Myth,identity and belonging: The Rishi of Bengal/Bangladesh

This essay discusses the politics and relevance of myth and myth making in relation to the subordination of Untouchables in South Asia. Through the case study of one particular group e the Muchi-Rishi of Bengal/ Bangladesh, traditionally skinners, leather-workers and musicians e it is argued that ex-Untouchables do not share the ideology of caste which places them on the lowest echelon of society. This is in contrast with the case of ‘Untouchable myths of origin’ offered by anthropological research (Michael Moffatt, Robert Delie`ge) in South India, Tamil Nadu. However, another set of counter-myths recounted by the Rishi, centred around the figure of Ruidas, offers an alternative which allows them to gain a self-ascribed identity. Far from engaging in a ‘theological’ struggle, the idiom of religion and myth becomes for these ‘ex- Untouchables' and subaltern groups a ‘place of resistance’ from which they can hope to better themselves also in the economic, social and political spheres, as part of their overall endeavour to achieve full human dignity. For some Rishi, this process has taken the form of a long journey from being defined an ‘Untouchable’ to becoming a Dalit.     

‘Fundamentalism’ Christian and Islamic

This article seeks to answer the question whether the term ‘fundamentalism’ is an appropriate label for certain Islamic movements by undertaking a detailed comparison with Protestant Christian fundamentalism, for which the term was originally coined. After an effort to identify and characterize the two phenomena, a number of similarities and differences are discussed. Among the differences is the fact that the most obvious defining characteristics in each case (Biblical inerrancy for Protestants and politicalsocial involvement for Muslims) are of little relevance to the other case. Among the similarities is a common opposition to ‘modernism’ and a tendency to stress what has been distinctive to the Protestant and Islamic traditions, respectively. The conclusion is that, while the two phenomena do have much in common, ‘fundamentalism’ is not an appropriate common label. The author prefers ‘Islamic radicalism’ for the Muslim case and tentatively suggests ‘radical neotraditionalism’ as a common label.     

Renunciation feminised? Joint renunciation of female–male pairs in Bengali Vaishnavism

The Indic category of renunciation is generally constructed in radical opposition to that of householder/worldly life (saḿsāra), by actors and analysts alike. Yet, as an institution, renunciation is also traditionally modelled on householder structures. It is created through an idiom of ‘birth’ into patrilines, albeit generated through ‘guru’ rather than ‘blood’ lineages. These contrary facets of renunciation feature in the unusual Bengali Vaishnava phenomenon of joint renunciation of a female–male pair. On the one hand joint renunciation is ostensibly a matter of death to one (householder) patriline and of birth into another (renouncer) patriline. In this sense it is a male-oriented phenomenon, replicating householder structures. On the other hand Vaishnava renouncers also construct renunciation in opposition to householder life, that is, in terms of liminality and transcendence of categories. These characteristics are in turn identified as ‘female’ and are associated with a high valuation of women. Renunciation has often been considered a conservative or marginal force in South Asian society, although a few scholars have argued for its radical potential among subaltern groups. Studies of female renouncers have shown that the price of greater autonomy conferred by renunciation is often the virtual denial of ‘womanhood’ itself. My intention here is to highlight a shift in balance, in which renunciation is feminised in significant respects, with potentially liberating results for women. This suggests indigenous sources for ideas of gender equality or even female superiority, normally assumed to be of ‘Western’ provenance.     

The psychophysics of chasing: A case study in the perception of animacy

Psychologists have long been captivated by the perception of animacy – the fact that even simple moving shapes may appear to engage in animate, intentional, and goal-directed movements. Here we report several new types of studies of a particularly salient form of perceived animacy: chasing, in which one shape (the ‘wolf’) pursues another shape (‘the sheep’). We first demonstrate two new cues to perceived chasing – chasing subtlety (the degree to which the wolf deviates from perfectly ‘heat-seeking’ pursuit) and directionality (whether and how the shapes ‘face’ each other). We then use these cues to show how it is possible to assess the objective accuracy of such percepts, and to distinguish the immediate perception of chasing from those more subtle (but nevertheless real) types of ‘stalking’ that cannot be readily perceived. We also report several methodological advances. Previous studies of the perception of animacy have faced two major challenges: (a) it is difficult to measure perceived animacy with quantitative precision; and (b) task demands make it difficult to distinguish perception from higher-level inferences about animacy. We show how these challenges can be met, at least in our case study of perceived chasing, via tasks based on dynamic visual search (the Find-the-Chase task) and a new type of interactive display (the Don’t-Get-Caught! task).     

