The Bergsonian Metaphysics Behind Huxley’s Doors
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AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Metaphysics Doors Epistemology Mechanical engineering |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key points | Argues that Bergson's concepts of the 'reducing valve' and 'Mind-at-Large,' as used by Huxley, can be rectified and fortified to better understand psychedelic experience. |
Abstract
AbstractPeter Sjöstedt-Hughes attempts to help us understand psychedelic experience via the ideas of Aldous Huxley and Henri Bergson. More specifically, he attempts ‘to rectify and fortify’ Bergson’s metaphysics as it is represented in Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, a book about the use and experience of mescaline. In it, Huxley employs two Bergsonian concepts: that of the ‘reducing valve’ and that of ‘Mind-at-Large’. According to the former concept, one’s perception of both the external world and one’s past is greatly filtered for practical purposes. According to the latter concept, the whole of the external world (not just that part of it that one perceives, but all of it, i. e.