William S Sax
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195335866
- eISBN:
- 9780199868919
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335866.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book deals with ritual healing in the Central Himalayas of north India. It focuses on the cult of Bhairav, a local deity who is associated with the lowest castes, the so-called Dalits, who are ...
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This book deals with ritual healing in the Central Himalayas of north India. It focuses on the cult of Bhairav, a local deity who is associated with the lowest castes, the so-called Dalits, who are frequently victims of social injustice. When powerless people are exploited or abused and have nowhere else to go, they often turn to Bhairav for justice, and he afflicts their oppressors with disease and misfortune. In order to end their suffering, they must make amends with their former victims and worship Bhairav with bloody sacrifices. Many acts of perceived injustice occur within the family, so that much of the book focuses on the tension between the high moral value placed on family unity on the one hand, and the inevitable conflicts within it on the other. Such conflicts can lead to ghost possession, cursing, and other forms of black magic, all of which are vividly described. The book includes a personal account of the author's own experiences in the field as well as descriptions of blood sacrifice, possession, exorcism, and cursing. The book begins with a straightforward description of the author' s fieldwork and goes on to describe the god Bhairav and his relationship to the weak and powerless. Subsequent chapters deal with the lives of local oracles and healers; the main rituals of the cult and the dramatic Himalayan landscape in which they are embedded; the moral, ritual, and therapeutic centrality of the family; the importance of ghosts and exorcism; and practices of cursing and counter-cursing. The final chapter examines the problematic relationship between ritual healing and modernity.Less
This book deals with ritual healing in the Central Himalayas of north India. It focuses on the cult of Bhairav, a local deity who is associated with the lowest castes, the so-called Dalits, who are frequently victims of social injustice. When powerless people are exploited or abused and have nowhere else to go, they often turn to Bhairav for justice, and he afflicts their oppressors with disease and misfortune. In order to end their suffering, they must make amends with their former victims and worship Bhairav with bloody sacrifices. Many acts of perceived injustice occur within the family, so that much of the book focuses on the tension between the high moral value placed on family unity on the one hand, and the inevitable conflicts within it on the other. Such conflicts can lead to ghost possession, cursing, and other forms of black magic, all of which are vividly described. The book includes a personal account of the author's own experiences in the field as well as descriptions of blood sacrifice, possession, exorcism, and cursing. The book begins with a straightforward description of the author' s fieldwork and goes on to describe the god Bhairav and his relationship to the weak and powerless. Subsequent chapters deal with the lives of local oracles and healers; the main rituals of the cult and the dramatic Himalayan landscape in which they are embedded; the moral, ritual, and therapeutic centrality of the family; the importance of ghosts and exorcism; and practices of cursing and counter-cursing. The final chapter examines the problematic relationship between ritual healing and modernity.
Maria‐Zoe Petropoulou
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199218547
- eISBN:
- 9780191711503
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199218547.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter introduces the world of Christians — who came from both the Greek religious environment (Gentile Christians) and Judaism (Jewish Christians) — but also from the group of pagans who were ...
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This chapter introduces the world of Christians — who came from both the Greek religious environment (Gentile Christians) and Judaism (Jewish Christians) — but also from the group of pagans who were ready to convert to Judaism (the so-called ‘God-fearers’). Emphasizing the multiplicity of backgrounds, the chapter aims at warning the reader that conclusions concerning early Christianity and its relation to animal sacrifice cannot be definite, especially as regards the Christians who lived in Jerusalem that is next to the Temple, before AD 70.Less
This chapter introduces the world of Christians — who came from both the Greek religious environment (Gentile Christians) and Judaism (Jewish Christians) — but also from the group of pagans who were ready to convert to Judaism (the so-called ‘God-fearers’). Emphasizing the multiplicity of backgrounds, the chapter aims at warning the reader that conclusions concerning early Christianity and its relation to animal sacrifice cannot be definite, especially as regards the Christians who lived in Jerusalem that is next to the Temple, before AD 70.
