Psychedelics: an amazing world that reveals philosophical phenomena
Treatments have confirmed the therapeutic efficacy of psychoactive substances such as LSD and THC… but the debate about their relationship with consciousness has only just begun… there is overwhelming evidence that consciousness is not a product of the human brain. Although the brain has to do with consciousness, it in no way generates it.
In the 1950s, research using psychoactive substances experienced a golden age. But the Vietnam War (1955-75) – along with certain unfortunate events that took place in the counterculture of the 1960s – resulted in the subject becoming taboo… for psychiatrist Stanislav Grof, the new substances were like astronomers’ telescopes and biologists’ microscopes: powerful tools for mapping the mind. According to Grof, the mind cannot be understood by breaking it down. Rather, it requires an experiential approach… At the beginning of the 20th century, psychology and psychiatry were dominated by behaviorism and psychoanalysis. To break away from these tendencies, Abraham Maslow founded “humanistic psychology.” William James – who was the first person to offer a psychology course in the United States – left the field to dedicate himself to philosophy. Inspired by his book – The Varieties of Religious Experience – a group of researchers met in Palo Alto, California, in order to distance themselves from academic psychology. The attendees included Maslow, Viktor Frankl and Stanislav Grof. They all agreed that spirituality could not be reduced to mere superstition or primitive magical thinking. They were all interested in expanded states of mind – the so-called “wholeness experiences” … some accused the fledgling school of being unscientific – a haven for swindlers and crooks. But they were not misguided. While there were (and still are) plenty of impostors, the movement was a full-blown challenge to modern cosmology.
Original Article (El Pais):
Psychedelics: an amazing world that reveals philosophical phenomena
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