Sacrifice, Conflict and the Foundation of Culture

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sacrifice, Conflict and the Foundation of Culture

AU - Svenungsson, Jayne

PY - 2008

Y1 - 2008

N2 - In the wake of the geo-political development in recent years, the question of sacrifice has come to the fore in the contemporary philosophical discussion. Does sacrifice merely sharpen conflicts between cultures, or should it be seen as an inevitable part of their foundation? This article addresses the question from the perspective of the biblical view of sacrifice, expressed paradigmat- ically in the story of the Akedah. The author picks up Merold Westphal’s argument - developed in extension to Kierkegaard - that the biblical view of sacrifice rather implies an unsettling of human culture, by pointing to a God whose transcendence disrupts and relativises every human culture. However, although Westphal’s appeal for transcendence is greeted, a more discriminating approach to transcendence, involving phenomenological and hermeneutical questions, is pleaded for. The author seeks to outline such an approach by combining Emmanuel Levinas’ critical reading of the Akedah with René Girard’s argument that the Bible ultimately reveals an anti-sacrificial logic.

AB - In the wake of the geo-political development in recent years, the question of sacrifice has come to the fore in the contemporary philosophical discussion. Does sacrifice merely sharpen conflicts between cultures, or should it be seen as an inevitable part of their foundation? This article addresses the question from the perspective of the biblical view of sacrifice, expressed paradigmat- ically in the story of the Akedah. The author picks up Merold Westphal’s argument - developed in extension to Kierkegaard - that the biblical view of sacrifice rather implies an unsettling of human culture, by pointing to a God whose transcendence disrupts and relativises every human culture. However, although Westphal’s appeal for transcendence is greeted, a more discriminating approach to transcendence, involving phenomenological and hermeneutical questions, is pleaded for. The author seeks to outline such an approach by combining Emmanuel Levinas’ critical reading of the Akedah with René Girard’s argument that the Bible ultimately reveals an anti-sacrificial logic.

KW - Sacrifice

KW - Akedah

KW - Kierkegaard

KW - Levinas

KW - Girard

KW - culture

U2 - 10.1515/NZST.2008.023

DO - 10.1515/NZST.2008.023

M3 - Article

VL - 50

SP - 330

EP - 341

JO - Neue Zeitschrift fur Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie

JF - Neue Zeitschrift fur Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie

SN - 0028-3517

ER -