A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology

Front Cover
Paul Kurtz
Prometheus Books, 1985 - Body, Mind & Spirit - 727 pages
A plethora of books has been published by and for those who support belief in psychic phenomena. A scientific approach is all too rarely considered. Can psychic phenomena and other "inexplicable happenings" be tested by methods of scientific verification? "A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology" is the first comprehensive collection of essays by many of the world's leading skeptics and parapsychologists. It combines a detailed history of parapsychology and psychic research with a broad view of the current status of the field. The contributors are predominantly skeptical of psychic claims, but some parapsychologists have been included to defend the parapsychological point of view. -- From publisher's description.

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Contents

A Critical Historical Overview of Parapsychology
3
The Search for a Demonstration of
97
Fifty Years Afterward
129
Copyright

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About the author (1985)

Paul Kurtz was born on December 21, 1925. He received a bachelor's degree from New York University and a master's degree and doctor of Philosophy degree from Columbia University. During World War II, he served in the United States Army and helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp in 1945. He was a philosopher who focused on fighting prejudice against people who reject belief in a god and promoting a non-religious stance in life. He wrote or edited more than 50 books on ethics without religion, critiques of religion and the paranormal, and on skepticism, or the challenging of received wisdom. His works include The Transcendental Temptation, Forbidden Fruit: The Ethics of Secularism, The Courage to Become, Multi-Secularism: A New Agenda, and What is Secular Humanism? He founded the journal Free Inquiry and the secular humanist Center for Inquiry. He also taught at numerous universities including the State University of New York at Buffalo and Vassar. He died on October 20, 2012 at the age of 86.