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The work stands as a trip. In particular, it copiously details all the drugs that the US-raised scholar in history and philosophy of science has taken. These encompass magic mushrooms, LSD, cannabis; anxiety medications to ease tension; mood stabilizers, SSRIs, modern medications and older generation drugs; coffee (“I have drunk coffee without interruption since September 13, 1990”); and, personally speaking, the perpetually underwhelming booze.

The Most Reality-Shifting Element

The truly astonishing aspect, though, lies not primarily in the author’s accounts of his substance journeys, but the fact that they are penned by a tough-minded systematic scholar, well-versed in AJ Ayer’s philosophical texts alongside visionary psychedelic-fueled perceptual explorations. Furthermore, they are offered with the aim of eroding the egos of his academic colleagues and the public arguing that entheogens break down individual identity and make us part of cosmic consciousness, thereby rendering true freedom as defined by Dutch philosopher’s theorist the ethicist conceived it (paraphrased in the book as “a pleasant acquiescence regarding how the self is moving within the inevitable universal laws”).

Melting the Philosophical Framework

The melting comparison fits well, as the foundational moment of 17th-century European thought came when René Descartes scholar the rationalist heated a piece of wax. The lump might transform its form, smell, dimensions, width, and yet, he claimed, we continue to believe that we know its identity as the same piece. The knower may err regarding every sensory inputs related to the wax however not, the philosopher maintained, that thought occurs: here lies the basis of his famous “I think therefore I am” – by means of which the French thinker shaped humanity into the rational, empiricism-loving entities we became from then on.

The author, discombobulatingly, reverses the narrative on Descartes’ thought experiment: suppose that, in place of heating the substance, Descartes had “altered his perception” with acid, or one of those entheogens newly introduced in Europe from overseas together with potatoes and stimulants, such as mescaline or DMT brews? What if he had not foregrounded rationality but rather celebrated the visionary abilities that he argues, are released through substances? Western civilization could have become understanding existence in a wholly new way, and human beings instead as “infinite reservoirs of light and understanding”.

Beyond Mainstream Philosophy

There is greater depth in this substance journey, it could be argued, than considered in strait-laced academics’ philosophies. His approach seems kin to current voguish, paradigm-shifting movements as Markus Gabriel’s theories, and Timothy Morton’s frameworks and object-oriented philosophy. The German philosopher argued the divine was by definition inaccessible, inferable perhaps but not directly perceived. We could never in this world, perceive the divine. According to the author, consciousness-expanders can potentially transcend that barrier. Due to this proposition merely it is astonishing – and encouraged – that he got tenure.

Lucidity Insights

Important to note here that this is not like those wild narratives written when the writer is under the influence. The author is no the chaotic writer. Titled Regarding Substances but it was not created under influence (apart, presumably, from some of the prescription meds he mentions previously and regular coffee boost). “While writing, lucid, focused, and entirely focused on the work.”

An Astonishing Turn

The book finishes with a remarkable philosophical shift (key revelation). Not long ago, the philosopher attended Catholic mass after decades in 40 years in the parish next door to his residence. His claim in this section is that the psychedelic experience resembles ritual worship: ordinary time is seen as a limited view, and in worship it is possible to experience, like his with psilocybin, an intimation of timelessness. A further similarity concerns how an individual surrenders egoic control in church similar to a psychedelic trip. The author states: “Psychedelics, similar to faith, comparably to creativity constitute an abandonment of the will to go it alone.” The philosopher shows awareness to acknowledge how absurd this appears: that entheogens are now his pathway to spirituality.

Everyday Psychedelia

It isn’t necessary to consume magic mushrooms from some geezer in a Dutch head shop (as Smith-Ruiu did) to alter perception. He cites the beginning of literary works À la Recherche du Temps Perdu, where the protagonist dreamily imagines that he has become {some of the things