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Reincarnation: A Critical Examination by Paul Edwards published by Prometheus Books

Written in a lucid and witty style, Reincarnation: A Critical Examination is the first comprehensive and systematic evaluation of reincarnation and Karma in any language. Paul Edwards looks closely at the feeling some claim to have of "being here before". Paul Edwards shows how reincarnation (an idea believed by so many in the world) is incompatible with many well-established facts such as population increases, the recency of life in the universe, and the transformation of species. Several chapters are devoted to the alleged evidence for reincarnation -- child prodigies, deja vu experiences, and hypnotic regressions. He also probes the reincarnation memories of a number of children and some adults, especially in India and other countries where such belief is widespread. In addition to reincarnation and Karma, Reincarnation: A Critical Examination discusses in detail the claims of the leading figures in the immortality movement, which arose in the United States in the mid-1970s. The writers targeted for critical discussion are Elisabeth Kubler-Ross; Raymond Moody (author of Life After Life); and Dr. Stanislove Grof (who bases his belief on the experiences of patients during LSD sessions). Edwards, renowned for his Voltairean sense of fun, quotes Charles Darwin to open this tome: "To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact." Paul Edwards is the author of The Logic Of Moral Discourse, Heidegger And Death, and numerous articles in philosophical periodicals. He is the editor of The Encyclopedia Of Philosophy, Voltaire, and Immortality. He received the Nicholas Murray Butler Silver Medal for distinguished contributions to philosophy from Columbia University in 1979. He teaches at the New School for Social Research in New York City. "Serious, clear-minded, rational, critical examination. A must for the serious and open-minded students of reincarnation. I have not found a more detailed appraisal of the reincarnation field than in this one." --The New Humanity (UK) "He explains carefully what is fairly obvious to begin with that consciousness cannot be meaningfully separated from the operations of the brain, and that no modus operandi can be found for the translation of one 'identity' into another body. The sad thing is that so many people, in the belief that the universe is organized to suit and influence them, are willing to sacrifice even the slight cranial capacity with which evolution has equipped us." -- The Nation "A major, sceptical critique of the claims and evidence for reincarnation . . . recommended." --Magonia (UK) "His critical analyses of the Bridey Murphy case, of the remarkable visions of Dr. Kubler Ross, and of much of the 'evidence' offered for astral travel and telephone calls from the dead, are potent reminders of the frailty of the human mind" --Times Literary Supplement ". . . a commendable, need-filling, and thoroughly readable work. It illuminates the theory of reincarnation, partly by a skillful education of the theory's implications, and it is forceful in reasoning and comprehensive in description." --Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research

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