Human Quest for Rapture and Ecstasy
Philippe Rochat
HAL October 12, 2024 preprint DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14729753 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | MDMA |
| Keywords | Rapture Trance Staring State computer science Non-human Human spirit Consciousness Action physics Epistemology Aesthetics Disconnection Sketch Power physics Empirical evidence Mode computer interface Irrational number Human condition |
| Key points | Argues that the universal human proclivity toward trance and transcendence is driven by the need to escape self-consciousness and the knowledge of death. |
Abstract
A universal aspect of human psychology is the quest and cultivation of rapture states, the need to stand outside oneself (ecstasy). The question is what may drive the human need to abandon and transcend a default mode of survival to cultivate altered states of consciousness? The idea is to approach this basic question in light of what arguably sets us apart in nature: human self-consciousness and the fact that like no other animals we know that we are going to die. Empirical facts on the nature and developmental origins of human self-consciousness are used to shed a new light on the universal human proclivity toward trance and transcendence, with or without drugs, in practice or in recreation. Such proclivity would rest on the same ultimate drive to escape the default state of rational self-consciousness and the scandal of death: our inescapable, known, yet inconceivable reality.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on MDMA, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Differences Between the Mechanism of Action of MDMA, MBDB, and the Classic Hallucinogens. Identification of a New Therapeutic Class: Entactogens | 1986 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Background and Chemistry of MDMA | 1986 | Historical analysis | |
| The origin of MDMA (ecstasy) revisited: the true story reconstructed from the original documents* Original documents in Merck's historical archive in Darmstadt, Germany, years 1900–1960 | 2006 | Historical analysis | |
| Distinct neural mechanisms for the prosocial and rewarding properties of MDMA | 2019 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How could MDMA (ecstasy) help anxiety disorders? A neurobiological rationale | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |