Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

Quick and Easy Sign Up!

It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.

Sign Up Browse

Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

  • Download on iOS
  • Download on Android
  • Download on iOS

The Decline of Magic: Britain in the Enlightenment

Michael Hunter
3.40/5 (24 ratings)
Read Now Download Now
A new history which overturns the received wisdom that science displaced magic in Enlightenment Britain

In early modern Britain, belief in prophecies, omens, ghosts, apparitions and fairies was commonplace. Among both educated and ordinary people the absolute existence of a spiritual world was taken for granted. Yet in the eighteenth century such certainties were swept away. Credit for this great change is usually given to science – and in particular to the scientists of the Royal Society. But is this justified?

Michael Hunter argues that those pioneering the change in attitude were not scientists but freethinkers. While some scientists defended the reality of supernatural phenomena, these sceptical humanists drew on ancient authors to mount a critique both of orthodox religion and, by extension, of magic and other forms of superstition. Even if the religious heterodoxy of such men tarnished their reputation and postponed the general acceptance of anti-magical views, slowly change did come about. When it did, this owed less to the testing of magic than to the growth of confidence in a stable world in which magic no longer had a place.
Format:
Pages:
pages
Publication:
2020
Publisher:
Edition:
Language:
eng
ISBN10:
0300243588
ISBN13:
9780300243581
kindle Asin:
B082P4NHRR

The Decline of Magic: Britain in the Enlightenment

Michael Hunter
3.40/5 (24 ratings)
Read Download
A new history which overturns the received wisdom that science displaced magic in Enlightenment Britain

In early modern Britain, belief in prophecies, omens, ghosts, apparitions and fairies was commonplace. Among both educated and ordinary people the absolute existence of a spiritual world was taken for granted. Yet in the eighteenth century such certainties were swept away. Credit for this great change is usually given to science – and in particular to the scientists of the Royal Society. But is this justified?

Michael Hunter argues that those pioneering the change in attitude were not scientists but freethinkers. While some scientists defended the reality of supernatural phenomena, these sceptical humanists drew on ancient authors to mount a critique both of orthodox religion and, by extension, of magic and other forms of superstition. Even if the religious heterodoxy of such men tarnished their reputation and postponed the general acceptance of anti-magical views, slowly change did come about. When it did, this owed less to the testing of magic than to the growth of confidence in a stable world in which magic no longer had a place.
Format:
Pages:
pages
Publication:
2020
Publisher:
Edition:
Language:
eng
ISBN10:
0300243588
ISBN13:
9780300243581
kindle Asin:
B082P4NHRR

More Books

Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England

Keith Thomas

Der Thron der Sieben Königreiche (Das Lied von Eis und Feuer, #3)

George R.R. Martin

Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World

Naomi Klein

King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne

Janet L. Nelson

In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire

Tom Holland

Magus: The Art of Magic from Faustus to Agrippa

Anthony Grafton

The Táin: From the Irish Epic Táin Bó Cúailnge

Anonymous

The Weaver and the Witch Queen

Genevieve Gornichec

Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths

Natalie Haynes

Women Don't Owe You Pretty

Florence Given

Morgan Is My Name (Morgan le Fay, #1)

Sophie Keetch

The Vinland Sagas

Anonymous