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The Un/Ethical Demand: A Responsive Approach to Sharing and Its Ethics
[journal article]
Abstract Many anthropological theories address food sharing as an intentional act, asking what motivates people to give. They show how one gives for generosity, reciprocity, or becoming virtuous. In these views, the answer to the ethical question of whether to give is to be found inside the giving self. Howe... view more
Many anthropological theories address food sharing as an intentional act, asking what motivates people to give. They show how one gives for generosity, reciprocity, or becoming virtuous. In these views, the answer to the ethical question of whether to give is to be found inside the giving self. However, for Damara pastoralists and others, sharing is often initiated by the beneficiaries. To address this, I propose using Bernhard Waldenfels's responsive phenomenology that locates and theorises the mainsprings of ethical action beyond the subject. According to Waldenfels, Fremdheit (alienness) is a salient dimension of how the world appears to us. This alienness solicits us; it causes a demand to which we must respond. With sharing, the 'needs' of others are alien. They include the needs of those giving and demanding, and of others present in the situation. The pre-reflective response to these demands is almost always mās |guisa ra hî, one just gives. Only in select cases is a reflective choice made, where (1) multiple demands compete and (2), importantly, the alien largely withdraws from the attempt, sticking out and exceeding the ethical orders of the everyday. I conclude by showing how sharing and its ethics can be theorised as an interplay between the habitual and creative response to the demands that situations create.... view less
Keywords
Namibia; ethics; phenomenology; responsibility
Classification
Ethnology, Cultural Anthropology, Ethnosociology
Philosophy, Ethics, Religion
Free Keywords
responsive phenomenology; sharing
Document language
English
Publication Year
2023
Page/Pages
p. 19-40
Journal
EthnoScripts: Zeitschrift für aktuelle ethnologische Studien, 25 (2023) 1
Issue topic
Ethics of Sharing
ISSN
2199-7942
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed