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ANIMISM_KEGARE_PARTY
August 29, 2022
A lengthy (and fanatic and simple-minded)
argument against Japanese animism:
https://fontanaeditore.com/en/blogs/ccblog/animism-in-japan
Written by a Francesco Baldessari, from a planned
book "The Land Where Things Can Talk".
I got interested in this because he seems to claim
some understandng of the Japanese obsession with
both cleanliness and animism... but I have trouble
following his line of thought, and in fact am not
at all sure he understands Japanese animism,
Western science, or much else...
"What is colloquially known as animism, believing that
objects have a soul, is one of the consequences of the
self-centered analysis."
Self-centered? Maybe he means human-centric.
"Human content is projected on nature so that, where we see
trees, stones, wind and water, animists see living creatures,
each with personality, opinions and wishes."
Right, humans are used to dealing with humans,
and try to deal with everything in the same way.
"The clean, comforting division that we have come to expect
between beings and things is just not there ... "
Comforting? If it were so comforting people wouldn't
be so drawn to ideas like animism.
("Clean" is more on the mark concerning
the appeal of the materialistic view for
many of it's fans... those sharp,
unambiguous edges start getting fuzzier on
closer inspection though...)
"... and not simply biological, but human qualities are
attributed to inanimate objects."
And yet, the animist seems to mainly personify
*natural* "inanimate" objects, e.g. mountains have
a spirit, 7-11s not so much.
"Natural events are changed into messages specifically
meant for oneself."
Or someone else. Or other spirits.
I get that there's a flattering quality to much religious
belief-- the cosmos *cares* about what I do-- but I don't
think that animism is the worst offender.
"Diseases assume a moral quality because they are
interpreted as a punishment."
This is definitely something I've seen in places
like Bali. Fevers are the will of the gods, so
mosquito netting isn't that valuable. Repairing a
broken railing is less critical than making offerings
to the spirits there.
"Sudden wealth is not luck but a reward."
Well maybe, but again not unique to animism,
and maybe even more prevalent in other belief
systems.
"If the course of events takes an otherwise inexplicable turn,
the explanation is sought among objects. Objects however do not
communicate in ways that can be detected by regular human
beings, so an understanding of their intentions is reached
indirectly through a specialist, for example a fortune teller,
a shaman or shamaness, or other such figure."
I guess it can work that way...
My sense is that in Bali the spirits communicate through
what happens-- if something bad happens, you presume the
spirits were angry about something there, so you look for
problems in the area.
Also you know, it's difficult for any individual to
understand much of the wide body of scientific work,
just as a practical matter we must rely on experts
in the field, and there's always the risk the experts
will degenerate into yet-another priesthood.
"... everything talks to everything else and, in the chaos
of conversations going to and fro, you are never sure that
something may be talking to you and not to someone else."
"Arbitrariness of events is inbuilt in the system because countless
objects around you have free will and act without obeying to a moral
law, for animism is incapable of producing one."
I've heard it argued that in animism-- as in any belief in
supernatural beings-- you always have the sense that *you
are being watched*. You can't escape detection, so you
better not do something bad.
And the spirits in Bali have a certain sense of territory
about them, and there are certain formulas you're supposed
to stick to-- e.g. placing offerings in particular places
to appease spirits in particular locations.
The spirits don't seem to be so capricious, not
in the Balinese version of animism, at least.
Here we come to the connection I wanted to
understand, but I'm afraid I don't follow
the link-- it feels forced to me, and I'm He's passionate about
not sure I trust the author at this stage. reason, but doesn't
strike me as being very
reasonable about it.
"This arbitrariness is reflected in the Japanese idea of
defilement, or kegare. Unlike sin, that involves some kind of
action, and therefore responsibility on your side, defilement
is usually involuntary or, at the very least, undesired."
My understanding is that while defilement may strike
without cause, cleaning up after it is always expected:
the "sin" would be in failing to clean it up.
But the wikipedia page for "Kegare" makes
a similar distinction between it and sin:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kegare
"Japanese hygiene and order therefore often have an obsessive
quality, and cleanliness is never sufficient. Autumn leaves
are messy."
That's a nice line, but once again I don't follow
the logic (maybe it's too messy?): if the leaves
qualify as a mess, they you must clean them up or
your cleanliness is at fault.
"All this, true in general of animism, ... "
Even in my limited experience, I don't
think that's true.
" ... applies in full to Japan. The reality of a Japanese is not
western reality. In Japan magic exists because things have free
will and do not have to obey the laws of physics."
"While masters of technology-- but mind you, technology
is not science. The understanding of principles and
causes is not strictly necessary to make things--"
So here we have the commonly invoked hard wall
between science and technology, between
understanding and doing...
Really, while this is a long-standing
tradition, it seems weaker the longer SCITECH
you look at it.
Just consider the claim at hand: the Japanese
don't know what they are doing, but are somehow
very good at doing it. Does that sound plausible?
"... the Japanese do not share our essentially
Newtonian world view."
Newtonian? That's an odd thing to say for
someone who worships science...
(And holds engineering in contempt?)
"Japanese were fantastic at making steel centuries before
they understood through western chemistry what their
Tatara smelters were in fact doing."
I don't think this example serves the function
the author wants it to-- is the idea now that
Japan's embrace of animism is remarkably practical,
and has allowed them to master technical arts much
faster than the West?
I think most people would presume the scientific
enterprise is justified *because* of it's technological
applications... sitting in the corner and feeling
superior about your greater depth of understanding
is not typically held up as an American value.
"They find science practical, but not an absolute truth ..."
Talking about "absolute truth" in the same breath that
you praise Science shows a pretty shallow understanding
of it...
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