The Philosophical Review/Volume 1/Summary: Rosenbach - Étude critique sur le mysticisme moderne
We are accustomed to think of our age as an age of science par excellence, but the metaphysical tendency in man cannot be rooted out by any demonstration of the impossibility of metaphysics. This metaphysical tendency reveals itself especially when man begins to think about himself. In this connection it is interesting to recall the epidemic of Spiritualism which prevailed about the middle of our century. But aside from Spiritualism, other doctrines have come to the front of late, which tend to establish the existence of the supernatural, i.e., that which is above the known forces of nature. Such are mesmerism, animal magnetism, 'odisme' and 'mantévisme.' The London "Society for Psychical Research" was founded in 1882. R. gives a resume of the principal results arrived at by the society. (1) Experimental Telepathy and Clairvoyance. While the committees on mesmerism (as distinct from hypnotism) and on 'odisme' have done comparatively little, the reverse is true of the commission which has occupied itself with clairvoyance and thought-transference. The commission has published, not only its own work on this subject, but also the results of work done independently by Professor Ch. Richet, of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris. From all the evidence accumulated, the commission believes that it has obtained a scientific and purely experimental verification of telepathy. This is more than R. can concede. (2) Telepathic Apparitions and Hallucinations. After sifting narratives of 'haunted houses,' etc., the commission appointed to investigate this subject concluded that in twenty-eight of the cases reported, the reality of the phenomena was incontestable, but confined itself to nineteen cases of authenticated phantoms. When real, the phantoms are believed to conform to a certain type: they do not (as is usually supposed) appear at particular hours or days. Moreover, they do not speak, or move their limbs. The commission thinks that at present any explanation of these phenomena would be premature, and only states what it believes to be the facts. Other members of the society have attempted to fill in this gap. The results are published in Phantasms of the Living. The theory of this part of the society is peculiar: apparitions belong to the class of hallucinations, with this difference, that they have a real source in the mind of some other person. There are no authenticated apparitions of the dead. Apparitions come from the dying, but death is a process which takes time. By analogy with the application of the telepathic theory to apparitions, the same critical analysis is applied to every other kind of supernatural phenomena — 'materialization' of spirits, etc. R. regards the experimental effects upon which this theory is founded as fictitious, and hence considers the theory itself untenable, to say nothing of the fact that we hear only of the dreams, presentiments, etc., which 'come true,' not of the countless ones which fail. (3) The Theosophic Cult. A commission of the society, altogether different from any of the others, was appointed to examine the work of the "Theosophic Society." R. gives a brief sketch of the history of this society, and then a more detailed account of the very damaging exposure of Madame Blawatzsky, the leading spirit among the theosophists, which took place in 1884. At about this time, Mr. Hodgson was sent by the English society to the headquarters of theosophy in the East, and, though rather inclined to believe in such miracles, he found additional evidence against Madame Blawatzsky. However, this scandal did not stop the further growth of theosophy. (5) Mystical Psychology. With the decadence of ordinary Spiritualism in Germany arose a still more extraordinary belief; i.e., that sorcery, magic, lucidity, etc., are important aids for the comprehension of the nature of the soul, hence for psychology and for philosophy. In 1886 there was founded in Germany a new periodical, the Sphinx, which describes itself as the organ destined for the historical and the experimental clearing up of the supernatural idea. Baron Carl du Prel represents the theoretic side. In his view, "official" science, by disdaining all that cannot be established by irrefragable proof, deprives itself of a great aid for understanding the essence of the spiritual nature of man. The reality of supernatural phenomena is proved by their remarkable diffusion among all ancient peoples, and also by analogous phenomena (e.g., telepathy) which may be observed to-day. The fault of past ages was not that they acknowledged the existence of these phenomena, but that they gave them a religious explanation. If one could admit that the soul and the body are not two substances independent of each other, but that the soul is the principal organizer of the body, it would be easy to understand how the soul might exist in space as a reality independent of the body. Since, though separated from the body, it preserves its organizing faculty, it may also incorporate itself in another form. However, it usually takes the form of the body in which it was before. In this state the soul was formerly called the 'astral body' and M. du Prel retains this name. The soul, with its 'astral body,' being immortal, may appear arbitrarily after the death of the material body. This apparition of the 'astral body' may be invoked by a medium, which explains the so-called 'materialization' of spirits, necromancy, etc. M. du Prel attempts to prove that his mystical view of human life was already accepted by Kant, who had not the data, but whose genius foresaw the mystical doctrine. With this in view, he reprints a very condensed and dogmatic pamphlet by Kant on psychology. R. opposes to this Kant's views as expressed in his work entitled Träume eines Geisterschers. In conclusion, R. compares mystical psychology with physiological psychology, which latter he regards as the only 'experimental' psychology worthy of the name.