Stephen E. Braude (born April 17, 1945) is an American
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and
parapsychologist. He is a past president of the
Parapsychological Association
The Parapsychological Association (PA) was formed in 1957 as a professional society for parapsychologists following an initiative by Joseph B. Rhine. Its purpose has been "to advance parapsychology as a science, to disseminate knowledge of the fie ...
, Editor-in-Chief of the ''
Journal of Scientific Exploration
The Society for Scientific Exploration, or SSE, is a group committed to studying fringe science. The opinions of the organization in regard to what are the proper limits of scientific exploration are often at odds with those of mainstream science. ...
'', and a professor of philosophy at the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...
.
Career
Braude received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
in 1971.
After working as a lecturer in the philosophy department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he found a permanent home at the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...
, working successively as an assistant, associate, and full professor. He served as the Chair of the Philosophy department between 1998 and 2005. He has received numerous fellowships, awards, and grants including the
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
Research Fellowship, numerous grants from the
Parapsychology Foundation
The Parapsychology Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 1951 by the medium Eileen J. Garrett and Frances Payne Bolton, Ohio's first female representative in Congress. The foundation is based in New York. They offer grants and scholar ...
, and the Distinguished Achievement Award of the
International Society for the Study of Dissociation
The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) is a nonprofit professional organization of health professionals and individuals who are interested in advancing the scientific and societal understandings of trauma-base ...
. He has also received several Faculty Research Grants from UMBC.
Parapsychology
Braude is a past president of the
Parapsychological Association
The Parapsychological Association (PA) was formed in 1957 as a professional society for parapsychologists following an initiative by Joseph B. Rhine. Its purpose has been "to advance parapsychology as a science, to disseminate knowledge of the fie ...
, and the Editor-in-Chief for the ''
Journal of Scientific Exploration
The Society for Scientific Exploration, or SSE, is a group committed to studying fringe science. The opinions of the organization in regard to what are the proper limits of scientific exploration are often at odds with those of mainstream science. ...
''. Braude is a researcher in psychic phenomena; his work has therefore been called
pseudoscience
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or falsifiability, unfa ...
.
Philosophers
Ronald Giere and Patrick Grim have praised Braude's work in philosophy but have written his parapsychological claims about
psychokinesis
Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
being scientifically proven are based on assumption, not scientific evidence. The British philosopher
Antony Flew
Antony Garrard Newton Flew (; 11 February 1923 – 8 April 2010) was a British philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, Flew worked on the philosophy of religion. During the course of his career he taught at ...
criticized Braude's book ''The Limits of Influence: Psychokinesis and the Philosophy of Science'' for defending fraudulent
mediums
Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...
such as
Eusapia Palladino
Eusapia Palladino (alternative spelling: ''Paladino''; 21 January 1854 – 16 May 1918) was an Italian Spiritualist physical medium. She claimed extraordinary powers such as the ability to levitate tables, communicate with the dead through he ...
and ignoring skeptical literature on the subject.
Wendy Grossman in ''
New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...
'' wrote that Braude's book ''The Limits of Influence: Psychokinesis and the Philosophy of Science'' (1986) relied on anecdotal evidence and eyewitness testimony of séances with physical mediums, in particular,
Eusapia Palladino
Eusapia Palladino (alternative spelling: ''Paladino''; 21 January 1854 – 16 May 1918) was an Italian Spiritualist physical medium. She claimed extraordinary powers such as the ability to levitate tables, communicate with the dead through he ...
and
Daniel Dunglas Home
Daniel Dunglas Home (pronounced ''Hume''; 20 March 183321 June 1886) was a Scottish physical medium with the reported ability to levitate to a variety of heights, speak with the dead, and to produce rapping and knocks in houses at will. His bi ...
, to prove that psi exists. According to Grossman "
raudeaccuses sceptics of ignoring the evidence he believes is solid, but himself ignores evidence that does not suit him. If a medium was caught cheating on some occasions, he says, the rest of that medium's phenomena were still genuine." Grossman came to the conclusion that Braude did not do proper research on the subject and should study "the art of
conjuring
Conjuration or Conjuring may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Concepts
* Conjuration (summoning), the evocation of spirits or other supernatural entities
** Conjuration, a school of magic in ''Dungeons & Dragons''
* Conjuration (illusion), the performance of s ...
."
Braude has claimed the medium
Daniel Dunglas Home
Daniel Dunglas Home (pronounced ''Hume''; 20 March 183321 June 1886) was a Scottish physical medium with the reported ability to levitate to a variety of heights, speak with the dead, and to produce rapping and knocks in houses at will. His bi ...
was never caught in fraud, however the psychologist Andrew Neher has written he was detected in fraud by at least four people on different occasions. Braude has also claimed
Ted Serios
Theodore Judd Serios (November 27, 1918 – December 30, 2006) was a Chicago bellhop known for his production of "Thoughtography, thoughtographs" on Instant camera, Polaroid film.
He claimed these were produced using psychic powers. Serios's psy ...
had genuine psychic ability.
This is in opposition to magicians and scientists who exposed
sleight of hand
Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...
tricks he used. In an article in ''
New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...
'' titled "The Chance of a Lifetime" (March 24, 2007), an interview appears with the noted mathematician and magician
Persi Diaconis
Persi Warren Diaconis (; born January 31, 1945) is an American mathematician of Greek descent and former professional magician. He is the Mary V. Sunseri Professor of Statistics and Mathematics at Stanford University.
He is particularly known f ...
. During the interview Persi mentioned that
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of Lewis ...
had paid him to watch Ted Serios perform, during which Persi caught Serios sneaking a small marble with a photograph on it into the little tube attached to the front of the camera he used. "It was," Persi said, "a trick."
Braude's latest book in defense of the
paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
is ''The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations'' (2007). According to the British psychologist
Chris French
Christopher Charles French (born 1956) is a British psychologist specialising in the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences, cognition and emotion. He is the head of the University of London's anomalistic Psychology Research Unit and ...
the book consists of anecdotes that fail to prove the existence of psi. French gave the book a negative review and wrote "I would be surprised if any reader with the slightest tendency towards critical thinking would find the evidence for psi presented in this slim volume to be anywhere near compelling."
[ French, Chris. (2008)]
''The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations by Stephen E. Braude''
''The Psychologist
''The Psychologist'' is the monthly publication of the British Psychological Society. It provides a forum for communication, discussion and controversy among all members of the society and helps it promote the advancement and diffusion of a knowle ...
''. Volume 21. pp. 398–399.
Braude believes his wife, Gina, can produce
astrological
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...
predictions.
In 2014, he was awarded the Myers Memorial Medal by the
Society for Psychical Research
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...
for his "significant contributions to psychical research".
Notes
External links
Professor Braude's Webpage with a biography.Profilein ''The Chronicle of Higher Education''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braude, Stephen E.
1945 births
University of Maryland, Baltimore County faculty
20th-century American philosophers
Living people
Parapsychologists
American spiritualists
21st-century American philosophers