The Mechanical World-View and the Decline of Witch Beliefs in Scotland

Abstract

Why did Europeans in general and Scots in particular begin to doubt the reality of witches and witchcraft?2 This is an important and longstanding question. It was raised most recently for me when I wrote about the western witch-hunt of 1697–1700.3 In that hunt large numbers of witches were accused but only a few were executed, despite ‘ideal conditions’ for a witch-hunt as judged by past Scottish experience. I concluded that the relative failure of the hunt was due to pervasive doubt on the part of the legal and political authorities concerning the reliability of the evidence used against the accused witches. But what was the source of this doubt? I intend to propose a solution here: the doubt concerning evidence was being inspired by what we call the ‘scientific revolution’, and especially — but not exclusively — the mechanical world view that was associated with it.

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