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| − | '''Colin Henry Wilson''' (born [[June 26]], [[1931]] in [[Leicester]]) is a prolific [[United Kingdom|British]] writer. | + | '''Colin Henry Wilson''' (26 June 1931 – 5 December 2013) was a prolific English [[writer]] who first came to prominence as a [[philosopher]] and novelist. He also wrote widely on true [[crime]], [[mysticism]] and the [[paranormal]]. Wilson called his philosophy "new [[existentialism]]" or "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(archaeology) phenomenological] existentialism", and maintained his life work "that of a philosopher, and (his) [[purpose]] to create a new and optimistic existentialism.” |
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| − | ==Biography==
| + | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Gollancz_Ltd Gollancz] published the then 24-year-old Wilson's ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outsider_(Colin_Wilson) The Outsider]'' in 1956. The work examines the role of the social "outsider" in seminal works by various key [[literary]] and cultural figures – such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Camus Albert Camus], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre Jean-Paul Sartre], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway Ernest Hemingway], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Hesse Hermann Hesse], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky Fyodor Dostoyevsky], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James William James], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence T. E. Lawrence] – and discusses Wilson's perception of social [[alienation]] in their work. The book became a best-seller and helped popularise [[existentialism]] in Britain. |
| − | Wilson was born and brought up in [[Leicester]]. He left school at 16 and worked in factories and numerous other jobs while reading in his spare time. In [[1956 in literature|1956]], at the age of 24, he published ''[[The Outsider (Colin Wilson)|The Outsider]]'', which examines the role of the social "outsider" in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures (notably [[Albert Camus]], [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], [[Ernest Hemingway]], [[Hermann Hesse]], [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]], [[T.E. Lawrence]], [[Vaslav Nijinsky]] and [[Vincent Van Gogh]]) and aspects of [[Social alienation|alienation]] in their works. The book was very successful and was a serious contribution to the popularisation of [[existentialism]] in Britain. Its welcome by leading figures of their day was shortlived and Wilson was subsequently vilified.<ref>Barber, Lynn. [http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/biography/story/0,6000,1227609,00.html "Now they will realise that I am a genius"], ''The Guardian'', May 30, 2004. Accessed September 26, 2007.</ref>
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| − | Wilson was labelled as an [[Angry Young Men|Angry Young Man]]: he did contribute to ''[[Declaration (1957 book)|Declaration]]'', an anthology of manifestos by writers associated with the movement, and a chapter of ''[[The Outsider]]'' was excerpted in a popular paperback sampler, ''[[Protest: The Beat Generation and the Angry Young Men]]''.<ref name="Maschler">{{cite book|title=''Declaration''|author=Maschler, Tom (editor)|date=1957|location=London|publisher=MacGibbon and Kee}}</ref><ref name="Feldman and Gartenberg">{{cite book|title=''Protest: The Beat Generation and the Angry Young Men''|author=Feldman, Gene and Gartneberg, Max (editors)|date=1958|location=New York|publisher=Citadel Press}}</ref> Wilson, along with his friends [[Bill Hopkins (novelist)|Bill Hopkins]] and [[Stuart Holroyd (philosopher)|Stuart Holroyd]] , was viewed as forming a sub-group among the "Angries", a group more concerned with "religious values" than liberal or socialist politics. Critics on the left were swift to label them as fascistic; commentator Kenneth Allsop called them "the law givers".<ref name="Allsop">{{cite book|title=''The Angry Decade; A Survey of the Cultural Revolt of the Nineteen Fifties''|author=Allsop, Kenneth|date=1958|location=London|publisher=Peter Owen Ltd}}</ref><ref name="Holroyd">{{cite book|title=''Contraries: A Personal Progression''|author=Holroyd, Stuart|date=1975|location=London|publisher=The Bodley Head Ltd}}</ref>. | + | Wilson became associated with the "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angry_Young_Men Angry Young Men]" of British literature. He contributed to ''Declaration'', an anthology of manifestos by writers associated with the movement, and was also anthologised in a popular paperback sampler, ''Protest: The Beat Generation and the Angry Young Men''. Some viewed Wilson and his friends Bill Hopkins and Stuart Holroyd as a sub-group of the "Angries", more concerned with "religious [[values]]" than with liberal or socialist [[politics]]. Critics on the left swiftly labeled them as [[fascist]]; commentator Kenneth Allsop called them "the law givers". |
