What is Integral Philosophy?

[Kristen]

Hi Tom -

I think it means anything that goes under the heading of metaphysical philosophy...  Which I think covers basically, all philosophy .  

Here's a quote from William James, that addresses his attempt to understand states of consciousness and the connection between those states and humankind's ability to act in the world - I think it may be relevant (frankly - is integral) to the ethical practice of magick, in terms of will to power:

"Voluntary Acts - Desire, wish, will, are states of mind which everyone knows, and which no definition can make plainer.  We desire to feel, to have, to do, all sorts of things which at the moment are not felt, had, or done.  If with the desire there goes a sense that attainment is not possible, we simply wish; but if we believe that the end is in our power, we will that the desired feeling, having, or doing shall be real; and real it presently becomes, either immediately upon the willing or after certain preliminaries have been fulfilled."

- Psychology the Briefer Course, William James

And following out of that conception, here's something that I've been mulling around:

If we accept that humans have within their power varying degrees of ability to will circumstances into existance - say, through the very act of desiring; or, perhaps somewhere further down the continuum, strictly feeling a thing; and, then after preliminary natural actions in the physical are followed through, the "thing" wished comes to pass -  then, what are the ethical obligations regarding the very act of thinking, feeling, and doing, for those who can and do have the ability and courage to "do what they will?"   In other words, what obligation do we have as creators of thought, feeling, and action energy to observe and inhibit ourselves or not?  Or, does it matter because Karma will take care of the loose ends anyway.... or, at what point are we creating Karma for ourselves and others.... and so on and so forth?

Kristen

[Shirley]

Hi Tom,

As Robert Bruce mentions, Integral Philosophy or Integral Psychology is mainly based on Ken Wilber's synthesized overview. Ken wilber believes that Art, Science and Morality - after a long period of individuation -  should now be integrated. He speaks of them as Beauty,Truth and Goodness. His ideas are a voluminous synthsis of perennial philosophy and just about every other major thought throughout the centuries and believes that development of mankind needs to progress within us (as 'I' and We') and without us ('it' and 'its') ie., intentional, cultural, behavioural and social). For a wonderful overview of his work I would recommend 'The Collected Works of Ken Wilber volume four' or a copy of one of his latest books 'Integral Psychology' which is available in paperback (shambhala, Boston, USA.).

An academic of his calibre who also has a life and a wonderful sense of humour - makes him quite a remarkable guy....

I hope you manage to get hold of some of his stuff and enjoy the journey ...
Love
Shirley

[Tom]

This might be an interesting area, but it is not clear to me what it actually is. What is Integral Philosophy and what sorts of topics fall in place here?

[Nameless]

I still don't get. Does anyone?