Superstition and Religion

Ghosts, animal possession, unlucky directions, strange fires, and fortune-tellers furnish Inoue Enryō with a remarkable field of investigation. He asks how an occurrence becomes a rumor, how expectation shapes perception, and how coincidence acquires a supernatural explanation.

His critique of superstition also opens a philosophical inquiry. Apparent phenomena can be dispelled by investigation; true mystery, he argues, belongs to the deeper nature of mind, existence, and religion.

This complete translation includes the supplementary essays and the extended appendix on religion, the soul, ghosts, and fear of death. Notes explain historical references, uncertain names, period claims, and diagrams absent from the supplied source.