Abdulaziz Sachedina
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195139914
- eISBN:
- 9780199848935
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195139914.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This book tackles the most significant issues facing Muslims today. As Islam and Muslims enter the 21st century, the book argues, it is necessary to reopen the doors of religious interpretation—to ...
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This book tackles the most significant issues facing Muslims today. As Islam and Muslims enter the 21st century, the book argues, it is necessary to reopen the doors of religious interpretation—to re-examine and correct false interpretations, replace outdated laws and formulate new doctrines that respond to changing social contexts. Always using the Quran as a yardstick, the book demonstrates how and why Islamic law came to reflect political and social influences, leading to regulations that violate the spirit and the letter of the Quran. It analyzes critically Muslim teachings on issues of pluralism, civil society, war and peace, violence and self-sacrifice, the status and role of non-Muslims, and capital punishment.Less
This book tackles the most significant issues facing Muslims today. As Islam and Muslims enter the 21st century, the book argues, it is necessary to reopen the doors of religious interpretation—to re-examine and correct false interpretations, replace outdated laws and formulate new doctrines that respond to changing social contexts. Always using the Quran as a yardstick, the book demonstrates how and why Islamic law came to reflect political and social influences, leading to regulations that violate the spirit and the letter of the Quran. It analyzes critically Muslim teachings on issues of pluralism, civil society, war and peace, violence and self-sacrifice, the status and role of non-Muslims, and capital punishment.
Roger Scruton
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195166910
- eISBN:
- 9780199863938
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195166910.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
A tale of forbidden love and inevitable death, the medieval legend of Tristan und Isolde recounts the story of two lovers unknowingly drinking a magic potion and ultimately dying in one another's ...
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A tale of forbidden love and inevitable death, the medieval legend of Tristan und Isolde recounts the story of two lovers unknowingly drinking a magic potion and ultimately dying in one another's arms. While critics have lauded Wagner's Tristan und Isolde for the originality and subtlety of the music, they have denounced the drama as a “mere trifle”—a rendering of Wagner's forbidden love for Matilde Wesendonck, the wife of a banker who supported him during his exile in Switzerland. The book explodes this established interpretation, proving the drama to be more than just a sublimation of the composer's love for Wesendonck or a wistful romantic dream. It attests that Tristan and Isolde has profound religious meaning and remains as relevant today as it was to Wagner's contemporaries, offering also a keen insight into the nature of erotic love, the sacred qualities of human passion, and the peculiar place of the erotic in our culture. It is an argument which touches on the nature of tragedy, the significance of ritual sacrifice, and the meaning of redemption, providing a fresh interpretation of Wagner's masterpiece. This account of Wagner's music drama blends philosophy, criticism, and musicology in order to show the work's importance in the 21st century.Less
A tale of forbidden love and inevitable death, the medieval legend of Tristan und Isolde recounts the story of two lovers unknowingly drinking a magic potion and ultimately dying in one another's arms. While critics have lauded Wagner's Tristan und Isolde for the originality and subtlety of the music, they have denounced the drama as a “mere trifle”—a rendering of Wagner's forbidden love for Matilde Wesendonck, the wife of a banker who supported him during his exile in Switzerland. The book explodes this established interpretation, proving the drama to be more than just a sublimation of the composer's love for Wesendonck or a wistful romantic dream. It attests that Tristan and Isolde has profound religious meaning and remains as relevant today as it was to Wagner's contemporaries, offering also a keen insight into the nature of erotic love, the sacred qualities of human passion, and the peculiar place of the erotic in our culture. It is an argument which touches on the nature of tragedy, the significance of ritual sacrifice, and the meaning of redemption, providing a fresh interpretation of Wagner's masterpiece. This account of Wagner's music drama blends philosophy, criticism, and musicology in order to show the work's importance in the 21st century.
