Description
Discover the transformative insights of rough metaphysics with our latest release. This groundbreaking book by anthropologist Peter Skafish dives deep into the unconventional world of thought through the unique lens of Jane Roberts, a renowned medium and channeler. Skafish cleverly examines Roberts's writings, including those from her channeled personality, Seth, who greatly influenced the New Age movement. Explore how these outsider perspectives challenge and enrich our understanding of science, ontology, and pluralism.
Perfect for scholars and curious minds alike, 'Rough Metaphysics' invites readers to reflect on the anomalies in thought and the unconventional methods of speculative thinking. Skafish argues for the relevance of these often-overlooked voices in philosophical discourse, urging us to reconsider the boundaries of intellectual thought. This compelling ethnography not only reviews Roberts's contributions but also draws connections to influential figures such as William James and Claude Lévi-Strauss.
Whether you're a student of anthropology, philosophy, or simply intrigued by the esoteric realms of human thought, this book is essential for exploring the intersection between radical ideas and traditional methods. Join us in redefining the landscape of metaphysical inquiry!
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled. Condition: BRAND NEW. ISBN: 9781517915162. Year: 2023. Publisher: University of Minnesota Press.
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9781517915162
Year: 2023
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Description:
A powerful case for why anthropology should study outsiders of thought and their speculative ideas
What sort of thinking is needed to study anomalies in thought? In this trenchantly argued and beautifully written book, anthropologist Peter Skafish explores this provocative question by examining the writings of the medium and “rough metaphysician” Jane Roberts (1929–1984). Through a close interpretation of her own published texts as well as those she understood herself to have dictated for her cohort of channeled personalities—including one, named “Seth,” who would inspire the New Age movement—Skafish shows her intuitive and dreamlike work to be a source of rigorously inventive ideas about science, ontology, translation, and pluralism. Arguing that Roberts’s writings contain philosophies ahead of their time, he also asks: How might our understanding of speculative thinking change if we consider the way untrained writers, occult visionaries, and their counterparts in other cultural traditions undertake it? What can outsider thinkers teach us about the limitations of even our most critical intellectual habits?
Rough Metaphysics is at once an ethnography of the books of a strange and yet remarkable writer, a commentary on the unlikely philosophy contained in them, and a call for a new way of doing (and undoing) philosophy through anthropology, and vice versa. In guiding the reader through Roberts’s often hallucinatory “world of concepts,” Skafish also develops a series of original interpretations of thinkers—from William James to Claude Lévi-Strauss to Paul Feyerabend—who have been vital to anthropolog
Perfect for scholars and curious minds alike, 'Rough Metaphysics' invites readers to reflect on the anomalies in thought and the unconventional methods of speculative thinking. Skafish argues for the relevance of these often-overlooked voices in philosophical discourse, urging us to reconsider the boundaries of intellectual thought. This compelling ethnography not only reviews Roberts's contributions but also draws connections to influential figures such as William James and Claude Lévi-Strauss.
Whether you're a student of anthropology, philosophy, or simply intrigued by the esoteric realms of human thought, this book is essential for exploring the intersection between radical ideas and traditional methods. Join us in redefining the landscape of metaphysical inquiry!
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled. Condition: BRAND NEW. ISBN: 9781517915162. Year: 2023. Publisher: University of Minnesota Press.
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9781517915162
Year: 2023
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Description:
A powerful case for why anthropology should study outsiders of thought and their speculative ideas
What sort of thinking is needed to study anomalies in thought? In this trenchantly argued and beautifully written book, anthropologist Peter Skafish explores this provocative question by examining the writings of the medium and “rough metaphysician” Jane Roberts (1929–1984). Through a close interpretation of her own published texts as well as those she understood herself to have dictated for her cohort of channeled personalities—including one, named “Seth,” who would inspire the New Age movement—Skafish shows her intuitive and dreamlike work to be a source of rigorously inventive ideas about science, ontology, translation, and pluralism. Arguing that Roberts’s writings contain philosophies ahead of their time, he also asks: How might our understanding of speculative thinking change if we consider the way untrained writers, occult visionaries, and their counterparts in other cultural traditions undertake it? What can outsider thinkers teach us about the limitations of even our most critical intellectual habits?
Rough Metaphysics is at once an ethnography of the books of a strange and yet remarkable writer, a commentary on the unlikely philosophy contained in them, and a call for a new way of doing (and undoing) philosophy through anthropology, and vice versa. In guiding the reader through Roberts’s often hallucinatory “world of concepts,” Skafish also develops a series of original interpretations of thinkers—from William James to Claude Lévi-Strauss to Paul Feyerabend—who have been vital to anthropolog