Laing The Politics of Experience 40 Years On. Inner Circle Seminar 111 (25 March 2007)

R. D. Laing
on Hampstead Heath

R. D. Laing

The Politics of Experience
40 Years On

Anthony Stadlen
conducts
Inner Circle Seminar No. 111
Sunday 25 March 2007
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

‘Few books today are forgivable. Black on the canvas, silence on the screen, an empty white sheet of paper, are perhaps feasible.’

Thus Laing introduced The Politics of Experience and The Bird of Paradise (March 1967). But his book, while succinct, was not empty. It aimed ‘to provide a thoroughly self-conscious and self-critical human account of man’. It clarified human events that had been obscured and mystified by mechanistic thinking in psychiatry, psychoanalysis and the theory of ‘schizophrenia’. The book resonated with many people. But it is usually selectively quoted, misquoted, and misunderstood. To identify its strengths and weaknesses one must have read it and understood its argument. Today’s seminar will seek to do so. Your contribution will be welcome.

Venue: Room A, Acland Building, Regent’s College, Inner Circle, London NW1

Cost: Students £77, others £99, in advance; some bursaries

Apply to: Anthony Stadlen, ‘Oakleigh’, 2A Alexandra Avenue, London N22 7X
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8888 6857 E-mail: stadlen@aol.com