American Mesmerism: Science, Society, and the "Manipulation of Mental States" in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

美国催眠术：19世纪中叶的科学、社会和“精神状态的操纵”

• 批准号: 0750578
• 负责人: David Schmit
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: St. Catherine University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-01 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0750578&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: American; Mesmerism; Science; Society; Manipulation

American mesmerism affords an opportunity to study science and society during a seminal period in the building of the nation. Bursting into American consciousness in the mid-nineteenth century, mesmerism simultaneously penetrated religious, scientific, medical and burgeoning popular cultural spheres of activity. The controversial practice, with its electro-magnetic nerve forces and inexplicable trances, incited feelings of awe, consternation, and creativity in people who came in contact with it. What on earth was this inexplicable mesmeric trance? A new scientific discovery? A religious revelation? A remarkable cure-all? A hoax? Most Americans encountered mesmerism in public lectures where they experienced a beguiling fusion of scientific investigation of the mind, community theater, and public medical clinic. On those lecture stages enduring tensions activating American life played out: sacred and secular, belief and skepticism, and imagination and rationalism. Studying mesmerism opens a portal to conflicts that shaped and continue to shape American culture.A prime objective of this Science & Society Professional Development Fellowship (PDF) is to examine the discourse mesmerism provoked to understand how this demonstration of "public science" was used to construct knowledge. A second objective is to examine how mesmerism contributed to nineteenth-century psychology. The core of mesmeric practice (inducing a person into trance altered thinking, feeling, and bodily functions) is the seminal "experimental" event from whence discoveries and applications emanated. Dynamic mind-body phenomena that could be manipulated for scientific inquiry, potent "mind-powers" for self-enhancement and healing, and intense feelings of "sympathy" that passed between the mesmerist and the entranced were incorporated into an intriguing view of human nature that "seeded" several nineteenth-century therapies (such as hypnosis) and three religious sects. How mesmerism impacted the development of American psychology is not well understood.PDF funding will support research and training for the PI during a 2008-9 academic sabbatical. Project methodology is historical research, critical analysis of period texts, papers, and periodicals, and historiographies in the history of science. The training component will take place at the University of Minnesota's History of Science, Technology and Medicine (HSTM) program. Coursework will address research methods and historiography in the history of science. Consultations with faculty (especially faculty sponsor Sally Gregory Kohlstedt) will guide the PI's research. Products of this PDF are three presentations at history of science/history of social science conferences and three chapters toward a book on American mesmerism (to be completed by 2010). Knowledge and skills acquired by the PI will be used to improve instruction in the history of psychology and the history of science for students at the College of St. Catherine. Proposed research will advance understanding of a view of human nature held by previous generations of Americans that broadly impacted the nineteenth century. It will elucidate mesmerism's public expression, explore its role in the construction of scientific knowledge in its era, and advance understanding of the psychological mind-body practices and theories of social dynamics that were derived from it. With this training and sabbatical support, the PI will be able to research and write the history of American mesmerism in a much more accurate, historiographically sophisticated way and contribute substantially to the history of psychology. Scholarship, dissemination, and teaching in the history of psychology and history of science will remain a central goal for the PI long after the conclusion of the fellowship.

美国催眠术提供了一个机会，在一个开创性的时期，在国家建设的科学和社会研究。催眠术在世纪中期突然进入美国人的意识，同时渗透到宗教、科学、医学和新兴的流行文化活动领域。这种备受争议的做法，其电磁神经力量和令人费解的恍惚状态，激起了人们的敬畏，惊愕和创造力的感觉，在接触它的人。究竟是什么令人费解的催眠恍惚？新的科学发现？宗教启示？神奇的万灵药？恶作剧？大多数美国人在公共讲座中遇到催眠术，他们经历了对心灵的科学研究，社区剧院和公共医疗诊所的迷人融合。在这些演讲舞台上，持久的紧张关系激活了美国生活：神圣和世俗，信仰和怀疑，想象力和理性主义。研究催眠术打开了一个门户，塑造并继续塑造美国文化的冲突。这个科学社会专业发展奖学金（PDF）的主要目标是研究话语催眠术挑起理解如何这种示范的“公共科学”被用来构建知识。第二个目标是研究催眠术对19世纪心理学的贡献。催眠练习的核心（诱导一个人进入恍惚状态，改变思维、感觉和身体功能）是一个开创性的“实验”事件，从那里产生了发现和应用。动态的身心现象可以被操纵用于科学探究，强大的“心灵力量”用于自我增强和治疗，以及催眠者和被催眠者之间传递的强烈的“同情”感觉被纳入了一种有趣的人性观，“播种”了19世纪的几种疗法（如催眠）和三个宗教派别。催眠术如何影响美国心理学的发展还没有很好的理解。PDF基金将在2008-9年学术休假期间支持PI的研究和培训。项目方法论是历史研究，对时期文本，论文和期刊的批判性分析，以及科学史上的史学。培训部分将在明尼苏达大学的科学，技术和医学史（HSTM）计划中进行。课程将涉及科学史的研究方法和史学。与教师（特别是教师赞助商萨莉格雷戈里科尔施泰特）的磋商将指导PI的研究。这个PDF的产品是在科学史/社会科学史会议上的三个演讲，以及一本关于美国催眠术的书的三个章节（将于2010年完成）。PI获得的知识和技能将用于改善圣凯瑟琳学院学生的心理学史和科学史教学。拟议中的研究将促进对前几代美国人所持有的人性观的理解，这种人性观广泛影响了世纪。它将阐明催眠术的公共表达，探索其在其时代的科学知识建设中的作用，并促进对心理身心实践和社会动力学理论的理解。通过这种培训和休假支持，PI将能够更准确地研究和撰写美国催眠术的历史，历史上复杂的方式，并大大有助于心理学史。学术，传播和心理学史和科学史的教学将仍然是PI的中心目标后，奖学金的结论很久。