Resumen de Variaciones del discernir: Michel de Montaigne, Reginald Scot y los demonólogos
This chapter traces diverse early modern uses of the tradition of the discretio spirituum (discernment of spirits), that is, the inquiry into the pneumatological causes of behavior: supernatural, diabolical, or natural. Discernment was frequently attached to the discourse of demonology in order to reinforce the demonic character of certain behaviors and events such as prophecies, mysticism, and false miracles, which were part of the rich pneumatological religiosity of the period. Nevertheless, it will be shown that Michel de Montaigne’s “Des boiteux” (1588) and Reginald Scot’s The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) established alternative links between discretio and demonology. From his fideist and skeptical point of view, Montaigne denied that extraordinary events could be deemed diabolical without explicit supernatural evidence. This evidence could be found in the Holy Scripture, since the book of Revelation attests to instances of witchcraft and other demonic behavior. However, contemporary cases of purported demonic activity, given that they occur outside the realm of the Bible, could not be discerned with any certainty. Scot, for his part, turned the discourse of discernment of spirits against demonology, arguing that proper discretio shows that devils could not intervene in the material world and that demonologists were incapable of discerning spirits. On the contrary, they themselves, who claimed to be inspired by God, were in fact moved by the devil.
