Western philosophy has ignored the psychedelic experience for too long. The focus on a particular logical framework is misplaced and our apparent emphasis on empiricism cannot be complete until we take into account all experiences, writes Michel Weber.
Philosophy of mind has been crippled, since its very beginnings, by two main prejudices. First, the blind implementation of the traditional Western logical framework, that boils down to Aristotelian logic; second, the perennial neglect of crucially relevant empirical data, in so far as, in most arguments, sense-perception is reduced to sight alone.
We can overcome these crippling effects if we take into account data coming not only from the other external senses, but also from internal senses, as well as what is gathered in altered states of mind — including, of course, the psychedelic state. This completely redefines the limits and possibilities of knowledge, both from the systematical (hence logical) and the empirical points of view.
Firstly, philosophy of mind has been weakened by the blind implementation of the traditional Western logical framework, that boils down to the Boolean version of Aristotelian logic. (cf. Weber 2003)
Join the conversation