Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6023-6435
Graduation Year
2023
Date of Submission
12-2022
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy and Public Affairs
Reader 1
Amy Kind
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2022 Lia Harel
Abstract
Psychedelics have the power to induce in us an altered state of consciousness—a psychological experience radically different from our normal waking state of consciousness. Notable differences include changes in one’s perception of time, their sense of self, and the meaning and significance they attribute to things in their life. Across a broad range of testimonies, many people have reported characteristics of their psychedelic experience that bear a close resemblance to metaphysical accounts of ultimate reality from various cultures and time periods. In this paper, I explore the question of whether one can acquire knowledge of ultimate reality through psychedelic experience. Using an application of Bertrand Russell’s knowledge by acquaintance argument, I demonstrate that one’s perceptual experience in the altered state of consciousness, in combination with post-experience reflection, provides justification for knowledge of ultimate reality.
Recommended Citation
Harel, Lia, "Acquiring Knowledge of Ultimate Reality Through Psychedelic Experience" (2023). CMC Senior Theses. 3184.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3184
