Robert Anton Wilson

Robert Anton Wilson
Wilson in 1991
Born
Robert Edward Wilson

(1932-01-18)January 18, 1932
Brooklyn, New York, US
DiedJanuary 11, 2007(2007-01-11) (aged 74)
Notable work
Spouse
Arlen Riley Wilson
(m. 1958; died 1999)
Era20th-century philosophy
21st-century philosophy
RegionWestern 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]

  1. ^ 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."
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Patricia Monaghan: "Robert Anton Wilson". Booklist, May 15, 1999, v. 95 i. 18, p. 1680.
  5. ^ "Robert Anton Wilson". Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007
  6. ^ Hevesi, Dennis (January 13, 2007). "Obituary". The New York Times.
  7. ^ "Refine the Mind article". July 25, 2014.

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