Parvis Ghassem-Fachandi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151762
- eISBN:
- 9781400842599
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151762.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
In 2002, after an altercation between Muslim vendors and Hindu travelers at a railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat, fifty-nine Hindu pilgrims were burned to death. The ruling nationalist ...
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In 2002, after an altercation between Muslim vendors and Hindu travelers at a railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat, fifty-nine Hindu pilgrims were burned to death. The ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party blamed Gujarat's entire Muslim minority for the tragedy and incited fellow Hindus to exact revenge. The resulting violence left more than one thousand people dead—most of them Muslims—and tens of thousands more displaced from their homes. The author witnessed the bloodshed up close. This book provides a riveting ethnographic account of collective violence in which the doctrine of ahimsa—or nonviolence—and the closely associated practices of vegetarianism became implicated by legitimating what they formally disavow. The book looks at how newspapers, movies, and other media helped to fuel the pogrom. It shows how the vegetarian sensibilities of Hindus and the language of sacrifice were manipulated to provoke disgust against Muslims and mobilize the aspiring middle classes across caste and class differences in the name of Hindu nationalism. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of Gujarat's culture and politics and the close ties he shared with some of the pogrom's sympathizers, the book offers a strikingly original interpretation of the different ways in which Hindu proponents of ahimsa became complicit in the very violence they claimed to renounce.Less
In 2002, after an altercation between Muslim vendors and Hindu travelers at a railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat, fifty-nine Hindu pilgrims were burned to death. The ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party blamed Gujarat's entire Muslim minority for the tragedy and incited fellow Hindus to exact revenge. The resulting violence left more than one thousand people dead—most of them Muslims—and tens of thousands more displaced from their homes. The author witnessed the bloodshed up close. This book provides a riveting ethnographic account of collective violence in which the doctrine of ahimsa—or nonviolence—and the closely associated practices of vegetarianism became implicated by legitimating what they formally disavow. The book looks at how newspapers, movies, and other media helped to fuel the pogrom. It shows how the vegetarian sensibilities of Hindus and the language of sacrifice were manipulated to provoke disgust against Muslims and mobilize the aspiring middle classes across caste and class differences in the name of Hindu nationalism. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of Gujarat's culture and politics and the close ties he shared with some of the pogrom's sympathizers, the book offers a strikingly original interpretation of the different ways in which Hindu proponents of ahimsa became complicit in the very violence they claimed to renounce.
Aaron P. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296132
- eISBN:
- 9780191712302
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296132.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter seeks a reappraisal of Eusebius’ political theology from the standpoint of ethnic argumentation. Often characterized as laying the basis for later Christian conceptions of kingship and ...
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This chapter seeks a reappraisal of Eusebius’ political theology from the standpoint of ethnic argumentation. Often characterized as laying the basis for later Christian conceptions of kingship and Byzantine ‘caesaro-papism’, his political thought must be analyzed in the context of his portrayal of Hellenic political or civic theology (that centered upon ancestral cult sites) and his synchronism of Augustus and Christ. Eusebius criticizes Greek polis religion as fundamentally controlled by wicked daemons, who have misled the Greeks and others (including the Romans) into the abominable practices of animal, and even human, sacrifices. Even though the lifetimes of Christ and Augustus are synchronized, Eusebius does so in a way that slights Rome’s power in emphasizing the victory of Christ over daemonic activity. Through close readings of important passages, this chapter shows that Eusebius’ conceptions of Rome and its empire were more ambivalent than previously thought. Furthermore, passages from his later works, which seem to offer theological support to the imperial office, are suggested to carry similar implications to those of his earlier apologetic writings.Less
This chapter seeks a reappraisal of Eusebius’ political theology from the standpoint of ethnic argumentation. Often characterized as laying the basis for later Christian conceptions of kingship and Byzantine ‘caesaro-papism’, his political thought must be analyzed in the context of his portrayal of Hellenic political or civic theology (that centered upon ancestral cult sites) and his synchronism of Augustus and Christ. Eusebius criticizes Greek polis religion as fundamentally controlled by wicked daemons, who have misled the Greeks and others (including the Romans) into the abominable practices of animal, and even human, sacrifices. Even though the lifetimes of Christ and Augustus are synchronized, Eusebius does so in a way that slights Rome’s power in emphasizing the victory of Christ over daemonic activity. Through close readings of important passages, this chapter shows that Eusebius’ conceptions of Rome and its empire were more ambivalent than previously thought. Furthermore, passages from his later works, which seem to offer theological support to the imperial office, are suggested to carry similar implications to those of his earlier apologetic writings.
