At times, new scientific data lead to a revolution in how we think about ourselves. Copernicus's data showed that the Earth and its inhabitants were not situated at the geographic epicentre of the Universe. Darwin's observations indicated that humans did not exist in a natural realm apart from other primates. Freud's cases suggested that the rational conscious mind was not necessarily the primary determinant of human behaviour. This volume begins with the idea that revolutionary data about the brain and the mind, and especially about medications that act on the brain-mind, will fundamentally change our thoughts about humans.

Brain-mind-altering or psychoactive substances, also known as psychotropics, have been used since antiquity for both recreational and therapeutic reasons. Noah celebrated with wine, and Plato philosophized about its appropriate use. Paracelsus knew the value of laudanum, and Pinel not only unshackled the insane but also prescribed opium. Nevertheless, the modern field of empirical psychopharmacology is only a few decades old. Psychopharmacologists have mostly been interested in basic science investigations of the mechanism of new drugs and in clinical studies of their efficacy in treating psychiatric disorders. They have not paid much attention to the more abstract question of whether their data change our understanding of the nature of cognitive science and of psychiatry. This is an important gap, and this volume hopes to begin to close it.

Working with the new psychiatric drugs raises crucial philosophical questions, and so encourages a rethinking of cognitive science and particularly of psychiatry.