An Eternal Mind

In this chapter, I examine developing ideas of the mind in the late nineteenth century, focusing on the investigations of physicist Oliver Lodge. Lodge hypothesized that the mind might exist beyond the constraints of the physical brain. This resulted in a range of experiments in the field of telepathy. At the same time, the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) was formed by scholars in Cambridge, dedicated to examining the credibility of such phenomena. I consider the tensions between spiritualists and the SPR, and the increasing divide between the investigation of occult forces and ‘legitimate’ scientific practice.