Oxford University Press eBooks
September 13, 2018
1,340 citations
The Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition surveys the field of 4E (embodied, embedded, extended, enactive) cognition, covering debates on the nature of cognition, the relationship between cognition, perception, and action, and recent trends like Bayesian inference and predictive coding. It presents new findings on social understanding, including the development of false belief understanding, and introduces theoretical paradigms for emotions and the interaction between cognition, language, and culture. Each thematic section ends with a critical note, and the final section applies 4E approaches to psychiatry and robotics. The book is relevant for philosophers, psychologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, and a wider audience.
Oxford University Press eBooks
March 12, 1992
910 citations
This book is a collection of essays exploring consciousness from multiple disciplinary perspectives, including philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science. The contributors examine topics such as qualia, intentionality, phenomenal experience, functionalism, neuropsychological contributions to consciousness, brain modularity, and computational models. The volume aims to integrate scientific and philosophical approaches to understand conscious experience, addressing both theoretical and empirical aspects of consciousness research.
Oxford University Press eBooks
July 9, 2020
169 citations
This book offers a broad overview of contemporary philosophical work on consciousness. It examines the variety of possible types of consciousness, how consciousness interacts with numerous psychological phenomena, and different perspectives on the fundamental relationship between consciousness and the physical world.
Oxford University Press eBooks
June 18, 2014
164 citations
Indigenous shamanic rituals from the Amazon, particularly those involving the hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca, have spread to Western societies, where indigenous, mestizo, and cosmopolitan cultures have dialogued with and transformed these forest traditions. Displaced indigenous people and rubber tappers creatively reinvent these rituals, using them to build ethnic alliances and develop cultural and political strategies to improve their marginalized position. The book examines how Amerindian epistemology and ontology related to these practices have been adopted and adapted globally.
Oxford University Press eBooks
October 26, 2017
Susan Blackmore
112 citations
Consciousness remains a central mystery in science, with debates over how the brain generates subjective experience, personal identity, free will, and whether consciousness itself is an illusion. Advances in brain science involve biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers. This work clarifies major theories and arguments, covering the construction of self in the brain, mechanisms of attention, neural correlates of consciousness, and the physiology of altered states. It highlights the rapid pace of neuroscience discoveries.
Oxford University Press eBooks
January 21, 2010
Michael N. Marsh
46 citations
Near-death and out-of-body experiences arise from living brains re-awakening, not from souls escaping into an afterlife. Early-phase near-death experiences show dream-like illogicality consistent with loss of cortical control, while late-phase experiences reflect conscious awareness intruding into subconscious mentation. Tunnel phenomenology results from vestibular-generated sensations combined with restored circulation to visual centers. Out-of-body experiences stem from central vestibular activity in dormant patients, producing bodily reduplications and sensed presences. The spiritual interpretations offered by authors are inconsistent with classical Judaeo-Christian accounts of divine disclosure. The experiences, abruptly terminating as consciousness erupts, are transient and originate from reawakening, not moribund, brains.
Oxford University Press eBooks
May 24, 2018
34 citations
Since the late eighteenth century, many Western thinkers and writers have used psychoactive substances to seek transcendence, meaning, and mystical states. The book traces this history through figures such as Thomas De Quincey, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Humphry Davy, Charles Baudelaire, William James, Aldous Huxley, and Timothy Leary, among others. It covers the Romantic fascination with opium, the discovery of anesthetics, psychiatric and religious interest in hashish, the use of mescaline and hallucinogenic fungi, and later LSD. Central to the account is how drugs have been employed to induce nonordinary realities, access gnosis, and lift users out of everyday ennui and pain, despite rising addiction levels.
Oxford University Press eBooks
February 25, 2020
27 citations
This handbook presents a theological approach to Christian mysticism, distinguishing itself from psychological, anthropological, historical, or literary studies. It examines mystical writings from within their own theological interests, aiming to articulate these in distinctively theological forms and permit critical engagement today. The work is divided into four parts: an introduction to mystical theology with a historical overview; the concrete context of sources and practices; fundamental conceptualities of mystical thought; and central contributions to theology and metaphysics. It offers multiple pathways for students and scholars with varied interests.
Oxford University Press eBooks
April 5, 2018
Michael Lifshitz, Eli Oda Sheiner, Laurence J. Kirmayer
22 citations
Classic serotonergic psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca can induce potent alterations in cognition and perception. The chapter reviews research through cultural neurophenomenology, which traces how neurobiology and sociocultural factors interact to shape experience. Scientific study of psychedelics is rediscovering their potential to promote creative insight, evoke mystical experiences, and improve clinical outcomes. Neuroimaging experiments have begun to unravel the influence of psychedelics on large-scale connectivity networks of the human brain. Culture and context constrain the flexible cognitive states brought about by psychedelics, suggesting that seemingly spontaneous psychedelic thought patterns reflect a complex interaction of biological, cognitive, and cultural factors—from pharmacology and brain function to ritual, belief, and expectation.