An item and factor analysis of the FSS(III)

In view of the apparent need for an anxiety scale specifically for South African Indians, this study examines the characteristics of one such group on a stimulus-oriented measure of anxiety. The 73-item Fear Survey Schedule III (FSS) was administered to a representative sample of Natal Indians.Results suggest that this scale has good construct validity and internal consistency for the Ss. Item analyses indicate that stimuli associated with ‘tissue damage’ or ‘interpersonal’ situations are most anxiety-provoking and also correlate highest with test score remainders. A factor analysis reveals three dimensions of situational anxiety for South African Indians: ‘physical danger’, ‘interpersonal situations’ and ‘animals’. These findings support the contention that situational trait anxiety is a multi-dimensional phenomenon.     

Religion in the service of an elite: A sociologicallydefined imposture. the case of ancient Sparta

The following article is based upon the socio-theological framework elaborated in mybook, Heilsgeschidllicht verfasste Theologie and Männerbiinde, (Theology based on the History of Salvation versus ‘Märmerbünde‘). It attempts to correlate the recurring appearance of a gnostic worldview with the socio-psychological structures of ‘Männerbünde’ or ‘male-groups’. In doing so, it traces the gnostic method of interpreting the human condition from efforts to build an ideological superstructure in order to secure the interests of solely secular groupings; the so-called “Männerbünde’. By developing pseudo-theological constructions with their hint of true ‘theo’-logy, these secular groupings attempt to seduce people into following these newly-developed pseudotheological systems which in fact deliver them helplessly into the grip of the ‘Männerbünde’. It is through means such as these pseudo-theologies that the ‘Männerbünde’ endeavour to win almost unlimited power over the common people; hence the article's title, ‘Religion in the service of an elite’.The second element of the title, ‘A sociologically defined imposture’, refers to myunderstanding that the creation of the pseudo-theology by the ‘Minnerbünde’ does not follow the demands of theological truth but is instead ‘defined’ by the sociological rules which are to be observed if one wants to subject others to one's own private aims.Whereas the book exemplifies the proposed ideas on a larger scale by centring on historical situations taken principally from ancient and modern indo-european contexts, the present article focuses on one of the best known ‘Männerbünde’, namely, the Spartan commonwealth. Sparta's special structures, which are highly relevant in illustrating this thesis, were not considered in the book.Finally, the analysis of the Spartan material has been effected through an abstractgeneral approach, and through a socio-psychological exposition of the structures which underly and interpret the ‘Männerbünde’ text, which mainly consists of historical arguments. It is this general approach which I shall consider first.     

Fairness in life and Death Cases

John Taurek famously argued that, in ‘conflict cases’, where we are confronted with a smaller and a larger group of individuals, and can choose which group to save from harm, we should toss a coin, rather than saving the larger group. This is primarily because coin-tossing is fairer: it ensures that each individual, regardless of the group to which he or she belongs, has an equal chance of being saved. This article provides a new response to Taurek’s argument. It proposes that there are two possible types of unfairness that have to be avoided in conflict cases, as far as possible: ‘selection unfairness’, which is the unfairness of not giving individuals an equal chance of being saved; and ‘outcome unfairness’, which is the unfairness of not actually saving them, when others are saved. Since saving the greater number generates less outcome unfa-irness than coin-tossing, it is argued that, in many conflict cases, fairness demands that we save the greater number.     

