusses the importance to the anthropologist of the command of language. Speaking “the language,” Clifford Geertz held, was the ethical and epistemological diacritic of the discipline. Paul Hyman’s presence showed that making no attempt to demonstrate the aforementioned mastery could show us many things about those observed as well as those authorized to observe them.
ROGER BECK
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199216130
- eISBN:
- 9780191712128
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216130.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This chapter discusses Mithraism as a symbol system in the manner of the symbolist anthropologists, particularly Clifford Geertz. Comparisons are made between Mithraic culture and the culture of the ...
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This chapter discusses Mithraism as a symbol system in the manner of the symbolist anthropologists, particularly Clifford Geertz. Comparisons are made between Mithraic culture and the culture of the Chamulas of southern Mexico, especially in regard to the construction of space in general and sacred space in particular. The Mithraic sevenfold grade structure is discussed as a symbol system. A principle of ‘harmony of tension in opposition’ is postulated as a fundamental Mithraic ‘axiom’.Less
This chapter discusses Mithraism as a symbol system in the manner of the symbolist anthropologists, particularly Clifford Geertz. Comparisons are made between Mithraic culture and the culture of the Chamulas of southern Mexico, especially in regard to the construction of space in general and sacred space in particular. The Mithraic sevenfold grade structure is discussed as a symbol system. A principle of ‘harmony of tension in opposition’ is postulated as a fundamental Mithraic ‘axiom’.
