The Nature of Sacrifice

FAIN: FB-12610-75

Mary Barbara Agnew
Villanova University (Villanova, PA 19085-1478)

To explore the variety of action termed "sacrifice" as these are understood in anthropology and the history of religions, using tools offered by the philosophy of symbol and the theory of metaphor of Philip Wheelright, who regards metaphor as a revelatory element of language rather than a syntactical one only. Hegel, Paul Ricoeur and Eliade will also be studied in an attempt to shed light on the convergences or to reveal divergences and discrepancies in the understanding of sacrifice. Study will attempt to understand the prevalence and nature of sacrificial acts in man's religion and in his self-understanding.