A critical examination of Michael Polanyi's conception of skills

In this paper I will consider some of the main issues in Michael Polanyi's discussion of ‘Skills’ from Chapter 4 of his book Personal Knowledge published in 1958.The concept of ‘skill’ features prominently in psychological theories of human performance in activities such as games, gymnastics, swimming and dance; such theories are often applied to other spheres of human activity in which issues about skill acquisition arise. It is not surprising to discover that skill theory is considered to be essential to the study of human movement and physical education. Physical education teachers in schools have consistently maintained that ‘skill acquisition’ is a major objective for the P.E. curriculum — see Kane 1974. Yet concepts such as ‘skill’, ‘ability’ and ‘know-how’ are constituent features of practical knowledge therefore the notion of ‘skill acquisition’ on its own will not do as a curriculum objective since all instances of skill and practical knowledge are specific to their contexts, namely, to different practical activities. If particular activities are valued in schools in the pursuit of children's learning and education it seems necessary to clarify the epistemological features of such activities in order to understand what it means to teach them and what it means for children to learn and know-how to perform them successfully. It is in these respects that the concept of ‘skill’ in different human activities should attract the interest of physical education students. In order to draw attention to major features of Polanyi's thesis on the nature of ‘skill’ I shall consider the relevance of his ideas about skill and knowledge in relation to human action theory. I suggest that misconceptions may arise in teaching and learning theories relating to ‘playing soccer’ if the basic underlying ideas about ‘skill’ in human activities are inconsistent with ideas about human action or, say, practical reasoning. It is this issue that is not, in my view, attended to by Polanyi in his discussion of ‘skill’. Thus, if my criticisms of Polanyi's ideas are shown to be valid it will be necessary, by implication that is, to exercise caution before any attempt is made to use his thesis as a basis from which to formulate ideas about teaching skills and skill acquisition. The extensive use I make of quotations from Polanyi's writings is necessary because it is towards Polanyi's use of language in his explanation of ‘skills’ that much of my criticism is directed. It is hoped that what follows may provide students of human movement and physical education with an insight into Polanyi's view of ‘skills’ in particular and to issues related to skill theory and human action in general.     

Intertheoretical Identity And Ontological Reductions

I argue that there are good reasons to assume that Quine’s theory of reference and ontology is incompatible with reductive statements – such as ‘Heat is molecular motion’ or ‘Rabbits are conglomerations of cells’. Apparently, reductive statements imply certain intertheoretical identities, yet Quine’s theory of reference and ontology seems incompatible with intertheoretical identities. I argued that treating, for the sake of reconciliation, reductive statements along the lines of Quine’s theory of an ontological reduction (which does not imply intertheoretical identity) fails. Then I discussed two alternative strategies on behalf of Quine to handle reductive statements: the Holistic Strategy (which appeals to Quine’s notion of an all-encompassing background theory) and the Individuative Strategy (which draws on Quine’s notion of an apparatus of individuation). I argue that the Individuative Strategy promises to succeed. However, the Individuative Strategy obliges to revising Quine’s theory of an ontological reduction – a revision that, as I argue, can and should be implemented.     

Tradition, Authority and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was passed into law in 1990 and since that time has been implemented in ways that merit attention from scholars of religion. This article explores the legislative history of the law, analysing Native American appeals to ‘tradition’ in their quest to establish authority over disputed human and cultural remains. After a preliminary theoretical section that sets out relevant issues and questions, the essay engages a close reading of pivotal legislative hearings and reports, with attention to uses of religious and moral language. Building upon this reading, a dual analysis of Native American ‘traditional’ rhetoric is developed that examines the persuasive features of minority-specific claims, majority-inclusive claims and the combined force of these. Next, this line of analysis is framed in comparative and historical terms through a consideration of ‘revitalisation movements’. In light of this comparison, a case is made for interpreting NAGPRA and related movements as a primary means by which Native Americans manage their relationship to modernity, acting as critical citizens who demand their rights as Indians, Americans and human beings. The essay concludes by arguing for an understanding of social and discursive boundaries that neither limits nor is limited by ‘tradition’.     

