Alan W. Watts (6 January 1915, Chislehurst, London – 16 November 1973, San Francisco Bay) was an English philosopher, writer, lecturer, Anglican priest, professor and practitioner of the comparativereligious studies. He focused in particular on thephilosophybyzen, ItBuddhismand thetaoism, and with his work has made an important contribution to the introduction and popularization of Asianreligiaandphilosophyin theWest.

He has published more than 25 books and many articles on topics such asidentity, the ultimate nature of reality, higherstates of consciousness, the meaning and meaning of life, images of God and human happiness.

Watts warned, along with other great pioneers of religion and human consciousness such as, for exampleAldous Huxley,Timothy Leary,John LillyandGregory Bateson, already at an early stage for the dangers of an all too radical disenchantment or reductionistic objectification of (Western) reality:

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"Inability to accept the mystic experience is more than an intellectual handicap. Lack of awareness of the basic unity of organism and environment is a serious and dangerous hallucination. For in a civilization equipped with immense technological power, the sense of alienation between man and nature leads to the use of technology in a hostile spirit – to the "conquest" of nature instead of intelligent co-operation with nature."(Alan Watts, Psychedelics and Religious Experience, 1968)