The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences
- Downloads：4788
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-22 11:53:20
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jason Ānanda Josephson-Storm
- ISBN：022640336X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
A great many theorists have argued that the defining feature of modernity is that people no longer believe in spirits， myths， or magic。 Jason Ā。 Josephson-Storm argues that as broad cultural history goes， this narrative is wrong， as attempts to suppress magic have failed more often than they have succeeded。 Even the human sciences have been more enchanted than is commonly supposed。 But that raises the question: How did a magical， spiritualist， mesmerized Europe ever convince itself that it was disenchanted？
Josephson-Storm traces the history of the myth of disenchantment in the births of philosophy， anthropology， sociology， folklore， psychoanalysis， and religious studies。 Ironically， the myth of mythless modernity formed at the very time that Britain， France， and Germany were in the midst of occult and spiritualist revivals。 Indeed， Josephson-Storm argues， these disciplines’ founding figures were not only aware of， but profoundly enmeshed in， the occult milieu; and it was specifically in response to this burgeoning culture of spirits and magic that they produced notions of a disenchanted world。
By providing a novel history of the human sciences and their connection to esotericism， The Myth of Disenchantment dispatches with most widely held accounts of modernity and its break from the premodern past。
Josephson-Storm traces the history of the myth of disenchantment in the births of philosophy， anthropology， sociology， folklore， psychoanalysis， and religious studies。 Ironically， the myth of mythless modernity formed at the very time that Britain， France， and Germany were in the midst of occult and spiritualist revivals。 Indeed， Josephson-Storm argues， these disciplines’ founding figures were not only aware of， but profoundly enmeshed in， the occult milieu; and it was specifically in response to this burgeoning culture of spirits and magic that they produced notions of a disenchanted world。
By providing a novel history of the human sciences and their connection to esotericism， The Myth of Disenchantment dispatches with most widely held accounts of modernity and its break from the premodern past。
Reviews
Soban
，
This book is exemplary as an academic work。 A lot of contemporary scholarship is motivated by skepticism and critical appraisals of assumed narratives， but I don't think many would match this effort in the breadth and depth of evidence adduced in support of its argument。 Unfortunately， many prefer spending more time rehashing their theses in remarkably sophisticated idioms rather than walking the reader through the evidence。 But unless you already share the ideological and political orientation This book is exemplary as an academic work。 A lot of contemporary scholarship is motivated by skepticism and critical appraisals of assumed narratives， but I don't think many would match this effort in the breadth and depth of evidence adduced in support of its argument。 Unfortunately， many prefer spending more time rehashing their theses in remarkably sophisticated idioms rather than walking the reader through the evidence。 But unless you already share the ideological and political orientation that normalizes this kind of critique， you should read such skepticism itself quite skeptically， because established paradigms should require a huge amount of conflicting material to be conclusively rejected。 Thankfully， this book does that remarkably well！ It is deeply satisfying as a reader when you are aware of the marginal contribution of each kernel of successive evidence in chipping away at your reservations， until your concerns are fully resolved。 It's full of astounding anecdotes and revelations about canonized intellectual figures， and it's structured very nicely so that it works quite well as a short introduction to the work of many personalities who I had known only by name， at the same time as it provides radically alternate readings of them。For me， the main question that remains， if we accept Storm's argument， is if modernity doesn't represent a rupture from the past in terms of being disenchanted， what exactly is a verifiable， substantial difference between the enchantments of today versus yesterday？ The author translates Weber's Entzauberung as disenchanting of the world， not its disenchantment。 How is this disenchanting taking place and why？ If magic is becoming different today， how and why？ Elsewhere， he has granted that "the locus of enchantment has perhaps shifted。" I would like to know if there are any twists in the narratives of how that has occurred too。 However， that is beyond the purview of this book， as that question might need a more anthropological engagement with the past and present， whereas this is more of an intellectual history （barring the first chapter's commentary on the current state of affairs）。 。。。more
