Charles T. Tart

Charles T. Tart (April 29, 1937 – March 5, 2025) was an American psychologist and parapsychologist recognized as a foundational figure in transpersonal psychology , with pioneering research on altered states of consciousness , hypnosis , and parapsychological phenomena. Born in Morrisville, Pennsylvania , and raised in New Jersey, Tart initially studied electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before shifting to psychology .

Tart earned his PhD in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1963, with a dissertation on influencing dream content through posthypnotic suggestion, and completed postdoctoral training in hypnosis research at Stanford University under Ernest Hilgard . He joined the faculty at the University of California, Davis , where he served as a professor of psychology for 28 years until becoming Professor Emeritus. Later, he held core faculty positions at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University ) and served as a senior research fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, while also consulting on parapsychological projects at SRI International .

Tart's seminal work, Altered States of Consciousness (1969), popularized the concept and compiled key studies on hypnosis, dreaming, and meditation, influencing modern psychology's approach to non-ordinary mental states. He co-founded transpersonal psychology, integrating spiritual and transcendent experiences into scientific inquiry, as detailed in Transpersonal Psychologies (1975), and advanced parapsychology through experiments like a 1968 out-of-body experience study and the development of feedback mechanisms to enhance psi abilities. Over his career, he authored or co-authored 14 books and more than 250 articles, including lead pieces in Science and Nature , while introducing concepts like "state-specific sciences" to argue for tailored research methods for different consciousness states.

In his later years, Tart explored the intersections of science and spirituality in works such as The End of Materialism (2009) and advocated for post-materialist paradigms in psychology , bridging Western empirical methods with Eastern practices like meditation and Gurdjieff's Fourth Way . A black belt in aikido and lifelong meditator, he emphasized practical applications of consciousness research until his death at age 87. His legacy endures through his role in legitimizing transpersonal and parapsychological studies within academia.

Charles T. Tart was born on April 29, 1937, in Morrisville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania . He grew up in Trenton, New Jersey , after his family relocated there during his early years. Raised in a Lutheran household, though his parents were not particularly devout, Tart's family background provided a nominally religious context that contrasted with his emerging scientific curiosities.

During his childhood, Tart developed a profound interest in the nature of consciousness , sparked by his vivid dream experiences where he explored imaginative realms that felt as real as waking life . However, his parents and surrounding adults dismissed these dreams as unreal, prompting him to question the boundaries between dream states and ordinary reality. This early fascination with how the mind constructs experience laid the groundwork for his lifelong inquiry into altered states of consciousness .

In his teenage years, Tart became an avid amateur radio enthusiast, obtaining a First-Class Radio Telephone License from the Federal Communications Commission and working as a radio engineer . These pursuits fueled his initial interest in engineering and technical sciences, while his ongoing reflections on consciousness began steering him toward psychology . This blend of technical aptitude and philosophical curiosity ultimately led him to pursue formal education at MIT.