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178. - Superstition

from S

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2025

By
Daniel Garber
Edited by
Karolina Hübner  and
Justin Steinberg
Karolina Hübner
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Justin Steinberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

The concept of superstition (superstitio) goes back to the ancients and extends to today. It encompasses a multitude of beliefs and behaviors, from demons and witches, sorcerers and the evil eye, to avoiding black cats and knocking on wood. One conception is particularly important when considering the notion in Spinoza’s texts. On this conception, superstition is connected with false religion. This conception is reflected in a number of seventeenth-century definitions of superstition. Johannes Micraelius, in Lexicon philosophicum (1653), wrote: “A superstition is a vicious obligation of worship” (s.v. superstition). In his Dictionaire universel (1690), Antoine Furetiere wrote that superstition is “a disordered devotion or belief in God.” An example of superstition he gave is that of the pagans, who were led by superstition to adore “false gods, and idols.” He continued: “Plutarch tried to show that superstition is worse than atheism” (s.v. superstition).

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon , pp. 516 - 520
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Recommended Reading

Cameron, E. (2010). Enchanted Europe: Superstition, Reason and Religion, 1250–1750. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Poppa, F. (2017). Diagnosing superstition: Superstition and piety in Spinoza’s political philosophy. In Adams, M. P. et al. (eds.), Eppur si muove: Doing History and Philosophy of Science with Peter Machamer (pp. 69–82). Springer.Google Scholar
Garber, D. (2019). Anthropomorphism, teleology, and superstition: The politics of obedience in Spinoza’s Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. In Ramond, C. and Stetter, J. (eds.), Spinoza in Twenty-First-Century American and French Philosophy (pp. 297–310). Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
James, S. (2012). Spinoza on Philosophy, Religion, and Politics: The Theologico-Political Treatise. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matheron, A. (1988). Individu et communauté chez Spinoza (pp. 135–43). New edn. Éditions de Minuit.Google Scholar
Strauss, L. (1982). Spinoza’s Critique of Religion. Schocken. Chapter 9, §E.Google Scholar

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