Philosophies of Illusion

In an age of rising holograms, virtual realities, metaverses, and artificial intelligence, it has become increasingly essential to trace the long-winding, multi-dimensional histories of illusion that have emerged over time across the world.

Philosophies of Illusion studies seventeen iterations of illusion: dream, nightmare, mirage, hallucination, fantasy, figment, spell, simulation, story, vision, rumour, superstition, miracle, game, lie, conspiracy, and multiverse. In each chamber, over forty authors coalesce their insights into our experience of the unreal and the imaginary in far-ranging passages that cover subjects from the manuals of ancient alchemical circles to the prophetic episodes of medieval mystics, narcotized poets to horror filmmakers, and documented instances of mass hysteria to the folklore of shape-shifting.

The diverse thinkers who have contributed to this edited volume – collaborating from across Latin America, East Asia, South Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East – form the control room at the epicentre of a question: What is the future of the illusion, and do we need a new philosophy of the impossible? The examples and case studies used to solve this riddle are drawn from the outer boundaries of different eras, geocultural landscapes, genres, and mediums: mythology, literature, philosophy, psychoanalysis, anthropology, film, visual art, music, theatre, dance, architecture, design, technological devices, video games, underground movements, urban legends, strange objects, ecological phenomena, biogenetic innovations, and experiments with the nature of consciousness.