Overview
How do rituals work? Although this is one of the first questions that people everywhere ask about rituals, little has been written explicitly on the topic. In The Problem of Ritual Efficacy, nine scholars address this issue, ranging across the fields of history, anthropology, medicine, and biblical studies.For ""modern"" people, the very notion of ritual efficacy is suspicious because rituals are widely thought of as merely symbolic or expressive, so that - by definition - they cannot be efficacious. Nevertheless people in many cultures assume that rituals do indeed ""work,"" and when we take a closer look at who makes claims for ritual efficacy (and who disputes such claims), we learn a great deal about the social and historical contexts of such debates. Moving from the pre-modern era-in which the notion of ritual efficacy was not particularly controversial-into the skeptical present, the authors address a set of debates between positivists, natural scientists, and religious skeptics on the one side, and interpretive social scientists, phenomenologists, and religious believers on the other. Some contributors advance a particular theory of ritual efficacy while others ask whether the question makes any sense at all.This path-breaking interdisciplinary collection will be of interest to readers in anthropology, history, religious studies, humanities and the social sciences broadly defined, and makes an important contribution to the larger conversation about what ritual does and why it matters to think about such things.
Full Product Details
Author: William Sax (Professor of Anthropology, Professor of Anthropology, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg) ,
Johannes Quack (Lecturer of Religious Studies and Anthropology, Lecturer of Religious Studies and Anthropology, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg) ,
Jan Weinhold (Research psychologist, Research psychologist, Collaborative Research Centre, Institute of Medical Psychology, University of Heidelberg)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 15.50cm
, Height: 1.30cm
, Length: 23.10cm
Weight: 0.295kg
ISBN: 9780195394412
ISBN 10: 0195394410
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 18 February 2010
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
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Reviews
<br> This collection of essays addresses the knotty and important problem of the efficacy of ritual from a variety of perspectives spanning the disciplines of anthropology and theology. Thematically focused and substantively rich, the volume will have considerable appeal to scholars and students in the fields of anthropology of religion, history of religions, ritual studies, and theology. <br> <br>-- Thomas J. Csordas, author of Body/Meaning/Healing and The Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology of Charismatic Healing <br> <br><br>
<br> This collection of essays addresses the knotty and important problem of the efficacy of ritual from a variety of perspectives spanning the disciplines of anthropology and theology. Thematically focused and substantively rich, the volume will have considerable appeal to scholars and students in the fields of anthropology of religion, history of religions, ritual studies, and theology. <br><br>-- Thomas J. Csordas, author of Body/Meaning/Healing and The Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology of Charismatic Healing<br><br><p><br>
This collection of essays addresses the knotty and important problem of the efficacy of ritual from a variety of perspectives spanning the disciplines of anthropology and theology. Thematically focused and substantively rich, the volume will have considerable appeal to scholars and students in the fields of anthropology of religion, history of religions, ritual studies, and theology. -- Thomas J. Csordas, author of Body/Meaning/Healing and The Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology of Charismatic Healing
Author Information
For more information on the Oxford Ritual Studies Series, visit http://ritualstudies.com
