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Ritual, value, and example: on the perfection of cultural representations
Author(s) -
Robbins Joel
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of the royal anthropological institute
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1467-9655
pISSN - 1359-0987
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9655.12163
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , perfection , value (mathematics) , epistemology , realization (probability) , sociology , new guinea , key (lock) , philosophy , mathematics , computer science , ethnology , statistics , biochemistry , chemistry , computer security
For modes of thinking influenced by the fact/value distinction, values are often defined as in some sense unreal. Against this view, I argue that values exist in the form of socially concrete, enacted examples. In making this argument, I define examples as representations that model the realization of single values in full form – forms that are not common in daily life because most actions are driven by a mix of diverse value considerations. I further suggest that rituals are a key social form in which exemplary representations of values are made socially available. I illustrate this argument by analysing two important rituals among the Urapmin of Papua New Guinea, and by exploring several innovative Urapmin rituals that have failed to become established because, I suggest, they do not provide examples of fully realized values.