The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick
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Umwelt (German): The universal environment that surrounds us. One of the three types of world described by the existentialist psychologist Ludwig Binswanger; see Mitwelt and Eigenwelt.
Urgrund (German): Primitive basis or source. Used by both Eckhart and Boehme to describe ultimate reality.
Urwelt (German): Primeval world.
UTI: Ultra Terrestrial Intelligence; a term for higher beings who originate on this planet.
VALIS: Acronym coined by Dick, based on the phrase "Vast Active Living Intelligence System."
Valisystem A: Dick made notes for a novel with this title between 1974 and 1976, sometimes in conjunction with notes on To Scare the Dead. The book was written in 1976 and posthumously published in 1985 as Radio Free Albemuth.
Virgil (70–19 B.C.E.): Roman author. The sixth book of Virgil's Aeneid, as well as his fourth Eclogue, features the Cumaean Sibyl.
VR: VALIS Regained, working title for The Divine Invasion (1981).
Warrick, Patricia, or Pat: Patricia Warrick, a science fiction critic who corresponded with Dick and wrote about him extensively, both before his death, in The Cybernetic Imagination in Science Fiction (1980), and after, in Mind in Motion: The Fiction of Philip K. Dick (1987).
Whitehead, Alfred North (1861–1947): English mathematician and philosopher. In their Principia Mathematica, Whitehead and Bertrand Russell attempted to provide a robust formal structure for mathematics, a project whose unresolvable contradictions ultimately helped spawn the computer. Later Whitehead developed process philosophy, a school of thought that characterizes reality as a continuum of overlapping events rather than a collection of objects. Charles Hartshorne developed Whitehead's thoughts on the theological implications of this philosophy into process theology.
Xenophanes (c. 570–475 B.C.E.): Greek philosopher and poet, and a critic of the religious anthropomorphism of his contemporaries. In fragments referenced frequently in the Exegesis, Xenophanes describes a God who is unitary, changeless, and eternal and "shakes all things by the thought of his mind."
Xerox letter, or Xerox missive: A mysterious letter received by Dick in March 1974. The envelope contained a photocopied book review from a left-wing newspaper with certain words underlined in red and blue; it had a return address, but no name. Dick insisted that his wife Tessa read it in his stead, claiming vague foreknowledge about it and believing that if he saw its contents he would die. In the Exegesis he suggests that this foreknowledge saved his life.
YHWH: In the Hebrew Bible, the true name of God; also referred to as the tetragrammaton.
Zagreus (Greek): An alternate name of the Greek god Dionysus that means "torn to pieces." The name reflects the Orphic myth that Dionysus was torn apart by the Titans as a child, only to return to life through the agency of his father Zeus, who restored his son to life by eating the heart of his sundered corpse.
About the Editors and Annotators
Simon Critchley is Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York. He is the author of many books, including The Faith of the Faithless, to be published in 2012. He is series moderator for "The Stone," an online philosophy column with the New York Times.
Erik Davis is the author of four books on alternative religion and popular culture, including Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information and Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica. He is pursuing a PhD in religious studies at Rice University and has been writing and lecturing on Philip K. Dick for over twenty years.
Richard Doyle is Professor of English and Information Sciences and Technology at Pennsylvania State University and the author of a trilogy of books on information and the life sciences. The latest, Darwin's Pharmacy: Sex, Plants, and the Evolution of the Noösphere, was published by the University of Washington Press in 2011.
Steve Erickson is the author of nine novels—including These Dreams of You, to be published in early 2012—as well as editor of the literary journal Black Clock. In November 1990, he wrote the cover story on Philip K. Dick, "California Time-Slip," for the L.A. Weekly.
David Gill teaches composition and literature at San Francisco State University and runs the popular Philip K. Dick–centric blog, Total Dick-Head (totaldickhead.blogspot.com). He has written about Dick for Article magazine, boingboing, and io9 and lectured about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? at Harvard and the National Association of Humanities Educators.
N. Katherine Hayles is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies of Literature at Duke University. Her books include How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics and Writing Machines. Her most recent, How We Think: Digital Media and Contemporary Technogenesis, will be published in 2012.
Pamela Jackson holds degrees in rhetoric and library and information studies from the University of California, Berkeley and Los Angeles, respectively. Her 1999 dissertation, "The World Philip K. Dick Made," initiated a decade's study of Philip K. Dick's Exegesis. She is also a graduate of Berkeley High School, Philip K. Dick's only alma mater.
Jeffrey J. Kripal holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. A historian of religions who specializes in the analysis and interpretation of comparative mystical literature, he is the author or co-editor of twelve volumes, including his most recent, Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal.
Jonathan Lethem is the Roy E. Disney Chair in Creative Writing at Pomona College and the author of eight novels and two collections of stories. His writing on Philip K. Dick appears in his essay collections The Disappointment Artist and The Ecstasy of Influence.
Gabriel Mckee is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and the author of The Gospel According to Science Fiction. A theologian concentrating on the intersection of religion and popular culture, he also works as a librarian and archivist specializing in rare books and counterculture ephemera. His first book was Pink Beams of Light from the God in the Gutter: The Science Fictional Religion of Philip K. Dick.
