Spiritism (book)

Spiritism () is an 1885 book by German philosopher Eduard von Hartmann, the author of the famous treatise "Philosophy of the Unconscious." In professor Corinna Treitel's opinion, publication of this book became one of the "key events" in history of the "German occult movement." This book was "one of the first works to attempt a complete psychological explanation of all occult phenomena." According to Charles Massey, one of the founders of the Society for Psychical Research, publication of this book made the "most brutal blow" out of all ones that were ever directed against Spiritualism.
Contents of the book.
Spiritism and Spiritualism.
At the beginning of the first chapter Hartmann explains that "the word 'Spiritism' is of French production" but the English, and most part of the Germans prefer the term "Spiritualism." The author presents to use the term "Spiritualism" to denote the metaphysical point of view, which is the opposite of materialism, and the explanation of mediumistic phenomena through participation of "spirits", he offers to call by the term "Spiritism." He believes that most people, who are aspiring for Spiritism and read Spiritist journals, have no interest in a scientific study of the phenomena of mediumship, but instead seek "the confirmation of their belief in immortality." Hartmann considers a reopening of the huge field of phenomena, that were rejected in the Age of Enlightenment, as a great merit of the modern spiritistic movement. However, in his opinion, Spiritism threatens to become a public disaster in Germany, therefore the state should use its authority in order to interest scientists in a study of the spiritistic phenomena. He writes that the public has the complete right to know about these things, and since it is not able to formulate its own opinion, it only remains to wait for the conclusions drawn by the official representatives of science.
Research methodology.
Hartmann writes that in order to study the "abnormal phenomena of human nature" it is necessary to appeal to persons who are endowed with an abnormal organism. It should be remembered, he continues, that just as in "experiments with an electrical friction machine", there may be failures in experiments with mediums, but this should not prevent the "investigation of abnormal phenomena." He believes that the scientific study of spiritism should be based on "general methodological axioms" which can not be "transgressed with impunity."
"First, principles are not to be multiplied without necessity; thus a second sort of causes are not to be supposed, as long as a single sort will suffice. Secondly, we should as long as possible abide by causes whose existence is guaranteed by experience or indubitable inference, and should not unnecessarily catch at causes of doubtful or unproven existence, such as are to be first established by their value as hypothesis for the explanation of phenomena in question. Thirdly, we should as long as possible try to do with natural causes and not touch supernatural ones without urgent necessity. Against these three axioms Spiritism offends."
Hypothesis of hallucinations.
The study of "masked somnambulism," as Hartmann argues, can give an understanding of the "whole area" of mediumistic phenomena. He explains that a "universal medium must be more than autosomnambule; he must be at the same time a powerful magnetiser." In his opinion, on a spiritistic séance medium plunges itself into a state of "masked or open somnambulism." Further, such a medium-autosomnambule has hallucinations, considered by him for reality, and at the same time, he possesses a strong desire that those present should see this imaginary reality, i.e. would have the same hallucinatory ideas as he himself.
Hartmann believes that "from the scientific psychological standpoint" every participator of mediumistic séance must constantly think on himself that he is under the influence of a very powerful mesmerist who aims to immerse him in masked somnambulism and thus taint him with his hallucinations.
"The mediums in their state of masked or open somnambulism have a size of nerve force, be it self-produced or extracted and accumulated by those present, as no magnetiser in his waking state has made it unfold, so surely theirs ability must with the help of this superior quantity of force to put those present in a state of open or masked somnambulism, greater than that of any magnetiser acting in the awake state."
According to Hartmann, the waking will of the medium in the somnambulic state fulfills the function of a magnetiser, giving the somnambulic consciousness a certain direction in relation to emerging hallucinations. If a medium "has the hallucination" of no longer being itself but of being the "spirit of Katie King," for example, and of appearing as such, the hallucination will also be transmitted to the recipients, that the medium who emerges from the curtain really is "Katie King." He believes that materialisation is most often just a transfiguration of medium himself, because when the phantom was separating from the medium it always appeared that it was completely coming from the medium and returning to him.
