Science, Spirituality, and Ayahuasca: The Problem of Consciousness and Spiritual Ontologies in the Academy

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew from Amazonas, popularized in the last decades in part through transnational religious networks, but also due to interest in exploring spirituality through altered states of consciousness among academic schools and scientific researchers. In this article, the author...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zygon
Subtitles:Science, pseudo-science, and fiction
Main Author: Apud, Ismael 198X- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2017]
In: Zygon
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Ayahuasca / Consciousness expansion / Spirituality / Natural sciences
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AZ New religious movements
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B Consciousness
B philosophy of science
B Ayahuasca
B Scientific Method
B Science
B spiritual ontologies
B psychology of religion
B Spain
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew from Amazonas, popularized in the last decades in part through transnational religious networks, but also due to interest in exploring spirituality through altered states of consciousness among academic schools and scientific researchers. In this article, the author analyzes the relation between science and religion proposing that the “demarcation problem” between the two arises from the relations among consciousness, intentionality, and spirituality. The analysis starts at the beginning of modern science, continues through the nineteenth century, and then examines the appearance of new schools in psychology and anthropology in the countercultural milieu of the 1960s. The author analyzes the case of ayahuasca against this historical background, first, in the general context of ayahuasca studies in the academic field. Second, he briefly describes three cases from Spain. Finally, he discusses the permeability of science to “spiritual ontologies” from an interdisciplinary perspective, using insights from social and cognitive sciences.
ISSN:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12315