Hullo Bo and others,
BO: "I take it that you see the Q-intellectual level as a parallel to
Wilber's "reason" and .....giving way to a type of cognition I call
vision-logic or network-logic" .....is a possible 5th Q-level?"
Yes, that is my suggestion. One of the important differences between Wilber
and Pirsig is that while Pirsig conceptualises four levels emerging in an
evolutionary progression, Wilber describes many more levels (at least 13)
emerging as holons, a term coined by Arthur Koestler "to refer to that
which, being a whole in one context, is simultaneously a part in another."
Wilber goes on to say "All developmental and evolutionary sequences that we
are aware of proceed by hierarchization, or by orders of increasing holism".
(Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, p 19) There are important similarities with
Pirsig, for example "Whatever the important value of the previous stage, the
new stage has that enfolded in its own makeup, plus something extra (more
integrative capacity, for example), and that 'something extra' means 'extra
value' relative to the previous ( and less encompassing) stage." (SES p 21)
There are also significant differences. The most important is that if
metaphysics is defined as "thought without evidence", then Wilber claims
there is not a metaphysical sentence in his entire book.
Given that Wilber identifies many more holonic levels than does Pirsig, it
is possible that if the categories do overlap we may be looking at subsets
of the intellectual level identified by Pirsig. I do not think this is the
case, particularly due to the emphasis on the ability of vision logic to
unify opposites. This is clearly an issue with the operation of intellect,
but also, I think, with Pirsig's own thought process. He does not challenge
the need for reality to be sliced, just wants a different polarity
(static-dynamic) to replace the more usual, and still useful
(subject-object) polarity. Wilber seems to be pointing to a thought process
that transcends, while still able to include, such divisions.
I could respond to your comments about "the matter-becoming-
imbued-with-mind notion", and "what lacks with them all is the SOCIOSPHERE,
and its absence reveals the light-years distance." To do so would be
tedious, since Wilber includes the social in his basic four quadrants, which
he asserts are necessary to map reality. If you want me to take this
further, let me know.
I have not read 'Up From Eden', but I think it is an early book of Wilber's,
and may not do justice to his more developed thought.
I am intrigued by Glenn's post, just arrived, with critiques of Wilber. I
shall certainly read them, though the few critiques I have so far
encountered have been quite unconvincing, in my view.
All for now. I wanted this to be a brief response to what I saw as the
fundamental issues.
John B
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