Edward Jacobs
BA MA MSc
DPhil Student
I am a DPhil student working within the NEUROSEC team at the Department of Psychiatry, as well as the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities.
I originally joined the team to undertake research that is best characterised as ‘empirical ethics’: using both normative theorising and psychological and sociological data to better understand the nature of morality. For example, as part of the BeGOOD project’s ‘digital diaries’ study, I supported the development of new methodologies to explore how adolescents experience morality on a day-to-day basis.
I found the framework of empirical ethics to be particularly valuable, and am now carrying it - and other approaches - into my DPhil, an interdisciplinary exploration of the Bioethical Dimensions of Psychedelic-assisted Psychotherapy. A broad overview of the motivation and rationale for my project is available here.
Before joining the department, I worked at The Beckley Foundation, supporting psychedelic science studies with university partners. I continue to research scientific, bioethical, and policy aspects of psychedelic therapy as a Visiting Associate at King’s College London’s Centre for Affective Disorders.
I completed my undergraduate degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Balliol College, before continuing to graduate study in Philosophy of Mind, Cognitive Neuroscience and Buddhist Studies.
Contact information
Recent publications
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Psychedelics as potential catalysts of scientific creativity and insight
Journal article
Gandy S. et al, (2022), Drug Science, Policy and Law
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Neuroenhancements in the Military: A Mixed-Method Pilot Study on Attitudes of Staff Officers to Ethics and Rules
Journal article
Sattler S. et al, (2022), Neuroethics, 15
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How to build a game for empirical bioethics research: The case of 'Tracing Tomorrow'.
Journal article
Lyreskog DM. et al, (2021), Health Expect
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Aristotle and the Zoon Politikon
Journal article
Jacobs E., (2021), Journal of Animal Ethics, 8, 150 - 158
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A potential role for psilocybin in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder
Journal article
Jacobs E., (2020), Journal of Psychedelic Studies