El moderno tabú de la muerte se manifiesta en algunas residencias de ancianos mediante el ocultamiento de los fallecimientos producidos y la aparente eliminación de los ritos, el luto y el duelo. No obstante, del tabú surgirán prácticas proxémicas que derivarán en nuevos rituales funerarios. La pandemia exacerbará dichas prácticas.

Durante los años 80 en Buenos Aires comenzaron a multiplicarse los casos de una enfermedad mortal que afectaba especialmente a jóvenes. Silenciosa y desconocida, generó pánico y estigmatización hacia quienes la contraían ya que no se conocía las verdaderas formas de contagio y la muerte de los infectados resultaba inminente. En esos años, el sida fue catalogado como “peste rosa” o “un justo castigo divino” por sectores vinculados a la iglesia que acusaban a los enfermos de prácticas promiscuas y (...) vergonzosas. El presente trabajo se propone describir el impacto del HIV/sida en la comunidad del underground porteño y en particular analizar el caso del actor Batato Barea, para pensar algunas cuestiones diferenciales tanto de la enfermedad como de la manera que encontró la comunidad artística y LGTB de lidiar colectivamente con ella, mientras ni el Estado ni la comunidad científica internacional articulaban planes de acción efectivos para su cura. En consonancia con este planteo, indagaremos puntualmente en la ceremonia fúnebre de Batato Barea y su vínculo con los velorios festivos, en torno al HIV/sida, que se efectuaron en la comunidad artística en esos años. Analizaremos su impronta característica en relación a otros modos colectivos de enfrentar la muerte y reclamar por una cura, en los funerales del grupo activista ACT UP, realizados en Estados Unidos y Europa. En suma, postulamos que este tipo de funerales festivos, como el de Batato Barea, buscaban preservar la integridad anímica, sobre todo, de quienes estando infectados luchaban contra la enfermedad. (shrink)

Durante los años 80 en Buenos Aires comenzaron a multiplicarse los casos de una enfermedad mortal que afectaba especialmente a jóvenes. Silenciosa y desconocida, generó pánico y estigmatización hacia quienes la contraían ya que no se conocía las verdaderas formas de contagio y la muerte de los infectados resultaba inminente. En esos años, el sida fue catalogado como “peste rosa” o “un justo castigo divino” por sectores vinculados a la iglesia que acusaban a los enfermos de prácticas promiscuas y (...) vergonzosas. El presente trabajo se propone describir el impacto del HIV/sida en la comunidad del underground porteño y en particular analizar el caso del actor Batato Barea, para pensar algunas cuestiones diferenciales tanto de la enfermedad como de la manera que encontró la comunidad artística y LGTB de lidiar colectivamente con ella, mientras ni el Estado ni la comunidad científica internacional articulaban planes de acción efectivos para su cura. En consonancia con este planteo, indagaremos puntualmente en la ceremonia fúnebre de Batato Barea y su vínculo con los velorios festivos, en torno al HIV/sida, que se efectuaron en la comunidad artística en esos años. Analizaremos su impronta característica en relación a otros modos colectivos de enfrentar la muerte y reclamar por una cura, en los funerales del grupo activista ACT UP, realizados en Estados Unidos y Europa. En suma, postulamos que este tipo de funerales festivos, como el de Batato Barea, buscaban preservar la integridad anímica, sobre todo, de quienes estando infectados luchaban contra la enfermedad. (shrink)

