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Integral World: Exploring Theories of Everything
An independent forum for a critical discussion of the integral philosophy of Ken Wilber
SOME CORE
INTEGRAL CONCEPTS
THE TWENTY TENETS
In Sex, Ecology, Spirituality Wilber describes the "Twenty Tenets" of holonic philosophy that are common to evolving or growing systems wherever we find them (there are actuallly 19, but who cares?)
THE PRE TRANS FALLACY
The most important theoretical contribution of Wilber to the understanding of
the nature of spiritual development, is the so called "pre trans fallacy". We
tend to confuse prepersonal and
transpersonal states because both are non-personal.
THE FIVE PHASES
Wilber has divided his own intellectual development into four phases, simply
called Wilber-1, Wilber-2, Wilber-3 and Wilber-4, and most recently, Wilber-5. Most critics respond to works
from the early phases, and don't
have an up to date understanding of Wilber's oeuvre.
THE FOUR QUADRANTS
An integral understanding of human consciousness should at least include the
outer and the inner dimensions, in both their individual and collective
manifestations. This Four Quadrants Model
is the guiding principle of Wilber's more recent works.
INTEGRAL PHILOSOPHY
More than any other school of thought, integral philosophy combines the best of
premodernity, modernity and postmodernity, while at the same time avoiding its
extreme forms of
expression.
THE TEN LEVELS
The stage model Wilber proposes consists of four prepersonal, three personal
and three transpersonal stages -- in all, a nine stage model of human
development. Each is stage can be correlated
to stage-specific forms of pathology and therapy.
INTEGRAL POLITICS
In recent years, Wilber has extended his integral approach to the field of
politics. His vision is about a liberal spirituality, a mystical humanism, that
embraces Left, Right and "Up" -- the
stages of human development neglected by both parties.
INVOLUTION AND EVOLUTION
Wilber's vision is evolutionary from beginning to end. He sees development not
only in nature, but also in culture and spirituality. However, evolution is
backed up by a the rather mysterious
process of involution.
THREE TYPES OF SCIENCE
Wilber has rewritten the philosophy of science so that it not only grounds both
the natural and the social sciences, but even makes room for a third type of
"science": meditation or interior
research, which follows the same formal steps as the other two types of science.
HOLONS
A core concept in Wilber's philosophy is the concept of the holon, which he
borrowed from Arthur Koestler. The idea is that everything is not only a whole,
but also part of a larger whole, so
a "part/whole" or "hol-on".
KOSMOS
Wilber's view of the kosmos is very different from the one of physics, which
holds matter to be the only "real" reality. To make room for other dimensions
of existence, Wilber has borrowed the
Pythagorean term "Kosmos".
POSTMODERNISM
Modernism naively believe in progress, postmodernism denied all stage conceptions as etnocentric; constructive postmodernism or integralism again tries to find the hidden pattern behind all cultures and views.
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