Supernormal Biology

Vitalism, Parapsychology and the German Crisis of Modernity, c. 1890-19331

Bibliographic Data

ID4942295
AuthorsHeather Wolffram (0000-0002-7596-3317, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume8
Issue2
Pages149-163
Publication date2003-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe European Legacy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1084-8770 • E-ISSN: 1470-1316
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10848770309455
OpenAlexW2010071195
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

This paper is a contribution to the small but growing body of scholarship dedicated to a reappraisal of German occultism in the period prior to the Second World War. Moving beyond those analyses of the German occult movement which have viewed it solely in terms of its links--often tenuous--to National Socialism, this paper considers German occultism, specifically parapsychology, as a mode of cultural critique utilised by Germans from across the political spectrum. Concentrating on the experimental study of materialisation and its theorisation as "supernormal biology," this paper argues for strong links, forged primarily by the biologist, philosopher, and neo-vitalist Hans Driesch (1867-1941), between parapsychology, as a way of understanding life and mind, and epistemological reforms within biology and psychology. It argues, furthermore, that for Driesch, as for a number of European scholars, parapsychology provided scientific validation of a belief in the naturalness of liberalism and pacifism

Epistemology · German · Modernity · Organicism · Parapsychology · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Vitalism · Diverse Historical and Scientific Studies · Law · Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices

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