{"id":5075,"date":"2021-07-01T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=5075"},"modified":"2022-05-07T23:12:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-07T23:12:37","slug":"looking-at-manvir-singhs-article-2021-magic-explanations-and-evil-part-5-of-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=5075","title":{"rendered":"Looking at Manvir Singh’s Article (2021) “Magic, Explanations, and Evil” (Part 5 of 5)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

0016 To me, Singh’s three cultural selection schemas for malevolent magic<\/em> recapitulate the scaffolding below them<\/em>.  Evil<\/em>is a privation of good<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0017 Malevolent magic<\/em> is like a figure in a mirror<\/em>.  It is not the good that stands before the mirror<\/em>.  Instead, it is a purely relational being<\/em> that recapitulates the figure that stands before it<\/em>.  Something is wrong.  Something is missing.  There is nothing<\/em> behind the surface of the mirror, even though the reflected image<\/em> seems real.  The reflected image<\/em> seems to stand behind the surface of the mirror<\/em> as if occupying space in a real world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can anyone see what is behind a mirror?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

0018 Perhaps, this explains why Singh cannot see the magic of everyday life<\/em> that both underlies and supports his expert statistical analysis.  He cannot see through the glass upon which he stands.  He looks down and sees the world above him, full of witches and sorcerers, instigators of mystical harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0019 Razie Mah’s comments<\/em> associate features of Singh’s essay<\/em> to elements in a category-based nested form<\/em>.  Singh’s argument retains its integrity, even as his vision is transubstantiated from a reflection<\/em> into a real anthropological subject of interest<\/em>.  What is the nature of magic?<\/em>  Does magic touch base with the presence underlying the word, “religion”?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

0020 Anthropologists take note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Print out copies of Manvir Singh’s publication in Current Anthropology<\/em> and Razie Mah’s Comments on Manvir Singh’s Essay (2021) “Magic, Evil and Explanations”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Present the pair to a few graduate students, asking, “Which is real and which is fake?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is\u00a0Anthropology<\/em>\u00a0a science? Or is it\u00a0a discipline of interpretations?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

0016 To me, Singh’s three cultural selection schemas for malevolent magic recapitulate the scaffolding below them.  Evilis a privation of good. 0017 Malevolent magic is like a figure in a mirror.  It is not the good that stands before the mirror.  Instead, it is a purely relational being that recapitulates the figure that stands before it.  Something is wrong.  Something is missing.  There is nothing behind the surface of the mirror, even though the reflected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,13],"tags":[123,39,29,163,153,158,157,164,161,83,162,50,160,159],"class_list":["post-5075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defining-religion","category-presence-underlying-religion","tag-anthropology","tag-category-based-nested-form","tag-first-singularity","tag-individual","tag-interpretation","tag-magic","tag-manvir-singh","tag-mirror-world","tag-nature","tag-organization","tag-presence","tag-religion","tag-sorcerer","tag-witch"],"yoast_head":"\nLooking at Manvir Singh's Article (2021) "Magic, Explanations, and Evil" (Part 5 of 5) - 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