Psychedelic Space

A novel explication of the concept of psychedelic experience defines it as a mind-revealing experience. Experiences can be psychedelic in varying degrees and different ways along four dimensions: scope, clarity, novelty, and duration. These dimensions form a conceptual framework called psychedelic space, which distinguishes how experiences may be more or less psychedelic. Clarity is especially important because it differentiates experiences that accurately reveal the mind from those that do not, allowing psychedelic experiences to be simultaneously mind-revealing in some respects and mind-distorting in others.

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Abstract

Abstract This chapter provides a novel explication of the concept of psychedelic experience, understood as a mind-revealing experience. After reviewing the history of the concept of psychedelic experience, the chapter argues that experiences can be psychedelic in varying degrees and in different ways. In particular, the chapter argues that experiences can be more or less psychedelic by varying with respect to four dimensions: (i) scope, (ii) clarity, (iii) novelty, and (iv) duration. These four dimensions form the conceptual framework of psychedelic space, and they can be used to distinguish different ways that experiences may be more or less psychedelic. Special attention is paid to the dimension of clarity, as it allows us to differentiate between experiences that accurately reveal the mind and those that do not. This, in turn, allows for a more nuanced approach to psychedelic experiences, allowing them to be simultaneously mind-revealing in some respects and mind-distorting in others.