Documenting and defining emergent phenomenology: theoretical foundations for an extensive research strategy

Meditation, psychedelics, and other induction methods that modulate conscious experience are increasingly popular in clinical and non-clinical settings, yet the associated phenomenology remains insufficiently described and understood. Many similar effects occur spontaneously. The authors argue there is an ethical mandate to research this experiential range more extensively, beginning with comprehensive documentation and definition. They review 50 recent clinical or scientific publications to assess the range of phenomena, experiences, effects, after-effects, and impacts across psychoactive compounds, meditative practices, and other modalities or events, resulting in a large inventory synthesizing reports from over 30,000 subjects. They critically discuss terms and concepts used to designate all or parts of this range, and argue specialized terminologies are needed to ground a nascent research field. As a step, they propose the notion of “emergence” and derivatives, such as “emergent phenomenology,” as foundational candidates.

Olivier Sandilands, Daniel M. Ingram