Postgraduate Module Descriptor

PHLM014: Philosophy and Psychedelics

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 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
262740

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

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities2211 x 2 hour taught sessions - 30-minute lectures and 1.5 hour seminar discussion of readings for each 2-hour session.
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities42 x 2-hour facilitated tutorial with student presentations.
Guided Independent Study26Analyse one course reading and write a succinct summary of the key arguments of the text.
Guided Independent Study76Reading of the module texts for each week
Guided Independent Study44Prepare a presentation on the topic for essay and the key arguments from the literature in a dedicated course session.
Guided Independent Study128Writing independent research essay. Conduct guided and independent research on a theme from the course; write a 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/