Foucault in California: [a True Story--Wherein the Great French Philosopher Drops Acid in the Valley of Death]

Foucault in California: [a True Story--Wherein the Great French Philosopher Drops Acid in the Valley of Death] PDF Author: Simeon Wade
Publisher: Heyday Books
ISBN: 9781597145374
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
In The Lives of Michel Foucault, David Macey quotes the iconic French philosopher as speaking "nostalgically...of 'an unforgettable evening on LSD, in carefully prepared doses, in the desert night, with delicious music, [and] nice people'". This came to pass in 1975, when Foucault spent Memorial Day weekend in Southern California at the invitation of Simeon Wade-ostensibly to guest-lecture at the Claremont Graduate School where Wade was an assistant professor, but in truth to explore what he called the Valley of Death. Led by Wade and Wade's partner Michael Stoneman, Foucault experimented with psychotropic drugs for the first time; by morning he was crying and proclaiming that he knew Truth. Foucault in California is Wade's firsthand account of that long weekend. Felicitous and often humorous prose vaults readers headlong into the erudite and subversive circles of the Claremont intelligentsia: parties in Wade's bungalow, intensive dialogues between Foucault and his disciples at a Taoist utopia in the Angeles Forest (whose denizens call Foucault "Country Joe"); and, of course, the fabled synesthetic acid trip in Death Valley, set to the strains of Bach and Stockhausen. Part search for higher consciousness, part bacchanal, this book chronicles a young man's burgeoning friendship with one of the twentieth century's greatest thinkers.

Foucault in California: [a True Story--Wherein the Great French Philosopher Drops Acid in the Valley of Death]

Foucault in California: [a True Story--Wherein the Great French Philosopher Drops Acid in the Valley of Death] PDF Author: Simeon Wade
Publisher: Heyday Books
ISBN: 9781597145374
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Get Book

Book Description
In The Lives of Michel Foucault, David Macey quotes the iconic French philosopher as speaking "nostalgically...of 'an unforgettable evening on LSD, in carefully prepared doses, in the desert night, with delicious music, [and] nice people'". This came to pass in 1975, when Foucault spent Memorial Day weekend in Southern California at the invitation of Simeon Wade-ostensibly to guest-lecture at the Claremont Graduate School where Wade was an assistant professor, but in truth to explore what he called the Valley of Death. Led by Wade and Wade's partner Michael Stoneman, Foucault experimented with psychotropic drugs for the first time; by morning he was crying and proclaiming that he knew Truth. Foucault in California is Wade's firsthand account of that long weekend. Felicitous and often humorous prose vaults readers headlong into the erudite and subversive circles of the Claremont intelligentsia: parties in Wade's bungalow, intensive dialogues between Foucault and his disciples at a Taoist utopia in the Angeles Forest (whose denizens call Foucault "Country Joe"); and, of course, the fabled synesthetic acid trip in Death Valley, set to the strains of Bach and Stockhausen. Part search for higher consciousness, part bacchanal, this book chronicles a young man's burgeoning friendship with one of the twentieth century's greatest thinkers.

The Lives of Michel Foucault

The Lives of Michel Foucault PDF Author: David Macey
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1788731069
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 640

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Book Description
The classic biography of the radical French philosopher with a new afterword by acclaimed Foucault scholar Stuart Elden. When he died of an AIDS-related condition in 1984, Michel Foucault had become the most influential French philosopher since the end of World War II. His powerful studies of the creation of modern medicine, prisons, psychiatry, and other methods of classification have had a lasting impact on philosophers, historians, critics, and novelists the world over. But as public as he was in his militant campaigns on behalf of prisoners, dissidents, and homosexuals, he shrouded his personal life in mystery. In The Lives of Michel Foucault -- written with the full cooperation of Daniel Defert, Foucault's former lover -- David Macey gives the richest account to date of Foucault's life and work, informed as it is by the complex issues arising from his writings. In this new edition, Foucault scholar Stuart Elden has contributed a new afterword assessing the contribution of the biography in the light of more recent literature.

The Passion of Michel Foucault

The Passion of Michel Foucault PDF Author: James Miller
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674001572
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
Based on extensive new research and a bold interpretation of the man and his texts, The Passion of Michel Foucault is a startling look at one of this century's most influential philosophers. It chronicles every stage of Foucault's personal and professional odyssey, from his early interest in dreams to his final preoccupation with sexuality and the nature of personal identity.

