Possibly, but his report "The subjective effects of nitrous oxide", printed in _Mind_ in 1882 suggest that he used it for its "illuminating" effects. Which is not to say that it wasn't for self-medicating purposes (much of drug use stems from that purpose). I suppose it isn't very different from so many others in the literary community (E. A. Poe, for example) who used various drugs for their mind-altering effects. I just find it very intriguing that James was perhaps a huffer. Carol ________________________________
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:59 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Re: states of consciousness Given that James suffered from depression, could his use of nitrous oxide be interpreted as an attempt at self-medicating ... perhaps unconsciously Miguel On Feb 26, 2007, at 2:11 PM, DeVolder Carol L wrote: Second, I find it interesting that William James was such an enthusiast of stream of consciousness that he became enamored of the use of inhaled nitrous oxide as a way to expand one's consciousness. --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang= english --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
