A Transatlantic Political Theology of Psychedelic Aesthetics: Enchanted Citizens

Springer Verlag (2019)
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Abstract

Arguing that we ought to look to psychedelic aesthetics of the 1960s in relation to current crises in liberal democracy, this book emphasizes the intersection of European thought and the psychedelic. The first half of the book focuses on philosophical influences of Herbert Marcuse and Antonin Artaud, while the second half shifts toward literary and theoretical influences of Aldous Huxley on psychedelic aesthetics. Framed within an emergent discourse of political theology, it suggests that taking a postsecular approach to psychedelic aesthetics helps us understand deeper connections between aesthetics and politics.

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9783030153175   9783030153182   3030153177

DOI

10.1007/978-3-030-15318-2
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Chapters

Conclusion: Re-Enchantment and Psychedelic Aesthetics

This chapter briefly concludes the book by summarizing its contents, while connecting to contemporary thought of figures such as Michael Taussig and Simon Critchley, stressing the need for more literary ways of reading. It analyzes and laments the treatment of Maria Sabina, whose work with mushrooms... see more

Aldous Huxley: The Political Theologian

This chapter argues that we should think of Aldous Huxley as a political theologian, but that in order to do so we need to take literary aesthetics seriously with respect to political discourse and crises in liberal democracy. This is an echo of the broader argument about aesthetics in Chap. 10.1007... see more

Psychedelic Citizenship and Re-Enchantment: Affective Aesthetics as Political Instantiation

This chapter explicates The Boo Hoo Bible by Art Kleps, then moves on to discuss narrative fiction. Connecting to earlier discussions of play, it covers Hesse’s Glass Bead Game, Clarke’s Childhood’s End, and the influence of literary imagination on psychedelic aesthetics as Tom Wolfe gestured in The... see more

Theorizing the Psychedelic Experience

This chapter addresses nascent discourse around psychedelics from the 1960s. It connects notions of play to earlier European and the popularity of Vedanta with thinkers like Aldous Huxley. It gives a more detailed discussion of the framing of the term “psychedelic.” As well as an account of professi... see more

The Return to “Nature” and the Problem of the Perennial

This chapter addresses the persistence of perennialism in thought and discourse around both psychedelics and aesthetics. Beginning with discussions of tropes about childhood and primitivist thought, it connects the aesthetics of nostalgia to a broader colonialist discourse. More discussion of Artaud... see more

European Influences

This chapter opens with a brief discussion on shamanism and psychedelics and then moves to discuss Abbie Hoffman’s Woodstock Nation in detail and the particular influences of Herbert Marcuse and Antonin Artaud on psychedelic aesthetics. It gives a close reading of Marcuse’s Eros and Civilization and... see more

Psychedelic Aesthetics, Political Theology, and Religion

This chapter frames some of the discursive moves in discussions about political-theological underwriting of liberalism. It argues that taking a longer view of European-inflected thought helps us to see more clearly what is manifested in psychedelic aesthetics. It gives background on the concept of “... see more

Liberal Subjectivity, Religion, and the State

This chapter lays out the scope of the book by discussing connections between political unrest in the 1960s and 2019. It lays out a postsecular perspective and argues for an aesthetic approach to the material, connecting philosophical discourse between Europe and the United States and defines libera... see more

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