The New Prometheans: Faith, Science, and the Supernatural Mind in the Victorian Fin de Siècle

· University of Chicago Press
Libro electrónico
448
Páginas
Apto

Acerca de este libro electrónico

The Society for Psychical Research was established in 1882 to further the scientific study of consciousness, but it arose in the surf of a larger cultural need. Victorians were on the hunt for self-understanding. Mesmerists, spiritualists, and other romantic seekers roamed sunken landscapes of entrancement, and when psychology was finally ready to confront these altered states, psychical research was adopted as an experimental vanguard. Far from a rejected science, it was a necessary heterodoxy, probing mysteries as diverse as telepathy, hypnosis, and even séance phenomena. Its investigators sought facts far afield of physical laws: evidence of a transcendent, irreducible mind.

The New Prometheans traces the evolution of psychical research through the intertwining biographies of four men: chemist Sir William Crookes, depth psychologist Frederic Myers, ether physicist Sir Oliver Lodge, and anthropologist Andrew Lang. All past presidents of the society, these men brought psychical research beyond academic circles and into the public square, making it part of a shared, far-reaching examination of science and society. By layering their papers, textbooks, and lectures with more intimate texts like diaries, letters, and literary compositions, Courtenay Raia returns us to a critical juncture in the history of secularization, the last great gesture of reconciliation between science and sacred truths.

Acerca del autor

Courtenay Raia is a member of the humanities faculty at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. She is a recipient of the JHBS John C. Burnham Early Career Award, and her online lecture series at the University of California, Los Angeles, has been recognized for excellence by Stanford University’s Continuing Studies Program.

Califica este libro electrónico

Cuéntanos lo que piensas.

Información de lectura

Smartphones y tablets
Instala la app de Google Play Libros para Android y iPad/iPhone. Como se sincroniza de manera automática con tu cuenta, te permite leer en línea o sin conexión en cualquier lugar.
Laptops y computadoras
Para escuchar audiolibros adquiridos en Google Play, usa el navegador web de tu computadora.
Lectores electrónicos y otros dispositivos
Para leer en dispositivos de tinta electrónica, como los lectores de libros electrónicos Kobo, deberás descargar un archivo y transferirlo a tu dispositivo. Sigue las instrucciones detalladas que aparecen en el Centro de ayuda para transferir los archivos a lectores de libros electrónicos compatibles.