Ken Wilber
Ken Wilber
Ken Wilber is the creator of Integral Theory, a pioneer of transpersonal psychology and has been described as the Einstein of consciousness studies.
We consider his work foundational to the emerging paradigm.
Wilber's subject matter and style has limited his recognition within academia and the broader mainstream. Nevertheless, his work has been hugely influential both directly ad especially indirectly. To take just one example, Laloux's Reinventing Organizations directly cites and uses Wilber's stages of cultural evolution.1
Notes
Wilber versions: 1 to 6
Wilber's thought has undergone major evolution over his life.
- Wilber IV: Sex Ecology and Spirituality. First appearance of 4 quadrant model.
Consciousness is multi-quadrant
"…consciousness actually exists distributed across all four quadrants with all of their various levels and dimensions. There is no one quadrant (and certainly no one level) to which we can point and say, There is consciousness. Consciousness is in no way localized in that fashion. …It is true that the Upper Left quadrant is the locus of consciousness as it appears in an individual, but that's the point: as it appears in an individual. Yet consciousness on the whole is anchored in, and distributed across, all of the quadrants – intentional, behavioral, cultural, and social. If you "erase" any quadrant, they all disappear, because each is intrinsically necessary for the existence of the others." (p. 273)
Other pieces
Footnotes
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Itself derived from the work of Jean Gebser, Clare Graves, Spiral Dynamics and others. ↩
