Matyas Moravec: Most people imagine philosophers as rationalists who spend their time developing abstract logical theories and strongly reject superstitions. However, few 20th century philosophers actively pursued spooky topics such as clairvoyance, telepathy, and even ghosts.
Many of these philosophers, including Henri Bergson and William James, were interested in so-called “mental research.” It was an academic study of paranormal phenomena, including telepathy, telekinesis, and otherworldly spirits.
These thinkers attended séances and attempted to develop theories about ghosts, life after death, and the powers manifested by trance mediums. My recent archival research has focused on how these topics shaped 20th century philosophy.
C. D. Broad (1887-1971) was professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge. He is currently considered one of the most vital writers on the philosophy of time. He also published on ethics, logic and the history of philosophy.
What is less known, however, is that he was an energetic member of the Society for Paranormal Research, a scientific association devoted to the study of paranormal phenomena. The society elected him its president twice, and he published widely on topics including clairvoyance and poltergeists.
In his 1925 book entitled “Mind and Its Place in Nature” Broad developed what became known as the “complex theory” of ghosts. Broad argued that the human mind is composed of two elements. One of them was the “physical factor”, roughly corresponding to the body. The second was the “mental factor” that carries our mental content such as emotions and thoughts. Both of them together constitute the human mind – just as salt is composed of sodium and chlorine.
Broad believed that after death, the psychic agent could exist on its own for some time and, like a ghost, enter the medium during a séance.
Images in the air
Another philosopher interested in ghosts and the spirits of the dead was H. H. Price (1899-1984). He was professor of logic at the University of Oxford and is best known for his publications on the philosophy of perception.
However, like Broad, he was heavily involved with the Society for Psychical Research and attended several international conferences on life after death and telepathy.
In his 1939 presidential address to the public, Price attempted to explain the existence of ghosts and hauntings.
At every moment, he argued, your mind is full of “mental images” – memories of your last vacation, what you see outside your window, your hopes and expectations for the future.
Price theorized that there was a substance he called “psychic ether” that existed halfway between matter and the human mind. He believed that this aether could carry images that currently exist in your mind, even after death. To some particularly sensitive people, the bundle of these images and memories may seem like a ghost.
What does “ghost” mean?
Kazimierz Lewy (1919-1991) was one of the most influential philosophical logicians of the 20th century. He spent most of his professional career at the University of Cambridge – in fact, the philosophy department library there is named after him.
Lewy is now mostly known for his work on logic, and few people know that he actually wrote his doctoral thesis (which Broad examined) on the subject of life after death.
He was primarily interested in the language and meaning of the terms people utilize when talking about ghosts and life after death. What does it mean that I can survive the death of my body?
What experiences would I have to have as a ghost for the statement “I survived my death” to be true? Would I have to see myself in the mirror or talk to people in the viewing room?
Lewy insisted that these questions needed to be answered before looking at empirical “evidence” for the existence of ghosts.
After a series of scandalous and widely publicized discoveries of false mediums pretending to have supernatural powers and accusations of using pseudoscientific research methods, parapsychology research eventually moved to the margins of the academic community. Lewy, for example, never returned to writing on these topics after defending his doctorate in 1943.
Nevertheless, despite its miniature existence, academic parapsychological research had a significant influence on an entire generation of British philosophers. It shaped their ideas about time, causality and matter, and gave them the opportunity to consider one of life's most pressing questions: what happens after death?
Matyáš Moravec, Lecturer in Philosophy, Queen's University Belfast
This article has been republished from Conversation under Creative Commons license. Read it original article.
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