Sacrifice, as an idea and a praxis, has been part of human life since the beginning of history. Although it has undergone many incarnations and changed almost beyond recognition, a stubborn core of this ancient idea continues to be embodied in new genres and to ignite the imagination even in the modern era. An important aspect of the phenomenon of sacrifice, suggested already by Mauss and Hubert, has been the question of the relation with the transcendent, which is constituted and maintained by the sacrificial act. However, this line of inquiry holds a radical potential – yet to be realized – for understanding the shifting history of the phenomenon of sacrifice as a history of the varying approaches to transcendence.

The workshop will be devoted to various possibilities opened by this understanding. Through an analysis of nodal points in the history of sacrifice we will inquire into the modes by which the idea of sacrifice has mediated shifting concepts of sacredness from ancient to modern times.