Philosophers and Psychics: The Vandy Episode

A modern philosopher has proposed that various well-documented instances of postmortem communications have a "naturalistic explanation" involving psychical transmissions and premature burial. The present discussion critically examines these claims.

In 1998, Arthur R. Miller, a philosophy professor from the University of Texas at San Antonio, published "Survival and Diminished Consciousness" in The Journal of Philosophical Research. Here Miller argues the case for mediumship based on a supposedly well-known and well-documented incident involving Edgar Vandy. He calls the Vandy episode "one of the most celebrated" instances of psychical communication (483, Miller's emphasis). [1] Miller describes how, in 1933, the recently entombed Edgar Vandy seemingly contacted several psychics. Miller's article explains why he considers this a potential example of medium communication and why such events still could have what he calls a "naturalistic explanation." After detailing his hypothesis, Miller shows why his explanation allows him to reject claims of an afterlife. For Miller, if seemingly paranormal events (here, communication with the dead) can be accounted for naturalistically, then, ipso facto, they are not necessarily legitimate evidence for life beyond the grave. Miller's argument entails the possibility of mind reading and premature burial.

Edgar Vandy's Death

In August 1933, Edgar Vandy died under "mysterious circumstances" (483) in a "strange [drowning] accident" (495, note 7. Miller quoting Rowe) at a private swimming pool in Sussex, England. Edgar was considered "an exceptionally brilliant young engineer and inventor whose whole life was concentrated on his work" (Gay 1957, 3). He resided with his mother and two brothers in London. Only a few people knew about Edgar's accident. As related by Miller, a medium allegedly revealed that Vandy somehow "struck his jaw (there were bruises under the chin and his tongue had been bitten through), lost consciousness and had then drowned" (Miller 1998, 483-484). Apparently, Vandy hit his jaw while springing off the diving board into the pool. It was determined that Vandy had suffered some sort of stunning blow," presumably to the head, "just prior to the drowning" (495, note 7. Miller quoting Rowe).

Nobody saw the accident. The first person on the scene was Vandy's friend "N.J.," who arrived to find "the dying Edgar fluttering in the water" (484). Apparently, NJ. "tried to help, but for some reason was unable to do so" (495, note 7. Miller quoting Rowe). Eventually, Vandy's family, unhappy with the inquest, started its own investigation. Miller notes that when he died, Edgar's brother, George, "had been and was (then) a member of S.P.R. (the Society for Psychical Research)" (483), an association headquartered in London, England. According to Miller, this "august body" has a "long and venerable history" (481). As the name implies, it studies claims for psychical communications, including medium telepathy. Given George's S.P.R. affiliation, Vandy's family contacted several mediums seeking "readings" about the drowning. These relatives wanted more details about how Edgar died. Vandy's brother, George, contacted Drayton Thomas, a well-known S.P.R. member, and asked him to be a proxy sitter and gather more fa cts about the drowning.

By definition, proxy sitters know little or nothing about the subject being contacted. Surrogates are used in medium readings to prevent fraud. Because they do not know the deceased, proxies cannot, through furtive actions, unintentionally reveal information that a psychic could then use in tailoring her (Miller uses feminine pronouns because "virtually all mediums ... are ... women ...", 494, note 2) responses; because he knew little of Vandy, Thomas could not inadvertently reveal clues about whether the medium was accurately describing Edgar's life or death. The proxy only knew that "information was being sought about a brother who had died recently, particularly about the cause of death." Thomas received no "names, dates, places, etc." concerning Vandy's passing.

Although no telepathists provided sufficient information to "satisfactorily clear up the matter" (483) of Vandy's demise, some furnished facts about the incident and "the nature of his work ... supposedly... known only to Edgar himself and, perhaps, by one or at most a very few close friends ..." (483, Miller quoting Rowe). One psychic described how the subject had drowned after striking his head on a diving board, afterwards losing consciousness under water.

Although some psychics correctly described certain aspects of the accident, Miller still questioned the veracity of their observations. That is, because nobody knew exactly how Edgar perished, the telepathists' claims were not falsifiable. However, one medium's comment caused Miller to conclude that perhaps Vandy really had communicated telepathically.

Edgar was an inventor. Just before he died, he supposedly designed "an elaborate 'Electroline' Drawing Machine." (The S.P.R. report calls Vandy's discovery "Lectroline." The present discussion uses the S.P.R. term.) Because he worked in "great secrecy" in a room at a cousin's house, nobody else knew about this contraption. According to Miller, "We don't know whether the cousin himself had knowledge of the invention" (484). Nobody else understood Vandy work, not even his two brothers. Lectroline was never patented, so there was no public record of its existence.