Editing Magical thinking (section)

== Types ==
=== Direct effect ===
[[Bronisław Malinowski]]'s ''Magic, Science and Religion'' (1954) discusses another type of magical thinking, in which words and sounds are thought to have the ability to directly affect the world.<ref>{{harvnb|Glucklich|1997|pp= 59–61, 205–12}}</ref>  This type of [[wish fulfillment]] thinking can result in the avoidance of talking about certain subjects ("Speak of the devil and he'll appear"), the use of [[euphemisms]] instead of certain words, or the belief that to know the "true name" of something gives one power over it; or that certain chants, prayers, or mystical phrases will bring about physical changes in the world. More generally, it is magical thinking to take a [[symbol]] to be its referent or an [[analogy]] to represent an identity.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

[[Sigmund Freud]] believed that magical thinking was produced by [[cognitive development]]al factors. He described practitioners of magic as projecting their mental states onto the world around them, similar to a common phase in child development.<ref>{{harvnb|Glucklich|1997|pp= 53–5}}</ref> From [[Toddler|toddlerhood]] to early school age, children will often link the outside world with their internal consciousness, e.g. "It is raining because I am sad."

=== Symbolic approaches ===
Another theory of magical thinking is the symbolic approach. Leading thinkers of this category, including [[Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah|Stanley J. Tambiah]], believe that magic is meant to be expressive, rather than instrumental. As opposed to the direct, mimetic thinking of Frazer, Tambiah asserts that magic utilizes abstract analogies to express a desired state, along the lines of [[metonymy]] or [[metaphor]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Brown |first= Michael F. |title= Thinking About Magic |publisher= Greenwood Press |year= 1993 |pages= 5–7 }}</ref>

An important question raised by this interpretation is how mere symbols could exert material effects. One possible answer lies in [[John L. Austin]]'s concept of [[performativity]], in which the act of saying something makes it true, such as in an inaugural or marital rite.<ref>{{harvnb|Glucklich|1997|pp= 60–2}}</ref> Other theories propose that magic is effective because symbols are able to affect internal psycho-physical states. They claim that the act of expressing a certain anxiety or desire can be reparative in itself.<ref>{{harvnb|Glucklich|1997|pp= 49–53}}</ref>