The issue of superstition in scientific reflection and Church teaching

Abstract

The topic of superstition is very topical at the present time. It can be noticed that with the weakening of faith and religiosity, interest in various forms of superstition is growing very intensively. There are even communities and “churches” that propose practicing a “cult” based entirely on superstition. The subject of reflexion in this elaboration is superstition understood as abnormality in a religious cult that inspires itself with an incorrectly understood godliness. The universal and timeless scale of this phenomenon is an inspiration to undertake academic searches concerning its roots. In the era of confrontation of diverseness in the sphere of culture, that is symptomatic for globalization, it is noticeable that the topic of superstition returns with a surprising regularity and gives a number of questions to a present man. Furthermore, the phenomenon of superstition seems to inspire operation of the nowadays local cultures creators and representatives of specific age categories. It seems that in the present situation it is necessary to explain fundamental rights that will allow to interpret this cultural phenomenon in an appropriate manner and become an effective factor that puts its assessment in an order. Hence, there is a lot of ethnographic works that examine the superstition phenomenon and indicate that it is still present in the life of a modern man. To some extent, this article can be perceived as a care for an appropriate understanding of the superstition as it presents its various definitions and attributes, shows psychological and sociological aspects of this phenomenon, and also explains the modern philosophical thought and the Catholic Church doctrinal and moral assessment concerning this phenomenon.