What made Allan Kardec and his work stand out amidst all the Spiritualist
activity that was so prominent during his time? Much of this had to do with the
scientific approach that Kardec applied to his studies of spirit manifestations and
communications.
Kardec’s scholarly and professional background made him well prepared to take on this task of such significance, and this is illustrated by the approach he took to this work, as well as the elucidating logic woven through his explanations of the spirits’ teachings derived as a product of his investigations.
Kardec’s scholarly and professional background made him well prepared to take on this task of such significance, and this is illustrated by the approach he took to this work, as well as the elucidating logic woven through his explanations of the spirits’ teachings derived as a product of his investigations.
Those who appreciate these characteristics of Kardec’s work, as well as
those who would like to learn more about Kardec’s process of investigating the
existence, communicability, influence, and teachings of spirits will want to
check out this recently published research paper that I, for one, was thrilled
to come across.
Author Alexander Moreira-Almeida referred to Kardec as “a pioneer in
proposing scientific investigation of psychical phenomena”, and he wrote about
it this paper, entitled “Allan Kardec and the Development of a Research Program
in Psychic Experiences”.
I encourage you to take a look into this and share it, as Moreira-Almeida has attempted to increase awareness about the existence and significance of Kardec’s research. I leave with you here the abstract and more information about the author. You can then follow the link to the full-length paper that has graciously been made available to the general public.
Paper Abstract (spacing included
by me for visual purposes):
Allan Kardec was one of the first scholars to propose a scientific investigation of psychic phenomena but details of his life and his research work are not well known and have been misrepresented. This paper is a descriptive essay briefly presenting Kardec's biography, the first steps in his seminal research, and several epistemological/methodological guidelines he proposed to develop a comprehensive scientific research program to deal with psychic phenomena.
Kardec raised and tested several hypotheses to explain mediumistic phenomena: fraud, hallucination, a new physical force, somnambulism (including unconscious cerebration and clairvoyance), thought reflection (including telepathy and super-psi), discarnate spirits and several other theories. He accepted that fraud, hallucination, unconscious cerebration and thought reflection could explain many phenomena regarded as mediumistic. However, when mediumistic phenomena were studied as a whole, the best explanation would be the spiritist hypothesis, a spiritual origin for the phenomena. He named this hypothesis "Spiritism".Some guidelines he proposed to advance scientific research in psychical phenomena were: to use methods appropriate to the subject of investigation, to avoid both sterile skepticism and credulity, to be open to the novel, and to heed the need for a comprehensive and diversified empirical basis. He stressed the importance of theory for a scientific research program, and that facts are not enough to create certainty. Parapsychology/psychical research has much to gain in better knowing Kardec's and other pioneer's works, not just for a better understanding of the field's history, but also for potential scientific/philosophical tools that may be useful to move the field forward. Deeper studies on aspects of Kardec's work and life are warranted.
Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228394013_Allan_Kardec_and_the_development_of_a_research_program_in_psychic_experiences
About the Author:
Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF) School of Medicine, Founder and Director of the Research Center in Spirituality and Health - NUPES-UFJF, Brazil. Chair of the Section on Spirituality of the World Psychiatric Association. Trained in psychiatry, CBT and has a PhD in Health Sciences from the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. Formerly a postdoctoral fellow in religion and health at Duke University (USA). Coordinator of TV NUPES (youtube.com/nupesufjf)Source: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alexander_Moreira-Almeida
Full-length Paper and List of References:
View here
View here
Thank you for reading!
Blessings to all, today and always
Heather
