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Profile photo of Jayne Svenungsson

Jayne Svenungsson

Researcher

Profile photo of Jayne Svenungsson

Sacrifice, Conflict and the Foundation of Culture

Author

  • Jayne Svenungsson

Summary, in English

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.

Publishing year

2008

Language

English

Pages

330-341

Publication/Series

Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie

Volume

50

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

De Gruyter

Topic

  • Religious Studies
  • Philosophy

Keywords

  • Sacrifice
  • Akedah
  • Kierkegaard
  • Levinas
  • Girard
  • culture

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0028-3517