La pandemia del COVID-19 ha cambiado las formas de morir, gestionar y ritualizar las muertes. Este trabajo problematiza el dilema ético de dignificar la muerte, dando espacio a la singularidad en los ritos fúnebres, desde la perspectiva kantiana; versus su tecnificación que, desde el utilitarismo, homogeniza estos rituales para proteger las vidas. La pregunta es si, efectivamente, la protección sanitaria de la vida mediante la protocolización de los rituales fúnebres puede ser puesta en valor, en un momento tan determinante (...) como la muerte. Como conclusión, se considera la importancia de que estas medidas integren la diversidad cultural del país en la forma de afrontar las muertes. En este trabajo se expone, analiza y reflexiona sobre el dilema ético de la muerte digna, a partir de su simbolización expresada en los ritos fúnebres, desde un punto de vista kantiano; versus su afrontamiento pragmático que, desde el utilitarismo, produce una tecnificación de la muerte, que homogeniza y limita su expresión ritual para proteger las vidas de los sobrevivientes. La pregunta que se desprende de este problema ético-político es si, efectivamente, la protección sanitaria de la vida impuesta por la protocolización que restringe y homogeniza la realización de rituales fúnebres es algo que pueda ser puesto en valor, en un momento tan determinante como la muerte de un ser querido. A partir del análisis realizado y considerando la necesidad de tomar las medidas necesarias para evitar los contagios, se concluye la importancia de que estas medidas consideren fórmulas compensatorias que permitan a los deudos y a la sociedad, procesar las pérdidas humanas producto de la pandemia. (shrink)

Currently, the great monotheistic religions –Judaism, Christianity and Islam– may seem anachronic. Judging from their principles and rituals, they appear to belong to the Middle Ages. This seems to be confirmed by a brief consideration of the history of Western science, certainly marked by first philosophy, and by its division into its three periods: ancient, medieval and modern. The One, recognized by Plotinus as the necessary condition of all multiplicity, and which religions identify with God, may be considered the principle (...) of medieval thought. Alongside Descartes, modernity replaced this principle, and by the end of this period Nietzsche claimed that “God is dead! God remains dead! We have killed him!” But, is God dead? If the Modern Age, which started with Nietzsche, has killed God, does it mean that monotheistic religions have also been deprived of life and vitality? Or do they continue to live thanks to a free and self-determined assent to a living God that can be thought in relation to the world and to men and women? (shrink)

Analysis of two medieval documents on the Celtic rite of the threefold death in Hispania, where hitherto it had been not yet noted. The legend of Santa Marina de Aguas Santas, in Orense, Galicia, is associated with a galaico-lusitanian switch-sauna for initiatic rituals of pre-Roman origin, while the story of the son of the King Alcaraz in the Castillian Libro de Buen Amor (14th century) is a new example of Hispanic Celtic literature, derived from the Arthurian cycle of Merlin, originated (...) in Wales and Brittany, but with some Persian influence. (shrink)

Las próximas páginas se ocupan de analizar la función del ritual sacrificial en la épica iliádica. Por un lado, recogeremos aquellas ocasiones en las que simplemente se menciona la realización de un sacrificio y valoraremos sus objetivos, así como su papel en las relaciones de alteridad establecidas entre héroes y divinidades homéricas; por otro, y guiados por la misma filosofía, los cuatro únicos ejemplos en los que se hace una descripción pormenorizada del rito, lo que nos permitirá, además, considerar (...) el grado de fijeza de su lenguaje verbal y no verbal. El sistema sacrificial, con su permanente invocación a la reciprocidad, se incluye dentro del lenguaje de la φιλ_της heroica (τιμ , ira, acción, compasión…) esté el sacrificio específicamente dirigido a los dioses o no. El patrón no es idéntico en todos los casos, pero todos ellos, de cualquier forma, parecen ser exponentes del miedo/control del otro, sea ese otro un mortal… o un inmortal. (shrink)

Central to the lives of the religiously committed are not simply religious convictions but also religious practices. The religiously committed, for example, regularly assemble to engage in religious rites, including corporate liturgical worship. Although the participation in liturgy is central to the religious lives of many, few philosophers have given it attention. In this collection of essays, Terence Cuneo turns his attention to liturgy, contending that the topic proves itself to be philosophically rich and rewarding. Taking the liturgical practices of (...) Eastern Christianity as its focal point, Ritualized Faith examines issues such as what the ethical importance of ritualized religious activities might be, what it is to immerse oneself in such activities, and what the significance of liturgical singing and iconography are. In doing so, Cuneo makes sense of these liturgical practices and indicates why they deserve a place in the religiously committed life. (shrink)

The first study of this ancient text in over 70 years, Rituals of the Way explores how the Xunzi influenced Confucianism and other Chinese philosophies through its emphasis on "the Way.".

