The Varieties of Psychedelic Epistemology

In Nikki Wyrd, David Luke, Aimee Tollan, Cameron Adams & David King (eds.), Psychedelicacies: more food for thought from Breaking Convention. Strange Attractor Press (2019)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Recent scientific research suggests that altered states of consciousness induced by classic psychedelic drugs can cause durable psychological benefits in both healthy and patient populations. The phenomenon of ‘psychedelic transformation’ has many philosophically provocative aspects, not least of which is the claim commonly made by psychedelic subjects that their transformation is centrally due to some kind of learning or knowledge gain. Can psychedelic experiences really be a source of knowledge? From the vantage point of philosophical materialism or naturalism, a negative answer is tempting because psychedelic subjects often claim drug-facilitated knowledge of non-natural, transcendent realities. This fact, combined with common conceptions of these drugs as ‘hallucinogenic’ or ‘psychotomimetic’, invites the conclusion that claims of epistemic benefit from psychedelic experience are uniformly false. However, several recent proposals have been made in the literature about naturalistically acceptable epistemic benefits that might arise from psychedelic use. In this chapter I review these proposals, classifying them in accordance with standard epistemological categories, and discuss the arguments for and against them. I also offer some suggestions for future research.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive

External links

  • This entry has no external links. Add one.
Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The Philosophy of Psychedelic Transformation.Chris Letheby - 2015 - Journal of Consciousness Studies 22 (9-10):170-193.
The epistemic innocence of psychedelic states.Chris Letheby - 2016 - Consciousness and Cognition 39:28-37.
Philosophy of Psychedelics.Chris Letheby - 2021 - Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Naturalistic Entheogenics.Chris Letheby - 2022 - Philosophy and the Mind Sciences 3.
Psychedelics, Atheism, and Naturalism Myth and Reality.Chris Letheby - 2022 - Journal of Consciousness Studies 29 (7-8):69-92.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-10-31

Downloads
882 (#21,460)

6 months
144 (#28,937)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Chris Letheby
University of Western Australia

Citations of this work

Self and Knowledge in Psychedelic Therapy.Chris Letheby - 2022 - Philosophy and the Mind Sciences 3.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Epiphenomenal qualia.Frank Jackson - 1982 - Philosophical Quarterly 32 (April):127-136.
Knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description.Bertrand Russell - 1911 - Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 11:108--28.
What Mary Didn't Know.Frank Jackson - 1986 - Journal of Philosophy 83 (5):291-295.
Epiphenomenal Qualia.Frank Jackson - 2003 - In John Heil (ed.), Philosophy of Mind: A Guide and Anthology. New York: Oxford University Press.

View all 18 references / Add more references