Naturalizing psychedelic spirituality
Open accessAbstract
A pressing philosophical problem is how to respond to the existential, anxiety and disenchantment resulting from a naturalistic worldview that eschews transcendent foundations for meaning and value. This problem is becoming more urgent as the popularization of neuroscientific findings renders a disenchanted conception of human beings ever more vivid, compelling, and widespread. I argue that the study of transformative experiences occasioned by classic psychedelic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin may reveal the nature of a viable practical solution to this problem. Despite the apparent centrality of nonnaturalistic metaphysical apprehensions to psychedelic transformation, findings from psychedelic research suggest that key elements of psychedelic or “entheogenic” spirituality are consistent with naturalism. These include disruption to neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning the sense of self, and consequent experiences of self‐transcendence and of the decoupling of attention from personal concerns. This liberation of attention can result in the availability of broader perspectives and the development of wonder and appreciation for life.
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Paradigmatic ego dissolution experiences are on a continuum with, and susceptible to the same kind of explanation as, less dramatic experiences which may not be described as 'ego dissolution'.
“The account we will propose suggests that such paradigmatic ego dissolution experiences are on a continuum with, and susceptible to the same kind of explanation as, less dramatic experiences which may not be described as ‘ego dissolution’ (cf. Letheby 2017).”
From Self unbound: ego dissolution in psychedelic experience (2017) · cites this paper as Letheby 2017
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- Authors
- Letheby, C.
- Affiliations
- Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
- Corresponding author
- Letheby, Chris
- ORCID
- Letheby, Chris
- Venue
- Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
- Publisher
- Open Library of the Humanities
- Published
- 2017-09-02
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 3
- ISSN
- 0591-2385 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9744
- OpenAlex
- W2746282563
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 73
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 1.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Zygon® (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Adelaide
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- naturalism, entheogens, psychedelics, lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin, self-transcendence, selfhood, attention, wonder, meaning and value, disenchantment, neurocognitive mechanisms
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