![]() Further, having completed their investigations into the claims of d'Eslon – that is, they did not examine Franz Mesmer, Mesmer's theories, Mesmer's principles, Mesmer's practices, Mesmer's techniques, Mesmer's apparatus, Mesmer's claims, Mesmer's "cures" or, even, "mesmerism" itself – they were each required to make "a separate and distinct report". īoth sets of Commissioners were specifically charged with investigating the claims made by Charles d’Eslon for the existence of a substantial (rather than metaphorical) " animal magnetism", "le magnétisme animal", and of a similarly (non-metaphorical) physical " magnetic fluid", "le fluide magnétique". It should be rescued from obscurity, translated into all languages, and reprinted by organizations dedicated to the unmasking of quackery and the defense of rational thought." – Stephen Jay Gould (1989). ![]() is a key document in the history of human reason. Never in history has such an extraordinary and luminous group been gathered together in the service of rational inquiry by the methods of experimental science. is a masterpiece of its genre, and enduring testimony to the power and beauty of reason. "The report of the Royal Commission of 1784. The "Franklin Commission's" investigations are notable as a very early " classic" example of a systematic controlled trial, which not only applied "sham" and "genuine" procedures to patients with "sham" and "genuine" disorders, but, significantly, was the first to use the " blindfolding" of both the investigators and their subjects. ![]() The "Franklin" Report was presented to the King on 11 August 1784 – and was immediately published and very widely circulated throughout France and neighbouring countries – and the "Society" Report was presented to the King five days later on 16 August 1784. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.The Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism involved two entirely separate and independent French Royal Commissions, each appointed by Louis XVI in 1784, that were conducted simultaneously by a committee composed of four physicians from the Paris Faculty of Medicine ( Faculté de médecine de Paris) and five scientists from the Royal Academy of Sciences ( Académie des sciences) (i.e., the "Franklin Commission", named for Benjamin Franklin), and a second committee composed of five physicians from the Royal Society of Medicine ( Société Royale de Médecine) (i.e., the "Society Commission").Įach Commission took five months to complete its investigations. Psychoanalysis and clinical psychology: Mesmerism and hypnosis. From Séance to Science: A History of the Profession of Psychology in America (pp.21-24). The beginnings of psychological practice: Psychology’s other occult doubles. It was an ambitious attempt to combine religion with psychotherapy, and it spawned ideologies such as mind cure philosophy, the New Thought movement, Christian Science and American spiritualism.”īenjamin, L.T., & Baker, D.B. “In certain ways, mesmerism was the first secular psychotherapy in America, a way of ministering psychologically to the great America unchurched. Psychologist Philip Cushman writes (as cited in Benjamin & Baker, 2004): ![]() It actually paved the way for hypnosis and something even bigger. Mesmerism wasn’t just a blip in psychology’s history. “Toward the end of the 19th century they began to promote lectures and courses in ‘personal magnetism’ that promised a pleasing personality the cultivation of success how to succeed in love, courtship and marriage how to prevent disease how to build character and how to become a great power in the world.” They also said that patients’ improvements came not from Mesmer’s magnetism but from their desire to get better.Īfter the findings, Mesmer left Paris but continued practicing until his death in 1815. (Benjamin Franklin served as president, and curiously, Joseph Guillotin was a member.) They not only denounced Mesmer’s therapy as ineffective, they condemned the idea of magnetic forces. So the king appointed a commission to look into Mesmer and his treatment. As Mesmer prompted his patients into a trance, many would swoon and make noise, which of course influenced others in the group.Īgain, another medical community became skeptical and viewed Mesmer as nothing more than a quack promoting fraudulent treatments. It was all very ceremonious and dramatic. During these group sessions, which were held at his fancy clinic in an expensive Parisian neighborhood, patients would hold hands, as Mesmer passed by them, usually wearing a flowing robe. There, Mesmer became a hit, so much so that he started doing group sessions to fit everyone in. So Mesmer left for greener pastures: Paris.
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