Robert Anton Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Wilson in 1991 | |
| Born | Robert Edward Wilson January 18, 1932 Brooklyn, New York, US |
| Died | January 11, 2007 (aged 74) |
| Notable work |
|
| Spouse |
Arlen Riley Wilson
(m. 1958; died 1999) |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy 21st-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | |
Main interests | |
Notable ideas | |
Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, futurist, psychologist,[1][2] and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson helped publicize Discordianism through his writings and interviews.[3] In 1999 he described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth".[4] Wilson's goal was "to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything."[5]
In addition to writing several science-fiction novels, Wilson also wrote non-fiction books on extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, metaphysics, paranormal experiences, conspiracy theory, sex, drugs, and what Wilson called "quantum psychology".[6]
Following a career in journalism and as an editor, notably for Playboy, Wilson emerged as a major countercultural figure in the mid-1970s, comparable to one of his coauthors, Timothy Leary, as well as Terence McKenna.[7]
- ^ Karen Eriksen, Garrett McAuliffe, ed. (2001). Teaching Counselors and Therapists: Constructivist and Developmental Course Design. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 335. ISBN 978-0897897952.
Psychologist Robert Anton Wilson (1992) has called the resulting worldview a "reality-tunnel" or "reality-labyrinth."
- ^ R. Elliott Ingersoll, Carl F. Rak (2015). Psychopharmacology for Mental Health Professionals: An Integrative Approach. Cengage Learning. p. 73. ISBN 978-1305537231.
These results take on a surreal quality today, when, as psychologist Robert Anton Wilson (2002) noted, there is no "war on drugs," only a war on some drugs.
- ^ Robertson, David G. (2012). "Making the Donkey Visible: Discordianism in the Works of Robert Anton Wilson". In Cusack, Carol; Norman, Alex (eds.). Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion. Vol. 4. Leiden: Brill Publishers. pp. 421–441. doi:10.1163/9789004226487_018. ISBN 978-9004221871. ISSN 1874-6691.
- ^ Patricia Monaghan: "Robert Anton Wilson". Booklist, May 15, 1999, v. 95 i. 18, p. 1680.
- ^ "Robert Anton Wilson". Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007
- ^ Hevesi, Dennis (January 13, 2007). "Obituary". The New York Times.
- ^ "Refine the Mind article". July 25, 2014. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved November 28, 2019.