Madness, Mysticism, and Philosophy – A Talk with Wouter Kusters

About this episode

This episode features a discussion with linguist and philosopher Wouter Kusters about the intersections of madness, mysticism, and philosophy.

For episode 14 of Pop Apocalypse, we welcome the linguist and philosopher Wouter Kusters. Kusters is the author of Pure Madness (2004) and A Philosophy of Madness (2014), both of which won the Dutch Socrates Award for best philosophy book of the year. We discuss how the experience of psychotic thinking challenges and illuminates our notions of language, philosophy, and mysticism. Along the way, we touch on the similarities between mystical and mad experiences, apophatic and psychotic uses of language, the phenomenology of time, and the impact of Kusters’ books on mental health specialists.

People in this episode

Host: Matthew J. Dillon

Guest: Wouter Kusters

Topics covered

• madness
• mysticism
• philosophy
• psychotic thinking
• language
• mental health

Keywords

• madness
• mysticism
• philosophy
• psychotic thinking
• language
• mental health
• Wouter Kusters

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Dutch Socrates Award

Books & works: Pure Madness, A Philosophy of Madness

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