Open AccessBook
A general theory of magic
Marcel Mauss
- 01 Jan 1972
308
TL;DR: A General Theory of Magic (GTM) as discussed by the authors was originally written by Marcel Mauss and Henri Humbert in 1902, and it gained a wide new readership when republished by Mauss in 1950.
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Abstract: First written by Marcel Mauss and Henri Humbert in 1902, A General Theory of Magic gained a wide new readership when republished by Mauss in 1950. As a study of magic in 'primitive' societies and its survival today in our thoughts and social actions, it represents what Claude Levi-Strauss called, in an introduction to that edition, the astonishing modernity of the mind of one of the century's greatest thinkers. The book offers a fascinating snapshot of magic throughout various cultures as well as deep sociological and religious insights still very much relevant today. At a period when art, magic and science appear to be crossing paths once again, A General Theory of Magic presents itself as a classic for our times.
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Citations
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“Natural” labeling and consumers’ sentimental pastoral notion
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Rewritten rites: language and social relations in traditional and contemporary funerals
Guy Cook,Tony Walter +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the openings of a traditional religious (Christian) funeral, an updated version of the same, and a secular alternative, seeking to elucidate the nature of pragmatic, semantic and linguistic changes.
Divine/natural law theories in ethics
Knud Haakonssen
- 01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In the early seventeenth century, Grotius as discussed by the authors was considered the father of modern natural law, and there were long-standing disputes about the status of Protestant natural law vis-a-vis Thomism.
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