The hallucinatory hypothesis by Hartmann rejects the possibility of obtaining photographs on which both the medium and the materialised figure would be simultaneously placed, since hallucination can not be photographed, thus, in the opinion of its author, all such photographs are fake. For example, about a photograph taken by William Crookes, on which can seen the medium simultaneously with the phantom, Hartmann writes that it is exposed to the strong suspicion that "instead of the supposed phantom the medium, and instead of the supposed medium the dress of the medium, stuffed with a cushion in a half-concealed position, have been photographed."
Hypothesis of nerve force.
According to Hartmann, any physical phenomena of mediumship, regardless of their complexity, are always fulfilled due to "mediumistic nerve force," which is nothing else than a physical force that is "produced" by medium's nervous system and passes unhindered through any substance, "like magnetism." The medium's will must direct this force and control the one, and the distribution of the one depends on the "fantastic image that is in the somnambulistic conscious of the medium." In addition, physical phenomena that require "a special strain of nerve force" are occurring when mediums sink into "an open somnambulism." The author confirms that the imprints of organic forms belong to "the most striking phenomena" of mediumship—they had been surpassed only cases of "matter's penetration through matter." He admits that the imprints undoubtedly prove that in this case there is no transfer of hallucinations but "an objective-real impact of mediumistic force on matter," and explains this phenomenon as follows:
"If we imagine another arrangement of the pressure and tension lines of the mediumistic nerve force—an arrangement corresponding to those pressures that are produced by inner side of the flat laying hand on a soft substance capable of perceiving the imprint, then the movement of the particles of matter caused by such a dynamical system should again be consistented with that, which is caused by direct pressure of the hand, i.e. imprint of an organic form would have been obtained, although such a form, capable of producing such imprint, might not has been in material kind."
Some of the phenomena Hartmann explains by the fact that medium in a state of somnambulism allegedly combines "the hallucination of the emerging image" with the idea on the need to move a real object and unconsciously produces this displacement "with the help of his mediumistic nerve force," while remaining confident that it was performed by own force of the fantastic image that has appeared by him, that is, through the "transfer of his hallucination to the audience," he unconsciously inspires them with the idea that the displacement that occurred really was fulfilled by that ghost which is just his hallucination.
Mental manifestations.
Regarding spiritistic messages, Hartmann argues that only "the somnambulistic consciousness" can be the source of their content. He writes, "All messages have a content corresponding to the mental level and views of the medium." As a rule, this level happens to be "below the spiritual level" of the medium and participants of the séance, less often it equals, but it happens to be never higher.
The author writes that some mediums, with their "mimic transfigurations", exhibit striking linguistic abilities. They can reproduce words and phrases "in strange, incomprehensible dialects", which they had previously accidentally heard without paying attention to this. According to Hartmann, only a medium, who can write, can "produce automatic writing or perform writing at a distance [without the involvement of the hand]."
Explanation of paranormal.
In principle, Hartmann admits the possibility of a mediumistic phenomenon of "the penetration of matter", as well as allows for the possibility of all other phenomena confirmed by the testimony of witnesses. However, he opposes the hypothesis by German astronomer Zöllner about the fourth dimension of space, preferring, rather, the statement "on the molecular shakes of material bonds in the body, than the one on movements and vibrations outside of three-dimensional space." According to Hartmann, neither the sack nor the cage in which the medium can be contained will not be a hindrance to him: if he can pass through a substance in a state of sleep, "nothing prevents him from appearing as a phenomenon in front of the audience, in spite of all these precautions."
After the mentioning to the "expansive action" of the mediumistic nerve force that overcomes the "cohesion of material particles" and leads to acoustic phenomena, Hartmann proceeds to spiritistic phenomena related to "penetration of matter", classifying them as "an especially incredible field of phenomena." He refers to the confirmed experiments of Zöllner and the facts of "a transference" of objects into a locked room, which repeatedly observed under the most stringent conditions of control. He lists various types of "the penetration of matter": the passing an iron ring through the hand of a medium, penetration of coins, slate-pencils, etc. in completely closed boxes, the inserting a ring on the table's leg, the tying of knots on ropes and belts with "sealed" ends, the bringing into the séance's room the items from another room or other houses, as well as bringing of flowers which were growing outside the room.
