Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and Observations
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Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Researchers interested in the history of psychology and historical texts of parapsychology
- Readers in the history of science concerned with observational methods and discussions of evidence
- Writers who need primary materials on late-nineteenth-century research into anomalous experience
- Enthusiasts with English reading ability who are willing to read historical documents critically
Not a good fit for
- General readers seeking empirical conclusions from modern psychology
- Readers prone to treating historical cases as reliable scientific evidence
- Those seeking definitive explanations or practical guides for paranormal phenomena
Reading tips
- Begin with the introduction or the methods section to understand how the author defines phenomena, collects testimony, and judges reliability.
- While reading, distinguish "observational records" from "the author's interpretations," and note the source of evidence and points of doubt for each case.
- Read alongside works on the history of science or psychology to understand the field's academic position at the time and subsequent controversies.
- After finishing, write a methodological reflection outlining the differences between the book's evidence-gathering methods and modern research standards.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
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FAQ
Is there a scientific consensus today on the content discussed in this book?
Can someone without a psychology background understand this book?
Can the cases in this book be used as research evidence?
Comments
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About the author
Joseph Maxwell (Maxwell, J. (Joseph), 1858–1938) was a French physician and parapsychology researcher. He devoted sustained attention to cases regarded as "psychical" or "paranormal" phenomena and sought to organize them through methods of observation and record-keeping. His representative work, Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and Observations, reflects this approach: the subtitle's emphasis on "methods and observations" shows that the author prioritized research procedures and case accounts over abstract theoretical speculation. At present, only one of his works is held in the collection, and public information about his education, professional career, and social connections is limited, making it difficult to add further biographical detail. Judging from the surviving work, his writing is marked by a physician's calmness and orderliness, focusing on descriptions of phenomena and the organization of evidence, and offering a reference point for later understanding of the methods and discourse of early parapsychology.
