2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
A Study of Frederick William Henry Myers: The Connection with Kumagusu Minakata
Project/Area Number |
26770015
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Research Field |
Philosophy/Ethics
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Research Institution | Ryukoku University (2015) Waseda University (2014) |
Principal Investigator |
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Project Period (FY) |
2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
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Keywords | 南方熊楠 / マイヤーズ / SPR / 那智山 / 心身論 |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
In this research, I studied Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death Vol. 1 & 2 and its author Frederick William Henry Myers (1843-1901). Kumagusu Minakata (1867-1941), an influential Japanese folklorist and naturalist, was strongly influenced by this book. The main contents and results of the research are as follows. First, I investigated the member lists of the Society for Psychical Research at the Cambridge University Library. Thereby, I was able to discover the first Japanese member of the Society, and identify the house where Myers resided. This house was the important place where Myers conducted a lot of psychical experiments. Next, I read carefully the aforementioned book and identified some sections which Minakata referred to or quoted in his diaries or articles and translated them into Japanese. Thereby, I revealed that most of Minakata’s psychological statements about his dreams and supernormal phenomena were influenced by this book.
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Free Research Field |
哲学・倫理学
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