Do shamans violate notions of humanness?
Nick Haslam
Behavioral and Brain Sciences January 2018 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x17002060 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Singh's account of shamanic behavior, which holds that shamans violate notions of humanness in patterned ways to signal supernatural capacities, does not capture people's understandings of supernatural beings. The author proposes that shamanic behavior may instead violate human norms in unstructured, improvised ways rather than contrasting with a coherent concept of humanness. |
Abstract
Singh proposes that shamans violate notions of humanness in patterned ways that signal supernatural capacities. I argue that his account, based on a notion of humanness that contrasts humans with non-human animals, does not capture people's understandings of supernatural beings. Shamanic behavior may simply violate human norms in unstructured, improvised ways rather than contrast with a coherent concept of humanness.