4. Now read the following paragraph. Pick out the issue raised by the author, and the two
possible definitions of witchcraft.
Anyone trying to understand witchcraft in a broad yet accurate historical sense must
confront a number of problems, of which perhaps none is more basic than the difficult
question of how to define exactly what elements constitute witchcraft.[...] By those who
fear its reality, witchcraft has always been defined as a set of actions, practices, and
behaviors that certain people actually perform to supposedly terrible effect, and witches
are believed to cause great evil in the world through the harmful sorcery that they work,
generally in close alliance with dark, supernatural forces. If one accepts this belief, then
such a crime is certainly worthy of the harshest penalties any society can impose. To
those skeptical of the reality of witchcraft, on the other hand, it exists only, or at least
predominantly, as a construct in the minds of those who would use it as an excuse to
persecute, and those accused of witchcraft are innocent victims caught in a deadly web of
false beliefs and pious convictions.
Michael D. Bailey, "Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft" (2003).
5. Why can we say that the definition of witches is rather subjective?
Magnard
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