Some Reflections On the Relationship Magic-Religion

Numen ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.S. Versnel
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Scholarly Discourse ◽  
Functionalist Approach ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe well-known substantialist-'Frazerian'-definitions of magic as distinct from religion by its immediate and individual goals, the concomitant manipulative and coercive attitude, the instrumental and mechanical type of action etc., have been under attack for more than half a century. Anthropologists in particular have argued that no meaningful contrast between religion and magic can be gained from this approach and that our notion 'magic' is a modern-western biased construct which does not fit representations of other cultures. Consequently, in the view of some of them, the term 'magic' should be altogether avoided. Furthermore, with respect to the ancient and early modern world, in which the opposition religion-magic is supposed to have originated, it is argued that magic and religion function exclusively as value-judgments, terms indicating 'magic' being exploited to stigmatize illegitimate or undesired (religious) behaviour of socially or culturally deviant groups. In the present article it is argued that-although admittedly this functionalist approach has yielded remarkable and lasting results-rejection of the term 'magic' will soon turn out to be unworkable and, in fact, is putting the cart before the horse. From an etic point of view-which in the view of the author is the only possible way to conduct scholarly discourse-it will be impossible to do cultural research without the aid of heuristic instruments such as-at least broad, polythetic or prototypical-definitions. And, if possible at all, it would be utterly unpractical to completely eliminate religion as one of the obvious models of contrast. This position is substantiated with some practical instances from the Graeco-Roman world. It is shown that, at least in the context of (magical) curse-tablets and-related but clearly distinct-(religious) prayers for justice or vengeance, the ancient authors were clearly aware of the very same distinctions modern people normally associate with the notions of magic and religion.

scholarly journals BUDDHISM AND MODERNITY: IN THE MARGIN OF DONALD S. LOPEZ JR.'S "BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE

2016 ◽  
Vol 57 (133) ◽  
pp. 323-343
Author(s):  
Bruno Lo Turco
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Science And Religion ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
International Scholarship ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACT The present article aims at setting the issue of the relationship between Buddhism and science in a historical and philosophical frame wider than that one taken into account by the international scholarship so far. The historical point of view allows us to conclude that the narrative that connects Buddhism with science is not based on features intrinsic to Buddhist thought. In fact, such narrative prospered thanks to the development of a dialectic, typical of the 18th and 19th centuries, between science and religion. The philosophical point of view allows us to conclude that such narrative is backed by a metaphysical-like thought that denies the specificity of both science and Buddhism.

The Sacred Canopy

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-25
Author(s):  
Isaac Nizigama
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Sociology Of Religion ◽  
Methodological Individualism ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Multidimensional Approach ◽  
Sacred Canopy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Methodological Holism ◽  
Epistemological Framework

Peter L. Berger’s sociology of religion is one of the most studied and quoted in the contemporary social science of religions. Nevertheless, it is also one of the most discussed, notably because of the changes of position by the author with regard to his thought on the secularization of the modern world, and on the relationship between his theses of a sociological nature and his reflections on Protestant theology. The present article questions his global epistemological framework by placing that problematic within the framework of the criticisms which have been directed at ‘absolute functionalism,’ notably by the structuralists or moderate functionalists. By linking it with the prospect of going beyond the opposition between methodological holism and methodological individualism and between substantivism and functionalism, we propose a multidimensional approach to the religious, which seems to lead to a better understanding of the latter in its transformations and metamorphoses into modernity.

scholarly journals La vinculación entre geopolítica y seguridad: algunas apreciaciones conceptuales y teóricas/ The link between geopolitics and security: a conceptual and theoretical assessment

2017 ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Lester Martin Cabrera Toledo
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Siglo Xx ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Theoretical Assessment ◽  
The Way

