Magical Thinking: History, Possibility and the Idea of the Occult

Name: Magical Thinking: History, Possibility and the Idea of the Occult
Price: 190.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: McWilliams, Stuart
ISBN: 9781441116970

✍️ McWilliams, Stuart

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190 $

📚 ABOUT THE BOOK

Unmask the hidden influence of magic on intellectual thought and academic debate.

Stuart McWilliams explores the intricate relationship between scholarly inquiry and the concept of magic, particularly in eras of heightened esoteric fascination. This compelling volume meticulously unpacks how academic disciplines have grappled with and imagined the occult, from dissecting historical accounts to confronting staunch rationalist viewpoints. McWilliams powerfully contends that engaging with magical thought has repeatedly ignited significant epistemological crises, fundamentally challenging Western understandings of history and the very nature of knowledge itself, thereby illuminating magic's persistent and unsettling influence on intellectual history.

Key themes

{'title': 'Academic Engagement with Magic', 'body': 'This book dissects how academic discourse, across various humanities disciplines, has struggled to define and integrate the concept of magic. It reveals the internal contradictions and methodological challenges scholars face when attempting to rationalize or historicize the occult, often revealing more about their own frameworks than about magic itself.'} {'title': 'Epistemological Crises', 'body': 'McWilliams illustrates how the mere presence or discussion of magic has consistently triggered profound challenges to established systems of knowledge and understanding. These "crises" force a re-evaluation of what constitutes \'truth,\' \'history,\' and \'rationality\' within Western intellectual traditions, showcasing magic as a potent destabilizing force.'} {'title': 'Intellectual History Reimagined', 'body': 'The work re-examines intellectual history through the lens of magic, arguing that its overlooked or misrepresented influence has profoundly shaped Western thought. By analyzing how scholarship has both "contended and conspired" with enchantment, it offers a fresh perspective on the evolution of ideas and the boundaries of accepted knowledge.'}

🏛 Continuum 📅 2012 📖 200 pages 📔 Hardcover 📐 Hardcover ISBN: 9781441116970

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Fun fact

McWilliams's 'Magical Thinking' offers a rigorous examination of how the concept of magic has perpetually unsettled Western intellectual history. It excels in dissecting academic methodologies and revealing hidden biases within rationalist thought. Not a practical guide, those seeking deep theoretical insights into the philosophy of knowledge and the occult's cultural impact will find it invaluable. Readers expecting a narrative history of magical practices might be disappointed, but it firmly establishes itself as a vital contribution to the critical study of esoteric thought.

📝 Description: Magical Thinking: History, Possibility and the Idea of the Occult

How do we write about magic? Responding to a renewed interest in the history of the occult, this volume examines the role of magic in a series of methodological controversies in the humanities. In case studies ranging from the 'necromancy' of historiography to the strident rationalism of the 'New Atheism, ' Magical Thinking sets out the surprising ways in which scholars and critics have imagined the occult. The volume argues that thinking and writing about magic has engendered multiple epistemological crises, profoundly unsettling the understanding of history and knowledge in Western culture. By examining how scholarly writing has contended and conspired with discourses of enchantment, the book reveals the implications of magic - and its scholarship - for intellectual history.

⭐ Reader reviews

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⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.7/5

★★★★★

If you are drawn to the philosophy of knowledge, the history of ideas, or the intricate ways culture shapes academic inquiry, this book is for you. It's a must-read for anyone fascinated by how the 'unseen' has provoked profound intellectual transformations.

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❓ Frequently asked questions

No, this is an academic study. It analyzes the *idea* of magic and its impact on scholarly thought, rather than instructing on magical practice or beliefs.

The book examines the concept of magic as it appears in scholarly discourse—how historians, philosophers, and critics have imagined, categorized, and struggled with the occult within their own intellectual frameworks.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Academic Engagement with Magic

This book dissects how academic discourse, across various humanities disciplines, has struggled to define and integrate the concept of magic. It reveals the internal contradictions and methodological challenges scholars face when attempting to rationalize or historicize the occult, often revealing more about their own frameworks than about magic itself.

Epistemological Crises

McWilliams illustrates how the mere presence or discussion of magic has consistently triggered profound challenges to established systems of knowledge and understanding. These "crises" force a re-evaluation of what constitutes 'truth,' 'history,' and 'rationality' within Western intellectual traditions, showcasing magic as a potent destabilizing force.

Intellectual History Reimagined

The work re-examines intellectual history through the lens of magic, arguing that its overlooked or misrepresented influence has profoundly shaped Western thought. By analyzing how scholarship has both "contended and conspired" with enchantment, it offers a fresh perspective on the evolution of ideas and the boundaries of accepted knowledge.

💬 Quotes from the book

«The academic impulse to categorize and historicize magic often mirrors, in a curious irony, the very attempt to control and name the unknown that characterizes certain esoteric traditions.»

«To dismiss the occult as mere superstition is to overlook its profound capacity to expose the inherent vulnerabilities and unexamined assumptions within purportedly rationalist systems of thought.»

📜 Historical context

This work sits squarely within a growing academic trend that critically re-examines the role of the esoteric and the 'irrational' in intellectual history, challenging previous scholarship that often marginalized or dismissed such topics. It contributes to a broader conversation about the limits of Enlightenment rationalism and the persistent appeal of alternative forms of knowledge.

📚 Glossary

Occult
Epistemology
Historiography

📔 Questions to reflect on

How might your own academic or personal understanding of 'rationality' be subtly influenced by an unacknowledged engagement with 'magical thinking'?
Consider a historical or contemporary 'epistemological crisis.' What role, if any, do you think the concept of the 'occult' played in its unfolding or resolution?
If scholarship itself can be a form of 'necromancy,' animating concepts it studies, what ethical or methodological implications does this have for the pursuit of knowledge?