Abstract
In Samuel Butler’s The Way of All Flesh , a naive young protagonist announces his desire to establish a “college of Spiritual Pathology.” This essay explores the cultural history and public scandals surrounding ideas of spiritual pathology, which were ignited by the publication of a pamphlet by the Society of the Holy Cross, The Priest in Absolution . The ensuing debates involved territorial battles between elements of the church and the emerging psychiatric profession, while at the same time arousing popular anxieties concerning “unBritish” self-exposure, obscenity, child sexuality, and homosexuality. The controversy also drew an unsolicited, and previously unnoted, response from Lewis Carroll. In questioning the “false analogy” between the priest and the physician, the discussions had significant implications for the construction of a science of selfhood prior to Freud.
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