In his classic book, Adventures of Ideas, Alfred North Whitehead describes the eros of the beautiful, the true, and the good. And to this list of intrinsic values he adds the idea of adventure, without which, he observes, “civilization is in full decay.”
In this episode, Jeff Salzman’s guest Steve McIntosh explores Whitehead’s theme of adventure as it relates to the realm of spiritual experience. Steve focuses specifically on the spiritual experience of wilderness, and the spiritual experience associated with entheogens (psychedelic drugs). He compares the locations of these “inner and outer adventures,” using his powerful personal experiences to illustrate. We conclude with Steve considering the theological and political implications of psychedelic spiritual experience.
Steve McIntosh is the author of several books on Integral theory, including The Presence of the Infinite. You can find out more about Steve at stevemcintosh.com, and at the Institute for Cultural Evolution.
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