Ep259: Questioning Enlightenment - Dr Justin Sledge 2
Dr James Justin Sledge is a professor of philosophy and religion specialising in the Western Esoteric tradition and founder of the popular Esoterica Youtube channel.
Available on Youtube, iTunes, SoundCloud & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
Dr Sledge begins by explaining his position on enlightenment, why he’s not interested in becoming enlightened but still finds the concept interesting, and whether or not enlightenment claims are linked to traits of narcissistic personality disorder.
Dr Sledge also reveals his own ethical orientation, considers various theories of morality, the role of tradition vs subjective experience, and what he calls the ”meaning famine”.
Dr Sledge also takes aim at postmodernism and deconstructionism, retrieves the overlooked philosophers of antiquity and the Renaissance, and offers recommended reading lists for the autodidact interested in the esoteric.
00:00 - Intro
01:01 - Don’t want to be enlightened
02:20 - Belief, practice, and tradition
04:17 - Magick and the quest for power
06:42 - Judaism without belief in God
09:34 - Origins of moral authority
12:43 - Is belief in God necessary?
14:44 - Natural law and utilitarianism
16:07 - Dr Sledge’s personal ethics
16:40 - Virtue ethics
19:05 - The danger of existential questions
21:59 - Intellectual and spiritual hazing
22:31 - The meaning famine
25:35 - Dr Sledge on deconstruction and post-modernism
31:43 - Cancelling the canon
33:51 - Classics reading list for the autodidact
38:43 - Why get enlightened?
40:34 - Too lazy?
41:27 - Is enlightenment worth it?
44:48 - Enlightened narcissists
45:56 - Criticism of Dr Sledge
46:56 - Danger of unthinking fealty
50:05 - Questioning tradition and existential crisis
53:09 - Pros and cons of mystical experiences
57:27 - The mystic’s mistake
58:24 - Hyperfixation on baseline consciousness
59:42 - Hallucinations of the recently deceased
01:02:13 - Upsetting both sides
01:04:19 - Truth and other epistemologies
01:10:02 - Overlooked philosophers
01:12:05 - Telling the whole story of philosophy
01:13:25 - Dishonesty of academic philosophy
01:14:06 - Spiritual Renaissance philosophy and depriving
01:15:49 - The loss of awe and beauty
01:18:59 - Chasing awe with psychedelics, astronomy, and community
01:23:39 - Tactical religion and joining communities of value
01:27:19 - Huge influx of new converts to Judaism
01:28:43 - Recommended reading for Western Esotericism and overlooked philosophy
01:34:59 - Dr Sledge’s go-to book
Previous episode with Dr Justin Sledge:
To find out more about Dr Justin Sledge, visit:
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James