How to End the Mysticism Wars in Psychedelic Science
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Keywords | Psychoanalysis Literature |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | Argues that there are no good reasons to abandon mystical concepts in psychedelic science and that critiques of their use can be resolved through conceptual clarification and recognizing basic distinctions. |
Abstract
Hochstein try to put an end to the “mysticism wars,” by which they mean the battle between psychedelic researchers who hold that mystical concepts ought to be employed in attempts to describe and understand psychedelic experiences and those who do not hold this. Letheby, Mattu, and Hochstein side with the former and do so on the grounds that (as they put it), “there are no good reasons to abandon mystical concepts in psychedelic science, and plenty of good reasons to keep them.” At bottom, they contend that critiques of the pro-mystical-concepts view can be solved via clarifying concepts and recognizing basic (though significant) distinctions.