Anne Marie Oliver and Paul F. Steinberg
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195305593
- eISBN:
- 9780199850815
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305593.003.0038
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Abu–Surur epitomizes “the happy death” touted in countless slogans of the intifada. One gets the impression that his words never felt so wondrous as now, so full of consequence and meaning. The idea ...
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Abu–Surur epitomizes “the happy death” touted in countless slogans of the intifada. One gets the impression that his words never felt so wondrous as now, so full of consequence and meaning. The idea that one had to prepare for self-sacrifice, and rehearse death lovingly as many times as possible was commonplace during the uprising. The “natural” or “accidental” death was something to be avoided at all cost. Hamza Abu–Surur smiled all the time, even when he was sad — a habit that to some suggested a secret.Less
Abu–Surur epitomizes “the happy death” touted in countless slogans of the intifada. One gets the impression that his words never felt so wondrous as now, so full of consequence and meaning. The idea that one had to prepare for self-sacrifice, and rehearse death lovingly as many times as possible was commonplace during the uprising. The “natural” or “accidental” death was something to be avoided at all cost. Hamza Abu–Surur smiled all the time, even when he was sad — a habit that to some suggested a secret.
Caroline Johnson Hodge
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195182163
- eISBN:
- 9780199785612
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182163.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter first elaborates a theory of how kinship and ethnicity are both considered “natural” categories yet are also treated as mutable. It describes the ideology of patrilineal descent and ...
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This chapter first elaborates a theory of how kinship and ethnicity are both considered “natural” categories yet are also treated as mutable. It describes the ideology of patrilineal descent and identifies certain normative assumptions (such as “you are your ancestors”), which accompany this ideology and which invest it with authority. Religious ritual is important because it both ratifies and creates kin relationships: members of patrilineal cultures regulate, sanction, and adjust descent patterns with religious ritual, specifically sacrifice. The chapter presents a series of case studies where kinship and ethnicity are used as strategic practices of persuasion. This survey illustrates a variety of discourses available to 1st-century thinkers such as Paul, and thus lays the groundwork for the subsequent chapters on Paul's use of kinship and ethnicity, where we find similar persuasive practices.Less
This chapter first elaborates a theory of how kinship and ethnicity are both considered “natural” categories yet are also treated as mutable. It describes the ideology of patrilineal descent and identifies certain normative assumptions (such as “you are your ancestors”), which accompany this ideology and which invest it with authority. Religious ritual is important because it both ratifies and creates kin relationships: members of patrilineal cultures regulate, sanction, and adjust descent patterns with religious ritual, specifically sacrifice. The chapter presents a series of case studies where kinship and ethnicity are used as strategic practices of persuasion. This survey illustrates a variety of discourses available to 1st-century thinkers such as Paul, and thus lays the groundwork for the subsequent chapters on Paul's use of kinship and ethnicity, where we find similar persuasive practices.
Gerald SJ O'Collins
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203130
- eISBN:
- 9780191707742
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203130.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
In the aftermath of Anselm of Canterbury's version of redemption as ‘satisfaction’, notions crept in about Christ being literally burdened with all human sin, being punished by God in our place, and ...