Ritualized behavior, intuitively recognizable by its stereotypy, rigidity, repetition, and apparent lack of rational motivation, is found in a variety of life conditions, customs, and everyday practices: in cultural rituals, whether religious or non-religious; in many children's complicated routines; in the pathology of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD); in normal adults around certain stages of the life-cycle, birthing in particular. Combining evidence from evolutionary anthropology, neuropsychology and neuroimaging, we propose an explanation of ritualized behavior in terms of an evolved Precaution System geared (...) to the detection of and reaction to inferred threats to fitness. This system, distinct from fear-systems geared to respond to manifest danger, includes a repertoire of clues for potential danger as well as a repertoire of species-typical precautions. In OCD pathology, this system does not supply a negative feedback to the appraisal of potential threats, resulting in doubts about the proper performance of precautions, and repetition of action. Also, anxiety levels focus the attention on low-level gestural units of behavior rather than on the goal-related higher-level units normally used in parsing the action-flow. Normally automatized actions are submitted to cognitive control. This “swamps” working memory, an effect of which is a temporary relief from intrusions but also their long-term strengthening. Normal activation of this Precaution System explains intrusions and ritual behaviors in normal adults. Gradual calibration of the system occurs through childhood rituals. Cultural mimicry of this system's normal input makes cultural rituals attention-grabbing and compelling. A number of empirical predictions follow from this synthetic model. (Published Online February 8 2007) Key Words: childhood ritual; compulsion; event boundaries; evolutionary psychology; obsessive-compulsive disorder; ritual; thought intrusion. (shrink)

Bringing Ritual to Mind explores the cognitive and psychological foundations of religious ritual systems. Participants must recall their rituals well enough to ensure a sense of continuity across performances, and those rituals must motivate them to transmit and re-perform them. Most religious rituals the world over exploit either high performance frequency or extraordinary emotional stimulation to enhance their recollection. But why do some rituals exploit the first of these variables while others exploit the second? McCauley and Lawson advance (...) the ritual form hypothesis, arguing that participants' cognitive representations of ritual form explain why. Reviewing evidence from cognitive, developmental and social psychology and from cultural anthropology and the history of religions, they utilize dynamical systems tools to explain the recurrent evolutionary trajectories religions exhibit. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction I Peters on Ritual in Education II R. S. Peters on Ritual and Imitation: An Assessment Future Directions References.

El problema de la muerte resume las grandes líneas de pensamiento de la filosofía de Ortega. De hecho, la idea de la muerte lleva consigo una ciencia, una metafísica, una psicología etc., o sea, una idea de la cultura en general. Así, la pregunta por España, un asunto filosófico fundamental para Ortega, implica la cuestión de la muerte. La muerte según Ortega no es un simple elemento exterior de la vida sino un elemento interior y constitutivo (...) de la naturaleza de la existencia. Pero contra el existencialismo Ortega no incorpora la muerte en la vida desde la idea de la muerte como lo esencial, como horizonte de sentido de la existencia, sino, en clave vitalista, como consecuencia de una vida plena y heroica. Esto es la muerte como creación de vida y no como a priori de la existencia. (shrink)

Honor walks are ceremonies that purportedly honor organ donors as they make their final journey from the ICU to the OR. In this paper, we draw on Ronald Grimes’ work in ritual studies to examine honor walks as ceremonial rituals that display medico-technological power in a symbolic social drama (Grimes, 1982). We argue that while honor walks claim to honor organ donors, ceremonies cannot primarily honor donors, but can only honor donation itself. Honor walks promote the quasi-religious idea of (...) donation as a “good death,” and mask the ambiguity and discomfort inherent in organ donation to promote greater acceptance by the medical community. While some goods may be achieved through honor walks, particularly for donor families, it is still important to examine the negative work done by this practice. (shrink)