Oxford University Press eBooks
January 4, 2019
Douglas S. Duckworth
16 citations
Tibetan Buddhist thought integrates competing and complementary perspectives on the nature of mind and reality. Drawing on a contrast between phenomenology and ontology, the book argues that these starting points share a common ground and are inseparable. It examines central issues such as the nature of mind and the meaning of emptiness across traditions including Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, and tantra, and puts Tibetan philosophy into conversation with Indian, European, and American traditions to exemplify a transformative global philosophical dialogue.
Oxford University Press eBooks
June 18, 2014
Evgenia Fotiou
16 citations
Shamanic tourism, where Westerners travel to the Amazon seeking ayahuasca and shamanic experiences, is not a new anomaly but part of shamanism's long history of intercultural exchange. In Iquitos, Peru, this phenomenon reflects Western cultural constructions and imagination about shamanism. While the existence of shamanic tourism is not inherently problematic, it risks further essentializing and marginalizing indigenous cultures and their knowledge by reinforcing stereotypical perceptions.
Oxford University Press eBooks
June 18, 2014
Beatriz Caiuby Labate
16 citations
The expansion, diversification, and internationalization of Peruvian vegetalismo involves outsiders traveling to Peru for ayahuasca, foreigners who became curanderos, and Peruvian ayahuasqueros holding workshops for urban middle-class clients abroad. The chapter identifies transnational networks and circuits that promote migration and the global flow of people and sacred technologies. It argues this phenomenon is not mere commodification of indigenous spirituality or neocolonialism, but a product of deliberate local strategies to adapt to changing socioeconomic conditions. Creative translations occur on both sides, with foreign references dynamically incorporated and reappropriated under vegetalismo's logic. Local curandero practices can no longer be considered apart from their interactions with foreigners or global-local articulations.
Oxford University Press eBooks
August 1, 2016
15 citations
Hallucinogens and dissociative drugs are a diverse group of substances, some naturally occurring and some synthetic. This chapter describes their prevalence, modes of use, and pharmacological effects. Clinical syndromes include acute intoxication, chronic use, flashbacks, psychosis, acute anxiety, and acute and chronic brain syndromes, with flashbacks being particularly characteristic. Management of acute toxicity is outlined. Dependence does not occur with most hallucinogens but is described for ketamine.
Oxford University Press eBooks
June 18, 2014
Daniela M. Peluso
13 citations
Ayahuasca tourism in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, and its surroundings creates complex local predicaments. Local and global narratives reveal tensions around the proliferation of ayahuasqueros (practitioners), the sanitization of rituals, and the downplaying of malevolence and conflict. Amerindian epistemologies and perspectivism help analyze interactions between shamans and participants, as well as the roles of intermediaries and authorities. Gender relations between shamans and local and nonlocal participants spark debates about sex and sexuality among locals and online audiences. The adoption and reinvention of ayahuasca rituals reflect ongoing challenges and experiences in contemporary ayahuasca usage.
Oxford University Press eBooks
November 22, 2018
Eitan P. Fishbane
11 citations
The Zohar, a foundational work of Jewish mysticism, is examined as a literary creation rather than solely as a theological or exegetical text. The book develops a poetics of its narratives, analyzing how mystical storytelling functions through devices such as dramatic monologue, gesture, and the theatrics of the tale. It explores themes of diaspora and exile, the wandering quest for wisdom, and moments of recognition. The relationship between narrative and exegesis is considered dynamic, and the Zohar's use of magical realism and the fantastic is discussed. The work also places the Zohar's frame-tale within the context of medieval Iberian literature, both Jewish and non-Jewish.
Oxford University Press eBooks
June 18, 2014
Glenn H. Shepard
11 citations
The ayahuasca brew, made from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, was adopted very recently by the Matsigenka and Yora (Nahua) indigenous peoples of southern Peru. The Matsigenka had long used Banisteriopsis liana but did not add the Psychotria admixture until the 1950s. The Yora adopted ayahuasca even more recently, after their contact and decimation by contagious diseases beginning in 1985, abandoning previous shamanic substances and rituals. These two case studies show how quickly ayahuasca shamanism can be adopted, suggesting that widespread ayahuasca use even among indigenous populations may be fairly recent. The studies also highlight diversity and dynamism in indigenous practices comparable to differences seen among urban ayahuasca practices.
Oxford University Press eBooks
May 24, 2018
Martin Fortier
8 citations
Hallucinations have sensory content and a sense that the content is real. Some models of schizophrenic hallucination attribute both to metacognitive dysfunction. This chapter argues the sense of reality is not a single thing and should be divided into distinct kinds. Monitoring-based models fail to explain important aspects of hallucinations. The main mechanisms of serotoninergic hallucinogens are not metacognitive, while anticholinergic hallucinogens tap into subpersonal metacognitive processes. Among Amazonian indigenous groups using ayahuasca, cultural expectations can either exploit or ignore the metacognitive properties of hallucinogenic experiences.
