Meaning and Semantics
The antipodes Of the mind November 7, 2002 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199252923.003.0016 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Ayahuasca induces a pervasive sense of enhanced meaningfulness, where even banal things appear as manifestations of ultimate truths, and that similar observations occur with LSD and mescaline. |
Abstract
Abstract As summarized at the end of the previous chapter, in our discussion of temporality, meaning featured centrally. Meaning is also associated with other facets of the Ayahuasca experience that we have discussed. At the very outset of the phenomenological survey presented in this book, the overall enhanced meaningfulness induced by Ayahuasca was highlighted. As noted in Ch. 4, the general ambience that Ayahuasca generates is that things are richly invested with meaning. Further more, the inebriation makes people feel that things, even the most banal, do not just happen to be: they are there because they are the manifestations of ultimate truths and essences. Similar observations are also common with LSD and mescaline (see Ludwig, 1966; Huxley, 1971; Watts, 1962; and Michaux, 1972).