In the 1950s and 1960s, the CIA undertook a series of research and operational programs aimed at gaining control of human behavior, commonly known as mind control. The most famous and notable of these was MKULTRA, which from 1953 to 1964 spawned 149 subprojects that developed and studied "a number of procedures for influencing and predicting human behavior by chemical and psychological means." The intention for the techniques was to "have both defensive applications ... and offensive applications (e.g. the use of psychochemicals to control or discredit an individual)." The Project MKULTRA Compendium presents the results of investigations into these programs, offering views on the ethics and limits of medical research.

Stephen Foster teaches philosophy and religious studies, and he lives in Hamilton, Ontario.