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In the aftermath of Anselm of Canterbury's version of redemption as ‘satisfaction’, notions crept in about Christ being literally burdened with all human sin, being punished by God in our place, and so placating the divine anger. This chapter rejects such views and does so by examining the texts on which they commonly rely in the Old Testament and the New Testament.Less
In the aftermath of Anselm of Canterbury's version of redemption as ‘satisfaction’, notions crept in about Christ being literally burdened with all human sin, being punished by God in our place, and so placating the divine anger. This chapter rejects such views and does so by examining the texts on which they commonly rely in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Gerald SJ O'Collins
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203130
- eISBN:
- 9780191707742
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203130.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter discusses what it means to talk about Christ as priest and victim expiating or atoning for human guilt through a unique, once‐and‐for‐all sacrifice. By repairing a world damaged and ...
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This chapter discusses what it means to talk about Christ as priest and victim expiating or atoning for human guilt through a unique, once‐and‐for‐all sacrifice. By repairing a world damaged and polluted by sin, he made possible human beings' new communion with God. If understood correctly, ‘sacrifice’ remains a necessary part of this explanation.Less
This chapter discusses what it means to talk about Christ as priest and victim expiating or atoning for human guilt through a unique, once‐and‐for‐all sacrifice. By repairing a world damaged and polluted by sin, he made possible human beings' new communion with God. If understood correctly, ‘sacrifice’ remains a necessary part of this explanation.
Frank Graziano
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195171303
- eISBN:
- 9780199785193
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171303.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter explores the devotion to Gaucho Gil and other outlaw and criminal folk saints in Argentina. It examines the charismatic, Robin-Hood banditry as a response to poverty and oppression; the ...
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This chapter explores the devotion to Gaucho Gil and other outlaw and criminal folk saints in Argentina. It examines the charismatic, Robin-Hood banditry as a response to poverty and oppression; the themes of sacrifice, martyrdom, and injustice; and the nature of contemporary devotion at the principal shrine in Mercedes and at regional shrines elsewhere.Less
This chapter explores the devotion to Gaucho Gil and other outlaw and criminal folk saints in Argentina. It examines the charismatic, Robin-Hood banditry as a response to poverty and oppression; the themes of sacrifice, martyrdom, and injustice; and the nature of contemporary devotion at the principal shrine in Mercedes and at regional shrines elsewhere.
John L. Meech
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195306941
- eISBN:
- 9780199785018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195306945.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
In order to reconstruct the kind of self presupposed in Paul’s letters, this chapter explores the relation between Pauls self-understanding and the story he tells to identify Israel. As a dyadic ...
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In order to reconstruct the kind of self presupposed in Paul’s letters, this chapter explores the relation between Pauls self-understanding and the story he tells to identify Israel. As a dyadic personality, Paul understands himself in relation to Israel: “I have been crucified with Christ” signifies that Paul has died in Israel. Sacrifice symbolizes the death and resurrection of the sinner; thus, that Christ is a sacrifice means that Israel has passed through death and resurrection in its King, Jesus. Christ can be raised because he goes to the cross anointed with God’s Spirit. Christ is the righteous community in the world that goes into death and rises again. Paul recognizes, in retrospect, that this is the event that “the faith of Abraham” had always anticipated. The Pauline categories of spirit and conscience relate the crucified and resurrected self to the Spirit in the community that dies and rises with Christ.Less
In order to reconstruct the kind of self presupposed in Paul’s letters, this chapter explores the relation between Pauls self-understanding and the story he tells to identify Israel. As a dyadic personality, Paul understands himself in relation to Israel: “I have been crucified with Christ” signifies that Paul has died in Israel. Sacrifice symbolizes the death and resurrection of the sinner; thus, that Christ is a sacrifice means that Israel has passed through death and resurrection in its King, Jesus. Christ can be raised because he goes to the cross anointed with God’s Spirit. Christ is the righteous community in the world that goes into death and rises again. Paul recognizes, in retrospect, that this is the event that “the faith of Abraham” had always anticipated. The Pauline categories of spirit and conscience relate the crucified and resurrected self to the Spirit in the community that dies and rises with Christ.
