03564nam a22005535i 4500 978-3-031-66936-1 DE-He213 20251030114607.0 cr nn 008mamaa 241207s2024 sz | s |||| 0|eng d 9783031669361 978-3-031-66936-1 10.1007/978-3-031-66936-1 doi D203.2-475 HBJD bicssc HBLH bicssc HIS010000 bisacsh NHD 3M thema Hofhuis, Steije. author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut 88640 The Evolutionary History of Witch-hunting [electronic resource] : A Qualitative Darwinian Approach / by Steije Hofhuis. 1st ed. 2024. Cham : Springer Nature Switzerland : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024. XV, 376 p. online resource. text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier text file PDF rda 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. Europe History 1492-. 68968 Intellectual life History. 70673 Science History. 65232 Civilization History. 66788 History of Early Modern Europe. 68969 Intellectual History. 70675 History of Science. 66101 Cultural History. 66790 SpringerLink (Online service) Springer Nature eBook Printed edition: 9783031669354 Printed edition: 9783031669378 Printed edition: 9783031669385 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66936-1 ZDB-2-HTY ZDB-2-SXH 65543 65543