The Seybert Report

This book is a rhetorical analysis of the "Seybert Report," based on the findings of the Seybert Commission formed in the nineteenth century at the University of Pennsylvania and tasked with investigating the paranormal phenomena alleged to arise in Spiritualist séances. The findings of the report are significant because they provide a historical benchmark for how paranormal research--or psi--has been addressed by academics for well over a century. Elizabeth Schleber Lowry examines academic discourse with respect to psi from such approaches as the rhetoric of science and scholarship in the history and philosophy of science.

Examines academic discourse with respect to paranormal research from various approaches. Discusses the implications of the Seybert Commission's negative findings with respect to scholarship in the history and philosophy of science. Looks at the ways in which cultural contexts shape which scientific practices are considered to be legitimate and which are not. Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Elizabeth Schleber Lowry is a lecturer in Rhetoric and Composition at Arizona State University, USA. Her work has been published in The Rhetoric Review, Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism and in edited collections. She is the author of Invisible Hosts: Performing the Nineteenth Century Spirit Medium's Autobiography, 2017.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Spiritualism and Scholarship.- 3. Inside the Seybert Report.- 4. Familiar Jugglery.- 5. Boundaries and Legacies.- 6. Spirit Eyes.- 7. Other Worlds.- 8. Conclusion.