| Title: | Where East Meets West in Harmony: an Interdisciplinary Approach to Aldous Huxley’s Island |
| Author: | Oana Mureşan |
| Publication: | Philologica Jassyensia, X (1 supl.), p. 349-356 |
| p-ISSN: | 1841-5377 |
| e-ISSN: | 2247-8353 |
| Publisher: | Institutul de Filologie Română „A. Philippide” |
| Place: | Iaşi |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Abstract: | When Eastern and Western concepts and practices are brought together to imagine an ideal society where people benefit from the most important advantages of both cultures, they give rise to a hybrid utopia which may seem odd and far-fetched to a Western reader who is not well acquainted with Eastern philosophy. Yet, in his last novel, Huxley creates a society that embodies a philosophy of life resulting from a life-time quest for means of facilitating the progress of humanity, thus shaping what might be called a “realistic utopia”. The paper discusses several interdisciplinary aspects in the novel, pertaining principally to science, religion and philosophy, many of which revolve around the use of a psychedelic drug in rites of passage by the inhabitants of the fictitious island of Pala. Experiential learning, applied psychology, conventional and complementary medicine all contribute to the stability and unity of the Palanese society. Western scientific progress and Eastern spiritual traditions combine harmoniously to enable Palanese people to pursue the ultimate goal: reaching happiness through self-realization and direct knowledge of the absolute reality. |
| Key words: | education, human progress, medicine, psychedelics, Asian religions |
| Language: | English |
| Links: |  pdf  html |
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