Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Study in Consciousness (2nd nomination)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was redirect‎__EXPECTED_UNCONNECTED_PAGE__ to Annie Besant. Star  Mississippi  17:08, 14 January 2024 (UTC)

Study in Consciousness
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A non-notable work by Annie Besant that lacks any references. Fails WP:N Psychologist Guy (talk) 16:40, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Religion and Psychology.  Spiderone (Talk to Spider) 17:52, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Literature-related deletion discussions.  WC  Quidditch   ☎   ✎  19:01, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Redirect to Annie Besant. I found no significant independent coverage in WP:LIBRARY or elsewhere. This purported review turns out to actually just be a reprint of the publisher's promotional description of the book. Jfire (talk) 20:37, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

 Keep  per the significant coverage in multiple independent reliable sources. Notability (books) says: "A book is presumed notable if it verifiably meets, through reliable sources, at least one of the following criteria:The book has been the subject of two or more non-trivial published works appearing in sources that are independent of the book itself. This can include published works in all forms, such as newspaper articles, other books, television documentaries, bestseller lists, and reviews. This excludes media re-prints of press releases, flap copy, or other publications where the author, its publisher, agent, or other self-interested parties advertise or speak about the book." Sources   The review was published in 1905, so it is in the public domain. The review notes: "A very remarkable book by Annie Besant entitled 'A Study of Consciousness' has been recently published, and this volume is a valuable contribution to the literature of philosophy and ethics. Mrs. Besant regards the entire solar system as the field of human evolution, and her study of the unfolding of consciousness in human life through this vast evolutlonary space is one of such profound significance and wide scope that it may be truly regarded as an epoch-making book in latter-day literature. Mrs. Besant teaches that the solar system comprises seven great modifications of matter; that on three of these (the physical, emotional and mental) the normal evolution of humanity proceeds. On the two succeeding planes—those of wisdom and power, the distinctly spiritual life—or the life of the spiritual rather than of the bodily consciousness begins; whereas the two latter of the seven planes (the sixth and the seventh) are so spiritualized that the physical body must be discarded before the individual can enter on them. 'The first five planes,' says Mrs. Besant, 'form the field of the evolution of consciousness, until the human merges in the divine. The two planes beyond the five represent the sphere of divine activity, encircling and enveloping all, out of which pour forth all the divine energies which vivify and sustain the whole system. They are at present entirely beyond our knowledge, and the few hints that have been given regarding them probably convey as much information as our limited capacity is able to grasp. We are taught that they are the planes of divine Consciousness, wherein the Logos, or the divine Trinity of Logoi, is manifested, and wherefrom He shines forth as the Creator, the Preserver, the Dissolver, evolving a universe, maintaining it during its life-period, withdrawing it into Himself at its ending.' When one has achieved the higher evolution of the spiritual self he can not longer live in the dense atmosphere of any lower plane. This work is—perhaps inevitably—largely technical in its construction, but it richly repays a careful study. Mrs. Besant considers the formation of the atom, spirit matter, the sub-planes and the planes; the astral bodies, the desire-body, the thought-body, and other forms; the dawn of consciousness on the astral plane; the many aspects of consciousness, as the real and the unreal; the sub-consciousness, the waking consciousness and the super-physical consciousness. We find Mrs. Besant explaining that waking consciousness is limited and conditioned by the physical brain so long as one is in the physical body, and thus any injury to the brain interferes with its manifestation. 'However highly developed may be a man's consciousness,' says Mrs. Besant, 'he is limited by his brain so far as its manifestations on the physical plane are concerned, and if that brain be ill-formed or ill-developed, his waking consciousness will be poor and restricted. As self-consciousness grows more vivid on the physical plane it enriches with ever-increasing rapidity the content of consciousness on the union?' Mrs. Besant notes, and she adds: 'When the Self has grown so indifferent to the vehicles in which he dwells that their vibrations can no longer affect him; when he can use them for any purpose; when his vision has become perfectly clear; when the vehicles offer no opposition, since the elemental life has left them, and only the life flowing from himself animates them; then the Peace enfolds him and the object of the long struggle is attained. Such a one, Self centered, no longer confuses himself with his vehicles. They are instruments to work with, tools to manipulate at his will. He has then realized the peace of the Master, the one who is utterly master of his vehicles, and therefore master of life and death. Capable of receiving into them the tumult of the world and of reducing it to harmony; capable of feeling through them the sufferings of others, but not sufferings of his own; he stands apart from, beyond, all storms. Yet is be able ever to bend down into the storm to lift another above it, without losing his own foothold on the rock of the Divine, consciously recognized as himself.' The exposition of the super-physical consciousness as given by Mrs. Besant in this volume is one of exceptional interest and value. 'Super-consciousness is,' she writes, 'a great complexity, and covers a large number of phenomena. Dream, as said, is part of it; so are all the workings of the astral consciousness asserting themselves as premonitions, warnings, visions of happenings distant in space or time, vague touches from other worlds, sudden intuitions as regards character or events; also all the workings of the mental consciousness, lower or higher, that appear as intuitive grasp of truths, sudden insight into casual connections, inspirations—mental or moral—flashes of genius, visions of high artistic beauty, etc. These irruptions of the super-consciousness into the physical plane have the character of unexpectedness, of conviction, of imperious authority, of lack of apparent cause. They are unrelated, or only indirectly related, to the contents of the waking-consciousness, and do not justify themselves to it, but simply impose themselves on it.' The closing of the avenues of the physical senses opens the avenues of the super-physical senses, and 'distant occurrences are seen; vision pierces through physical barriers, far-off speech becomes audible.' This book is one of intense interest and of exceptional importance to all students of philosophic thought and the phenomenon of life."  