Bridging Approaches: Phenomenology
Dr. Andy Letcher, PhD
Julian Kiverstein, PhD
Rebekah Senanayake
moderated by Eirini Ketzitzidou Argyri
Wednesday 1 October, 2025 8PM CEST (7PM BST, 2PM ET, 11AM PT)
Online via Zoom
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Standing between objective investigation and subjective experience, phenomenology is at the heart of multiple disagreements in the psychedelic field. Does lived experience even matter?
In a time where brain activity can be measured objectively, scientists are trying to create non-hallucinogenic psychedelic compounds, so that patients can be treated without the ‘side effects’ of lived experience. Other scholars remind us that subjective experience is embodied and situated within an environment of cultural, historical, social and geographical factors, and that purely objective science is a mere fantasy.
Can perception or the self be studied without phenomenology? Can one gain true access to the subjective experience of another? Which methods are effective? Are they scientific, or does phenomenology touch the limits of academic knowledge?
Bridging Approaches is a series of events tackling subjects under dispute in the psychedelic field in a peacemaking mode. Professor of neurophilosophy Julian Kiverstein will discuss the significance of phenomenology to the philosophy of mind and its implementation in cognitive science. Moving from ecology to religion studies, Andy Letcher will talk about the advantages and pitfalls of phenomenology in the context of psychedelic spiritualities. Rebekah Senanayake will explore how extensive fieldwork, traditional apprenticeships, and embodied research practices can bridge phenomenological inquiry and empirical investigation, connecting traditional and modern scientific ways of knowing in psychedelic studies. Together they will try to create bridges between their views, and find constructive manners to talk and work together without resolving the conflict.
Bridging Approaches is a series of events tackling subjects under dispute in the psychedelic field in a peacemaking mode. Professor of neurophilosophy Julian Kiverstein will discuss the significance of phenomenology to the philosophy of mind and its implementation in cognitive science. Moving from ecology to religion studies, Andy Letcher will talk about the advantages and pitfalls of phenomenology in the context of psychedelic spiritualities. Rebekah Senanayake will explore how extensive fieldwork, traditional apprenticeships, and embodied research practices can bridge phenomenological inquiry and empirical investigation, connecting traditional and modern scientific ways of knowing in psychedelic studies. Together they will try to create bridges between their views, and find constructive manners to talk and work together without resolving the conflict.
The discussion will be moderated by Eirini Ketzitzidou Argyri.