ABSTRACT

A common dilemma in practices of secrecy concerns the actors’ obligation to conceal the secret while keeping it socially present and animated. This quandary often generates moral ambivalence about acts of concealing, revealing, and discerning the hidden. We explore these and similar tensions with a focus on what we call the ethics of discernment: those political and moral ambiguities involved in the uncovering, translation, and circulation of secrets. While such issues can be explored in all areas of social and cultural life, religious practices provide a particularly rich area to explore. The links between religion and secrecy intersect with questions of authority, hierarchy, and the ostensibly set-apart, transcendent character of the sacred. Contributions to this special issue explore the tensions and resonances between concealment, revelation and ethics in a variety of religious contexts.

摘要

保密实践中的一个常见困境涉及演员有义务隐瞒秘密，同时保持其在社会上的存在和活跃。这种困境往往会导致对隐藏、揭示和辨别隐藏行为的道德矛盾心理。我们探讨这些和类似的紧张关系，重点关注我们所谓的辨别伦理：那些涉及揭露、翻译和传播秘密的政治和道德模棱两可。虽然可以在社会和文化生活的所有领域探索这些问题，但宗教实践提供了一个特别丰富的探索领域。宗教与秘密之间的联系与权威、等级以及神圣的表面上被分开、超然的特征等问题交叉。本期特刊的投稿探讨了隐藏之间的张力和共鸣，