Names Index
Abendsen, Hawthorne, [>]
Aldiss, Brian, [>]
Alexander the Great, [>]
Allegro, John, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Altman, Robert, [>]
Anaxagoras, [>]
Anderson, Maxwell, [>]
Appolonius of Tyana, [>]
Archimedes, [>]
Aristotle, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Augustine, [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Avicenna, [>]
Bach, J. S., [>], [>]
Beethoven, Ludwig van, [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Bergson, Henri, [>], [>], [>], [>]
Berkeley, George, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Blake, William, [>]
Blavatsky, Helena Patrovna, [>]
Bly, Robert, [>]
Boehme, Jacob, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Bogen, Joseph E., [>]
Borges, Jorge Luis, [>], [>]
Boucher, Phyllis, [>]
Boucher, Tony, [>]–[>]
Bowie, David, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Brown, Frederic, [>]
Brunner, John, [>], [>]
Bruno, Giordano, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Buber, Martin, [>], [>], [>], [>]
Bucke, Richard Maurice, [>], [>]
Burroughs, William S., [>], [>], [>]
Bush, Claudia, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
Caesar, [>]
Callahan, Harry, [>]
Calvin, John, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Campbell, Joseph, [>], [>], [>]
Capra, Fritjof, [>], [>], [>], [>]
Clarke, Arthur C., [>]–[>]
Clute, John, [>], [>]
Coleridge, Samuel, [>], [>]
Colson, Charles, [>]
Cornford, Francis M., [>], [>], [>]
Crème, Benjamin, [>], [>], [>], [>]
Crick, Francis, [>], [>]–[>]
Crumb, R., [>], [>]
Dante Alighieri, [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Darwin, Charles, [>]
Deikman, Arthur J., [>], [>], [>]
Denver, John, [>], [>]
Descartes, René, [>], [>]
Disch, Tom, [>], [>], [>], [>]
Donne, John, [>], [>]
Durant, Will, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Eckhart, Meister, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Edwards, Malcolm, [>]–[>]
Einstein, Albert, [>], [>], [>], [>]
Eliade, Mircea, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Ellison, Harlan, [>]
Elton John, [>], [>]
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, [>]
Empedocles, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>]
Erasmus, Desiderius, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Eriugena, Johannes Scotus, [>], [>]
Euripides, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Farmer, Philip Jose, [>]
Ferkis, Victor, [>]
Fitting, Peter, [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Flannery, Pat, [>]
Ford, Gerald R., [>]
Fosse, Bob, [>]
Fox, George, [>]
Freud, Sigmund, [>]
Galen, Russ, [>], [>]–[>]
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, [>]
Graves, Robert, [>]
Hambro, Claudia, [>]
Harding, Esther, [>]
Harding, Warren G., [>]
Harrison, Jane, [>]
Hartshorne, Charles, [>]
Haynes, Jim, [>]
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, [>], [>], [>]–[>]
Heidegger, Martin, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Heinlein, Robert, [>]
Heraclitus, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Herbert, George, [>]
Hiss, Tony, [>]–[>]
Hoffman, E. T. A., [>]
Huizinga, Johan, [>]–[>]
Husch, Gerhard, [>]
Isidore, Jack, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Jaffe, Robert, [>]
James, William, [>]
Jaynes, Julian, [>], [>], [>]
Joachim of Fiore, [>], [>]
Jonas, Hans, [>]
Joyce, James, [>], [>]
Jung, Carl, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Kabir, [>]
Kadmon, Adam, [>], [>]
Kafka, Franz, [>], [>]
Kandinsky, Wassily, [>], [>]
Kant, Immanuel, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Kennedy, Bobby, [>]
King, Martin Luther, [>]
Klee, Paul, [>]
Koestler, Arthur, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]
Korman, Henry, [>]–[>]
Kozyrev, Nikolai Aleksandrovich, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Kurtz, Katherine, [>]
KW, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Leary, Timothy, [>]
Le Guin, Ursula, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Leibnitz, Gottfried, [>], [>], [>]
Lem, Stanislaw, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Lemnitz, Tisne, [>]
Lévy-Brühl, Lucien, [>]
Lewis, Jerry, [>]
Lovecraft, H. P., [>]
Luther, Martin, [>], [>]
Mahler, Gustav, [>]–[>]
Maimonides, [>]
Malebranch, Nicolas, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Malzberg, Barry, [>]
Mann, Peter, [>]
Marcuse, Herbert, [>]
Marx Brothers, [>]
May, Rollo, [>], [>]
Mays, Willie, [>]
McCartney, Paul, [>]
McKenna, Dennis J., [>]–[>]
McKenna, Terrence L., [>]–[>]
McMahon, Ed, [>]
Mead, Margaret, [>]
Meredith, Scott, [>]
Meskys, Ed, [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Miller, Henry, [>]
Milton, John, [>]
Minkowski, Herman, [>], [>]
Moore, C. L., [>]
Mumford, Lewis, [>]–[>]
Murphy, Bridey, [>]
Napoleon Bonaparte, [>]
Newton, Isaac, [>]
Newton-John, Olivia, [>]
Nicks, Stevie, [>]
Nietzsche, Friedrich, [>], [>], [>]
Nixon, Richard M., [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Ornstein, Robert, [>], [>], [>], [>]
Paracelsus, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Parmenides, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Paul the Apostle, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Perry, John Weir, [>], [>]
Pike, Diane, [>]
Pike, Jim, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Plato, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Platt, Charles, [>]
Plotinus, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Principal, Victoria, [>]
Proust, Marcel, [>]
Purser, Philip, [>]–[>]
Pynchon, Thomas, [>]
Pythagoras, [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Reagan, Ronald, [>]
Reich, Wilhelm, [>], [>]
Rickman, Gregg, [>], [>]
Ronstadt, Linda, [>], [>], [>]
Sankara, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Sarill, Bill, [>], [>]
Sauter, Doris, [>], [>], [>], [>]
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph, [>]
Schiller, Friedrich, [>], [>]
Schopenhauer, Arthur, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Schrödinger, Erwin, [>], [>]