Edmund Gurney
Encyclopedia
Edmund Gurney was an English
psychologist
and psychic researcher.
, near Walton-on-Thames
. He was educated at Blackheath
and at Trinity College, Cambridge
, where he took a high place in the classical tripos and obtained a fellowship. His work for the tripos was done, said his friend F. W. H. Myers
, in the intervals of his practice on the piano. Dissatisfied with his own executive skill as a musician, he wrote The Power of Sound (1880), an essay on the philosophy of music.
He then studied medicine with no intention of practising, devoting himself to physics, chemistry and physiology. In 1880 he passed the second M.B. Cambridge examination. in the science of the healing profession. In relation to Psychical Research
, he asked whether there is an unexplored region of human faculty transcending the normal limitations of sensible knowledge. Gurney's purpose was to approach the subject by observation and experiment, especially in the hypnotism field. He wanted to investigate the persistence of the conscious human personality after the death of the body.
s of professed spiritualistic mediums (1874–1878). Little but detection of imposture came of this. In 1882 the Society for Psychical Research
was founded. Paid mediums were discarded, at least for the time, and experiments were made in thought-transference
and hypnotism. Personal evidence as to uninduced hallucination
s was also collected.
The first results are embodied in the volumes of Phantasms of the Living, a vast collection (Frank Podmore
, Myers and Gurney), and in Gurney's essay, Hallucinations. Evidence for the process called telepathy was supposed to be established by the experiments chronicled in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, and it was argued that similar experiences occurred spontaneously, as, for example, in the many recorded instances of deathbed wraiths. The dying man was supposed to convey the hallucination of his presence as one living person experimentally conveys his thought to another, by thought-transference.
Gurney's hypnotic experiments were undertaken in the years 1885 to 1888. Their tendency was, in Myers's view, to prove that there is sometimes, in the induction of hypnotic phenomena, some agency at work which is neither ordinary nervous stimulation nor suggestion conveyed by any ordinary channel to the subject's mind. These results, if accepted, would corroborate the idea of telepathy
. Experiments by Joseph Gibert, Paul Janet
, Charles Richet, Méricourt and others were cited as tending in the same direction.
Other experiments dealt with the relation of the memory in the hypnotic state to the memory in another hypnotic state, and of both to the normal memory. Gurney's research into psychic matters was respected by contemporaries. However, it has since then been argued to be deeply flawed, in the study of his death "by misadventure", The Strange Case of Edmund Gurney, by Trevor Hall. Hall, a student of the work by the Society for Psychical Research, discovered that Gurney trusted in the assistance of one George Albert Smith
, a theatrical producer. Smith was the one handling the actual experiments into telepathy, hypnotism, and the rest, and Gurney fully accepted his results. According to Hall, in the spring of 1888 Gurney discovered that Smith had used his knowledge of theatrical trickery and stage illusion to fake tests and results; so that the value of the tests (with which Gurney was building up his reputation) were worthless.
See also the Palm Sunday Case
on 23 June 1888, from the effects of an overdose of narcotic
medicine, thought to be chloroform
. Trevor Hall has argued that Gurney's death was suicide: Gordon Epperson argues against this hypothesis.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
and psychic researcher.
Early life
He was born at HershamHersham
Hersham is a village in Surrey, within the M25 boundary. It is within easy reach of Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The main A3 London to Portsmouth road runs through its boundaries...
, near Walton-on-Thames
Walton-on-Thames
Walton-on-Thames is a town in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey in South East England. The town is located south west of Charing Cross and is between the towns of Weybridge and Molesey. It is situated on the River Thames between Sunbury Lock and Shepperton Lock.- History :The name "Walton" is...
. He was educated at Blackheath
Blackheath, London
Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...
and at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, where he took a high place in the classical tripos and obtained a fellowship. His work for the tripos was done, said his friend F. W. H. Myers
Frederic William Henry Myers
Frederic William Henry Myers was a classical scholar, poet, philosopher, and past president of the Society for Psychical Research.-Early life:...
