Moore David J. - Evolutionary metaphors: UFOs, new existentialism and the future paradigm

David Moore is one of a new generation of scholars inspired by the work of Colin Wilson (19312013). Assessments of Wilson to date, however, have concentrated on his early work as an existentialist philosopher, largely ignoring his later interests. In Evolutionary Metaphors David Moore takes as his focus Wilsons latter fascination with the UFO Phenomenon as revealed in his 1998 book Alien Dawn . In so doing he provides a fresh and stimulating view of the work of one of the most fascinating and challenging authors of our time.

Colin Stanley , Author of Colin Wilsons Occult Trilogy: A Guide for Students , and Editor of Around the Outsider: Essays Presented to Colin Wilson on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday

Do flying saucers come from outer space, or the inner mind? In Evolutionary Metaphors David Moore brilliantly suggests they may originate in that strange liminal dimension that exists betwixt and betweenreality and dream, neither inside nor out, which we know as the imagination. But what exactly is that? As Moores hermeneutical journey reveals, it is nothing less than a mystery as mysterious as the UFOs themselves. Like a phenomenological man in black, Moore pursues abductor and abductee, and finds that the evidence for extraterrestrials poses some fundamental questions about reality itself. No spacecraft required. Reading this alone will take you out of this world.

Gary Lachman , author of Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump and Beyond the Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson

First published by Sixth Books, 2019

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Text copyright: David J. Moore 2018

ISBN: 978 1 78904 087 6
978 1 78904 088 3 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018938716

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The enormous range of UFO literature can leave one feeling baffled and discouraged, particularly as its size is often only equalled by the absurdity of its contents. This is an unfortunate situation, for what it is attempting to address ought to be taken very seriously. Now, it was in this spirit of confusionand discouraged by many of the blind alleysI turned to Colin Wilsons 1998 Alien Dawn as a guidebook to the subjects unpredictable terrain.

At this point I had already read his earlier The Outsider (1956), a clarifying criticism of the cul-de-sac that existentialism had led itself into, while providing a great synthesis of a wide variety of writers, thinkers and artists who had also grappled with the mysteries of existence. Wilson was able to provide an optimistic advancement of a difficult subject, providing a way out of the maze of nihilism and pessimism that had plagued existentialism for decades. So, it seemed to me that if anybody had the intellectual tools necessary for illuminating the complex mystery of the UFO phenomenon, with sympathy and intelligent sensitivity, it would be found in Wilsons birds-eye view survey of the subject.

After setting down the foundations for his lifes work with The Outsider , it was clear that whatever Wilson was to undertake would be implicitly carrying this new existentialist banner towards an enlargement of our understanding of mans existential predicament. There was, as many readers recognised, an evolutionary directive in his work which aimed to unveil the essential meaning , or evolutionary purpose, inherent in any pursuit or idea. That he had an insatiable drive towards the understanding of human existence, in its widest sense, is supported by his fearlessness in aiding in the publication of Ian Bradys The Gates of Janus (2001). A highly controversial move, but which nevertheless presented a unique and invaluable contribution to our understanding of criminal psychology. Therefore, Wilson, for me and many others, came to represent a fearless explorer of the dark and occulted recesses of the human psyche, but significantly, without a pessimistic bias .

Wilsons approach to ufology retained this evolutionary spirit, for he asked the essential question: What can it tell us about ourselves, our consciousness?a question informed by the philosophical discipline of phenomenology, which aims to reveal the mechanisms of mans psyche, and its dynamic and interpretative role through man and towards reality.

Now, the mystery and mythology of extraterrestrial intelligence is essentially driven by an attempt to catch a glimpse into an alternative state of consciousness; it even suggests a new approach to existentialism, the problem of terrestrial and non-terrestrial existence. This is at the heart of Ian Watsons superb novel, The Embedding (1973), which is about how extraterrestrials processthrough the medium of languagereality and meaning. Indeed the extraterrestrial, as an idea and/or reality, presents a phenomenological mirror which simultaneously distorts and illuminates man as he sees himself in relation to the cosmos. There are of course many shifts in perspective involved: philosophical, psychological and cosmological, with its many other concomitants such as history, culture and the rise of science. Moreover, mankind, the most self-aware creature that we know of, has no other cultural or existential referent except of those evolved on Earth. As I have said, the extraterrestrial, by default, represents a new type of existentialism, and it could be argued that science fiction may become the preparatory groundwork for contact with different forms and new modalities of being. One could argue that the alien may represent man as abstracted to himself or, as Stan Gooch proposed, as a part of the on-going folklore of the Ego. Science fiction, then, becomes the avant-garde of this evolving folklore.

Alien Dawn is a comprehensive summary of both the experience itself and the literature that attempts to peel away at the phenomenons persistently mercurial character. Towards the end of the book, in a chapter significantly titled The Way Outside, Wilson attempts his birds-eye view: a sort of grand synthesis of the subjects possible meaning. For this he calls upon the frontiers of contemporary science, along with developments in parapsychology, cosmology and philosophy. Indeed, it is clear by the title of this chapter that Wilson was attempting to find a way outside the entanglement of absurdity and paradox that surrounds ufology (to both researcher and witness alike). Now, what is unique about this is how Wilson drew upon science fictionparticularly Ian Watsons Miracle Visitors and even the late Brian Aldiss short story Outsideto stretch the contextual boundaries of our understanding of the phenomena; throwing open new and imaginative approaches to a phenomenon that baffles and frustrates the rational intellect. It was this element of Alien Dawn that provided a refreshing interpretation of a phenomenon that tirelessly weaves itself through riddles and contradiction.