El presente artículo establece una discusión teórica sobre la vinculación que existe entre la geopolítica y la seguridad. En este sentido, la discusión se aprecia desde un punto de vista en torno a la evolución que ha tenido la relación entre geopolítica y seguridad, particularmente sobre la forma en que se comprenden tanto los procesos conflictivos y los actores que se ven involucrados. Así, se establece la vinculación desde comienzos del siglo XX hasta la actualidad, donde se percibe la necesidad de comprender tanto a la geopolítica como a la seguridad desde otros puntos de vista en los que incluso sus elementos básicos se ven cuestionados. Se concluye que se requiere una comprensión holística de ambas perspectivas para entender y explicar los nuevos fenómenos conflictivos, sin descartar la totalidad de los postulados clásicos. ABSTRACTThe present article seeks to establish a theoretical discussion about the link between geopolitics and security. In this sense, the discussion is seen from a point of view on the evolution of the relationship between geopolitics and security, particularly on the way in which both conflicting processes and the actors involved are understood. Thus, it is established the linkage from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, where it is perceived the need to understand both geopolitics and security from other points of view, in which even its basic elements are questioned. It concludes that a holistic understanding of both perspectives is required to understand and explain the new conflicting phenomena, without ruling out the totality of the classical postulates.

scholarly journals The Place of the Saint Ladislaus’ Monarchy in the Medieval Europe according to the Western Chroniclers at the time of the First Crusade

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 77-84
Author(s):  
Bartłomiej Dźwigała
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
First Crusade ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
Western European ◽  
The Relationship

The present article examines the First Crusade’s passage through the Kingdom of Hungary. Basing on the two main narrative sources: the Historia Ierosolimitana of Albert of Aachen and the chronicle of the William of Tyre the author comments on the relationship between the king of Hungary, Coloman the Learned, and Western European crusaders, which is the starting point to discuss a wider problem of opinion on newly christianizeed Hungary from the post-Carolingian Europe’s point of view. As it has been shown, the Kingdom of Hungary at the time of the First Crusade was perceived as a member of Latin Christendom. Furthermore there is no evidence in contemporary Latin narrative sources for the chroniclers’ negative approach towards Hunagarian Monarchy. 

The Scandal of Kabbalah

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaacob Dweck
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Jewish Life ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Culture War ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Jewish Mysticism ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

This is the first book about the origins of a culture war that began in early modern Europe and continues to this day: the debate between kabbalists and their critics on the nature of Judaism and the meaning of religious tradition. From its medieval beginnings as an esoteric form of Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah spread throughout the early modern world and became a central feature of Jewish life. Scholars have long studied the revolutionary impact of Kabbalah, but, as this book argues, they have misunderstood the character and timing of opposition to it. Drawing on a range of previously unexamined sources, this book tells the story of the first criticism of Kabbalah, Ari Nohem, written by Leon Modena in Venice in 1639. In this scathing indictment of Venetian Jews who had embraced Kabbalah as an authentic form of ancient esotericism, Modena proved the recent origins of Kabbalah and sought to convince his readers to return to the spiritualized rationalism of Maimonides. This book examines the hallmarks of Jewish modernity displayed by Modena's attack—a critical analysis of sacred texts, skepticism about religious truths, and self-consciousness about the past—and shows how these qualities and the later history of his polemic challenge conventional understandings of the relationship between Kabbalah and modernity. The book argues that Kabbalah was the subject of critical inquiry in the very period it came to dominate Jewish life rather than centuries later as most scholars have thought.

Körpererfahrung und Geisteraustreibung

Daphnis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-635
Author(s):  
Vera Faßhauer
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
World View ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Mental Issues

Abstract Wearing the features of the artist’s own contorted face, Messerschmidt’s grimacing Head Pieces have been mystifying their viewers for centuries. Most interpreters have regarded them from a purely artistic point of view and tended to certify the sculptor’s serious mental issues. This article takes an interdisciplinary and intermedial approach to Messerschmidt’s busts by paralleling them with the diary records of the physician Senckenberg, which likewise mirror the author’s meticulous self-observation and are consequently perceived with similar irritation. It is shown that the frequent pathologization of both Messerschmidt’s and Senckenberg’s work derives not least from the decidedly non-academic nature of their self-studies, which they felt were impeded by the temptations of daemons jealous of their insight into arcane knowledge. Rather than passing verdicts on the authors’ mental health or the validity of their religious and professional convictions, their motivations are to be considered according to their own early modern world view.

