Psychedelic Experiences and the Enactive Approach

Two competing views on psychedelic experiences—realism, which sees them as revealing a pre-given world, and idealism, which sees them as projections of a pre-given mind—both rely on grasping and representations. An enactive approach offers an alternative that moves beyond these assumptions, emphasizing observer relativity and context dependency without grounding experience in either the world or the self. The chapter argues for this perspective and discusses its implications for understanding the common core of psychedelic experiences, the role of hallucinogens in enactive theory, and the relationship between direct experience and belief.

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Abstract

Abstract Two views on psychedelic experiences include realism and idealism. While a realist view suggests that psychedelic experiences reveal a pre-given world to us, an idealist view suggests they are mere projections of a pre-given mind. This chapter highlights and contrasts their common tendency towards grasping and representations. It presents a promising alternative that aims at going beyond grasping and representations: an enactive approach to psychedelic experiences. It argues that the enactive approach contributes a perspective on psychedelic experiences that leaves behind the assumption of a foundation in either the world or the self and emphasizes both the observer relativity and context dependency involved in psychedelic experiences. It concludes with implications of the enactive perspective for the common core approach to PRSM experiences, the relevance of hallucinogens for the enactive approach, and the authors’ view on the relation between direct experience and belief.