Building off the previous posts on the ineffability of psychedelic experiences and language, I wanted to continue using insights from Shlomo Giora Shoham that sheds light on the topic. I’ve written a basic introduction to his ideas here. In his book, The Violence of Silence, Shoham lays out the argument that it is the participant […]
Speaking of what I wrote in my last post, this theme of language, psychedelics, and a new technology: I’m interested here in what two, well four really, have to say about this. The medium is Deleuze and Guattari, and the two thinkers are Erik Davis and Benjamin Dueck. Deleuze and Guattari, according to both Dueck
(De)Territorializing the Psychedelic Experience Read More »
One common feature in the psychedelic experience, is the ineffability of said experience–it is too great or extreme to describe in words. In fact, this is one of the key features of the mystical experience that William James elucidates. Ask someone to describe their psychedelic or another profound experience they have had and they will
My notes and comments from the first chapter of Paul Livingston’s fantastic book (so far) The Politics of Logic: Badiou, Wittgenstein, and the Consequences of Formalism. Wittgenstein wrote in the Philosophical Investigations that “What has to be accepted, the given, is—so one could say—forms of life.” Theories of what he means oscillate between a conventional
Imagine sitting on your couch and doom-scrolling through your Facebook/Twitter/Instagram feed. Someone who has never done any of that asks you what you are doing. How do you describe the experience of sitting at home on your couch, looking at a device that is showing you live or recent updates of thoughts, feelings, and actions
Language and the Infancy of Experience: Agamben and Psychedelics Read More »