Li (禮) and yi (義) are two central moral concepts in the Analects. Li has a broad semantic range, referring to formal ceremonial rituals on the one hand, and basic rules of personal decorum on the other. What is similar across the range of referents is that the li comprise strictures of correct behavior. The li are a distinguishing characteristic of Confucian approaches to ethics and socio-political thought, a set of rules and protocols that were thought to constitute the wise (...) practices of ancient moral exemplars filtered down through dynasties of the past. However, even while the li were extensive and meant to be followed diligently, they were also understood as incapable of exhausting the whole range of activity that constitutes human life. There were bound to be situations in life where there would be no obvious recourse to the li for guidance. As part of their reflections on the good life, the Confucians maintained another moral concept that seemed to cover morally upright exemplary behavior in these types of situations. This concept is that of yi or rightness. In this chapter, I begin with a brief historical sketch to provide some context, and will then turn to li and yi in turn. In the end, I will suggest how li and yi were both meant to facilitate the supreme value of social harmony that pervades much of the Analects and serves as its ultimate orientation. (shrink)

This article explores the possibilities offered by Collins’ model of interaction rituals to an understanding of the emotional dynamics of art auctions. It argues that whilst it explains how the art object becomes the focus of attention, and thus the repository of solidarity and emotional energy, it also obliterates some of the institutional aspects of the auction market that can influence such outcomes. It discusses the need to include an examination of the specific practices of auction houses operating in an (...) international market in their capacity to target specific audiences for their sales. (shrink)

This book focuses on the ritualized forms of mobility that constitute phenomena of pilgrimage in South Asia and establishes a new analytical framework for the study of ritual journeys. The book advances the conceptual scope of 'classical' Pilgrimage Studies and provides empirical depth through individual case studies. A key concern is the strategies of ritualization through which actors create, assemble and (re-)articulate certain modes of displacement to differentiate themselves from everyday forms of locomotion. Ritual journeys are understood as (...) being both productive of and produced by South Asia's socio-economically uneven, politically charged and culturally variegated landscapes. From various disciplinary angles, each chapter explores how spaces and movements in space are continually created, contested and transformed through ritual journeys. By focusing on this co-production of space and mobility, the book delivers a conceptually driven and empirically grounded engagement with the diverse and changing traditions of ritual journeying in South Asia. Interdisciplinary in its approach, the book is a must-have reference work for academics interested in South Asian Studies, Religious Studies, Anthropology and Human Geography with a focus on pilgrimage and the socio-spatial ideas and practices of ritualized movements in South Asia. (shrink)

This essay argues that Confucian ritual propriety (li 禮) and Aristotelian habit (hexis, ἔξις) play analogous roles within their respective ethical systems and that we can come to appreciate important dimensions of each category by juxtaposing it with the other. Despite numerous and deep dissimilarities, both li and hexis work to organize and publicize emotions and dispositions, ground true moral quality in phenomenally-present activity, and (leveraging insights from Marcel Mauss) contribute to shaping and actualizing an agent’s body and behavior. (...) The essay unpacks several semantic subtleties of li and hexis, and attempts to respond to alleged disanalogies. Finally, the success of a such a li-hexis analogy reveals the ways in which Aristotle’s virtues are more socially contingent and Confucian morality is less particularistic than is often allowed; which in turn, I argue, lessens some of the distance between virtue-based and role-based ethical frameworks. (shrink)

La muerte de Hegel es tomada frecuentemente por los intérpretes como el acontecimiento que marca el final de la metafísica. Lo que generalmente se asume con ello no es sólo una determinada periodización de la historia de la filosofía, sino también una muy determinada interpretación de su “final” como agotamiento de algo que ha llegado al final de sus fuerzas y se desvanece como algo caduco y obsoleto. Pero si esto es así, ¿cómo explicar entonces los constantes repuntes del (...) hegelianismo a lo largo del s. XX? ¿Son las últimas apariciones de una sombra del pasado que se deja ver por última vez antes de desvanecerse por completo? ¿O son más bien las manifestaciones de un espíritu vivo que se niega a ser enterrado como un “perro muerto”? ¿Es verdaderamente la muerte de Hegel como la del perro, o más bien como la de espíritu que mira a la muerte a los ojos y emerge renovado de ella? ¿Son las diversas reacciones contra Hegel que se suceden a lo largo del pensamiento postmetafísico la clara expresión histórica de una nueva conciencia filosófica que ha conseguido romper el lazo con la metafísica, o son más bien el síntoma de una nueva enajenación del espíritu destinada a escribir un nuevo capítulo de la Historia universal? El objetivo de este artículo es evidenciar el hegelianismo como el momento decisivo y final del despliegue del espíritu en el camino hacia la autoconciencia universal. (shrink)

