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OverviewThis collection of essays considers the place of magic in the modern world, first by exploring the ways in which modernity has been defined in explicit opposition to magic and superstition, and then by illuminating how modern proponents of magic have worked to legitimize their practices through an overt embrace of evolving forms such as esotericism and supernaturalism. Taking a two-track approach, this book explores the complex dynamics of the construction of the modern self and its relation to the modern preoccupation with magic. Essays examine how modern “rational” consciousness is generated and maintained and how proponents of both magical and scientific traditions rationalize evidence to fit accepted orthodoxy. This book also describes how people unsatisfied with the norms of modern subjectivity embrace various forms of magic—and the methods these modern practitioners use to legitimate magic in the modern world. A compelling assessment of magic from the early modern period to today, Magic in the Modern World shows how, despite the dominant culture’s emphatic denial of their validity, older forms of magic persist and develop while new forms of magic continue to emerge. In addition to the editors, contributors include Egil Asprem, Erik Davis, Megan Goodwin, Dan Harms, Adam Jortner, and Benedek Láng. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Edward Bever (Director of Professional Studies, SUNY College At Old Westbury) , Randall Styers (Associate Professor of Religion and Culture, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press Imprint: Pennsylvania State University Press Dimensions: Width: 15.60cm , Height: 23.50cm , Length: 23.50cm Weight: 0.395kg ISBN: 9780271077789ISBN 10: 0271077786 Pages: 216 Publication Date: 30 December 2018 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Manufactured on demand  We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier. Table of ContentsContents Introduction, Edward Bever and Randall Styers Magic and the Making of Modernity Chapter 1, “Bad Habits, or, How Superstition Disappeared in the Modern World,” Randall Styers Chapter 2, “Descartes’ Dreams, the Neuropsychology of Disbelief, and the Making of the Modern Self,” Edward Bever Chapter 3, “Why Magic Cannot Be Falsified by Experiments,” Benedek Láng Chapter 4, “Witches as Liars: Witchcraft and Civilization in the Early American Republic,” Adam Jortner Magic in Modernity Chapter 5, “Loagaeth, q consibra a caosg: The Contested Arena of Modern Enochian Angel Magic,” Egil Asprem Chapter 6, “Babalon Launching: Jack Parsons, Rocketry, and the ‘Method of Science,’” Erik Davis Chapter 7, “Manning the High Seat: Seidr as Self-Making in Contemporary NorseNeopaganisms,” Megan Goodwin Chapter 8, “Reviving Dead Names: Strategies of Legitimization in the Necronomicon of Simon and the Dark Aesthetic,” Dan Harms Selected Bibliography Notes List of Contributors IndexReviewsEver since the nineteenth century, it has been a staple of the discourse on modern society that magic and supernaturalism were on their way out. The contributors to this splendid volume explain why this idea has been so persuasive, and why it is utterly wrong. -Olav Hammer, author of Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age Hopefully, this book will be read both by historians of magic and scholars of contemporary magic in the fields of anthropology and sociology. As such, it is a valuable contribution to the interdisciplinary study of magic; such interdisciplinary engagement is especially important when dealing with as elusive and controverted a concept as magic. -Francis Young, Reviews in History Author InformationEdward Bever is Professor of History at the State University of New York at Old Westbury and the author of The Realities of Witchcraft and Popular Magic in Early Modern Europe: Culture, Cognition, and Everyday Life. Randall Styers is Associate Professor of Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of Making Magic: Religion, Magic, and Science in the Modern World. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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