Postgraduate Module Descriptor


PHLM013: Philosophy and Psychedelics

This module descriptor refers to the 2023/4 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Module content may vary annually as new developments take on new levels of importance, but generally the following content will apply. A number of guest lecturers are expected to participate in this module due to their relevant skill sets. The key text will be Philosophy and Psychedelics, eds. Hauskeller and Sjöstedt-Hughes (Bloomsbury, forthcoming).

 

  • Overview of the relation of psychedelics to philosophy
  • Psychedelics and the phenomenology and philosophy of mind
  • Indigenous epistemologies and
  • Biopiracy
  • Psychedelic aesthetics: the sublime, the beautiful, the strange, and the ineffable
  • Medicalization, inculcation, and global power relations
  • Cognitive liberty: rights to exploration, recreation, and risk
  • The metaphysics of psychedelics: Spinoza, Whitehead, Bergson, James
  • Psychedelic nature connectedness and the ecological crisis

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
261240

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities22 11 x 2 hours per week comprising of lectures and seminars
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities42 x 2-hour facilitated tutorial with student presentations.
Guided Independent Study16Analyse one course reading and write a succinct summary of the key arguments of the text.
Guided Independent Study58Reading of the module texts for each week
Guided Independent Study50Writing independent research essay. Conduct guided and independent research on a theme from the course; write a brief scholarly essay to be submitted after the end of term.

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

 

ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

 

Web-based and electronic resources:

https://www.erowid.org/