Upcoming Philosophy of Psychedelics Course, Interintellect Salons, and New Papers
Hello! Between being ridiculously sick and all my other projects I haven’t had a chance to write a post this month (although I’ve got drafts for the next few months in progress), but I’ve got some fun things in the works.
Philosophy of Psychedelics Course
I’ll be releasing a live cohort course on the philosophy of psychedelics in December. The course will cover the major philosophical categories of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics with units on consciousness, the ego, the veridicality of psychedelic visions, indigenous philosophies, and more fun topics. I’ll be sharing that here when it is completed!
If there’s any topic you’d like me to cover in the course feel free to leave a comment or send me a message and I’ll work to incorporate it into the curriculum!
New Interintellect Series
Starting this Thursday, November 2nd, is my Interintellect Series Breakthroughs: The Great Paradigm Shifts of History. It’s a nine-part series discussing breakthroughs in language, consciousness, human values, politics, and science. The first one will be focused on language and its role in the development of humans with a discussion of the coevolution of plants, animals, humans, and insects and how language functions across species. I’d love to see you there! If you’d like to attend and want a free ticket, feel free to message me and I’ll send you a code.
New Papers on Mormon History
I’ve got two papers under revision right now on the Law of Consecration and tithing within Mormonism. The first paper gives a new context and interpretation of the early Mormon communal tendencies that will reshape how Mormons should understand the Law of Consecration.
The second paper details the early history of tithing in Mormonism showing how tithing went from being 10% of the interest one makes each year to 10% of one’s annual income. This is the first paper to really dive into the details and tell the story of the change in the early policies on tithing.
I’ll post preprints of these as soon as I’m allowed to by the publisher.
I’ve also been working with Cody Noconi and Bryce Blankenagel on a paper detailing the psychedelic origins of Mormonism and defending the hypothesis from apologetic criticisms.
And finally, I’ve got a paper on the concept of reincarnation in Joseph Smith’s theology in the draft phase as well. I’ll be posting drafts of this an the psychedelic paper in the near future.
Psilocybin Clinic in Oregon for Faith Transitions
Last, but certainly not least, I’m working with a few others to open a psilocybin center in Oregon that focuses on religion and faith crisis. The goal will be for the center to specialize in helping people work through faith crises, particularly Mormonism and other Christian faith transitions or doubts.
So much of the focus on psychedelics has been on the mental health benefits and healing those that the religious implications of these substances are relegated to the background. However, there’s a psilocybin church in Utah called The Divine Assembly that has helped numerous people experience the divine personally. I’ve spoken to many people there who have used psilocybin to help them process their transition out of Mormonism or even to help them retain faith while having serious doubts.
Our hope with this center is to provide a safe space for people to explore their relationship to religion and spirituality and help them process the difficult emotions and transitions. We’re hoping to have the center open in early 2024.