Robert Merrihew Adams
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207510
- eISBN:
- 9780191708824
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207510.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Finding an appropriate way of evaluating altruistic benevolence is a crucial test of a theory of virtue as a sort of intrinsic excellence. Some may think that altruism is sufficiently commended by ...
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Finding an appropriate way of evaluating altruistic benevolence is a crucial test of a theory of virtue as a sort of intrinsic excellence. Some may think that altruism is sufficiently commended by its social benefits without any thought of such excellence. Consideration of Nietzsche's critique of altruism leads, however, to an argument that it is morally important that altruism be intrinsically excellent. This is followed by an argument that altruism has indeed such excellence. Not that altruism must (or indeed should) be unmixed with other motives. Relations between altruism and self-sacrifice on the one hand, and agent-centered or self-regarding motives such as conscientiousness and self-respect on the other, are explored.Less
Finding an appropriate way of evaluating altruistic benevolence is a crucial test of a theory of virtue as a sort of intrinsic excellence. Some may think that altruism is sufficiently commended by its social benefits without any thought of such excellence. Consideration of Nietzsche's critique of altruism leads, however, to an argument that it is morally important that altruism be intrinsically excellent. This is followed by an argument that altruism has indeed such excellence. Not that altruism must (or indeed should) be unmixed with other motives. Relations between altruism and self-sacrifice on the one hand, and agent-centered or self-regarding motives such as conscientiousness and self-respect on the other, are explored.
Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151250
- eISBN:
- 9781400838837
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151250.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, History of Economic Thought
Why do humans, uniquely among animals, cooperate in large numbers to advance projects for the common good? Contrary to the conventional wisdom in biology and economics, this generous and civic-minded ...
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Why do humans, uniquely among animals, cooperate in large numbers to advance projects for the common good? Contrary to the conventional wisdom in biology and economics, this generous and civic-minded behavior is widespread and cannot be explained simply by far-sighted self-interest or a desire to help close genealogical kin. This book shows that the central issue is not why selfish people act generously, but instead how genetic and cultural evolution has produced a species in which substantial numbers make sacrifices to uphold ethical norms and to help even total strangers. The book describes how, for thousands of generations, cooperation with fellow group members has been essential to survival. Groups that created institutions to protect the civic-minded from exploitation by the selfish flourished and prevailed in conflicts with less cooperative groups. Key to this process was the evolution of social emotions such as shame and guilt, and our capacity to internalize social norms so that acting ethically became a personal goal rather than simply a prudent way to avoid punishment. Using experimental, archaeological, genetic, and ethnographic data to calibrate models of the coevolution of genes and culture as well as prehistoric warfare and other forms of group competition, the book provides a compelling and novel account of human cooperation.Less
Why do humans, uniquely among animals, cooperate in large numbers to advance projects for the common good? Contrary to the conventional wisdom in biology and economics, this generous and civic-minded behavior is widespread and cannot be explained simply by far-sighted self-interest or a desire to help close genealogical kin. This book shows that the central issue is not why selfish people act generously, but instead how genetic and cultural evolution has produced a species in which substantial numbers make sacrifices to uphold ethical norms and to help even total strangers. The book describes how, for thousands of generations, cooperation with fellow group members has been essential to survival. Groups that created institutions to protect the civic-minded from exploitation by the selfish flourished and prevailed in conflicts with less cooperative groups. Key to this process was the evolution of social emotions such as shame and guilt, and our capacity to internalize social norms so that acting ethically became a personal goal rather than simply a prudent way to avoid punishment. Using experimental, archaeological, genetic, and ethnographic data to calibrate models of the coevolution of genes and culture as well as prehistoric warfare and other forms of group competition, the book provides a compelling and novel account of human cooperation.
