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Ancestors

Submitted to Program Units
1: Global-Critical Philosophy of Religion Unit

Ancestors form a class of entities central to peoples' lived experiences of religions worldwide. These experiences include reverence for ancestors, communication with ancestors, and conceptions of ancestral afterlives. Despite its centrality, this topic receives little to no attention within the philosophy of religion. To start addressing this important area of inquiry in a more systematic way, the Global Critical Philosophy of Religion Unit therefore invited three papers to reappraise the role of ancestors in different religous traditions, here North American Indigenous cultures and East Asian modern societies, as well as to assess the potentials of the category of “ancestors” in the field of philosophy of religion.

The first paper engages with the role of past and future ancestors in North American Indigenous cultures, with a special attention to the Potawatomi Nation. The paper offers to deconstruct mythologised, spiritualised or demonic accounts of these traditions, in order to see ancestors as a tangible and practical part of life, as beings and presences who can bring trouble but also assistance. Doing so, the paper explains how these worldviews represent variously the relations between humans and the more-than-human, where the “more-than-human” includes nature, as well as spirits, ghosts and ancestors.

Moving to the opposite side of the globe, the second paper examines the East Asian practice of ancestral worship from a contemporary perspective. Emphasizing key themes such as ancestral veneration, Confucian rites, Catholic and Protestant reactions, contemporary practices, harmonization, and complimentary or conflicting religious dynamics, the study delves into the multifaceted nature of ancestral worship in modern East Asian societies.

Building on these considerations, the final paper offers a new framing of the ideal significance of ancestors in terms of ethical, historical and religious forms of responsibility: ethical in occupying the role of Ideal Observers, historical in anchoring long-term group endeavors, and religious in representing ideal human relations with ultimate reality and value.

Marie-Helene Gorisse, University of Birmingham, Presiding

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

Ancestors form a class of entities central to peoples' lived experiences of religions worldwide. These experiences include reverence for ancestors, communication with ancestors, and conceptions of ancestral afterlives. Despite its centrality, this topic receives little to no attention within the philosophy of religion. To start addressing this important area of inquiry in a more systematic way, the Global Critical Philosophy of Religion Unit therefore invited three papers to reappraise the role of ancestors in different religous traditions, here North American Indigenous cultures and East Asian modern societies, as well as to assess the potentials of the category of “ancestors” in the field of philosophy of religion.

Papers

  • Mark S. Cladis, Brown University

    The Presence and Role of Ancestors in North American Indigenous Cultures, and Beyond

    Abstract

    In my presentation, I argue that ancestors as “spectral beings” present a challenge for Euro-American scholars. Ancestors play a powerful role in many cultures, and yet due to various forms of secularism, Euro-American scholars tend to discount the role of ancestors—including in their own Euro-American cultures. My window into this large topic is North American Indigenous cultures in the context of settler colonialism. After making broad comments about the role of past and future ancestors in North American Indigenous cultures, giving special attention to the work of Kyle Whyte of the Potawatomi Nation, I focus on the work of Leslie Marmon Silko. Ancestors are prominent characters in Silko’s writings: they are a tangible, practical part of life. Finally, I argue that, when viewed from the perspective of Silko’s Indigenous extraordinary beings, we gain a new sense of “spectral” ancestors in Euro-American cultures and traditions.

  • Anh Q. Tran, Santa Clara University

    "Revisiting the Chinese Rites Controversy: A Contemporary Perspective on the East Asian Practice of Ancestral Worship"

    Abstract

    This paper offers a contemporary examination of the East Asian practice of ancestral worship, with a focus on its evolution since the historical Chinese Rites Controversy. Emphasizing key themes such as ancestral veneration, Confucian rites, Catholic and Protestant reactions, contemporary practices, harmonization, and complimentary or conflicting religious dynamics, the study delves into the multifaceted nature of ancestral worship in modern East Asian societies. Drawing on observations of evolving rituals and beliefs, the paper explores how ancestral worship has adapted to globalization, modernization, and cultural shifts while retaining its cultural significance in shaping family and community dynamics. It examines the interplay between ancestral veneration and various Asian religious traditions, including Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity, highlighting efforts towards syncretism or tension between different belief systems. Furthermore, the paper analyzes contemporary challenges faced by practitioners of ancestral worship, such as generational shifts and urbanization. It explores how these challenges impact the preservation and transmission of ancestral rituals. It also considers the global dimension of ancestral worship among East Asian diaspora communities, examining how these rituals are maintained and adapted in multicultural contexts.

  • Steven G. Smith, Millsaps College

    Responsibility Prompts: A Global-Critical Philosophical Approach to Ancestor Regard

    Abstract

    Can modern philosophers of religion take ancestor regard seriously? How might ancestor regard make a decisive and defensible contribution to the interpretation of life? This paper seeks to clarify the “ancestor” field of religious reference and proposes a new framing of its ideal significance. On the model of “life is a conference” (complementary to Knepper’s “life is a journey”), ancestors figure as stakeholders in shared life whose supposed presence in our councils distinctively activates ethical, historical, and religious forms of responsibility: ethical in occupying the role of Ideal Observers, historical in anchoring long-term group endeavors, and religious in representing ideal human relations with ultimate reality and value. The combination of these activations is a sweet spot for ambitious moral reflection. The principle of responsibility prompting makes normative sense of ancestor regard without depending on unconvincing and culturally less regulated speculation about souls or deities.

Audiovisual Requirements

Resources

LCD Projector and Screen

Full Papers Available

No
Program Unit Options

Session Length

90 Minutes

Schedule Preference Other

not Tuesday

Tags

#philosophy of religion#global philosophy #East Asian traditions#Native American traditions#critical philosophy
ancestors
moral responsibility
ethical responsibility
historical responsibility
religious responsibility
global-critical philosophy of religion
Timothy Knepper