I have a long-standing interest in the life and work of the American writer and anomalist, Charles Hoy Fort (1874-1932). Almost entirely unknown to historians of philosophy, there's much of philosophical interest in his work, as a philosopher of science and as a metaphysician.
His four Fortean books - The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1932), Lo! (1931, and Wild Talents (1932) - offer a critique of positivist models of science and engage with British Idealism and offer an early foray into social epistemology of science. He's also of interest to historians of science fiction and those interested in early 20th century American literature and New York literary culture. Or so I hope to show!
My writings on Fort's life and work are:
- A chapter on Fort's philosophy for Bob Rickard (ed.), The Books of Charles Fort, in preparation.
- ‘Dogmatism be damned!’, Fortean Times 399: (2020): 54: 55.
- ‘From Dominants to the damned’, Fortean Times 388 (Jan 2020) - a special issue on the centenary of The Book of the Damned.
- 'Charles Fort down under', Fortean Times 374 (2018): 54-55.
- ‘Messages from Mars and more’, Fortean Times 361 (2017): 54-55.
- 'In praise of voodoo', Fortean Times 240 (2008): 55.
- 'Fort letter rediscovered', Fortean Times 226 (2007): 57.
- 'Holding the Fort: How science fiction preserved the name of Charles Fort', Matrix (British Science Fiction Association) 180 (2006): 24-25.
- 'Who was Charles Fort?', Fortean Times 216 (2006): 54-55.
I'm also compiling a resource detailing all known surviving letters, papers, and photographs, plus a scholarly bibliography of essays and articles about Fort. An invaluable interest for Fortologists is resologist.net.
