Japanese Religion as Ritual Order

It is argued in this paper that beneath the superficial analysis of Japanese 'religions' such as Buddhism, Shinto, Confucianism and the New Religions, there is one dominant ideological complex which, following some Japanese scholars, can conveniently be dubbed 'The Japanese Religion' or Nihonkyo. This Japanese religion is a ritual order based on the hierarchical concept of 'ie' and its variations such as 'kigyoushugi' at the level of the company and 'katei' at the domestic level. This ritual order pervades all major institutions in Japan and the main mechanism for its reproduction is the school system. In analysing the latter a distinction between training and education is adopted, and it is argued that the concept of liberal education, which is based on the concept of the autonomous rational and moral individual, is essentially missing from the Japanese school system which is better described as a system of training. It is suggested further that training can be linked conceptually with ritual: training is a form of ritualized behaviour though with a heavily pragmatic content. It is hoped that the approach to Japanese religion which is argued here will prove more fruitful in the Religious Studies context than one which begins with an explicit or implicit concept of religion centred on beliefs about salvation, the supernatural and life after death.     

The Talking Cure as Action: Freud's Theory of Ritual Revisited

Freud made creative use of late Victorian theories of ritual as empty modes of behavior, using the idea of "seemingly meaningless" ritual to offer a compelling comparison with obsessive behavior. However, analytic hours, with their repetitive frame and repetition of unconscious conflicts, have stronger links with rituals than Freud admitted. Recent theories highlight the extensive power of rituals to organize and instantiate models of effective action, especially in terms of the multifunctionality of language. These new theories of ritual offer in turn new tools for understanding the therapeutic action of analytic hours.     

Koan Zen and Wittgenstein's Only Correct Method in Philosophy

Koan Zen is a philosophical practice that bears a strong family resemblance to Wittgenstein's approach to philosophy. In this paper I hope to show that this resemblance is especially evident when we compare the Zen method of koan with Wittgenstein's suggestion, towards the end of his Tractatus, about what would constitute the only correct method in philosophy. Both koan Zen and Wittgenstein's method set limits to the reach of philosophical discourse. Each rules metaphysical speculation out of bounds. Neither, however, represents a rejection of the metaphysical. Where Wittgenstein enjoins silence in the face of the unsayable, a silence that allows the metaphysical to show itself, koan Zen calls for concrete demonstrations of that which cannot be captured in rational discourse. I attempt to illustrate this through discussion of a number of koans that serve as reminders that the philosopher (and Zen master) should say nothing except what can be said.     

中国东南地方宗教仪式传统:对宗教定义和仪式理论的挑战

这篇论文以对福建省兴化地区近期元宵节期间的乡村宗教仪式的描述开始.文章不仅讨论这类仪式活动对大多数宗教定义提出的诘难,而且探讨这种地方仪式传统对仪式理论所包含的意蕴.这些仪式活动的组织者具有高超的领导技巧,他们在制造地方差异性世界的同时吸收外来资本和国家的象征符号.同时,这些村庙网络致力于地方经济,包括改善村公路、电力、灌溉设施、和公共卫生设施;同时也支持地方的文化活动,比如设立奖学金和创办老人活动中心等.     

"温州模式"中的礼仪经济

中国学者和研究中国问题的国际学者一直在讨论经济发展的"温州模式".大多数讨论着眼于温州人的创业精神、家庭工业、专业化商品市场、农村小城镇的发展和传统的私人银行信贷系统.但很少人注意温州经济奇迹的一个显要特点:即"仪式经济"的复兴与扩张包括神灵崇拜、修建庙宇、生命周期家庭仪式、传统农历节日、社区宗教游行活动、佛教道教仪式、基督教教会、祖先祭奠、由宗教激发的为社区项目和慈善事业筹款活动、占卜和风水.受过高等教育的精英阶层和政府官员一向认为所有这些仪式花费都是"封建迷信","毫无用处","浪费".但是,这些仪式花费在抗衡温州经济造成的个人财富积累,促进财富再分配和社区建设上起到了至关重要的作用.而且,温州的仪式经济体现了乔治·巴塔耶所谓的追求"自主存在"的自由和权利,也就是通过直接接近神圣的世界,来超越人世的羁绊.     

Women as Ritual Experts,The Religious Lives of Elderly Jewish Women in Jerusalem (Book)

Mystics, religionists, and psychologists have posited a causal link between experi- ences of ecstatic unity and transformations in moral sensibility. This study demon- strates that various functions attributed by psychoanalysis to the positive superego play a prominent role in alternate states of consciousness. Several heuristic and phenomenological categories are formulated based on self-reports of religious ec- stasy: directives and values, truth and perfection, imperative urgency, presence, moral transformation, and bliss. The transformative potential of ecstasy is attribut- able to the way in which alternate states provide uniquely powerful avenues of accessibility to unconscious superego materials, some of which may have been previously unavailable for conscious use due to fixation and defense.