Truth beyond doubt
@article{Holbraad2012TruthBD, title={Truth beyond doubt}, author={Martin Holbraad}, journal={HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory}, year={2012}, volume={2}, pages={81 - 109} }
This article analyzes the concept of truth on which the practice of Ifá divination in Cuba turns. Motivated ethnographically by Ifá practitioners’ claims that the truths their oracles issue are indubitable, I argue that from the viewpoint of commonplace conceptions of truth such an assumption can only be interpreted as absurd. To avoid such an imputation, the article is devoted to reconceptualizing what might count as truth in such an ethnographic instance. In particular, it is argued that in…
15 Citations
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Evidence is presented showing that divination practices are often best viewed as an epistemic technology, and scenarios under which individuals may overestimate the efficacy of divination that contribute to its cultural omnipresence and historical persistence are modeled.
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