Peter Sjöstedt-H, Noumenautics: metaphysics – meta-ethics – psychedelics, Psychedelic Press UK, 2015.
www.philosopher.eu/
“Philosopher Peter Sjöstedt-H’s Noumenautics traverses the mindscape of metaphysics, nihilism and psychedelic phenomenology. It navigates through subjects such as the sentience of cells, the constrictions of consciousness, the metaphysics of might, the magic of mushrooms, the narcotics of Nietzsche, and the neologism of neo-nihilism – the last of which may itself cause flashbacks.
Tracing the fall of western morality through Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, the book descends deeper still into a metaphysics further upheld by Henri Bergson and Alfred North Whitehead. This collection of essays and notes provides a most idea-provoking, educational, and original piece of literature for the thoughtful reader and specialist alike.”
http://www.philosopher.eu/noumenautics/
'I greatly enjoyed this book, especially the opening essay "Myco-Metaphysics: a Philosopher on Magic Mushrooms" and "Vertexes of Sentience: Whitehead and Psychedelic Phenomenology". The writing is lucid and engaging, and the author clearly knows what he is talking about when he explores the life and philosophies of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Bergson and other equally fascinating philosophers. My only problem is that now I can't stop thinking about those mushrooms, feeling greatly tempted to try them myself.' (15th December 2015)
‘One might say that the noumenaut is a philosophical psychonaut – one who navigates through both the human harbour of ideas and out through to the inhuman ocean that is psychedelic consciousness.’
When I saw the subject matter of this collection of essays, I couldn’t wait to read it: so I was thrilled to be sent a free copy in exchange for an honest review. Although it took me a while to read, this was only due to the fact I kept stopping to make notes and contemplate, so it’s safe to say I was not disappointed.
Like most books with a philosophical bent, there is a lot packed into Noumenautics’ 136 pages. It starts out with a discussion on psychedelic phenomena: what the experience of using psychedelics does to our sense of reality and physics, and how we can apply the knowledge gained from it in rational, philosophical thought. It is an area that is surprisingly omitted from most popular notions of philosophy – which may have more to do with our prescribed morality (a topic also covered in the book) than a lack of validity – so I found it fascinating. I am a fan of Aldous Huxley’s book The Doors of Perception, and this reads well as a scrutinising companion.
‘To deny philosophers of mind psychedelic substances is tantamount to denying instruments to musicians.’
