LEADER 03520nam 22005895 450 001 9910917189503321 005 20241207115241.0 010 $a9783031669361$b(electronic bk.) 010 $z9783031669354 024 7 $a10.1007/978-3-031-66936-1 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC31821762 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL31821762 035 $a(CKB)36841108400041 035 $a(DE-He213)978-3-031-66936-1 035 $a(EXLCZ)9936841108400041 100 $a20241207d2024 u| 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcnu|||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 14$aThe Evolutionary History of Witch-hunting $eA Qualitative Darwinian Approach /$fby Steije Hofhuis 205 $a1st ed. 2024. 210 1$aCham :$cSpringer Nature Switzerland :$cImprint: Palgrave Macmillan,$d2024. 215 $a1 online resource (384 pages) 311 08$aPrint version: Hofhuis, Steije The Evolutionary History of Witch-Hunting Cham : Palgrave Macmillan,c2025 9783031669354 327 $a1. Introduction -- 2. Foundations -- 3. Functions -- 4. The Theory -- 5. Witch-hunts -- 6. Explanations -- 7. Cases -- 8. Reflections -- 9. Conclusion. 330 $aWhy 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. 606 $aEurope$xHistory$x1492- 606 $aIntellectual life$xHistory 606 $aScience$xHistory 606 $aCivilization$xHistory 606 $aHistory of Early Modern Europe 606 $aIntellectual History 606 $aHistory of Science 606 $aCultural History 615 0$aEurope$xHistory$x1492-. 615 0$aIntellectual life$xHistory. 615 0$aScience$xHistory. 615 0$aCivilization$xHistory. 615 14$aHistory of Early Modern Europe. 615 24$aIntellectual History. 615 24$aHistory of Science. 615 24$aCultural History. 676 $a133.43094 700 $aHofhuis$b Steije$01779615 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 912 $a9910917189503321 996 $aThe Evolutionary History of Witch-Hunting$94303190 997 $aUNINA