Superstition and Human Agency
While much ink has been spilled on the phenomena of human superstition, most of this attention has been focused on a process seen as somehow pejorative, as negative-as correlated with feelings of inadequacy or powerlessness, or with faulty understanding of science and causality. This paper proposes...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Equinox
[2010]
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| In: |
Implicit religion
Year: 2010, Volume: 13, Issue: 3, Pages: 307-318 |
| Further subjects: | B
Belief
B Superstition B BELIEF & doubt B Human Behavior B Religion B Superstition in literature |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | While much ink has been spilled on the phenomena of human superstition, most of this attention has been focused on a process seen as somehow pejorative, as negative-as correlated with feelings of inadequacy or powerlessness, or with faulty understanding of science and causality. This paper proposes a different thesis: that there are some forms of superstition which actually reflect an exercise of human agency, of exertion of control over a universe which is perceived as capricious, rather than as predetermined or fated. To this end, a new system of classifying superstitious beliefs and practices is proposed, which categorizes superstitions, not on the purported outcome of the action, but on the level of human agency involved. Positive, active superstitions are based on the premise that willed human action can have an effect on the future. |
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| ISSN: | 1743-1697 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Implicit religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/imre.v13i3.307 |