Psychedelics - Mind: Metaphysics and Neuroscience

Module title	Psychedelics - Mind: Metaphysics and Neuroscience
Module code	PSYM248
Academic year	2025/6
Credits	15
Module staff	Dr Peter Sjostedt-Hughes (Lecturer)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	10

Number students taking module (anticipated)	30

Module description

This module will introduce you to frameworks of understanding psychedelic experience in its many guises – from philosophy and science, or more specifically from metaphysics and neuroscience. You will study the metaphysics of mind in terms of the proposed relationship between mind and matter, and the associated ‘hard problem of consciousness’ – traversing theories such as dualism, physicalism, idealism, neutral monism, transcendentalism, pantheism, panpsychism, indigenous animism, perennialism, contextualism, and set & setting. You will complement this by studying the brain sciences that examine purported neural correlates of psychedelic experience, neurophenomenology, filtration theories, and causal mechanisms of psychedelic therapy.

Module aims - intentions of the module

In this module you will:

Explore psychedelics through scientific and philosophical lenses.
Study metaphysics of mind, focussing on the mind-matter relationship and the hard problem of consciousness, as it pertains to psychedelics.
Examine theories such as dualism, physicalism, idealism, panpsychism, animism and mysticism.
Investigate brain sciences and neural correlates of psychedelic experience.
Analyse causal mechanisms of psychedelic therapy.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Demonstrate knowledge of metaphysics of mind and neuroscience in relation to psychedelics.
2. Integration of mental transdisciplinary perspectives.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

3. Critical evaluation of evidence and practice in the field of mind and psychedelics.
4. Subjective enquiry and awareness using specific techniques.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

5. Development of critical analytical thinking.
6. Ability to evaluate multiple perspectives.

Syllabus plan

An indicative list of topics is:

Metaphysics of mind
Neuroscience
Mysticism
Animism
Monism and idealism
Phenomenology (neuro- and micro-)
Filtration theory
Hard problem of consciousness

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
30	120	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled learning and teaching	20	Lectures and Q&A
Scheduled learning and teaching	10	Seminars
Guided independent study	120	Reading, researching and preparation of assessments

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Detailed essay plan	500 words	All	Oral and/or written feedback

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	100	3,000 words	All	Written feedback

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay (100%)	Essay	All	August/September reassessment period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The module mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to re-submit any referred work for a capped mark.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Hauskeller, C. and Sjöstedt-Hughes, P., eds. (2022) Philosophy and Psychedelics: Exploring Frameworks for Exceptional Experience (London: Bloomsbury)
Lectures XVI & XVII: Mysticism, in: James, W. (1902/1960) The Varieties of Religious Experience (Fount)
Hofmann, A. (1979/2019) LSD: My Problem Child, trans. J. Ott (Oxford University Press)
Huxley, A. (1954/1956/2004) The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell (Vintage Books)
Kopenawa, D. and Albert, B. (2010/2013) The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman, trans. N. Elliot and A. Dundy (Harvard University Press)
Letcher, A. (2006). Shroom. A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom. (Faber & Faber Ltd.)
Richards, W. A. (2008)The Phenomenology and Potential Religious Import of States of Consciousness Facilitated by Psilocybin, Archiv für Religionspsychologie / Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 30, pp. 189–199
Searle, J. (1984) Searle, J. (1984) Chapter 1: The Mind-Body Problem, in Minds, Brain, and Science (Harvard University Press)
Sjöstedt-Hughes P (2023) On the need for metaphysics in psychedelic therapy and research, Frontiers in Psychology, 14:1128589. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1128589
Ens, A. (2021). Silencing indigenous pasts: critical Indigenous theory and the history of psychedelics. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education., 34(10), 904–914. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1942297
de Castro, E. V. (2019). Exchanging Perspectives. Common Knowledge., 25(1–3), 21–42. https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754X-7299066

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Key words search

Psychedelic, metaphysics, hard problem of consciousness, neuroscience, neural correlates, filtration theory, mysticism, animism

Credit value	15
Module ECTS	7.5
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	7
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	13/3/25