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.
Author(s): Michael Hunter
Publisher: Yale University Press
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 288
City: New Haven
Cover page
Halftitle page
Title page
Copyright page
CONTENTS
PREFACE
ILLUSTRATIONS
ABBREVIATIONS
introduction
Background
The Scientific Revolution and the Supernatural
‘Atheism’ and its Significance
The Current Volume
chapter one JOHN WAGSTAFFE, WITCHCRAFT AND THE NATURE OF RESTORATION FREE-THOUGHT
John Wagstaffe’s The Question of Witchcraft Debated (1669)
Wagstaffe’s Impact and Legacy
chapter two FROM THE DEISTS TO FRANCIS HUTCHINSON
The Deists and Magic
Free-thought and the Response to it
Francis Hutchinson and Changing Orthodoxy
chapter three THE AMBIVALENCE OF THE EARLY ROYAL SOCIETY
Some Examples
The Society’s ‘Policy’ and its Rationale
The Royal Society in Eighteenth- century Debates
The Making of a Myth
chapter four THE ‘DRUMMER OF TEDWORTH’
John Mompesson and the Poltergeist
Early Reactions to the Case
Enter Joseph Glanvill
Glanvill versus the Wits
The Aftermath and the Problem of Fraud
chapter five THE ENLIGHTENMENT REJECTION OF MAGIC
John Beaumont and Sir Hans Sloane
Magic and the Doctors
Debates on the Miraculous
Scepticism and the Enlightenment
chapter six SECOND SIGHT IN SCOTLAND
Boyle and Second Sight
Boyle’s Legacy
Second Sight Debunked
The Realm of the Imagination
conclusion THE ‘DECLINE OF MAGIC’ RECONSIDERED
appendix i THE ‘DRUMMER OF TEDWORTH’
appendix ii JOSHUA WALKER’S PAPER ON SECOND SIGHT
ENDNOTES
INDEX
