Integral Review

A Transdisciplinary and Transcultural Journal For New Thought, Research, and Praxis

Issue 3 Dec 2006

Editorial

Jonathan Reams

Tags:

Toward Integral Dialog: Provisional Guidelines for Online Forums

Tom Murray and Sara Ross

Tags: ,

Tomorrow’s Sunrise – A Plea for the Future You, Me and We

Barbara Nussbaum

Poetry

Tags: ,

Four Days in France: An Integral Interlude

Tam Lundy

Tags:

Rationale for an Integral Theory of Everything

Ervin Lazlo

Tags:

Review of Harter’s Clearings in the Forest

Jonathan Reams

Tags: ,

The Map, the Gap, and the Territory

Bonnitta Roy

Tags:

The Dance Integral

Andrew Campbell

Tags:

Drei Avantgarde-Strömungen des heutigen US-Geisteslebens – und ihre Beziehung zu Europa

Roland Benedikter

Zusammenfassung: Die heutigen USA gelten vielen als Vorreiter auf dem Weg zur integrativen Erneuerung von Wissenschafts- und Erkenntnisparadigmen. Dies vor allem im Bereich der traditionellen Kern- und Grundlagen-Wissenschaft der neuzeitlichen Universität: der Philosophie und der historisch aus ihr erwachsenen Psychologien. Seit einigen Jahren ist in den USA in der Tat eine Entwicklung im Gang, welche die Einseitigkeiten des nominalistisch-subjektivistischen Paradigmas der „Postmoderne“, welches aus ideengeschichtlicher Sicht die Epoche zwischen 1979 und 2001 geprägt hat, um einen neuen geistigen Objektivismus ausgleichen und beide zu einem neuen, „subjektiv-objektiven“ Paradigma integrieren will. Diese Entwicklung findet ihren Ausdruck in drei exemplarischen Avantgarde-Strömungen, die im vorliegenden Beitragvorgestellt sowie auf Charakteristiken und Wechselbeziehungen untersucht werden. Dabei erweist sich, dass die heutige ideengeschichtliche Avantgarde der USA in Kernterminologie, historischer Kontinuität und Ausrichtung stark pazifisch-asiatisch, aber noch zu wenig atlantisch-europäisch geprägt ist. Das scheint mit ein Grund dafür zu sein, warum diese Avantgarde-Ansätze trotz ihres hochwertigen Anregungs- und Innovations-Potentials im Hinblick auf ein ganzheitlichen Wissenschafts-Paradigma für das 21. Jahrhundert noch unübersehbare Schwierigkeiten haben, den atlantisch-europäisch geprägten Hauptstrom des Geistes-, Kultur- und politisch-sozialen Lebens ihrer Gesellschaft zu erreichen. Es zeigt sich, dass der innere Ausgleich zwischen pazifischen und atlantischen Ideen-Einflüssen eine der zentralen Herausforderungen für diese Avantgarde-Strömungen, aber darüber hinaus im Spiegelverhältnis auch für das europäische Kultur- und Gesellschafts-Paradigma sowie für die Entwicklung der integralen Bewegungen auf Weltebene insgesamt ist.

Three avant-garde currents within the contemporary intellectual life in the United States – and in their relationship to Europe

Abstract: Many intellectuals consider the U.S. of today a forerunner for an integrative renewal of scientific and cognitive paradigms, particularly in the field of philosophy and psychology. Indeed, since a few years there have been tendencies which try to compensate the onesidedness of the nominalistic-subjectivistic paradigm of “postmodernism”—which from a historical point of view characterized the period between 1979 and 2001—by a new kind of intellectual objectivism, and to integrate both into a new, “subjective-objective” paradigm. This trend is represented by three exemplary avant-garde currents which are examined in their characteristics and correlations. It turns out that the basic terminology, historical continuity and orientation of these intellectual-historical avant-garde currents in the U.S. are characterized by Pacific-Asian influences rather than by Atlantic-European ones. This seems to explain at least in part, why in spite of their high-quality innovation potential these avant-garde approaches, in view of a holistic science paradigm for the 21st century, still have problems to reach the mainstream of the intellectual, cultural and politico-social life of their society. It becomes apparent that the harmony of Pacific and Atlantic influences of ideas and intellectual traditions poses a central challenge to these three avant-garde currents, but also to the European cultural and social paradigm, as well as to the development of integral currents worldwide.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Of Syntheses and Surprises: Toward a Critical Integral Theory

Daniel Gustav Anderson

Abstract: The central concern of this article is how the search for formal structures with universal values functions ideologically, addressing Zizek’s claim that East-West syntheses may represent the dominant ideology par excellance of global capitalism. To this end, the article offers a Foucaultian genealogy of Integral theory, tracing its origins to the cultural and subjective contingencies of the British Empire, primarily in the work of Integral theory’s foundational thinker, Aurobindo Ghose. The article poses a primary critique of synthesis and evolution as mythological keys to Ultimate Reality which suggests that Zizek’s critique may have some validity, and offers the potential for a “critical integral theory” as an alternative. Situated in Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of becoming, and represented in the ideas and practices of a constellation of thinkers inclusive of Gurdjieff, Benjamin, and Trungpa, the article’s view of integration supports radical democracy as presented in the writings of Laclau and Mouffe as a model outcome for social and personal transformational practices.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Measuring an Approximate g in Animals and People

Michael Lamport Commons

Abstract: A science of comparative cognition ultimately needs a measurement theory, allowing the comparison of performance in different species of animals, including humans. Current theories are often based on human performance only, and may not easily apply to other species. It is proposed that such a theory include a number of indexes: an index of the stage of development based on the order of hierarchical complexity of the tasks the species can perform; an index of horizontal complexity; and measures of g (for general intelligence) and related indexes. This article is an early-stage proposal of ways to conceive of g in animals and people. It responds to Geary’s argument that domain-general mechanisms are essential for evolutionary psychologists. Existing research is used to enumerate domains, such as problem solving behavior in pursuit of food, or behaviors in pursuit of mates and/or reproduction, and itemize identifiable human social domains. How to construct g, across domains and within domains, is described.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Centrality of Human Development in International Development Programs: An Interview with Courtney Nelson

Russ Volckmann

Abstract: For over forty years Courtney Nelson was engaged in projects in Africa, Asia and the Middle East that were focused on trying to make a positive difference in the lives, work, and organizations of people confronting rapid change, new demands on themselves and their families, and worldwide economic and political forces that few understood. Courtney’s integral perspective is evident here as he forges a clear presentation of the relationships among variables in development.

Tags: ,

A Process Model of Integral Theory

Bonnitta Roy

Abstract: In this article I introduce a Process Model of integral theory, combining Dzogchen ideas and Western works on process philosophy. I make a distinction between Wilber’s notion of perspective and the Dzogchen notion of view. I make the further distinction between Wilber’s use of process in his writings from what I consider to be a process view. I distinguish epistemological categories of knowing from ontological ways of understanding and propose ways to integrate the epistemological field with the ontological dimension by contextualizing both the ways they are related, and the characteristics that distinguish them. This article outlines the conditions of structural enfoldment and shows how they can help contextualize the limits of structural frameworks. I introduce how process models of cognition, conceptualization and value can be integrated into the Process Model.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,






Current Issue

Recent Issues