03520nam 22005895 450 991091718950332120241207115241.09783031669361(electronic bk.)978303166935410.1007/978-3-031-66936-1(MiAaPQ)EBC31821762(Au-PeEL)EBL31821762(CKB)36841108400041(DE-He213)978-3-031-66936-1(EXLCZ)993684110840004120241207d2024 u| 0engurcnu||||||||txtrdacontentcrdamediacrrdacarrierThe Evolutionary History of Witch-hunting A Qualitative Darwinian Approach /by Steije Hofhuis1st ed. 2024.Cham :Springer Nature Switzerland :Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan,2024.1 online resource (384 pages)Print version: Hofhuis, Steije The Evolutionary History of Witch-Hunting Cham : Palgrave Macmillan,c2025 9783031669354 1. Introduction -- 2. Foundations -- 3. Functions -- 4. The Theory -- 5. Witch-hunts -- 6. Explanations -- 7. Cases -- 8. Reflections -- 9. Conclusion.Why did early modern Europeans hunt for witches? Were these persecutions a shrewd tool to oppress women or the poor, or were they just a way of making money? Or were witch-hunters primarily driven by a genuine belief in witchcraft? The witches' sabbath, the diabolical pact, and the nightly flight were elements in the early modern concept of witchcraft that seem to have been intelligently designed to trigger persistent witch persecutions. But in contrast to what many past historical scholars presumed, witch-hunts were not based on intelligent design. So how to explain them? This book proposes a new model: Darwinian cultural evolution. It contends that witch-hunting's apparent design emerged from a hidden evolutionary process in which cultural variants which accidentally unleashed larger persecutions were cumulatively preserved. Witch-hunting did not so much evolve to serve human interests but to ensure its own 'selfish' reproduction. Historians have often compared witch persecutions to the outbreaks of contagious disease, but only as a figure of speech. But shouldn't we take the similarities more seriously? This book argues that witch-hunting was a cultural 'virus' that spread at the expense of its human hosts, and thus bridges the gap between qualitative history and the burgeoning field of Darwinian cultural evolution. Steije Hofhuis is a historian and works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Berlin Social Science Center, Germany.EuropeHistory1492-Intellectual lifeHistoryScienceHistoryCivilizationHistoryHistory of Early Modern EuropeIntellectual HistoryHistory of ScienceCultural HistoryEuropeHistory1492-.Intellectual lifeHistory.ScienceHistory.CivilizationHistory.History of Early Modern Europe.Intellectual History.History of Science.Cultural History.133.43094Hofhuis Steije1779615MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQ9910917189503321The Evolutionary History of Witch-Hunting4303190UNINA01202oas 2200433 a 450 991013183670332120250922213015.0(OCoLC)173304185(CONSER) 2007263145(CKB)110978978555353(EXLCZ)9911097897855535320070926a19839999 sy engur|||||||||||txtrdacontentcrdamediacrrdacarrierNational forensic journal[United States] National Forensic Association[1983]-Refereed/Peer-reviewed0749-1042 NFA journalForensics (Public speaking)PeriodicalsForensics (Public speaking)fast(OCoLC)fst00932028Periodicals.fastForensics (Public speaking)Forensics (Public speaking)National Forensic Association (U.S.)TXATXAVRCOCLCQOCLCFOCLCQOCLCLJOURNAL9910131836703321National forensic journal2275984UNINA