Psychedelic Epistemology: William James and the “Noetic Quality” of Mystical Experience
Religions November 29, 2021 DOI: 10.3390/rel12121058 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism Mystical experience |
| Keywords | Religious experience Epistemology Philosophy of religion Quality philosophy Paranormal Psychoanalysis |
| Citations | 16 |
| Key findings | Psychedelics reliably occasion intense mystical states, but whether these states are necessary for therapeutic benefits remains debated. |
Abstract
William James proposed in 1902 that states of mystical experience, central to his idea of religious experience, can be identified based on their ineffability and their noetic quality. The epistemological category of the noetic quality, modified by W. T. Stace in 1960, plays a central but somewhat confounding role in today’s biomedical research involving psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and LSD. Using scales based on James, it can be shown that psychedelics “reliably occasion” intense subjective states of experience or mystical states. It is debated whether these states are necessary for the wide range of possible mental health therapeutic benefits that appear to follow. This paper reviews what James said about the noetic quality and its relationship to religious experience, epistemology, and states of mystical experience. It explores how the noetic quality is measured in today’s research, addressing a growing list of concerns that psychedelic science can be epistemologically biased, that it is hostile to atheistic or physicalist views, that it injects religion unduly into science, or that it needs to find ways to eliminate the mystical element, if not the entire intense subjective experience altogether.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. General population | 2019 | Integrative review | |
| Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates. | 2018 | Review | |
| Peak experiences and the afterglow phenomenon: When and how do therapeutic effects of hallucinogens depend on psychedelic experiences? | 2015 | Review | |
| Are “mystical experiences” essential for antidepressant actions of ketamine and the classic psychedelics? | 2024 | Review | |
| Psychedelic Mystical Experience: A New Agenda for Theology | 2022 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 17
- Psychedelic Mystical Experience: A New Agenda for Theology Religions May 1, 2022
- Insights on psychedelics: A systematic review of therapeutic effects. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews June 1, 2025
- Clarifying and measuring the characteristics of experiences that involve a loss of self or a dissolution of its boundaries. Consciousness and Cognition March 1, 2024
- Key competencies for psychedelic treatment in real-world mental health care settings. General Hospital Psychiatry 2025
- Knowing and being known: Psychedelic–assisted psychotherapy and the sense of authenticity Frontiers in Psychiatry September 20, 2022
and 12 more in the library
Cites 19
- Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance Psychopharmacology July 7, 2006
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- Quality of Acute Psychedelic Experience Predicts Therapeutic Efficacy of Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Frontiers in Pharmacology January 17, 2018
- Validation of the revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire in experimental sessions with psilocybin Journal of Psychopharmacology October 6, 2015
- The Subjective Effects of Psychedelics Are Necessary for Their Enduring Therapeutic Effects. ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science December 10, 2020
and 14 more in the library