Maurizio Viroli
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198293583
- eISBN:
- 9780191600289
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198293585.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Explores the contrast between the ‘politics of the moderns’ and the ‘politics of the ancients’ in eighteenth century republican thought. Montesquieu and Rousseau are two great thinkers who attempted ...
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Explores the contrast between the ‘politics of the moderns’ and the ‘politics of the ancients’ in eighteenth century republican thought. Montesquieu and Rousseau are two great thinkers who attempted to revive ancient patriotism within a modern context. The question for both was how to make modern patriotism compatible with individuals’ private interests, given that modern men are incapable of the ancients’ heroic self‐sacrifice for their country.Less
Explores the contrast between the ‘politics of the moderns’ and the ‘politics of the ancients’ in eighteenth century republican thought. Montesquieu and Rousseau are two great thinkers who attempted to revive ancient patriotism within a modern context. The question for both was how to make modern patriotism compatible with individuals’ private interests, given that modern men are incapable of the ancients’ heroic self‐sacrifice for their country.
Martin Francis
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199277483
- eISBN:
- 9780191699948
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277483.003.0050
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. It argues that the flyer continues to be held in high esteem because his courage and sacrifice coincided with the last hurrah of the ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. It argues that the flyer continues to be held in high esteem because his courage and sacrifice coincided with the last hurrah of the romance of flight. However, while he had attained rarefied status through his ability to ride above the clouds, in a world still inaccessible and unfamiliar to his contemporaries, the flyer was also grounded in the sensibilities, values, and social fabric of the society from which he came, albeit one that was being violently refashioned by the requirements of wartime mobilisation.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. It argues that the flyer continues to be held in high esteem because his courage and sacrifice coincided with the last hurrah of the romance of flight. However, while he had attained rarefied status through his ability to ride above the clouds, in a world still inaccessible and unfamiliar to his contemporaries, the flyer was also grounded in the sensibilities, values, and social fabric of the society from which he came, albeit one that was being violently refashioned by the requirements of wartime mobilisation.
Gerald O'Collins, SJ and Michael Keenan Jones
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199576456
- eISBN:
- 9780191723032
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576456.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
In recent years many books have been published in the area of Christology (who is Jesus in himself?) and soteriology (what did he do as Saviour?). Several notable, ecumenical documents on Christian ...
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In recent years many books have been published in the area of Christology (who is Jesus in himself?) and soteriology (what did he do as Saviour?). Several notable, ecumenical documents on Christian ministry have also appeared. But in all this literature there is surprisingly little reflection on the sacrifice of Christ and the priesthood of Christ, from which derives all ministry, whether the priesthood of all the faithful or ministerial priesthood. The present work aims to fill that gap by examining, in the light of the Scriptures and the Christian tradition, what it means to call Christ the High Priest of the new covenant (Letter to the Hebrews). After gathering and evaluating the relevant data from the Bible, the book moves to the witness to Christ's priesthood coming from the fathers of the Church, Thomas Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, the Council of Trent, the seventeenth-century ‘French School’, John Henry Newman, Tom Torrance, and the Second Vatican Council (1962–5). Two concluding chapters describe and define in twelve theses the key characteristics of Christ's priesthood and then in a further twelve theses what sharing in that priesthood through baptism and ordination involves.Less
In recent years many books have been published in the area of Christology (who is Jesus in himself?) and soteriology (what did he do as Saviour?). Several notable, ecumenical documents on Christian ministry have also appeared. But in all this literature there is surprisingly little reflection on the sacrifice of Christ and the priesthood of Christ, from which derives all ministry, whether the priesthood of all the faithful or ministerial priesthood. The present work aims to fill that gap by examining, in the light of the Scriptures and the Christian tradition, what it means to call Christ the High Priest of the new covenant (Letter to the Hebrews). After gathering and evaluating the relevant data from the Bible, the book moves to the witness to Christ's priesthood coming from the fathers of the Church, Thomas Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, the Council of Trent, the seventeenth-century ‘French School’, John Henry Newman, Tom Torrance, and the Second Vatican Council (1962–5). Two concluding chapters describe and define in twelve theses the key characteristics of Christ's priesthood and then in a further twelve theses what sharing in that priesthood through baptism and ordination involves.
