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Early Access - The Philosophy of Witchcraft (Patreon)

Published:
2025-10-15 13:59:44
Imported:
2026-06
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The Philosophy of Witchcraft

The apex of the Witch Trials coincided with the emergence of Modern Philosophy. But, what did these new philosophers think about Witches, Witchcraft, Demonology and the trials raging around them? From Agrippa, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza and beyond, let's explore how the major philosophers of early modernity reasoned about the realm of the supernatural and witchcraft. Recommended Readings: Levack - The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe https://amzn.to/3xqE1vr Levack - The Witchcraft Sourcebook https://amzn.to/3xn6B0M Peters - Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History https://amzn.to/4aP0LUC Mackay - The Hammer of Witches: A Complete Translation of the Malleus Maleficarum https://amzn.to/4cRfIHy Clark - Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe https://amzn.to/4cS3Jtk Hutton - The Witch https://amzn.to/43TnyML

Comments

Laurent Colvin

You have a doctorate in this subject. So, you are a Witch Doctor? ;-)

Dragon Rue

What a treat! Thank you Dr Sledge! You are awesome!!!!

Ariadna

The treat I needed in this hard day :D Thanks!

Jason

Very interesting! So the philosophers opposed it but didn't always speak out against it? The pressure of the church and state are powerful disincentives. It's disheartening to see the parallels in the current world...

Gabriel Elliot

Here we go… evincing miraculous mettle enough for the psychedelic experience to GEBOFAL

Anders

Afficionados of the 90s movie "Warlock" may remember a gruesome ingredient required for a potion of flight - the fat of an unbaptized child.

Kestrell Verlager

Sorry, maybe my screen reader missed it, but did you post a reading list for this? I would love to do a deeper dive into some of the philosophers you mention. I recently read _This Very Witch: Fear, Feminism, and the American Witch Film_ (2025), by Payton Mccarty-Simus, which follows the backlash against feminism culturally and legally since Reagan, including an in-depth examination of the Satanic Panic. So now, in movies, we are seeing a return to those crone figures who are out to get our children and emasculate men and destroy the social order, as in "Weapons" and "Bring Her Back." I'm a grey-haired blind woman under five feet tall, so it's kind of cool to find that all I have to do is make some mystical gestures to become totally terrifying to men.

Mary Kay Ryan

Wow! Hobbes, could you be any more circular. The religion doesn't exist, but women think it does (for which he offers no proof) and therefore it does (because I, Hobbes just created it) and therefore they should be punished. Reminds me of Trump and the fictional "invasion of immigrants crisis" for which the immigrants should be punished. They create the crisis and then they are heroic for punishing those whom they deemed were the crisis. No wonder we're in such good shape now, with reasoning like that.

brutes

Yet another fantastic video! I am especially curious about what you mention in the outro - that we are currently living in the dawn of yet another satanic panic era. How fascinating. I never viewed it that way but I absolutely understand what you’re referring to. Would love to hear your opinion on that, but also, I’ve deliberately leaned into your channel this past year to avoid anything related to current events.. so maybe not. Either way, wonderful video and fascinating comment about our current situation. Thank you, Justin.

P. Sufenas Virius Lupus`

Wish I could have been there today...I have the RGME Autumn Symposium to prepare for, and lots to do besides that! :( But excellent episode--thanks very much for this! :)