What Is Psychedelic Experience?

The central question of what constitutes a psychedelic experience is examined by reviewing the original exchange between Aldous Huxley and Humphry Osmond, who coined the term 'psychedelic' to mean 'mind-revealer'. They proposed that substances like psilocybin and LSD reveal hidden aspects of the mind, an insight that is also an empirical hypothesis open to testing. The chapter argues that before testing this hypothesis, the concept of psychedelic experience must be explicated in more precise terms to determine what evidence would support or refute it.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract This chapter introduces the book's central question: what is a psychedelic experience? Upon reviewing the exchanges between Aldous Huxley and Humphry Osmond concerning their introduction of the term 'psychedelic', the chapter proposes that we should understand the notion along the lines they intended. Their idea was that substances such as psilocybin and LSD induce experiences that reveal hidden parts or aspects of the mind and, therefore, should be called “psychedelics” or mind-revealers. This was a novel and profound insight into the nature of these substances. However, it is also an empirical hypothesis that may be false and, therefore, should be tested. The chapter argues that in order to do this, we first need to explicate the concept of psychedelic experience in more precise terms so that we can know what kind of evidence may be marshalled in support of – or against – the hypothesis.