This year, the first year students of the Research Master Classical, Medieval and Early Modern Studies are organizing a conference dedicated to the Supernatural in the premodern world. The conference aims to provide a better understanding of the role of and interactions with the supernatural in the premodern societies.
Nowadays, the supernatural is often cleaved off entirely from the natural. It was maintained, and by some it still is, that with the advancement of science, the inexorable march of enlightenment would gradually diminish the supernatural's role. In turn, the place and prevalence of magic and religion would wane, with science becoming the dominant interpretative framework.
In the recent article “The coexistence of natural and supernatural explanations across cultures and development”, Legare et al. rebut this view: “Although often conceptualized in contradictory terms, the common assumption that natural and supernatural explanations are incompatible is psychologically inaccurate.” Instead, the authors contend that even in contemporary societies there is a coexistence of supernatural and natural explanations, especially on topics like illness and death.
For this conference, to discuss the role of the supernatural in the premodern world, we came to a general working definition: the supernatural can be defined, broadly speaking, as a force, agent, or phenomenon that subverts or supersedes everyday experience. This may include actions or events that can be labelled as magical, religious, mystical, philosophical, or even medicinal. During the conference, slight adaptations of the definition in relation to specific topics will be discussed.
Various topics from antiquity to the early-modern period are discussed in relation to the main theme.
Nowadays, the supernatural is often cleaved off entirely from the natural. It was maintained, and by some it still is, that with the advancement of science, the inexorable march of enlightenment would gradually diminish the supernatural's role. In turn, the place and prevalence of magic and religion would wane, with science becoming the dominant interpretative framework.
In the recent article “The coexistence of natural and supernatural explanations across cultures and development”, Legare et al. rebut this view: “Although often conceptualized in contradictory terms, the common assumption that natural and supernatural explanations are incompatible is psychologically inaccurate.” Instead, the authors contend that even in contemporary societies there is a coexistence of supernatural and natural explanations, especially on topics like illness and death.
For this conference, to discuss the role of the supernatural in the premodern world, we came to a general working definition: the supernatural can be defined, broadly speaking, as a force, agent, or phenomenon that subverts or supersedes everyday experience. This may include actions or events that can be labelled as magical, religious, mystical, philosophical, or even medicinal. During the conference, slight adaptations of the definition in relation to specific topics will be discussed.
Various topics from antiquity to the early-modern period are discussed in relation to the main theme.