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Non-Duality in Ken Wilber's Integral Philosophy

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Non-Duality in Ken Wilber's Integral Philosophy NON-DUALITY IN KEN WILBER’S INTEGRAL PHILOSOPHY: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL AND ALTERNATIVE PHYSICALIST PERSPECTIVE OF MYSTICAL CONSCIOUSNESS JEREMY JOHN JACOBS 2009 Ken Wilber Cover Photo: Denver Integral and Ken Wilber Meetup Group (http://www.meetup.com/denver- integral/photos/?photold=716584&photoAlbumld=102985. Accessed 20 February 2009). NON-DUALITY IN KEN WILBER’S INTEGRAL PHILOSOPHY: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL AND ALTERNATIVE PHYSICALIST PERSPECTIVE OF MYSTICAL CONSCIOUSNESS by JEREMY JOHN JACOBS Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA Promoter PROFESSOR C E T KOURIE February 2009 Kenneth Earl Wilber (1949 - ) (theosophist.wordpress.com) Student Number: 3279-583-1 I declare that NON-DUALITY IN KEN WILBER’S INTEGRAL PHILOSOPHY: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL AND ALTERNATIVE PHYSICALIST PERSPECTIVE OF MYSTICAL CONSCIOUSNESS is my own work and that all sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. _________________________ ______________ Signature Date Jeremy John Jacobs i DEDICATION To Kim and St John ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My deepest gratitude goes to my wife Kim for her endless patience, encouragement, and support. I gratefully acknowledge Professor Celia Kourie’s professionalism. Her courteous manner of guidance and correction, and also the hospitality she extended to my alternative perspectives are an indication of her academic integrity. Special thanks to my sister Tania Jacobs who typed up reams of notes that I had gathered over the years, and finally my friend Andre Croucamp whose brilliant mind inspired me to think beyond the strictures of my creeds. iii ABSTRACT Since the advent of human consciousness all manner of theoreticians from mystics to philosophers, and linguists to scientists have considered why and how it is that an individuated self seems to occupy or indwell a physical body. There is a common experiential sense, in other words, in which personal consciousness and our bodies are felt to be two different things. Two broad areas of opinion attempting to explain this apparent bifurcation are defined for the purpose of addressing this problem: Essentialists who variously maintain that there are non-physical properties inherent to all forms and functions of physicality; and Physicalists who claim that the extant universe as a multiplicity of complex material processes is the only reality. The respective natures of body and mind and the ways in which they relate has yielded an extraordinary variety of hypotheses within and between these two broad categories. In this thesis the dilemma is called the Hard Problem and it focuses particularly on the relationship between consciousness and the brain. Recently, Ken Wilber has constructed an Integral Philosophy which attempts a synergistic gradation of all possible genres of experience and knowledge into one cohesive scheme representing the total Reality. The culminating point of Wilber’s theory claims resolution of the Hard Problem, indeed of all appearances of duality, in the realisation of consummate emptiness in mystical consciousness. Wilber’s proposal therefore tenders a version of Essentialism since it implies that an Absolute principle is inherent to all existence. The problem explored in this study considers whether the epistemological architecture of Wilber’s Philosophy is coherent and consistent. Following a critical appraisal of Wilber’s system it is proposed that epistemological coherence is more likely to be achieved by retaining the ontology of consciousness and matter to only one kind. In this way the scientific protocols which Wilber imports to validate his truth- claims are protected from ontological confusion. Whether this non-dual Physicalism is adequate as a means of explaining consciousness, and particularly mystical consciousness, is moot. Perhaps there remains an inalienable quality in mysticism which will always elude our ability to apprehend it. KEY WORDS Consciousness, Duality/Dualism, Epistemology, Essentialism, the Hard Problem, Integral Philosophy, Mysticism, Non-dual Consciousness (NDC), Ontology, Phenomenology, Physicalism, Science. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Dedication ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract and Key Words iv CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Finding the Right Questions 1 1.2 The Quest for Consistency and Coherence: The Purpose of this Research 3 1.2.1 The Context of this Research 3 1.2.1.1 Ken Wilber’s Integral Philosophy 5 1.2.1.2 What is Essentialism? 8 1.2.1.3 What is Physicalism? 11 1.2.1.3.1 A Qualification: What does Ontology Mean? 12 1.2.1.3.2 An Expanded Understanding of Physicalism 13 1.2.1.4 What is the Hard Problem? 21 1.2.2 Is there an Alternative Solution? 