According to Hartmann, medium can't by only his will or by his purely psychological influence, cause the above-mentioned physical phenomena in inanimate objects. The main action of the will is a release the "mediumistic nerve force" out the nervous system and its directing with a certain way on the living or dead objects. Nevertheless, according to him, in the study of any phenomena of mediumism, with the exception of clairvoyance, there is no need to go "beyond the bounds of the natural explanations."
On hypothesis of spirits.
In conclusion, Hartmann assesses the central idea of spiritism:
"Thus the whole hypothesis of spirits has dissolved into pure nothingness, after first the direct physical power, then the production of the phenomena of materialisation, and finally production of the ideality of the manifestations, have shifted from the presupposed spirits to the mediums. Whether there are spirits or not, we do not have to examine here; in any case, if there are any, they are referred back to that other world from which Spiritualism believed them to have sunk into this world."
Criticism.
One of the most active critics of Hartmann's book was Alexander Aksakov. The proofs which Aksakov used to "disprove Hartmann's hallucination hypothesis" were the photographs of spirits. The pictures "taken during the séances, in which both the medium and the materialised form were visible," were convincingly demonstrating, according to Aksakov, that materialisation is "an objective phenomenon", and not a kind the mass hypnosis (see the photo on the left). Criticism by Aksakov was supported in the publications of occultists in the journal , where "Hartmann was portrayed variously as obtuse or dishonest for his refusal to recognise his logical errors." Aksakov has been emphasizing that Hartmann had no practical experience and did not pay enough attention to those facts that did not correspond to his convictions, and many phenomena were "completely unknown" to him.
Professor wrote that Hartmann uses his hypotheses, according to how it is more convenient to him: if a materialised figure appears on séance, then for him it is just a hallucination imagined by the participators of the séance; if this phantom is displayed in the photo, then its appearance is explained by the action of the mediumistic nerve force, since otherwise it could not be photographed. But the view arbitrarily using such unstable explanations is "scientifically untenable." Commenting on Hartmann's statement that imprints of the organic forms are produced by the mediumistic nerve force, Aksakov wrote that this hypothesis necessarily leads to "the acceptance of the length, thickness, and density" of this force, in other words, to that which usually serves to define the body, thus such imprints should be produced "by the action of an invisible body formed with help of the medium," that is, by the materialised form. Hartmann also speaks that mediumistic nerve force "can cause thermal and light phenomena," for example, it can produce certain forms, "at least inorganic ones: crosses, stars, a bright field with light points shimmering on it." Hence, here, according to Aksakov's commentary, the nerve force becomes visible and does not constitute a hallucination. Why then does the same force that has become visible in a materialized organic image, sometimes in a luminous one, turns into a hallucination? According to Aksakov, the hallucinatory hypothesis by Hartmann is destroyed "by his own logic."
In connection with the hypothesis of the author, explaining the physical phenomena of mediumship, Massey noted that "the opinion of most persons conversant with them will be that Hartmann's hypothesis is too complicated in itself, and even thus is unadequate to the facts." Karl Du Prel brought such Hartmann's statement from the first chapter of his book: "Since I never attended a séance myself, I am not in a condition to form a judgment on the reality of the phenomena in question... On the other hand, I hold myself at any rate competent to offer a conditional judgment on the conclusions to be drawn from these phenomena in case of their reality, for this is peculiarly the office of the philosopher." Then he commented on this passage as follows:
"I must admit, I always believed that there is 'a golden rule for the philosopher'—to remain silent where he has no experience, so that no one could be told: 'Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses!' (If you had been silent, you would have remained a philosopher!) That is why my final verdict lies in the fact that Hartmann, with his writings against spiritism, has certainly contributed to eristic but not in philosophy."