The Enigma of Gift and Sacrifice [Paperback]

What does it mean to give a gift? In this timely collection, distinguished anthropologistsMaurice Godelier, George Marcus, Stephen Tylerand philosophersMark C. Taylor, John D. Caputo, Jean-Joseph Goux and Adriaan Peperzak, explore an enigma that has disturbed contemporary philosophers from Marcel Mauss to Jacques Derrida.

The essays included in the volume:

Some Things You Give, Some Things You Sell, But Some Things You Must Keep for Yourselves: What Mauss Did Not Say about Sacred Objects by Maurice Godelie.
The Gift and Globalization: A Prolegomenon to the Anthropological Study of Contemporary Finance Capital and Its Mentalities by George Marcus
Capitalizing (on) Gifting by Mark C. Taylor
Even Steven or No Strings Attached by Stephen Tyler
Mothering, Co-muni-cation and the Gifts of Language by Genevieve Vaughan
The Time of Giving, the Time of Forgiving by John D. Caputo
Seneca against Derrida: Gift and Alterity by Jean-Joseph Goux Giving by Adriaan Peperzak

Based on a conference held at Rice University in 1999, this volume is an interesting addition to recent philosophically informed literature on the gift. Following a brief introductory essay by Wyschogrod, the volume is divided into three sections. The first, with essays by Maurice Godelier, George E. Marcus, and Mark C. Taylor, explores the social, economic, and political functions of gift-giving in the context of the global economy. The second section, with essays by Stephen A. Tyler and Genevieve Vaughan, examines how language and gender influence the role that giving plays in shaping communities. The final section, responding to the work of Derrida and Levinas, addresses the ambiguities and paradoxes of gift-giving and the gift's relation to alterity, with essays by John D. Caputo, Jean-Joseph Goux, and Adriaan Peperzak. Drawing from anthropology, religion, and philosophy, the essays are all of high quality and will be accessible to a broad and multidisciplinary audls8