P1: JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller 521 85680 October 7, 2005 This page intentionally left blank ii 16:14 P1: JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller 521 85680 October 7, 2005 Eye for an Eye i 16:14 P1: JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller 521 85680 ii October 7, 2005 16:14 P1: JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller 521 85680 October 7, 2005 EYE FOR AN EYE William Ian Miller University of Michigan iii 16:14 cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521856805 © William Ian Miller 2006 This publication is in copyright Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press First published in print format 2005 isbn-13 isbn-10 978-0-511-13553-8 eBook (EBL) 0-511-13553-x eBook (EBL) isbn-13 isbn-10 978-0-521-85680-5 hardback 0-521-85680-9 hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate P1: JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller 521 85680 For Joseph Weiler: soldier, teacher, friend v October 7, 2005 16:14 P1: JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller 521 85680 October 7, 2005 16:14 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe Exodus 21.23–25 vi P1: JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller 521 85680 October 7, 2005 16:14 Contents Preface: A Theory of Justice? page ix Introductory Themes: Images of Evenness The Scales of Justice Just about Words 1 The Talion Getting Even? The Compensation Principle The Euphony of Eyes and Teeth 17 17 24 27 The Talionic Mint: Funny Money Body Parts and Money Paying Gods in Bodies and Blood Cutting Up Bread, Cutting Up the Body 31 31 36 42 The Proper Price of Property in an Eye Property Rules and Liability Rules Life Is Cheap? 46 48 54 Teaching a Lesson: Pain and Poetic Justice Instruction on Feeling Another’s Pain Deuteronomy’s Artful Talionic Lesson Coda: Mixing Metaphors: Paying Back and Paying For 58 58 63 68 A Pound of Flesh Shearing Fleece and Eating (Human) Flesh Have Mercy The Humanizing Force of Vengefulness 70 73 77 83 Remember Me: Mnemonics, Debts (of Blood), and the Making of the Person Burning in the Memory 89 89 vii P1: JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller 521 85680 October 7, 2005 16:14 contents Bloody Tokens and the Relics of the Unavenged Dead Remembering the Dead and Not Forgetting Oneself The Happy Dead Grief, Guilt, and Tormenting Ghosts The Mnemonics of Wergeld and the Fragility of Well-Being 91 95 99 102 104 Dismemberment and Price Lists Slave Values The Sum of the Parts Flipping the Bird 109 111 113 122 Of Hands, Hospitality, Personal Space, and Holiness Hospitality and Mund Hands and Reach Wholly Holy 130 131 135 138 10 Satisfaction Not Guaranteed Release of Pressure, or Filling the Void Up Full? Serving Up Revenge: Bitter or Sweet The Mind of the Vengeance Target: Regret, Remorse, Cluelessness Killing Him or Keeping Him Alive for Scoffing, and Other Fine Points 140 140 145 11 Comparing Values and the Ranking Game The Politics of Comparing Values, or What’s Eating the Incommensuralists The Ranking Game Ranking at a Viking Feast 160 161 168 174 12 Filthy Lucre and Holy Dollars Dirty Dollars and the Making of Pricelessness Buying Back and the Sacred Everything for Sale 180 183 188 191 Conclusion 146 151 197 Notes Works Cited Index 203 243 259 viii ... thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe Exodus 21.23–25 vi P1: JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller... is an antitheory because it is not abstract It is about eyes, teeth, hands, and lives It is an extended gloss on the law of the talion: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, measure for measure... JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller 521 85680 ii October 7, 2005 16:14 P1: JZZ 0521856809pre CUNY159B/Miller 521 85680 October 7, 2005 EYE FOR AN EYE William Ian Miller University of Michigan iii