The Social Functions of Witchcraft Evans Pritchard and the Azande Evans Pritchard was the most prominent

t social anthropologist of the mid C2 ! "e attempted to esta#lish and understand the relationships within primitive societ$ and the meanings primitive people give to rituals% as a means of understanding how these societies wor&! "e saw these relationships as emerging from collective representations as a means of classif$ing and representing the world! "e was therefore s$mpathetic to 'ev$ (ruhl in that he considered collective representation to #e the source of social thought and #ehaviour! "e did not consider the Azande as pre)logical even though the$ considered their lives to #e surrounded #$ m$stical entities% #ut saw them as ma&ing use of common)sense terms% such as in their e*planations of wh$ granaries fall down +termites,% and their recognition of causal processes +granaries collapse% someone underneath is &illed-in.ured% such misfortune must have a cause / witchcraft, in lin&ing events and misfortune! For the Azande their m$stical #eliefs and magic are more important than religion! 0agic for them is the #elief in supernatural powers% held #$ humans% which includes witchcraft! Witchcraft +mangu, has a ps$chic 1ualit$ contained in a su#stance in the #od$ of the witch it has a ph$sical character that can #e located #$ autops$! (ut the witch can possess the su#stance% and the powers it entails% without #eing aware of it! Possession of the witchcraft su#stance is inherited! 2t is this witchcraft su#stance that causes misfortunes including death% #ut not all misfortunes are caused #$ witchcraft! The pro#lem for the Azande is how to esta#lish who are witches and when has witchcraft #een used! These 1uestions are answered #$ referring to oracles! There are different t$pes of oracle the most important of which is the poison oracle +#enge,! 2t is used to discover witchcraft #$ #eing administered to the #owels of a live chic&en! The presence of the witch-witchcraft is determined #$ whether the chic&en lives or dies% in response to 1uestions posed #$ the witch doctor! Prior to the arrival of the (ritish in the Sudan vengeance magic was predominant and part of the ritual was the attempt #$ the witch doctor to confront and cleanse the witch! Failure on the part of the witch doctor resulted in either the witch #eing &illed or pa$ing compensation to the victim! These severe punishments were #anned once the (ritish too& control! (efore the arrival of the (r the nature of these #eliefs and rituals were art of a comple* political structure! All of the man$ 3ings and Princes in Azande societ$ had their own poison oracle and witch doctor! For each case of suspicion of witchcraft the witch doctor would attend and confirm their suspicions with the Prince% echoing and reinforcing the social and political structure! 0isfortune is treated as the result of ill) will% and conse1uentl$ attempts are made to discover who it is that #ears a grudge! The name arrives as a result of the oracle divination! The ritual was therefore a means of dealing with a real social tension% particularl$ when allied to the compensation pa$ments! (ut this political structure was undone #$ the arrival of the (r with the effect that su#se1uentl$ magic was not so well regulated and had a considera#l$ wea&ened social force! Social relations changed #ut not the attri#uted powers of magic!

The 1uestions Evans Pritchard as&ed was wh$ do the Azande #elieve in o#vious non) sense such as witches% witchcraft% oracles and magic4 The$ are rational people and e*plain the wor&ing of the world in a rational wa$! Wh$ then do the$ hold irrational #eliefs4 2s it possi#le for rational people to accept magic and its efficac$4 Three notions of &nowledge are suggested% m$stical notions related to supra) sensi#le 1ualities not logicall$ inferred from o#servation% Common)sense notions logicall$ inferred from o#servation and which can #e mista&en as a result of incomplete o#servations! These are not m$stical! And Scientific 5otions that are developed from common)sense notions #ut are more methodical and involve superior forms of reasoning! 2n 1uestioning m$stical and common)sense notions% scientific notions are seen as providing a means on which to #ase a .udgement! (ut the Azande do not possess scientific notions and cannot distinguish #etween the other two! Wh$ have the$ not developed scientific notions ena#ling them to see m$sticism and magic as fantastic4 6! Social Structure o#stacle #oth common sense and m$stical ideas #ecome adapted in different social situations! All rituals +witchcraft and magic, ta&e place within families! For instance death is interpreted as either the su#.ect of witchcraft as the result of an individual #eing a witch! ($ e*tension ever$#od$ in Azande societ$ can #e a witch #ecause witchcraft is inherited% #ut the Azande do not #elieve that most people are witches! 2! Categorical there is no distinction #etween natural and super)natural and therefore no need to delineate #etween m$stical and common sense actions 7! 'imits in the mode of e*perimentation the e*perience of the Azande with oracles and magic ma&es them sceptical a#out the a#ilities of witch)doctors% #ut the$ do not 1uestion the underl$ing assumptions of oracles or magic! An$ failure in the oracle or magic is simpl$ put down to the magic-ritual not having #een done properl$! 8! 'ac& of technolog$ of reason The Azande have no measuring apparatus or the technolog$ necessar$ to put m$stical #eliefs to the test! 2ncluding in this is the lac& of a means of measuring time! 9! 0entalit$ of 0agic The Azande are involved in a world #e$ond e*perience% a world not su#.ect to empirical test therefore magic cannot fail and cannot #e tested! The idea of witchcraft and the notion of rational and irrational with respect to it is not alien to civilized societies% as evidenced #$ the C6: and C6; witch hunts at the same time as the$ were doing science and with the same people sometimes supporting #oth +eg "o##es,! 2t was the scientific revolution that undermined these m$stical #eliefs! Evans Pritchard saw the Azande as irrational when measured against science! 2n this respect he saw scientific &nowledge as distinct and a#le to provide .udgement! "owever he failed to recognise the continuities #etween m$stical #eliefs and science! 2n civilized scientific societies #eliefs are not alwa$s empiricall$ demonstra#le and-or crucial to social order! 2llnesses are e*plained in causal terms% #ut crime in societ$ is e*plained% in social and moral terms criminals are seen as responsi#le for their actions% a moral value is attached in that the$ are seen to choose to do #ad things! This approach ignores an$ scientific e*planation #ased on up#ringing% genetics or #ac&ground! People are generall$ seen as self)determining% #ut wh$ do we have this idea4 All actions

have causes) the$ are determined% wh$ then do we allocate the idea of free will% it is not part of an$ scientific theor$4 The distinction #etween natural and supernatural is drawn too thic&l$ in modern societies% and tends to ma&e redundant traditional forms of &nowledge with evident material effects% which might include her#al medicine% acupuncture and homeopath$! 2t also influences our perception of the character of scientific &nowledge! Evans Pritchard used science as the .udge #etween m$sticism and common sense% #ut what if science is itself #ased on assumptions that are untested and untena#le4 Thomas 3uhn argued that the onl$ thing that .udges< science is science itself% there is no going outside in order to loo& in! Science forms it<s own #elief s$stem #ased on concepts and assumptions man$ of which are not tested! This raises the 1uestion as to if there are independent criteria to test and .udge m$stical #eliefs4 Should our attitudes #e guided #$ relativism rather than rationalit$4