27 1.3 Philosophy, Science, Mysticism, and Non-duality: The Integral Problem 28 1.4 Research Methodology: The Challenge of Interdisciplinary Consistency 34 1.4.1 The Problem of Discerning an Appropriate Methodology for Wilber’s Integral Philosophy 34 1.4.2 A Multi-Method Proposal 37 1.5 Demarcation of Chapters 41 1.6 Legitimacy and Responsibility: Literature Survey 44 1.7 Conclusion 56 CHAPTER TWO THE FOUNDATIONS OF WILBER’S INTEGRAL PHILOSOPHY 2.1 Introduction 59 2.1.1 Ken Wilber: A Biographical Literature Survey 61 2.2 The Perennial Philosophy 70 2.3 Transpersonal Psychology 74 2.4 Emergent Principles of Wilber’s Integral Philosophy 80 2.4.1 Hierarchy and Holarchy in The Great Nest of Being 81 2.4.2 The Two Movements of Spirit: Involution and Evolution 94 2.5 Conclusion 100 CHAPTER THREE WILBER’S FOUR QUADRANT MODEL: STRUCTURE, METHODOLOGY, AND EPISTEMOLOGY 3.1 Introduction 103 3.2 The Construction of the Four Quadrant Model 104 3.2.1 Holarchical Typology: Basic, Transitional, Surface, and Deep Structures 111 3.2.2 The Means of Development: Lines, Streams, and States of Consciousness 119 3.2.2.1 Is There a Spiritual Line? 123 3.2.3 The Means of Transcendence: Translation, Transformation, and Transcription 126 3.3 Wilber’s Epistemological Method 130 3.3.1 The Three Eyes of Knowledge: Sensibilia, Intelligibilia, and Transcendelia 130 3.3.2 The Three Step Exemplar 132 v 3.3.3 The Four Validity Claims: Truth, Truthfulness, Functional Fit, and Justness 134 3.4 A More Considered Appraisal of Wilber’s Epistemology 140 3.4.1 What is Epistemology? 140 3.4.2 Wilber’s Approach to Epistemology 142 3.4.2.1 Harman’s Nine Criteria 150 3.5 Conclusion 158 CHAPTER FOUR THE CONTEXTUAL IMPLICATIONS OF WILBER’S INTEGRAL PHILOSOPHY 4.1 Introduction 161 4.2 The Science-Religion Debate 162 4.2.1 Preliminary Challenges from a Physicalist Perspective 175 4.3 From Modernism to Post-Modernism and Beyond 180 4.4 Legitimacy, Authority, and Authenticity in Religion 190 4.5 Conclusion 199 CHAPTER FIVE THE ROLE OF DUALITY IN WILBER’S PHILOSOPHY 5.1 Introduction 203 5.2 The Dualistic Idiom: Background Perspectives 204 5.3 Wilber’s Interpretation of Duality 207 5.3.1 Subjectivity and Objectivity 217 5.3.2 The Absolute and the Relative 221 5.3.3 The Mind-Brain Debate 225 5.4 Conclusion 230 CHAPTER SIX NON-DUALITY IN MYSTICISM: METHODOLOGICAL AND LINGUISTIC PROBLEMS 6.1 Introduction 233 6.2 Christian Mysticism 234 6.2.1 Kataphatic and Apophatic Approaches to Mystical Spirituality 240 6.3 The Phenomenology of Mystical Consciousness 246 6.4 The Nature of Consciousness According to Wilber 253 6.4.1 Wilber’s Definition of Non-dual Consciousness 257 6.4.2 Questions and Challenges 260 6.5 Linguistic Problems in the Study and Expression of Mysticism 267 6.6 Conclusion 278 CHAPTER SEVEN A PHYSICALIST ALTERNATIVE TO WILBER’S PHILOSOPHY OF NON-DUALITY 7.1 Introduction 281 7.2 Wilber’s Rejoinder: Reductionism and God’s Existence 282 7.3 Reconsidering Existing Hypotheses: Is it Time for a New Approach? 292 7.3.1 An Elaboration: More Reasons Why a New Approach is Necessary 296 7.4 The Epistemological Context of a Physicalist Approach 299 7.4.1 Excursus One: Could Consciousness be a Simulation? 300 7.5 Finding Criteria to Moderate a Physicalist Approach to NDC 304 7.5.1 The Multiple Drafts Model and Heterophenomenology: Daniel Dennett 309 7.5.1.1 Prolegomenon: Evolution is Foundational 310 vi 7.5.1.2 Consciousness and the Self 311 7.5.1.3 The Multiple Drafts Model 313 7.5.1.4 Memes 314 7.5.1.5 The Phenomenological Problem and Heterophenomenology 315 7.5.1.6 The Intentional Stance 316 7.5.1.6.1 Excursus Two: The Millisecond Gap: Tor Nørretranders 318 7.5.1.7 Free Will and Determinism 322 7.5.2 The Dynamic Core Hypothesis: Gerald Edelman and Giulio Tononi 325 7.5.2.1 Foundational Precepts for a Theory of Consciousness 325 7.5.2.2 Methodology: The Formative Context of the Dynamic Core Hypothesis 331 7.5.2.2.1 Unity and Integration 331 7.5.2.2.2 Differentiation, Complexity, Informativeness, and the Dynamic Core 332 7.5.2.3 Can NDC exist according to the Dynamic Core Hypothesis? 335 7.5.3 Andrew Newberg and Eugene D’Aquili: The Brian and Mystical Experience 338 7.5.3.1 The Nature of Consciousness 341 7.5.3.2 The Neurological Basis of Self-Transcendence 344 7.5.3.3 Do Newberg and D’Aquili Provide Adequate Substantiation for a Physical Explanation of NDC? 347 7.6 Conclusion: Does NDC have a Place in Physicalist Theories of Consciousness? 352 CHAPTER EIGHT CONCLUSION 8.1 The Foundational Context of this Research 361 8.2 General Conclusions 365 8.2.1 Ontology and Epistemology 365 8.2.2 Essentialism and Physicalism: The Asymptotic Limit of Heuristic Enquiry 366 8.2.3 The Problem with Wilber 367 8.2.4 Modernism, Post-Modernism, and the Science-Mysticism Dialectic 369 8.2.5 Consciousness, Phenomenology, and Language 370 8.2.6 The Promise of Science 373 8.3 NDC: A Mystical Disambiguation 377 Bibliography 383 vii LIST OF DIAGRAMS Note: The following diagrams are all available from the same source: Lark, S Nd.
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