The review was published in 1905, so it is in the public domain. The review notes: "'A Study in Consciousness,' Mrs. Annie Besant's newest book on theosophy, is one of the most important contributions to the science of psychology put out in many years. Any book from the pen of this famous writer and lecturer on the occult would attract the instant attention of the earnest student. But a production such as the present one, which is the result of ripe experience in a realm that holds vital interest to the thinker, is bound to leave a strong impress upon the literature of the day. With the wave of advanced thought that is spreading over the Western world becoming more pronounced year by year, and the great scheme of theosophy being grasped more clearly, the mysteries, so-called, of the 'other side' of life and the 'science of the emotions' taking on a new meaning, there has arisen a demand for a wider exposition of the 'Wisdom Religion' adaptable to the use of the public. In her new book Mrs. Besant apparently seeks to fill this want. The result is an array of facts and a fund of experiences that will appeal not only to the student of the occult, but to the general reader. She analyzes the forces of will, desire and emotion, shows the effect upon the human being when these powers are left to work at random, and the mighty factors they become in the evolution of man when intelligently directed. In a fascinating manner the writer describes the creation of the atom, and in speaking of the work of the 'shining ones,' says: 'There was thus a vast work of preparation accomplished before anything in the way of physical forms, such as we should recognize, could appear; a vast labor at the form side of things before embodied consciousness, save that of the Logos and His Shining Ones, could do anything at all. That which was to be human consciousness at this point was a seed, sown on the higher planes, unconscious of all without it. Under the impelling warmth of the Logis life, it sends out a tiny rootlet downwards, which pushes its way into the lower planes, blindly, unconsciously.' The book while worthy the time of the closest student is yet so illuminated that the 'lay member' may enjoy and profit by a perusal of it. 'A Study in Consciousness' is from the press of the Theosophical Book Concern, Chicago."  The review notes: "The sub-title to this great work of Dr. Besant's is "A Contribution to the Science of Psychology," and it is often overlooked, yet it gives the key to the attitude required of the student in approaching this work. Most works on psychology—dealing with human consciousness in its varied manifestations—start with the individual, man the thinker, here and now. Almost more than any other science, that of psychology in the West today tends to be empirical, working from experimental observations. In contrast to this, the greatness of A Study in Consciousness is that it starts with universal principles and causes—the First Cause and the beginning of all manifestation. Thus in the opening pages one is introduced to the study of the One Universal Creative Consciousness and the field in which That acts, as a necessary preliminary to any understanding of individual human consciousness. There is presented a magnificent stage panorama, the scenic background, upon which the drama of the unfoldment of consciousness is to be played. The Introduction and first chapters deal with this vast dramatic background."  </ol>There is sufficient coverage in reliable sources to allow Study in Consciousness to pass Notability, which requires "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject". Cunard (talk) 10:35, 8 January 2024 (UTC) </li></ul>
 * Comment Cunard thanks for finding this information. However none of those sources are reliable they were written by Theosophists, these are not reliable independent sources. The Theosophist is a fringe occult magazine it isn't independent of the subject, nor can be used to establish notability. It fails WP:RS. The other two reviews you cited are from newspapers. I am not opposed to citing newspapers but those reviews were not written by neutral academics, historians or specialists. The first review you cite was written by Lilian Whiting, she was a Theosophist in her personal life. Whiting even authored a book for Aryan Theosophical Press. She was a personal friend of Annie Besant. The content you are citing is highly biased. It is incorrect to call this significant coverage from reliable sources. Psychologist Guy (talk) 10:48, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Book reviews in reputable newspapers like The Times-Democrat and The Topeka Daily Capital are reliable sources. There is no requirement in Notability (books) for book reviews to be written by "neutral academics, historians or specialists". I did not find evidence that Lilian Whiting is so close to Annie Besant that a book review written by her would be insufficiently independent. Cunard (talk) 10:57, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I mostly agree with . If these are the best sources available, we can't possibly write a neutral article on this topic. Within philosophy, ethics, and psychology — the ostensible fields of the work — it constitutes a WP:FRINGE theory, and we have no counterbalancing coverage to meet WP:PARITY. Whiting was a spiritualist, and after the turn of the 20th century ... sought solace in numerous religious sects, becoming interested particularly in the Bahai faith and in Theosophy . She would have been uncritically accepting of Theosophist views, and indeed her review is fawning. The Theosophist is a journal of the society itself, so is obviously not independent of the subject. And the Topeka Daily Capital review has no byline and has an even more uncritically flattering character than Whiting's review. It may have been written by an uncredited Theosophist or someone closely aligned with the movement, or it may merely be a reflection of common attitudes toward the occult at that point in history. But we have no sources, such as from a historian of religion, to properly contextualize it in that way. We can't cover it neutrally, and thus should not cover it except noting the basic fact of its publication in Annie Besant. Jfire (talk) 16:26, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Switching to redirect to Annie Besant per Fringe theories after further review of editors' comments. Most books published in 1904 with two 1905 book reviews and one 1945 book review would easily pass the notability guideline. But as this is a book on a fringe topic, the standards are higher because the sources must be from unimpeachably non-fringe sources to comply with the neutral point of view policy. Cunard (talk) 08:04, 10 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Comment: I didn't research this, I think the above editors have done a good eval, I'd endorse a Redirect to Annie Besant.  // Timothy :: talk  04:41, 14 January 2024 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. <b style="color:red">Please do not modify it.</b> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.