"Hitting a bong is using all four elements at once."
April 6, 2025 1:33 PM Subscribe
If we ask what cannabis can do for philosophy, on the contrary, I think that the disappointing answer is – not very much. It is a well-worn cliché that the halo of brilliance surrounding our thinking when we are high does not generally stand the test of critical evaluation in the sober aftermath. I do not personally believe that using cannabis can enhance philosophical creativity or produce insights or ideas, let alone good philosophical solutions to important philosophical problems that would not otherwise occur to a philosopher straight. from Philosophers Stoned by Dale Jacquette
I have it on good authority that Fredric Jameson wrote Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism while hitting the bong and watching network TV non-stop for a couple of weeks.
posted by 3.2.3 at 1:59 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
posted by 3.2.3 at 1:59 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
all i know is cannabis will get you through times of no philosophy better than philosophy will get get you through times of no cannabis
remember the fabulous furry freak brothers?
posted by pyramid termite at 2:02 PM on April 6 [22 favorites]
remember the fabulous furry freak brothers?
posted by pyramid termite at 2:02 PM on April 6 [22 favorites]
Shades of "I drive better when I'm drunk"
posted by eustatic at 2:06 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
posted by eustatic at 2:06 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
in my experience there's only one drug for doing philosophy, a drug which as Sartre said (i'm paraphrasing) turns thoughts into words on the page. marijuana perhaps opens one up to experience the sublime, because it is the sublime, you can't say much about after experiencing it. but if you've got an nagging thought that you have a new result in say, mereology, and you want to work through the literature, enumerate the counter arguments, and develop your nagging thought into a beautifully constructed theorem with an elegant proof, there's nothing better than the much maligned and demonized but magical salt of d-amphetamine. I wish it was easier to come by. Meth: it's for thinking.
posted by dis_integration at 2:10 PM on April 6 [7 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 2:10 PM on April 6 [7 favorites]
Well, yeah. Cannabis isn't supposed to help you think; it's for making your brain shut up shut up shut up for just one goddamn minute.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:16 PM on April 6 [10 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:16 PM on April 6 [10 favorites]
using cannabis can increase heart attack and stroke
posted by robbyrobs at 2:26 PM on April 6 [1 favorite]
posted by robbyrobs at 2:26 PM on April 6 [1 favorite]
I do not personally believe that using cannabis can enhance philosophical creativity or produce insights or ideas...Yeah? Well, you know, that's just like uh, your opinion, man.
posted by jeremias at 2:34 PM on April 6 [11 favorites]
using cannabis can increase heart attack and stroke
You misspelled "smoking".
posted by Lemkin at 2:35 PM on April 6 [7 favorites]
You misspelled "smoking".
posted by Lemkin at 2:35 PM on April 6 [7 favorites]
It doesn’t make me more productive or give me insights, but I do think about my life and access memories (long term) more when I’m high AF. I think it shuts down my busy active part of my brain a bit and allows other parts to speak.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 2:58 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 2:58 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
Like "Was Stone Temple Pilots the Grand Funk Railroad of the 90s?.
(llustration by Ralph Steadman)
"On December 18, 1927, at three-thirty in the morning, Walter Benjamin began writing a memorandum titled “Main Features of My First Impression of Hashish.” It is characteristic of Benjamin that the first fact he thought it necessary to record was not the time he had taken the drug but the time he started writing about it"
posted by clavdivs at 3:03 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
(llustration by Ralph Steadman)
"On December 18, 1927, at three-thirty in the morning, Walter Benjamin began writing a memorandum titled “Main Features of My First Impression of Hashish.” It is characteristic of Benjamin that the first fact he thought it necessary to record was not the time he had taken the drug but the time he started writing about it"
posted by clavdivs at 3:03 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
"ear"
posted by clavdivs at 3:04 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 3:04 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
Article: meh.
Title of this post: absolute fire.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 3:40 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
Title of this post: absolute fire.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 3:40 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
Being.
And time.
That's where it's really at, you know?
posted by Lemkin at 3:49 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
And time.
That's where it's really at, you know?
posted by Lemkin at 3:49 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
but if you've got an nagging thought that you have a new result in say, mereology, and you want to work through the literature, enumerate the counter arguments, and develop your nagging thought into a beautifully constructed theorem with an elegant proof, there's nothing better than ...
...caffeine. Preferably via espresso.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:21 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
...caffeine. Preferably via espresso.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:21 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
Sartre said of his amphetamine abuse, “I could live longer, or I could write Critique of Dialectical Reason. I made my choice.”
posted by Lemkin at 5:00 PM on April 6 [1 favorite]
posted by Lemkin at 5:00 PM on April 6 [1 favorite]
Coding while high is pure bliss.
posted by whatevernot at 5:24 PM on April 6
posted by whatevernot at 5:24 PM on April 6
but if you've got an nagging thought that you have a new result in say, mereology, and you want to work through the literature, enumerate the counter arguments, and develop your nagging thought into a beautifully constructed theorem with an elegant proof, there's nothing better than ...
. . . Lysergsäure-diethylamid. Around 1991, Pynchon made so much sense on three hits of double-dip.
posted by vitia at 5:26 PM on April 6
. . . Lysergsäure-diethylamid. Around 1991, Pynchon made so much sense on three hits of double-dip.
posted by vitia at 5:26 PM on April 6
on the plus side, hegel makes sense
posted by graywyvern at 5:39 PM on April 6
posted by graywyvern at 5:39 PM on April 6
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posted by Lemkin at 1:52 PM on April 6 [7 favorites]