Qualitative Darwinism: An evolutionary history of witch-hunting

Abstract

Why did early modern Europeans hunt for witches? Were witch hunts a shrewd tool to oppress women or the poor, or were they just a way of making money? Or were witch-hunters primarily driven by a genuine belief in witchcraft? The witches’ sabbath, the diabolical pact and the nightly flight were elements in the early modern concept of witchcraft that seem to have been intelligently designed to trigger persistent witch persecutions. But in contrast to many explanations adduced by historians, witch hunts were not based on intelligent design. So how to explain them? Steije Hofhuis suggests a new theory: Darwinian cultural evolution. He contends that the apparent design underlying the witch hunts emerged from a hidden evolutionary process. That process fostered the preservation of cultural variants which over time accidentally unleashed larger and larger persecutions. Witch-hunts did not so much evolve to serve human interests, but ensured their own “selfish” reproduction. Historians have often compared witch persecutions to the outbreaks of contagious disease, but only as figure of speech. But shouldn’t we take the similarities more seriously? Were witch-hunts perhaps a cultural ‘virus’ that spread at the expense of its human hosts? This study bridges the gap between qualitative history and the upcoming field of Darwinian cultural evolution. The aim is to contribute to a new research program, based on the qualitative application of Darwinian theory to the humanities