Research source

If there be some external origin for our inward vision (which thereby becomes veridical) we must not any longer…

Date of account: Published 1903
Source: Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death
Reference: Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death · selected passage 234
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

If there be some external origin for our inward vision (which thereby becomes veridical) we must not any longer assume that all veridical inward vision starts or is exercised from the same point

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

If there be some external origin for our inward vision (which thereby becomes _veridical_) we must not any longer assume that all veridical inward vision starts or is exercised from the same point. If it gets hold of _facts_ (veridical impressions or pictures, not mere subjective fancies), we cannot be sure _a priori_ whether it somehow goes to find the facts, or the facts come to find it. Again, we cannot any longer take for granted that it will be cognisant only of phantasmal or immaterial percepts. If it can get at phantasmal percepts outside the organism, may it not get at _material_ percepts also? May it not see distant houses, as well as the images of distant souls?

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This comes from historical psychical research. Methods, witness handling and standards of evidence differ from present-day research and should be assessed from the cited passage and edition.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

The passage can support a history of claims and recurring descriptions. It does not establish a paranormal mechanism, and competing psychological, social and physical explanations remain relevant.

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