The 'enigma' of Richard Schultes, Amazonian hallucinogenic plants, and the limits of ethnobotany.
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| Title: | The 'enigma' of Richard Schultes, Amazonian hallucinogenic plants, and the limits of ethnobotany. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Sheldrake, Merlin1 |
| Source: | Social Studies of Science (Sage Publications, Ltd.). Jun2020, Vol. 50 Issue 3, p345-376. 32p. |
| Subject Terms: | Ayahuasca, Banisteriopsis, Ethnobotany, Hallucinogenic plants, Taxonomy |
| People: | Schultes, Richard Evans, 1915-2001, Spruce, Richard |
| Abstract: | This story is about the twentieth-century ethnobotanist, Richard Evans Schultes (1915–2001), and his research on hallucinogenic plants. Ethnobotany can contribute directly to science and technology studies in that the discipline makes cultural ways of knowing its scientific subject. Ethnobotanists must learn about plants through people, and are not able to conceal their interactions with indigenous informants and other ethnobotanists. I focus on an 'enigma' that Schultes presented, concerning the peculiar ability of indigenous Amazonians to distinguish between local varieties of vine that he was unable to tell apart, notably those used to prepare the hallucinogenic beverage ayahuasca. The enigma describes a complicated and irresolvable question thrown up at the uneasy intersection between different ways of knowing about the world, and shows how modern scientific travellers might navigate – or fail to navigate – the uncertain passage between them. Together with Schultes's accounts of his own non-ordinary states of consciousness elicited by ayahuasca, and his writings on the Victorian botanist Richard Spruce, I chart an epistemological gulf between Schultes's modern scientific cosmology and that of his Amazonian informants. In describing his inability to learn about the ayahuasca varieties from Amazonians, Schultes's enigma traces the very limits of the ethnobotanical discipline and reveals the fragility of the processes by which scientific naturalists might impose categories such as 'nature' and 'culture'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Social Studies of Science (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 143636686 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: The 'enigma' of Richard Schultes, Amazonian hallucinogenic plants, and the limits of ethnobotany. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Sheldrake%2C+Merlin%22">Sheldrake, Merlin</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Social+Studies+of+Science+%28Sage+Publications%2C+Ltd%2E%29%22">Social Studies of Science (Sage Publications, Ltd.)</searchLink>. Jun2020, Vol. 50 Issue 3, p345-376. 32p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ayahuasca%22">Ayahuasca</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Banisteriopsis%22">Banisteriopsis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethnobotany%22">Ethnobotany</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hallucinogenic+plants%22">Hallucinogenic plants</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Taxonomy%22">Taxonomy</searchLink> – Name: SubjectPerson Label: People Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="PE" term="%22Schultes%2C+Richard+Evans%2C+1915-2001%22">Schultes, Richard Evans, 1915-2001</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="PE" term="%22Spruce%2C+Richard%22">Spruce, Richard</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: This story is about the twentieth-century ethnobotanist, Richard Evans Schultes (1915–2001), and his research on hallucinogenic plants. Ethnobotany can contribute directly to science and technology studies in that the discipline makes cultural ways of knowing its scientific subject. Ethnobotanists must learn about plants through people, and are not able to conceal their interactions with indigenous informants and other ethnobotanists. I focus on an 'enigma' that Schultes presented, concerning the peculiar ability of indigenous Amazonians to distinguish between local varieties of vine that he was unable to tell apart, notably those used to prepare the hallucinogenic beverage ayahuasca. The enigma describes a complicated and irresolvable question thrown up at the uneasy intersection between different ways of knowing about the world, and shows how modern scientific travellers might navigate – or fail to navigate – the uncertain passage between them. Together with Schultes's accounts of his own non-ordinary states of consciousness elicited by ayahuasca, and his writings on the Victorian botanist Richard Spruce, I chart an epistemological gulf between Schultes's modern scientific cosmology and that of his Amazonian informants. In describing his inability to learn about the ayahuasca varieties from Amazonians, Schultes's enigma traces the very limits of the ethnobotanical discipline and reveals the fragility of the processes by which scientific naturalists might impose categories such as 'nature' and 'culture'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Social Studies of Science (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1177/0306312720920362 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 32 StartPage: 345 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Ayahuasca Type: general – SubjectFull: Banisteriopsis Type: general – SubjectFull: Ethnobotany Type: general – SubjectFull: Hallucinogenic plants Type: general – SubjectFull: Taxonomy Type: general – SubjectFull: Schultes, Richard Evans, 1915-2001 Type: general – SubjectFull: Spruce, Richard Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: The 'enigma' of Richard Schultes, Amazonian hallucinogenic plants, and the limits of ethnobotany. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Sheldrake, Merlin IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 06 Text: Jun2020 Type: published Y: 2020 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 03063127 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 50 – Type: issue Value: 3 Titles: – TitleFull: Social Studies of Science (Sage Publications, Ltd.) Type: main |
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