Cambridge University Press eBooks
September 28, 2000
Peter Carruthers
414 citations
Phenomenal consciousness—the subjective feel of experience—can be fully explained in naturalistic, scientifically acceptable terms. Peter Carruthers argues against the view that consciousness is inherently mysterious, developing a novel account based on higher-order thought. Drawing on interdisciplinary resources, he shows that this approach explains away extravagant claims about consciousness while substantively accounting for the subjectivity of experience. The book surveys a wide range of extant theories and is aimed at readers in philosophy and psychology.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
October 31, 2023
Shaun Gallagher
171 citations
Contemporary theories of embodied cognition, known as the '4Es' (embodied, embedded, extended, and enactive cognition), offer diverse approaches to understanding the mind, its relation to the brain, perception, mental representation, sense making, environmental roles, and social cognition. These views contrast with classic cognitivism, and the Element examines their strengths and weaknesses, major criticisms, and possible resolutions. It focuses on enactive theory and the prospects for integrating enactive approaches with other embodied and extended theories, mediated through recent developments in predictive processing and the free energy principle. The Element concludes with a brief discussion of practical applications of embodied cognition.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
September 22, 2014
J. Freer
129 citations
No Summary
Cambridge University Press eBooks
March 29, 2004
William S. Robinson
108 citations
William S. Robinson presents a dualistic theory of mind called Qualitative Event Realism, which argues against dominant materialist views by focusing on sensory experiences such as pain, afterimages, colors, sounds, and odors. The theory is relevant to the development of a science of consciousness pursued by philosophers, psychologists, and brain scientists. The book is aimed at students and professionals in the philosophy of mind and has cross-disciplinary appeal in cognitive psychology and the brain sciences.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
March 18, 2019
62 citations
No Summary
Cambridge University Press eBooks
June 2, 2022
P. Mcnamara
35 citations
This updated and expanded edition reviews brain-based accounts of religious experiences, covering decentering, self-transformation, supernatural agent cognitions, mystical states, religious language, ritualization, and religious group agency. It incorporates major findings from the past decade on methodology, future thinking, and psychedelics, and systematically examines the rationale for using neuroscience approaches to religion. The account is intended for religious studies scholars and those interested in comparative religion, philosophy of religion, cultural evolution, and personal self-transformation, explaining how such transformation occurs within religious contexts.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
July 31, 2024
Brad Stoddard
14 citations
Entheogenic religions, which use psychoactive drugs, are often studied in ways that support practitioners' claims of legitimacy. This Element instead offers a historical and critical analysis, examining how entheogenic communities in the United States are produced, the historical factors behind the rise of psychedelics, and how the law shapes these groups. It argues that these communities, like all imagined communities, are culturally conditioned, socially constructed, and historically contingent. Exploring these contingencies reveals the broader sociocultural, historical, and economic frameworks underlying the growing link between psychoactive substances and religion.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
February 4, 2010
Vibeke S. Catts, Stanley V. Catts
12 citations
Phencyclidine (PCP), ketamine, LSD, and MDMA have been called psychotomimetics for their ability to induce psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder without delirium. PCP clearly can cause lasting psychotic disorder beyond acute intoxication, but LSD and MDMA lack clear evidence of inducing psychotic disorder or schizophrenia in people without preexisting vulnerability. PCP and ketamine act as noncompetitive antagonists of the NMDA glutamate receptor, while LSD is a serotonin 5HT2A receptor agonist and MDMA an indirect serotonin agonist. Animal models using PCP show construct validity for schizophrenia, and ketamine serves as a safe human model, though more translational research is needed.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
November 12, 2009
Russell Reising, Jim Leblanc
8 citations
The day of an LSD experience frequently serves as a dramatic and clearly identifiable turning point in an artist's personal development, according to Stanislav Grof. This observation highlights how such an event can mark a significant moment in the creative and psychological trajectory of individual artists.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
July 25, 2017
Peter Mckenna
7 citations
Delusions, central to madness and psychosis, remain poorly understood. This book provides a comprehensive review of what delusions are, their clinical features, the disorders they appear in, and similar phenomena in health and disease. It critically examines psychological and biological explanations for delusions, offering an in-depth analysis of the different approaches taken to understand them. The text is an essential resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, and neuroscientists working with or researching delusional patients and major psychiatric disorders.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
January 27, 2026
Z. Chen
6 citations
Mystical experiences transcend perceived reality and transform individuals, characterized by noetic and ineffable qualities. The text presents a fourfold hierarchy of mystical forms: monistic mysticism merges self and ultimate reality in oneness with ego-dissolution; nondualistic mysticism keeps the self distinct yet absorbed into a transcendent order, as in world religions; dualistic mysticism involves encountering a separate nonhuman reality, seen in shamanism and psychedelic states; pluralistic mysticism emphasizes multiple dimensions of self and reality, integrating embodied and spiritual aspects. These perspectives stress that transcendent realities require self-transformation and can inform daily life across cultures.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
May 28, 2021
Tim Read
2 citations
Clinical research suggests significant efficacy for psychiatric disorders that have traditionally been hard to treat, with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy moving from a fringe subject to a significant new treatment method that all psychotherapists should be aware of and some may develop into a special interest.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
March 20, 2022
Timmen Cermak
A massage therapist named Jackson, bored with his practice, became interested in natural psychoactive substances for healing and spirituality after cannabis legalization. He used cannabis monthly and was enthusiastic about Johns Hopkins research on psilocybin's mental health benefits. Jackson recalled a spiritual awakening from LSD in his youth but also witnessed a friend experience a year-long paranoid panic from the drug.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
November 19, 2020
Peter Franklin
Mahler's music, once a rallying force against tradition, found a new audience in the 1960s popular culture, spurred by his birth centenary and the long-playing record. This wave influenced not only musicians but also modern pop culture and the avant-garde, which bridged high and low culture through experimental and visionary experiences like Zen, magic mushrooms, and LSD. Examples surveyed include Jonathan Williams's poetry, Ken Russell's biopic, the 2004 Athens Olympics opening ceremony, the Adlons' dramatization of Gustav and Alma, and American television. The marketing challenges of Mahler's works in his time now allow his music to speak across racial and cultural identities.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
November 29, 2018
Amber L. Griffioen, Mohammad Sadegh Zahedi
Medieval Christian and Islamic mystical traditions face three challenges when examined for their ethical content: defining mysticism and comparing philosophies across cultures; whether a tradition that views God as the highest good yet emphasizes God's unknowability can provide a coherent theory of value; and whether mystics' antinomian tendencies and stress on passivity can yield a coherent theory of right action. Each concern is addressed in turn, arguing that medieval mysticism, as a fundamentally practical enterprise, merits greater attention from practical and moral philosophy than it has received.
Cambridge University Press eBooks
January 1, 2014
J. Freer
No Summary