Michael Potts's Blog: Bits and Pieces: Book Reviews and Articles on Writing, Horror Fiction, and Some Philosophy - Posts Tagged "william-james"

Wild Beasts of the Philosophical Desert: Philosophers on Telepathy and Other Exceptional Experiences by Hans Gerding

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


von Dongan, Gerding, and Sneller's book fills a major gap in philosophy and parapsychology. They summarize the views of important philosophers on psi phenomena and show how important such phenomena were in the development of their philosophical thought. Kant's critical method, for example, developed in part as a reaction to Swendenborg's alleged precognitive powers. Other philosophers mentioned include Schelling, Schopenhauer, William James, Henri Bergson, Gabriel Marcel, and Jacques Derrida. It was not necessary for the authors to discuss C. D. Broad and H. H. Price, since they are already well known for their work in twentieth century psychical research. Also omitted are discussions of Antony Flew, Stephen Braude, and others who have done work in contemporary philosophy and parapsychology, but their works are known and readily available. The secondary literature in philosophy on the philosophers they discuss almost invariably omits discussion of their views on psi phenomena and psychical research. Now that this book has been out for years, there is no excuse for writers on these philosophers to ignore the influence of psychical research on their thought. Highly recommended.



View all my reviews