Glinsky
，
Interesting for the material， but glib and self-admiring。
Nikmaack
，
I give up。 I heard an interview with the author， and he sounded amazing and his book sounded delightful。 Unfortunately， it turns out he is an academic and writes like one。How depressing， to have heard him talk about such fascinating things on the podcast， only to pick up this book and find lengthy analyses of poetry and philosophy。 I'd rather hear more stories about modern day enchantment than read what this book holds。There are some interesting ideas in here。 Marie Currie's interest in spiritua I give up。 I heard an interview with the author， and he sounded amazing and his book sounded delightful。 Unfortunately， it turns out he is an academic and writes like one。How depressing， to have heard him talk about such fascinating things on the podcast， only to pick up this book and find lengthy analyses of poetry and philosophy。 I'd rather hear more stories about modern day enchantment than read what this book holds。There are some interesting ideas in here。 Marie Currie's interest in spiritualism， for example。 But no layperson is going to make it through this text。 If you're a student assigned this book for a class， fine。 If you're not an academic， you'll inevitably put the book down and walk away。（What finally got me to stop reading was a discussion on The Golden Bough and how one edition varied from another edition。 I realized I didn't care at all。） 。。。more
Yang
，
Reconstructing a history of "social science" in the late 19th and early 20th century which is an era full of the occult！ Reconstructing a history of "social science" in the late 19th and early 20th century which is an era full of the occult！ 。。。more
Dalena Storm
，
Josephson-Storm’s “The Myth of Disenchantment” is an enlightening read， to say the least。 Yes， it is dense， and if you are a non-scholar like myself， it may take you some time to get through the book。 However， there are a couple of helpful resources out there to prime you on the book and make it easier to get going。 One is a YouTube video by ReligionForBreakfast， “Does Humanity Still Believe in Magic？" which summarizes some of the book’s main points: https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=Fp_zE。。。 Ther Josephson-Storm’s “The Myth of Disenchantment” is an enlightening read， to say the least。 Yes， it is dense， and if you are a non-scholar like myself， it may take you some time to get through the book。 However， there are a couple of helpful resources out there to prime you on the book and make it easier to get going。 One is a YouTube video by ReligionForBreakfast， “Does Humanity Still Believe in Magic？" which summarizes some of the book’s main points: https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=Fp_zE。。。 There are also a number of reviews out there that attempt to summarize the book。 Some of them are better than others。 For a pretty good one， check out the review by Peter Leithart called “First Things": https://www。firstthings。com/web-exclu。。。 As for why this book is enlightening， here’s my take。 The reason the book is so long and dense is because its project is so huge， and what it is trying to undo is something that has become， for many， a fundamental part of how they perceive the world， namely—they believe in the idea that we live in an age called “modernity” and that modernity is characterized by a loss， or absence， of magic。 BOTH of these ideas are wrong， and in order to show just why that is， Josephson-Storm traces the historical trajectory of how and why people came to believe in these ideas in the first place， which is due basically to a mythic narrative they built over time。 His main point， which you only earn after you’ve followed the narrative thread through to the end and seen all its pieces， is not that myth-building is wrong or even that it is avoidable， but that once we recognize how and why we build the myths we do， we can choose to build BETTER ones。What does this mean for “modernity”？ It means a whole re-imagining; an opportunity to re-think what it means to be alive in this day and age—which is not mere fabrication， it does exist and we live in it， but it is up to US to conceive of how we want this age to look。 Josephson-Storm liberates us of the myth that it is a magic-less age， and opens the space for us to re-conceptualize our current era。 He does not do this for us。 It is up to us to take that step。 But he essentially clears the space that could well allow us to reimagine and rewrite our present moment and future history。Not convinced？ Give the book a try。 The vast terrain this book covers is backed up by incredibly well-sourced research obtained by scouring books and archives in many different countries and languages。I’ll admit that it took me a long time to get through the book， but in the end it was definitely worth it。 。。。more
John
，
Uneven and inconsistently argued， but full of curious facts and novel interpretations。
Gyrus
，