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| − | Wilson's works include a substantial focus on positive aspects of human [[psychology]] such as [[peak experiences]] and the narrowness of consciousness. Wilson admired, and was in contact with, for example, humanistic psychologist, [[Abraham Maslow]]. Wilson also published in [[1980 in literature|1980]] ''The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff'', a text concerned with the life, work and philosophy of [[G. I. Gurdjieff]], which forms an accessible introduction to the Greek-Armenian [[mysticism|mystic]]. Wilson essentially argues throughout his whole work that the existentialist focus on defeat or nausea is only a partial representation of reality and that there is no particular reason for accepting it. In his view normal everyday consciousness buffetted by the moment is blinkered, and should not be accepted as necessarily showing us the truth about reality. This blinkering has some evolutionary advantages in that it stops us being completely immersed in wonder or in the huge stream of events, and hence unable to act. However, to live properly we need to access more than this everyday consciousness. To Wilson our peak experiences of joy and meaningfulness can be seen to be as real as our experiences of angst, and indeed as we seem more fully alive at these moments, they can be said to be more real. Furthermore these experiences can be cultivated, as a side effect, through concentration, paying attention, relaxation and certain types of work. Wilson tends to argue that compulsive criminality is a manifestation of a pathological attempt to gain peak experiences through violence. This effort is bound to fail in the long run, leading the criminal to greater extremes of violence or to a desire to be caught. | + | After the initial success of Wilson's first work, critics universally panned ''Religion and the Rebel'' (1957). Time magazine published a review, headlined "Scrambled Egghead", that pilloried the book.[12] By the late 1960s Wilson had become increasingly interested in [[metaphysical]] and [[occult]] themes. In 1971, he published ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Occult:_A_History The Occult: A History]'', featuring interpretations on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley Aleister Crowley], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gurdjieff George Gurdjieff], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Blavatsky Helena Blavatsky], Kabbalah, primitive [[magic]], Franz Mesmer, Grigori Rasputin, Daniel Dunglas Home, and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus Paracelsus] (among others). He also wrote a markedly unsympathetic biography of Crowley, ''Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast'', and has written biographies on other spiritual and psychological [[vision]]aries, including Gurdjieff, Carl Jung, Wilhelm Reich, Rudolf Steiner, and P. D. Ouspensky. |
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| − | Wilson has also explored his ideas through [[fiction]], including many [[novel]]s, mostly [[detective fiction]] or [[horror fiction]], the latter including several [[Cthulhu Mythos]] pieces. On a dare from [[August Derleth]], Colin Wilson wrote ''The Mind Parasites'', as another tool to take a look at his own ideas (which suffuse all of his works), putting them in the guise of [[fiction]]. One of his novels, ''[[The Space Vampires]]'', was made into the movie, ''[[Lifeforce (film)|Lifeforce]]'', directed by [[Tobe Hooper]]. | + | Originally, Wilson focused on the cultivation of what he called "Faculty X", which he saw as leading to an increased sense of [[meaning]], and on abilities such as [[telepathy]] and the awareness of other [[energies]]. In his later work he suggests the possibility of life after death and the [[existence]] of spirits, which he personally analyzes as an active member of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_Club Ghost Club].[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Wilson] |
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| − | Wilson has also written extensive non-fiction books about [[crime]] and various [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] and [[occult]] themes. In [[1971 in literature|1971]], he published ''[[The Occult: A History]]'' featuring [[exegesis]] on [[Aleister Crowley]], Gurdjieff, [[Madame Blavatsky|Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]], [[Kabbalah]], primitive magic, [[Franz Anton Mesmer]], [[Rasputin|Gregor Rasputin]], [[Daniel Dunglas Home]], and [[Paracelsus]] among others. He has also written biographies of Crowley and [[C.G. Jung]], called ''Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast'' and ''C.G. Jung: Lord of the Underworld'', respectively. Wilson's initial theories of the occult focused on the cultivation of what he called "Faculty X" which leads to an increased sense of meaning and possibly to effects akin to telepathy or awareness of other energies. In his later work on this subject he seems to accept the possibility of life after death and the existence of spirits.
| + | [[Category: Biography]] |
| − | | + | [[Category: Philosophy]] |
| − | ==Bibliography==
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| − | Note: this bibliography, while extensive, is incomplete.
