ANTHROPOLOGY AS ETHICS
Nondualism and the Conduct of Sacrifice
T. M. S. Evens
Published in 2008 by
Berghahn Books
© 2008, 2009 T. M. S. Evens
First paperback edition published in 2009
First ebook edition published in 2011
All rights reserved.
Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Evens, T. M. S.
Anthropology as ethics : nondualism and the conduct of sacrifice / by T. M. S. Evens. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-84545-224-7 (hbk : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-84545-629-0 (pbk : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-0-85745-006-7 (ebk)
1. Ethics. 2. Dualism. 3. Sacrifice. 4. Anthropology—Philosophy. I. Title.
BJ1031.E94 2007
301.01—dc22
2006100541
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-84545-224-7 hardback
ISBN 978-1-84545-629-0 paperback
ISBN 978-0-85745-006-7 ebook
For Susan, my beloved—we grow old together.
CONTENTS
Introduction: Nondualism, Ontology, and Anthropology
PART I The Ethnographic Self: The Socio-political Pathology of Modernity
1. Anthropology and the Synthetic a Priori: Wittgenstein and Merleau-Ponty
2. Blind Faith and the Binding of Isaac—the Akedah
3. Excursus I: Sacrifice as Human Existence
4. Counter-Sacrifice and Instrumental Reason—the Holocaust
5. Bourdieu's Anti-dualism and “Generalized Materialism”
6. Habermas's Anti-dualism and “Communicative Rationality”
PART II The Ethnographic Other: The Ethical Openness of Archaic Understanding
7. Technological Efficacy, Mythic Rationality, and Non-contradiction
8. Epistemic Efficacy, Mythic Rationality, and Non-contradiction
9. Contradiction and Choice among the Dinka and in Genesis
10. Contradiction in Azande Oracular Practice and in Psychotherapeutic Interaction
PART III From Mythic to Value-Rationality: Toward Ethical Gain
11. Epistemic and Ethical Gain
12. Transcending Dualism and Amplifying Choice
13. Excursus II: What Good, Ethics?
14. Anthropology and the Generative Primacy of Moral Order
Conclusion: Emancipatory Selfhood and Value-Rationality
PREFACE