I have some issues with this book， but it makes an important argument。 Most importantly， it's a cracking read which is guaranteed to stimulate intellectually。 My full review: https://dreamflesh。com/review/book/my。。。 I have some issues with this book， but it makes an important argument。 Most importantly， it's a cracking read which is guaranteed to stimulate intellectually。 My full review: https://dreamflesh。com/review/book/my。。。 。。。more
Jeremy
，
Alan Jacobs writes here that "Josephson-Storm's book puts some hard questions to Weber's thesis and to narratives of secularization more generally。" See Leithart's comments here。 Alan Jacobs writes here that "Josephson-Storm's book puts some hard questions to Weber's thesis and to narratives of secularization more generally。" See Leithart's comments here。 。。。more
David
，
Could have been a lot better if Josephson-Storm had foregone the academese and Cultural Marxist rhetoric for a clean style。 The position， that disenchantment is a myth， is not new nor is new ground cleared here， however， there are few books produced in this area。 Hence， books like The Myth of Disenchantment are very useful to the general reader。 That said， the author's book and many like it are crippled by their obfuscating language and adherence to the dated discourses of the Frankfurt School/C Could have been a lot better if Josephson-Storm had foregone the academese and Cultural Marxist rhetoric for a clean style。 The position， that disenchantment is a myth， is not new nor is new ground cleared here， however， there are few books produced in this area。 Hence， books like The Myth of Disenchantment are very useful to the general reader。 That said， the author's book and many like it are crippled by their obfuscating language and adherence to the dated discourses of the Frankfurt School/Critical Theory/Cultural Marxism。 This is the tragedy of this book and those like it。 Without the rhetoric it would have been a timely and useful investigation many would be interested in。 As it stands， however， this entry in the field will only be of use to those already steeped in the discursive strategies of the Cultural Marxists。 Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars Only for the initiated。 。。。more
Dan Gorman
，
Extraordinary （and dense） intellectual history of religious studies and modern philosophy， focused on the way that myth， magic， and the occult persisted in 19th- and 20th-century Western societies。 A commonly told historical narrative， first formed in the 1890s and widely accepted by the 1950s， held that the Enlightenment began to "kill God" and dispel magic from society — a process called "disenchantment。" Even social critics like those of the Frankfurt School， who interrogated capitalist and C Extraordinary （and dense） intellectual history of religious studies and modern philosophy， focused on the way that myth， magic， and the occult persisted in 19th- and 20th-century Western societies。 A commonly told historical narrative， first formed in the 1890s and widely accepted by the 1950s， held that the Enlightenment began to "kill God" and dispel magic from society — a process called "disenchantment。" Even social critics like those of the Frankfurt School， who interrogated capitalist and Christian modernity， assumed that myth had left society。 However， Jason Josephson-Storm shows that this historical narrative is false。 In truth， the Western world has not grown progressively more secular。 Instead， an interest in magic and the occult has persisted， despite attempts of modern Christians and secular historians to claim otherwise。 Marie Curie and other scientists studied Spiritualist mediums。 William James， founder of psychology， believed in psychic powers。 Philosophers dating back to the 1600s feared that God was dying; Nietzsche was not the first person to cry nihilism。 All kinds of occultists spread their ideas in the 1800s–1900s。 In short， modernity as we conceive it is not an accurate description of popular religion in the world。 The founders of religious studies， who claimed to study religion on secular scientific grounds， still defined religion based on Christian and also occult ideas。 Josephson-Storm shows that many theoretical debates — modern/postmodern， secular/religious， enchanted/disenchanted — set up false dichotomies。 The messy nature of the world and its philosophies defies easy categorization。 Faith in the supernatural is here to stay。 The book is one that will yield new layers on repeat readings。 An amazing achievement， this volume surpasses Josephson-Storm's first， and brilliant， book， "The Invention of Religion in Japan。" 。。。more
Derrick
，
A book so wildly entertaining and weird， you almost forget how scholarly and well researched it is。 I would argue it compares in importance to Peter Harrison's The Territories of Science and Religion or Charles Taylor's A Secular Age。 My favorite read in 2017 so far by a wide margin。 A book so wildly entertaining and weird， you almost forget how scholarly and well researched it is。 I would argue it compares in importance to Peter Harrison's The Territories of Science and Religion or Charles Taylor's A Secular Age。 My favorite read in 2017 so far by a wide margin。 。。。more
Avery
，