OSHER 537 - Integral Psychology

This course evaluates Ken Wilber's theory and book, "Integral Psychology," which is an attempt to integrate science and spirituality. He does this by integrating the core perennial philosophy of the Great Chain of Being (matter, life, mind, soul, spirt) as represented in the premodern wisdom traditions (Christian Mysticism, Cabalistic Judaism, Yoga, Buddhism, Taoism, etc.) with the past hundred years of research on all the levels of human self-development in modern Western psychology. Wilber integrates Eastern and Western psychology by identifying ten levels (structures) of self-development from birth to enlightenment. Western psychology emphasizes the first six levels of healthy ego development, while Eastern psychology emphasizes the last four transpersonal levels of spiritual development. The goal of Integral Psychology is the unfolding of all levels (structures or stages) of consciousness within the physical form of the human being. This involves human evolutionary development within all quadrants of being and existence, including the physical, psychological, social, and cultural.