When participating in a psychedelic session becomes legal – in the form of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy or a retreat – this doesn’t open up this experience to everyone equally. In the psychedelic industry, there remains the issue of access inequality. Legal, regulated psychedelic sessions are typically expensive. The cost of psychedelic therapy differs depending on the…
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On his site Ecstatic Integration, the writer Jules Evans published a post titled ‘Are you a psychedelic cultist?’ It features a ‘Psychedelic Cultism Questionnaire’ to help readers assess how ‘culty’ they are when it comes to psychedelics. It consists of eight statements – all in the vein of a rosy, utopian, ‘no bad vibes allowed’…
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‘Inner healing intelligence’ is a term derived from Stan Grof that is frequently used in the context of MDMA- and psychedelic-assisted therapy. (The central idea behind the term certainly predates Grof, however.) The MAPS Manual for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (2015) – authored by Michael Mithoefer – places great importance…
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One common view in the philosophy of self sees the notion of a discrete, concrete self as an illusion. This concept is known as anatta (not-self) in Buddhism, and it was later defended by the Scottish philosopher David Hume (although he didn’t explicitly draw on Buddhism when making his arguments against the reality of self).…
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The ‘psychedelic renaissance’ is typically framed in terms of the resurgence of scientific research into the effects of psychedelics, covering aspects like neuroscience, psychology, psychotherapy, and mental health. However, in recent years, we’ve also seen increasing interest in the psychedelic experience from a philosophical perspective. The philosophy of psychedelics has a rich history. Yet there…
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