The Rough Guide to California (Travel Guide eBook)

The Rough Guide to California (Travel Guide eBook) PDF Author: Rough Guides
Publisher: Apa Publications (UK) Limited
ISBN: 1789196604
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 985

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Book Description
The Rough Guide to California Make the most of your time on Earth with the ultimate travel guides. World-renowned 'tell it like it is' travel guide. Discover California with this comprehensive and entertaining travel guide, packed with practical information and honest recommendations by our independent experts. Whether you plan to hit the surf and seaside rollercoasters of Santa Cruz, hike in the Sierra Nevada, roam the Napa Valley's wineland, or embark on a Route 66 road trip, the Rough Guide to California will help you discover the best places to explore, eat, drink, shop and sleep along the way. Features of this travel guide to California: - Detailed regional coverage: provides practical information for every kind of trip, from off-the-beaten-track adventures to chilled-out breaks in popular tourist areas - Honest and independent reviews: written with Rough Guides' trademark blend of humour, honesty and expertise, our writers will help you make the most from your trip to California - Meticulous mapping: practical full-colour maps, with clearly numbered, colour-coded keys. Find your way around San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and many more locations without needing to get online - Fabulous full-colour photography: features inspirational colour photography, including the sheer mountains of Yosemite National Park cast in a golden morning light and iconic Bixby Creek Bridge connecting the cliffs of the beautiful Big Sur coast - Time-saving itineraries: carefully planned routes will help inspire and inform your on-the-road experiences - Things not to miss: Rough Guides' rundown of Pam Springs, Yosemite Valley, Redwood National Park, Route 66 and Big Sur's best sights and top experiences - Travel tips and info: packed with essential pre-departure information including getting around, accommodation, food and drink, health, the media, festivals, sports and outdoor activities, culture and etiquette, shopping and more - Background information: comprehensive 'Contexts' chapter provides fascinating insights into California, with coverage of history, religion, ethnic groups, environment, wildlife and books, plus a handy language section and glossary - Covers: Los Angeles; San Diego; the deserts; Death Valley; the Sierra; the Central Coast; San Francisco; the Gold Country; Lake Tahoe and Northern California You may also be interested in: Rough Guide Southwest USA, Rough Guide Florida, Pocket Rough Guide San Francisco About Rough Guides: Rough Guides have been inspiring travellers for over 35 years, with over 30 million copies sold globally. Synonymous with practical travel tips, quality writing and a trustworthy 'tell it like it is' ethos, the Rough Guides list includes more than 260 travel guides to 120+ destinations, gift-books and phrasebooks.

The Last Man Takes LSD

The Last Man Takes LSD PDF Author: Mitchell Dean
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1804292648
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Foucault’s personal and political experimentation, its ambiguous legacy, and the rise of neoliberal politics Part intellectual history, part critical theory, The Last Man Takes LSD challenges the way we think about both Michel Foucault and modern progressive politics. One fateful day in May 1975, Foucault dropped acid in the southern California desert. In letters reproduced here, he described it as among the most important events of his life, one which would lead him to completely rework his History of Sexuality. That trip helped redirect Foucault’s thought and contributed to a tectonic shift in the intellectual life of the era. He came to reinterpret the social movements of May ’68 and reposition himself politically in France, embracing anti-totalitarian currents and becoming a critic of the welfare state. Mitchell Dean and Daniel Zamora examine the full historical context of the turn in Foucault’s thought, which included studies of the Iranian revolution and French socialist politics, through which he would come to appreciate the possibilities of autonomy offered by a new force on the French political scene that was neither of the left nor the right: neoliberalism.

Reading Aridity in Western American Literature

Reading Aridity in Western American Literature PDF Author: Jada Ach
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1793622027
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
In literary and cinematic representations, deserts often betoken collapse and dystopia. Reading Aridity in Western American Literature offers readings of literature set in the American Southwest from ecocritical and new materialist perspectives. This book explores the diverse epistemologies, histories, relationships, futures, and possibilities that emerge from the representation of American deserts in fiction, film, and literary art, and traces the social, cultural, economic, and biotic narratives that foreground deserts, prompting us to reconsider new, provocative modes of human/nonhuman engagement in arid ecogeographies.

Dark Tourism in the American West

Dark Tourism in the American West PDF Author: Jennifer Dawes
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030211908
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
This edited collection expands scholarly and popular conversations about dark tourism in the American West. The phenomenon of dark tourism—traveling to sites of death, suffering, and disaster for entertainment or educational purposes—has been described and, on occasion, criticized for transforming misfortune and catastrophe into commodity. The impulse, however, continues, particularly in the American West: a liminal and contested space that resonates with stories of tragedy, violent conflict, and disaster. Contributions here specifically examine the mediation and shaping of these spaces into touristic destinations. The essays examine Western sites of massacre and battle (such as Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site and the “Waco Siege”), sites of imprisonment (such as Japanese-American internment camps and Alcatraz Island), areas devastated by ecological disaster (such as Martin’s Cove and the Salton Sea), and unmediated sites (those sites left to the touristic imagination, with no interpretation of what occurred there, such as the Bennet-Arcane camp).

