I’m chuffed to report that I just received the contract for my book, preliminary titled Psychical Research and the Formation of Modern Psychology. The study, to be published by Stanford University Press, will respond to a growing trend of historical interest in psychical research, i.e. the radical empirical investigation of reported ‘occult’ phenomena associated with … Read more
Between you and me, I’m really not into the idea that karma will eventually get me and drag my poor soul back to earth after I die. At the risk of appearing a gloomy Gus, for me one life is just about enough. The very idea of reincarnation, of course, has a long tradition not … Read more
Among the key figures in the hidden history of the human sciences are the Munich philosopher Carl du Prel (1839-1899) and the Cambridge classicist and psychologist Frederic W. H. Myers (1843-1901). Eclipsed by psychoanalysis, Jungian analytical psychology and other depth psychologies throughout the twentieth century, the contemporary significance and reception of these writers was considerable. … Read more
The final pre-print article from the SHPSC special issue on psychical research, which I had the privilege of guest-editing, is now available online. Although it is not strictly meant as a normative contribution to the philosophy of science, I hope it will still be useful for philosophers interested in the demarcation problem. It basically boils … Read more
It was precisely a year ago that I entered the world of history of science blogging by launching ‘Forbidden Histories’. (Incidentally, my first title choice – ‘Hidden Histories’– was already taken, and somewhat reluctantly I decided to go with the more melodramatic-sounding name.) One year later, I’m still not sufficiently blogosphere-savvy to understand what exactly … Read more
The penultimate pre-print article from the soon to be published Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences special issue on psychical research is now online. Maria Teresa Brancaccio explores and contextualises a hitherto underresearched episode in the history of modern Italian psychology, i.e. the preoccupation of one of its leading early representatives … Read more
In the sixth pre-print article from the upcoming Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences special issue on psychical research, Chantal Marazia and Fabio De Sio reconstruct the story of the famous “thinking horses” of Elberfeld and their main investigator, Karl Krall. CLEVER HANS AND HIS EFFECTS. KARL KRALL AND THE ORIGINS … Read more
Another article from the currently produced special issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C dedicated to psychical research is now online as a pre-print version on the journal website. In her analysis of letters on precognition to the British playwright J. B. Priestley, Katy Price (Queen Mary University, London) addresses the … Read more
In the fourth of eight articles from the upcoming Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C special issue on psychical research, Shannon Delorme (Oxford University) takes a closer look at one of the most vocal British 19th-century opponents of spiritualism and animal magnetism, the physiologist William B. Carpenter. PHYSIOLOGY OR PSYCHIC POWERS? WILLIAM … Read more
A pre-print version of Richard Noakes’ thought-provoking article looking at the complex relationship between unorthodox and established sciences is now available for download on the website of Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. HAUNTED THOUGHTS OF THE CAREFUL EXPERIMENTALIST: PSYCHICAL RESEARCH AND THE TROUBLES OF EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS Richard Noakes, University of … Read more