The psychedelic experience: a new perspective, a new attitude towards the world

A philosophical account argues that psychedelic experiences can treat depression by shifting one's entire world, from a state devoid of beauty and meaning to one full of beauty and connection. Drawing on Ludwig Wittgenstein's ideas on aesthetics, ethics, and mysticism, the account characterizes depression as a world from which we feel disconnected, while psychedelics immerse us in a meaningful world, changing perspective and opening new possibilities for action and evaluation of self and relationships.

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Abstract

Abstract This chapter provides a philosophical account of the potential of the psychedelic experience to treat depression. The main thesis is that such a potential lies in the possibility of psychedelics allowing us to experience a world diametrically opposed to that of depression: the psychedelic experience can be world-shifting. Building on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s insights and notions of aesthetics, ethics, and mysticism, the world in depression is characterized as a world devoid of beauty and meaning, from which we feel disconnected. On the contrary, the psychedelic experience immerses us in a world full of beauty and meaning, to which we feel connected. It is by changing our perspective that our whole world and attitude towards it changes, opening up new possibilities for action, as well as a new evaluation of the contingencies of our biographical self and our relationships with others.