The London Dialectical Society was a British professional association that formed in 1867 to encourage debate "of all questions without reserve, but especially those comprised in the domain of ethics, metaphysics, and theology". [1] It is best known for its investigation into and report on the claims of Spiritualism. [2]
The Society was founded in 1867 under the presidency of John Lubbock. It gathered together highly regarded professional individuals to speak on issues of the day. Many well known speakers started at the Society including Joseph Hiam, the journalist and campaigner. Elizabeth Clarke Wolstenholme Elmy was invited to speak on more than one occasion.
The Society had a broad remit to all "the most absolute freedom of debate" with no topic excluded from discussion (except on the grounds of "triviality"). [1] It therefore hosted debates on a wide variety of topics, examples of which include 'Over-population and Public Health' (July 1868) at which Charles Bradlaugh and Charles Robert Drysdale both spoke, 'On Marriage' (April 1871) led by Moncure D. Conway, and 'The Philosophy of Secularism' (December 1872) opened by Charles Watts. [3] [4] [5] The format of these sessions was usually that an eminent speaker gave an opening lecture, which was followed by a debate open to all attendees. In 1868–69 the Society published a pamphlet explaining its purpose, history, and rules, as well as a report covering its activities and members in 1866–68. [6]
The Society is probably best known for a Committee it formed "to investigate the phenomena alleged to be spiritual manifestations and to report thereon." [7] In January 1869, a committee was appointed that included 33 members. Notable members included Edward William Cox, Charles Maurice Davies, Cromwell Varley, and Alfred Russel Wallace. [8] [9] Skeptics such as Thomas Henry Huxley and George Henry Lewes declined invitation to join the Society. [7]
In 1871 a report by the committee was published. The Society declined to publish the report and it was printed on the responsibility of the committee only. [10]
Six sub-committees had investigated the claims of spiritualism by attending séances and reported their findings. The report was heavily criticised by the scientific community as being of no scientific value. [10] [11] This was due to the fact that half of the committees "saw really nothing" and only the second committee had reported successful "presumably spiritualistic" phenomena. [10] However, this conclusion was criticised as being based on unsupported statements from unreliable witnesses. [12] The report was dismissed by influential newspapers. For example, The Times described the report as "nothing more than a farrago of impotent conclusions, garnished by a mass of the most monstrous rubbish it has ever been our misfortune to sit judgement on." [13]
The fifth committee had investigated the medium Daniel Dunglas Home but "nothing occurred at any of the meetings which could be attributed to supernatural causes." [10]
On the basis of this report, the London Dialectical Society has been described as a precursor to the Society for Psychical Research. [14]
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to conduct organised scholarly research into human experiences that challenge contemporary scientific models." It does not, however, since its inception in 1882, hold any corporate opinions: SPR members assert a variety of beliefs with regard to the nature of the phenomena studied.
Frederic William Henry Myers was a British poet, classicist, philologist, and a founder of the Society for Psychical Research. Myers' work on psychical research and his ideas about a "subliminal self" were influential in his time, but have not been accepted by the scientific community. However, in 2007 a team of cognitive scientists at University of Virginia School of Medicine, led by Edward F. Kelly published a major empirical-theoretical work, Irreducible Mind, citing various empirical evidence that they think broadly corroborates Myer's conception of human self and its survival of bodily death.
Spiritualism is a social religious movement primarily popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries according to which an individual's awareness persists after death and may be contacted by the living. The afterlife, or the "spirit world", is seen by spiritualists not as a static place, but as one in which spirits continue to evolve. These two beliefs—that contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits are more advanced than humans—lead spiritualists to the belief that spirits are capable of providing useful insight regarding moral and ethical issues, as well as about the nature of God. Some spiritualists will speak of a concept which they refer to as "spirit guides"—specific spirits, often contacted, who are relied upon for spiritual guidance. Emanuel Swedenborg has some claim to be the father of Spiritualism.
William Benjamin Carpenter CB FRS was an English physician, invertebrate zoologist, and physiologist. He was instrumental in the early stages of the unified University of London.
The Spiritualist Association of Great Britain is a British spiritualist organisation. It was established on 10 July 1872.
Mediumship is the belief in the practice of mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spirit channelling, including séance tables, trance, and ouija. The practice is associated with Spiritualism, Spiritism, and some New Age groups.
Eusapia Palladino was an Italian Spiritualist physical medium. She claimed extraordinary powers such as the ability to levitate tables, communicate with the dead through her spirit guide John King, and to produce other supernatural phenomena.
The College of Psychic Studies is a non-profit organisation based in South Kensington, London. It is dedicated to the study of psychic and spiritualist phenomena.
The American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR) is the oldest psychical research organization in the United States dedicated to parapsychology. It maintains offices and a library, in New York City, which are open to both members and the general public. The society has an open membership, anyone with an interest in psychical research is invited to join. It maintains a website; and publishes the quarterly Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research.
William Stainton Moses was an English cleric and spiritualist medium. He promoted spirit photography and automatic writing, and co-founded what became the College of Psychic Studies. He resisted scientific examination of his claims, which have generally been demolished.
Mme. d'Esperance was an English spiritualist medium who was exposed as a fraud.
Hereward Carrington was an American investigator of psychic phenomena and author. His subjects included several of the most high-profile cases of apparent psychic ability of his times, and he wrote over 100 books on subjects including the paranormal and psychical research, conjuring and stage magic, and alternative medicine. Carrington promoted fruitarianism and held pseudoscientific views about dieting.
Edward William Cox known as Serjeant Cox (1809–1879) was an English lawyer and legal writer, who was also a successful publisher. He has been described as "the greatest entrepreneur of 'class' journalism".
Herbert Henry Charles Thurston was an English priest of the Roman Catholic Church, a member of the Jesuit order, and a prolific scholar on liturgical, literary, historical, and spiritual matters. In his day, he was regarded as an expert on spiritualism. Today he is remembered chiefly for his extensive contributions to the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Richard Hodgson was an Australian-born psychical researcher who investigated spiritualist mediums such as Eusapia Palladino and Leonora Piper. During his later life, Hodgson became a spiritualist medium himself and believed to be in communication with spirits.
Cleveland Hall was a meeting hall in Cleveland Street, London that was a centre of the British secularist movement between 1861 and 1878, and that was then used for various purposes before becoming a Methodist meeting hall.
George Harris (1809–1890) was an English barrister and judge, known as a biographer and legal writer.
William Wortley Baggally, most well known as W. W. Baggally, was a British psychical researcher who investigated spiritualist mediums.
Thomas Everitt (1823–1905) and Mrs Thomas Everitt (1825–1915) were prominent British spiritualists.
The Oxford Phasmatological Society was an organisation from Oxford that investigated paranormal phenomena. It lasted from 1879-1885. It is considered to have been the first psychical research society.