This beautiful, inspiring book features 160 impactful, practical ways to transform everyday tasks into enjoyable, indulgent moments that reduce stress and leave you feeling balanced, connected, and ready to take on the day. In Rituals for Life, you’ll discover how to transform everyday activities such as waking, bathing, eating, and walking into mindfulness exercises. With 160 rituals throughout, you’ll learn how to infuse meaning into your daily life and improve your sense of health, empowerment, peace, prosperity, gratitude, intentionality, groundedness, and (...) renewal. Examples of rituals include: -Greet the dawn -Walk through green space to reflect, refresh, and restore healthy well-being -Heat or cool your body with Ayurvedic spices -Use your breath to find bliss -Create a personal ceremony to bless your healthy body and creative mind Within each chapter, you’ll find suggested ritual sequences to further guide and structure your days. You’ll also discover how to select rituals from the book to create your own unique routines that fit your mood, needs, interests, and desires. With Rituals for Life, you’ll transform mundane tasks into inspiring, enriching ways to savor life and enhance your overall well-being. (shrink)

Yan Yuan (1635-1704) has long been a controversial figure in the study of Chinese intellectual and cultural history. Although marginalized in his own time largely due to his radical attack on Zhu Xi (1130-1200), Yan became elevated as a great thinker during the early twentieth century because of the drastic changes of modern Chinese intellectual climate. In Body, Ritual and Identity : A New Interpretation of the Early Qing Confucian Yan Yuan (1635-1704), Yang Jui-sung has demonstrated that the complexity (...) of Yan's ideas and his hatred for Zhu Xi in particular need be interpreted in light of his traumatic life experiences, his frustration over the fall of the Ming dynasty, and anxiety caused by the civil service examination system. Moreover, he should be better understood as a cultural critic of the lifestyle of educated elites of late imperial China. By critically analyzing Yan's changing intellectual status and his criticism that the elite lifestyle was unhealthy and feminine, this new interpretation of Yan Yuan serves to shed new light on our understanding of the features as well as problems of educated elite culture in late imperial China"--Provided by publisher. (shrink)

ASHÉ: Ritual Poetics in African Diasporic is a collection of interdisciplinary essays contributed by international scholars and practitioners. Having distinguished themselves across such disciplines as Anthropology, Art, Music, Literature, Dance, Philosophy, Religion, and Theology and conjoined to construct a defining approach to the study of Aesthetics throughout the African Diaspora with the Humanities at the core, this collection of essays will break new ground in the study of Black Aesthetics. This book will be of great interest to scholars, practitioners, (...) and students interested in tracing African heritage identities throughout the African Diaspora through close examination of a variety of discourses directly connected to expressive elements of cultural production and religious rituals. (shrink)

ASHÉ: Ritual Poetics in African Diasporic is a collection of interdisciplinary essays contributed by international scholars and practitioners. Having distinguished themselves across such disciplines as Anthropology, Art, Music, Literature, Dance, Philosophy, Religion, and Theology and conjoined to construct a defining approach to the study of Aesthetics throughout the African Diaspora with the Humanities at the core, this collection of essays will break new ground in the study of Black Aesthetics. This book will be of great interest to scholars, practitioners, (...) and students interested in tracing African heritage identities throughout the African Diaspora through close examination of a variety of discourses directly connected to expressive elements of cultural production and religious rituals. (shrink)

