Science and Specters at Salem

1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-032-31789-2
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 140 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 225 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in the History of Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic

Most studies of the Salem witch trials focus on social history and the dynamics between accused and accusers. Science and Specters at Salem turns instead to the intellectual background of the judges to understand why they accepted controversial types of evidence.

The role of judges in a witch trial was central. Goldish argues that in Salem the judges' acceptance of questionable touch tests and spectral evidence was a result of their intellectual commitments. Several of the Salem judges were highly educated, and some of them were adherents of a particular philosophical school in England led by Henry More and Joseph Glanvill which Goldish calls "the anti-Sadducees." He demonstrates how the ideas of these leading thinkers, friends of Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton, could have led to the deaths of twenty accused witches in Salem.

This book will interest students and scholars of witch trials, American colonial history, Atlantic history, legal history and early modern Europe, as well as lay readers wanting a better understanding of Salem.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Goldish, Matt

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction 1. The Court 2. Unusual Zeal, Touch Tests and Spectral Evidence 3. Spirit and Body 4. Return to Salem 5. Aftermath

Über Autor(innen)

Matt Goldish is the Samuel M. and Esther Melton Chair in History at The Ohio State University. His previous books include Judaism in the Theology of Sir Isaac Newton (1998), The Sabbatean Prophets (2004) and Jewish Questions: Responsa on Sephardic Life in the Early Modern Period (2008).