Sunday, March 01, 2009
Ritual....
Woke up a few minutes ago and, in a moment of 2am clarity, performed hari kari on a silly post. Whatever the link, my mind wandered to thoughts of ritual, actually, the ritual killings by my beloved Dayak of Madurese transmigrants in Borneo in the 1990s and early 2000s. In a semantic haze, I am struggling with the role of ritual in our hunting activities. I suppose Jim's "sport" emcompasses the concept of hunting as a ritual activity, but I have never been comfortable calling our "structured activity" "sport." There are so many aspects of individual and cultural ritual in hunting that bring to it transcendent meaning that I just don't tie to sport. I would think that Cagey, with his classical training in anthropology, would be able to help me here. Isn't sport too narrow?
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3 comments:
and I've been struggling with the fact that you and Cagey are struggling.
I'm not looking to provide an all-encompassing definition of "hunting." I am only interested in the philosophical analysis of hunting done as recreation and as typically done in the West. Therefore I would exclude "subsistence" hunting (whatever that means) as well other types of ritualized killing that serve functions or purposes other than recreation. But I do try to cover non-American forms of hunting such as the English fox hunt, the African guided big game hunt, tower shoots, and the like.
I'm also trying to more fully flesh out (a) the basis of the entire argument as it rests on a concept of "play," and (b) how play and religion/spirituality are related.
So when Pete says, "I suppose Jim's 'sport' encompasses the concept of hunting as a ritual activity, but I have never been comfortable calling our 'structured activity' 'sport,'" I'm fine with that, it's just that I'm not looking for a universal definition that necessarily includes the cultural practices of say the Dayak or Madurese in Borneo.
Oy Jim. I'm going to repeat the friendly nag that I am sure you have heard many times. Why don't you package a few of these posts for publication in a realm where you will get the full test and respect of your peers? I also think you should send one or two to popular hunting rags. I really like the argument you make against regulating hunting aesthetics (did I get that right).... Go to let the dog out....
The cliff notes (second paragraph of comment above) help. I keep thinking of the problem taxonomists face: how to classify everything? I suppose that's what drives you to these diametric contrasts that don't really exist in the real world. I would rather occupy the grey zone. It bothers me tremendously that there seems to be a universal sympathy to the 'subsistence' hunter and that our actions are some how qualitatively different because our decision to pull the trigger isn't one of survival. That bother makes me a poor philosopher. It bothers me that 90% of our society has no clue what impact their consumption, animal or vegetable, has on entire ecosystems, let alone individual animals. That bother makes me a poor debater. It bothers me that I only killed one grouse in Pennsylvania last season. That bother is because I'm a poor shot.
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