Learning to Understand Others
The Pragmatic Rhetoric of Ethnography and Religious Ethics in Clifford Geertz’s 'Works and Lives'
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/eph.v22i2.26140Keywords:
otherness, pragmatism, rhetoric, translation, dialogueAbstract
This article examines literature from cultural anthropology for insights into ethics. It particularly addresses the moral issue of justly understanding those people different from oneself. Clifford Geertz, pragmatist as well as anthropologist, draws upon the rhetorical theory of Kenneth Burke in his 1988 book Works and Lives. Just this sort of cross-disciplinary borrowing offers resources for understanding what were once religiously-based ethics in a humanistic context. The rhetorical style of various cultural anthropologists serves to inform the rhetorical forms of appeal of theistic and non- theistic ethics.
References
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Baldwin, James. 1988 [1962]. The Fire Next Time. Laurel paperback ed. New York: Dell Publishing.
Benedict, Ruth. 1946. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.
———. 1932. Patterns of Culture. New York: Mentor Books, 1950.
———. 1925. “The Uses of Cannibalism.” In An Anthropologist at Work: Writings of Ruth Benedict, edited by Margaret Mead, 44–48. New York: Atherton Press, 1959.
Bromwich, David. 1989. “Some Uses of Biography.” In A Choice of Inheritance, 232–246. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
Burke, Kenneth. 1961 [1937]. Attitudes Toward History. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Clifford, James. 1983 “On Ethnographic Authority.” Representations 2: 118–146. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/rep.1983.2.1.99p0010p
———. 1986. “On Ethnographic Allegory.” In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and G. E. Marcus, 98–112. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.
Clifford, James. and G. E. Marcus, eds. 1986. Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1937. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———. 1956. Nuer Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———. 1973. “Operations on the Akobo and Gila Rivers, 1940–1941.” The Army Quarterly and Defense Journal 103: 470–479.
Hauerwas, Stanley. 1981. A Community of Character: Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
———. 1983. Local Knowledge. New York: Basic Books.
———. 1986. “The Uses of Diversity.” In The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, vol.7, edited by S. McMurrin, 253–275. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———. 1988. Works and Lives: The Anthropologist as Author. Palo Alto CA: Stanford University Press.
James, William. 1949 [1899]. “On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings.” In Essays on Faith and Morals. London: Longmans, Green.
Levinson, Henry. S. 1990. “Pragmatic Naturalism and the Spiritual Life.” Raritan: A Quarterly Review 10: 70–86.
Levi-Strauss, Claude. 1963 [1958]. Structural Anthropology. Translated by Claire Jacobson and Brooke Grundfest Schoepf. New York: Basic Books.
———. 1976 [1955]. Tristes Tropiques. Translated by John and Doreen Weightman. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1989 [1967]. A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term. Palo Alto CA: Stanford University Press.
———. 1992 [1948]. Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
Rabinow, Paul. 1986. “Representations Are Social Facts: Modernity and Post-Modernity in Anthropology.” In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and G. E. Marcus, 234–261. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.
Rorty, Richard. 1989. Contingency, Irony, Solidarity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511804397
———. 1991 [1986]. “On ethnocentrism: A reply to Clifford Geertz.” In Objectivity, Relativism, and Truth: Philosophical Papers, Vol. 1, 203–210. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rosaldo, Renato. 1989. Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
———. 1986. “From the Door of His Tent: The Fieldworker and the Inquisitor.” In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and G. E. Marcus, 77–97. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Santayana, George. 1982 [1905]. Reason in Religion. New York: Dover Publications.
Stout, Jeffrey. 1982. “What is the Meaning of a Text?” New Literary History XIV: 1–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/468954
Tyler, Stephen A. 1986. “Post-Modern Ethnography: From Document of the Occult to Occult Document.” In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and G. E Marcus, 122–140. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.
White, Hayden. 1987 [1984]. “Foucault’s Discourse: The Historiography of Anti-Humanism.” In The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, 104–141. Baltimore MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Baldwin, James. 1988 [1962]. The Fire Next Time. Laurel paperback ed. New York: Dell Publishing.
Benedict, Ruth. 1946. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.
———. 1932. Patterns of Culture. New York: Mentor Books, 1950.
———. 1925. “The Uses of Cannibalism.” In An Anthropologist at Work: Writings of Ruth Benedict, edited by Margaret Mead, 44–48. New York: Atherton Press, 1959.
Bromwich, David. 1989. “Some Uses of Biography.” In A Choice of Inheritance, 232–246. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
Burke, Kenneth. 1961 [1937]. Attitudes Toward History. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Clifford, James. 1983 “On Ethnographic Authority.” Representations 2: 118–146. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/rep.1983.2.1.99p0010p
———. 1986. “On Ethnographic Allegory.” In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and G. E. Marcus, 98–112. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.
Clifford, James. and G. E. Marcus, eds. 1986. Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1937. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———. 1956. Nuer Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———. 1973. “Operations on the Akobo and Gila Rivers, 1940–1941.” The Army Quarterly and Defense Journal 103: 470–479.
Hauerwas, Stanley. 1981. A Community of Character: Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
———. 1983. Local Knowledge. New York: Basic Books.
———. 1986. “The Uses of Diversity.” In The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, vol.7, edited by S. McMurrin, 253–275. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———. 1988. Works and Lives: The Anthropologist as Author. Palo Alto CA: Stanford University Press.
James, William. 1949 [1899]. “On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings.” In Essays on Faith and Morals. London: Longmans, Green.
Levinson, Henry. S. 1990. “Pragmatic Naturalism and the Spiritual Life.” Raritan: A Quarterly Review 10: 70–86.
Levi-Strauss, Claude. 1963 [1958]. Structural Anthropology. Translated by Claire Jacobson and Brooke Grundfest Schoepf. New York: Basic Books.
———. 1976 [1955]. Tristes Tropiques. Translated by John and Doreen Weightman. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1989 [1967]. A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term. Palo Alto CA: Stanford University Press.
———. 1992 [1948]. Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
Rabinow, Paul. 1986. “Representations Are Social Facts: Modernity and Post-Modernity in Anthropology.” In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and G. E. Marcus, 234–261. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.
Rorty, Richard. 1989. Contingency, Irony, Solidarity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511804397
———. 1991 [1986]. “On ethnocentrism: A reply to Clifford Geertz.” In Objectivity, Relativism, and Truth: Philosophical Papers, Vol. 1, 203–210. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rosaldo, Renato. 1989. Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
———. 1986. “From the Door of His Tent: The Fieldworker and the Inquisitor.” In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and G. E. Marcus, 77–97. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Santayana, George. 1982 [1905]. Reason in Religion. New York: Dover Publications.
Stout, Jeffrey. 1982. “What is the Meaning of a Text?” New Literary History XIV: 1–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/468954
Tyler, Stephen A. 1986. “Post-Modern Ethnography: From Document of the Occult to Occult Document.” In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and G. E Marcus, 122–140. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.
White, Hayden. 1987 [1984]. “Foucault’s Discourse: The Historiography of Anti-Humanism.” In The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, 104–141. Baltimore MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Published
2015-04-17
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Eddy, B. (2015). Learning to Understand Others: The Pragmatic Rhetoric of Ethnography and Religious Ethics in Clifford Geertz’s ’Works and Lives’. Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism, 22(2), 137–157. https://doi.org/10.1558/eph.v22i2.26140
