Ken Wilber's Achilles' Heel: The Art of Spiritual Hyperbole
First of all, this series is designed to point out the fundamental weaknesses that I see in Ken Wilber's work and, to some degree, in the whole transpersonal psychology movement.
However, I should state right from the outset that I have tremendous respect for Ken Wilber and his books. I have used Wilber's ideas since I first started teaching in 1979. In almost all of my philosophy and religious studies classes (from high school to college to graduate studies) Ken Wilber's spectrum psychology has been instrumental. In the late 1980s I even taught two or three graduate level courses devoted entirely to Wilberian thought. At MSAC this past year we have read Sex, Spirituality, and Ecology and a Brief History of Everything in my Introduction to Philosophy and Introduction to Major World Religions classes. I pride myself on having read almost everything Wilber has ever publicly published.
Moreover, my critique of Wilber can also be applied with double force to many of my early writings. What I accuse Wilber of—gross, or should I say spiritual?, exaggeration—is precisely what I have been (perhaps still am) guilty of.
Quite simply, it is the tendency to "inflate," to "exaggerate," to "hype" those things which are not yet knowable. It is, in sum, the inclination to indulge in spiritual hyperbole, gross exaggerations that do not (perhaps cannot) convey the precision necessary for the progression of transpersonal psychology as a science.
Wilber exaggerates and he exaggerates way too much, especially on matters of ultimate importance. I don't think he does it intentionally (I am not accusing Wilber of dishonesty), but I do think it fundamentally taints his work to such an extent that most reductionistic scientists—a phrase I use approvingly—cannot distinguish Wilberian gems from Wilberian rubbish.
I write this critique not so much to "dis" Wilber (I will always eagerly await any new tome from his pen), but to rather frame what I think limits the import of his research on the harder sciences.
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However, I should state right from the outset that I have tremendous respect for Ken Wilber and his books. I have used Wilber's ideas since I first started teaching in 1979. In almost all of my philosophy and religious studies classes (from high school to college to graduate studies) Ken Wilber's spectrum psychology has been instrumental. In the late 1980s I even taught two or three graduate level courses devoted entirely to Wilberian thought. At MSAC this past year we have read Sex, Spirituality, and Ecology and a Brief History of Everything in my Introduction to Philosophy and Introduction to Major World Religions classes. I pride myself on having read almost everything Wilber has ever publicly published.
Moreover, my critique of Wilber can also be applied with double force to many of my early writings. What I accuse Wilber of—gross, or should I say spiritual?, exaggeration—is precisely what I have been (perhaps still am) guilty of.
Quite simply, it is the tendency to "inflate," to "exaggerate," to "hype" those things which are not yet knowable. It is, in sum, the inclination to indulge in spiritual hyperbole, gross exaggerations that do not (perhaps cannot) convey the precision necessary for the progression of transpersonal psychology as a science.
Wilber exaggerates and he exaggerates way too much, especially on matters of ultimate importance. I don't think he does it intentionally (I am not accusing Wilber of dishonesty), but I do think it fundamentally taints his work to such an extent that most reductionistic scientists—a phrase I use approvingly—cannot distinguish Wilberian gems from Wilberian rubbish.
I write this critique not so much to "dis" Wilber (I will always eagerly await any new tome from his pen), but to rather frame what I think limits the import of his research on the harder sciences.
Ken Wilber's Achilles' Heel: The Art of Spiritual Hyperbole
First of all, this series is designed to point out the fundamental weaknesses that I see in Ken Wilber's work and, to some degree, in the whole transpersonal psychology movement.
However, I should state right from the outset that I have tremendous respect for Ken Wilber and his books. I have used Wilber's ideas since I first started teaching in 1979. In almost all of my philosophy and religious studies classes (from high school to college to graduate studies) Ken Wilber's spectrum psychology has been instrumental. In the late 1980s I even taught two or three graduate level courses devoted entirely to Wilberian thought. At MSAC this past year we have read Sex, Spirituality, and Ecology and a Brief History of Everything in my Introduction to Philosophy and Introduction to Major World Religions classes. I pride myself on having read almost everything Wilber has ever publicly published.
Moreover, my critique of Wilber can also be applied with double force to many of my early writings. What I accuse Wilber of—gross, or should I say spiritual?, exaggeration—is precisely what I have been (perhaps still am) guilty of.
Quite simply, it is the tendency to "inflate," to "exaggerate," to "hype" those things which are not yet knowable. It is, in sum, the inclination to indulge in spiritual hyperbole, gross exaggerations that do not (perhaps cannot) convey the precision necessary for the progression of transpersonal psychology as a science.
Wilber exaggerates and he exaggerates way too much, especially on matters of ultimate importance. I don't think he does it intentionally (I am not accusing Wilber of dishonesty), but I do think it fundamentally taints his work to such an extent that most reductionistic scientists—a phrase I use approvingly—cannot distinguish Wilberian gems from Wilberian rubbish.
I write this critique not so much to "dis" Wilber (I will always eagerly await any new tome from his pen), but to rather frame what I think limits the import of his research on the harder sciences.
However, I should state right from the outset that I have tremendous respect for Ken Wilber and his books. I have used Wilber's ideas since I first started teaching in 1979. In almost all of my philosophy and religious studies classes (from high school to college to graduate studies) Ken Wilber's spectrum psychology has been instrumental. In the late 1980s I even taught two or three graduate level courses devoted entirely to Wilberian thought. At MSAC this past year we have read Sex, Spirituality, and Ecology and a Brief History of Everything in my Introduction to Philosophy and Introduction to Major World Religions classes. I pride myself on having read almost everything Wilber has ever publicly published.
Moreover, my critique of Wilber can also be applied with double force to many of my early writings. What I accuse Wilber of—gross, or should I say spiritual?, exaggeration—is precisely what I have been (perhaps still am) guilty of.
Quite simply, it is the tendency to "inflate," to "exaggerate," to "hype" those things which are not yet knowable. It is, in sum, the inclination to indulge in spiritual hyperbole, gross exaggerations that do not (perhaps cannot) convey the precision necessary for the progression of transpersonal psychology as a science.
Wilber exaggerates and he exaggerates way too much, especially on matters of ultimate importance. I don't think he does it intentionally (I am not accusing Wilber of dishonesty), but I do think it fundamentally taints his work to such an extent that most reductionistic scientists—a phrase I use approvingly—cannot distinguish Wilberian gems from Wilberian rubbish.
I write this critique not so much to "dis" Wilber (I will always eagerly await any new tome from his pen), but to rather frame what I think limits the import of his research on the harder sciences.
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Ken Wilber's Achilles' Heel: The Art of Spiritual Hyperbole
Ken Wilber's Achilles' Heel: The Art of Spiritual Hyperbole
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940012290724 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | MSAC Philosophy Group |
| Publication date: | 02/27/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 212 KB |
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