Philosophy's Exclusion of Altered States

Western Philosophy on Drugs: Consciousness, Dreams, and Reality

In this episode of The Psychedelic Podcast, Paul F. Austin speaks with Dr. Justin Smith-Ruiu about how psychedelic experiences challenge long-standing assumptions about consciousness, perception, and reality.

Find full show notes and links here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-351/?ref=278

Justin explains how Western philosophy has historically privileged rational, sober, and waking states of mind, often dismissing dreams and altered states as unreliable. He explores how psychedelic experiences push against these assumptions, raising deeper questions about knowledge, language, and what counts as real.

The conversation also examines the tension between therapeutic and existential uses of psychedelics, and how medicalization may shape the cultural role these substances play moving forward.

Justin Smith-Ruiu is a professor of history and philosophy of science at the Université Paris Cité and author of On Drugs: Psychedelics, Philosophy, and the Nature of Reality. His work explores intellectual history, consciousness, and the limits of rational thought, and he writes regularly for Harper's, WIRED, and The New York Times.

Highlights:

• How philosophy excludes altered states
• Why dreams are dismissed as unreliable
• Psychedelics and limits of rationality
• Language and ineffability of experience
• Therapeutic vs existential frameworks
• Medicalization and cultural impact
• Philosophy beyond sober cognition

Episode Links:

• Justin Smith-Ruiu's website

Episode Sponsors:

• The Microdosing Practitioner Certification at Psychedelic Coaching Institute.
• The Practitioner Certification Program by Third Wave's Psychedelic Coaching Institute.
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