Empires and protection: making interpolity law in the early modern world

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Benton ◽  
Adam Clulow
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Exact Nature ◽  
Dual Character ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractReferences to protection were ubiquitous across the early modern world, featuring in a range of transactions between polities in very different regions. And yet discourses about protection retained a quality of imprecision that makes it difficult to pin down precise legal statuses and responsibilities. It was often unclear who was protecting whom or the exact nature of the relationship. In this article, we interrogate standard distinctions about the dual character of protection that differentiate between ‘inside’ protection of subjects and ‘outside’ protection of allies and other external groups. Rather than a clear division, we find a blurring of lines, with many protection claims creatively combining ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ protection. We argue that the juxtaposition of these ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ meanings of protection underpinned the formation of irregular, interpenetrating zones of imperial suzerainty in crowded maritime arenas and conflict-ridden borderlands across the early modern world.

scholarly journals Klauzura północno-wschodniej Azji na mapach średniowiecznych i wczesnonowożytnych

Vox Patrum ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 211-344
Author(s):  
Piotr Kochanek
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Geographical Knowledge ◽  
Historical Changes ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Way

The present article explores 44 medieval and early modern world maps. The subject of research are three graphic topoi, that evoke the image of the biblical and historical enemy from the north: Gog and Magog, Caspian Gates (Portae Caspiae) and the inclosed nations (inclusae nationes). These topoi were localized in north-east Asia. For this reason the title of the article includes the concept of the enclosed area of north-east Asia. There are also analyzed vignettes of the cities, which are located on the territory of the enclosed area. The aim of the article is to show the changes which over several centuries have occurred within the in­terpretation of these three topoi. This evolution has been closely associated with the expansion of geographical horizon of Europeans. Geopolitical and historical changes were also an important factor of this evolution. All these elements have an impact on the way of looking at the enclosed area of north-east Asia. Important factor was also philosophy and theology. Slows fear of the enemy from the north gave way to curiosity, and curiosity prompted the Europeans to get to know this part of Asia. Graphical topos has been replaced by geographical knowledge, that has been transferred to the maps.

scholarly journals Between Nature and Culture : The Integrated Ecology of Renaissance Climate Theories

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Miglietti
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
The Relationship

‘Climate theories’ are often explained away in scholarship as pseudosciences irrelevant to the modern world, or as morally problematic forms of geographic determinism. This chapter instead argues that such theories still offer a valuable lens not only for understanding how early modern people conceptualized the relationship between human culture and nonhuman nature, but also for resituating ourselves with respect to this very same issue. Are we humans above and outside nature, or are we an integral part of it, caught in its dynamics and affected by its internal changes—including those resulting from our own agency? Three sixteenth-century authors (Le Roy, Bodin, La Framboisière) are here brought into dialogue with contemporary thinkers (Descola, Latour) to reappraise the ‘integrated ecology’ of nature and culture proposed by early modern climate theorists.

Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 153-158
Author(s):  
Stefania Tutino
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Catholic Culture ◽  
Modern Europe ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter concludes the book by providing some reflections about the meaning of forgeries in early modern Europe. It examines the effects that the growing ability to detect forgeries had on the intellectual and cultural landscape of early modern Europe, and it shows the peculiar tension that this provoked in early modern Catholic culture. The chapter also shows that the relationship between evidence, truth, authenticity, and belief was as complex for early modern people as it is for us, albeit in different terms. Reflecting on what changed between then and now, and on and what didn't, can help us understand better not only the early modern world, but also our own.

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