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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