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| − | For a complete bibliography see Colin Stanley's ''Colin Wilson, the first fifty years: an existential bibliography, 1956-2005''. Nottingham, UK: Paupers' Press, 2006 (ISBN 0-946650-89-6)
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| − | * ''[[The Outsider (Colin Wilson)|The Outsider]]'' (1956)
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| − | * ''Religion and the Rebel'' (1957)
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| − | * "The Frenchman" (short story, ''Evening Standard'' August 22, 1957)
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| − | * ''The Age of Defeat'' (US title ''The Stature of Man'') (1959)
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| − | * ''Ritual in the Dark'' (1960)
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| − | * ''Encyclopedia of Murder'' (with Patricia Pitman, 1961)
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| − | * ''[[Adrift in Soho]]'' (1961)
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| − | * "Watching the Bird" (short story, ''Evening News'' September 12, 1961)
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| − | * "Uncle Tom and the Police Constable" (short story, ''Evening News'' October 23, 1961)
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| − | * "He Couldn't Fail" (short story, ''Evening News'' December 29, 1961)
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| − | * ''The Strength to Dream: Literature and the Imagination'' (1962)
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| − | * "Uncle and the Lion" (short story, ''Evening News'' September 28, 1962)
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| − | * "Hidden Bruise" (short story, ''Evening News'' December 3, 1962)
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| − | * ''Origins of the Sexual Impulse'' (1963)
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| − | * ''The World of Violence'' (US title ''The Violent World of Hugh Greene'') (1963)
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| − | * ''Man Without a Shadow'' (US title ''The Sex Diary of Gerard Sorme'') (1963)
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| − | * "The Wooden Cubes" (short story, ''Evening News'' June 27, 1963)
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| − | * ''Rasputin and the Fall of the Romanovs'' (1964)
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| − | * ''Brandy of the Damned'' (1964; later expanded and reprinted as ''Chords and Discords''/''Colin Wilson On Music'')
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| − | * ''Necessary Doubt'' (1964)
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| − | * ''Beyond the Outsider'' (1965)
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| − | * ''Eagle and Earwig'' (1965)
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| − | * ''Sex and the Intelligent Teenager'' (1966)
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| − | * ''Introduction to the New Existentialism'' (1966)
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| − | * ''The Glass Cage'' (1966)
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| − | * ''[[The Mind Parasites]]'' (1967)
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| − | * ''Voyage to a Beginning'' (1969)
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| − | * ''A Casebook of Murder'' (1969)
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| − | * ''Bernard Shaw: A Reassessment'' (1969)
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| − | * ''The Philosopher's Stone'' (1969)
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| − | * ''Poetry and Mysticism'' (1969; subsequently significantly expanded in 1970)
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| − | Unpublished works:
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| − | * ''The Anatomy of Human Greatness'' (non-fiction, written 1964; to be published electronically by Maurice Bassett)
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| − | * ''Metamorphosis of the Vampire'' (fiction, written 1992-94)
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| − | ==References ==
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| − | # ^ Barber, Lynn. "Now they will realise that I am a genius", The Guardian, May 30, 2004. Accessed September 26, 2007.
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| − | # ^ Maschler, Tom (editor) (1957). Declaration. London: MacGibbon and Kee.
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| − | # ^ Feldman, Gene and Gartneberg, Max (editors) (1958). Protest: The Beat Generation and the Angry Young Men. New York: Citadel Press.
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| − | # ^ Allsop, Kenneth (1958). The Angry Decade; A Survey of the Cultural Revolt of the Nineteen Fifties. London: Peter Owen Ltd.
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| − | # ^ Holroyd, Stuart (1975). Contraries: A Personal Progression. London: The Bodley Head Ltd.
