animism - The Skeptic's Dictionary

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head><title>animism - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_style/style.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_style/printstyle.css" media="print"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="s1.ico"> <script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.0"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-5487a05a7e027f30" async="async"></script>  </head> <body><br /> <div class="container"> <div class="header"> <div class="logo"> <img src="_images/logo_01.png" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" width="270" height="60" border="0" />           <br /> by <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert Todd Carroll</a> * est. 1994 </div> <div class="slogan"> <img src="_images/slogan_01.gif" alt="A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions" width="362" height="30" /> </div> </div> <div class="menu"> <ul> <li></li><li><a href="http://skepdic.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/feedback.html">Feedback</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/faq.html">FAQ & Interviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tour.html">Site Map</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="middle"> <div class="left"> <h2>Topical Indexes</h2> <ul class="nav_1"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialtmed.html">Alternatives to Medicine</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticriticalthinking.html">Critical Thinking</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticrypto.html">Cryptozoology</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialien.html">ETs & UFOs</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tifraud.html">Frauds, Hoaxes, Conspiracies</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tijunk.html">Junk Science</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tilogic.html">Logic & Perception</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tinewage.html">New Age</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tipara.html">Paranormal</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tiscience.html">Science & Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tisuper.html">Supernatural</a></li> <li> </li> </ul> <h2>Other Writings</h2> <ul class="nav_2"> <li> <a href="http://59ways.blogspot.com/">Unnatural Acts blog</a></li> <li><a href="skeptimedia/skeptimediaarchive.html">Skeptimedia</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/funkarchive.html"> Mass Media Funk</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bunkarchive.html"> Mass Media Bunk</a></li> <li><a href="refuge/harmarchive.html">What's the Harm?</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter Archives</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/wwwbunk.html"> Internet Bunk</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/2good.html"> Too good to be true</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/essays.html"> Skeptical Essays</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/randr.html"> Book Reviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/suburbanmyths.html"> Suburban Myths</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/memoriam.html"> In Memoriam</a></li><li></li> </ul> <h2>Other Resources</h2> <ul class="nav_3"> <li> <a href="http://sd4kids.skepdic.com/"> Mysteries and Science for Kids</a> </li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/UnnaturalVirtue.html">Podcast: Unnatural Virtue archive</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/hollow.html">A Skeptic's Halloween</a></li> <li> <a href="http://renish.skepdic.com/AllNotes.html">Editor's Notes</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/getinvolved.html"> Get involved</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/future.html">Future Topics?</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/permissions.html"> Permission to print</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/report/">Site Statistics</a></li><li></li> </ul> </div> <div class="content"> <div class="it"> <h2>From Abracadabra to Zombies<span class="small"> | <a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html">View All</a></span></h2> <ul class="alphabet"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#A">a</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#B">b</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#C">c</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#D">d</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#E">e</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#F">f</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#G">g</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#H">h</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#I">i</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#J">j</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#K">k</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#L">l</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#M">m</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#N">n</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#O">o</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#P">p</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Q">q</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#R">r</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#S">s</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#T">t</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#U">u</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#V">v</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#W">w</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#X">x</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Y">y</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Z">z</a></li> </ul> <webContent><h1>animism</h1> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Animism is the doctrine that things, even inanimate things, have <a href="soul.html">souls</a>. (<i>Animus</i> is the Latin word for soul.) It is an ancient belief that may have been offered as an explanation for the difference between a thing that is alive and that thing when it is dead. It may have been offered also as an explanation for appearances of people in hallucinations or dreams. Animus, spirit, or <a href="energy.html">energy</a> exists independently of the thing, whether that thing be dead or alive.