Oxford University Press eBooks
June 18, 2014
Bernd Brabec de Mori
8 citations
The experience of Indigenous people as interest from northern countries in drinking ayahuasca grows has received little attention. Among Shipibo-Konibo, ayahuasca's meaning and value had already shifted by the 1960s. Observing visitors' focus on ayahuasca ingestion, many Shipibo changed their representation of indigeneity to meet those expectations. Six biographies of Indigenous individuals involved in commercializing ayahuasca illustrate diverse related economies. Potential conflicts arise from Amazonian native ontology merging with visitors' expectations. The contemporary ayahuasca ceremony may substitute for former cosmogonical rituals no longer performed. Indigenous specialists face both problems and profits, and they ridicule a legion of apprentice shamans.
Oxford University Press eBooks
June 18, 2014
Beatriz Caiuby Labate, Clancy Cavnar, Françoise Barbira Freedman
7 citations
The expansion of ayahuasca shamanism is examined in the context of its interactions with Western therapies and the New Age movement, and shamanism's role as a mediator in contemporary indigenous ethnic relationships is considered. The introduction reviews existing research and provides context for each chapter of the book.
Oxford University Press eBooks
June 18, 2014
Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen
6 citations
In western Brazil, indigenous people organize ritual spaces of ayahuasca shamanism to share with both indigenous and non-indigenous participants, typically during political meetings, training courses, and cultural festivals. These gatherings enable participants to identify collaborators, exchange substances, and share knowledge. Through ayahuasca shamanism, indigenous professionals and leaders communicate information about their history, ancestors, and nonhuman beings in their sociocosmos. Even those with few shamanic skills are invited across state borders and to foreign countries, especially by non-Indians interested in indigenous spiritualism. This involvement of economic resources makes it a sensitive issue for indigenous communities. While shared shamanism brings visibility for Amazonian ways of knowing, the "horizontal openings" remain controlled within communities.
Oxford University Press eBooks
March 18, 2022
Henrique Soares Carneiro
5 citations
Indigenous South American cultures had diverse traditional uses for psychoactive plants, which were transformed by European colonization and labeled as idolatry. Colonial chroniclers and Spanish extirpators of idolatry provide insights into original Amerindian contexts. Colonialism initiated cultural mixing and a drug "imaginary." The current religious revival of practices like vegetalismo and curandeirismo using ayahuasca, jurema, and hallucinogenic snuffs is analyzed, alongside revisiting the concept of shamanism in Amazonian cultures.
Oxford University Press eBooks
November 1, 2020
Albert R. Powers, T. Mcglashan, S. Woods
5 citations
Psychosis is typically preceded by a prodrome, which begins with nonspecific symptoms like anxiety and depression before more specific negative and attenuated positive symptoms emerge. Prospective diagnostic criteria, developed from retrospective studies, show high reliability in research settings. Individuals assessed as at clinical high risk (CHR) are five to seven times more likely to progress to psychosis than those not at risk, and they also experience functional and cognitive impairment and distress. CHR diagnosis rates are low in general epidemiology studies, supporting validity, but substantially higher in clinical epidemiology studies, indicating CHR is an important but often overlooked clinical entity. Several areas needing additional research are identified.
Oxford University Press eBooks
June 18, 2014
Mariana Ciavatta Pantoja, Matthew Meyer
4 citations
The Kuntanawa, a tribe of the Pano linguistic branch in Brazil's Acre state, were thought extinct by the early 1900s due to rubber production. By the 2000s, descendants of a Kuntanawa woman, previously identified as mestizo rubber tappers, began a process of ethnic self-recognition and territorial struggle. Ritualized ayahuasca use is central to this cultural reinvention, acting as a subjectivity operator and ethnic identifier in interethnic relations. The text offers ethnographic and theoretical reflections on ethnicity and culture.
Oxford University Press eBooks
July 28, 2011
Benny Shanon
3 citations
Ayahuasca, a potent Amazonian psychoactive brew known for inducing vivid hallucinations, also produces distinctive musical and auditory effects. This chapter first provides background on ayahuasca and its scientific study, along with the role of music in ayahuasca rituals. It then analyzes the phenomenology of auditory and musical experiences during ayahuasca inebriation, how music shapes the experience and its visions, and musical performance. Finally, it addresses broader psychological implications of music, its relation to consciousness, and how consciousness is altered.
Oxford University Press eBooks
May 24, 2018
Christopher Partridge
2 citations
The final chapter examines post-1960s developments in the study of shamanism, focusing on the ideas of Carlos Castaneda and Terence McKenna, both shaped by the psychedelic revolution. It discusses the growing tendency to frame contemporary indigenous and ancient shamanic cultures as psychedelic cultures. Since the late nineteenth century, interest in psychoactive plant use within indigenous religious contexts has increased, significantly stimulated by R. Gordon Wasson's theories.