En Muerte y alteridad (2002), de reciente publicación en lengua española (2018), Byung-Chul Han analiza una trayectoria filosófica que atraviesa el pensamiento de Kant, Heidegger y Lévinas para señalar la que identifica como una postura caracterizada por la interioridad, desde la cual se entiende al yo como positividad unitaria frente a la negatividad de lo heterogéneo, la alteridad y la muerte. Estas premisas incurrirían en solipsismos, aporías y contradicciones que nos proponemos examinar, a fin de afinar y valorar (...) críticamente la caracterización llevada a cabo por Han. Tanto el heroísmo del yo como del amor constituirían, concluye el filósofo de origen coreano, respuestas equivocadas al hecho de la muerte, proponiendo a este respecto una apertura a la exterioridad de rasgos budistas que implicaría un vaciamiento del yo. Esta alternativa, de ecos religiosos, invita a una reflexión sobre la naturaleza de su proyecto filosófico, no solo con respecto al afrontamiento de la muerte, sino como respuesta a las problemáticas de la modernidad. (shrink)

Tras una breve introducción al materialismo filosófico de Gustavo Bueno y a su antropología, se expone su teoría acerca de la diferencia entre individuo humano y persona, y se distingue entre la muerte del individuo humano biológico y el fallecimiento de la persona humana. Se pasa, entonces, a presentar la diferencia entra las normas éticas, morales y políticas, con el objeto de discutir el significado de una muerte buena y un buen fallecimiento desde cada uno de esos tres (...) sistemas axiológicos. Por último, se expone y discute, tanto desde un punto de vista ético como político, la teoría de la «eutanasia procesal» propuesta por Gustavo Bueno. (shrink)

In the twentieth century, in both China and the West, ritual became marginalized in the face of the growth of secularism and individualism. In China, Confucianism and its essentially ritualistic comportment to the world were vigorously suppressed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) under Mao Zedong. But de-ritualization already took place as a result of the Chinese Revolution of 1911 under Sun Yat-Sen. In the West, while the process of de-ritualization has been generally more gradual, it has been nonetheless drastic. (...) In contrast to this situation, this volume investigates the crucial role ritual plays in constituting the human understanding of their place in the cosmos, the purpose of their lives, and imbues human existence with a more complete sense of meaningfulness. This volume presents the work of philosophers from both China and the West as they reflect upon the constitutive role that ritual plays in human life. They reflect not only on ritual in general but also on specific Confucian and Christian appreciations of ritual. This provocative volume is a beacon of warning to Western philosophers, who think they have graduated from the trappings of ritual, and a beacon of hope for Eastern thinkers, who wish to avoid cultural fragmentation. The Editors, both Eastern and Western, have together created a seamless work that not only introduces ritual, but advances an argument for the contribution that ritual makes to cultural renewal. This volume is a work of philosophical thinking about ritual doing, but challenges those who think to realize that the salvation of philosophical thinking rests in the particularity and contingency of ritual doing. Let us hope this volume is widely read, for it points to that which might renew the West. - Jeffrey P. Bishop, Saint Louis University. (shrink)

Tras delinear los intereses y líneas básicas del pensamiento de Aranguren, se consideran sus reflexiones sobre el tema de la muerte, principalmente en su Ética de 1958, pero también en artículos y obras posteriores.

El presente artículo pretende dar cuenta de la concepción heideggeriana de la muerte, para ello se articula en cuatro momentos. En primer lugar se establece en qué sentido la muerte es un fenómeno de la vida, y no su mero término. En segundo lugar se explica la muerte como posibilidad, como un "aún no", fundado en un pertenecer. En tercer lugar, se establece que la proyección existenciaria de la propia muerte revela a ésta en su verdad (...) irreductible. Finalmente, la libertad para la muerte es comprendida como una abrirse a ella, por cuanto "libertad" debe ser interpretada en el sentido de "liberar", "abrir". (shrink)

Se analiza el tratamiento que da Husserl en sus escritos tardíos al fenómeno-límite de la muerte, así como a la problemática que surge en la relación entre el hombre mundano y el sujeto trascendental. El acceso a la dimensión última de la subjetividad constituyente, que la reflexión sobre la muerte exige y motiva, revela una anonimia fundamental del yo, que pone en cuestión la posibilidad de la fenomenología de auto-fundamentarse siguiendo sus propios principios metodológicos: la ausencia de presupuestos (...) y la búsqueda de conocimiento a través de la intuición. (shrink)