Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death

by F.W.H. Myers

This work, first published in the 19th century, was the culmination of more than 20 years of research into the survival of consciousness after death. Declaring the soul able to survive the death of the body was extremely daring at a time when the scientific community's leaning toward materialism made it risky to even express the belief that man possesses a soul. The author's fascination with spiritualism and mediumship led him to examine mediumistic communications in particular and psychic functioning in general.

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Nonfiction, Science, Spirituality, Paranormal, Death

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

About the author

Frederic William Henry Myers was a poet, classicist, philologist, and a founder of the Society for Psychical Research. Myers' work on psychical research and his ideas about a "subliminal self" were influential in his time, but have not been accepted by the scientific community.

Myers was the son of Revd Frederic Myers (1811–1851) and his second wife Susan Harriet Myers nee Marshall. He was a brother of poet Ernest Myers (1844–1921) and of Dr. Arthur Thomas Myers (1851–1894). His maternal grandfather was the wealthy industrialist John Marshall (1765–1845).

Myers was educated at Cheltenham College and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he received a B.A. in 1864, and university prizes, including the Bell, Craven, Camden and Chancellor's Medal, though he was forced to resign the Camden medal for 1863 after accusations of plagiarism. He was a Fellow of Trinity College from 1865 to 1874 and college lecturer in classics from 1865 to 1869. In 1872 be became an Inspector of schools.

In 1867, Myers published a long poem, St Paul, which became popular. The poem included the words of the hymn Hark what a sound, and too divine for hearing. This was followed in 1882 by The Renewal of Youth and Other Poems. He also wrote books of literary criticism, in particular Wordsworth (1881) and Essays, Classical and Modern (in two volumes, 1883).

Reviews

[Hussam Elkhatib · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spiritual and Personal

A very personal book that anyone can relate to in one way or another. Gets the reader in touch with his/her own mortality. The depth of the author’s thoughts has connected science with religion, which reflected his deep faith. The book could be a matter of controversy, yet the editor has clarified that from the start. A great read without a doubt. Highly recommended for sure!

[Gord Higginson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic "scientific" study of life after death by Myers, a classicist who was one of the founding members of the British Society for Psychical Research in the late Victorian era. Fascinating book.

[Vicky Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Out of the Attic

Useful for historical survey of thought trends at the dawn of the 20th Century, being almost a hundred years old now. If you are into Edgar Allan Poe, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie books, or anything written in 19th and early 20th Century, this book can help you get a feel for common 'Scientific thought' in that time period, as well as a lot of the paranormal beliefs, unscientific even in that day.

If you have a bit of background in modern neurology, you should be able to parse out the ideas that were considered Science, from the ideas that were considered paranormal, and the ideas that still pass the litmus test today. It includes a glossary at the beginning. I found it useful to look through those first, comparing them with Wikipedia. Also, the last half of chapter three was intriguing. The rest may or may not be entertaining. Either way, it should be enlightening on perspectives that you may not be able to understand in classic lit today.

[Sourav Ghosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In depth and convincing. A very good guide to this arena of soul survival. Interesting and encouraging enough that Rabindranath Tagore was himself impressed by this book.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether all this stuff is true or not -- and I think a lot of it probably is -- an immensely fascinating book.