Psychedelic drugs have been used for centuries all around the world, sometimes purely recreationally and other times as means to mystical experiences that lead to insight and spirituality. During the 50’s and 60’s there was some experimentation with such drugs in psychiatric treatments but it died out quickly as a result of different social forces. In the past 20 years or so, however, there has been renewed interest in psychedelic therapy in psychiatry, that is, in the treatment of mental disorders through the controlled administration of certain psychedelic substances. The initial results seem promising but they raise significant questions, many of them philosophical. These include questions in the philosophy of mind relating to the nature of consciousness and the self, ethical questions about the administration of such drugs, epistemological questions about the status of psychedelic states and the possible epistemological risks that their administration may pose, as well as other questions about the mechanisms through which psychedelic therapies work and the ontological commitments that they lead us to.
The purpose of this special issue is to draw attention to this new area of philosophical interest and to contribute to the philosophical exploration of these and other questions relating to this new form of therapy. The questions to be be raised are both empirical and conceptual and can be relevant to clinical practice. Questions and topics addressed can include (but are not limited to):
- The phenomenology of psychedelic therapy
- The mechanisms of psychedelic therapy
- Can we acquire certain specific kinds of knowledge through psychedelic therapy?
- Are the states achieved through psychedelic therapy epistemically innocent?
- Can psychedelic therapy tell us anything new about the metaphysical understanding of the self or the hard problem of consciousness?
- Is psychedelic therapy compatible with a naturalist worldview?
- What ethical concerns, if any, are raised by psychedelic therapies?
- What is the role of the spiritual dimension in the use of psychedelics in psychedelic therapies?
Invited contributors include:
- Christine Hauskeller (University of Exeter)
- Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes (University of Exeter)
- Traill Dowie (Ikon Institute of Australia)
- Brian Earp (University of Oxford & Yale University)
- Ole Martin Moen (Oslo Metropolitan University)
