Divination as provocation: notes for a tactful definition. Problems with definitions and problems with belief and cognition in the study of religion
Wednesday 29 October 2025, 5:00pm
Seminar Room (SR 63), Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities
Professor David Zeitlyn (SAME, University of Oxford)
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.