Editing Timothy Leary (section)

{{Short description|American psychologist (1920–1996)}}
{{About|the 1960s counterculture figure|the baseball player|Tim Leary}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Timothy Leary
| image              = Dr. Timothy Leary (1970 AP Photo).jpg
| caption            = Leary in 1970
| birth_name         = Timothy Francis Leary
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1920|10|22}}
| birth_place        = [[Springfield, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|1996|5|31|1920|10|22}}
| death_place        = [[Beverly Hills, California]], U.S.
| education          = {{Plain list|
* [[College of the Holy Cross]]
* [[United States Military Academy]]
* [[University of Alabama]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
* [[Washington State University]] ([[Master of Science|MS]])
* [[University of California, Berkeley]] ([[PhD]])
}}
| occupation         = {{Hlist|Psychologist|activist|author}}
| employer           = 
| known              = {{Plain list|
* [[Eight-circuit model of consciousness]]
* [[Reality tunnel]]
* "[[Question authority]]"
* "[[Set and setting]]"
* "[[Turn on, tune in, drop out]]"
}}
| spouse             = {{Plain list|
* {{Marriage|Marianne Busch|1945|1955|end=died}}
* {{Marriage|Mary Della Cioppa|1956|1957|end=divorced}}
* {{Marriage|[[Nena von Schlebrügge]]|1964|1965|end=divorced}}
* {{Marriage|Rosemary Woodruff|1967|1976|end=divorced}}
* {{Marriage|Barbara Chase|1978|1992|end=divorced}}{{efn-ua|Barbara Chase, Timothy Leary's fifth wife, is the sister of [[Tanya Roberts]].<ref name=NYTimesDeath>{{cite news|last=Gates|first=Anita|date=January 5, 2021|title=Tanya Roberts, a Charlie's Angel and a Bond Girl, Is Dead at 65|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/arts/television/tanya-roberts-dead.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/arts/television/tanya-roberts-dead.html |archive-date=2021-12-28 |url-access=limited|access-date=January 5, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref>}}
}}
| partner            = [[Joanna Harcourt-Smith]] (1972–1977)
| children           = 3
| module             = {{Infobox scientist
| embed       = yes
| fields      = {{Plain list|
* [[Clinical psychology]]
* [[Psychotherapy]]
* [[Psychedelic therapy]]
}}
| workplaces  = {{Plain list|
* {{No wrap|[[University of California, Berkeley]]}}
* [[Kaiser Oakland Medical Center]]
* [[Harvard University]]}}
| thesis_title = The Social Dimensions of Personality: Group Process and Structure
| thesis_year = 1950
| thesis_url = https://archive.org/details/leary/leary.300dpi/page/n3/mode/2up
| doctoral_advisor = Hubert Stanley Coffey
}}
}}
{{Psychedelic sidebar|History}}

'''Timothy Francis Leary''' (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of [[psychedelic drug]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/timothy-leary |title=Timothy Leary |website=psychology.fas.harvard.edu |language=en |access-date=February 2, 2020}}</ref> Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". According to poet [[Allen Ginsberg]], he was "a hero of American consciousness", while writer [[Tom Robbins]] called him a "brave [[Psychonaut|neuronaut]]".{{sfnp|Leary|1998|p=back cover}} President [[Richard Nixon]] disagreed, calling Leary "the most dangerous man in America".<ref name="Mansnerus" /> During the 1960s and 1970s, at the height of the [[counterculture movement]], Leary was arrested 36 times.{{sfnp|Higgs|2006|p=233}}

As a clinical psychologist at [[Harvard University]], Leary founded the [[Harvard Psilocybin Project]] after a revealing experience with [[Magic mushroom|magic mushrooms]] he had in Mexico in 1960. For two years, he tested [[psilocybin]]'s therapeutic effects, in the [[Concord Prison Experiment]] and the [[Marsh Chapel Experiment]]. He also experimented with [[lysergic acid diethylamide]] (LSD), which was also legal in the U.S. at the time. Other Harvard faculty questioned his research's scientific legitimacy and ethics because he took psychedelics himself along with his subjects and allegedly pressured students to join in.<ref name=Kansra>{{cite news |last1=Kansra |first1=Nikita |last2=Shih |first2=Cynthia W. |title=Harvard LSD Research Draws National Attention |newspaper=[[The Harvard Crimson]] |date=May 21, 2012 |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/5/21/harvard-lsd-project-leary/ |access-date=March 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320064322/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/5/21/harvard-lsd-project-leary/ |archive-date=March 20, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Harvard>{{cite web |author=Department of Psychology |title=Timothy Leary (1920–1996) |publisher=[[Harvard University]] |url=https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/timothy-leary |access-date=February 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405155113/https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/timothy-leary |archive-date=April 5, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfnp|Weil|1963}} Harvard fired Leary and his colleague Richard Alpert (later known as [[Ram Dass]]) in May 1963.{{sfnp|Stevens|1983|pp=273–274}} Many people learned of psychedelics after the Harvard scandal.<ref name=Junker>{{cite news |last=Junker |first=Howard |title=LSD: 'The Contact High' |work=The Nation |date=July 5, 1965 |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/lsd-contact-high/ |access-date=May 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924191157/https://www.thenation.com/article/lsd-contact-high/ |archive-date=September 24, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Leary continued to publicly promote psychedelic drugs and became a well-known figure of the [[counterculture of the 1960s]]; he popularized [[catchphrase]]s that promoted his philosophy, such as "[[turn on, tune in, drop out]]", "[[set and setting]]", and "[[Question authority|think for yourself and question authority]]".

Leary believed that LSD showed potential for [[Psychedelic therapy|therapeutic use]] in [[psychiatry]]. He developed an [[eight-circuit model of consciousness]] in his 1977 book ''Exo-Psychology'' and gave lectures, occasionally calling himself a "performing philosopher".{{sfnp|Greenfield|2006|p=537}} He also developed a philosophy of [[mind expansion]] and personal truth through LSD.<ref>
{{cite book
| title = Drug Use: A Reference Handbook
| last = Isralowitz
| first = Richard
| page = [https://archive.org/details/drugusereference0000isra/page/183 183]
| isbn = 978-1576077085
| publisher = ABC-CLIO
| date = May 14, 2004
| url = https://archive.org/details/drugusereference0000isra
| url-access = registration
| access-date = April 1, 2016
| quote = Leary explored the cultural and philosophical implications of psychedelic drugs
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| title = Modern America: A Documentary History of the Nation Since 1945
| last = Donaldson
| first = Robert H.
| page = 128
| isbn = 978-0765615374
| publisher = Routledge
| date = 2015
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=t0TfBQAAQBAJ&q=timothy+leary+philosopher&pg=PA128
| access-date = April 1, 2016
| quote = Leary not only used and distributed the drug, he founded a sort of LSD philosophy of use that involved aspects of mind expansion and the revelation of personal truth through 'dropping acid'.
}}</ref> He also wrote and spoke frequently about [[transhumanism]], [[Space colonization|human space migration]], intelligence increase, and [[life extension]] (SMI²LE).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/14/AR2006061402139.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |first=Nick |last=Gillespie |title=Psychedelic, Man |date=June 15, 2006 |access-date=September 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331171613/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/14/AR2006061402139.html |archive-date=March 31, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>