, in the intervals of his practice on the piano. Dissatisfied with his own executive skill as a musician, he wrote The Power of Sound (1880), an essay on the philosophy of music.
He then studied medicine with no intention of practising, devoting himself to physics, chemistry and physiology. In 1880 he passed the second M.B. Cambridge examination. in the science of the healing profession. In relation to Psychical Research
Parapsychology
The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
, he asked whether there is an unexplored region of human faculty transcending the normal limitations of sensible knowledge. Gurney's purpose was to approach the subject by observation and experiment, especially in the hypnotism field. He wanted to investigate the persistence of the conscious human personality after the death of the body.
Experimental work
Gurney began at what he later saw was the wrong end by studying, with Myers, the séanceSéance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
s of professed spiritualistic mediums (1874–1878). Little but detection of imposture came of this. In 1882 the Society for Psychical Research
Society for Psychical Research
The Society for Psychical Research is a non-profit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand "events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal by promoting and supporting important research in this area" and to "examine allegedly paranormal phenomena...
was founded. Paid mediums were discarded, at least for the time, and experiments were made in thought-transference
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
and hypnotism. Personal evidence as to uninduced hallucination
Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
s was also collected.
The first results are embodied in the volumes of Phantasms of the Living, a vast collection (Frank Podmore
Frank Podmore
Frank Podmore was an English author, founding member of the Fabian Society, and writer on psychic matters.-Life:...
, Myers and Gurney), and in Gurney's essay, Hallucinations. Evidence for the process called telepathy was supposed to be established by the experiments chronicled in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, and it was argued that similar experiences occurred spontaneously, as, for example, in the many recorded instances of deathbed wraiths. The dying man was supposed to convey the hallucination of his presence as one living person experimentally conveys his thought to another, by thought-transference.
Gurney's hypnotic experiments were undertaken in the years 1885 to 1888. Their tendency was, in Myers's view, to prove that there is sometimes, in the induction of hypnotic phenomena, some agency at work which is neither ordinary nervous stimulation nor suggestion conveyed by any ordinary channel to the subject's mind. These results, if accepted, would corroborate the idea of telepathy
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
. Experiments by Joseph Gibert, Paul Janet
Paul Janet
Paul Janet was a French philosopher and writer.-Biography:Born in Paris, he became professor of moral philosophy at Bourges and Strasbourg , and of logic at the lycée Louis-le-Grand, Paris...
, Charles Richet, Méricourt and others were cited as tending in the same direction.
Other experiments dealt with the relation of the memory in the hypnotic state to the memory in another hypnotic state, and of both to the normal memory. Gurney's research into psychic matters was respected by contemporaries. However, it has since then been argued to be deeply flawed, in the study of his death "by misadventure", The Strange Case of Edmund Gurney, by Trevor Hall. Hall, a student of the work by the Society for Psychical Research, discovered that Gurney trusted in the assistance of one George Albert Smith
George Albert Smith (inventor)
George Albert Smith was a stage hypnotist, psychic, magic lantern lecturer, astronomer, inventor, and one of the pioneers of British cinema, who is best known for his controversial work with Edmund Gurney at the Society for Psychical Research, his short-films from 1897-1903 which pioneered film...
, a theatrical producer. Smith was the one handling the actual experiments into telepathy, hypnotism, and the rest, and Gurney fully accepted his results. According to Hall, in the spring of 1888 Gurney discovered that Smith had used his knowledge of theatrical trickery and stage illusion to fake tests and results; so that the value of the tests (with which Gurney was building up his reputation) were worthless.
See also the Palm Sunday Case
Palm Sunday Case
The Palm Sunday Case was a series of events involving cross correspondence and numerous psychic mediums, over a long period and involving members of the American Society for Psychical Research...
Death
He died at BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
on 23 June 1888, from the effects of an overdose of narcotic
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
medicine, thought to be chloroform
Chloroform
Chloroform is an organic compound with formula CHCl3. It is one of the four chloromethanes. The colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid is a trihalomethane, and is considered somewhat hazardous...
. Trevor Hall has argued that Gurney's death was suicide: Gordon Epperson argues against this hypothesis.