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Undergraduate Module Descriptor

PHL2117: Philosophy and Psychedelics

This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.

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:

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

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

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

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