A Critique of Philosophical Shamanism
Joshua M H Hall
The Pluralist June 15, 2022 DOI: 10.5406/19446489.17.2.17 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Citations | 3 |
Abstract
Among Anthropologists, There Is A Fierce Controversy over the figure of the shaman, with some reserving the term for practitioners in hunter-gatherer societies in present-day Siberia (among whom the term originated), and others defining shaman more broadly to include any figure performing similar functions, from prehistory until today. 1 Though the exact nature of these functions (and whether there is one, and only one, figure who performs them) is central to this controversy, the majority view is helpfully summarized by Russian anthropologist Anna Kuznetsova.