PHIL204 Lecture 8: PHIL204_Sacred+Profane
8 Mar 2018
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Document Summary
The words sacred and profane are often used vaguely and their definitions very greatly across cultures. Many people interpret sacred as holy or relating to religion, and they associate profane with anything either sacrilegious or not related to faith at all. Eliade is referring to something or someone that is highly adored and by profane he is referring to something that is either unmanifested, neutral, or chaotic. When using the word sacred eliade means the adoration and representation of an object or being. He mentions sacred space as having significant meaning because of the threshold aspect of these spaces. By crossing the threshold, a person enters a more centered state of mind as they pass from one space to another. This could include the doors of a church and images of an opening as indicated by eliade. The geometrical properties indicate that sacred objects or spaces themselves have a defined center.
