A Cultural History of the Soul

The soul, which dominated many intellectual debates at the beginning of the twentieth century, has virtually disappeared from the sciences and the humanities. Yet it is everywhere in popular culture-from holistic therapies and new spiritual practices to literature and film to ecological and political ideologies. Ignored by scholars, it is hiding in plain sight in a plethora of religious, psychological, environmental, and scientific movements.This book uncovers the history of the concept of the soul in twentieth-century Europe and North America. Beginning in fin de siècle Germany, Kocku von Stuckrad examines a fascination spanning philosophy, the sciences, the arts, and the study of religion, as well as occultism and spiritualism, against the backdrop of the emergence of experimental psychology. He then explores how and why the United States witnessed a flowering of ideas about the soul in popular culture and spirituality in the latter half of the century.Von Stuckrad examines an astonishingly wide range of figures and movements-ranging from Ernest Renan, Martin Buber, and Carl Gustav Jung to the Esalen Institute, deep ecology, and revivals of shamanism, animism, and paganism to Rachel Carson, Ursula K. Le Guin, and the Harry Potter franchise. Revealing how the soul remains central to a culture that is only seemingly secular, this book casts new light on the place of spirituality, religion, and metaphysics in Europe and North America today.

AcknowledgmentsPrologue: The Crisis of the Soul in the Twentieth CenturyPart I: The Soul in Its Cultural Setting Between 1870 and 19301. Nature Research, Psychology, and Occultism in the Nineteenth Century2. Fascination with the Soul in Religion, Art, Philosophy, and Science3. The Mobilization of the Soul in Political and Nationalistic Settings4. Carl Gustav Jung: Psychology as a Comprehensive Empirical Science of the Soul5. Occultism, the Natural Sciences, and Spirituality Before 1930Part II: From Europe to America and Back: The Soul Goes Mainstream6. Transpersonal Psychology: The Soul's Cosmic Potential7. The Renaissance of Naturphilosophie: Quantum Mysticism, Cosmic Con-sciousness, and the Planetary Soul8. The Soul as the Lodestar of New Spiritual Practices9. The Soul as a Central Motif in Literature and Film10. Ecological Movements, Scientific Aesthetics, and the Sacralization of the EarthEpilogue: A Cultural Studies Soul RetrievalNotesBibliographyIndex