Sascha B. Fink: On Epistemic Issues of Psychedelics

Organized by the Department of Analytic Philosophy of the Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Science

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Sascha B. Fink (Magdeburg):
On Epistemic Issues of Psychedelics

In this talk, I present a cautious view of the epistemic benefits of psychedelics. I distinguish between direct and indirect benefits. Instead of directly leading to knowledge, as e.g. Letheby (2021) argued, I hold that their epistemic effects, if at all, are indirect. At most, they facilitate understanding. Based on this, I motivate a unified model that covers both good and bad cases of belief alteration under psychedelics. This view also points to three specific risks that must be addressed when implementing psychedelic-augmented therapy: The empiricist’s trap, the risk of malign openness, and pseudo-significant distractions.