Breakdown or Breakthrough? A History of European Research into Drugs and Creativity
The Journal of Creative Behavior December 1, 1999 DOI: 10.1002/j.2162-6057.1999.tb01406.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Creativity German Hallucinogen Aesthetics Archaeology |
| Citations | 51 |
| Key points | Argues that the terms used for psychoactive drugs shaped researchers' aims, and that set and setting are crucial for understanding drug effects on creativity, proposing intentional drug use as a disinhibiting technique. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT Language barriers have largely prevented American scholars from learning about European studies concerning drugs and creativity. An art historian reports on several Swiss, English, French and German studies conducted from the 1940s to the 1970s, offering new data in a research area that has been banned since drugs like mescalin, psilocybin, and LSD became illegal. Different views of the operations of these drugs, revealed by such terms as “hallucinogens,” “psychotogenics,” and “psychedelics,” appear to have colored researchers' aims to a large extent. The notions of drugs “dictating” or “liberating” the intoxicated artist are criticized by discussing the importance of set and setting. It is proposed that intentional drug use among artists expecting artistic breakthroughs while intoxicated, can be seen as a form of “gaucherie” or disinhibiting technique.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on psilocybin, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics | 2019 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Psychedelics as Medicines: An Emerging New Paradigm General population | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Theorizing that Psychedelic Assisted Therapy May Play a Role in the Treatment of Trauma-Induced Personality Disorders. | 2024 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| What Geometric Visual Hallucinations Tell Us about the Visual Cortex | 2002 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Psilocybin-assisted therapy of major depressive disorder using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a therapeutic frame | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 9
- Psychedelics and creativity: a review of the quantitative literature
- Cannabis and Ecstasy/MDMA: Empirical Measures of Creativity in Recreational Users Journal of Psychoactive Drugs December 1, 2009
- American Trip The MIT Press eBooks July 14, 2020
- Jekyll and Hyde Revisited: Paradoxes in the Appreciation of Drug Experiences and Their Effects on Creativity Journal of Psychoactive Drugs September 1, 2002
- Psilocybin: The most effective moral bio‐enhancer? Bioethics June 28, 2023
and 4 more in the library