witchcraft is a persistent doubt, rather than a belief system. These theories are a far cry from conscious decision and coherent faith. And it is not clear if Waters’ characterization of witchcraft as a willed belief system fits very well with the material he himself presents. When discussing the Scottish slander trial from 1862, for instance, he highlights the mixed, ambiguous, agnostic, and changeable attitudes towards witchcraft among the population (80–3). A similar point could be made about his discussion of the paradoxical scepticism of the unwitcher Alexander Henderson (103). It must be said that debates over chronology, causation, and how belief is conceptualized are perhaps inevitable in any book of this methodological, chronological, and geographical ambition, especially one dealing with the ever-contentious topic of harmful magic. As Waters reminds readers, witchcraft remains a matter of life and death today, and readers will find this book a provocative and entertaining read, whether they share his conception of witchcraft belief and its decline or not.

中文翻译：

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生活史选集，ALHFAM的观点

巫术是一种持续的怀疑，而不是一种信仰体系。这些理论与有意识的决策和连贯的信念相去甚远。尚不清楚沃特斯将巫术描述为一种自愿的信仰体系是否与他本人提出的材料非常吻合。例如，当讨论1862年的苏格兰诽谤审判时，他强调了人口中对巫术的混合，mixed昧，不可知论和多变的态度（80-3）。关于他对弱智者亚历山大·亨德森（Alexander Henderson）的悖论性怀疑的讨论也可以提出类似的观点（103）。必须说，关于时间顺序，因果关系以及信念如何被概念化的争论在这本方法论，时间顺序和地理抱负的任何书中，尤其是涉及有害魔术的不断争议的话题中，都是不可避免的。