In and out of each others' bodies : theory of mind, evolution, truth, and the nature of the social / Maurice Bloch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bloch, Maurice.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social interaction.

Philosophy of mind.

Anthropology.

Ethnology--Religious aspects.

Ethnology.

Physical Description:

x, 161 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Boulder, CO : Paradigm Publishers, [2013]

Summary:

What is human sociality? How are universals such as truth and doubt variously demonstrated and negotiated in different cultures? This book offers an accessible introduction to these and other fundamental human questions. Bloch shows that the social consists of two very different things. One is a matter of continual adjustments between individuals who read each other's minds and thus, as in sex and birth, "go in and out of each other's minds and bodies." The other is a time-defying system of roles and groups. Interaction at this level is created by ritual and is unique to humans. What is referred to by the word "religion" is a part of this, but it is not separate. The study of "religion" as such is therefore theoretically misleading. A second major theme is the way truth is established in different cultures. Bloch's arguments go against recent approaches in anthropology that have sought to relativize. Book jacket.

Contents:

Durkheimian anthropology and religion : going in and out of each other's bodies

Why religion is nothing special but is central

Truth and sight : generalizing without universalizing

Teknonymy and the evocation of the "social" among the Zafimaniry of Madagascar

Is there religion in Atalhyk or just houses?

Types of shared doubt in the flow of a discussion

Toward a cognitive anthropology grounded in field work : the example of "theory of mind"

Levi-Strauss as an evolutionary anthropologist.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781612051017

1612051014

9781612051024

1612051022

OCLC:

714715772