Enjoy Philosophy: SHAMANISM REVISITED or KNOWLEDGE THROUGH ALTERED STATES

ENJOY PHILOSOPHY MEETS WEEKLY EVERY SUNDAY BETWEEN 11.30 AND 14.30 AT EDUARDO VII PARK, HERE: https://goo.gl/maps/5e3jKFEweXkNvDdK6

ITS THE GARDEN BETWEEN THE “CARLOS LOPES PAVILLION” AND THE “PRAIA NO PARQUE” RESTAURANT AT EDUARDO VII PARK.

THIS IS A GROUP FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN ENJOYING PHILOSOPHY.

NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE IS REQUIRED.

ONLY ETERNAL CURIOSITY AND THE PLEASURE OF KNOWLEDGE.

PLS KEEP UPDATED of any changes and updates on our WhatsApp Group:
Enjoy Philosophy Lisbon Group Access-Link

We will learn, debate, enjoy and investigate philosophers and diverse themes from the philosophical perspective. Each reunion is structured as a conversation among all attendees about that day s philosopher softly moderated by the organizer. The conversation will kick-off from the very brief suggested reading providing easy access to all attendees both to the philosopher and the conversation.

Let´s be greek and dive today on…

SHAMANISM, in other words, accessing KNOWLEDGE THROUGH ALTERED MENTAL STATES, a topic apparently very distant from the intellectual and academic circles we know contemporary philosophy inhabits, but a closer look into the origins of philosophy reveals a totally different picture. At least one of the traditions co-existing in the birth of philosophy, the Platonic/Pythagorean tradition, with its beliefs on an eternal soul with inmanent knowledge (Plato defends that knowledge is already in our eternal soul and learning is just awaking it (Anamnesis)) was heavily influenced by the Orphic/Dionisic traditions with all its stream of transformative rites of passage. And in those times also the oracles of Delfos and Eleusis, the truth tellers of those days, often included transformative trance experiences by the priests themselves and the visitors looking for their truths. A broader geographic look reveals that Shamanic ceremonies exist in a diversity of cultures all around the world as means to access a transcendental knowledge. But beyond the traditions, most of us share a direct knowledge and personal experiences of altered states, whether through alcohol, Meditation, LSD or Grass, and we seem more that legitimized to express our views on such a universal matter. So the question remains… are altered mental states a shortcut to certain Knowledge?

Let´s think…