Allan Kardec’s spiritist research programme and its interface with the public

Abstract

This paper analyses the framework created by Allan Kardec for the dissemination of his work in the field that he called “Spiritism”, or “spiritist science”. Although not belonging to the scientific-academic world properly, he endeavoured to emulate, within his research programme, the two typical institutional structures of science and academic areas in general. Thus, he founded a research society, the Societé Parisienne des Études Spirites, and a specialised journal, the Revue Spirite.  The former became the locus of his research activities. It was in its weekly meetings that the main facts forming the empirical basis of the spiritist theory were reported and examined. The results of these analyses were, in many cases, published in the Revue. In the event, the Revue became a vitally important two-way communication channel between Kardec and a wide audience of subscribers, in France and in many other countries. Given, however, the fact that Spiritism was not, nor was intended to be, a scientific discipline in the official academic establishment, several distinctions exist between these two spiritist institutions and their analogous ones in the academy. These differences are here pointed out, explained and justified as peculiar aspects of Kardec’s research programme.