Oracles and magic
Why do bad things happen to good people?
• What about why bad things happen to bad people?– Or indeed, good things happen to good people– …or good things happen to bad people??
Zande witchcraft
• Classic exploration of: – Supernatural beliefs– Ways of diagnosing and
treating malevolent supernatural forces
• Witchcraft versus sorcery– Technical terminology in
anthropology
“Witchcraft explains unfortunate events”
Metaphysical questions
• Why? vs. How?• Not an issue of physical
causality– The “second spear” in
Zande belief– Why do events converge in
the specific way that they do?
Practical solutions• System of oracles• Magical remedies– Spitting water– Against sorcery, use more complex magic
• Not necessarily scared to death– But may be angry– The system explains and gives options for response
Parallels?
• Oracles– Polygraph– The brilliant
detective• Forensics
Litigation
Someone must be at faultLoss and pain must be compensated
Lies and truth
• Oracles and insight– Other kinds of oracles?
• Explaining and contextualizing events• Memory, private and collective
• Upholding moral order– Deviant behaviors and causality
Naturalistic vs personalized
• More focused and specific with respect to disease– Theories of the body and its well-being– Therapy > diagnosis– Personalistic systems may have more rites of
intensification??• Key still is a theory of how the world works