Religion and Mestrovic's postemotional society: the manufacturing of religious emotion

Work on the social theory of emotion has been growing in the last decade, but few have considered how these studies relate to the field of religion. This article is a detailed critical examination of the work of the Croatian–American sociologist Stjepan Mestrovic and his idea of ‘postemotionalism’. It is an exploration of the implications of his work for understanding contemporary manifestations of religion. It first unfolds the context of Mestrovic's work on postemotionalism and then explores the development and meaning of the term. It follows a series of tensions in the concept between spontaneous and produced emotion and seeks to show how postemotionalism fails to consider adequately religious history, which has continually involved the process of repackaging ‘past emotions’. Despite these difficulties, Mestrovic's idea of postemotionalism is seen to provide not only a way to rethink emotion and rationality in religion, but a way of re-conceptualising so-called ‘individual’ religious emotion as part of wider political constructions developed through late capitalistic markets and the technology of mass media. Mestrovic's lack of concern with religion is considered, and the work of the French sociologist of religion Danièle Hervieu-Léger on ‘chain memory’ is introduced as a way of illuminating questions of religious tradition, memory and emotion in Mestrovic's work. The final section of the paper considers the ‘revivalist’ developments of Celtic Spirituality as an example of the micro-politics of postemotional religion.     

Dangerous love in mythical narratives and formula tales

The theme of love has long been neglected in studies on African myths. The often-heard explanation is that African myths and folktales do not tell stories about love because they primarily express social interests and obligations while love – intended as both emotional imperative and biological drive – is an individual need and feeling. This latter definition relies on a very specific understanding of ‘love’: the Romantic love of 19th century European novels. This paper argues that when love means attraction, affection, passion, and necessity, it turns up as liaisons dangereuses in many African narratives. Love becomes a driving force that generates gender constructions by reinforcing the unity of the couple or by fuelling the struggle between partners.In the case of Kabyle narratives (Algeria),¹ conceptualisations of love as well as the relationships between myths and folktales are explored by analyzing formula tales² and the only known collection of Kabyle Berber myths: those collected by Leo Frobenius, ethnologist and historian of religion, at the beginning of the 20th century and published in the first volume of his Volksmärchen der Kabylen in 1921.The discussion of the relationship between Kabyle myths and folktales touches upon a well-known interpretative problem in the study of religion: the articulation of myth and ritual with history as communities respond to sweeping social, political, and religious changes, such as the coming of Islam, colonization, decolonization, and globalization.     

Lifestyle traits as predictors of driving behaviour in urban areas of Greece

The aim of this study was to examine possible links between different lifestyle patterns and aberrant driver’s behaviour. Personal interviews were conducted in a representative sample of 324 adults (18–65), all residents of Crete. Aberrant driver’s behaviour was assessed by the ‘driver behaviour questionnaire’ (DBQ). Also to measure different dimensions of lifestyle, first, a 26-items questionnaire was used, and second, three questions measuring ‘driving without destination’, related in previous findings with road accident risk. Four lifestyle patterns: ‘religion/tradition’, ‘driving aimlessly’, ‘sports’ and ‘culture’ are significant predictors of ordinary violations. ‘Driving without destination’ has a significant effect all three DBQ factors (b positive). ‘Religion/tradition’ was related only to ordinary violations (b negative) and ‘sports’ has a positive impact on ordinary violations and a negative impact on ‘errors’. Two lifestyle factors are related to more dangerous driving: ‘Driving without destination’ and/or pursuing a more ‘athletic way of living’. Road safety campaigns must teach the first group to use other hobbies and activities to vent their feelings and the second, not to overestimate their abilities, while driving.     

Henry Cavendish and Asperger’s syndrome: A new understanding of the scientist

Although it has recently been suggested that Henry Cavendish (1731–1810) suffered from Asperger’s syndrome (James, 2005; Sacks, 2001), there has yet to be a systematic exploration of this claim. For various reasons, Cavendish is considered here through the diagnostic framework described by Gillberg (1989), with further support from the DSM-IV (APA, 1994). The potential for such a retro-diagnosis is evident, given Cavendish’s biographers’ lament of Cavendish as the ‘incomplete man’: the oddly misanthropic man characterised by negations. Such an impression is evident in the memoirs of Cavendish’s contemporaries but finds its best expression in Wilson’s (1851) biography. With a new and cautious interpretation from an Asperger’s syndrome perspective, this fragmented picture dissipates and Cavendish emerges as a man of remarkable intellect whose syndrome stunted his social development and expression, yet so crucially enabled his research into a paradoxically catholic taste of scientific study. Topics relevant to a ‘retro-diagnosis’ are first addressed, before Cavendish is compared to Gillberg’s and the DSM-IV criteria.     

