Would Widespread Psychedelic Use Help Solve the Climate Crisis?

It is common to associate psychedelics with environmentalism. In the popular imagination, psychedelic users might be viewed as tree-hugging hippies and Gaia worshippers. But beyond these stereotypes, there is also research to support the links between psychedelic use and connection to nature, which has led some to argue that psychedelics could help us solve the…

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A Case for Psychedelic Scepticism

One of the reasons I wanted to write a book on the philosophy and psychology of psychedelic experiences was to defend a sceptical attitude towards these experiences. (You can find preorder links and more information about my book here.) The book’s title, Altered Perspectives, is partly related to this motive. Just as psychedelics can alter our…

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Explaining the Aesthetic Dimension of Nature

It may seem intuitive, in evolutionary terms, why we would find natural settings attractive and appealing. The biologist Edward O. Wilson argued that humans possess a trait called biophilia (fondness for nature, or an innate tendency to seek connections and affiliations with nature and other forms of life), which he argued makes sense evolutionarily. It…

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Soft Animism: Embracing the Aliveness of Nature Without Belief in Spirits

Soft animism is a term I use to refer to an acceptance of the animistic ethic, sensibility, and mode of perception but a rejection of the belief in spirits that reside in nature. Alternative terms for this position could include weak animism and naturalised animism (the latter emphasising that this is a form of animism…

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The Mistake of Viewing Psychedelics as a Panacea for Mental Distress

As much as psychedelics hold great promise in alleviating all kinds of psychological distress, they are not a mental health panacea, which they are sometimes touted to be. Based on positive media stories surrounding psychedelic research and anecdotal reports of people being forever cured of chronic, severe mental illnesses, it’s easy to get the impression…

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