Documenting and defining emergent phenomenology: theoretical foundations for an extensive research strategy
Olivier Sandilands, Daniel M. Ingram
Frontiers in Psychology July 10, 2024 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1340335 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 30,000 |
| Population | Individual subjects from 50 clinical or scientific publications |
| Topics | Meditation Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Phenomenology philosophy Experiential learning Modalities Epistemology Multidisciplinary approach Documentation Mandate Variety cybernetics Engineering ethics Psychotherapist Cognitive science Artificial intelligence Social science |
| Citations | 6 |
| Key findings | The full range of experiences from meditation, psychedelics, and similar modalities remains underdescribed, and there is an ethical mandate for more extensive research, with the authors proposing 'emergence' as a foundational term. |
Abstract
Meditation, psychedelics, and other similar practices or induction methods that can modulate conscious experience, are becoming increasingly popular in clinical and non-clinical settings. The phenomenology associated with such practices or modalities is vast. Many similar effects and experiences are also reported to occur spontaneously. We argue that this experiential range is still not fully described or understood in the contemporary literature, and that there is an ethical mandate to research it more extensively, starting with comprehensive documentation and definition. We review 50 recent clinical or scientific publications to assess the range of phenomena, experiences, effects, after-effects, and impacts associated with a broad variety of psychoactive compounds, meditative practices, and other modalities or events. This results in a large inventory synthesizing the reports of over 30,000 individual subjects. We then critically discuss various terms and concepts that have been used in recent literature to designate all or parts of the range this inventory covers. We make the case that specialized terminologies are needed to ground the nascent research field that is forming around this experiential domain. As a step in this direction, we propose the notion of "emergence" and some of its derivatives, such as "emergent phenomenology," as possibly foundational candidates.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body Consciousness: A Philosophy of Mindfulness and Somaesthetics | 2008 | Review article | |
| Phenomenology, Structure, and Dynamic of Psychedelic States | 2016 | Review | |
| Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates. | 2018 | Review | |
| The lived experience of psychosis: a bottom-up review co-written by experts by experience and academics. Individuals with lived experience of psychosis, family members, and carers | 2022 | Co-written bottom-up review | |
| From autopoiesis to neurophenomenology: Francisco Varela's exploration of the biophysics of being. | 2003 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- Mindfulness, cognition, and long-term meditators: Toward a science of advanced meditation. Imaging Neuroscience 2025
- Learning from boundlessness: epistemic shifts towards a holistic worldview following psychedelic experiences npj Mental Health Research January 29, 2026
- Toward an interdisciplinary mind science of advanced meditation. Trends in Cognitive Sciences September 9, 2026
- Diverging results with converging operations: Implications for the study of consciousness and cognition. Consciousness and Cognition May 1, 2026
- The Humanistic and Transpersonal Origins of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual’s Religious or Spiritual Problem Category Journal of Humanistic Psychology November 9, 2025
and 1 more in the library
Cites 50
- Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation Perspectives on Psychological Science October 10, 2017
- Validation of the revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire in experimental sessions with psilocybin Journal of Psychopharmacology October 6, 2015
- The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists PLoS One May 24, 2017
- MDMA-assisted therapy for moderate to severe PTSD: a randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial. Nature Medicine October 1, 2023
- Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs. Scientific Reports November 23, 2021
and 45 more in the library