The Superhumanities

The Superhumanities PDF Author: Jeffrey J. Kripal
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226820254
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
A bold challenge to rethink the humanities as intimately connected to the superhuman and to “decolonize reality itself.” What would happen if we reimagined the humanities as the superhumanities? If we acknowledged and celebrated the undercurrent of the fantastic within our humanistic disciplines, entirely new cultural worlds and meanings would become possible. That is Jeffrey J. Kripal’s vision for the future—to revive the suppressed dimension of the superhumanities, which consists of rare but real altered states of knowledge that have driven the creative processes of many of our most revered authors, artists, and activists. In Kripal’s telling, the history of the humanities is filled with precognitive dreams, evolving superhumans, and doubled selves. The basic idea of the superhuman, for Kripal, is at the core of who and what the human species has tried to become over millennia and around the planet. After diagnosing the basic malaise of the humanities—that the truth must be depressing—Kripal shows how it can all be done differently. He argues that we have to decolonize reality itself if we are going to take human diversity seriously. Toward this pluralist end, he engages psychoanalytic, Black critical, feminist, postcolonial, queer, and ecocritical theory. He works through objections to the superhumanities while also recognizing the new realities represented by the contemporary sciences. In doing so, he tries to move beyond naysaying practices of critique toward a future that can embrace those critiques within a more holistic view—a view that recognizes the human being as both a social-political animal as well as an evolved cosmic species that understands and experiences itself as something super.

Acute Religious Experiences

Acute Religious Experiences PDF Author: Richard Saville-Smith
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350272930
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
This book engages the problem of how, in the 21st century, we are to speak about experiences of the extraordinary/anomalous/extreme which occur on a transhistorical and transcultural basis. Critical re-readings of seminal texts show how 20th-century theoreticians in the humanities sought to erase madness from their irrational subjects. This propensity to sanitize madness in the study of religions was mirrored by the instinct of psychiatrists to degrade religious experiences by reducing mad consciousness to psychosis or dissociation. Richard Saville-Smith introduces explanatory pluralism as a way of recognizing these disciplinary biases and mad studies as a way of negotiating this understanding. The disproportionate significance of madness in shaping the fabric of the human story can then be recovered from both erasure and dismissal to be given the recognition previously denied - as acute religious experiences. Acute Religious Experiences divides into three sections, beginning with re-readings of William James's pathological programme, Rudolf Otto's numinous, T. K. Oesterreich's possession, Mircea Eliade's shamanism, Walter Stace's mysticism, Walter Pahnke's psychedelic experience, and Abraham Maslow's peak experiences. These ideas are shown to constitute the beginnings of a fractured discourse on the irrational. In part two, contemporary psychiatry's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) and Foucault's History of Madness are re-read to reposition madness as not necessarily pathological. This opens the way for the identification of acute religious experiences as a new holistic and post-colonial approach through which religious data can be organized and addressed on a comparative basis. In part three, The Gospel of Mark is re-read as a case study to demonstrate the novel insights which flow from the identification of acute religious experiences. Richard Saville-Smith draws on his own experiences of madness and his PhD from the School of Divinity at The University of Edinburgh to elucidate his research.

Cargo Cult

Cargo Cult PDF Author: Lamont Lindstrom
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824878957
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Who is not captivated by tales of Islanders earnestly scanning their watery horizons for great fleets of cargo ships bringing rice, radios and refrigerators - ships that will never arrive? Of all the stories spun about the island peoples of Melanesia, tales of cargo cult are among the most fascinating. The term cargo cult, Lamont Lindstrom contends, is one of anthropology's most successful conceptual offspring. Like culture, worldview and ethnicity, its usage has steadily proliferated, migrating into popular culture where today it is used to describe an astonishing roll-call of people. It's history makes for lively and compelling reading. The cargo cult story, Lindstrom shows, is more significant than it at first appears, for it recapitulates in summary form three generations of anthropological theory and Pacific studies. Although anthropologists' enthusiasm for the notion of cargo cult has waned, it now colors outsiders' understanding of Melanesian culture, and even Melanesians' perceptions of themselves. The repercussions for contemporary Islanders are significant: leaders of more than one political movement have felt the need to deny that they are any kind of cargo cultist. Of particular interest to this history is Lindstom's argument that accounts of cargo cult are at heart tragedies of thwarted desire, melancholy anticipation and crazy unrequited love. He makes a convincing case that these stories expose powerful Western scenarios of desire itself—giving cargo cult its combined titillation of the fascinating exotic and the comfortably familiar.