Ceremonial Chemistry: The Ritual Persecution Of Drugs Addicts And Pushers
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
In a society that wages war on its own citizens in the name of health and morality, Thomas Szasz's Ceremonial Chemistry stands as a fierce and uncompromising indictment of the modern drug control apparatus. Szasz, a towering figure in anti-psychiatry and libertarian thought, argues that the state's persecution of drug users and dealers is not a medical or public health enterprise, but a ritualistic exercise in social control — a secular inquisition dressed in the language of science and medicine. Drawing bold parallels between the witch hunts of the past and the drug wars of the present, he illustrates how societies designate scapegoats to reinforce cultural norms and consolidate institutional power. Written with Szasz's characteristic precision and polemical force, Ceremonial Chemistry presents a radical challenge to the foundational assumptions of drug prohibition, demanding that readers confront the uncomfortable truth that addiction policy is less about compassion than it is about conformity. His analysis draws on history, anthropology, and political philosophy to construct an argument that remains devastatingly relevant decades after its first publication. For anyone who has ever questioned why certain substances are celebrated while others are criminalized, this book offers not just answers, but a complete framework for rethinking the relationship between the individual, the state, and the chemical substances that lie between them.
Author: Thomas Szasz
Format: Hardback
Genre: Philosophy
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
In a society that wages war on its own citizens in the name of health and morality, Thomas Szasz's Ceremonial Chemistry stands as a fierce and uncompromising indictment of the modern drug control apparatus. Szasz, a towering figure in anti-psychiatry and libertarian thought, argues that the state's persecution of drug users and dealers is not a medical or public health enterprise, but a ritualistic exercise in social control — a secular inquisition dressed in the language of science and medicine. Drawing bold parallels between the witch hunts of the past and the drug wars of the present, he illustrates how societies designate scapegoats to reinforce cultural norms and consolidate institutional power. Written with Szasz's characteristic precision and polemical force, Ceremonial Chemistry presents a radical challenge to the foundational assumptions of drug prohibition, demanding that readers confront the uncomfortable truth that addiction policy is less about compassion than it is about conformity. His analysis draws on history, anthropology, and political philosophy to construct an argument that remains devastatingly relevant decades after its first publication. For anyone who has ever questioned why certain substances are celebrated while others are criminalized, this book offers not just answers, but a complete framework for rethinking the relationship between the individual, the state, and the chemical substances that lie between them.