Critiques of Wilber

Meg Salter meg.salter at sympatico.ca
Wed Feb 7 15:54:27 PST 2001


Well, as it seemed to be cropping up on this list, I have just bought and
read Wilber's latest. (How's that for stimulation!!)Now before I go any
further, I have to let you know my biases - I am a real Wilber fan, having
read most of his works over the last 5+ years, and was one of those crazy
people who thrived on philosophy and eastern studies in university!When I
first read "A Brief History of Everything" - I was totally blown away, and
left with a feeling of bubbling joy! And that because his message is
basically one of affirmation. Despite the disasters we see around us, the
broad, morphogenic telos of evolution, over long stretches of time,  is one
of "ever opening space", of ever increasing circles of care. And also
because, what I had thought were "just ideas" of transcendence are actually
real - and found all over the world and in every time in history.I have
found his basic ideas (quadrants, levels, lines, etc.) to provide an
integrated approach that is very helpful in organizational transformational
work.

Now I have to admit that the man does have an attitude, and can come across
as a bit full of himself!! His work is a synthesis of hundreds of other
theorists, and this shows particularly in recent books such as Integral
Psychology.  He is good at acknowledging the pioneering role of shamans and
the shamanic voyage as the first people to explore transpersonal realms. In
this most recent book however, A Theory of Everything, there is (for me) a
widening acknowledgement of the value of all of us on the planet, no matter
what "meme" we are living from. It does feels like a change in tone (if not
content); like compassion is catching up with clarity! Also much more
involvement with and discussion of real world application - from business to
politics to alleviating major social ills.

As for developing the synthesis itself, and how one should develop it, I
think there are parallels with Open Space Technology. The roots are ancient;
the idea did not come from dialogue, but from one individual's frustration
with existing methods and inspiration (wasn't that two martini's,
Harrison??). The understanding of open space can be deep - or not, depending
on the person doing the viewing. Anyone can "do it", and some views/
personal practice/ experience bring greater richness than others.

Anyway, this latest is a good read, pretty accessible (a bit less of a
firehose!) You may want to try it for yourself!

Meg Salter
MegaSpace Consulting
meg.salter at sympatico.ca



----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Aitken" <ja at svn.net>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 3:57 PM
Subject: Critiques of Wilber


> Mark wrote:
> >The critique of Wilber's work is in a book called:
>    "Ken Wilber in Dialogue --  Conversations with Leading Transpersonal
> Thinkers" by Rothberg and Kelly; 1998; Quest Books; ISBN:  0-8356-0766-6
> Wilber's latest works take into positive consideration the criticisms and
> observations that were made in "Dialogue".>
>
> Tho this may become extraneous to the work of the list, I want to respond.
>
> I've been studying with Jurgen Kremer, one of the scholars from the
> ReVision magazine series which became that book; he's the scholar whom
> Rothberg and Kelly noted as having the most sustained unresolved
> disagreements with Wilber.
>
> Among the critiques is that Wilber's intention, a true intercultural
> synthesis of human knowledge, is best produced through real dialogue among
> people with different worldviews, rather than through one brilliant and
> limited man's interpretation of those different worldviews. Before he
> pronounces a theory and history of everything, he has to talk to more
> people.
>
> Wilber seems too steeped in the 19th century evolutionary thinking which
> influenced important spiritual-evolutionary scholars like Aurobindo. Tho
he
> once embraced Habermas as his favorite contemporary philosopher, I think
> Habermas offers a critique of the usefulness of his developmental-stages
> framework for the purposes of intercultural understanding. And, Wilber has
> not engaged indigenous scientists sufficiently to grasp the implications
> for his models - his models would have to change, in my opinion.
>
> Because Wilber does not seem to honor his own ancestry or the lifeplace
> where he lives, I fear he overlooks their importance. He seems to try to
> fit real life into his models in a way that degrades the specificity of
> cultures and lifeplaces. For example, to say that the holon Hawaii is
> enriched through its participation in the larger holon United States is to
> me a clumsy justification for empire. I'd like to hear Hawaiian
sovereignty
> leaders exchange with him about their situation.
>
> When I read Vine Deloria's book God Is Red; Jared Diamond's book Guns,
> Germs, and Steel; and James Clifford's book Routes: Travel and Translation
> in the 20th Century - especially the final essay "Fort Ross Meditation" -
I
> find sharp critique of such (capital-H) History as Wilber writes.
>
> I have not read his most recent works and would be happy to find him
> responding to such critiques.
>
> A project like the United Religions Initiative, which brings widespread
> networks from different religions together into self-organizing dialogue,
> seems to honor the difficulty of the work of actually generating
> intercultural exchange. I want to bring Wilber and several indigenous
> scholars and URI participants together in a long Open Space process to
hear
> what they say in the closing circle.
>
> *
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