The Invention of Telepathy

The main body of this cultural study covers the period from 1870-1901, covering the invention of the term telepathy by Frederic Myers in the same year - 1882 - as the foundation of the Society for Psychical Research. The first chapter sketches what the author calls 'the terrain of emergence', which is critical to his subsequent argument in explaining the gradual ascendancy of the metaphysics of scientific naturalism. In this context the SPR, represented by some of the most distinguished intellects of the day, was a counterpoint in suggesting a middle path between naturalism and superstition. However, it is clear that the likes of Huxley and Darwin were hostile to this development, as Darwin's correspondence with Wallace shows. They felt that it could lead to a serious backsliding, as did Freud (though not as much as his translator Ernest Jones). So what is scientific? That is the nub. For me William James remains a representative figure, but one should not forget the courage of Crookes, Barrett, Lodge, Sidgwick and others. After all Luckhurst's coverage, some readers like myself will be rather staggered to read in his last sentence that he does not believe in telepathy! I don't myself like this formulation of 'believing in' anyway, as it all boils down to a combination of evidence and its interpretation in the light of philosophical assumptions. At any rate the book is a fascinating contribution to the intellectual history of the late Victorian period.