Magical Thinking
History, Possibility and the Idea of the Occult
Seiten
2012
Continuum Publishing Corporation (Verlag)
978-1-4411-1697-0 (ISBN)
Continuum Publishing Corporation (Verlag)
978-1-4411-1697-0 (ISBN)
Magic is usually defined as a non-modern phenomenon, contrasted with modern rationalism and science. However, the idea of magic has remained persistent in scholarly discourse throughout history from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment and beyond. This title explores how the notion of magic is articulated and theorised in the writing of history.
Magic is usually defined as a non-modern phenomenon, contrasted with modern rationalism and science. However, the idea of magic has remained persistent in scholarly discourse throughout history from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment and beyond. This volume explores how the notion of magic is articulated and theorised in the writing of history. Departing from writing "about" magic in history, this volume addresses magic as it relates to the trajectories of intellectual history as a whole, with particular reference to a diverse series of case studies in thought about magic. The author also engages with the history and philosophy of science; operating within this framework, the author argues that magic has always been figured as "medieval" in the formulation of the discourses of modernity, and that thinking or writing about magic has engendered multiple epistemological crises. Through these controversies, the idea of magic and the occult has profoundly unsettled the understanding of history in Western culture. The resulting study is an investigation of the implications of magic (and the study of magic) for intellectual history.
Magic is usually defined as a non-modern phenomenon, contrasted with modern rationalism and science. However, the idea of magic has remained persistent in scholarly discourse throughout history from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment and beyond. This volume explores how the notion of magic is articulated and theorised in the writing of history. Departing from writing "about" magic in history, this volume addresses magic as it relates to the trajectories of intellectual history as a whole, with particular reference to a diverse series of case studies in thought about magic. The author also engages with the history and philosophy of science; operating within this framework, the author argues that magic has always been figured as "medieval" in the formulation of the discourses of modernity, and that thinking or writing about magic has engendered multiple epistemological crises. Through these controversies, the idea of magic and the occult has profoundly unsettled the understanding of history in Western culture. The resulting study is an investigation of the implications of magic (and the study of magic) for intellectual history.
Stuart McWilliams teaches in the School of English, Queen's University Belfast. His research interests include medieval intellectual history, the history of the occult and the philosophy of history.
Introduction; Part I; 1. The 'Bastard Sister' of Science; 2. The Politics of Naming; Part II; 3. Divination and History; 4. Demonological Aesthetics; 5. Angelic Mediations; Part III; 6. Ritual Words, Things and Deeds; 7. The Practice of Syncretism; Part IV; 8. The Experimental Act; 9. Does Magic Work?; Conclusion.
Erscheint lt. Verlag | 9.2.2012 |
---|---|
Verlagsort | New York |
Sprache | englisch |
Maße | 156 x 234 mm |
Themenwelt | Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte |
Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Weitere Religionen | |
Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie | |
ISBN-10 | 1-4411-1697-4 / 1441116974 |
ISBN-13 | 978-1-4411-1697-0 / 9781441116970 |
Zustand | Neuware |
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