Editing Frederic W. H. Myers (section)

===Human personality and its survival of bodily death===

Myers wrote a small collection of essays, ''Science and a Future Life'' which was published in 1893. In 1903, after Myers's death, ''Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death'' was compiled and published. This work comprises two large volumes at 1,360 pages in length and presents an overview of Myers's research into the [[unconscious mind]].<ref name=marshall27/><ref name=kelly/><ref name=mc/> Myers believed that a theory of consciousness must be part of a unified model of mind which derives from the full range of human experience, including not only normal psychological phenomena but also a wide variety of abnormal and "[[paranormal|supernormal]]" phenomena.<ref name=kelly>Kelly, Emily W; Alvarado, Carlos S. (2005). ''Images in Psychiatry: Frederic William Henry Myers, 1843–1901''. ''[[American Journal of Psychiatry]]'', 162: 34.</ref><ref name=mc>McDougall, William. (1903). [https://www.jstor.org/pss/2248257 ''Review: Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death''] ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]''. Vol. 12, No. 48. pp. 513–526.</ref> In the book, Myers believed he had provided evidence for the existence of the [[soul]] and survival of personality after death. The book cites cases of [[automatic writing]], [[hypnotism]], [[mediumship]], [[Spirit possession|possession]], [[psychokinesis]], and telepathy.<ref>McCorristine, Shane. (2010). ''Spectres of the Self: Thinking about Ghosts and Ghost-Seeing in England, 1750–1920''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 183–186. {{ISBN|978-0-521-76798-9}}</ref>

In ''Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death'', Myers speculated on the existence of a deep region of the [[subconscious mind]], which he termed the "subliminal self", which he believed could account for [[paranormal]] events. He also proposed the existence of a "metetherial world," a world of images lying beyond the physical world. He wrote that apparitions are not hallucinations but have a real existence in the metetherial world which he described as a dream-like world. Myers’ belief that apparitions occupied regions of physical space and had an objective existence was in opposition to the views of his co-authors Gurney and Podmore who wrote apparitions were telepathic hallucinations.<ref>Stokes, Douglas M. (2007). ''The Conscious Mind and the Material World''. McFarland. p. 100. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3004-8}}</ref>

It was well received by parapsychologists and [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualist]]s, being described as "the Bible of British psychical researchers".<ref>McCorristine, Shane. (2010). ''Spectres of the Self: Thinking about Ghosts and Ghost-Seeing in England, 1750–1920''. Cambridge University Press. p. 183. {{ISBN|978-0-521-76798-9}}</ref> Théodore Flournoy and William James both positively reviewed the book.<ref>Richardson, Robert D. (2007). ''William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism: A Biography''. p. 441.</ref> It was negatively reviewed by psychologist [[George Stout]] who described the concept of the subliminal self as "baseless, futile, and incoherent."<ref>Stout, G. F. (1903). ''Mr. F. W. H. Myers on Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death''. ''[[The Hibbert Journal]]'' 2: 45–56.</ref> [[Andrew Lang]] and [[Gerald Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour|Gerald Balfour]] were unconvinced about some of Myers ideas.<ref name="Oppenheim"/> [[William McDougall (psychologist)|William McDougall]] in a detailed review for ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]'' also criticised the book.<ref name=mc/> French psychologist [[Henri Delacroix]] commented that Myers "experimental metaphysics" was a failure.<ref>Delacroix, Henri. (1905). ''Myers: La théorie du subliminal''. ''[[Revue de métaphysique et de morale]]'' 13: 257–282.</ref> Psychologist G. T. W. Patrick criticised Myers concepts as a "metaphysical, not a psychological hypothesis."<ref>Patrick, G. T. W. (1898). ''Some Peculiarities of the Second Personality''. ''[[Psychological Review]]'' 5: 555–578.</ref>

Myers' book greatly impressed [[Aldous Huxley]]. In 1961, ''Human Personality'' was re-published as an abridged version with Huxley's foreword, in which he remarked "an amazingly rich, profound and stimulating book."<ref>Meckier, Jerome; Nugel, Bernfried. (2006). ''Aldous Huxley Annual: A Journal of Twentieth-Century Thought and Beyond''. Lit Verlag. p. 208. {{ISBN|3-8258-9292-1}}</ref>

Strong praise for the book and a revival of interest in Myers' ideas appeared in the 2007 ''[[Irreducible Mind]]'' by Emily Williams Kelly, [[Alan Gauld]] and [[Bruce Greyson]].<ref>Ash, Mitchell G; Gundlach, Horst; Sturm, Thomas. (2010). ''Reviewed Work: Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century. By Edward F. Kelly, Emily Williams Kelly, Adam Crabtree, Alan Gauld, Michael Grosso, Bruce Greyson''. ''[[American Journal of Psychology]]''. Vol. 123, No. 2. pp. 246–250.</ref>