Table Of ContentConcepts of Person
in Religion and Thought
Religion and Reason 37
Method and Theory
in the Study and Interpretation of Religion
GENERAL EDITOR
Jacques Waardenburg, University of lMusatine
BOARD OF ADVISERS
R. N. Bellah, Berkeley
U. Bianchi, Rome
M. Despland, Montreal
H. J. W. Drijvers, Groningen
W. Dupré, Nijmegen
S. N. Eisenstadt, Jerusalem
C. Geertz, Princeton
K. Goldammer, Marburg
U. King, Bristol
P. Ricœur, Paris
M. Rodinson, Paris
K. Rudolph, Marburg
N. Smart, Santa Barbara
L. E. Sullivan, Chicago
G. Widengren, Stockholm
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
Concepts of Person
in Religion and Thought
Edited by
Hans G. Kippenberg
Yme B. Kuiper
Andy F. Sanders
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York 1990
Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague)
is a Division of Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin.
Library of Congress Catalogìng-ìn-Publication Data
Concepts of person in religion and thought / edited by Hans G.
Kippenberg, Yme B. Kuiper, and Andy F. Sanders,
p. cm. — (Religion and reason ; 37)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-89925-600-7 (alk. paper)
1. Self. 2. Man. 3. Self (Philosophy) 4. Man (Theology)
I. Kippenberg, Hans G. (Hans Gerhard) II. Kuiper, Yme B.
III. Sanders, Andy F. IV. Series
BL65.S38C65 1990
291.2'2—dc20 89-48472
CIP
Deutsche Bibliothek Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Concepts of person in religion and thought / ed. by Hans G.
Kippenberg ... — Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 1990
(Religion and reason ; 37)
ISBN 3-11-012159-X
NE: Kippenberg, Hans G. [Hrsg.]; GT
® Printed on acid free paper.
© Copyright 1990 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., D-1000 Berlin 30.
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printing: Ratzlow-Druck, Berlin. —
Binding: Lüderitz & Bauer, Berlin. Printed in Germany.
PREFACE
The present volume is the third joint publication of the Groningen
Working Group for the Study of Religious Symbols. This multi-
disciplinary group (founded in 1983) consists of scholars in the Faculties
of Theology, Philosophy, Arts, and Social Sciences. Apart from setting up
a number of Ph.D. programmes, our group has extended its contacts with
scholars abroad. We are grateful to Professor Ulrich Berner (Bayreuth),
Professor Michel Meslin (Paris), and to Professor Armin Geertz and Dr.
Jeppe Jensen (Aarhus) for their cooperation and their stimulating and
friendly criticisms.
We also wish to thank Professor Herman te Velde and Dr. Hans A. Witte
for their editorial advice, and the staff-members of the Institute of
Religious Iconography (University of Groningen) who loyally assisted us
by type-setting the texts and by compiling the indices: Margreet
Hagelstein-Mandersloot, Anneke Knoppert, Pieter Huiser and David J. Bos.
Most articles have been translated by Mrs. M. de Rooij.
We wish to dedicate this volume to the memory of our most esteemed
colleague and friend, Professor Hubertus G. Hubbeling. His untimely
death on October 7th 1986 was, and still is felt by us as a heavy loss.
From 1968 onwards, Huib Hubbeling has played an important role in our
present Working Group and in its precursor. We greatly benefitted from
his knowledge of the history of philosophy, of modern philosophy of
science and methodology, and particularly from the way in which he
sought to relate the philosophy of religion to the science of religion.
One of his last papers is published in this volume.
Groningen, April 1989 Hans G. Kippenberg
Yme B. Kuiper
Andy F. Sanders
CONTENTS
Studying Concepts of Person: General Introduction 1
PART I
THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Introduction 7
H. G. Hubbeling
Some Remarks on the Concept of Person in Western Philosophy ... 9
J.J. Oosten
A Few Critical Remarks on the Concept of Person 25
Y. B. Kuiper
The Concept of Person in American Anthropology: The Cultural
Perspective of Clifford Geertz 35
A. F. Sanders
The Concept of Person: Some Heuristical Notes 51
M. Meslin
Religious Traditions and the Human Person 67
PART II
ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN CONCEPTS OF PERSON
Introduction 79
H. te Velde
Some Remarks on the Concept 'Person' in the Ancient Egyptian
Culture 83
H. G. Kippenberg
Name and Person in Ancient Judaism and Christianity 103
U. Berner
The Image of the Philosopher in Late Antiquity and in Early Christiani-
ty 125
viii Contents
H. J. W. Drijvers
The Saint as Symbol: Conceptions of the Person in Late Antiquity and
Early Christianity 137
N. Elias
Fear of Death 159
PART III
NON-WESTERN CONCEPTS OF PERSON
Introduction 173
J. S. Jensen
Towards Contemporary Islamic Concepts of the Person 177
F. Leemhuis
Can You Marry a Djinni? An Aspect of the Djinn as Persons 217
L. P. van den Bosch
Some Reflections on the Concept of Person in Ancient Indian Texts . 229
H. T. Bakker
An Indian Image of Man: An Inquiry into a Change of Perspective in
the Hindu World-view 279
A. W. Geertz
Hopi Hermeneutics: Ritual Person Among the Hopi Indians of Arizona 309
H. A. Witte
Ego-Awareness and the Person in the West African World View . . . 337
PART IV
SPECIAL ISSUES
B. P. Hofstede
Persona Non Grata: The Case of Zwarte Piet 361
W. B. Drees
Extraterrestrial Persons 383
Contents ix
General Bibliography 393
About the Authors 397
Index 403
