Metaphysics & Epistemology of Witchcraft

Course Schedule

§. Section 1. Historical Overview of the Witch-Craze

Thursday Sept 6: Introduction to course

Tuesday Sept. 11 : Medieval Witches

Chapter 2 - Klaits (Servants of Satan)

Thursday Sept 13: Medieval Witches (cont’d)

Tuesday Sept 18: Sexual Politics and the Witch Craze

Chapter 3 - Kleits

Thursday Sept 20: The Church & the Witches

Gratian (reading package)

Pope Gregory IX (reading package)

Pope Innocent VIII (reading package)

Tuesday Sept. 25: Classic Witches: The Beggar and the Midwife

Chapter 4 - Klaits

Thursday Sept 27: Demonic Possession

Chapter 5 - Klaits

Tuesday Oct. 2: Movie - The Devils (part I)

Thursday Oct. 4: Movie - The Devils (part II)

Tuesday Oct. 9: Legal Torture

Chapter 6 - Klaits

Thursday Oct. 11: Test- 1 hour

(50 multiple-choice questions; covers all of Section1)

§. Section 2. Why did it happen? Five main lines of historical interpretation

Tuesday Oct. 16: The Murray Thesis

Introduction, Murray, (reading package)

The Assemblies, Murray (reading package)

Thursday Oct. 18: The Murray Thesis - criticisms

What Song the Syrens Sang, Rose (reading package)

Tuesday Oct. 23: The Murray Thesis - criticisms (cont’d)

The Society of Witches that never was, Cohn (reading package)

Thursday Oct. 25: Fraud Theory - Sidky

Demonology: Ideology of Terror, Sidky (reading package)

Witch-hunting, Terror and Social Control, Sidky (reading package)

Tuesday Oct. 30: Fraud Theory - Currie

Crimes without criminals, Currie (reading package)

Thursday Nov. 1: Madness Theory - Zilboorg

Medical Man & the Witch, Zilboorg (reading package)

Tuesday Nov. 6: Madness Theory - criticism (Szasz)

Defense of the Dominant Ethic, Szasz (reading package)

Thursday Nov. 8: Medical Theory - Syphilis as a causal factor

Syphilitic Shock, Andreski (reading package)

Tuesday Nov. 13: Medical Theory- diagnostic method and the ‘diagnosis’ of witchcraft

Medical origins of the European Witchcraze, Estes (reading package)

Thursday Nov. 15: Hallucinogenic Drugs: A variation on the madness/medical thesis

Hallucinogenic Drugs and Witches, Sidky (reading package)

Tuesday Nov. 20: Feminist Theory - Movie: Burning Times

Thursday Nov.22: Feminist Theory

The Persecution of Witches: A case of sexism and agism?, Ruether

(reading package)

Thursday Nov. 27: Feminist Theory

Controlling Women’s Bodies, Barstow (reading package)

Tuesday Nov. 29: Salem Witch Trials

No reading for today

Tuesday Dec. 4: Typical and Atypical Witch Trials: two examples

No reading for today

§. Section 3: Why did it happen? The metaphysics and epistemology of

witchhunting

Tuesday Dec. 6: The end of Witch-hunting

Chapter 7, Klaits

Tuesday Jan. 8: Test—1 hour

(50 multiple-choice questions; covers all of Section 2)

-the remaining readings are all found in the reading package-

Thursday Jan. 10: Aristotle’s Spiritual Metaphysics

Aristotle, Physics

Tuesday Jan. 15: Aristotelianism: Aquinas

Aquinas, Matter, Form, Agent, Goal

Thursday Jan. 17: Aquinas’s Aristotelian Demonology

Aquinas, From the Summa Contra Gentiles, etc

Tuesday Jan. 22: Plato’s Spiritual Cosmology

Plato, Timaeus

Thursday Jan. 24: Platonism: Ficino

Ficino, The Book of Life

Tuesday Jan. 29: The Problem of Evil

St. Augustine, The Problem of Evil

Aquinas, Providence: how evil is caused

Leibniz, Evil and the Best Possible World

§. Section 4: Why did it end? The Metaphysics and Epistemology of

Modern Science

Thursday Jan. 31: The Rise of Scepticism: Montaigne

Montaigne, Ignorance and Witchcraft

Tuesday Feb. 5: The Rise of Scepticism: Scot

Scot, Credulity and Witchcraft

Thursday Feb. 7: The Rise of Modern Empiricism: Bacon

Bacon, Novum Organum and The Advancement of Learning

Tuesday Feb. 12: Modern Empiricism: Boyle

Boyle, Excellency and Grounds of the Mechanical Hypothesis

Thursday Feb. 14: The Rise of Modern Rationalism: Descartes

Descartes, First and Second Meditations

Tuesday Feb. 19: Modern Rationalism: Malebranche

Malebranche, Recherche de la Verite

Thursday Feb 21: Rationalism: Spinoza

Spinoza, Reason, Man and the Devil

Tuesday Mar. 5: Strict Materialism: Hobbes

Hobbes, Demonology as Unsound Philosophy

Thursday Mar. 7: A Clerical Critique of the Witch Trials

Spee, A Jesuit Criticizes the Persecutions

Tuesday Mar. 12: Test-1 hour

(50 multiple-choice questions; covers all of Sections 3 and 4)

§. Section 5: The Coherence of Magical Beliefs: a consideration of

magical thinking

Thursday Mar. 14: The Logic of Witchcraft Beliefs

Evans-Pritchard, Sorcery and Native Opinion and Witchcraft amongst the

Azande

Tuesday Mar. 19: The idea of Witchcraft

Thomas, The Meaning of the Term ‘Witchcraft’

Macfarlane, Definitions of Witchcraft

Thursday Mar. 21: Ancient and Modern European Conceptions of Witchcraft

Baroja, Magic and Religion in the Ancient World

Apuleius, The Story of Thelyphron

Baroja, Witchcraft amongst the German and Slavonic Peoples

Tuesday Mar. 26: African Witchcraft

Fortune, Sorcerers of Dobu

Schapera, Sorcery and Witchcraft in Bechuanaland

Thursday Mar. 28: Witch-hunting in Africa

Richards, A Modern Movement of Witch-Finders

Marwick, The Bwanali-Mpulumutsi Anti-Witchcraft Movement

Tuesday Apr. 2: The Role of Witchcraft Beliefs

Krige, The Social Function of Witchcraft Beliefs

Wilson, Witch-Beliefs and Social Structure

Thursday Apr. 4: The Structure of African Witchcraft Accusations

Mitchell, The Meaning of Misfortune for Urban Africans

Swartz, Modern Conditions and Witchcraft/Sorcery Accusations

Tuesday Apr. 9: Magic vs. Science

Gluckman, The Logic of African Science and Witchcraft

Polanyi, The Stability of Scientific Theories against Experience

Thursday Apr. 11: Magic vs. Science cont’d

Marwick, Witchcraft and the Epistemology of Science