Philosophy and the End of Sacrifice: Disengaging Ritual in Ancient India, Greece and Beyond

"...For thinking about how sacrifice was re-interpreted in some specific religious traditions (obviously, the chapters do not wander beyond Indian, Greek, and early Christian contexts) -- philosophized, psychologized, subjectivized, and interiorized -- Philosophy and the End of Sacrifice is interesting and thought-provoking." --David Eller, Anthropology Review Database, 16 April 2016 "[This] is an engaging book. The chapters are learned and well-written, and often dialogue with each other -- at least with some help from the reader, who in the process is stimulated towards more nuanced thinking about rituals of sacrifice." --Ingvild SAelid Gilhus, University of Bergen, Numen 65 (2018)

Peter Jackson is Professor at the department of History of Religions at Stockholm University, Sweden. His most recent book is The Transformations of Helen: Indo-European Myth and the Roots of the Trojan Cycle (2007). Anna-Pya Sjodin is Senior lecturer in the study of religions at Mid- Sweden University in the department of Humanities and affiliated researcher at Uppsala University in the department of Linguistics and Philology.

IntroductionPeter Jackson & Anna-Pya SjodinI: HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE APPROACHES TO RITUAL THOUGHT IN ANCIENT INDIA AND ARCHAIC GREECE1. The Principle of Equivalence and the Interiorization of Ritual: The 'End' of Ritual?Stephanie Jamison, UCLA2. Ritual as Abstract Action Clemens Cavallin, University of Gothenburg3. Lord over this Whole World: Agency and Philosophy in Brhadaranyaka Upanisad Anna-Pya Sjodin4. 'The End of Sacrifice' and the Absence of 'Religion': The Peculiar Case of IndiaGerald James Larson, University of California, Santa Barbara5. The Crisis of SacrificePeter JacksonII: RITUAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN LATE ANTIQUITY6. The End of Sacrifice RevisitedGuy Stroumsa, University of Oxford (Emeritus)7. The All as logike thusia Jorgen Podemann Sorensen, University of Copenhagen8. No End to Sacrifice in HermetismChristian Bull, Bergen University9. Beyond righteousness and transgressionJorgen Magnusson, Mid-Sweden University10. Sacrificial Subjectivity: On Transformative Faith in the Pauline Letters Hans Ruin, Sodertorn UniversityIII: REPERCUSSIONS OF SACRIFICE IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY11. Philosophical sacrificeMarcia Sa Cavalcante Schuback, Sodertorn University