Moral Change from Within : Psychedelic Moral Enhancement as a Transformative Experience

This paper explores the philosophical implications of psychedelic moral enhancement (PME) within the broader debate on moral bioenhancement (MBE). Drawing on the work of L.A. Paul and others, it frames PME as a transformative experience – an experience whose nature and impact cannot be fully anticipated before undergoing it, thus raising challenges for rational deliberation. Unlike low-order MBEs, which risk mechanizing moral behaviour, PME appears to engage higher-order reflective capacities, promoting a first-person moral standpoint without overriding agency. The paper argues that when voluntarily chosen and critically integrated, PME does not threaten moral agency but can instead facilitate profound moral growth. It concludes that PME may be ethically acceptable not despite its transformative power, but precisely because it helps individuals reorient their moral identity from within.