Théodore Flournoy (15 August 1854 – 5 November 1920) was a Swiss professor of psychology at the
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...
and author of books on
parapsychology
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near- ...
and
spiritism
Spiritism (French: ''spiritisme''; Portuguese: ''espiritismo'') is a spiritualist, religious, and philosophical doctrine established in France in the 1850s by the French teacher, educational writer, and translator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Ri ...
. He studied a wide variety of subjects before he devoted his life to psychology. Flournoy had an interest in a very skeptical area of psychology. He did extensive observations on a participant to investigate psychical phenomena. He was the President of the Sixth International Congress of Psychology, the Chair of Experimental Psychology at the University of Geneva in 1891 and was the first professor of psychology in Europe to become a member of the Faculty of Sciences instead of the Faculty of Philosophy.
Early life
Theodore Flournoy was born on August 15, 1854 in Geneva Switzerland. He was born into a well-off family. His father Alexander Flournoy was a stockbroker and his mother Caroline came from a long line of ministers, judges, and teachers.
He attended the University of Strasbourg Medical School as well as the
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...
. He received bachelors degrees in mathematics, natural sciences, literature, and engineering.
Flournoy also had interests in philosophy, theology, and medicine.
Flournoy could have been a doctor, but never went into practice. He did a short stint in Germany where he was interested in studying philosophy. He had a particular interest in
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aes ...
. While in Germany, he attended classes taught by
Wilhelm Wundt
Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and ...
.
In his travels, he became acquaintances with
William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.
James is considered to be a leading thinker of the la ...
and
Alfred Binet
Alfred Binet (; 8 July 1857 – 18 October 1911), born Alfredo Binetti, was a French psychologist who invented the first practical IQ test, the Binet–Simon test. In 1904, the French Ministry of Education asked psychologist Alfred Binet to ...
who both also had significant contributions to psychology in their lifetimes. After returning from his time away, he met and married Marie Burnier. It wasn't until later in his life that he decided to devote himself to the study of psychology.
Medium studies
His book ''Spiritism and Psychology'' (1911) translated by
Hereward Carrington claimed more broadly that
mediumship
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 ...
could be explained by
suggestion and
telepathy
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
from the medium's subconscious mind and that there was no evidence for the spirit hypothesis.
Research
Flournoy is most known for his research on psychical phenomena. This was the study of mediumship, apparitions, clairvoyance, healings, poltergeists, premonitions, and thought transference. Flournoy knew when he began his research that he was going to receive criticism from other psychologists, as the research he was conducting seemed bizarre at the time. However, as he began his research it seemed that interest in the subject began to expand in other countries. Flournoys study was based on research he conducted on a 30-year-old woman whom he called Helene Smith.
Smith was a woman with a regular job and had sound health and mind.
She was well known in the community for her spiritual practices. She had practiced her abilities for three years before Flournoy began his research.
All who knew her would say that she was an honest woman. This is important to know because of the nature of her claims. She was a medium who relayed supernatural information through a tranced state. Once Flournoy got into contact with her, he copied down everything the woman said while in a tranced state for the next five years. From what he observed came his most popular book, ''From India to Planet Mars''. The book was published in 1900.
Accomplishments
He was the President of the Sixth International Congress of Psychology, the Chair of Experimental Psychology at the University of Geneva in 1891 and was the first professor of psychology in Europe to become a member of the Faculty of Sciences instead of the Faculty of Philosophy. Flournoy received the Chair of Experimental Psychology after starting and implementing a course in physiological psychology.
After his implementation of this course he was given his very first laboratory at the university. However, several years later it caught fire. Flournoy was said to have written a letter to William James stating that he was not upset about the fire because he was getting tired of doing experimental research anyway.
In the end, the laboratory was rebuilt, and Flournoy remained there for a few more years before starting another chapter in his life.
Influence
Flournoy was a contemporary of
Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
, and his work influenced
C. G. Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, phi ...
's study of another medium - his cousin Hélène Preiswerk - which was turned into Jung's doctoral dissertation in 1902. Jung also used Flournoy's publication of the
autosuggestive writings of
Miss Frank Miller as the starting-point for his own book ''Psychology of the Unconscious''. Jung was also influenced by Flournoy's concept of a prospective element in the unconscious, laid out most clearly in his 1908 paper on 'Anti-Suicidal Teleological Automatisms', where he argued that last minute visions in (failed) suicides confirming the value of living served the (unconscious) purpose of preserving life.
Flournoy was also one of the few scholars of his time to embrace
William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.
James is considered to be a leading thinker of the la ...
' view of the prime reality of non-dual consciousness (which James dubbed "
sciousness") as expressed in his essay, ''Radical Empiricism''. He published an introductory work, ''The Philosophy of William James'', in 1911.
[Frank McLynn, ''Carl Gustav Jung'' (1996) p. 146 and p. 565]
Works
* ''From India to Planet Mars'', Théodore Flournoy, 1900.
See also
References
Further reading
*J. S. Witzig, 'Theodore Flournoy', ''Journal of Analytical Psychology'' 27 (1982) 131-48
*R. E. Goldsmith, ''The Life and Work of Theodore Flournoy'' (1970)
External links
Theodore Flournoy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flournoy, Theodore
1854 births
1920 deaths
Parapsychologists
Swiss psychologists
University of Geneva alumni