The Role of Perennialist Thought in the Development of Psychedelic Research in the United States
Nathan Keele Springer
May 4, 2022 DOI: 10.57709/30514807 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis |
|---|---|
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness Psychedelic-assisted therapy |
| Keywords | Psychedelic treatment Hallucinogenic therapy Entheogenic therapy Mind-altering drug therapy Mystical experiences Profound states Spiritual experiences Transcendent experiences Peak experiences Psychedelic mysticism Perennial philosophy Spiritual perennialism Universal spirituality Perennialist thought Psychedelic research history Early psychedelic studies Historical psychedelic studies Psychedelic science evolution Psychedelic therapy history Science and religion Science-spirituality integration Spiritual science Interdisciplinary studies science/religion |
| Key points | Argues that perennialism, which underpins psychedelic research's focus on mystical experiences, constitutes a new religious movement that blurs the boundary between science and religion. |
Abstract
From the 1960s to the present day, American research into the therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs has focused on their ability to facilitate “mystical” experiences in test subjects. “Mysticomimetic” research has close ties to perennialist notions of religion that gained popularity over the course of the 20th century. Figures such as William James and Aldous Huxley promoted perennialist ideals within intellectual circles, particularly influencing psychological researchers. As research into psychedelics has gathered momentum from the 2000s onward, claims that mystical experience is key to the compounds’ palliative effects remain tied to perennialist thought, with current research picking up where studies in the 1960s left off. Perennialism can itself be considered a new religious movement that has developed in scientific and academic circles, the existence of which brings into relief the breakdown of notions of a dichotomist relationship between science and religion in the process
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on altered states of consciousness, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altered States of Consciousness | 1966 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death | 1969 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| A neurophenomenological approach to non-ordinary states of consciousness: hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Hypnotic phenomena and altered states of consciousness: a multilevel framework of description and explanation | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |