Phenomenology of Psychedelic Experiences

This book provides a  phenomenological examination of the psychedelic experience. Danny Forde begins by introducing and outlining both the subject matter (psychedelics) and the approach (phenomenology). In the phenomenological analysis, Forde defends a bundle of four interconnected claims. The first thesis is that a minimal sense of self is maintained even during the most turbulent experiences of ego-dissolution. This leads into the second thesis, which argues that rather than being purely hallucinatory, the psychedelic experience can reveal aspects of reality which would not otherwise be disclosed, i.e., as the ego dissolves one gains a view of the world which Forde calls ego-free seeing. The third thesis is that the psychedelic experience can open the subject to the essential nature of reality. Here, Forde claims  that the mythopoetic archetypical phenomena encountered during the peak of the psychedelic experience are best comprehended in terms of essences. Finally, Forde argues that the psychedelic experience is a bona fide transformative experience and offers a distinct way of apprehending the Ground of Being.

Danny Forde is an assistant lecturer in both the philosophy department and the department of religions and global diversity in University College Cork, Ireland.