Religion, Aesthetics and Morality

This article examines the aesthetic turn in contemporary religious practice. I argue that aesthetic modes of representation are central to the religious practices, myths, and rituals, that shape moral practice. The paper draws on Nietzsche’s analysis of aesthetics and Carl Einstein’s examination of the relationship of aesthetics to myth and ritual. Empirically, the role of aesthetics is manifest in a number of contemporary ethnographies of religion that emphasise practice, embodiment and performance to religion. I argue that aesthetic experience is crucial in the construction of moral relationships, and ethical demands, that arise out of religious practice.