How to End the Mysticism Wars in Psychedelic Science
Chris Letheby, Jaipreet Mattu, Eric Hochstein
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.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- The study of mystical experiences and Latour’s ontological turn: toward a participatory approach Philosophical Psychology May 24, 2025
- A Protocol for the Use of Psychedelics in Jungian Psychoanalysis 1 Journal of Analytical Psychology May 10, 2026
- Epistemic phenomenology in psychedelic experience Synthese November 5, 2025