EHE Book Reviews

Skeptical/Critical Approaches Record Type: Review ID: 1145
A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology Kurtz, Paul (Ed.).
This is an anthology of 30 contributions that primarily represent the views of skeptics toward the major facets of parapsychology and psi phenomena. Nineteen chapters are published here for the first time and 11 are reprinted from earlier sources. The general aim of the book is to present evaluations of "the entire history of the field of parapsychology . . . and to examine the results" (p. xi) by competent skeptics. The evidence in each case and its reliability are stressed. Five chapters present historical overviews, ten present the argument from fraud, and four deal with the question of whether parapsychology is a science or a pseudoscience. Four are critical of some methodological and theoretical issues. Three are critiques of specific aspects of psi research. One section (four chapters) is by persons associated with parapsychology. Two of these (by John Beloff and Douglas M. Stokes) present the parapsychologists' point of view. The other two (by Blackmore and Hovelmann) are written from skeptical viewpoints.
Publisher Information:	Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1985. 727p. Chapter references; Index: 703-727; 4 tables

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A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology