The permanence and modernity of magical thinking: Magic in philosophy and science
Tatjana Đ. Milivojević, Borivoje Baltezarević
Godisnjak Fakulteta za kulturu i medije - komunikacije mediji kultura 2015 DOI: 10.5937/gfkm1507461m (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the sharp delineation between rational-logical and magical-mythopoetic modes of thought is unsustainable and does not correspond to modern science. The laws of similarity and contact, central to magical thinking, are claimed to have a heuristic and productive-creative role beyond primitive magic or superstition. |
Abstract
Many authors have claimed that magic is a characteristic form of belief in primitive communities, pertaining to a human still lacking the full capacity of abstract or logical reasoning. According to the evolutionary view, the magical thinking is a lower, prerational stage in the development of consciousness, which is characterized by perceptual, sensory thinking, i.e. thinking in images rather than in concepts. Other authors suggest that there are two different and contrasting modes of thought as permanent and ultimate determinations of man's mind, and that each of them has its own language: one is analytical and logical, or rational discursive, the other is analogical, pictural and mythopoetic. It is commonly believed that science belongs to the first, while magic, mysticism and religion to the second mode which usually entails their different valorizing and ranking. The article problematizes this ingrained attitude by showing that a sharp delineation of the two aforementioned forms of consciousness is unsustainable, and that it doesn't correspond to the reality of modern science anymore. The basis and starting point for the title and topic of this article may be found in two basic laws of magical thinking: the Law of Similarity and the Law of Touch, or the imitative and contact magic. Our aim is to show that these laws are not at work only in 'lower', 'primitive' forms of magic, that they are not limited to witchcraft and superstition, but they have a significant heuristic and productive-creative role.