</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Some people believe that the souls of humans exist before or after the body dies. Some believe that the souls of animals and plants are never extinguished. Some think that inanimate objects have souls.</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">In modern times, animism is popular with New Age folks. It is especially popular with people who find solace in traditions like <a href="shamanism.html">shamanism</a>, perhaps because they are attracted to the notion of <a href="http://skepdic.com/altstates.html">altered states  of consciousness</a>. </font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">The term was coined by <a href="http://www.as.ua.edu/rel/aboutrelbiotylor.html">Edward Burnett Tylor</a> in <i>Primitive Culture</i> (1871). Child psychologist <a href="http://www.math.ufl.edu/dept_news_events/long/essays/baskovich.html">Jean Piaget</a> held that animism is one of the tendencies in the thought of the pre-rational child (Zusne and Jones 1989: 27). Animism is evident in many fairy tales, most cartoons, and in some  television commercials, where even toilet paper might speak with a conscience.</font></p> <hr color="#000000" align="left" width="25%"> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>See also </b> <a href="dualism.html">dualism</a>, <a href="magicalthinking.html">magical thinking</a>, and <a href="vitalism.html">vitalism</a>.</font><p style="text-align: left"> <b><font face="Arial" size="3">further reading</font></b><p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0879680911/roberttoddcarrolA/"> Tylor, Edward Burnett. (1871/1974). <i>Primitive culture: researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, art, and custom</i>. Gordon Press.</a></font><p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0805805087/roberttoddcarrolA/"> <font size="3">Zusne,  Leonard and Warren Jones. <i>Anomalistic Psychology: A Study of Magical Thinking. </i>2nd edition. (Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. 1989).</font></a></font><font size="3"></font> <p></webContent>Last updated 27-Oct-2015 </p> </div> </div> <div class="right"> <div class="right_it"> <div class="search"> <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" target="_top"> <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="skepdic.com" /> <input type="text" name="q" maxlength="255" value="" size="20" /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /> <br /> <div class="search_2"> <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="" /> Web     <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="skepdic.com" checked="checked" /> Skepdic.com <br /> <img src="_images/logo_google.gif" alt="Google" width="48" height="19" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-3542920166946725" /> <input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;" /> <input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en" /> </form> </div> <div class="center"> <p align="right"><a href="http://skepdic.com/authorpage.html"><strong>Books by R. T. Carroll </strong></a></p> <p align="right"><a href="http://skepdic.com/authorpage.html"><img src="http://skepdic.com/graphics/CTDcover140.jpg" alt="cover The Critical Thinker's Dictionary" width="140" height="212" /></a></p> <div align="right"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0471272426/roberttoddcarrolA/"> <img src="_images/book_01.jpg" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" border="0" width="140" height="171" /></a> </div> <h2 align="center">OTHER LANGUAGES</h2> <ul class="nav_4"> <li><a href="http://nederlands.skepdic.com/">Dutch</a> </li> <li><a href="http://sdkinderen.skepdic.com/">Dutch voor kinderen</a></li> <li><a href="http://dictionnaire.sceptiques.qc.ca/">French</a> </li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/German/morgenwelt.html">German</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.gr/">Greek</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.szabadgondolkodo.hu/szkeptikus/szotar/">Hungarian</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.vantru.is/efahyggjuordabokin/">Icelandic</a></li> <li><a href="http://italiano.skepdic.com/">Italian</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.genpaku.org/skepticj/">Japanese</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.rathinker.co.kr/skeptic/index.html">Korean</a></li> <li><a href="http://brazil.skepdic.com/">Portuguese</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.ru/">Russian</a></li> <li><a href="http://slovnik.skepdic.com/">Slovak</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepticus.org/dicc/">Spanish</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.vof.se/skepdic/">Swedish</a></li> <li><a href="http://turkish.skepdic.com/">Turkish</a></li> </ul> <p>Print versions available in <a href="http://www.lannoo.be/content/lannoo/wbnl/listview/1/index.jsp?titelcode=24816&fondsid=8" >Dutch</a>, <a href="http://skepdic.com/russian.html">Russian</a>, <a href="http://www.rakkousha.co.jp/info/index.html#2" > Japanese</a>, and <a href="http://www.aladdin.co.kr/shop/wproduct.aspx?isbn=8995876441" >Korean</a>.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <a href="animalquackers.html"> <img src="graphics/larrow.gif" alt="larrow.gif (1051 bytes)" border="0" align="bottom" width="14" height="26"> animal quacker</a> | <a href="anomalisticpsych.html">anomalistic psychology <img src="graphics/rarrow.gif" alt="rarrow.gif (1048 bytes)" border="0" align="bottom" width="13" height="26"></a></div> </div> <div class="bottom"> 漏 Copyright 1994-2016 <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert T. Carroll</a> * This page was designed by <a href="http://www.cristianpopa.com/portfolio-2/">Cristian Popa</a>.</div> </body> </html>

CINXE.COM

animism - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com