ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Politics, Prestige, and Heterodoxy: Mario Schenberg’s Intellectual Trajectory in 1980s Brazil

• In Event: Intersections between History and Philosophy of Physics

English Abstract

Mario Schenberg (1916–1990) was one of the most prominent physicists in Brazil and a significant figure in the country’s cultural life. A former communist militant and a critic of the military regime (1964-1985), he was forcibly retired from the University of São Paulo. In the 1980s, he returned to public debate, becoming a symbol of importance during Brazil’s democratization process.
In this context, Schenberg became an author, publishing several books in which his reflections on science intertwine with concepts from Eastern philosophies, paranormal phenomena, and other mysteries—unorthodox ideas that are typically excluded from what is considered legitimate scientific discourse. Our research problem was to understand how such extravagant ideas could take shape in a figure so central to Brazilian physics, given that heterodox positions are usually expressed by outsiders.
From an epistemological perspective, we characterize the heterodox aspects of Schenberg’s 1980s writings as “magical realism.” He was influenced by the concept of synchronicity, jointly developed by Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung, who maintained a decades-long dialogue exploring parallels between the physical world and the psyche.
We trace the construction of Schenberg’s public image in newspapers and magazines from the 1930s to the 1980s. We found him in unexpected settings, such as macumba rituals and the headquarters of Jorge Mautner’s Partido do Kaos (Party of Chaos). As our research sought to piece together the puzzle of the various agents with whom he interacted, we realized that, in addition to the influence of Pauli and Jung, Schenberg’s scientific imagination was nourished by ideas circulating in the emerging countercultural scene of the 1960s.
We describe the elective affinities between the New Age movement, new questions in physics arising from Bell’s theorem, and Brazilian mediumistic culture. These affinities, once elucidated, shed light on the heterodox inclinations in Schenberg’s thought.

Authors

• Ivã Gurgel, University of São Paulo

• Alexander Brilhante Coelho, University of São Paulo