Józef Świtkowski : parapsychology between science and scientia occulta

Józef Świtkowski (1876-1942) was one of the most famous representatives of the Polish esoteric milieu of the interwar period. He was also someone who belonged to the section of this community that tried to take an objective look at scientia occulta and attempted to verify the validity of statements made within its framework as well as the experiments that were conducted or phenomena described and identified. Świtkowski was particularly interested in man as a ‘source of occult phenomena’ and it was from this perspective that he evaluated them. Research on such perceived occult phenomena gave his reflection a specific and unique character. In his opinion, the ‘mystery’ of occult phenomena only arose from the fact that man does not yet have sufficiently efficient methods and research tools available to discover the laws behind them. On these grounds, Świtkowski proclaimed the necessity for establishing a new discipline-parapsychology, which would act as a bridge between the occult and modern science