P&S Lecture Joost Breeksema on psychedelic research

The next Philosophy & Science lecture will take place with Joost Breeksema, a postdoctoral researcher at the UMCG. Joost will be talking about the exciting field of psychedelic research and his own recent work on the topic. 

Title: Psychedelics: bridging science, therapy, mysticism, and philosophy

Abstract:

Over the past decade, there has been a remarkable resurgence of scientific and clinical interest in psychedelics. Besides developments in neuroscience and pharmacology, most attention has centred on therapeutic applications of psychedelics. Recent clinical research has shown promising results for the treatment of a wide variety of mental disorders. At the same time, psychedelic therapy represents a fundamentally different treatment paradigm, centralizing patients’ acute subjective experiences. These experiences - which can be challenging, transformative, profound, and confusing - raise deep philosophical questions. In this talk, I will explore the therapeutic potential of psychedelics through an interdisciplinary lens, touching on phenomenology, ethics, clinical research, and metaphysics.