Charles Mercier | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 21 June 1851 |
| Died | 2 September 1919 (1919-09-03) (aged 68) |
| Occupation(s) | Psychiatrist, spiritualist debunker |
Charles Arthur Mercier (21 June 1851 – 2 September 1919) was a Britishpsychiatrist and leading expert onforensic psychiatry andinsanity.[1]
Mercier was born on 21 June 1851. He studiedmedicine at theUniversity of London where he graduated. He worked at Buckinghamshire County Asylum in Stone, near Aylesbury. He became the Assistant Medical Officer atLeavesden Hospital and at theCity of London Asylum in Dartford, Kent. He also worked as asurgeon at the Jenny Lind Hospital. He was the residentphysician at Flower House, a private asylum in Catford. In 1902 became a lecturer ininsanity at theWestminster Hospital Medical School. He was also a physician for mental diseases atCharing Cross Hospital.[2]
In 1894 Mercier was secretary of a committee of theMedico-Psychological Association. He published articles in theJournal of Mental Science. He joined the Medico-Legal Society in 1905, and became the president of the Medico-Psychological Association in 1908.[1] Mercier has been described as a pioneer in the field offorensic psychiatry.[3]
In 1917 Mercier wrote to theMind Association denouncing politician-philosopherLord Haldane and philosopherBertrand Russell as traitors.[4]
He was the author of many important works oncrime,insanity, andpsychology.[5]
In 1916, Mercier criticizedvegetarianism inThe Lancet journal.[6] Mercier suggested that vegetarians had an unbalanced mind and "we should expect, therefore, to find among vegetarians an undue proportion of insane persons."[7]
Mercier, who spent most of his career studying insanity and mental disorders, did not believe human personality could survive death.[8]
Mercier attackedspiritualism in theHibbert Journal for 1917.[9] His bookSpiritualism and Sir Oliver Lodge (1917) was an exposure oftrance mediumship and a criticism of the spiritualist views ofOliver Lodge. In the book he criticized Lodge for ignoringOccam's razor and invoking miracles.
In his bookSpirit Experiences (1919), Mercier claimed to have converted to spiritualism and apologized for his previous book. He claimed that after investigating the subject he had personally experienced communications with the dead,levitation andtelepathy. The book was heavily criticized in a review.[10] However, the book was actually asatire that intended on mocking the credulity shown by believers in spiritualism. It was published by Watts & Co, a publishing company that has historical links with theRationalist Association.[11] The book was positively reviewed by theBritish Journal of Psychiatry, which described it as a well-written parody of spiritualist phenomena.[12]
David Robert Grimes has noted that "Mercier had spent a great deal of time debunking trance mediums, painstakingly dismantling their claims".[13]
Books
Selected papers
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