Naturalism and the hard problem of mysticism in psychedelic science

Psychedelic substances can induce mystical-type experiences that often lead to metaphysical beliefs about the fundamental nature of reality, which have been criticized as incompatible with naturalism and therefore false. This creates two problems: an easy problem of defining what the "fundamental nature of reality" means and whether mystical conceptions of it are compatible with naturalism, and a hard problem of showing how mystical insights, which from a naturalistic perspective are brain processes, could provide insight into reality beyond the brain. The author argues that naturalism is less restrictive than commonly assumed, allowing that reality can be more than what science conveys.

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Abstract

Psychedelic substances are known to facilitate mystical-type experiences which can include metaphysical beliefs about the fundamental nature of reality. Such insights have been criticized as being incompatible with naturalism and therefore false. This leads to two problems. The easy problem is to elaborate on what is meant by the “fundamental nature of reality”, and whether mystical-type conceptions of it are compatible with naturalism. The hard problem is to show how mystical-type insights, which from the naturalistic perspective are brain processes, could afford insight into the nature of reality beyond the brain. I argue that naturalism is less restrictive than commonly assumed, allowing that reality can be more than what science can convey. I propose that what the mystic refers to as the ultimate nature of reality can be considered as its representation- and observation-independent nature, and that mystical-type conceptions of it can be compatible with science. However, showing why the claims of the mystic would be true requires answering the hard problem. I argue that we can in fact directly know the fundamental nature of one specific part of reality, namely our own consciousness. Psychedelics may amplify our awareness of what consciousness is in itself, beyond our conceptual models about it, and may thus yield a glimpse into the fundamental nature of reality. Moreover, psychedelics may aid us to become aware of the limits of our models of reality. However, it is far from clear how mystical-type experience could afford access to the fundamental nature of all of reality. I conclude that mystical-type conceptions about reality may be compatible with naturalism, but not verifiable, as is the case with most metaphysical theses about reality.