Nijhoff International Philosophy Rationality: The Critical View Book 23 (Hardcover)

In our papers on the rationality of magic we distinghuished for purposes of analysis three levels of rationality. First and lowest (rationalitYl) the goal- directed action of an agent with given aims and circumstances where among his circumstances we included his knowledge and opinions. On this level the magician s treatment of illness by incantation is as rational as any traditional doctor s blood-letting or any modern one s use of anti-biotics. At the second level (rationalitY2) we add the element of rational thinking or thinking which obeys some set of explicit rules a level which is not found in magic in general though it is sometimes given to specific details of magical thinking within the magical thought-system. It was the late Sir Edward E. Evans-Pritchard who observed that when considering magic in detail the magician may be as consistent or critical as anyone else; but when considering magic in general or any system of thought in general the magician could not be critical or even comprehend the criticism. Evans-Pritchard went even further: he was sceptical as to whether it could be done in a truly consistent manner: one cannot be critical of one s own system he thought. On this level (rationalitY2) of discussion we have explained (earlier) why we prefer to wed Evans- Pritchard s view of the magician s capacity for piece-meal rationality to Sir James Frazer s view that magic in general is pseudo-rational because it lacks standards of rational thinking.