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• 1 2016-11-23T12:55:39-05:00 Hints for the Evidence of Spiritualism 3 plain 2016-12-16T20:59:53-05:00 Written by the mysterious “M.P.,” Hints for the Evidence of Spiritualism is a lengthy defense of spiritualist beliefs that appeared in 1872. M.P., like Bradley and Houghton respectively, defends spiritualism on the grounds that it can be empirically proven and it is generically related to Christianity. Include here is the fourth chapter, which details how empirical evidence does in fact support séance practice. Of particular interest is the emphasis M.P. draws to the interpretation of empirical evidence, an emphasis that created problems for the ‘average’ scientist: “The threat such [spiritual] phenomena posed to scientific knowledge was thus exacerbated by a discourse of open-minded empiricism that few scientists could argue with” (Lamont 918, see also Wadge 31). The question of how should one interpret empirical evidence (and was there any room for interpretation to begin with) indicates how séances were deeply implicated in an epistemological crisis.