Nicholas Malebranche
SEARCH AFTER TRUTH
Greatly influenced by Descartes (see page 394), the French thinker Nicholas
Malebranche (1638—1715) supplemented his training in philosophy and theology
with the study of mathematics and natural science. His most important work, Search
After Truth, which appeared in two volumes in 1674 and
1675, treated many technical, philosophical, and theological issues. In this
work, from which an excerpt follows, he also analyzed the belief in witchcraft,
attributing it to the unchecked power of people’s imagination. Malebranche
attempted a rational explanation of the witch craze and wanted the courts to
dismiss charges of witchcraft. Nevertheless, he still believed that although
“true witches are very rare,” they do exist.
The strangest effect of the power of imagination is the
disorderly fear of the apparition of spirits, of enchantments, of symbols, of
the charms of Lycanthropes or Werewolves, and generally of everything which is
supposed to depend upon the demon’s power.
Nothing is more terrible or more frightening to the mind, or
produces deeper vestiges on the brain, than the idea of an invisible power
which thinks only about harming us and which is irresistible. Speeches which
reveal this idea are always heard with fear and curiosity. Holding on to
everything extraordinary, men take bizarre pleasure in recounting these
surprising and prodigious stories about the power and malice of Witches, in
order to frighten both others and themselves. So it is not astonishing if Witches
are so common in some countries, where belief in the Sabbat
(a secret meeting of witches where they engage in orgiastic rites] is too
deeply rooted; where the most absurd stories about spells are listened to as
authentic; and where madmen and seers whose imagination has become disordered.
from telling these stories . . . are
burned as real Witches.
I well know that some people will take exception to my
attributing most witchcraft to the power of imagination, because I know that
men want to be made afraid, that they become angry with those who want to
demystify them.
Superstitions are not easily destroyed, and they cannot be
attacked without finding a large number of defenders. It is easy enough to
prove that the inclination to believe blindly all the dreams of Demonographers [those who study demons] is produced and
maintained by the same cause which makes superstitious men stubborn. Nevertheless,
that will not prevent me from describing in a few words how, I believe, such
opinions get established.
A shepherd in his fold after dinner tells his wife and
children about the adventures of the Sabbat. As his
imagination is moderately inspired by vapours from
wine, and since he believes that he has attended that imaginary assembly
several times, he does not fail to speak about it in a strong and lively manner.
His natural eloquence, together with the disposition of his entire family to
hear such a new and terrible subject discussed, should doubtlessly produce
strange traces in weak imaginations. It is naturally impossible that a woman
and her children not remain completely frightened, full, and convinced of what
they have heard said. This is a husband, a father, who is speaking about what
he has seen and done; he is loved and respected; why should he not be believed?
This Shepherd repeats it on different days. Little by little the mother’s and
children’s imagination receives deeper traces from it. They grow used to it, the
fears pass, and the conviction remains. . . .
Several times Witches of good faith have been found, who generally tell everybody that they have gone to
the Sabbat, and who are so convinced of it, that
although several persons watched them and assured them that they had not left
their beds, they could not agree with their testimony. . . . So we should not
be astonished if a man who thinks he has been to the Sabbat, and consequently talks about it in a firm voice and
with an assured countenance, easily persuades some people who listen to him
respectfully about all the circumstances which he describes, and thus transmits
in their imagination traces similar to those which deceive him.
When men talk to us, they engrave in our brain traces
similar to those which they possess. When they have deep traces, they talk to
us in a manner which engraves deep ones in us; for they cannot speak without
making us in some way similar to them. Children at their mother’s breast only
see what their mother sees. Even when they have become worldly- wise, they
imagine few things of which their parents are not the cause, since even the
wisest men conduct themselves more by the imagination of others, i.e., by
opinion and custom, then by the rules of reason. Thus in places where Witches
are burned, a great number of them are found. Because in places where they are
condemned to fire, men truly believe that they commit witchcraft, and this
belief is fortified by the speeches which are made about it. If one were to
stop punishing them and were to treat them like madmen, then it would be seen in
time that there would no longer be any Witches, because those who do it only in
imagination (who are surely the greater number) would then abandon their errors.
It is indubitable that real Witches deserve death. . . . But
by punishing all [those who believe themselves or are believed by others to be
witches] common opinion is strengthened, imaginary Witches are multiplied, and
so an infinity of people are lost and damned. It is thus right that many Parlements [French courts] no longer punish Witches. There
are many fewer of them in the lands of their jurisdictions; and the envy, hatred,
or malice of evil men cannot use this pretext to destroy the innocent.
It is ordinary enough for some people to have fairly lively
dreams at night and to be able to remember them exactly when awake, although
the subject of their dream is not in itself very terrible. Thus it is not
difficult for people to persuade themselves that they have been at the Sabbat, for that merely requires that their brain preserves
the traces made there during sleep.
The chief reason which prevents us from taking our dreams
for realities is that we cannot link our dreams with the things we have done
during our wakefulness. By that we recognize that they were only dreams. But
Witches cannot recognize in this way that their imaginary Sabbat
is a dream.
I am persuaded that true Witches are very rare, that the Sabbat is only a dream, and that the Parlements who dismiss accusations of witchcraft are the most equitable. However, I do not doubt that Witches, charms, enchantments, etc., could exist, and that the demon sometimes exercises his malice upon men by special permission of a superior power.