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18 - Ritual

from Part III - Media and Modes of Ethical Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2023

By
Letha Victor  and
Michael Lambek
Edited by
James Laidlaw
James Laidlaw
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

Given the plurality of uses to which the terms ‘ethics’ and ‘ritual’ are put, we focus on only one tradition of thought about their relationship, namely that stemming from Austin – in which ritual is understood as an act or as a particular modality of action with ethical entailments. After elaborating this position in the first half of the essay, we juxtapose it with an ethnographic description of life in northern Uganda. The ethnography serves both to support aspects of the formal argument and to show that conditions ‘on the ground’ readily escape any formal model. If ritual performance sets the criteria for ethical judgement, ethical concerns establish the choice of ritual performed. Ethical life is shaped by ritual enactment yet is also challenged by circumstances beyond what any given ritual, liturgical order, or theoretical apparatus can provide.

Keywords

illocutionary forceactsjudgementintentionliturgical orderpluralismAcholiUgandaLakwenapollution
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Chapter
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The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Ethics , pp. 460 - 484
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Ritual
  • Edited by James Laidlaw, University of Cambridge
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Ethics
  • Online publication: 11 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108591249.018
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  • Ritual
  • Edited by James Laidlaw, University of Cambridge
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Ethics
  • Online publication: 11 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108591249.018
Available formats
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  • Ritual
  • Edited by James Laidlaw, University of Cambridge
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Ethics
  • Online publication: 11 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108591249.018
Available formats
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