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The Paranormal

Who Believes, Why They Believe, and Why It Matters

Erich Goode

$49.95

Paperback

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English
Prometheus
20 December 2011
This is an insightful and engaging exploration of paranormal belief as a sociological phenomenon. Angels, ESP, psychics, ghosts, communicating with the dead, UFOs - these are just some of the astounding phenomena accepted as valid by a substantial proportion of the public. Why do so many members of our scientifically sophisticated society believe in phenomena that scientists roundly and almost unanimously reject? Unlike many books on the paranormal, which usually focus on debunking or verifying such beliefs, this volume explores paranormal beliefs as a social phenomenon - who believes, why, and what are the consequences?
By:  
Imprint:   Prometheus
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 218mm,  Width: 154mm,  Spine: 18mm
Weight:   467g
ISBN:   9781616144913
ISBN 10:   1616144912
Pages:   320
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   No Longer Our Product

Erich Goode is Sociology Professor Emeritus at Stony Brook University.

Reviews for The Paranormal: Who Believes, Why They Believe, and Why It Matters

Goode's unique and outstanding work directs an illuminating sociological beam of light on one of humanity's most fascinating riddles: the paranormal. His integrated analysis provides a straightforward and clear examination of who believes in the paranormal, and why. Such an integrated and significant approach has never been presented before. Goode offers truly fresh insights and a persuasive new perspective. . . . It is the one book you simply must read if you really want to know and understand what the paranormal is all about. --Nachman Ben-Yehuda, professor of sociology and former dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Hebrew University It's easy enough to make fun of bizarre claims about the paranormal and supposed alternative realities, from UFOs and astrology to ghost hunting and pseudoprophecy. What Erich Goode has done, though, is to examine such claims seriously from the point of view of an experienced sociologist, showing how [such] deviant ideas arise and spread. This highly readable and rewarding book tells us a great deal about the mass media and our educational system, and how contradictory ways of understanding the world coexist so uneasily in a postmodern society. --Philip Jenkins, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Religious Studies, Pennsylvania State University


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