Robert Kirk

The legendary chronicle of the supernatural that inspired Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott.

The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies

The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies

Robert Burton

John Dee

Olaus Magnus

Henry Cornelius Agrippa

Isaac La Peyrère

In 1665 an anonymous treatise on magic, by magicians, was added to a book skeptical of witchcraft, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft". The "Magitians Discovered" series examines that anonymous material. This volume contains texts that are foundational for understanding that material, plus texts that are related to the arguments about the material made in the first volume. These texts include selections from Henry Cornelius Agrippa's "Three Books of Occult Philosophy", about the theory and practice of magic; selections from his "Fourth Book"; selections from Olaus Magnus' "Description of the Northern Peoples" about pagan customs, giants, standing stones, witches, and related topics; selections from Robert Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy" that deal with magic; selections from Isaac La Peyrère's "Prae-Adamitae" which deal with magic and hermeticism; selections from John Dee's writings from "A True and Faithful Relation" that deal with the nature of the aerial spirits; selections from Robert Kirk's "Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies", and more.

Supplementary Texts

The Magitians Discovered, Volume 3

The Secret Commonwealth is a fascinating and enigmatic text about Celtic fairies. Written in 1691 by a Scottish clergyman, Robert Kirk, though not printed until the early 19th century, this work is an unusual account of the fae, and a complex of still mysterious extrasensory phenomena including poltergeists, clairvoyance, and 'co-walkers'. This edition was issued in 1893 in a very limited edition by the London the London publisher David Nutt. It incorporates commentary by folklorist Andrew Lang. Rebel Satori here presents a facsimile of the 1893 edition in hardback format.

By definition zombies would be physically and behaviourally just like us, but not conscious. This currently very influential idea is a threat to all forms of physicalism, and has led some philosophers to give up physicalism and become dualists. It has also beguiled many physicalists, who feel forced to defend increasingly convoluted explanations of why the conceivability of zombies is compatible with their impossibility. Robert Kirk argues that the zombie idea depends on an incoherent view of the nature of phenomenal consciousness. His book has two main aims. One is to demolish the zombie idea once and for all. There are plenty of objections to it in the literature, but they lack intuitive appeal. He offers a striking new argument which reveals fundamental confusions in the implied conception of consciousness. His other main contribution is to develop a fresh and original approach to the true nature of phenomenal consciousness. Kirk argues that a necessary condition is a 'basic package' of capacities. An important component of his argument is that the necessary cognitive capacities are not as sophisticated as is often assumed. By focusing on humbler creatures than ourselves he avoids some of the distracting complications of our sophisticated forms of cognition. The basic package does not seem to be sufficient for phenomenal consciousness. What is also needed is 'direct activity' - a special feature of the way the events which constitute incoming perceptual information affect the system. This is an integrated process, to be conceived of holistically, and contrasts sharply with what is often called the 'availability' or 'poisedness' of perceptual information. This original, penetrating, and highly readable book will be of interest to all who have a serious concern with the nature of consciousness: not only professional philosophers and students, but also many psychologists and neuroscientists.

Zombies and Consciousness

By definition zombies would be physically and behaviourally just like us, but not conscious. This currently very influential idea is a threat to all forms of physicalism, and has led some philosophers to give up physicalism and become dualists. It has also beguiled many physicalists, who feel forced to defend increasingly convoluted explanations of why the conceivability of zombies is compatible with their impossibility. Robert Kirk argues that the zombie idea depends on an incoherent view of the nature of phenomenal consciousness. His book has two main aims. One is to demolish the zombie idea once and for all. There are plenty of objections to it in the literature, but they lack intuitive appeal. He offers a striking new argument which reveals fundamental confusions in the implied conception of consciousness. His other main contribution is to develop a fresh and original approach to the true nature of phenomenal consciousness. Kirk argues that a necessary condition is a "basic package" of capacities. An important component of his argument is that the necessary cognitive capacities are not as sophisticated as is often assumed. By focusing on humbler creatures than ourselves he avoids some of the distracting complications of our sophisticated forms of cognition. The basic package does not seem to be sufficient for phenomenal consciousness. What is also needed is "direct activity"--a special feature of the way the events which constitute incoming perceptual information affect the system. This is an integrated process, to be conceived of holistically, and contrasts sharply with what is often called the "availability" or "poisedness" of perceptual information. This original, penetrating, and highly readable book will be of interest to all who have a serious concern with the nature of consciousness: not only professional philosophers and students, but also many psychologists and neuroscientists.

Robert Kirk attempts to answer the problem of consciousness that derives from the notorious gap between our knowledge of ourselves as matter and our subjective knowledge of what we experience.

A Philosophical Account of the Essence of Consciousness

Raw Feeling

John Matthews

Welcome to the magical world of Faery! This book takes readers along on the journeys of the Reverend Robert Kirk, a seventeenth-century vicar of the parish of Aberfoyle, Scotland, into the heart of the faery world.

From the Private Journal of the Rev. Robert Kirk

The Secret Lives of Elves and Faeries

The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies: A Study in Folk-Lore & Psychical Research

Andrew Lang

Professor of Philosophy and Head of the Philosophy Department Robert Kirk

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Secret Common-Wealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies - Scholar's Choice Edition

Michael Hunter

Michael Cyril William Hunter

Magic, science and second sight in 17c Scottish Higlands, with new edition of Kirk's Secret Commonwealth.

Magic, Science, and Second Sight in Late Seventeenth-century Scotland

The Occult Laboratory

A classic, enchanting document of Scottish folklore about fairies, elves, and other supernatural creatures. Late in the seventeenth century, Robert Kirk, an Episcopalian minister in the Scottish Highlands, set out to collect his parishioners’ many striking stories about elves, fairies, fauns, doppelgängers, wraiths, and other beings of, in Kirk’s words, “a middle nature betwixt man and angel.” For Kirk these stories constituted strong evidence for the reality of a supernatural world, existing parallel to ours, which, he passionately believed, demanded exploration as much as the New World across the seas. Kirk defended these views in The Secret Commonwealth, an essay that was left in manuscript when he died in 1692. It is a rare and fascinating work, an extraordinary amalgam of science, religion, and folklore, suffused with the spirit of active curiosity and bemused wonder that fills Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy and the works of Sir Thomas Browne. The Secret Commonwealth is not only a remarkable document in the history of ideas but a study of enchantment that enchants in its own right. First published in 1815 by Sir Walter Scott, then reedited in 1893 by Andrew Lang, with a dedication to Robert Louis Stevenson, The Secret Commonwealth has long been difficult to obtain—available, if at all, only in scholarly editions. This new edition modernizes the spelling and punctuation of Kirk’s little book and features a wide-ranging and illuminating introduction by the critic and historian Marina Warner, who brings out the originality of Kirk’s contribution and reflects on the ongoing life of fairies in the modern mind.

Robert Kirk

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