Hjortfors Lozanovic, Ivar (2025) Expelling Spirits from Psychical Research: The Investigations of a Haunted House by the Swedish Psychologist Poul Bjerre. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
This thesis studies the psychical research of Poul Bjerre (1876-1964), a Swedish psychologist who is famous for introducing the ideas of Freud in Sweden. Beyond his major works in which Bjerre developed his own system of psychology, he also showed a lifelong interest in the study of the “paranormal”. Until now this side of Bjerre has received limited treatment and the following paper provides an in depth analysis of his published studies in psychical research. Central in my analysis is the debate between animists and spiritualists which took place within the psychical research community. Where the spiritualists claimed that paranormal phenomena proved the existence of spirits, while the animists rejected this stance and tried to show how everything could be explained with the hidden powers of the human organism. As we will see, Bjerre took a clear stance on the animist side and his psychical research is permeated with the effort to disprove the existence of spirits. My close reading of Bjerre’s work will highlight the uncertainties behind his attempt to “prove” the animist position, and his efforts to cover these uncertainties in order to achieve his goal. The interest of the current work is then twofold. First it presents the psychical research of Bjerre. Secondly, it brings light to the conflict between animists and spiritualists, by showing us the strategies an animist employed to undermine the stance of his opponents. Key words: Poul Bjerre, Psychical research, Spiritualism, Animism, Spirits, Material phenomena
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Mulberger Rogele, A.C. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Theory and History of Psychology [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Sep 2025 07:02 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Sep 2025 07:02 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5913 |
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