Jonathon S. Kahn
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195307894
- eISBN:
- 9780199867516
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195307894.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
A crucial moral virtue of Du Bois's religious discourse is the virtue of sacrifice. His discourse of sacrifice is composed of two halves. The first half is contained in his series of parables that ...
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A crucial moral virtue of Du Bois's religious discourse is the virtue of sacrifice. His discourse of sacrifice is composed of two halves. The first half is contained in his series of parables that depict the lynching of a black Christ figures. The other half is what he calls his “Gospel of Sacrifice,” in which he enjoins black Americans to sacrifice for each other and the country at large. The difficult questions at the heart of this chapter revolve around understanding these two halves of Du Bois's sacrificial discourse. This chapter argues that despite its dangers, Du Bois acts as a Durkheimian priest and battles America's sacrificial perversions with an empowering discourse of sacrifice of his own. Du Bois attempts to transform black Americans from the victims of a sacrificial system into agents of a sacrificial system who then make claims on the political, social, and even material goods of the sacrificial system.Less
A crucial moral virtue of Du Bois's religious discourse is the virtue of sacrifice. His discourse of sacrifice is composed of two halves. The first half is contained in his series of parables that depict the lynching of a black Christ figures. The other half is what he calls his “Gospel of Sacrifice,” in which he enjoins black Americans to sacrifice for each other and the country at large. The difficult questions at the heart of this chapter revolve around understanding these two halves of Du Bois's sacrificial discourse. This chapter argues that despite its dangers, Du Bois acts as a Durkheimian priest and battles America's sacrificial perversions with an empowering discourse of sacrifice of his own. Du Bois attempts to transform black Americans from the victims of a sacrificial system into agents of a sacrificial system who then make claims on the political, social, and even material goods of the sacrificial system.
Axel Michaels
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195343021
- eISBN:
- 9780199866984
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343021.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter deals with the festival of the local goddess Pīgãmāī situated under the Ring Road which surrounds Kathmandu. It is made up of a group of twenty‐two children representing the Navadurgā ...
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This chapter deals with the festival of the local goddess Pīgãmāī situated under the Ring Road which surrounds Kathmandu. It is made up of a group of twenty‐two children representing the Navadurgā and other deities who are worshipped. It is celebrated with animal sacrifices and a procession through Deopatan.Less
This chapter deals with the festival of the local goddess Pīgãmāī situated under the Ring Road which surrounds Kathmandu. It is made up of a group of twenty‐two children representing the Navadurgā and other deities who are worshipped. It is celebrated with animal sacrifices and a procession through Deopatan.
Axel Michaels
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195343021
- eISBN:
- 9780199866984
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343021.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter explores the main festival of Deopatan, the Vatsalājātrā, i.e. the rituals and processions that celebrate the goddess Vatsalā who is regarded as both an independent deity and the consort ...
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This chapter explores the main festival of Deopatan, the Vatsalājātrā, i.e. the rituals and processions that celebrate the goddess Vatsalā who is regarded as both an independent deity and the consort of Śiva. The climax of the festival is a ritual clash between both deities because Śiva rejects Vatsalā because she accepted animal sacrifices and great amounts of alcohol. The rituals also provide indications of former human sacrifices.Less
This chapter explores the main festival of Deopatan, the Vatsalājātrā, i.e. the rituals and processions that celebrate the goddess Vatsalā who is regarded as both an independent deity and the consort of Śiva. The climax of the festival is a ritual clash between both deities because Śiva rejects Vatsalā because she accepted animal sacrifices and great amounts of alcohol. The rituals also provide indications of former human sacrifices.
