The Gray Area with Sean Illing takes a philosophy-minded look at culture, technology, politics, and the world of ideas. Each week, we invite a guest to explore a question or topic that matters. From the the state of democracy, to the struggle with depression and anxiety, to the nature of identity in the digital age, each episode looks for nuance and honesty in the most important conversations of our time. New episodes drop every Monday.
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A philosopher's psychedelic encounter with reality
Why don't more philosophers take psychedelic drugs seriously as a means of examining reality? Sean Illing talks with Justin Smith-Ruiu, professor of philosophy, whose recent essay "This Is a Philosopher on Drugs" tells of how experimenting with psilocybin and other substances led to a radical reevaluation of nearly everything in his life — including his views on the nature of reality. They discuss the roots of an alternative worldview in the thought of German polymath G.W. Leibniz, what it means to say — as Socrates does — that philosophy is "preparation for death," and why psychedelics aren't more often explored in contemporary philosophy.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Justin Smith-Ruiu, philosopher; author
References:
- "This Is a Philosopher on Drugs" by Justin E.H. Smith (Wired; Mar. 7)
- Justin Smith-Ruiu's Hinternet (Substack)
- The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is by Justin E.H. Smith (Princeton; 2022)
- "The brutal mirror: What the psychedelic drug ayahuasca showed me about my life" by Sean Illing (Vox; Nov. 2, 2019)
- G.W. Leibniz, "The Monadology" (1714)
- René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (1641)
- Irrationality: A History of the Dark Side of Reason by Justin E.H. Smith (Princeton; 2019)
- Plato, Phaedo (for Socrates's claim that philosophy is preparation for death)
- Reality+ by David Chalmers (W.W. Norton; 2022)
- David Chalmers on The Gray Area (Jan. 10, 2022)
- Justin's review of David Chalmers: "The World as a Game" (Liberties, vol. 2 no. 4)
- "The Death of Ivan Ilych" by Leo Tolstoy (1886)
- How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan (Penguin; 2018)
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This episode was made by:
- Producer: Erikk Geannikis
- Engineer: Patrick Boyd
- Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall
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