Physiology of the haunted mind : naturalistic theories of apparitions in early nineteenth-century Scotland
Abstract
The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw a resurgence of interest in the supernatural in Scotland as elsewhere in the United Kingdom. A number of intellectual figures responded by proposing naturalistic explanations for supernatural phenomena, drawing on the legacy of Scottish Enlightenment philosophy. These included the geologist and antiquarian Samuel Hibbert and the phrenologist George Combe. This paper explores the interrelations between these theories, their roots in the troubled cultural politics of Scotland in the early nineteenth century, and the reaction of different protagonists in the cultural conflicts of the period to their ideas.
Citation
Jenkins , B 2020 , ' Physiology of the haunted mind : naturalistic theories of apparitions in early nineteenth-century Scotland ' , Journal of the History of Ideas , vol. 81 , no. 4 , pp. 577-597 . https://doi.org/10.1353/jhi.2020.0033
Publication
Journal of the History of Ideas
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0022-5037Type
Journal article
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