Ha sido mi interés en los últimos años reflexionar formalmente sobre la conciencia en referencia a sus fundamentos y aspectos biológicos, en especial los cerebrales y los de comportamiento. Urdiendo sobre sus aspectos fisiológicos, fenomenológicos, epistemológicos y ontológicos, he explorado la naturaleza del dolor como un estado paradigmático de conciencia en un cuento de “neurociencia ficción” (Díaz, 2002), en un trabajo publicado en Salud Mental (Díaz, 2007) y en un libro sobre la conciencia viviente (Díaz, 2007). Estos análisis utilizan al (...) dolor como un fenómeno de conciencia fértil para examinar las principales conjeturas vigentes sobre la relación mente cuerpo y el problema epistemológico del acceso científico a la conciencia. La presente comunicación es un breve repaso de las principales ideas exploradas que se especifican en un decálogo de afirmaciones sobre la naturaleza y el conocimiento del dolor. Medical Epistemology: Ten Postulates on Pain It has been my interest in recent years to formally reflect on consciousness’s biological aspects and foundations, especially the brain-related and behavioral ones. In dwelling on its physiological, phenomenological, epistemological and ontological aspects, I have explored the nature of pain as a paradigmatic state of consciousness in a “neuroscience-fiction” tale (Díaz, 2002), in a work published in Mental Health (Díaz, 2007), and in a book on living consciousness (Díaz, 2007). These analyses use pain as a fertile consciousness phenomenon in order to examine the main current conjectures on the mind-body relation and the epistemological problem of scientific access to consciousness. This work is a brief summary of the main ideas explored, specified as a Decalogue of statements on the nature and knowledge of pain. (shrink)

Botanical preparations used by shamans in rituals for divination, prophecy, and ecstasy contain widely different psychoactive compounds, which are incorrectly classified under a single denomination such as “hallucinogens,” “psychedelics,” or “entheogens.” Based on extensive ethnopharmacological search, I proposed a psychopharmacological classification of magic plants in 1979. This paper re-evaluates this taxonomy in the context of consciousness research. Several groups of psychodysleptic magic plants are proposed: (1) hallucinogens—psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline cacti, dimethyltryptamine snuffs, and the synthetic ergoline lysergic acid diethylamide induce strong (...) perceptual changes, affective intensification, and cognitive enhancement. Their ethnobotanical uses include long lasting divination rituals, prophecy, and sacramental practice. (2) Trance-inducers—ergoline Convolvulaceae and South American Banisteriopsis produce quietness, abstraction, lethargy, mild sensorial and cognitive changes, and salient visual imagery changes used in trance rituals and specific divination practices. (3) Cognodysleptics—marijuana (tetrahydrocannabinol) and other terpene-containing plants induce changes in thought, imagination, and affective functions and are used in short-term divination or oneiromancy. (4) Deliriants—tropane-containing Solanaceae, wild tobacco, and Amanita muscaria (muscimol) induce a delirium characterized by dim and clouded consciousness, stupor, confusion, disorientation, perception distortion, difficulties in recollection, anxiety, irritability, excitation, and behavioral disorganization employed in sorcery, purification, or exorcism rituals. The core mental effects required for a drug to be used in shamanistic rituals include light-headedness, enhanced imagery, and experience intensification. This constellation was the reason why, in his classification of psychoactive compounds, the pioneer German psychopharmacologist Louis Lewin established in 1924 a group of drugs under the appropriate name of Phantastica. (shrink)