Undergraduate Module Descriptor

PHL2117: Philosophy and Psychedelics

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

By considering the multifaceted aspects of psychedelics, we will bridge across the major subareas of philosophy – exploring how they speak to one another and what we can understand about contested practices. Contested in this case are the effects of psychedelic substance use on individuals and society, as well as the practices to regulate/prohibit their production. Adopting different philosophic perspectives on psychedelic substances, experiences, and discourses concerning knowledge and science, including current clinical trials, will provide you with insight into a very topical debate. Furthermore, it will provide you with an understanding of the ways in which philosophy organizes knowledge, and how this separation of areas fosters and hinders integrative understandings of phenomena in our lifeworld.

The focus on psychedelics allows teaching core philosophical themes in some depth and clarity about their interconnectedness, i.e. aesthetics, ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of cognition, cultures, and mind, but also philosophy of nature, ecology, and the philosophy of psychiatry and medicine more generally.

This module aims to teach you about a very hot topic in contemporary society and how philosophers engage with it. It invites you to partake in exciting discussions, preparing and giving a joint presentation and writing a substantive essay on a topic of your choice in this subject area.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Demonstrate very good knowledge and understanding of the theories and texts (readings) for the course 2. Demonstrable very good understanding of the methodological and conceptual problems of a philosophy of psychedelics
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. Demonstrate very good understanding of the structure of the discipline and the interrelation between its subdisciplines 4. Demonstrate knowledge of the philosophical inquiry and dimensions of a specific topic
Personal and Key Skills	5. Demonstrate the ability to critically analyse and present texts with guidance, and discuss complex problems 6. Demonstrate the ability to research independently and write a critical philosophical essay on a module theme.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

(Whilst the precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover all or some of the following topics.)

We begin with a couple of sessions introducing the History and Philosophy of Psychedelics

The Philosophy of Psychedelics is a new field, yet concerns a long history. We begin with an overview of the multifarious philosophic facets of this subject, to gain a comprehensive perspective on the current psychedelic renaissance.

We then discuss in more detail, over the following eight weeks:

- Philosophy of mind, consciousness, and psychedelics

- The biopolitics and bioeconomy of psychedelics

- Creativity and aesthetics vis-à-vis psychedelics

- Perennialism and Contextualism: Western mysticism and Non-Western Indigenous approaches

- Metaphysics and psychedelics: Interpreting psychedelic experience through metaphysical systems

- Transpersonal and environmental ethics and psychedelics

The module will close with an overall discussion about the cross-cutting nature of the topic across philosophical sub-disciplines and how a comprehensive philosophy of psychedelics might be possible.

Learning and Teaching

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

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

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

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled learning and teaching activities	22	11x 40 minute lecture and 11x 80 minute seminars
Guided independent studies	48	Reading and Research
Guided independent study	20	Preparation and recording of presentation
Guided independent study	38	Preparation and Writing of Essay

Online Resources

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

TEDx Talk 'Psychedelics and Consciousness' by Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes: https://youtu.be/tV8PSevhd_M

Erowid: 60 000 pages of online information about psychoactive drugs, plants, chemicals, etc.:

https://www.erowid.org/

Philosophy and Psychedelics conference (Exeter): www.philosophyofpsychedelics.com

Breaking Convention, conference videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/BreakingConvention/videos