Book Review : A science for the soul: occultism and the genesis of the German Modern
Med Hist July 1, 2006 Alexander C T Geppert
Occultism in Germany around 1900 was not a fringe rejection of science but a serious intellectual movement that helped shape modern German culture. The book traces how figures from psychical researchers, artists, and writers engaged with occult ideas to explore questions of mind, matter, and spirituality. These pursuits influenced the development of psychology, the arts, and alternative religious movements. The author argues that occultism provided a 'science for the soul' that addressed anxieties about materialism and offered a bridge between scientific rationality and spiritual experience, contributing to the emergence of German modernism.