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Divination as Provocation: Notes for a Tactful Definition
Join us for the first in our series of work-in-progress seminars, where researchers in our network present in-progress papers for discussion and feedback. This seminar will be a presentation followed by discussion.
I discuss the problems of giving definitions of linguistic terms especially in contentious fields such as religious studies. Alternatives are considered in the form of ostension and the use of exemplars. Having considered problems with some definitions of divination, I provide a new one that couples a rubric with a list of exemplary types and exemplary questions. The exemplars demarcate the domain to which the rubric should be applied. This definition does not rely on beliefs, deities (the supernatural) or modes of cognition.
Date:
29 October 2025, 15:00
Venue:
Seminar Room 63, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, Oxford, OX2 6GG
Speaker:
Professor David Zeitlyn (University of Oxford)
Organising department:
The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH)
Organiser:
Professor David Zeitlyn (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
torch@humanities.ox.ac.uk
Booking required?:
Not required
Booking url:
https://torch.ox.ac.uk/event/divination-as-provocation-notes-for-a-tactful-definition
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Julia Antal
