Talk and Practice Ethics and an Individual in Contemporary South India

This article explores the intricate relationship between talk and practice in the anthropology of ethics by focusing on one individual, a temple and consecration priest, in Tamil Nadu, South India. By examining his relations with other people, gods and his ideal and present self, the article suggests that ethical self-cultivation is an ongoing practice and is based on ordinary and extraordinary encounters, evaluations and refl ections thereon. It argues that the focus on an individual both allows an intimate and detailed refl ection on processes of ethical self-cultivation and off ers a window into the wider social world of which the individual forms a part.