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| − | ==External links==
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| − | * [http://www.colinwilsonworld.co.uk Colin Wilson World] - admirer-run site with some Wilson contributions
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| − | * [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jbmorgan/cwilson.html The Colin Wilson Page] - years out of date
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| − | * [http://abrax7.stormloader.com/ Abraxas] - Wilson-related journal
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| − | * [http://www.reinventingyourself.com/ Maurice Bassett Publishing] - e-books for sale of various Wilson texts, several of them rare and otherwise out of print, others never before published
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| − | * [http://members.aol.com/stan2727uk/pauper.htm Paupers' Press] - small press publishing many small items of Wilsoniana and related items
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| − | * [http://www.alternativebookshop.com/SearchResults.php?allText=colin%20wilson Alternative Bookshop Online] - selection of books by, and about, Colin Wilson for purchase online.
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| − | * [http://web.mac.com/philco1/iWeb/Colin%20Wilson/News.html The Phenomenology of Excess] A multimedia Colin Wilson site, approved by its subject
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| − | * [http://www.forteantimes.com/features/interviews/144/colin_wilson.html Interview] by [[Gary Lachman]], [[Fortean Times]], October 2004
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| − | * [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/books/17wils.html?pagewanted=all Colin Wilson's August 2005 interview @ The New York Times] (payment required)
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| − | * [http://www.creelcommission.com/interviews.php?action=show&id=7&title=Reflections+on+meeting+Colin+Wilson+%27The+Outsider%27&date=19-10-2005 Creel Commission] Reflections upon a recent meeting with Colin Wilson at his home.
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| − | * [http://www.tc-lethbridge.com/sons_of_tc_lethbridge/colin_wilson/ The Sons of TC Lethbridge] - Colin's collaboration with the prog-rock band 'The Sons of TC Lethbridge'.
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| − | * [http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1842468,00.html Harry Ritchie, 'Look back in wonder', ''The Guardian'' (Review section) (Saturday, 12 August 2006)]
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| | [[Category: Philosophy]] | | [[Category: Philosophy]] |
| | [[Category: Languages and Literature]] | | [[Category: Languages and Literature]] |
Colin Henry Wilson (26 June 1931 – 5 December 2013) was a prolific English writer who first came to prominence as a philosopher and novelist. He also wrote widely on true crime, mysticism and the paranormal. Wilson called his philosophy "new existentialism" or "phenomenological existentialism", and maintained his life work "that of a philosopher, and (his) purpose to create a new and optimistic existentialism.”
Gollancz published the then 24-year-old Wilson's The Outsider in 1956. The work examines the role of the social "outsider" in seminal works by various key literary and cultural figures – such as Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T. E. Lawrence – and discusses Wilson's perception of social alienation in their work. The book became a best-seller and helped popularise existentialism in Britain.
Wilson became associated with the "Angry Young Men" of British literature. He contributed to Declaration, an anthology of manifestos by writers associated with the movement, and was also anthologised in a popular paperback sampler, Protest: The Beat Generation and the Angry Young Men. Some viewed Wilson and his friends Bill Hopkins and Stuart Holroyd as a sub-group of the "Angries", more concerned with "religious values" than with liberal or socialist politics. Critics on the left swiftly labeled them as fascist; commentator Kenneth Allsop called them "the law givers".
After the initial success of Wilson's first work, critics universally panned Religion and the Rebel (1957). Time magazine published a review, headlined "Scrambled Egghead", that pilloried the book.[12] By the late 1960s Wilson had become increasingly interested in metaphysical and occult themes. In 1971, he published The Occult: A History, featuring interpretations on Aleister Crowley, George Gurdjieff, Helena Blavatsky, Kabbalah, primitive magic, Franz Mesmer, Grigori Rasputin, Daniel Dunglas Home, and Paracelsus (among others). He also wrote a markedly unsympathetic biography of Crowley, Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast, and has written biographies on other spiritual and psychological visionaries, including Gurdjieff, Carl Jung, Wilhelm Reich, Rudolf Steiner, and P. D. Ouspensky.
Originally, Wilson focused on the cultivation of what he called "Faculty X", which he saw as leading to an increased sense of meaning, and on abilities such as telepathy and the awareness of other energies. In his later work he suggests the possibility of life after death and the existence of spirits, which he personally analyzes as an active member of the Ghost Club.[1]