Schizotypy and hemisphere function—I : Theoretical considerations and the measurement of schizotypy

This paper brings together, in the context of individual-differences theory, two developing themes in schizophrenia research. One concerns the manifestation, in normal people, of ‘psychotic’ characteristics and their measurement using scales which, unlike the Eysenck P scale, draw their items from the clinical symptomatology of psychosis. Recent work on the so-called ‘borderline states’ is considered especially relevant and a new two-scale questionnaire (STQ) is described which was modelled on the current distinction, in DSM-III, between ‘schizotypal personality disorder’ and ‘borderline personality disorder’. The second theme addressed concerns the possible biological basis of individual differences in ‘schizotypy’. It is argued, in the light of some emerging views about the nature of schizophrenia, that this may lie in the functional and structural properties of hemisphere organization. A suggested strategy for evaluating this theory is an examination of the performance of schizotypal normal Ss on tests of hemisphere function.     

How brain arousal systems determine different temperament types and the major dimensions of personality

Theory and research is described which led to the hypothesis that the choleric (E+N+) and melancholic (E−N+) temperaments are determined by differences in thalamocortical inhibition of brain-stem processes. An opportunity to test this hypothesis was provided by the recent discovery of 4, 7, and 10 Hz response waves confounded in EEG averaged evoked potentials [Robinson, D. L. (1999b). The technical, neurological, and psychological significance of ‘alpha’ ‘theta’ and ‘delta’ waves confounded in EEG evoked potentials: 1. A study of peak latencies. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 110, 1427–1434; (2000). The technical neurological, and psychological significance of ‘alpha’, ‘delta’, and ‘theta’ waves confounded in EEG evoked potentials: A study of peak amplitudes. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 673–693]. These responses are attributed to the brain-stem, limbic, and thalamocortical arousal systems, respectively, and in the cited reports principal components analysis of data obtained from 93 participants confirmed the existence of predicted excitatory and inhibitory relationships. ANOVA was used in the present study to test the further prediction that there should be strong inhibition of the 4 Hz system by the 10 Hz system in melancholics (E−N+) and weak inhibition of the 4 Hz system in cholerics (E+N+), with median inhibition predicted for the other temperament types. There was a large and statistically significant difference between the mean scores on the PCA inhibition factor obtained for the temperament groups, with temperament defined in terms of high and low EPQ extraversion (E) and neuroticism (N) scores. The significance of these results is discussed with reference to fundamental questions raised by Pavlov's pioneering research but left unanswered for the best part of a century. Implications for the future conduct of personality research are also considered.     

Conjoining Mathematical Empiricism with Mathematical Realism: Maddy’s Account of Set Perception Revisited

Penelope Maddy’s original solution to the dilemma posed by Benacerraf in his (1973) ‘Mathematical Truth’ was to reconcile mathematical empiricism with mathematical realism by arguing that we can perceive realistically construed sets. Though her hypothesis has attracted considerable critical attention, much of it, in my view, misses the point. In this paper I vigorously defend Maddy’s (1990) account against published criticisms, not because I think it is true, but because these criticisms have functioned to obscure a more fundamental issue that is well worth addressing: in general – and not only in the mathematical domain – empiricism and realism simply cannot be reconciled by means of an account of perception anything like Maddy’s. But because Maddy’s account of perception is so plausible, this conclusion raises the specter of the broader incompatibility of realism and empiricism, which contemporary philosophers are frequently at pains to forget.     

Peter Singer’S Argument for Utilitarianism

The paper begins by situating Singer within the British meta-ethical tradition. It sets out the main steps in his argument for utilitarianism as the ‘default setting’ of ethical thought. It argues that Singer’s argument depends on a hierarchy of reasons, such that the ethical viewpoint is understood to be an adaptation – an extension – of a fundamental self-interest. It concludes that the argument fails because it is impossible to get from this starting-point in self-interest to his conception of the ethical point of view. The fundamental problem is its mixing the immiscible: the Humean subordination of reason to interest with the Kantian conception of reason as universal and authoritative.