Science and Psychic Phenomena

by Carter, Chris; Sheldrake, Rupert

• ISBN13: 9781594774515
• ISBN10: 159477451X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-22
• Publisher: Inner Traditions

Summary

Reports of psychic abilities, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis, date back to the beginning of recorded human history in all cultures. Documented, reproducible evidence exists that these abilities are real, yet the mainstream scientific community has vehemently denied the existence of psi phenomena for centuries. The battle over the reality of psi has carried on in scientific academies, courtrooms, scholarly journals, newspapers, and radio stations and has included scandals, wild accusations, ruined reputations, as well as bizarre characters on both sides of the debate. If true evidence exists, why then is the study of psi phenomena-parapsychology-so controversial? And why has the controversy, lasted for centuries?

Author Biography

Chris Carter received his undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Oxford. The author of Science and the Near-Death Experience, Carter is originally from Canada and currently teaches internationally.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Background: The Nature of the Controversy
Origins of the Debate	p. 16
The Modern Critics	p. 24
The Historical Evidence	p. 46
Is There Conclusive Experimental Evidence for Psi?
The Early Years	p. 60
Psychokinesis: Mind over Matter	p. 72
Telepathy: Silent Communication	p. 81
The Great Ganzfeld Debate	p. 84
The Research of the Skeptics	p. 105
Would the Existence of Psi Contradict Established Science?
The Roots of Disbelief	p. 131
Modem Science versus Classical Science	p. 136
The "Extraordinary Claims" of Parapsychology	p. 185
Psi and Physics	p. 190
Toward a New Worldview	p. 198
Is Parapsychology a Science?
The Impoverished State of Skepticism	p. 204
The Nature of Science	p. 210
The Scientific Status of Parapsychology	p. 225
Hume s Argument Revisited	p. 239
Paradigms and Parapsychology	p. 247
Postscript	p. 257
Notes	p. 259
Bibliography	p. 273
Index	p. 293
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