Jules Evans is director of the Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Project, editor of Ecstatic Integration, and an honorary research fellow of the Centre for the History of the Emotions at Queen Mary University of London. He’s the author of four books including Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations, and The Art of Losing Control.
Colloquium Presentation: 27 October 2023, 3.30–5.pm (speaking online)
Evolutionary spirituality as a frame for psychedelic experiences
Abstract
One of the dominant cultural frames for psychedelics in western culture over last 130 years has been evolutionary spirituality. This tradition suggests human evolution is not finished and can be guided towards the creation of higher beings through such techniques as psychedelics and eugenics or genetic modification. But is everyone evolving into a new species, or just an elite? Jules will discuss the tradition of evolutionary spirituality, raise the ethical implications of this tradition – its tendency to spiritual narcissism, contempt for the less-evolved masses, Social Darwinism and Malthusianism, spiritual eugenics, and illiberal utopian politics—and suggest responses to these limitations.