Our first assigned reading is a selection of ancient and medieval laws that use a retributive mode of legal reasoning. I will provide some limited background on each text here, but in class Tuesday we will go over the historical background in more detail. Be sure to print and bring with you to class all [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Bible’
Assignments for Tuesday, Jan. 8th
Posted in reading assignments, tagged 12 tables, Bible, Cain, Draco, Hammurabi, Jesus, law, Moses, Noah, Paul, wergild on January 9, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Mauss and reciprocity
Posted in commentary, tagged Bible, gifts, Lamech, lex talionis, Mauss, reciprocity, Sigaud on February 7, 2009 | 4 Comments »
As Lygia Sigaud points out in Social Anthropology, Marcel Mauss’ work on gift exchange lead to the development of a theory of reciprocity, a notion of gift and counter-gift as two sides of a symmetrical relationship. However, she goes on, Mauss himself never spoke of reciprocity in and of itself, and symmetrical or commensurate value [...]
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