The Psychedelic "Hip Scene": Return of the Death Instinct

The author discusses the relationship between the psychedelic experience and the nonviolent ethic of the growing "hippy" subculture within the frame of reference of Freud's death instinct theory, which held that externalization of the life and death instincts through aggressiveness prevents self-destruction of the individual. The psychedelic episode and the experience of ego dissolution ("dying") are seen as confirming the basic unity of life and death, thus eliminating the individual's need to externalize destructiveness.