Magic, Science and Religion and the Scope of RationalityProfessor Tambiah is one of the leading anthropologists of the day, particularly known for his penetrating and scholarly studies of Buddhism. In this accessible and illuminating book he deals with the classical opposition of magic with science and religion. He reviews the great debates in classical Judaism, early Greek science, Renaissance philosophy, the Protestant Reformation, and the scientific revolution, and then reconsiders the three major interpretive approaches to magic in anthropology: the intellectualist and evolutionary theories of Tylor and Frazer, Malinowski's functionalism, and Lévy-Bruhl's philosophical anthropology, which posited a distinction between mystical and logical mentalities. He follows with a wide-ranging and suggestive discussion of rationality and relativism and concludes with a discussion of new thinking in the history and philosophy of science, suggesting fresh perspectives on the classical opposition between science and magic. |
Contents
Anthropologys intellectual legacy continued | 16 |
is magic false | 42 |
Malinowskis demarcations and his exposition of the magical | 65 |
the debate initiated by LévyBruhl | 84 |
Rationality relativism the translation and commensurability | 111 |
Modern science and its extensions | 140 |
Notes | 155 |
Bibliography | 171 |
Other editions - View all
Magic, Science and Religion and the Scope of Rationality Stanley J. Tambiah No preview available - 1990 |
Common terms and phrases
action anthropologists Azande belief Bronislaw Malinowski Bruno causality comparison concept context cosmology discourse discussion distinction doctrine domains Donald Davidson dream Durkheim economic essay ethic Evans-Pritchard explanation Frazer Freud Giordano Bruno Hermes Trismegistus Hermetic Hilary Putnam human Ibid ideas Indian individual intellectual interests interpretation issue judgments kind knowledge language Lévy-Bruhl Lewis Henry Morgan linguistic logical London magic and religion mathematics Maurice Leenhardt Max Weber means mental mode modern science moral nature Neoplatonism notion occult orientations paradigm participation Peter Winch phenomena philosophers Plate possible practical primitive problem Protestant question rationality reason relation relativism religion religious Renaissance revolution rites ritual Schutz scientific scientists sense seventeenth century sixteenth social society speech spirit structure Suzanne Langer symbolic theoretical theory thesis thought translation of cultures Trobriand Trobriand Islands truth Tylor understanding University Press Western Winch Wittgenstein words York