Open-Ended Inquiry of Psychedelic Experiences via First-Person Methodologies and Neurophenomenology
The MIT Press eBooks December 16, 2025 DOI: 10.7551/mitpress/14600.003.0026 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Perspective graphical Object grammar Action physics Data collection Epistemology |
| Key points | Proposes that first-person and neurophenomenological approaches can address limitations in psychedelic science by fostering careful examination of experiences and their relationship to brain dynamics, supported by empirical examples from the authors' research. |
Abstract
Psychedelic compounds act on specific brain pro cesses, which can lead to rich experiences of wide phenomenological breadth.Because of this, psychedelic phenomena pre sent a unique opportunity to explore the tension between the objective and the subjective.However, in-depth first-person approaches fostering inquiry into the psychedelic experience are still underdeveloped in psychedelic science and clinical practice.This limitation can lead to a reduced awareness of how contextual and cultural factors may shape the experience and its recollection, which in turn may lead to users and researchers to forms of subjective realism in which preexisting culturally-loaded categories are reified, thereby hindering a broader, safer, and more efficacious exploration of psychedelic experiences.This chapter proposes that first-person and neurophenomenological approaches may significantly aid in these issues by fostering a careful and mediated examination of psychedelic experiences, and their relationship to brain dynamics.Empirical examples are provided to support this proposal based on our research involving psychedelic compounds, and suggestions are made to foster an open-ended inquiry in the emerging field of psychedelics in consciousness science and clinical practice.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |