Ways of Talking about "Animism" : A Review from the Standpoint of Passivity

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  • 「アニミズム」の語り方 : 受動的視点からの考察
  • アニミズム ノ カタリ カタ ジュドウテキ シテン カラ ノ コウサツ

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As the concern about environmental problems grows, animistic "phenomena" has recently attracted attention. This article aims to review previous "ways" of talking about animistic phenomena. Animism theory has been taken as the theory of fundamental religion since Tylor, but some scholars are reevaluating the concept as a theory of methods for perceiving the environment. In other words, these scholars construe animism as a perceptual strategy for "likening" natural objects to spiritual beings, thus "anthropomorphizing" them. However, this stance premises itself on the modern humanistic view which centralizes the rational and active subject who always one-sidedly perceives objects, and thereby easily overlooks the passive sensibility of perceptions in which the subject shares spiritual nature with natural objects and the self is made alive by spiritual power. I argue that we should reassess the importance of our passivity if we wish to criticize the modern attitude of human beings who have tried to arbitrarily manipulate nature.

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